About JB

Heyy I’m Jess. I am the owner and creator of JB Couture Cupcakes. I do all the baking & decorating you see here! I started my company in 2012, when I had just graduated from Freehold Boro High School where I attended their Culinary Arts Academy. I had big dreams of taking my passion for Pastry Arts and Hospitality to the next level at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. I was thrilled to be accepted into their special pastry arts program where they only accept 20 students a year from around the world! A month before graduation I suddenly lost my grandmother that lived with me my whole life and helped to raise me. I started to feel sick.. not knowing what it was at first, I soon learned that I suffered with severe anxiety and depression that was intensified by the grief I was feeling. It was a very dark and hard time where I isolated myself and only ventured out to go to doctors appointments.

I was slowing learning how to live again in this new chapter of my life. Although I had to give up my dream of going to Johnson & Wales I found comfort in my baking. It became my medicine and my reason to get up in the morning. I started creating my own recipes, working to perfect my baking techniques, as well as teaching myself how to work with fondant and create event cakes. I started to share photos of my creations with friends and family. One order quickly became many orders and with every order my skills grew. After sharing my story, I was contacted by News 12 NJ where Della Crews featured me on her segment “Spotlight New Jersey”. I was thrilled to see my story resonating with others and began to grow a community of people who understood the struggles I was facing daily but also believed in me to take my passion to the next level. I was able to raise money to open my first storefront when I was just 18. With the help of my parents and sister who support me in every way possible, we put our blood sweat and tears into a store front on Main Street in Belmar. At 21 years old I received a phone call from Food Network where I was asked to come to California to compete on Cake Wars. I was thrilled to get to share the experience of a lifetime with my sister as my assistant. I was honored to get to bake for some of the biggest names in the business, their praise and encouragement was incredible.

Since then I shared my passion for baking with kids. I taught classes, hosted birthday parties and held cupcake camp each summer at my shop, I loved getting to share the art of baking with them. I began growing my catering business and soon realized I couldn’t do it all. I decided to focus my attention on the event side of my business and step back from retail for now. I closed my retail shop and have since found the perfect shop to build my kitchen and focus my attention on dessert bars, weddings and special occasion treats. I have a small area for tastings and pickups as well as occasional retail hours around holidays. I am loving the new direction my business is taking and excited to be shipping my treats around the world so even more people can try and enjoy JB Couture.

Being a young woman business owner has definitely had its challenges. My anxiety and depression will always be a part of my story, but I am so grateful for the path my life and business has taken. Everything happens for a reason, right?  I’m honored to have created a family with my customers who have supported me from the beginning and excited to grow that family with every order I create. I love getting to know my customers and getting to wow them by making their vision come to life in my creations.

Thank you for visiting my website and taking time to learn a little bit about me. I hope you like what you see and will try us for your next event, we promise you won’t be disappointed and will hopefully keep coming back time and time again. I can’t wait to make your special occasions a little bit sweeter!

X0X0 JB