“Let your creativity fly free”, Mahmood Janahi, human resource manager by day and the king of cake by night, tells us in an interview with Startup Bahrain.
Thank you for this. Can you please tell us who you are and what you do?
I’m Mahmood Janahi. I was born and raised in Bahrain. I studied here through high school, then moved to Australia to pursue my bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in human resource management. I’m a human resource manager by profession—that’s my day job. At night, I bake. I have a dual role, like everyone here in Bahrain.
When did you realize that human resources was not as fulfilling, and maybe you should start doing something else?
Human resources is still my passion, like baking. I’ll explain how I got into baking, and maybe that will explain the funny relationship I have with human resources and food. I started cooking at a very young age—when I was eight. It started by accident. I used to go to my grandmother’s house, and I was naughty—very, very naughty. The only thing that could control me and my cousins was when my grandmother would give me a box of cake mix and say, “Okay, can you just read what this says, and go do it in the kitchen. I’ll get you what you need—just tell me.” I’d say, “Okay, we need eggs. We need this, we need that.” And we’d all sit down together, mix everything, and put it in the oven. When the cake came out, we’d all be very happy: “Oh, we made this.” That’s how I started. As the months went by, I started experimenting. I would ask her, “Can we put cardamom in it? Can we put cinnamon in it? Can we play with saffron?”
Later on, I left to pursue my education in Australia. I had to make my own food and look after myself. I was with a group of Bahrainis, so the typical thing would be, “Okay, you know how to cook? We’ll get you ingredients. Can you start cooking?” When it was somebody’s birthday, I was asked, “Why don’t you bake a cheesecake?” I was like, “Why don’t you just get it from the bakery?” They said, “We don’t like the flavor.” Our palates were not used to Australian flavors. So I baked two cheesecakes. They said, “Why don’t you open a business when you go back?” I was laughing: “I’m here to get a degree, not to open a bakery shop.” I just let it go.
Once I got back, I worked for the Central Bank of Bahrain for three months. After I finished my first month, I decided to bring in something sweet to celebrate. People really liked it, and asked me for recipes and tips. Then I accepted an opportunity to move to Gulf Finance House as a human resources graduate trainee. After a year, I got promoted; and again, I made a cake. Everybody tried it and they were
like, “This is really nice. Next week is so and so’s birthday from that department. Do you mind if I buy one from you?” And I was like, “No, no, it’s okay. I’m just going to bake it. This is not a business.”
Later on, people were asking, “Do you have a menu?” That was in 2008. I ended up with a four-page PDF folder. The friend who made it for me said, “Can I send it to a friend of mine who wants to order something?” And I said, “Fine. Nobody’s going to order.”
After two hours, I noticed a chain of e-mails going all over Bahrain. Forward, forward, forward—like a million e-mails. “This is somebody making cakes; this is very nice. Order from him.” That was when I realized: Okay, this is getting serious, and I’m not ready for this. After half an hour, I received a phone call. “I’d like to order a velvet cake that I saw mentioned on your menu…”
I was very nervous, but I did the order, and delivered it myself. I got my first feedback: the cake was a bit dry. One thing I’ve learned is to always take feedback—always, from day one. It’s very difficult to accept feedback in this culture. You’re like, “Why did she say this? Why did she say that?” I would take it in, put everything down, and improve upon it. As a result, my product changed into something completely different.
When do you think you might take your night job full-time?
I still feel, after securing a large following and clientele, that I haven’t reached my full potential. I like the media spotlight. I want to branch out into TV: a cooking show, appearances, and brand endorsements. It’s very conflicting, internally. I want to make a difference on other platforms, and hopefully within a year or two, look into opening something official.
What needs to happen, specifically?
To be honest, finding a very good location, and ensuring that the clientele is there.
Do you usually spend a long time in the supermarket?
People talk about ‘retail therapy.’ For me, it’s supermarket therapy. I get very excited when I find out there is a new product or ingredient—or, you know, something that is not usually available. I spend time analyzing different supermarkets and what they have.
How do you stay fit with all these cakes around you?
I don’t eat what I bake. It’s not because, you know, there’s anything in the cake—just to go on record. It’s because when you cook and constantly inhale the smell of the food and constantly see it, you lose the appetite for it.
