I never thought entrepreneurship was something that was in my future. I always thought that I would go to school, study, and then become a career woman.
This influence was largely because, as a young child, probably when I was 6, I was asked why I wanted to be in school, and my answer was, “I want to be an EcoBank lady.” For context, an aunt of mine, whom I was named after, called Frances, was a director at EcoBank at the time, and I guess I had registered her as a very put-together woman I wanted to be like, so I just said that, knowing one day I would want to be as classy, good-looking, and successful as her. And that’s where the nickname began in my home: “Little Frances, the EcoBank lady.”
In primary school, I got more accustomed to acing essays. Even though I did not particularly love math or science, I really did well in the arts, and that’s what I studied in high school. I majored in Literature, Government, and French, but then I knew that I didn’t want to study the French language, so I dropped that. In university, I studied Political Science and English. The prospects of majoring in either were good options for me because then I could either become a lawyer or a diplomat.
Getting to my final year in university, I realized I was interested in neither, so I volunteered with an organization called Teens Aloud Foundation, where I did some project management, which I enjoyed, but I felt like my communication was lacking. So after a year of successful fundraising and project development, I applied to do a Master’s in Mass Communications in the USA, which involved journalism, marketing, and strategic communication management.
Having done that for 2 years, I interned with companies like Weber Shandwick, and eventually worked for FGS Global. I moved to the UK after marriage, but since I did not enjoy communications in the UK as much as I did in the USA, I eventually left the PR space and then dabbled in user research and got my Scrum certification, but I didn’t quite enjoy those either, so after some deliberation and a lot of soul-searching, I went back to my roots. I had been volunteering for 10 years with Teens Aloud Foundation. We worked with teenagers, usually engaging their desires rooted in the word of God and counseling them on whatever they were going through, starting branches in various African countries and universities, and team leading on mission trips to countries like Mauritius and Rwanda.
You can literally see that, for many years, I was a dedicated young lady doing all I needed to do to gather relevant experience and eventually work in some prestigious corporation. Being faced with the decision of what was going to become of me and my years of tailored work was not part of the plan.
It took a baby, wanting to be an available parent, to actually see what had been there all along. It might not have been “cake” if I didn’t already come from a family of cake makers, but even with that, it had not occurred to me that this “cake business” had fully funded private schools, costly accommodation, and garnered real estate.
For the longest time, my mum had been very fixated on my education and on me becoming “someone better.” And probably, to her, a life that was easier on my body would be “better”. Baking and decorating is physically demanding. It is a tough job. I am sure in her mind, working with your mind was the easier route. It seemed like you could make more money that way too, but the beauty of it is, I get to use both with a luxury cake business.
Growing up, there was something really special about having my mum at home all the time.
I would leave home for school, and she would be there, and I would return knowing she would be there when I came back. At the time, I don’t think I appreciated what that meant.
I only really understood it when I became a mum myself.
I had originally planned to take three months of maternity leave. Then I saw my baby in my arms in the delivery room and immediately thought, “Nope. I’m taking the whole year.”
That is one of the things I loved about living in the UK, the opportunity to take that time with my baby.
My mum travelled to the UK to help me with the baby, and my partner had asked her to bring a cake.
She said, “I am the cake.”
And then she arrived and realized we didn’t even have the equipment she needed.
“No pan?”
“Nope.”
“No hand mixer?”
“Nope.”
So we bought baking ingredients. Eventually I said, “Fine, let’s just get a stand mixer. If you’re here, we’ll be making cakes anyway.”
And we did.
We made a cake, and it was so good.
I remember thinking, “Wow. This is actually quite fun.”
I had always thought cakes were much more complicated than they actually were.
While we were reminiscing on what had just happened on the kitchen, something clicked for me.
My church ordered birthday cakes for people every month. My mum looked at it all and basically said, “You could do that. Why are they purchasing cakes each month when you can make cakes?”
That’s when I started thinking about my own life.
I didn’t really want to go back to working in the NHS five days a week, in an office, nine to five.
I had a baby now.
I wanted to be home.
I wanted to be present.
Thoughts flooded my mind. Frightening but hopeful imaginations
“Maybe I could work part-time. Maybe baking could give me the flexibility to build something while still being there for my child.”
I didn’t think I had any particular talent.
But I thought, “Why not try?”
So I told my mum I was starting a cake business.
She said, “Yeah. Do it.”
My husband came downstairs, and I told him too.
“I’m starting a cake business.”
“Yeah, sure. Start.” he said without a flicker of doubt in his eyes
I remember thinking, “Are you guys serious?”
Because starting a business meant buying cake pans, baking sheets, ingredients, equipment… everything.
