BAZAAR Power List 2022: Leading Ladies In Singapore's F&B World

Why the pivot from entertainment to the food industry?

I’ve always known that it’s not something I want to do for life—I don’t want to be acting until I’m 60 or 70. Baking has always been therapeutic for me. Even after a long day at work, I would go home, bake at midnight, and bring things to the set the next day. When people enjoy and finish the food, and even remember it years after, that gives me a different kind of happiness. With food, it’s very direct; people don’t lie about it. If something is not good, nobody is going to scarf it down. For me, it’s a very pure way of communicating. I was self-taught but it came to a point where I wanted to empower myself with the right knowledge and techniques, and ultimately know how to create. As my end goal was to open my own patisserie, I didn’t want to rely on a chef or just lend my name to a shop—I wanted to be the one behind all the creations. That’s why I decided to do the nine-month course at Le Cordon Bleu. I wasn’t planning on starting a business so soon but the demand just grew very organically.

What have been some of the challenges you faced in this new industry?

The F&B industry is actually less forgiving [than entertainment]. With entertainment, people take a lot of things with a pinch of salt—you’re just an entertainment topic. But with food, and especially with me being a celebrity, the beginning was tough. People would make comments like, “Oh, she’s just a celebrity having fun”, “This is just a hobby”. But it’s not just a hobby—I want to be taken seriously. It’s why I went to get the proper certification and knowledge, it’s why I’m doing it by myself. It’s also why I was very insistent on not doing media gifting. I know I have the connections to, but I didn’t want people to say nice things just because they got it for free. I wanted to prove my worth on my own.

How do you think you’ve grown over a decade in the industry?

I opened my first café at 22. When you start out that young, people just assume that your chances of success are not very high. That fear of failure was the thing that spurred me on. Everything had to be perfect—because of that attitude, I became this mean, nasty person when things did not go my way and I pushed a lot of people away. As I became more mature, I realised that my motivation was no longer the fear of failure—it’s about achieving balance. The moment I came out of that box where everything needed to be perfect or done a certain way, I became a lot calmer and more receptive to people, and I had more space to think about what I wanted to offer.

What are your hopes for the industry?

When we were curating the menus for our shops, I realised we look a lot to the Melbourne style of living and eating. I think it’s easier for them because they have very high-quality produce. But in Singapore, if you tell people that you are selling egg mayo, for example, they would be like, “Why? I can make this at home”. I hope people can begin to open their minds to what we put on the table and trust that we don’t just take frozen stuff and defrost it. I do think Singaporeans as a whole are getting more discerning; for us, we just need to continue pushing boundaries and bring more value to the table.

What’s a look that makes you feel powerful?

I always find myself in flared pants. I wear a lot of hats in the day—I’m a barista, a baker, a trainer. I go into the kitchen sometimes, and I can’t do that in a little miniskirt, so being in flared pants gives me that versatility. I am dressed for what I need to do, but it can also be glamorous. In the day, I run around in sneakers and a crop top; after that, I can still go out for a date night with my husband.

Why do you do what you do?

I love creating new things. The process of building something drives me. I love putting everything together—the element of creation, bringing a new concept to life, sharing it with people and having them experience it for the first time. For Brass Lion, the journey started 10 years ago from this desire to create a Singaporean spirit. There weren’t any at that time and I wanted to create something we could call our own, with ingredients and botanicals that were familiar to us—things we grew up with; things we use in our cooking. When you talk about Singapore and drinking, people think of the Singapore Sling, which is a gin-based cocktail. You shouldn’t use a foreign gin and call it a Singapore Sling. That was partly why I wanted to create a Singaporean gin as well. Now that we have the product, what drives me today is sharing that product with the rest of the world.

What are some of your frustrations with the industry?

Sometimes, I feel like a lot of people who say they “support local” can be a bit hypocritical. When you go behind their bars, there are no local brands. I’m not even talking about Brass Lion, just any local spirits or beers. I feel that if you want to support local, or if you say you’re farm-to-table, that concept needs to be carried all the way through. Your drinks programme also needs to reflect that. It’s something that we try to advocate for but progress doesn’t always happen fast enough.

Why do you do what you do?

