Rheann turns baking hobby into full-time job
A SMALL business owner has big plans for the future, going from starting a baking brand with an attitude in January to quitting her job and making cookies full time in the space of six months.
Rheann Oakely is the founder of Bad B**ch Bakes, a small business based in Erskine that bakes stuffed cookies and dessert treats and distributes them to shops, cafes, and gyms.
Bad B**ch Bakes – also known as BBB has taken off since the start of the year, and her delicious stuffed cookies which are filled with fanfavourite treats like Bueno Bars, Biscoff, Nutella spreads, and many more.
It’s been quite a fast-paced journey for the 25-year-old who only started it out as a hobby during the pandemic to give to her family and friends. However, those family and friends who she so kindly sweetened up seen that her skills were for more than just their own indulgence as they encouraged her to give baking a professional attempt.
Soon after starting the brand with a feisty social media presence in January, Rheann quit her job as a manager in a Johnstone Coffee Co, to go full time in her endeavour in June and hired a commercial kitchen in the West End of Glasgow to manage the ever-growing scale of her company. But before that time, she was juggling both jobs and working tirelessly to get BBB off the ground.
She said: “It was about five months from creating the Instagram to quitting my job to go full time with BBB, and it was hard.
“I was working 40-hour weeks doing 6am-4pm in the café, and then coming home to do BBB related work, and then on my
days off I was doing 13-hour thought I was nuts quitting my job to do it full time because of the high risk. But I’ve taken bigger risks in my life... I mean baking cookies can’t be riskier than jumping out of a plane. But you have to believe in your capabilities.”
From hobby to full-time in half a year is an impressive feat by the young entrepreneur, and the sky is the limit for her as she has big plans for the future.
BBB’s first ever physical stall was on display yesterday in a one-off pop-up event in Handsome Jack’s barber shop on Argyle Street. The first outing may only be the start, as Rheann has big goals and aims at opening up her own shop in the near future.
She added: I would love to have my own shop, and have always wanted to own one since I worked in coffee shops in Australia. That’s where I discovered the coffee shop and brunch culture and thought ‘this is a bit of me’.”