By Kefiloe Kajane
Jade Gerbet founded Lush Pastries Lesotho at a tender age of 20s, an online bakery that has been booming on social media since last year.
Gerbet is 20 years old and she started her business after she graduated from culinary school and could not find a job. She told theReporter that she has always known she had a passion for baking but never thought she could take it on as a career.
Lush Pastry operates online, selling different types of cakes, biscuits, cupcakes pastries and cookies.
Gerbet says starting the business was a bit challenging but, with the help of her mom and her natural talent, she has been able to pull through. She says at first she wanted to give up because she would go for a whole a month without any orders from clients and business was bad.
“With time, when people started knowing about me through referrals and others on social media, I started gaining a lot of customers, and that motivated me a great deal.
“I never thought I would go into baking as a career; growing up, I always harboured these dreams of becoming a lawyer or accountant at the very least. But somehow while I was preparing to apply for college, I realised how interesting culinary school would be.
“However, like everyone else, I was not quite prepared for the challenges of the real world, those that come after graduating. When I struggled to find a job, it dawned upon me that I could actually start my own thing. My business is different from others because I deliver and custom- make exactly what the customer wants.
“I would like to one day see myself owning my own shop where people can pop in and sit down and enjoy the goodies,” Gerbet said.
She emphasized that starting a business is challenging as it needs someone who is focused and knows what she wants and what she wants to achieve.
She said it is also important to be different from the competition as clientstend to fall in love with your uniqueness.
At the moment, her business only operates online and can be found on Facebook as ‘Lush Pastries Lesotho’.