I thought I would start small. Maybe buy one pan. A ten-inch pan or something. See what happens.
And that’s how it began.
I started with rock buns, cupcakes, and meat pies and shared them with a few friends. In my mind, having a focus to just be a cake maker brought a lot of pressure because that meant mastery and specialization, which I eventually had to learn once I decided.
We started my maternity leave days while the baby slept for 16 hours, figuring out the cake recipes. We did a lot of testing for the different types of flour and temperatures, fitting our family recipe with new ingredients.
And then I realized something else.
This wasn’t actually new.
My grandmother was the first to introduce fondant, or what we called “Easycoat” to Ghana, from the UK in the 90s. My family had been making cakes for around 70 years. We trained all the big cake makers in the country in our cake school.
I had unknowingly stepped into a family business.
A family business I hadn’t even realized was a family business.
And I had never considered it something worth pursuing.
Until I did.
After my first proper order, I delivered the cake and everything went well. Suddenly I was learning things I had never thought about before.
Which cake boards do I like? Which ones don’t I like?
Which vendors can I trust? Which ones can’t I trust?
Where do I buy certain ingredients? How do I manage my inventory?
Do I open a business bank account? What am I actually doing?
There were so many moments where I genuinely thought, “Wait. Am I really starting a business?”
“Am I really trying to become a cake maker?”
“Am I really trying to establish an actual business?”
And I guess the answer was “yes.”
Even though it stretched my capacity and mental fortitude.
Even though I had no idea what it was going to become, I was committed to being excellent. Sooner rather than later, people started talking and referring me.
They loved the taste.
They loved how moist the cakes were.
They loved that they weren’t overly sweet.
They loved the smooth icing and said it tasted like ice cream.
People were genuinely excited about the look of the cakes.
I remember thinking, “What? I literally just made this.”
But it was happening, the seeds were sprouting.
My mum and I had practiced for months. I started with piping rosettes and shells on cupcakes, then eventually cakes. I would pipe something; she would look at it and say, “This is not good. Start again.”
I could not even hold a palette knife right, but I learnt what worked for me and what did not.
Then the day came; I made a cake myself from scratch. I couldn’t believe it. It unlocked the confidence that was bubbling within me. So I decorated more horrid cakes on dummies, and then I took an additional decorating class.
And that is really how this whole journey has been.
Little steps of faith.
I didn’t wake up one morning and own or make everything I have now.
Eight months in, I bought a fridge because our home fridge was completely full and I was struggling to make even two cakes at a time.
So we invested in a fridge.
Now my cake ingredients have their own space. I can refrigerate cakes once they’re boxed and have everything prepared ahead of time.
One small investment became another.
One order became another.
One system became another.
I started with taking orders through WhatsApp.
Then I moved to Google Forms.
Then Airtable.
Then Fillout.
And eventually, my amazing business partner of a husband decided to build a website.
Every stage taught me something.
And somehow, in less than a year, we had built a real business.
Not just because I was baking, but because people were actually paying me for top-notch service from consultation to delivery.
That distinction mattered to me.
I had invested money, time, energy and a lot of faith into this.
And I can honestly say that I have reaped what I invested and more.
What started as a thought I had while holding my baby has become something established.
Something real.
Something that gives me the possibility of being present with my family while also building something of my own.
And perhaps the funniest part is that I spent so many years believing my mum wanted me to become something “better” than her.
Only to discover that what she had built was something worth coming back to.
And that’s why we call ourselves “The Memory Baking Company,” because we truly believe that life is full of memories worth celebrating and being present for, and to be a part of making any occasion as special as it can be is why we don’t take any order for granted.
Baked by Franny began because I wanted a different life for myself and my special girl.
But maybe it also began because I finally realized that I didn’t have to leave everything behind to build it. All of my experience comes with me to give you that amazing customer satisfaction we always provide.
I hope you enjoyed this origin story. If you can’t get enough, stick around for the extras below.
See you in the next one!
From the Kitchen
This week’s flavour is salted caramel cake with caramel filling.
I came up with this pairing because I love the way the subtle saltiness of the cake balances the sweetness of the silky caramel filling. It’s rich and indulgent without being overwhelmingly sweet, with that little hint of salt that keeps you going back for another bite.
It’s the kind of cake I’d bring to a relaxed afternoon with friends, a family gathering, or any occasion where you want something comforting, familiar and just a little bit indulgent.
Planning something worth celebrating?
Whether it’s a wedding, a new baby, an anniversary, a birthday or a congratulations-worthy moment, Baked by Franny creates cakes designed to stand out at your occasion, taste as good as they look and leave you with a memorable experience.
We don’t just bake cakes, we bake memories.
Visit my website to explore Baked by Franny and place your order: