2022 is going to be an exciting year! Why you ask? If you’ve been following me on my journey this far, you may know that I am investing much love and time into growing My Kitchen Co (MKC) - and if you’ve stumbled across my blog, whether by accident or not, I’d like to give a warm welcome!
Over the festive holiday season, I kept pondering on what would be a good introduction to really kick off and share this journey with you - and it just feels right to share my personal story on how it all began before we get down to business.
Deep breath. Reflecting back on 2021, I can sit here and tell you all that my life is not what I have known it to be. Last year, I embarked on the journey of motherhood welcoming my first born Winston into the world. Suddenly I discovered free time (and a lot of it!) - something that I’ve never had before. To put that in perspective, I’ve always been the type of person who had multiple things on the go. I worked a 9-5 job and ran The Bake Co on top of that! My days were 15 hours long (if not more), and there were too many occasions to name where I would be pulling all nighters to fulfill my clients orders. It might’ve been exhausting at times, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing.
So, the next thing you know, the baby comes along. I’m on maternity leave, both professionally and as a business owner. My day-to-day is now consumed with constant baby duties that I felt I was losing my mind. During my baking days, I missed the luxury of time and being able to make savoury dishes, and entering motherhood really allowed me to dive back into that part of me that I had lost over the years. There is just something so special about serving good food to your loved ones and seeing the joy that it brings. This is what fills my soul. Well…long story short, that was when our chilli oil came about - the love for food x the love of those nearest and dearest.
You see, this ‘chilli oil thing’ was never created to be a business. I was simply creating dishes for those that I love, but a persistent family member kept on encouraging me to try something new. One day she asked if I would consider selling it because she not only believed in my product but knew that I could deliver. After A LOT of ear bashing (I kept telling her…nah I’m a baker), endless messages and much encouragement, I decided to take the leap of faith and reached out to my existing clients on what would be my new business venture. You could say the rest is history and My Kitchen Co. was born.
For those of you who don’t know me, I am a total sucker for “the universe is telling you something” and all the stars aligned. I honestly felt like this is my calling. Like many others out there, our family business had been affected by COVID and we had no choice but to close the doors after 15 years of pure devotion from my dad . I also really struggled with the thought of going back to work part-time and missing out on all of Winston’s milestones. However, much to ‘the stars aligning’, right at that moment, my chilli oil started gaining traction. It simply felt like a no-brainer, so I decided to resign and took that opportunity to grow MKC.
If you’ve made it to the end of my first blog post, I just want to say thank you! You make it all worthwhile as my love for food only grows, along with connecting with chilli oil lovers. If you are a chilli oil and food fanatic like me, follow me on my journey.
What I envision for MKC is a platform to share family recipes and products, including what I’ve learnt through these creations along the way. Stay tuned in posts to come as I share my mum’s special recipes (all complimenting our MKC Chilli Oil of course), and we hope you enjoy these just as much as we do.
Anhlinh