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5 Success Stories from The Bailiwick Academy Students
While some people get lost in their career paths, and some dreams are unwillingly deferred, listening to your passion and taking a leap of faith are bold steps taken only by those with real resolve.
This feature tells about real-life success stories of Filipino entrepreneurs who journeyed through completely different lives, but found their life mission through baking. The denominator? The Bailiwick Academy’s online cooking and baking classes.
Rags-to-riches Filipino entrepreneur stories are quite typical to hear. We are known to possess the diligence and resilience needed to build the success we want. And if materializing that future requires sacrifices beyond anticipated, we go for it anyway.
This nature of journey that involves unexpected turns and bold gambles is quite common among the success stories of Filipino entrepreneurs from The Bailiwick Academy, an online baking school in the Philippines. Pursuing a baking side job while working as a language counselor? The pandemic hit just as you tried to return to your job after giving birth? The career shift from healthcare to full-time baking? All are real events.
There must be something about The Bailiwick Academy and its online baking and cooking classes that induced these inspiring shifts or saved them from falling deep into the pit of life’s horrendous traps.
Here are 5 Successful Filipino Entrepreneurs and their Story
Filipina Baker in Japan Builds a Business Abroad
Maria Bernadette D. Kawasaki
Being part of a community with people who share similar interests as you is really key to decoding life — yours at least. Because who would have thought that Maria, a Japan resident who had zero knowledge of baking, would eventually build a home-based baking business just because she saw an online post on a Facebook group of bakers?
“One time, for some reason, I kept noticing posts of beautiful bread and pastries. I asked my fellow members where they learned to make these delicious-looking treats.” Maria said, pertaining to the members who suggested she check out The Bailiwick Academy.
After signing up, Maria started with pandsalitos and ensaymada free demos. When she experienced the fun and found potential, enrolling in more and more classes happened like an instinct. Now, she’s one of the most successful Filipino entrepreneurs in Japan.
Maria worked as a Filipino Language Counselor, but despite having a job, making ends meet was particularly difficult when you are raising a child alone and supporting your parents in the Philippines at the same time, not to mention that Japan is quite expensive to live in. So when she felt the courage to build a business using the skills and knowledge she gained from The Bailliwick Academy, she didn’t let that go.
Today, not only is Maria earning quite an extra income for her family’s needs, but her baked goods are also incredibly well-loved in Japan that people are willing to wait for her available baking schedules to order from her. She’s received flattering praises and seen smiley faces when having a taste of her creations that she proudly credits to The Bailiwick Academy.
As she said, “I am a true baker – and honestly, finally, call myself a good kind of baker.”
The Pandemic as an Opportunity for Home Bakery Business
Jackie Isip
The COVID-19 pandemic was truly a different world for everyone. Some were losing jobs, some were rotting in bed, some were facing bankruptcies — and in times like that, giving up was the easiest thing to do. But not for Jackie.
Jackie was a Personal Care Worker in Canada. Being in that position, leaving the country and working overseas in hopes of finding better financial stability was one of her dreams come true. Eventually, though, she had to stop working after giving birth to recover and take care of her newborn. Just as when she was ready to start working again, the pandemic hit and left her jobless much like everyone else.
But Jackie being the tenacious woman she is, wouldn’t back down so easily. She attempted a work in the IT field by attending a class, and the following turn of events is how you would know that fate does move in our lives.
In the building, she passed by a cake shop and was mesmerized by the beautiful cakes on display. Let me tell you: Jackie went to that class wanting a position in the IT industry, and she left with a newfound passion for baking.
She eventually began her baking career, half-satisfied and often tired from countless experiments in an attempt to achieve her desired results from free online tutorials. And as fate did it again, she stumbled upon The Bailiwick Academy on Facebook.
She immediately enrolled in a cake rolls class and discovered new skills and techniques. She not only learnt recipes, but also promising practices that really put her capabilities at a higher level. The next thing she knew was that she enrolled in classes after classes and her cake rolls became a huge hit. Even her bestselling ube cake improved significantly!
Jackie said, “…free recipes and tutorials are not comparable to the classes of The Bailiwick Academy. You gain a lot of knowledge, the correct techniques and useful tips. It helps a lot. The chef instructors are all professionals and highly skilled. My skills have improved greatly. Ever since I took up classes at The Bailiwick Academy I never went back to Youtube. Also, the fee is so worth it! When I enrol in a class I don’t think of the money I spend. The classes pay for themselves. Because of The Bailiwick Academy, I don’t need to look for a job anymore."
Now, Jackie has been managing her brand called Jackie’s Creative Cakes and Sweets. In fact, she became so busy that she now considers this her full-time job, sometimes working for 36 hours straight!
Leaving a Healthcare Career to Start a Baking Business
Joanna Cabrera-Tabua
Imagine earning twice as much in your business as in a career you studied long, hard years for. Well, that’s reality for Joanna, who happily walked away from her nursing career to be a full-time baker.
