BY LAUREN GALLINA

Young entrepreneur Grace Akhnoukh has a lot to smile about thanks to the success of her thriving online cupcake business.

The talented woman, who runs the business By Gia from her phone, sources customers for her vegan cupcakes from Instagram.

The young baker makes up to 100 cupcakes in a single weekend.

Ms Akhnoukh says it is important to start her day with a good plan and fresh ingredients.

“I’ll write down my running sheet for the day...[and] make sure I have enough time, I’m not overworking myself and I’m making the right amount of money to cover my working hours,” she says.

An important part of Ms Akhnoukh’s business is her recipes, with every cupcake made entirely vegan.

She says she wants people to become more aware of healthy eating and ethical consumption.

“Cupcakes are just cupcakes,” she says.

“But I want to spread light into the world as a whole.”

Ms Akhnoukh often visits a cake decoration store in Oakleigh to improve her delicious baked treats.

She spends hours of her working week creating concepts, and buying ingredients and tools to enhance the quality of her product.

“I want to break the idea of what people have around vegan food, people obviously think it is something that it’s not.

“They talk badly about being vegan and I just want to change that.”

Ms Akhnoukh will finish the day by delivering all her cupcakes by hand.

She says she loves catching up with customers and seeing their reactions after a long day of baking.

“People always say ‘oh my gosh! I can’t believe these are vegan’.”