Open my first bakery

Hi, my name is Karina, I’m from Latvia and I’m a vegan baker. I moved to England when I was 20, but I didn’t speak English, so for the first three years I worked in a factory doing 12-hour shifts. But I knew someday I wanted a decent job: the main thing was not to give up. I learned English from books and movies and then my journey really began. I started working in an Italian restaurant where I met the best chef in the world, who became like a father figure to me. I really admired Christian’s cooking, but it was his desserts that were really special. Christian taught me to dream big and has been super supportive all through my journey.

Inspired by Christian’s desserts, when Covid began I started to think more about baking. At the time I lived in abandoned house which didn’t have a kitchen, and I had to wash my dishes in the bathroom. But I bought a little oven for £20 and started baking. I baked day and night after my double waitressing shifts. But vegan baking is really difficult, and my first bakes were awful. After loads of time reading and watching vegan baking videos I gathered my experience and started to sell some little bakes at the local market place and it went so well I was able to upgrade my living situation to a real flat with a kitchen. Once I could bake more, orders started flying in and I didn’t have any days off.

When I met my partner Jordan, I moved to London with him. I was terrified because I’d spent my whole life in small towns, but I felt with my heart I just had to do it! It was the best decision in my life. Now I’ve been in London for three years. I started working as a barista and baked at night until I got my big break selling my bakes at Maltby Street Market. At first I only came with 7 different bakes, but the stand has grown so much since then. Now at my stall you can find more than 45 different varieties of cakes, puddings, tarts, cookies, cheesecakes, and more. I was baking all of this in my little fourth-floor kitchen, which had only one worktop and one oven (you can imagine how many boxes, tables, and gazebo I had to carry up and down every week). And I was still working in a café.

At Maltby Street my business exploded, as lots of people started coming back and I developed a regular customer base. So much so that I’ve had to move to a bigger house with three work tops, and I finally quit my job to bake full time. (Yahoo!) I’ve never thought that my life is hard as I always try to be positive – then again, when I look back I always wonder how the hell I did all of that. But it was great and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Now it’s time to make the final step of my dream come true. People are constantly asking when I’m going to open my first proper bakery and I know I’ll get there at some point, but despite saving every single penny, London prices are so high that it’s been out of reach beyond my little stand at Maltby Street and my portable coffee cart. Lots of my regulars and supporters suggested that I start a fundraising page, so here it is.

If you can’t donate, I would be so happy if you just come to Maltby Street and buy some sweets from me. Every purchase means I can save that little bit more towards getting a bricks-and-mortar bakery up and running.

Thank you .

Karina