Today we’d like to introduce you to Alejandra Galán.
Hi Alejandra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was born in Colombia when my parents were starting their own business, the first cheesecakes bakery there. So, I was fortunate to grow in the industry and knew at some point I wanted to be part of it. Later on, I became an industrial designer and moved to NYC to study baking and pastry. Once there, I fell in love with crazy-looking cakes while watching a newly released show; Ace of Cakes.
After graduation I decided to pursue the cake dream and knocked at Colette Peters door, she’s one of the best cake artists in the world and became her intern. I learned so much!
After a while, I returned to Colombia to help out with the family bakery and made crazy cakes on the side, but the cake orders took over all my time leading to the opening of “The Cake Factory by Alejandra Galán”.
My bakery became popular real fast since in Colombia there were no crazy-looking cakes at the moment. I was the first-person making cakes in shapes of cars, people, etc…
It gained popularity and TV producers reached to me…so I ended up being part of various Latin American baking shows in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.
In 2018 I got married and because of my husband’s job we ended up moving to Daytona Beach FL the following year. I had to close the bakery in Colombia.
In the US we started with an investor visa that allows the wife to work with a permit that expires all the time and takes ages to renew… so I was basically working 1 year and waiting for a renewal another full year… crazy
While I had the chance to work, I made wedding cakes and did marketing on a business magazine… then when the permit expired, I would record baking tutorials for YouTube.
I also explored TV in the US and did a couple of shows, one on the Food Network (Chocolate Meltdown) and another on Disney + (Foodtastic)
Three years after moving, we got out green card and that meant FREEDOM! I could finally work in whatever I wanted with no interruptions.
This is when I decided to continue an experiment I started during the pandemic where as I trapped at home with my husband in a tiny apartment thinking the world was about to end and decided to start a “blog” on Instagram where I was sharing my journey to create the perfect cookie; I named it CookieXperiment. I gave baking tips, shared the different tests, and most importantly, made the pandemic a little sweeter for my husband and I. We were eating lots of cookies
I went back to this cookie idea and baked some for my friend Leila’s birthday. She loved the cookies so much that she shared on l social media…
Days after, strangers started to ask for cookies so I created a website with an online store and gifted a box to Tricia Phillipi, a local foodie that has a Facebook foodie group with 30k members. One night I logged into my Facebook and she had just posted a review of my cookies, it was a GREAT review! She compared them to Guideons in Orlando, can you imagine?
She started the video saying she was going to do an exception and for the first time ever she would review a cottage industry… anyway, I couldn’t believe it, likes everywhere, comments everywhere, and orders started coming in, it was crazy!!!
I had a 5quart kitchen aid that made 20 cookies/batch and I was getting so many orders…there was no way I could fulfill them, stressful situation. I told my husband; I’m stopping my website and he said “No! We are getting a bigger mixer” so we did.
We went and got the only 20-quart mixer we found available immediately…carried it ourselves (350lbs) one of the hardest tasks I’ve ever had. It finally made it to my kitchen safe and sound and changed my life.
My house became a bakery that week, literally. Strangers showed up to my door and shared on social media. It’s been a crazy ride!!!
Those cookies I gifted my friend happened in late March 2021 and the review in April. You can’t imagine how many cookies I’ve baked!We’ve done pop-up stores and are looking for ways to open up a factory and brick and mortar soon.
@cookieXperiment follow my journey
We’ll see what comes next! I’m enjoying the Ride
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Moving no another country with a different language, having a work permit that expires all the time were the biggest obstacles in my career.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a cake artist well known for edible cake sculptures. I brought this art to Colombia and started a trend along with baking shows.
I’m very proud of being able to change the cake industry in my country
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Gong to Disney was always my favorite thing in the world…I went to the first time when I was 5
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cookieXperiment.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/cookiexperiment?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/105591707592112/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/COOKieXperiment?t=tWuHjnGQwk68PsIvUA_3-g&s=09
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UChlJc2pL-azFhpxhUeDH_yA
