A cup of flour, a tablespoon of sugar and a smidge of passion is the perfect recipe for a baking business. Sophomore Norah Siva turned her baking hobby into a professional venture by starting her business, “Baked By Norah” this August.

Once she launched her business, Siva began advertising her business on social media to Portola High students. Siva operates her business by releasing seasonal menus on her instagram account, @baked_by_norah, through which customers can place their orders using a google form. Siva said that she takes her business as a way to escape from the academic pressures.

“In school, it’s a lot of [trying to] get the best grades possible,” Siva said. “Here, I can actually have the room [to] make mistakes and be more messy with it and that’s more fun to me.”

Siva discovered her love of baking through her father, who taught her the basic skills and techniques. With the praise and encouragement of her family and friends, Siva was inspired to begin her business journey, which lasted for five years, before she landed with her final business plan. 

Prior to opening, Siva experimented with different recipes and had close friends test her baking creations. Junior Kristi Harig, one of Baked by Norah’s earliest customers, supported Siva in testing these unofficial recipes and gave input to her early marketing strategies of physical posters.

“I’ve seen her get into this idea before it was even a business and I saw her get to make posters and set up an Instagram page for it,” Harig said. “I’ve had an unofficial muffin product, but I really [loved] that it was very fluffy, very sweet, and I just [loved] the texture.”

In the kitchen, Siva experiments with different types of cookie recipes based on the latest trends and her personal flavors. Her most recent cookie flavors include “Cereal Milk Dream,”“Matilda’s Chocolate Cake” and “Butter Believe It.” Siva was enticed by the idea of starting a business because of the creative aspect as well as learning to navigate entrepreneurship, through marketing and sales management

“It’s really impressive that she made a whole platform,” customer and sophomore Sonja Rajkovic said. “She handles all the finances and baking, which is probably a lot to juggle.”

Throughout the ups and downs of her baking career, Siva continues to stay an active business owner, brainstorming marketing strategies for social media and preparing for her next menu launching this upcoming thanksgiving.

“The biggest thing is to start now because for a while I’ve always wanted to do this,” Siva said. “I kept on seeing successful people online, and I just never could bring myself to do it because I thought other people would make fun of me. But once I started doing it and I saw all the support I was getting, it helped a lot. If anyone has ever [been] scared of starting something they should just start, it works.”