Kayla Burton
In 2020, Kayla Burton was just another home baker sharing photos of her creations on Instagram. Three years later, she's the owner of a food blog that earned $95,000 in revenue. This remarkable change didn't happen by chance. It took hard work, learning on the go, and a willingness to take risks. Kayla's journey from corporate worker to full-time food blogger gives a glimpse into how the internet is changing the way people work and make money.
Kayla's story stands out because she started her blog during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many people were looking for new ways to earn income from home. Her quick success - going from zero to nearly six figures in just three years - shows how rapidly things can change in the online world. But it's not just about the money. Kayla found a way to turn her love of baking into a career that lets her help other food bloggers grow their own businesses.
Let's take a closer look at how Kayla went from baking for fun to running a successful online business and what lessons we can learn from her experience.
The early days: Trading corporate life for the kitchen
Kayla's journey to food blogging wasn't direct. After getting a biology degree from UW-Madison, she worked in healthcare for a while. But she felt stuck in her corporate job, bored with the work, and unhappy with how higher-ups treated employees.
To take her mind off work stress, Kayla started baking more at home. It was something she'd enjoyed since she was a kid, making cookies with her grandma. Her partner, Chris Pieta, who was learning photography, started taking pictures of her baked goods. On a whim, Kayla began sharing these photos on Instagram in early 2020.
Baking up a business
As more people started following Kayla's Instagram account, she got curious about blogging. In May 2020, she launched her blog, Broken Oven Baking Company. The name came from the old, unreliable oven she had at the time - a detail that made her relatable to home bakers everywhere.
Kayla didn't know much about blogging when she started. But she liked tinkering with websites, so she enjoyed setting things up. After a few months, she learned about SEO (search engine optimization) and started using it to help more people find her blog.
Important dates in Kayla's journey:
- Early 2020: Started her Instagram account
- May 2020: Launched Broken Oven Baking Company blog
- Early 2021: Reached 10,000 Instagram followers
- May 2021: Quit her 9-to-5 job to blog full-time
Taking a chance on herself
By May 2021, just a year after starting her blog, Kayla had landed a few deals with brands to promote their products. This gave her the push she needed to make a big move - she decided to quit her day job and focus on blogging full-time.
Kayla had saved up enough money to cover a few months of bills. She figured,
"If I can do this much while working full-time, imagine what I could do if I put all my energy into it."
How the blog makes money
Today, Kayla's business brings in money in three main ways:
- Ads on her website
- Helping other food bloggers grow their blogs
- Working with brands to promote their products
In 2021, most of her money came from working with brands. In 2022, she joined an ad network called Mediavine, which started bringing in more cash. Last year, she added coaching as another way to earn income.
Growing the business
Kayla Burton | Food Blogger (@brokenovenbaking) • Instagram photos and videos
To grow her food blog, Kayla focuses on a few key things:
- SEO - making sure her blog posts show up in Google searches
- Keyword research - finding out what recipes people are looking for
- Social media - sharing her content on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest
- Email marketing - staying in touch with her readers through newsletters
Most of her blog visitors come from Google and Pinterest. Kayla thinks it's smart to have different ways of reaching people and building a strong brand.
For her coaching business, Kayla talks to other food bloggers to understand their problems. She creates content to help them and sends out a free weekly email with tips and resources. She also has a separate website just for her coaching work (Food Blog Coaching).
Dealing with setbacks
Kayla says her biggest struggles have been learning to say "no" to things that don't fit her goals, and dealing with self-doubt. She often wonders if she's good enough to create recipes and teach others about blogging. When this happens, she tries to look at what she's accomplished to remind herself that she can do it.
What made the difference
When asked what helped her succeed, Kayla says, "Sticking with it!" She admits there have been times when she thought life would be easier if she'd stayed in her old job. But she knows she's happier doing what she loves every day.
Kayla also credits her success to showing up consistently and always trying to do a little better each day.
Building a team
Kayla now has four part-time helpers working remotely:
- Someone to manage her Pinterest account
- A writer to help with blog posts
- A photo editor
- A video editor
She found these helpers through online platforms and even through Instagram messages.
Tips for others starting out
Based on what she's learned, Kayla suggests:
- Be yourself and stay curious
- Keep going, even when things get tough
- Remember why you started
- Do the not-so-fun tasks too
- Be open to new ideas
- Keep learning
- Don't let fear stop you
She says that the more you do things that scare you, the stronger you'll become.
What's next for Kayla
Kayla wants to hand off more of the day-to-day work on her food blog to others. This includes coming up with new recipes and creating photos and videos. She plans to focus more on helping other food bloggers.
She still wants to keep her own food blog to stay up-to-date with what's happening in the industry. But she really enjoys creating how-to guides, planning strategies, and building communities to help other bloggers. Right now, she's working on group coaching, one-on-one help, and putting together a collection of resources and tools for other bloggers.
What she'd do differently
Looking back, Kayla feels she made some mistakes when she first started her blog. If she were to start over, she would:
- Set up her blog on WordPress.org instead of WordPress.com
- Use a better service to host her website
- Choose a better-designed theme for her blog
- Talk to experienced food bloggers and offer to pay for their advice
She believes putting time and money into the right things from the start can give you a head start and make things easier down the road.
One thing Kayla feels she did right was making friends with other new food bloggers. She's still close with many of them today. She says having people who support you and understand what you're doing is incredibly valuable.
Conclusion
Kayla Burton's journey from hobby baker to successful food blogger shows what's possible in today's online world. In just three years, she built a business that brought in $95,000, all while doing something she loves and helping others do the same.
Her story shows that with hard work, a willingness to learn, and the courage to take risks, it's possible to turn a passion into a real business. As more people look for ways to make money online, Kayla's experience offers valuable lessons and encouragement.
For those thinking about starting their own online venture, Kayla's advice is simple: be yourself, keep learning, and don't give up when things get tough. With dedication and the right approach, you might just cook up your own recipe for success.
