Hellen Nkatha wears two hats. She is a teacher by day and a baker by night. She is also fortunate to be the only baker in the Mununga town, Kigumo Constituency, Murang’a County.

Nkatha’s kitchen basically manifests itself on every breakfast table in the area. What is interesting is that while she took years to learn the art of teaching, her baking skills were natured in just two days.

Banking on YouTube, she has however learnt more techniques and the art of baking. More importantly, she asks endless questions and looks up to experienced bakers and baking groups to power her work. To Nkatha, baking was initially a hobby, as she only wanted to bake for her family a piece of cake, in 2019.

But after realizing that she needed an extra job on top of her teaching to supplement her income. “I am not the only teacher who has an extra job on top of teaching full-time. Many teachers nationwide take on second jobs outside the school system. So when I realized that I needed a side hustle, I found it good to get into an area I had a great passion for.”

Pandemic boost

Although she started the business in 2019, Nkatha says it began to flourish when Covid-19 hit, as most people stayed home. During that period, a lot of celebrations were taking place at home and her cakes came in handy.

“I was lucky because I am the only baker in this community so I used to get almost all the orders. Then at that time schools were closed so I didn’t have to juggle from class to kitchen,” she said.

According to her, the journey has been a learning process, and having no mentor is what made her rely on social media for more skills. Though her first commercial cake was well baked from the inside the decoration was terrible. However, all through, passion and determination have made her get where she is.

Today she is one of the after sought bakers in Murang’a county. To ensure that her business is recognized countrywide, she officially registered it last year as Hellen Cakes and Caterers. The business offers quality fresh cakes for different occasions such as birthdays, weddings among others.

It stands on three firm principles that are customer service, presentation, and quality. According to her, the journey towards being an entrepreneur has been one of a kind and is worth every second.

The reason is, she has interacted with so many business people, met the who is who in the baking industry, has learned how to keep records, and to separate business money and her income.

“I have also learned that in business the difference lies not in our abilities but in our mentalities. If we have to make an impact, our mentality about what we are doing must be right,” she adds.

Career woman

As a career woman sometimes she may want to bake, but because of her other social engagements, she is unable. Further, delivery services have been a nightmare since some clients want to make orders but they are not ready to pay a delivery fee, this minimizes the number of orders.

The high cost of baking material is another challenge since last year due to an increase in the price of decorations and normal baking items which are reducing profits in the sector. Nkatha has now turned to social media marketing something that is paying off handsomely.

“Despite all those challenges, being an entrepreneur is one thing I want to do the whole of my life, it is worth it and fulfilling. Since I got into the business I have been able to make serious independent decisions without fear even those behold baking.”

Her future plan is to open up a bakery because she currently works from her home. She aspires to grow her business into a full fledged business and not just a side hustle but she has no intention to stop teaching anytime soon.