Liew stops cli��bin�� corporate ladder for bakery drea��s
MIRI: Liew Yee Ling chose to give up her career in the corporate world in order to pursue her dream to be a baker.
She said if she did not make that first step, she would not have achieved what she really wanted.
“To be honest, never would I have imagined that I get to live my dream,” Liew told The Borneo Post in an interview recently.
Right after graduating from university, Liew took up a job at a local hotel as a public relations officer. The pay was a little low for a fresh graduate, but she felt fortunate that she got to do one of her favourite things – meeting and socialising with people.
“I guess, it is one of my strengths too,” she said.
After a year and a half, Liew decided that she had gained the experience she had looked for and decided to move on for a better job that promised better salary.
“I wasn’t keen on my second job at a local bank, as it involved a lot of work and meeting daily deadlines. It kind of left me struggling with stress and pressure, with little space to breathe. I realised that it wasn’t for me, so I left the job after almost a year.”
On her third job at a development company, she said it was one of the best as she got to develop a project from zero.
“It was like taking care of your own baby and watching it grow into something good.”
At the time, despite the hectic schedule tied with her full time job, Liew would always fit in time to bake cake and décor to satisfy her love for cake-making and whipping cream.
“I’ve always enjoyed making different cakes and cup- cakes that come with different designs. It is actually therapeutic and at the same time, I get to enjoy my ‘ me-time’ while relishing in my own creativity.”
In 2014, Liew had the opportunity to prepare her nephew’s birthday. She made cupcakes, cake pop and mini cakes to suit the ‘Apple’ party theme.
“Seeing guests enjoying the desserts was probably the catalyst, enabling me to recognise my dream. Seeing how people enjoyed the cakes made me so happy and excited.”
To perfect her décor skills, Liew even took up baking class with a Korean teacher, learning Korean buttercream flower cake.
But why Korean buttercream flower cake, Liew was asked.
“There are a lot of different cakes we can easily find in the market. Korean buttercream cake captured my attention and interest when I first saw it on the social media. Every detail of the decoration, from the colour, the texture down to the shape of the petals etc., these are the challenging factors that attracted me to it.”
The glossy look of the Korean buttercream flower cake, which Liew showed during the interview, was very captivating.
“Not only it takes a lot of effort to perfect the flower, the smell of the butter is actually very refreshing, unlike the traditional buttercream, which is one of the reasons why it is well-loved and appreciated by cake lovers.”
After the course, Liew was determined to sharpen her skills in décor and share it on her Instagram ( IG).
“The posts attracted people from different places to inquire about the product I made. I wasn’t confident enough to turn it into business, so I treated it like sharing with friends and strangers,” said Liew.
Middle of last year, Liew decided to quit her corporate job to start her online dessert store – Bunny Bake to the shock and surprise of her friends and relatives.
“It was actually my intention. To quit a good, stable job may sound like a brave thing to do. It actually was. Because I had thought about my dreams for years but never made it happen. Now that I am 28 years old, instead of waiting for another five years, I chose to start it now. It seems like a little late, judging from my age, but better than never,” said Liew.
Her working experience in the corporate world, said Liew, had helped her in a way in dealing with the challenges during the initial stage of her business.
“More importantly, I managed to save up a good sum of money that helped me go through the prep stage without relying on my family for financial support.”
Merely a year after she turned her store into a full business premises, Liew had already received orders for cakes from customers from Miri, Bintulu and Brunei.
“People love what they saw on my IG page, therefore, they would often request for the popular Korean buttercream flower cake. I, for one, am easily bored doing the same thing, so I would make a better design for them, offering variety of flower designs that keep them awed.”
Last weekend, Liew conducted her inaugural two- day Korean Buttercream flower cake workshop that offered cake enthusiasts the opportunity to learn about cake décor.
“I don’t believe in keeping secret recipe. I love to share and truly believe that competition (with other people) is non- existent. Your worst enemy is yourself.
“If you can overcome your own pride and open up to share with other people, it is also your opportunity to learn from others.”
With the success of her first workshop, Liew is looking forward to future workshops to enable more cake enthusiasts to learn about Korean buttercream flower cake.
Liew said even though every individual may have their own commitment and life’s challenges they should give their best to pursue their dreams.
“Often it isn’t about other people’s criticism. It is always your own hesitation that holds you back from trying.
“Currently, one of my biggest challenges is the cleaning work after all the baking and I am learning to make peace with the messy ‘aftermath’,” she said with a smile.