You deserve to be paid for your work. Let’s repeat it, this time louder, so that even the folks in the back row hear: You deserve to be paid for your work! It’s common sense. Unfortunately, it seems to be in short supply these days. Rebecca Severs, who owns the ‘Three Little Birds Bakery,’ went viral and received a flood of support from all over the internet after calling out a PR firm. The company wanted her to bake 2 cakes and 100 cupcakes for a “well-known celebrity.”

In return, Severs would have gotten “promotion on their socials” and on OK Magazine. Or, to put it bluntly, the bakery would be doing unpaid work for exposure. Read on for the full story. Bored Panda reached out to the friendly team at ‘Three Little Birds Bakery,’ and Severs was kind enough to answer our questions. “It’s been amazing to receive so much support, especially from other business owners who have the dilemma of receiving similar inquiries,” she said.

In the meantime, Bored Panda also got in touch with world-famous pie artist and published author, Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin, @thepieous. She shared her thoughts on why some companies ask bakers to work for exposure, and what the best way to respond to them might be. You’ll find our full interview with Clark-Bojin, including her insights about how not all exposure is created equal, as you read on.

More info: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | ThreeLittleBirdsBakery.co.uk

Rebecca Severs owns the ‘Three Little Birds Bakery’ in the United Kingdom

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

She recently went viral after calling out a PR firm that wanted her to work for exposure

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

Here’s the email she received

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

And here’s her witty and honest reply

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

The actress, on whose behalf the firm contacted the bakery, later shared her take on things

Image credits: auntiecath17

“Cake Gate? What? So I had no idea those emails were being sent. I’m not working with the lovely OK! magazine on anything that I’m aware of. And Neverland – an amazing company. They’ve supplied me with performers in the past. They’re insane and they’ve been completely misrepresented in this matter. Utterly bizarre. Don’t really know what to say. I mean, I hope the Cake Lady got the exposure she was craving, whilst I’ve got journalists knocking on my front door while my kids are playing in the front room. Thanks for coming.”

 

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A post shared by Catherine Tyldesley (@auntiecath17)

Image credits: auntiecath17

The entire situation got so much attention that the bakery became well-known on the internet practically overnight

The ‘Three Little Birds Bakery,’ based in Keighley in the United Kingdom, has been praised and seen an outpouring of support from the internet and in the media after calling out the PR firm. Something that many social media users have pointed out is that, ironically, the bakery has now gotten more exposure than it would have if it had done what the firm had asked it to.

The firm allegedly contacted the bakery on behalf of actress Catherine Tyldesley, who clarified she had no idea the messages were being sent. The celebrity later clarified her position on social media. “I had no idea those emails were being sent. I would never ask anyone to work for free or provide product for free,” she wrote.

Severs, the owner and founder of the bakery, is very practical and has a no-nonsense approach to her business. “I’m so sorry to hear that your client has fallen out on such hard times they can’t afford to pay small businesses for their products. Unfortunately, as my mortgage provider doesn’t take payment ‘in the form of promotion on their socials’, and my staff can’t feed their kids with exposure on Instagram, I’ll have to decline your very generous offer,” she wrote back a witty reply to the firm.

According to Severs, she has been threatened with legal action by NVRLND in response to her viral Facebook post.

“My mum is a great cook and baker and taught me everything she knew”

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

“In an environment where a lot of businesses are closing down (insolvencies in June were 27% higher than in June 2022) because of energy bills, business rates, recruitment challenges, and many other issues, we also rely heavily on loyalty and positive reviews from our customers. We recognize that every decision to buy one of our products is special and we’re very grateful. Our aim now is to make sure we can maintain high-quality service for every single customer,” Severs told Bored Panda via email.

“One of the first things I did when I started a business was to work out my approach to fair pricing. There are a lot of businesses—mostly large ones—where it’s hard to understand the relationship between what you’re paying and what you’re buying. That’s got even worse with the inflation we’re currently experiencing,” the owner of ‘Three Little Birds Bakery’ told us.

“Work for ‘exposure’ just exacerbates that problem because it’s offering an uncertain ‘benefit’ in exchange for a product or service you should be taking pride in. We are proud to offer great products at a fair price. The more we can hold that line the less we’ll be asked to cross it.”

We were curious to learn about the business owner’s passion for baking. Severs opened up to Bored Panda that she has been a baker ever since she has been a toddler. “My mum is a great cook and baker and taught me everything she knew. I’ve gone on to learn more about different techniques and styles, and how to ensure the same results every time,” she said.

“But what really drives my passion for the bakery is two things: the chance to be creative and to collaborate on high-quality products with customers who are often celebrating a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the opportunity to push myself and the business further and create benefits for my town of Keighley. One of the things I’m most proud of is now having a real team of skilled staff who are equally committed to our work. Hopefully, this will help us to grow and improve the way we work even further.”

The business owner firmly believes that people deserve to be paid for their time and skills

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

Severs told The Independent that she has always been into baking and decided to take things one step further after baking cakes for her kids. She founded the ‘Three Little Birds Bakery’ seven and a half years ago, running it first out of her home.

“I remember working after one Christmas and I made £2 an hour and thinking ‘Why am I doing this’ because it’s so stressful and it’s so time-consuming but I’m not really making a proper wage,” she told The Independent. After investing in business coaching, her project took off.

According to the baker, it’s vital that people are valued for their time and skill. Otherwise, they’ll soon be out of work. “If you’re not getting paid properly for it, it’s not something you can do.” She added that, “Women should not feel guilty about charging for their work and for earning money.”

