Meet the SHEROES - Gauri Bafna

Gauri Bafna graduated in Biochemistry from Xavier's college in Ahmedabad and then did a graduate diploma in Computer Applications. She started working for a local recruitment firm as the placement executive.

She worked with them for over a year and then moved to Vietnam with her husband. There she joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Coopers & Lybrand) as the head for HR Consulting for North Vietnam & Laos and worked with them for 4 years. After which she moved to Jakarta/Indonesia and took a job transfer internally and started working with PwC Jakarta Office as the Manager - Recruitments. However, a few months later she figured that her son (then just over a year) was not settling well with the house help and Gauri decided to stop working and be a full time mother and a expat wife. She moved from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur and continued to be a full time mother. When,

When Gauri realized there was no chance of getting back she thought of honing her baking skills further. That’s when Fleximoms workshop happened and she got a great push and encouragement after the workshop to identify not only my passion but also to follow it. She did a short course to make sure she had the right technique and equipments.

After the course, Gauri began baking for friends and family till another fleximom alumni Saumya Dahake pushed her on my first order from Pune to bake for her Niece's 1st birthday. That’s how  Sweet Centric came up.

Tells us about yourself
I grew up in Ahmedabad did my graduation in biochemistry and then post graduate in computer applications. I worked in the field of HR consulting right after post graduation.

After getting married and having kids I realized it was hard to get back to work and I took up baking. I  started sweet centric and it’s been a year and half and it has been a upward graph. My work got recognition in media and by and large the mom community in Gurgaon. It has been purely word of mouth on which my works runs

How did you get started?

It was a perfect opportunity for me when I moved to India to look at some options for myself. I stumbled upon Fleximoms, registered and attended a two-day workshop. Figured out my options and post that Sairee pushed me to follow up on my options. Decided to hone my baking skills and joined a cake decorating program for 3 months. That's how I got in this field. My first cake order also came from someone I know through Fleximoms. She (Saumya Dahake) pushed me into baking for her niece. And it's been 2 years since that time!!!

What are the challenges that you face every day?

Since this was never about bread and butter, it was a fun experiment for me. I have enjoyed this journey so far. The biggest challenges are sourcing best ingredients as they are not easily available here in India and getting people to understand the difference between a commercial bakery and baking on orders and pricing connected with it!!

Message for the SHEROES out there. 

Just take that first step you have been contemplating for long and the rest will follow and you will see the path opening up for you as you walk!!

Gauri is a nominee Indian food freak award. Vote for her here and don’t forget to try Sweet Centric.