When you think of Tina, you almost always think of cake. Cake that will break the most avid dieter, bring a smile to the miserable and basically bring people together. Cake oozing with goodness. Moist. Light. Beautiful. Ok! I'm getting carried away now, I know you now want cake!
I'm biased with Tina because I know her personally and she is simply one of those people you naturally drift towards. My knowing her however, does not take away from the truth of just how amazing she is. She also epitomises the result of being able to perfect a craft, through hard work, patience and dedication. On top of all this, Tina's business has grown, solely through word of mouth and advertisement by her customers through social media. It's fair to say that her work has quite simply, spoken for itself.
Christina Browne Narruhn is the youngest of 4 siblings. Originally from Somosomo on the idyllic, Garden Island of Fiji, married to Gerard Narruhn. Together they have 2 sons, Michael and Christian. Tina recalls baking from a very young age, and her biggest influence was her mother who initially taught her the trick of the trade.
Below is Tinas reply to the questions she was presented with.
"My mum taught me how to bake. She had a baking business which she did on the side. She also had a full time job at W&G. I have basically been brought up with baking being a main thing in our household and have grown to love it. I have used what my mum has taught me to make a business out of it, not specifically for the extra money but just because I enjoy it so much.For now its just a small business, as I also have a full time job with Sodexo.
Normally, there are challenges and at the moment the challenge I face is the lack of time I have to bake, during the week due to my full time job. I've had to cut down on the amount of orders I can take. However, I still push myself to do a few extra even if it means I have to sleep late or wake up extra early, just to bake or cream that extra cake for a customer, before work. With this also comes some difficulties and the one thing I hate is to let someone down or turn down an order.
However, the best thing about this business is that I get to do what I love and I get to do it at home, around my family. Cake making has always allowed me to always be with them. I also love seeing how my creation can make another person happy. I have also met so many people who have become good friends.
I personally don't advertise my business online or by any other means really, but it's the customers who do the advertising for me which I am grateful for. I'm pretty shy when it comes to promoting my talent, but my aim in the near future is to open up a shop and to expand my business so maybe then, I will have to promote it on social media. I would also love to start a workshop to teach kids and adults how to bake and cream cakes.
(Originally posted on Women's Talanoa group on Facebook on 13 May, 2019 by Suli Tuiteci Lotawa)