Don't Expect to Hear Baking Tips on Courtney Rich's "Beyond the Cake" Podcast

Self-taught baker Courtney Rich is best known for her mouth-watering Instagram posts about the food item she loves most: cake. But the blonde beauty has left the kitchen for her latest project.

On May 6, the influencer launched a podcast titled "Courtney: Beyond the Cake." But rather than take inspiration from Martha Stewart and talk all things lifestyle, the mother of two has chosen to channel her inner Oprah.

When announcing the weekly show, Courtney told fans that she didn’t want to create a baking podcast. "In this new space, I won’t be talking much about cake layers and buttercream. Instead, I’m going back to my roots in broadcast journalism and doing something I’ve always loved to do — tell stories," she wrote on her site.

The Salt Lake City resident added, "I’m saving the cake tips for the kitchen and my Instagram… I hope to leave listeners with the same feeling that making a cake leaves me — proud, uplifted, happy, excited, empowered, and joyful. Because, for me, making cake has never really just been about the cake. It’s so much more!"

On the June 3 episode, Courtney featured a woman named Catherine Ferguson, who started losing her hair at the age of 10 due to alopecia, and on the June 17 podcast, she spoke to weightlifter Melissa Kleiner, who struggled with infertility for 13 years.

"Stories of goodness, stories of bravery, stories of empowerment, stories of joy… We each have one," Courtney stated, "and each one of our stories is unique, each one has something for others to learn from and each story matters."

Though the cake instructor is now a professional baker, she initially pursued a career in Broadcast Communications after earning a degree from Brigham Young University. "After leaving BYU, I worked at a media consulting company for 13 years," Courtney told The Hype Magazine in 2019. 

"And while working and starting to raise a family, I started baking a bit," she shared. "I have always loved baking with my mom and sister growing up but only did it on occasion. And I didn’t make my first cake from scratch until my son turned one. That was about nine-and-a-half years ago."

Courtney explained that her unconventional background has actually been extremely beneficial for her brand. "Working in media research and consulting gave me a strong foundation and a good understanding of consumers," she said. 

"I think all of those experiences gave me the confidence I needed to start my own business in an industry that is pretty saturated," she added. "Being able to tell your story through your own voice is extremely important when you are building your business."

Followers especially love when Courtney includes her children in her content. "It has been fun for my kids, as they have helped package materials and even helped showcase my products on television with me," the writer revealed.

"Part of the reason why I started this journey was because of my kids. I wanted to make memories with them. To have them be a part of this journey means the world to me."

New episodes of "Courtney: Beyond the Cake" are released every Wednesday morning on all major podcasting platforms.