The bakery offers luxury cakes, cupcakes, and other baked goods, delivering them in the Yorkshire area, as well as Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cumbria, and elsewhere in the North West. After the bakery went viral, the local community has been showing its support for the business as well. So if you’re a local, consider offering the ‘Three Little Birds Bakery’ your support. Though their cake counter is only open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, so keep that in mind if you want to pop in, in-person. The counter is open 9.30-3.30 and until 5.30 on Friday.

“We are getting a massive amount of phone calls, emails and messages as a result of the media coverage of the news story that is us refusing to work for emojis. As a result, we aren’t currently able to answer a lot of these,” the bakery staff shared on Facebook. The bakery is fully booked with orders until mid-September, but you can get in touch right over here.

“We are blown away by all your support and so happy to see that so many other people agree that small businesses shouldn’t be taken advantage of!”

Unpaid work is a very serious issue that many businesses and freelancers deal with

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

Previously, The Freelancer Club explained to Bored Panda that in the United Kingdom, “unpaid work costs every freelancer £5,394 (7,086 dollars) per year and the figure is very similar in the States.”

They said: “If you give up your work for exposure thinking you will get paid work from it in the future, the statistics show this is rarely the case, besides, shouldn’t additional work be a consequence of a paid job anyway? If someone is willing to promote your work, they must value it so why not pay them! It’s easy to get into a cycle of working for exposure and never get paid.”

A representative from The Freelancer Club also drew attention to the importance of knowing your own value. “Once you know your value, get comfortable talking about money and stick to your guns. We’ve proven that working for exposure rarely results in paid work, collaborate with other creatives or set a self-project to build your portfolio and keep in mind that the culture of working for exposure is very damaging to you and to your industry. You are talented—value yourself and others will value you too.”

Not all exposure is created equal, and you need to know what you’re in for

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

“Ah… ‘exposure.’ As we used to say back in my freelance artist days, ‘You can’t eat exposure’ (although, you can ironically eat the cupcakes the baker was requested to bake for the exposure!),” pie artist Clark-Bojin, @thepieous, quipped. She explained to Bored Panda via email that companies ask bakers to work for exposure because they think they can. “And there are plenty of eager new bakers out there trying to make a name for themselves who are willing to take them up on the ‘generous offer!'”

“Now, companies do provide free product and services in exchange for exposure all the time—this is the foundation of sponsorships—but in these instances, we’re usually talking about fairly established companies, not freelancers, and the value exchange is clear, and significant. It’s always a very touchy subject, and not always as cut and dried as it may seem. Before deciding if the request to work for free is worth considering, there are certain questions a baker (or any tradesperson who makes their living selling a good or service) should ask themselves,” she said.

According to the pie artist, bakers ought to ask themselves what the nature and value of this exposure is. “Will the client be simply tagging me in an Instagram post where my product is in the background somewhere… or will they be filming an entire TikTok extolling the virtues of my product and enjoining all their followers to drop what they are doing right now and head to my website? How much engagement do they get from their following when they’ve posted about similar products in the past?”

She pointed out that not all exposure is created equal. There’s a meaningful difference between projects that are similar to paid advertising and something that’s akin to “a nebulous shoutout.” Another key aspect is whether the proposed ‘exposure contribution’ is put in writing or if the baker is forced to solely operate on faith. Clark-Bojin also noted that follower counts aren’t a meaningful metric when making these calculations whether the proposal for exposure is worth it.

Next, the baker ought to consider whether the time, stress, and expenses are worth it, in the end. If it’s a risky gamble, it may be best to pass on the offer. What’s more business owners and freelancers alike ought to consider whether the person or company asking for them to work for free could easily afford to pay them for those very same services. “Just because there is a marketing value associated with the job for me, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t also be paying for it! Unless they are working with a charity, or known to be down on their luck, or there is some other extenuating circumstance, in the vast majority of cases, anyone soliciting services should pay for them,” the pie artist explained to Bored Panda.

“Never feel bad about saying ‘no,’ no matter how big the celeb or company is!”

Image credits: Three Little Birds Bakery

Something else to consider, of course, is whether you yourself will be happy doing the work, pro-bono. “If it’s a birthday cake for your favorite (non-rich) celeb, and you’re getting an invite to the party and the opportunity to meet them, well then maybe that’s all the payment you could desire because it’s a bucket list item for you! But if it’s just you painstakingly packaging and mailing off your work into the void, and then hoping they actually give you the solid social media plug… well, you may end up feeling disappointed and taken advantage of. And ain’t nobody got time for that!” Clark-Bojin said.

The situation is completely different if it’s you reaching out to a celebrity or company to do some work for exposure. In this case, the situation is definitely in your favor if you’re relatively unknown. “Whatever you decide to do when faced with the ‘work for exposure’ offer, make sure to do your research, ask questions, and listen to your gut. Then, even if it doesn’t result in the return you had hoped for, you’ll feel satisfied that you made a considered decision.”

We were curious how a baker might go about drawing some healthy boundaries when it comes to offers for unpaid work. “Never feel bad about saying ‘no,’ no matter how big the celeb or company is!” the pie artist said.

Clark-Bojin shared one example of a firm, friendly, and open-ended response you might give to such an offer: “Wow! Thank you so much for the kind words about my work. It really makes me happy to hear that XYZ celeb likes what I do. Unfortunately my baking schedule and budget don’t leave any flex room for pro-bono projects—my margins are razor tight as a small business, as you can imagine! But I would love to do this job for $XYZ, which would cover my time and expenses. If money is a concern for you, I would be happy to discuss your budget and talk about what I can produce for you within your spending limit. I’m sure we can figure out a way to work together on this very cool-sounding project!”

The local community and social media users came out in support of the bakery. Here’s what some people had to say about the entire drama

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