Sophomore Sia Chowdri remembers how in fourth grade, she first played around with baking at El Chico, her great uncle’s bakery in Prayagraj, India. The bakery, a four-story establishment, is known for hiring only top-tier chefs and producing some of the finest pastries in the region.
Chowdri recalls being mesmerized as she and her brother baked a cake alongside professionals behind the scenes. Years later, when she returned to the bakery, she was no longer just a curious child — she had developed her skills enough that the chefs asked her to teach them how to make macarons.
She says her small business started as a hobby — baking cookies, macaroons and cupcakes for friends. Encouraged by the positive response she received, she decided to slowly expand her business by making an Instagram account and a website for it.
Chowdri first truly considered turning her hobby into a business in sixth grade. After trying a cupcake Chowdri had made, her core teacher at Kennedy Middle urged her to start selling her treats. Chowdri had laughed it off at first, but realized her teacher was serious. Her teacher made Chowdri promise to set up a website in three weeks, and then she ordered 300 macarons from her. That was the moment Chowdri realized she could turn her passion into something larger.
By the end of middle school, Chowdri’s baking business had grown and become more professional. She began taking on larger events, even doing baking events for large organizations like Stanford University, Google, Facebook and Microsoft. She secured these opportunities by reaching out to these companies to see if they needed to order confections for events. Chowdri also gained a lot of business through her parents’ friends, who work at tech companies and referred her to their superiors for events.
“I made over 1,000 macarons for Stanford. I’ve worked on events for a couple of high schools and other big names,” Chowdri said. “It was an exciting challenge. I never thought I would be doing such big events at this age, but it really pushed me to be better at what I do.”
However, she soon learned the challenges of balancing running a small business with schoolwork. She noticed that it was hard to manage everything, so she decided to carve out specific hours on weekends to bake and focus on her business, making sure to complete her homework beforehand so she doesn’t get distracted.
“Sometimes I dedicate a whole day to creating and tweaking new recipes,” she said. “I’ll try five different ones and adjust them until they’re perfect. It’s a lot of trial and error, but it’s worth it when I find a recipe that works. I love the creative process of making something new and different for my customers.”
Chowdri noted that running her business isn’t always smooth sailing, especially during moments of baking disaster. One of her biggest setbacks came during the SHS Class of ‘22 graduation, when she was tasked with making 1,000 macarons. Due to some miscalculations, she overmixed some batches and undermixed others, ruining 300 macarons in the process.
“It was frustrating at the time, but I had to learn from it,” she said. “I realized that setbacks like these are part of the process, and every failure teaches me something new.”
Despite her struggles, she believes the rewards of running the business have been worth it, saying: “When I give samples at school and people come back hugging me — saying they loved my food — that’s the best part. That’s why I started baking. It feels so rewarding when people love what I make. Knowing I can bring joy to others through my baking is what makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Someday Chowdri plans to open a brick-and-mortar store — a task she is already looking into rental spaces and doing research for. For now, though, she uses her family’s kitchen to do her work.
For aspiring young entrepreneurs, Chowdri’s advice is to “take the risk, and don’t be afraid of failure.” The first few years were tough for her, but she kept pushing, and got there in the end.
“When I first started, I wasn’t making a lot of money, and I faced a lot of challenges,” she said. “But perseverance is key. Keep learning and growing, and eventually, success will come.”
