58 March 2014 www.womanthismonth.com Baking queen Mona Shakib hasn’t looked back since she gave up her real estate career to focus on her passion, baking. Five years ago, Mona started a baking venture from home, making cakes for parties and takeaways. The response was so good that last year, she decided to launch Retro Mama, a cosy cake shop on Reef Island. Mona tells us how important it is to take that leap of faith. Woman This Month (WTM): Tell us about Retro Mama. Mona Shakib (MS): We’re a 1960s style cake shop that offers American-style cupcakes, cookies and pies. We believe in the goodness of traditional, old-school home baking completely done from scratch. I’m a huge fan of real cakes, with butter cream or cream cheese icing, that are fresh and tasty. I tend to stay away from cakes that are purely decorative but don’t taste good. WTM: Did you have any formal training in baking? MS: I am a self-taught baker, just like my mother, aunts and cousins. I used to help my mother in the kitchen as a girl. I baked my first two-layered cake when I was 12. After that, I was hooked. WTM: What’s special about your products? MS: I believe in using quality ingredients and fresh seasonal produce. For instance, I never source ingredients from the wholesale market, where you can buy in bulk at inexpensive rates. Even if it means I spend more, I shop at supermarkets to support local dairies and local produce. The logic is simple. It’s healthier to eat fresh, seasonal produce, rather than something that has travelled halfway across the world. WTM: Which are your best-selling items? MS: Our menu keeps rotating on a regular basis. We bake using whatever’s fresh in the kitchen and in season, be it strawberries or bananas. Our cupcakes such as Banana Bottom and Southern Red Velvet have been very popular, as are quirky items such as pumpkin cookies. WTM: Which aspect of your business is most important to you? MS: For us, service is everything. In the evening, you’ll find my husband and even my father here, serving customers and making them feel at home. I guess most of our regular clients know my family by name. Besides, our social media presence is strong, with over 2,600 followers on Instagram. I post updates and images of our products daily so that people know the flavours of the day. WTM: What would be your ultimate dream? MS: I’d love to see Retro Mama become an international name. However, I won’t rush to open more branches at this point as I want to maintain the quality of my products. There are certain practices that we follow, such as baking every day, serving customers ourselves and never refrigerating our cakes. Flavour and quality is the key to the strong relationship with our customers and we would never compromise that. Visit @retromama_bh on Instagram or call 77700222. Banker-turned-baker Mona Shakib believes in the goodness of classic home-style cakes. The proof is the success of her cupcake venture. A Piece of Cake people | interview by SIMI KAMBOJ
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