Today we’d like to introduce you to Aliya Khan.
Hi Aliya, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I was raised in upstate NY. My mom is a great cook, so I wanted to be like her, so I went to a local culinary college there and discovered I loved baking more. I graduated and went to CIA in Poughkeepsie. I’ve worked in bakeries and kitchen since I was in high school and up until I was in my 30s. I become a mom and stayed home to raise my son. He just started going to school full-time, so I decided to go back to baking and focus on creating custom cakes from home. So far, I’ve gotten great responses for my work and so much support from friends and family; without them, I wouldn’t have gotten the courage to actually pursue this full-time.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to learn how to balance everything and everyone at home. I end up baking while my son is at school and working on my cakes in the evenings after everyone is asleep. If I have to do it around my son, he’s thinks the cake is for him and gets so sad when it leaves the house. I’ve had to learn how to advertise to get clientele and figure out social media. My friend critiques my pictures, so I take professional-looking pictures. It’s a definitely a learning process for sure.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I create custom cakes and cupcakes for special occasions and weddings. I bake everything from scratch and use real ingredients that everyone can understand, so no preservatives at all. My buttercream is ALL butter and only butter.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
People are very supportive of local businesses and esp home-based businesses. Word of mouth is great, but advertising on Facebook in local groups helps a lot. This city is huge. Not much I don’t like abt it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/cakes.byaliya?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089543261226&mibextid=ZbWKwL
