Durban — A teenager who overcame bullying as a child, chanelled the negative energy into something positive by setting up her own bakery business at the age of 16.
Siphesihle Mhlongo, who owns Sippy the Cooking Teen, said it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to run a business while still in high school.
She said that she started baking at a young age.
“Seeing that I can make my own money doing something that I really loved and enjoyed doing while I am still young motivated me to start my own business.
“I started to bake when I was really young, although I do not remember the exact age. I used to watch my grandmother and mom bake cupcakes as well as baking shows on TV, and was totally fascinated,” said Siphesihle.
Her vision is to own a bakery and restaurant some day to create employment opportunities.
“I see myself progressing from where my business is right now and selling way more cakes for weddings as well as to big clients. I bake for events but I have not baked for weddings yet, and I would like to do that really soon,” said Siphesihle.
The teen, who said that she was proud of what she had achieved, has recently been focusing on her school work as she wants to pass Grade 11.
She said that her first client was her mother’s friend.
“After that, I talked to my mother and we decided that we can actually turn my baking skills into a business and she posted on her social media platforms, that is when I started getting orders and just like that, it became a business.
“As a young child I was bullied at school for various reasons but I had to overcome it. Bullying comes from people who want to make fun of you for something or make you feel like you are less than them.
“With that energy, they are putting negative energy into you and to your system, basically you need to channel that energy into something positive and give them something they can not laugh about,” said Siphesihle.
She added that there was a lot of pressure on youth today from social media and because the world was no longer economically stable.
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Daily News