I started my first business at 16 selling homemade cakes to cafés. The challenge that I always pose to myself is: Can I build a legit, sustainable business? I chose the food business because it’s everything I have ever known. I was born into it—my dad runs a chicken rice store that has a history of 50 years. I’ve also worked in restaurant kitchens and I don’t like how toxic the environment can be sometimes. I’ve always wondered: Why can’t a kitchen environment be super positive and welcoming while also being a profitable business with quality products? When I built my business, I went in with the intention to have a good environment—it’s something I wanted to prove to myself.

What is a look that makes you feel powerful?

I am super into silk dresses because they kind of defy everything that has to do with working in a kitchen. I feel that a lot of female chefs and bakers are always being put in this box—people think we’re masculine or tomboyish, that we are not pretty or glamorous. For a lot of the shoots I’ve done, I’m always asked to come in my chef’s jacket. But I don’t really feel my best in a chef’s jacket—it’s just part of my work identity, but not something that defines me. You can never wear a silk dress in the kitchen—it hugs your body, it makes you feel sexy. I don’t think it’s something a lot of female chefs like to say because we’re always having to stand up against the guys in the kitchen. If you show any signs of femininity, they’d think you’re weak.

What is one lesson you’ve learnt through failure?

We opened a Fluff Bakery branch in Kuala Lumpur in 2017 and we closed it in 2019 when the lease was up for renewal. The business was doing okay but the stress of handling two outlets in two countries was too much for me. At that time, it was very crushing but in hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise because if we had to get through Covid-19 in that situation, it would have been very tough. The lesson is that there’s always a silver lining; things happen for a reason. Sometimes, you just need to take a step back to be able to see it. Because of that, I was able to focus more on the business here and grow it. We’ve expanded to a bigger store with a savoury range, and offer cooking and baking classes.

What excites you about the industry today?

That there are a lot more options for Muslims. Growing up, our best options for cakes were the fast food or supermarket kinds—which were good, don’t get me wrong—but we didn’t have the kind of flavours we now have in the bakery. It excites me that today, there are more young and entrepreneurial Muslim bakers—who went to culinary and pastry schools, who know the right techniques—with exciting visions and who are doing new things. They may be my competitors but I welcome them for [the sake of] the industry.

What is a look that makes you feel powerful?

I’m in a fitness phase right now so I work out about three or four times a week, and when I put on my Lululemons or my Sweaty Bettys, I really feel like: Yes, I’m ready—let’s crush this workout and take on the world.

Why do you do what you do?

I love seeing things being made from scratch. In the process of making bread and pastries, all of your five senses are activated in the kitchen. The feeling of having a freshly baked croissant or baguette in the morning with coffee, creating a business around that, watching it and the team grow, is a chaotic process. But I enjoy carving out a system from the chaos.

What is your first visceral memory of food?

As a kid, watching my mother make soft-boiled eggs in the mornings and having my grandmother’s creme caramel for tea. The memories of how they made these simple foods—through acts I find delicate and precious—are forever ingrained in the actions and decisions made in
my kitchen.

What excites you about the industry today?

Firstly, I’m excited that people are now open to new flavours and are bold enough to try out new things. Secondly, in this expansion of flavours in the industry, people are digging deeper into their personal history and heritage to find greater meaning and appreciation for the different tastes they are creating and experiencing. These two things hand-in-hand definitely excite me both as a business owner and a food lover.

Why do you do what you do?

First and foremost, I want to leave a mark. It can be big or little, as long as I leave one. This, together with a desire to share my story and the essence of who I am, led me to start a vegan ice cream brand. I also want to set an example for my two little girls—that with a lot of hard work, enough passion, and a little spunk, the possibilities are endless.

What is a lesson you have learnt through failure?

A big lesson I learnt on this journey is that it’s generally impossible to please everybody. I used to get so carried away with each and every request from our customers. By offering too much too soon, I got to a point in the business where I lost focus, was overloading my kitchen staff, and even compromised the business operationally. If your products are good and the customers like your brand, they will come back. It’s important to stick to what you’re good at, offer products and implement changes that are feasible, and always take into consideration your team’s input.

What excites you about the industry today?

There has been a drastic shift over the last few years and I am personally excited about two aspects. First, the explosion of the sustainable food trend. Conscious consumption on a global level is dictating how we’ll be eating—we have been and will be shifting even more towards plant-based foods. The second thing has got to do with ethics. As an industry, we must now connect with consumers differently. Our customers are looking beyond products and are increasingly demanding transparency. They are willing to understand brand value, and we need to be able to communicate that to them.