Sana Imtiyaz Hussaini, a young woman in her 20s, has started a home-based baking business by the name Sweet Temptation by Sana Imtiaz. She has been featured on the Home Bakers list of 2020 and is the first woman from Srinagar to achieve this. She has turned her childhood passion for cooking and baking into a full-fledged profession. Her story can motivate every woman who dreams to start a business or who wants to pursue a career in the field of her interest rather than a conventional one.
Sana Imtiyaz Hussaini was born and brought up in the beautiful city of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. She attended the Presentation Convent Senior Secondary School in Rajbagh. As a child, she liked cooking and baking, and she always experimented with her culinary skills. Over the years, baking turned into her passion. However, due to the cultural setup around her, she had never imagined she would be able to pursue a career in that field. Her parents wanted her to enter the medical field. They were not much accepting of the idea of her starting a baking business, given that it was not a safe and sound career option.
However, destiny brought Sana on the path she had always dreamt of walking. She could not secure an admission in medicine and hence, she decided to go with the idea of a baking as a profession. To sharpen her baking skills, she took education that would help her in the bakery business. She completed certificate courses in baking from the Institute of Hotel Management and a diploma course in cake decoration.
In 2017, Sana started an online baking business and promoted her work via Instagram. Her Instagram handle is Sweet Temptation by Sana. She operates the business from her own kitchen and is working solo. She started with basic cakes and soon came up with varieties in flavours and decoration. Currently, she offers fondant cakes, cheesecakes, Oreo, nutella, choco-truffle cakes, and black and white forest cakes, among several others. Sana also makes and sells cake sickles, cupcakes, and even chocolates. In the long run, she wants to expand her baking business and create employment for those who wish to take up baking as their career.
In the place where Sana lives, baking has not gained wide acceptance as a profession. Medicine and engineering are considered respectable, but slightly offbeat careers like cooking or baking are not appreciated by the majority. However, this mindset of society has not affected Sana. She derives strength to keep going from her friends and parents who always encourage her and like her work. According to her, she would not have been able to start a baking business without the support of her family. Her biggest motivation is her love for baking. So, the criticism that she receives for her work or her profession, does not dampen her enthusiasm.
Sana’s home baking business has earned a good customer base. Her beautifully baked and decorated cakes are a wonderful addition, or rather a must-have for special occasions. She dreams to scale her business, but first, she wants to focus on academics.
This woman entrepreneur from Kashmir has found a place on The Homebakers’ 2020 list of the top 100 home bakers of the country. Her journey from being a baking enthusiast to a professional baker and female entrepreneur, is definitely inspiring.
