Woman gets job after printing resume on cake: ‘Don't be afraid to do something out of the box’
She has some great advice for pursuing your dreams.

The cake that Karly Blackburn sent to Nike.
Even though the United States is going through a labor shortage, high-profile jobs are still tough as ever to get. In a world where hundreds of applicants send in their resumes for the same job, it can be hard to stand out.
Karly Pavlinac Blackburn of Wilmington, North Carolina, was lamenting that the jobs she wanted were too competitive when a colleague suggested the 27-year-old do something dramatic to get her name out there.
"I was actually talking to my former colleague about getting in front of employers—and he was like, 'Well, Karly you need to do better ... show up in a creative way ... what about a resume on a cake?'" she told Good Morning America.
So Blackburn did just that.
Blackburn dreamed of getting a job at Nike’s new business incubator, Valiant Labs in Beaverton, Oregon. So she decided she’d get a cake with her resume printed on top and send it to the person who makes hiring decisions. She picked the perfect day to send the cake, September 8, 2022, or as they call it in Beaverton, Just Do It Day.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy. She couldn’t just drive over to a bakery, pick up a cake and deliver it to Nike 3,000 miles away.
\u201cKarly Pavlinac Blackburn, the #PoolePack alumna who recently sent her resume to @Nike on a cake, was a part of the Andrews Launch Accelerator a few years ago. \ud83c\udf82 \n\nRead her story. \u27a1\ufe0f https://t.co/g2Mjmq1Ht9 @NCStateAlumni\u201d— NC State Poole College of Management (@NC State Poole College of Management) 1664395186
She ordered the cake ahead of time at an Albertson’s grocery store near the Nike campus and contacted Instacart to make the delivery. Luckily for Blackburn, the delivery driver was Denise Baldwin, a single mother of three, who goes the extra mile for her customers.
"That’s just how I do my Instacart. Like every order I take, I take it as if I was putting groceries in my home or taking stuff to my spot or a family member that needs help," Baldwin told Today. "I take every order into consideration and make sure I do my best with every order."
With the delicate sheet cake in one hand and her 8-month-old son in the other, Baldwin traversed the 300-acre Nike campus and wouldn’t stop until she found her person. "I knew navigating Nike’s large campus was a feat, but combining a giant party with tons of people on top of that adds another layer of complexity to this delivery," Blackburn wrote on LinkedIn.
Even though security asked Baldwin to leave the cake at the front desk, she was firm that she had to hand deliver it to the correct person. With the help of security, she was able to do just that.
Baldwin was inspired by Blackburn’s dedication to furthering herself.
"You have inspired me," Baldwin told Blackburn. "This was meant to be. I am a mom and I am tired of doing Instacart. I know I have more abilities and qualifications to get something better. I'm so glad this worked for the both of us."
Blackburn posted about the cake delivery on LinkedIn where it went viral, receiving over 132,000 likes. Even though she didn’t get a job at Nike, her resume got her a lot of attention from potential employers.
On Monday, January 30, Blackburn will start a new job at CureMint.
"I will be the director of growth marketing at a software startup called CureMint—we make software that helps dental companies automate their business," she told Good Morning America. "To be on the other side of the job hunt feels good. It has definitely been a roller coaster with the virality of the LinkedIn post."
Blackburn hopes that her unique way of approaching her job search inspires others to find imaginative ways to get themselves noticed.
"Don't be afraid to do something out of the box and never give up on what you really want,” she told Good Morning America. “Because it will happen, you just have to keep going."
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."