Sugar and spice all things nice? Neah! Protein bakes and lovely cakes! Chef Farida Taher, a fitness enthusiast who has been into powerlifting for the past six years, was looking for healthier ways to up her and her team’s protein intake. The protein scoops were not helping. So she started ravaging her kitchen and came up with Protein Bars which were an absolute hit!
From making Protein bars to baking niche cakes
In the first month of making the protein bars, she sold about 10 kilos of them. It was liked by everyone, and that’s when her baking journey started. Farida never thought she could spend so much time in the kitchen. But things seemed to have worked out that way. She was a GMAT/GRE trainer at The Princeton Review before she became a Chef!
She obtained her diploma from Whitecaps International School of Pastry Arts in the Paris Patisserie Program. In her words, it was a game-changer because when she started baking, “people started appreciating the flavours and everything. At that point of time, I wasn’t too worried about my presentation”. The academic learning “exposed me to a world really awesome international baking style.”
She even took a few courses at Lavonne Academy India and aced her baking skills. In September 2020, she started Wild Sugar Gourmet Baking in Mysore. She has some unique and premium offerings in terms of Apricot Almond Russian Honey Cake, Gluten-free Apple Crumble Cake, Entremets on a Stick, Naked Cake Chocolate truffle, and a lot more. One look at her Instagram page and the drool-fest begins!
Chef Farida Taher x TagMango
Farida then experimented a lot, perfected her cakes and it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that her baking journey took off the full-blown way! Ask her how TagMango came into the picture, she cites that she was doing online classes but she faced a lot of challenges in terms of payment collection, marketing and more.
She quips, “I approached TagMango. And, they were very willing to get me on board. And the best thing was that when I did the first class, I was amazed by their involvement each step of the way. Like, they exactly told me how to go about it, what they would be catering to, how do I go about marketing the workshop, how to build the content and everything. I never had a problem building the content, my problem was always marketing it. And that’s where the TagMango team helped me. I wanted somebody really thorough, somebody who understands my business and likes to do things the way I do. I was very amazed by the way TagMango did things. ”
From two workshops a year to two a month and Rs 3 L earnings
Earlier Chef Farida Taher used to conduct maybe one or two workshops a year. After being associated with TagMango since September 2021, she now hosts a minimum of two workshops a month. In the last 5 months that she has been a Creator on the platform, she has taken home an earning of Rs 3 lakh.
She speaks of the team that supported her very fondly and cites that the marketing strategy and client support from TagMango’s end have been a boon for her. Ask her what her biggest achievement has been in the last year, and she says, “My biggest achievement has been the visibility part of it. I have become visible as a teacher, as a baker, as a past chef, by doing these classes because there are lots of people who want to learn a lot of things. I’m surprised by the love and the trust that the students have in me. That, too, has been a very big achievement.”
Not only her business has grown, but Chef Farida has also, in two and half months, gained more than 200 subscribers.
Her take on Creator Boom and Creator Economy
Ask her about the challenges a Creator faces today and she says, “If you don’t have a platform and if you’re doing it solo all, all on your own, then, there is a lot of challenge in that.” She adds how she has done it all alone. From being on Facebook and doing those live sessions or giving pre-recorded sessions to personally replying to the student, etc. Plus, they (students) don’t have anything solid to actually look back at. “And TagMango caters to that segment of students who can just see the content and decide whether they want the class or not, and how to get access to pre-recorded sessions immediately,” she adds.
“The second challenge is there is so much competition, so how can a creator be unique? What is a creator’s USP?” quips Taher. The third challenge she says is building and handling the student community and also offering after-sales support.
Question her about India’s Creator Economy boom and how it looks like in the next five years, she says, “I think that’s a huge boom, I think because of the COVID phase people have shifted to digital so much. And it’s a win-win situation. It’s not only that the creator gets to teach or publicise their content in the city or country they are but the access is worldwide. Also, people get to learn from the best people on the Internet being anywhere around the globe. So I can from an academy in Paris because of the online classes sitting right at home”.
Chef’s advice to young Creators
In conclusion, Chef’s advice to young Creators out there just who are just starting out is:
- Stay committed to your craft.
- Be absolutely sure and thorough before going out there and teaching someone any skill
- Teaching is a huge responsibility, so always keep that in mind.
Chef believes every day is new learning for her. Today she owns a baking studio and is one of the top Creators on TagMango spreading the baking cheer to whoever wants to learn to bake. And that’s really inspiring!
“Look after your dreams and never stop working towards it” – Chef Farida Taher
Let that remain your thought of the day! We, at TagMango, love our Creators and are always cheerleading for them to reach greater heights. Just like Farida took her love for baking to a new zenith and we are proudly highlighting her journey, we are waiting to bring you more success stories of our TagMango Creators. Keep watching this space!
Written by Rachna Srivastava
