Meet Miriam Schwartz, Co-Founder of Baketivity
Love to cook with your kids and hate the mess? Us too! Enter a new way to baking kits for kids from Baketivity. C0-founded by Rockland mom, Miriam Schwartz, Baketivity offers easy, and interactive cooking and baking activities for families to do together in the kitchen. The brand offers monthly-to-yearly subscription plans where that includes step-by-step recipes, themed activities, pre-recorded videos, and various dry ingredients. You can also shop their kits where you can make pretzels, unicorn cookies, s’mores, cupcakes, and much more! To learn more, we spoke with Miriam who shared more about the brand, how it got started, and what’s next.
Westchester Family: How did the idea for Baketivity come about?
Miriam Schwartz: Bringing more fun into the home has always been important to me, but finding kid-friendly activities that didn’t require tons of prep and cleanup was difficult. The idea for Baketivity came about when my husband and I realized there was a need for fun, easy, and interactive activities for families to do together at home, specifically in the kitchen.
We officially launched Baketivity about six years ago. The business started out very small, we worked out of our home, and our customers were mainly local community members, friends and family. Shortly after, we started selling in Amazon’s Store, and that’s when we saw a significant increase in business growth. Selling in Amazon’s store has boosted our success and allowed us to reach millions of potential customers all over the world.
Westchester Family: What was your background like before Baketivity?
Miriam Schwartz: Before Baketivity I was a part-time teacher. Teaching is my passion – especially for children that could use an extra hand to help them succeed in life. My past experiences as a teacher, coupled with being a mother, really inspired me to create Baketivity. I have always enjoyed baking and grew up doing it with my mother and grandmother. I am now a mother of six children and love spending quality time with them, and Baketivity kits are a perfect way to do so.
Westchester Family: Tell us about some of the kits we can find from Baketivity.
Miriam Schwartz: From one-time kits to subscription boxes, Baketivity offers a wide variety of fun recipes for kids and families to bake. What we really love about it is that every single ingredient comes already pre-measured and pre-packaged along with super-clear illustrated directions, making it a breeze for older children to do the whole thing on their own.
All of our products are available for purchase with fast, free Amazon delivery in Amazon’s store, as well as directly on our website by using Buy with Prime – Amazon’s newest Prime shopping benefit which allows Prime members to shop directly from our online store with the trusted experience they expect from Amazon. We’re so excited to be one of the many merchants that offers Buy with Prime in their online stores to help make online shopping easier for customers.
Westchester Family: Why do you think cooking is important for families/kids?
Miriam Schwartz: We like to say that we are “baking the world a better place” by helping change the way kids and parents connect nowadays. Our kits give families the chance to get excited about putting their devices away and welcoming screen-free enjoyment of real-life moments. It’s these moments that allow us to build meaningful connections, create and discover new ideas, and raise happier kids.
As a small business, we are so grateful to be selling in Amazon’s store. It’s allowed us to not only reach a new customer base, but also share our love of baking and cooking with a larger audience.
Westchester Family: What are some of your favorite products in the line?
Miriam Schwartz: Past products have included whoopie pies, cake pops, funfetti cupcakes, and many other delicious treats. And spoiler alert: the final product is delicious! Plus, all of our ingredients are Kosher-certified. We know that our customers want quality products, so we are very careful with that.
Westchester Family: What are some of your favorite things to do in Rockland/Westchester?
Miriam Schwartz: We love going to the Croton Falls and taking walks on the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Westchester Family: Do you have anything else to add?
Miriam Schwartz: These days, selling online is crucial to the success of any small business, and Amazon provides the tools and resources to help sellers grow their brands. Amazon also empowers family and women-owned small businesses– check out Amazon.com/supportsmall and look for the Small Business badge to find products from small businesses like us when you shop.
I’m so proud of what we have accomplished with Amazon and am looking forward to continuing baking the world a better place every day.