If I wanted cake, I would go somewhere else and eat it. To be honest, I’m very, very, very picky; I haven’t had a proper cake anywhere here. I do enjoy the Ritz-Carlton, to be fair. Their gourmet lounge has very good, classic, old-fashioned custard with fruit cake. Their black forest is also very nice.
How do you protect the essence of your business?
When I do something and announce it, it’s out there in the world, and people talk about it. It kind of protects itself, because people say, “Oh, did you see what Mahmood did today?”
How do you let off steam? I’m sure this job can be stressful at times.
I put all that energy into the product I’m going to make—or something new. I use it to push myself to do something better.
What does a typical day look like?
I wake up at five. I bake from five till seven—if I have an order or two a day, or if I have something huge. I do my prep in the morning. Then I bake all the cakes, prepare the icing, cover everything, and put it in the fridge; go to the office, leave work at five, come back, and everything is ready. I assemble the cake, design it, put it back in the fridge, and it’s done. Then I go shopping if I need to. I go to the gym, come back home, and try to go to sleep early, but it never works. Never before eleven or twelve, to be honest. On weekends, I make it a point to go out. Sometimes, I just randomly go to the cinema on a weekday, because there should be a work-life balance. When I feel I’ve reached a point where I’ve taken a lot of orders or have been working consistently for a week or two, by the third week, I say I’m not taking any orders from this date to this date. That’s all me time.
Did you have any mentors along the way—people who influenced your work?
I wouldn’t say I had any mentors—but when I first started, I spoke to my friend Naris Qambar. She is a very good, genuine person. She’s the only person in this industry that I’ve met who will sit with me, tell me where to go, where to buy stuff, what to do—with a smile, really genuine. I’ve used that energy, and kind of replicating that.
Did you get any financial support from organizations in Bahrain? Not to promote, but to grow your business?
I haven’t approached anyone. I was told go to Tamkeen and BDB. Someone from BDB ordered a cake, and they were like, “You should come down and speak to us. We’ll fund you.” I want to invest my own money in my own business rather than receive support when other people need it more. I’m not saying I don’t need it. I’m just saying I like to own everything myself.
Tell me more about your business outside of Bahrain.
Business outside of Bahrain is mainly Saudi. I have received lots and lots of business opportunities and calls, mainly from the Saudi market and Qatari market, to either branch out or do consultancy for their businesses. It’s all being reviewed. I haven’t decided what I want to do next. In terms of orders, I also get a lot from Saudi. They get transported through the distributor. There is also demand in Qatar. Recently, there were inquiries from the U.A.E.
Whose wedding cake would you love to make?
That’s a very interesting question. To be honest, anyone in Hollywood. Any royalty from Bahrain or Qatar or the U.A.E.—I would love to do it. Anything high-profile.
What tips would you have for people who are baking, creating, or ordering weddings cakes, to get good results?
It all depends on what the bride wants, because 99.9% of the time, a woman has a vision in her mind, and the man ends up paying, in our culture. My advice would be to know what you want, to keep it simple, and to go less on design, as in fondant and sugar flowers—to do it very rustically. From what I see, people are moving into fresh flowers, fresh berries, fresh fruits, or chocolate. That’s what I see trending now. At the end of the day, you don’t need to go for a whole cake. Don’t over-order, and you won’t overpay.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Recently, it’s just time management: answering every single phone call and catering to every single order coming in. There has been a lot of “I can’t. I’m full.” I’m very limited, because it’s a one-man show at this stage. Making, creating, photography, advertising, branding—I’ve done it myself. I mean, the logo—okay, I didn’t create the logo, but a friend of mine who is a graphic designer designed it for me under my guidance.
What advice do you have for people who are just starting out?
I’ve been asked this a lot, and I always say: your initial focus should not be money. The money will come later. You need to have passion. You need to be original. You need to know what you want to do. You need to have a product that you’ve invested everything in—because then it will show. You need to be willing to put in the hours, be patient, accept feedback, have very good customer relations, be passionate about what you’re doing and selling. Always aim to improve and develop yourself through feedback and research. You need to constantly innovate. Treat people the way you like people to treat you. You need to give to get.
Excellent. Going back to something you mentioned earlier: it can be stressful when you feel like expectations are being paid for, when someone is paying you to do X instead of you doing it out of your own free time or passion. What advice would you have for someone in this position?
Take few steps back, breathe, and just focus on the product. Don’t overthink it.
Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for having me.