– How Essequibo entrepreneur, Swetlana Mohamed balances her day job and her business

By Indrawattie Natram

FOUR years ago, 30-year-old Swetlana Mohamed of Lima Village on the Essequibo Coast could not imagine that she would be able to inspire young women through her own entrepreneurial ventures, but today she has no regrets and she is happy she took the advice of her dear friend who encouraged her to open her own catering business in Essequibo.

Swetlana Mohamed is known for her decorative, delicious cakes throughout the length of Region Two but beyond her catering business, this woman has an interesting story to share. Her determination and positive approach to life is a perfect example for other young women to emulate; having mastered the craft of multitasking while using technology to develop her passion and earn a livelihood.

Apart from her business “Aunty Otia’s Creations”, Mohamed is an Operations Technician at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Anna Regina Branch. She joined the GPL at the tender age of 17 and after undergoing an apprenticeship training programme, she was employed. But during her night shifts, Mohamed realised that she can do much more and as such would spend her past-time ‘YouTubing’- the modern-day form of learning new skills via video tutorials. It was then that she grasped the skills of cake decorating, which added to the little knowledge that was shared by her mother in cake making.

“I knew I just didn’t want to have one job and depend on that,” she told the Pepperpot Magazine. “I wanted to do something different and from then on I started to decorate cakes. I am happy I took that advice and encouragement from my friend. He recognised my talent and satisfaction that decorating cakes brought to me. I am better off today satisfying my customers and also giving my best as a technician.”
As a hobby, she also dabbles in Art, paintings and bottle craft. At her home, she had on display various art pieces that she created in her free time.

UNVEILING HER SKILLS
Mohamed said that the name for her business came a few years ago when some tenants of hers weaved their way into her heart with the birth of their baby boy, Bhaven. She said when the baby boy started to talk he could not pronounce her name correctly. “He started out with ‘Aunty’ then he added ‘Aunty Otia’ It was very endearing. As he grew older, every year shortly before his birthday he would come to me asking what cake I will be baking for him. It was always a joy for me to surprise him and as such the business got its name,” she said.

Mohamed said that the feedback from customers motivates her to give her best in terms of her extraordinary creations. “I juggle cake decoration and my job at GPL quite easily most times. At other times I have a minor struggle when I’m needed in two places at once but that’s not a regular occurrence,” she said. “I have a 48-hour work week at GPL working shifts. The rest of the time, I spend with my cakes or art.”

Her favourite quote is a popular one from Meg Whitman: “Do what you love and success will follow, passion is the fuel behind a successful career.” With that, she advises young people to surround themselves with people who believe in their dreams, keep companionship with friends that motivate them and seek opportunities that expand the way they see life.

Mohamed is currently doing cakes and catering based on orders and in the coming year,

she plans to establish a storefront where customers can go and choose from a variety of products that will be readily available.

She said the business gets challenging when she has multiple orders pointing out that it gets chaotic in the kitchen. She does all the baking and decorating by herself but also receives support from her mother who assists with tidying the kitchen. She said her

parents have been her greatest support in all her endeavours and although she is divorced, she has no regrets in life.