Case Study 1
Globally Recognized Social Media Brand
Pies Are Awesome
With Pies Are Awesome Jessica spawned a new industry vertical by identifying a unique market gap and building something from scratch. Rather than launching a traditional food brand, Jessica approached pie as an entertainment IP, using multi-vector social media, storytelling, and visual culture to grow a critical mass of followers into a genuine movement.
Overview
Jessica identified a wide-open opportunity at the intersection of geek culture, fandom, and food. While cakes had become visual, performative, and culturally current, pie had been left behind despite its emotional resonance and universality. The opportunity was not to sell desserts, but to reposition pie as a creative medium and cultural object, thereby opening up a new, and potentially very lucrative, industry vertical in the culinary space.
She developed and pitched a business plan built around category creation rather than product sales, secured early investor buy-in, and bootstrapped a company from zero. Central to the strategy was the intentional design of a community architecture, “The Tribe of the Pieous,” with Jessica positioned as the visible creative lead and trusted pillar of the ecosystem.
Over time, that audience evolved into a self-sustaining global creative community, one that continues to thrive independently of any single platform or product, and one that helped define the modern pie art category after nearly 200 years of dormancy.
Key outcomes and milestones
Creation of the modern pie art category
A durable global creative community built from scratch
120M+ video views and 80k+ deeply engaged followers via @ThePieous
Hundreds of international press features including Forbes, People, CNN, Ripley’s, BBC, with repeated front-page Reddit placements
Cracked a repeatable formula for creating viral, share-driven content and successfully applied it across platforms and formats to cut through online noise again and again
Long-term partnerships and licensing relationships with Disney, Netflix, Food Network, Marvel, Star Wars
A foundation that supported the launch of books, television shows, courses, consumer products, press, and ongoing collaborations
“If pie is indeed home, then pie artist Jessica Clark-Bojin would be the baking Gloria Vanderbilt… [she] brings astonishing feats of artistry and sophistication to the humble pie.”
“Canadian baker Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin, known as @thepieous on Instagram, taps into a unique audience on social media with her artistic creations.”
“Bojin wrote on her website that her goal is to prove pies can go up against “the poshest wedding cakes and fancy-pants desserts,” and there’s no doubt she’s doing just that.”
“Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin didn’t set out to change the world…but now it’s only a matter of time before her epic creations take over wedding cake’s coveted spot on the buffet table.”
“Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin is the internet’s favorite baker. Her creative pop-culture references are mouthwatering and utterly dazzling.”
More than a decade later, Pies Are Awesome remains active, recognizable, and influential. With that chapter firmly established, Jessica is now focused on applying the same thinking, systems, and creative instincts to help other brands, companies, and projects build relevance, audiences, and lasting impact of their own.
For press coverage, brand collaborations, and a deeper look at how this project grew into a global creative movement, explore the Pies Are Awesome press archive.