A 2011 H-F alumna took her love of baking and made it into a bakery fit for the stars. In just three years, JordyCakes went from a dream to reality.

Jordyn Gaines started out like just any other high school student. She, like lots of teens, dealt with issues in her friend group.

“During this same time I was experiencing a lot of problems with bullying and rejection from my ‘friends’ in school and on the cheerleading team, so because I didn’t have anyone to hang out with anymore, I started baking in my spare time.,” Gaines said.

She discovered her love for baking in Foods class. Gaines excelled in the class and began teaching herself how to make the beautiful cakes she is now known for.

“I watched Youtube videos, Googled pictures of cupcakes and checked out cake decorating books from the library and tried to copy what I saw,” she said. “I joined [the Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America], became Mrs. Marks’ Teacher’s Assistant and learned everything I could about baking and decorating cakes.”

Foods teacher Janet Marks had seen Gaines talents early on.

“She would be one of the first ones to be in class. Jordyn would be rushing to class because she really enjoyed cooking class. She was very fast at what she did. Everybody else would just be starting their project and she would be already done,” Marks said.

Marks said that Gaines’ mother also saw her talents and would do certain activities with her to exercise them.

“Her mom gave her so many opportunities,” Marks said. “Jordyn’s mother was having a huge birthday party and Jordyn took a recipe she learned in class and made it for about 50 people.”

She began making cupcakes and discovered that people were more than willing to buy them. That is when the idea for JordyCakes originated.

“Once I realized that people were willing to actually pay good money for me to make beautiful cakes and cupcakes for them, I decided that this could actually be more than a hobby and actually be something I could do for a living. And I could work for myself!” Gaines said.

While her parents wished that she had finished school, they still supported her.

“It was really hard for us, especially my husband, it was really hard for him,” Pam Robinson, her mother, said. “So we gave her a year and it really took off.”

While Gaines didn’t finish school, a lot of good came out of her career at SIUE. She met her future husband. He is now in the army stationed in Korea. They also have a son together.

“If I hadn’t have gone away to college, I wouldn’t have met my husband; I wouldn’t have really been able to give it an honest try,” Gaines said.

At only 22, Gaines has accomplished so much. She is an inspiration to high school students everywhere.

“I’m really proud of her, of course. She’s still a young person and I know that, but just seeing her do some of these things she’s done has just been amazing,” Robinson said.