In the Spotlight: Kelly Ging

At the height of the recession in 2012 and with a degree in retail business management under her belt, Portlaoise native Kelly Ging started Kelly Lou Cakes in a little corner of her parent’s hardware store, serving coffees and fresh cupcakes baked in a domestic oven.

The business quickly grew and Kelly expanded the café and opened a commercial bakery. Due to her hard work and determination Kelly Lou Cakes is now a nationally recognised brand.

Kelly and her team create celebration cakes, wedding cakes, cupcakes and all manner of sweet treats for all occasions. Kelly also converted a vintage caravan (called Gloria!) into a fun mobile catering unit and brings her to festivals, events and weddings throughout the year.

Kelly Ging: Inspiring next generation of Laois business people

Kelly has a large social media following, posting on Snapchat and Instagram daily, giving followers a glimpse of bakery life and taking them along to wedding venues and events and occasionally sharing recipes and techniques.

It is largely thanks to her popularity on social media that she had made fantastic business connections and has been given opportunities to work in television and print media, appearing regularly on TV3’s IrelandAM and appearing in national magazines and newspapers.

Last year Kelly competed in Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition (IBYE), winning the Laois and Regional finals and reaching the national finals – the first Laois person to get that far in the competition. She also won the ‘best e-commerce business’ in the recent Laois Business Awards.

Kelly has lots of plans for the future and is currently working on expansion plans for Kelly Lou Cakes as well as working on more exciting media projects.

You can follow Kelly on all social media platforms @kellyloucakes

Website www.kellylou.com

Contact: kelly@kellylou.com

Phone: 087 9530681