Beating the Odds: Brooke Bellamy Style
The Story of the Self-taught Baker Behind Brooki Bakehouse
The unthinkable happened when Covid-19 took the world by storm. Travel plans were cancelled. Employees were laid off. Businesses shut down. But a popular travel blogger managed to go against these odds to achieve her lifelong dream of opening a bakery in Queensland, Australia.
In the small kitchen of Brooki Bakehouse, you’ll find Brooke Bellamy. Her story begins back in December of 2012 when she founded her travel blog: World of Wanderlust. Created as a place to share travel inspiration and encourage others to explore the world, her blog became one of the world’s leading publishers in solo travel.
It was through her travels that Brooke dreamed of opening a pâtisserie just like the ones she adored as she strolled the streets of Paris at 17 years old. Her dream came to fruition in January of 2022, when she took to Instagram with the announcement of a secret project: Brooki Bakehouse. In the heat of struggle and uncertainty, she decided to leave behind her first love – travel – to pursue another passion – baking.
And this struggle persisted. Bellamy noted in an interview with A Current Affair that the first several months were slow. With few people knowing about the bakery and long hours spent working in the kitchen, Bellamy wondered if all the time, money, and effort she’d invested so far would pay off.
Let’s just say, it paid off. While her business was just breaking even, Bellamy turned to TikTok and after posting Day-in-the-life videos, Brooki Bakehouse exploded in popularity. The self-taught baker turned into a global sensation in the cookie world with nearly 4 million followers across platforms. This growth was not unusual during Covid when TikTok was a major part of people’s lives. Being stuck at home meant people needed a form of entertainment. TikTok was just that. According to TikTok Revenue and Usage Statistics published by Mansoor Iqbal, there was a spike of 286 million downloads within the first quarter of 2020. Not only were people downloading the app, but they were also gaining “fame” in ways that seemed too easy. One of the most famous TikTokers, Charli Damelio, started during Covid and now has over 155 million followers. This shows that posting videos on TikTok while just about everyone was on the platform was a perfect recipe for gaining popularity.
Bellamy followed this recipe to a tea. Her rise in popularity – although not unusual – is emblematic of another trend – the use of social media marketing for businesses. Sean Peek, senior analyst and expert on business ownership, writes about this very trend, stating that it increases brand awareness and helps companies promote their content to a global audience. Whether it’s on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, using these platforms can help small businesses like Brooki Bakehouse turn into an international sensation.
But success doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not everyone that will benefit from this rapid rise in popularity. With Bellamy’s experience in blogging and digital media combined with the unprecedented time of heightened TikTok usage, these factors likely played a role in the success seen with Brooki Bakehouse.
And this success hasn’t slowed down. In August of 2024, the “small business” formed a partnership to promote a limited-edition cookie alongside Nespresso coffee. Shortly after, in September of 2024, news broke that Brooki Bakehouse would be opening a new location at Brisbane Airport. And soon to come out in October of 2024 is the Bake With Brooki Cookbook. Talk about a big year for the small business!
Brooke Bellamy serves as a reminder that the perfect recipe for gaining success in uncertain times includes a lot of hard work, a background in digital media, and a little luck on TikTok. What was once a small and risky business venture in the height of a global pandemic turned into a raging international success and a dream come true for the self-taught bakery owner from Australia.
I love the title of your blog! very suiting to the content. I've seen Brooke's content many times on social media, but never knew she began as a blogger and self taught baker! During a time like covid, its really hard to have patience and faith so it's amazing how shes transformed her career with tiktok and achieved so much. It's definitely an inspiring story of drive...kind of makes me want to fulfill my childhood dream of owning a bakery.