AugustMan (Malaysia)

BURGIRLS

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MARYAM ARISSA MET the love of her life in Meteora Cafe, where she hit it off with the owner. They soon got married and started a family together, it was a place that held a ton of memories. However, just like the saying “life hits you when you least expect it”̶ together with her husband, they had to close the cafe down due to the partial lockdown affecting their business. After feeling down and beaten up for a few weeks, Arissa picked herself right back up and decided to continue their F&B journey through burgers. With the support from her friends and family, she teamed up with her sisters and started a burger joint called Burgirls.

We caught up with Maryam recently to ask her about her journey in starting Burgirls

What inspired you to sta Burgirls?

So my husband loves burgers and he is a chef. It started as a passion project to create the perfect burger that can be eaten almost everyday. Nothing too fancy but has enough wow factor to make it amazing. So my husband and I started playing around with different recipes and ultimately, we came up with the Burgirls sauce. We toyed around with over 15 different sauces but the one that we currently use now is somewhat similar to one of the sauces used at my

husband’s cafe at the time. It went well with both beef and chicken but we tried it out with fish, not expecting much, but to our surprise, it compliment­ed it superbly. A few weeks went by and we started “force feeding” our friends and family with our newfound love for this burger and they all really loved it. Soon later, my friends started urging me to sell them because they just can’t keep it a secret anymore. We then set up our burger stand near our house and people would just show up and start supporting us each day.

A er all the years of hard work you’ve put into opening your own cafe, how did the news of it closing down hit you?

It was painful to say the least. So much blood, sweat and tears (literally) went into Meteora Cafe, but all good things must come to an end, but that doesn’t mean it’s ‘THE’ end. I remember how my son used to love playing with the rest of the team, especially when the baristas would bribe him with churros or ice cubes. We even created a little corner just for kids and we were glad we could share the space with thousands of people. Our friends and family played a big part in helping us pick ourselves up. Without them supporting us emotionall­y and even helping out at the stand, we wouldn’t be where we are today, although we are still the start of our journey.

Are there any struggles you’ve faced in sta ing a new career path? If so, what are they?

Struggles are everywhere, so yes, we do face some of it, but we won’t let that stop us. A struggle was adapting to opening a stand by the roadside and then opening up amongst 20 over other vendors and now we are back to our original spot due to personal reasons.

What advice do you have for our fellow Malaysians who are seemingly going through the same struggles you have amidst the pandemic?

Honestly, as cliché as it sounds, you just gotta do what you have got to do. Don’t wait for motivation. Motivation is inconsiste­nt. You need to be consistent in what to do and that is more discipline than motivation. Let motivation act as a ‘booster’ and not as your reason. So whatever you have planned, go for it. If you fail, you’re learning a lesson, so remember it and never repeat the same mistake twice.

“HONESTLY, AS CLICHÉ AS IT SOUNDS, YOU JUST GOTTA DO WHAT YOU HAVE GOT TO DO. DON’T WAIT FOR MOTIVATION. MOTIVATION IS INCONSISTE­NT. YOU NEED TO BE CONSISTENT IN WHAT TO DO AND THAT IS MORE DISCIPLINE THAN MOTIVATION”

 ??  ?? FROM TOP Queen Beyonce—Grilled beef pa y, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Ariana Grande— Grilled chicken pa y, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Adele—Grilled chicken pa y, beef bacon,
cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes
FROM TOP Queen Beyonce—Grilled beef pa y, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Ariana Grande— Grilled chicken pa y, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Adele—Grilled chicken pa y, beef bacon, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes
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Jennifer Lopez—Crispy fried chicken pa y, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Kim Kardashian—Grilled beef pa y, beef bacon, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Selena Gomez—Crispy fried chicken pa y, cheese, Meteora’s bu ermilk sauce, le uce and onions
FROM TOP Jennifer Lopez—Crispy fried chicken pa y, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Kim Kardashian—Grilled beef pa y, beef bacon, cheese, Burgirls sauce, le uce, onions and tomatoes; Selena Gomez—Crispy fried chicken pa y, cheese, Meteora’s bu ermilk sauce, le uce and onions
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