Our Friday Feature this week is the wonderful Rashida from Rashida’s Patisserie. During her professional training in a hotel kitchen, Rashida fell in love with the pastry section. Fast forward a few years and, wanting to balance her career with spending time with her young children, her patisserie business was born.
Let’s get to know more about the creative woman behind the small business…
I have always been creative, even as a child I loved writing stories and poems, painting and I even tried my hand at knitting.
Definitely! Especially anything involving working with my hands can be really relaxing. Sometimes I will bake something just for the fun of it with no expectations apart from enjoying the process.
As an apprentice chef at 16 I worked at the Hilton Metropole and as part of my training I spent 3 months in every kitchen department in the hotel over a period of 2 years. I loved cooking but never expected to fall in love with the Pastry Kitchen.
The combination of science, precision and creativity drew me in.
At the end of my training I had the opportunity to choose which kitchen I would like to work in permanently and I chose the pastry Kitchen and that was the beginning of my career as a Pastry Chef.
My small business started from my home kitchen at the end of 2020. My youngest daughter had just turned one and I so missed sharing my patisserie with others but at the same time I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my young children, so I decided to start my business from home. Which ended up working out well because the world was upside down at the time with Covid.
I’m quite blessed because no two days look the same which keeps things interesting. It’s usually a mix of business admin, teaching classes at my studio or creating bespoke cakes and Croquembouche’s for events.
As much as I love what I do, you can burn out if you don’t take rest seriously. Being a small creative business owner means that for a while you will be wearing all the hats in your business.
I have learned that it’s important to put boundaries in place to protect the craft that I so dearly love. This has allowed me to continue to create from a place of joy because the last thing you want is to work every hour, say yes to everything and then end up resenting your business.
Even after many years as a Pastry Chef and 5 years in business, this still comes up from time to time, most commonly when I am stepping out of my comfort zone – but I remind myself that sharing my God given gifts are more important than my fears.
Being commissioned by the FA to create a Wembley Stadium Cake was a real pinch me moment. Growing up in Brent, the Wembley Stadium Arch was something I saw daily so to create a cake to celebrate such an iconic monument was an honour.
The flexibility, it allows me to be present for my family as well as do something I truly love. There is also such a beautiful community of inspiring women doing amazing things in business supporting and collaborating with each other which is wonderful to be a part of.
I would probably spend it on marketing and outsourcing the things that don’t come as naturally to me and focus my attention more on the creative aspects of my business.
You can just imagine how incredible Rashida’s creations must taste, can’t you? So much passion and skill goes in to everything she makes, and the very fact she was drawn into patisserie because of the science, precision, and creativity suggests she has a keen eye for detail.
To find out more about Rashida and her patisserie services, head to her website: rashidaspatisserie.com – or for behind the scenes content, take a look at her Instagram: @rashidaspatisserie
If you haven’t already found us over on Instagram – why not come say hi and give us a follow. We would love for you to join the conversation and help spread the movement by liking and sharing our content.
Any and all opinions expressed by third parties in our content are not necessarily the opinions of FCS. All FCS content, including content provided by third parties, is intended for general guidance and inspiration. Third-party products and services mentioned in content have not necessarily been tested by FCS. Any content feature, mention of a third-party product or service, or link to a third-party business and/or external site, does not suggest an endorsement from, or affiliation with, FCS. FCS is never paid (or directly compensated) for any features, opinions, or information provided in our content about any third-party services, products, sites or miscellaneous topics – unless clearly stated otherwise.
