Milwaukee baker 'Whisk Chick' garners millions of likes on social media
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- They’re there for your most important days, bringing joy, and possibly, helping make your wishes come true. It was cakes that made one Milwaukee baker's biggest dreams become a reality, as she launched her small business, and brought in an unexpected social media following.
The Whisk Chick was created by MK Drayna in 2021. Since she was young, Drayna said she loved baking.
It was in High School that it turned into something more: “In high school I had a really hard time in the classroom setting. I had a lot of stress and anxiety, some pretty severe mental health problems. I just found baking as a way to cope... I found a lot of real meaning in that.” She knew she didn’t want to go to a four-year college, so she went to MATC for a two-year baking and pastry arts program. After that, Drayna worked in a bakery, where she discovered that “cake decorating is where my passion lies."
Now, the 25-year-old made her own kind of classroom, as a baker, decorator, teacher, and more. “Teaching has been such a huge new part of my business in this space, and it's been so fun. I just love getting to meet people and help them learn something new,” she said.
Typically, she’ll have about two classes per month, teaching others how to decorate their own art pieces.
Drayna started her own business in 2021, only recently moving into a Milwaukee location. She said owning a small business “does take over every piece of my life … in the best way.”
“It’s so much freedom in being able to choose exactly what I want to do every day when I come to work and have a schedule full of creative, colorful cakes and fun stuff on my to-do list. I just can’t believe this is my job and get to do this all day. I still just feel really really lucky this all worked out,” shared Drayna.
What Drayna values the most, she says, is the artistry of decorating a cake. That’s notable when you look through some of her work.
The small business has also become a social media hit, with more than 400,000 followers and millions of likes on TikTok and Instagram. She attributes her first big waves of attention to the “vintage trend” since she said she was one of the first bakers who consistently posted that style of cake, becoming her “staple style”.
As a young entrepreneur who is social media savvy, she says that’s worked out well for her. “I think we definitely live in the age where if you're a small business, you need to be on social media. That's definitely hard for businesses that don't have the skills or infrastructure to do that.”
Nonetheless, without social media, she says she “would be struggling. I think it’s definitely a learning curve, learning what sticks and what people want to see. It’s taking photos and videos, editing, color grading everything in the right way.”
90% of Whisk Chick’s customers reportedly come from social media, and more than half, from TikTok alone.
One of her most popular videos recently is of an 8-tier wedding cake “that turned out so much better than I possibly expected.” She says the cake “blew up” on social media, with three videos garnering nearly 4 million views.
“It just doesn’t really feel real. Like you can see the number, but it doesn't feel impactful.... then we’ll be out and say “oh I follow your TikTok” ... and that's when it feels like it’s actually impactful and they’re not just floating around on the internet, they’re actually people” shared Drayna.
Drayna estimates she's made around 2,000 cakes and shows no signs of stopping. She said she feels “so unbelievably lucky” and feels privileged for this to be her job.
Recognizing that baking isn’t an essential job, she feels grateful that she can bring joy to some of the most important moments and celebrations in life.
When asked about how it feels to be a successful, young entrepreneur, she started tearing up. “At the time, I was like ugh, I hope this paid off! The amount of support from the community from my husband… when I told [him] I’m going to quit my job and do this thing, he did not flinch, he was so supportive, he knew I would figure it out.”
The Whisk Chick now puts the icing on top of a delicious piece of art for life's most memorable moments. “A lot of people say how can I cut into this? It’s too beautiful. I say, that’s ridiculous. That's what it’s made for, it’s made to be enjoyed. So just enjoy it. Take your pictures and then dig in!”
Whisk Chick is located at 133 W. Pittsburgh Ave., Milwaukee. You can contact her online and find more work on TikTok and Instagram.