Not many have emerged victorious in sustaining their livehoods in these unprecedented times. While the coronavirus has snatched away many lives, it has also successfully made living miserable for those who are surviving the pandemic. The slight shift in paradigm of financial stability was still tolerable during the onset of the first wave. But, when you are a mother of two children who deserve nothing but the best things in life, I knew I had to find an alternative source of income that can also help me nurture my creativity at the same time. The economic recession that our country was going through impacted the finances of my workplace. The FMCG Industry with multinational ties was on the verge of shutting down due to supply chain breakdowns, time-sensitive shelf life, stock-piling and stockouts.
‘Received Substantial Salary Cuts’
Every other month, I continued to receive notices about substantial salary cuts. I work as a graphic designer, and I’ve always somehow found happiness in loving what I do best. Leaving the company that took care of me for years and that too during an unprecedented crisis simply because they didn’t have the money to pay me would hurt my moral sentiments. I chose to stay. As I was exploring freelancing options for myself, I came across the idea of home-baking. I started small by baking demo cakes for my little ones. I baked my first cake in April 2020 with a readymade pre-mix. In the process, I realized how I could turn this into something fun and exciting. I wanted my cakes to reflect the exact emotion and energy that I had in mind. I sat through the weekends watching professional bakers who made custom cakes. Initially, I was intimidated by the level of creativity required to bring such ideas to life. Just like how practice makes a man perfect, three weeks into it, I started feeling confident about the turn out.
Eventually, I realized that I could do this better, and when I started getting better, I began getting orders for the same. I started by making custom cakes for the apartment complex residents I lived in and my family members, of course. People were delighted with what I was offering. Owing to the pandemic, individuals now preferred home bakeries over others as home baking is more hygienic and pocket-friendly. I never thought I’ll ever be able to juggle two professions at once. But again, these thoughts are nothing but mind blocks. I bake and prepare my cakes for all my weekend orders during the weekdays after my shift. I take about five orders a week and provide quality cakes whilst making a little fortune out of my passion. When you love what you do, you never feel like you are compromising on yourself, even if, at times, you are overworked and exhausted. The home bakery I run today has changed my life, and I will always be grateful. It has improved the quality of living for my family. It has allowed me to work in the comfort of my home while being my own boss.
My self-esteem has shot back to normal after I started baking. My home bakery has helped me mature as a person and played a huge role in healing my confidence. I would encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone and do something challenging and life-changing at the same time. Lift your spirits by giving yourselves a chance at life again.
My mantra in life is that good is not good enough to be better, and better is not better if it can be the best.
If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com
