ocreations donates time to help 11-year-old entrepreneur launch own business

Abigail “Abi” Neal is an 11-year-old girl from Bethel Park who has a passion for baking – and she’s pretty darn good at it, too. Unlike most 11-year-olds though, Abi doesn’t just exercise her passion for baking as a fun pastime – she’s turned it into a business.  That’s right, Abi Neal, 11-year-old from Bethel Park, is also an entrepreneur: founder, creator, and lead baker extraordinaire of Abibakes.

Abi decided on her own to start baking cupcakes to raise money for charity, and then she decided she wanted to continue pursuing her passion and grow it into a real business. Just earlier this month, on April 8, Abi competed in “The Sweet Life” dessert contest and fundraiser, hosted by Metro-Pittsburgh Youth for Christ/Campus Life. Abi’s delicious cupcakes and entrepreneurial spirit were obviously enough to get her started, but branding – and a name – would really help Abi and her business stand out and take off. That’s where ocreations comes in.

Abi Neal’s Caramel Macchiato cupcakes at “The Sweet Life” dessert contest and fundraiser.

When ocreations’ president, Shawn O’Mara, caught wind of Abi’s penchant for baking, he thought Abi’s business was a great idea and a unique opportunity to give back. He decided that the ocreations team would donate time to help Abi, so she could continue to give back and grow her baking business. Shawn first worked with Abi and her mom to come up with a catchy name. They decided on “Abibakes” with the tag line, “Bakers can,”  which is intended to be a clever play on the classic nursery rhyme line, “Patty cake, patty cake, baker’s man.”

Once the name was settled, Shawn took the concept back to ocreations for the team to develop the Abibakes brand further. ocreations’ design intern, Rachel, worked on creating the logo and website layout. She also designed several promotional items for Abibakes, such as custom aprons, t-shirts, and business cards.

We’re happy to report that Abibakes is already off to a great start. Abi debuted the newly-minted Abibakes brand at “The Sweet Life,” and she won for the Presentation category! As if this isn’t impressive enough on its own, one of the judges was Cake Wars winner Tristan Slater. Talk about a great first impression for Abibakes!

ocreations is proud to have been able to donate time for a great cause. We’re glad we could help Abi out, and we can’t wait to see where Abibakes goes from here!