 Oh 2024, you were our toughest year yet! You brought incredible highs that made me want to dream bigger and the most crushing lows that made me question everything :( January: We were building our commercial kitchen. Our dream quickly turned into a nightmare, losing thousands because my naive self trusted the wrong people 😞 but a bunch of our friends didn't let us give up, they offered their time, strength and expertise and we were able to eventually build our dream kitchen, and for this we'll forever be grateful February: our human baby turned 1! 🎉 and I never felt so proud of me and my husband for making it through our first year of parenting. With the both of us being working parents and without our close family and friends around, there were so many times where I felt helpless and filled with mum-guilt for prioritising my work over my baby. But you know who were always here to lift up our spirits? YOU, our customers, our community! We received so many great advice, parenting tips or just someone to share our similar experience with, and for this we'll forever be grateful March-June: We get approval from Casey Council to operate in our commercial kitchen and this feels like getting 100% on an exam you've spent the whole year studying for 🙏 We put our kitchen to the test by running a Mother's Day promo, and it all goes well 🥰! We test it further by running our very first cake class ever, and it's a huge success. And do you know why? Because THE Anita Laskovsky joined our team lol Anita brought so much cake knowledge, introduced us to new suppliers, ran our classes, but most of all it was her personality, she radiates positivity and believes in us, and for this we're very grateful July-August: I remind my husband of my dream to have a little Mauritian-inspired Patisserie shop, and he just said "Let's do it here!" and made it happen! ✨ So we open our shopfront in the warehouse itself, and I nervously put up a Story on Instagram to say we're doing a soft opening today. The first 3 hours, no one comes... I'm sad... my pastries are sad... its now 1pm 😢 And right on cue our first customer walks in! Another one comes in soon after, and another and as we approach closing time, one last person comes in and says they'll just buy everything, WE'VE SOLD OUT! These customers have a very special place in my heart and I hope you know who you are, because you helped me believe in myself, and for this I'm very grateful September-October: We've released our newest item, the Pâté! Available in chicken, fish and beef, it instantly becomes one of our best-sellers. We feel blessed that it's so well received, and to see so many of you visiting us again and again, some of you even travelling long distances to come taste our cakes. The more we hustle, the more new opportunities keep showing up - the neighbourhood daycare comes for a kitchen tour, Monash Library invites us for a cake workshop, we run collabs with other local businesses, we set up our very first market stall, we sponsor a community Halloween event! November: We're beat! Coffee is no longer effective, we lack serious sleep, I'm making mistakes in the kitchen, our child is throwing tantrums, I'm leaving work late at night, and it was just too much for our family and our mental health 😞 My husband takes the tough decision to resign from his job and work with us for free, but tbh it's the best decision ever. Yes our family now has more financial stress, but we are more motivated than ever before to make it work! We soon decide to hire more staff, and by now we have a dream team, and for this we're very thankful 🙏 December: Our shop looks so beautiful with all the Christmas decorations lol We are also excited to bake our famous Bûche de Noel which is a dessert our regular customers look forward to every Christmas. We end the year with a bigger team, new equipment, a happy heart and a total of 15 cake classes completed! Thank you 2024, you tested us in every way possible, but you also taught us resilience, humility, and the power of community. To everyone who supported us along the way—thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 💛
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