DURBAN - TWO YEARS ago, Helen Mazibuko was at a crossroads in her life: she could either stay in Pretoria as a professional or move to Newcastle so her family could live together under one roof. She chose to move and has never looked back.
Mazibuko, 41, now lives in Signal Hill, Newcastle, where she runs her thriving bakery, Sugar Lily Cake Studio. Before moving to Newcastle, she worked as a client service delivery associate manager at technology consulting Accenture.
While she enjoyed success at work, life at home was a challenge. She had to raise her two sons, Nkazimulo, 10, and Fezile, seven, mostly by herself while her husband, Gugu, commuted weekly from Pretoria to Newcastle, where he works.
“Gugu commuted for almost two years, leaving home on a Monday morning and returning late on Friday nights,” she said.
“I could see how this was disrupting our family. Every time he had to leave, my children would be in tears. I also needed his support. It was not easy being left with two young boys.
“My turning point was the day I got sick and had to drive myself to hospital. The hospital ran tests and found nothing wrong; they gave me medication and sent me home. I drove home in pain.
“That night, my mind was made up. I believe it was God’s way of pushing me to make the decision. When Gugu returned home that weekend, I told him we’d move to Newcastle in the new year,” she said.
In January 2015, Mazibuko and her sons made the life-changing move.
She said it was not easy packing up from the busy streets of Gauteng. Moving back to Newcastle was a “culture shock”, even though she had regularly visited her in-laws.
She feared she would not fit into the culture as she was Tswana while her husband was Zulu.
“When I resigned, I knew I was going to start a cake business,” said Mazibuko, “even though I did not know how to go about doing it. I’d always loved baking but never thought to turn it into a business until my pastor mentioned it.
“That coincided with the time I was deciding whether to move to Newcastle I believe God planted the idea and I started working on it while I was still employed at Accenture.
“I love lilies, which is how the name Sugar Lily came into being. I also thought of making cakes as an art and imagined myself in a beautiful studio creating works of art. Hence the Cake Studio,” she said.
Mazibuko, a perfectionist, said her mother, Pauline Pelo, loved baking and cooking and she had followed in her footsteps. However, before she took her business to a professional level, she enrolled for a short course on wedding cakes at the SA School of Weddings.
She also took a few short certificate courses with Crystal Candy to learn how to work with crystal lace and chocolate and attended workshops on making desserts and candy tables and did a few online courses which helped sharpen her skills.
Mazibuko specialises in bespoke cakes for any occasion - and does additional products such as cupcakes, cake pops, macarons and others to supplement the cakes. She said the simple vanilla sponge cake was a firm favourite - she sold 180 a month.
“The experience I have as an accountant is helping me manage the financial side of the business. But the challenge is not having enough time to dedicate to accounting and admin work - now I have an accountant who does my financials.
“The initial set-up cost me about R60000. I had to get the proper equipment and baking tools. I was on my own from May 2015 to November 2016. In December 2016, I hired an assistant, Nyasha Hukwa, and shortly afterwards a part-time student, Thembelihle Masondo. I hope to hire another creative person soon,” she said.
Mazibuko said she planned to expand her business to at least four provinces and said this would contribute towards reducing the unemployment rate in the country.
Beyond that, she planned to start up Sugar Lily Café, a coffee shop division.
“It’s been two years since I opened the business and it has exceeded my expectations. It’s successful, but not yet where I would like it to be. There is room for growth and improvement,” she said.
Mazibuko is happy with her decision and said her husband and her children were happier as well. She loves the flexibility her work gives her and said it offered opportunities for growth in Newcastle.
While she was working much harder, she always made time for her family. The benefits of the long hours were much more fulfilling now, she said, knowing that the time and energy she invested went towards building her own business and legacy.
Visit: https://www.facebook.com/sugarlilycakestudio