Where we began...

I have always had a love for baking, in my early 20s I would often spend days off making breads, meringues and egg custard tarts were some of my favourite things to bake. I had a knack for cake decorating, and enjoyed cooking just as much but never considered it a career option.

in my mid 20s I not only went vegan but I had to move into shared houses, a combination of having to unlearn everything I knew about baking and having to share a kitchen with 4-5 other people meant that baking wasn't a priority or often doable.

Fast forward to 2017 (or could be 2018) when I started working in a bright yellow shop on Mill Road in Cambridge that also happened to have a vegan kitchen. It didn't take long for me to want to get trained up in their kitchen, making fresh meals, salads and cakes that would be packaged and sold in the shop and I started to enjoy cooking again.

In 2021 I decided to move on, and try out a job in a local cafe, I was feeling very lost and not really sure what I wanted to do. Within the first month I started baking again, not only was I baking cakes and baked good but those around me realised it was something that (the majority of the time - I'm sorry for some those terrible attempts!) I could do well. It didn't take long for me to realise I wanted to work in a kitchen, but I also wanted to start my own business, I have so many ideas about what I want to do!

So in 2022 I started Dopa Delights... a vegan bakery run from my home kitchen with the dream of one day opening a luxury patisserie.

Since then I have had the opportunity to work in 2 other kitchens, and still do in 1, whilst running my micro bakery/patisserie from home. As well as having the opportunity to teach baking classes, have my first tasting menu, have multiple markets and even have a little piece on Hitchin Hub News.

Why Dopa?

The Dopa is the part of the brain that produces Dopamine, when I was naming the business I wanted something linked back to the reason why I love baking and why I love cooking for people.

A little cake, treat, snack, some good food has always helped me on a day day, it may not fix anything but it can just make my day a little brighter. As someone who has struggled with their mental health for nearly 20 years and has friends who have struggled, I am all about romanticising the small things that make you feel a little joy.

Food is universal, it can be something you gift yourself, something for a friend having a hard time, a small cake to celebrate a big achievement, it brings us together.

What's my dream?

I have so many things I want to do with this business, first off is to actually get a premise open of course.

We all know that kitchens are often long hours, low pay and a male dominated industry.

Some of my key goals and visions:

To pay living wage not minimum wage to all staff (including 16 year olds!)
To offer paid breaks and sick days/leave
To create a safe constructive environment where everyone can thrive
To incorporate aspects of a workers co-operative such as sharing responsibilities between staff based on skills and areas they want to learn (instead of a hierarchy)
To incorporate a bonus scheme based on the profit of the business so that staffs efforts that affect the success of the buisness directly affect them - this would be equal for all staff and not based on position in the business