For Grace Fisher, popularly known as Feranmi, baking isn’t just a skill, it’s survival, creativity, and business rolled into one. She runs E.S.S. — Exquisite Sweet Street, and behind every cake box that leaves her hands is a story of resilience, swollen ankles, smudged frosting, and a determination to turn flour into more than dessert.
Feranmi has always had that entrepreneurial spark. She laughs when she recalls selling things as far back as primary school. Baking came after secondary school, in 2018. Waiting for admission, she learned to bake, and soon enough, she was selling cakes and chin-chin. What started as a way to pass time quickly grew into a full-time hustle.
But don’t be fooled. Running a baking business isn’t sugar, spice, and everything nice. Feranmi admits that it’s exhausting. “Baking is very time-consuming and stressful. Swollen ankles and back pain come with the package,” she says. And that’s not even the hardest part. The real beast is logistics. Working with third-party dispatch riders in Nigeria often feels like gambling. As Feranmi jokes, “some of these people are the weapon fashioned against you.” Add the rising costs of fuel, inconsistent electricity, and customers who don’t understand why delivery in Ibadan costs 4k, and you start to see the not-so-pretty side of entrepreneurship.
Still, Feranmi pushes on. One of her biggest lessons has been learning to think bigger. For a long time, she framed her business as “small” and even positioned it that way to others. Now she sees how that mindset slowed her growth. She’s unlearning it, refusing to let “small” define her future.
And yes, mistakes happen. Cakes have smudged during photoshoots. A whole order had to be remade because the cake literally collapsed. She once baked for a date that was a week off from what the client actually requested. But instead of crumbling, Feranmi simply re-strategized.
So how does she keep her sanity in the chaos? The answer is music and planning. She writes down recipes before diving in, preps ingredients to avoid frantic searching, and surrounds herself with the right vibe. Music, she says, keeps her relaxed and energized because, let’s be honest, baking can get boring. And she’s quick to emphasize that help is necessary: “It’s definitely not a one-man job.”
Despite the stress, Feranmi keeps going because of the joy baking brings. Her favourite moments are when people taste her cakes and can’t stop talking about how good they are. The confidence she once lacked is now her fuel. Her least favourite part is washing all the tools after the magic is done. The bakers reading this will definitely relate.
For Feranmi, E.S.S. isn’t just about cakes. It’s proof that passion, consistency, and a little faith can turn a side hustle into something sweeter.
Amazing
ReplyDelete