How Melbourne teen turned $1.5k into a million-dollar business

KATELYN Matheson set out to create her cupcake empire at just 18 and with $1500 in her pocket. Now the cake whiz is on track to make $1.6 million by the end of the year. Here’s how she did it.

THIS might just be the icing on the cake for 20-year-old pastry chef Katelyn Matheson.

The cake whiz, who is opening her third Cake Creations by Kate store in Melbourne this week, is on track to make $1.6 million by the end of the year.

Beginning her cupcake empire at just 18, and with $1500 in her pocket, Katelyn was soon taking orders bigger than her kitchen bench could handle.

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Katelyn Matheson is a 20-year-old pastry chef who is opening her third Melbourne store and on track to make 1.6 million by the end of the year. Picture: Tim Carrafa

“Mum had had enough! It was time for me to move to a more commercial kitchen and open my own store,” she said.

“Friends and family thought I was crazy at the time, but it just made me more motivated to do it.”

From large cakes with lollipops and chocolate shards to boutique cupcakes, Katelyn has a selection for every sweet tooth.

But it was the shared passion for baking with her beloved grandma that gave Katelyn the confidence she needed to succeed.

“I spent a lot of my time with my grandma in the kitchen,” she said. “Learnt her secret sponge cake recipe, along with other secrets which have inspired me in my baking journey.”

She now has more than 20 staff and a range of corporate partnerships and clients.

Cake Creations by Kate will open its doors on Friday, September 21, at Melbourne QV shopping precinct.