Joanna stated, “Pwede ko na i-let go ang work ko eh kase ang kita sa pagbi-bake ay doble na sa kinikita ko sa aking trabaho. Dreams do come true!”
It was simple: she graduated as a nurse, worked as a nursing assistant in a mental facility, and sold all kinds of things as a side job. Joanna was a very goal-oriented person and didn’t want anything other than the best for her family.
In 2009, she moved to Ireland in hopes of living and earning better for her family. She began as a babysitter and cleaner for different families and eventually landed a job as a healthcare assistant in a retirement home. Ironically, nursing for her was a mere means of earning, and her real life goal is to build her own business.
The beginning of Joanna’s success story was also one that occurred in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Baking was significantly trending. To Joanna’s curiosity, she looked for YouTube recipes and saw an advertisement for The Bailiwick Academy that caught her interest.
Joanna started with a bibingka online class and was able to buy more tools, ingredients, and classes to make and sell more products. She started out by giving samples to her friends and co-workers, until her market grew through word of mouth. In less than a year, she has established herself as a successful home baker. Joanna is now not only a seller, but a supplier of pastries to several Filipino stores in Dublin.
The experience, much more the emotional ride, wasn’t all that stable, though. On her first batch of supplies, she had doubts after seeing that she had competitors who sold Filipino bread just like her, but it was almost sold out in only a few hours!
Combining her savings and earnings from her new job as a baker, Joanna was able to pay off the mortgage on their house in Ireland, and hopes to build her own coffee shop in the future.
The Full-Time Nurse and Part-Time Baker
Rex Cabellon
Rex has an exponentially growing registered business in Canada called Dessert Plus by Rex. Apart from this, his bestselling siopao, pan de coco, and Spanish bread are regularly supplied in local restaurants across Saskatoon. But fifteen years ago, he was just trying to unwind after a long day as a nurse aid -– by baking.
Rex had no formal background in baking, just a genuine interest and a willingness to learn. He often found himself looking up recipes online, testing them in his kitchen, and giving away whatever turned out well. It was a hobby.
Until one day, he stumbled upon The Bailiwick Academy on Facebook. Out of sheer curiosity, he signed up for one class. And surprisingly, the recipes worked, the instructions were clear, and his bread started to look and taste better, unlike his first experiences with other workshops back in the Philippines.
Soon enough, a few people started asking if they could order. Not in large amounts, it was still far from a business at that point but more of a weekend project that gradually picked up momentum. When word got around, this was when he decided to register the business and set up a system for smoother order management.
Now, his weekends, days off are mostly spent baking, folding boxes, sending out orders, and learning new recipes. After Saskatoon, Rex will soon reach Regina, the Saskatchewan capital.
What’s admirable about Rex’s story is how baking filled more of his schedule but he was able to keep his job as nurse aid and stay present in his family duties. It meant rearranging things a bit and adjusting his routine to make it all fit, but he did it all like nothing.
That’s how big his business came to be, simply from one class. He proudly stated, “More than 75% of the baked goods I make are from The Bailiwick Academy!”
Pursuing a Lifelong Passion in Baking
Rose Cardwell
You know what they say: when you have a dream, it will continue to haunt you even if you pursue something different. It’s just a matter of decision whether to eventually follow it or regret it for the rest of your life. Rose didn’t want any regrets.
Rose has always liked baking. She studied Hotel and Restaurant Management, took a culinary course, and kept practicing in her own kitchen. But even with that background, she still felt there were gaps in her technique; things she wanted to get better at.
She found The Bailiwick Academy online and signed up for an artisan ensaymada and gourmet empanada class. The setup worked for her because she could go at her own pace, review lessons anytime, and the recipes actually worked. They became the base of her menu.
“After I finished watching those videos, I was so proud of myself to be able to come out with perfect outputs,” Rose shares.
People around her started to notice. She’d share what she made, and they’d ask to order; later gaining encouragement that she should start selling her baked goodies. Soon, her weekends were filled with baking, finally getting a hold of that dream she had always wanted to turn into reality.
What helped, she said, was the way the classes were built. They were clear, the instructors were very helpful in answering questions. Most importantly, the recipes felt ready for real-world use. It gave her enough structure to take the next step.
She started expanding her product line and blessed the world once again with her bestselling cake, a product from a salted caramel cake class from Chef Bam Piencenaves.
Rose exclaimed, “I also got the opportunity to serve food during a prom party. I presented a dessert buffet! And since that one event, I got more calls for orders of bread and desserts.”
Today, RC Cakes and Pastries is known in Cainta, Rizal for soft artisan ensaymadas, flaky empanadas, and her special cakes. She has finally built her dream business in the comfort of her own home.
Want to read their full story? Visit The Bailiwick Academy!
