What started as a way to earn some extra cash has brought a mother and daughter closer as they try to put smiles on the faces of satisfied customers of their home catering operation.
Shelliza Rasul, 34, and her daughter, Joliza Charles, 18, are the gifted hands behind New Way Sweet Treats, which was started as a side hustle by the pair.
“I did not think of it [the business] to be a large scale option until Joliza gave me the idea,” Shelliza, a nail technician, told Stabroek Weekend of the venture.
“Honestly we’ve always been close. Baking together has just helped to strengthen our bond and it’s something that we can always do together,” Joliza, who is an International Relations major at the University of Guyana, added.
Over the last two years, they have been supplying baked goods from their Plaisance, East Coast Demerara home to persons who desire a taste of their delicious creations.
Shelliza grew up watching her own mother baking and was able to learn from her just as her Joliza has learned from her.
Nevertheless, Shelliza, a salon owner, says that there was a time when she did not cater to people with food and instead she worked full-time as a nail technician. However, with enough free time on her hands, she decided to do a part-time baking course at the Carnegie School of Home Economics, after which she started catering for persons who would ask.
However, her work at her salon remained a full-time job while she took up baking on the side, as she had not seen baking as anything more than a fun hobby, that is, until she saw a reduction in her clientele and Joliza recommended that she try to make it a second job.
After taking her baking business to social media, with her daughter’s help, Shelliza was able to attract more customers and also got more customers for her nail salon as well. “Joliza started our social media pages,” the mother explained.
Together, the mother and daughter now bake cakes and cookies of all kinds. Joliza said that she usually bakes the cookies and does designs, while her mother handles the harder baked goods.
After receiving orders, for which they require that a deposit be made in advance, the two set a date when they are both free to make the order. They often spend time together while gathering their ingredients and then while baking.
Joliza added that her brother, despite his tender age, likes to be around them when they are baking and she said she would not be surprised if he joins them when he gets older.
She suggested that for now he is there because he hopes to get a bite out of whatever is made.
After the baking is done, the two decorate whatever food they have created and then wait for the food to be picked up or they have the goods delivered to the client.
Joliza, who has always been good at art, sees baking as an outlet for her own artistic side, which represents some amount of progress for someone who never liked cooking. “Before finishing school, I did not like to cook but now I see it all as a hobby,” she said.
Joliza also said helping her mother bake has drawn them closer to each other. Shelliza is a single parent but Joliza said her mother has played the role of both parents for her.
The young woman also said that since she has always seen her mother as a close friend, she feels comfortable sharing everything with her, especially since Shelliza reciprocates as well. “…She tells me things too when she’s frustrated about things… so it’s like we have a great mother-daughter relationship,” the youth said, while voicing her own hope that someday her children can also bond with her the way she has bonded with her mother.
However, she emphasised the importance of having something in common around which they can bond. Shelliza agreed with her daughter and even went on to say that “parents need to forget about the generation gap and start communicating with your child. Let them feel welcomed and see that it’s okay to be fully comfortable talking to you.”
