Daily Inspiration: Meet Billie-Jo Cochran

Today we’d like to introduce you to Billie-Jo Cochran.

Hi Billie-Jo, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always loved to bake since I was a young kid. I remember baking standing on a chair and baking with my mom. Even as I got older, I always loved to bake. My love for cooking started when I was in my 20’s. I was always good at following recipes and changing things I wanted to change. I did spend a lot of time watching Food Network to learn.

When we moved to NC, I really began to learn more about baking and cooking. I spent a lot of time researching recipes and practicing. Friends were asking me to bake for them and encourage me to start a business. So in the beginning of 2015, I started my business and called it Baked by Billie. My dream was always to open a coffee shop/bakery one day. So I started working towards that goal. I signed a lease in 2018 to open a bakery slated for fall 2019. However, it kept getting pushed back. At the end of 2019/beginning of 2020, I realized I was burned out. After much prayer, my husband and I decided not to open a bakery. We felt God was calling us to do something else. I realized what I loved most about Baked by Billie was baking for fun. So during 2020, I slowly started to pivot my business from an online bakery to food blogging. In the beginning of 2021, I launched my recipe creating and food blogging business. The in Spring of 2021, I launched a food photography business too. So now I blog full time and do food photography, which I absolutely love.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
After deciding not to open a bakery, it was hard for me. I felt like I was letting a lot of people down. It took a lot of prayer and time with God to see that my dream had changed. One of my dreams has always been to inspire people and that is now one of my main focuses with Baked by Billie. I want to be able to inspire people to get in the kitchen to bake and cook and make memories with their friends and family. Also pivoting my business has been really hard. I lost many customers due to not doing custom orders and have had to learn who my new target customer was. I also had to learn to do many things like videos and write blogs. My planning days look a lot different now.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a recipe creator and food blogger. I specialize in easy/easier recipes for you to make. I inspire you to get into the kitchen to cook and bake. I was known as the cake lady for a long time, now it is slowly changing to the lady who is sharing easy recipes and inspiring people to bake and cook. I am most proud of not being afraid to pivot my business and go after another dream. I realized it is okay for dreams to change. I am self-taught baker and cook who isn’t afraid of making mistakes. I also am the girl next door that you want to hang out with

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I continue to believe food bloggers and recipe creators are a thing of the future. While it is important to have a food photography, I believe that video will continue to grow and video will set you apart from other bloggers.

Pricing:

• Recipe Creating starts at $200
• Food Photography Packages start at $100

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: bakedbybillie.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bakedbybillie/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-SSWM1fLT-0NaxYUIBuxJg/featured
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/bakedbybillie/_created/

Image Credits
Cupcake picture credit @amberefostersmithphotography