- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Messages
- 16,846
- Points
- 113
Retrenched From Job, This Lady Now Sells The Best Caramel Cinnamon Rolls In Town
Retrenchment is never fun, especially when you’ve spent more than a decade in a job you love. But it was exactly what hit Joyce Chung in early 2019 and forced her return to Singapore after living in Hong Kong for 12 years. “There was a lot of uncertainty because I thought that job opportunities were better in Hong Kong than in Singapore, but I have two young children and my mother is getting older, so we decided to come home,” says the 44-year-old former department head at tech product accessory company, Belkin.
Turns out, the retrenchment was a blessing in disguise. Joyce returned to Singapore with her husband, the COO of a storage solutions company, and children aged two and four in June last year, just before the protests erupted in Hong Kong, blanketing the city in fiery chaos.
Thus, her home-based baking business was born at the end of 2019. The name Guilt Free Food alludes to the use of less sugar and only good-quality ingredients in her bakes. “If you look at butter [or butter substitutes], for example, you’ll find that there are lots of lower-grade ones that are mixed with hydrogenated fats,” she explains. “Compared to a commercial bun, mine has less sugar and no chemicals or preservatives. I also use pure butter from New Zealand. If I would let my toddler eat the buns I make, then I think anyone can eat it.”
Though business had always been relatively healthy, the tipping point came when the Circuit Breaker hit. “Suddenly, the orders started flooding in, even more so during Easter, which apparently has some association with cinnamon buns,” she says. “The last three months have been a roller coaster [ride]!”
But it’s a roller coaster she rides with glee. “This experience has really taught me that retrenchment is not the end of the world,” she affirms. “There’s always another opportunity waiting. Now I have the best of both worlds — I can stay at home and look after my children while firing up my passion for baking. The income I earn now supports part of my financial needs — and I look forward to the day that it will succeed in supporting them fully.”
Retrenchment is never fun, especially when you’ve spent more than a decade in a job you love. But it was exactly what hit Joyce Chung in early 2019 and forced her return to Singapore after living in Hong Kong for 12 years. “There was a lot of uncertainty because I thought that job opportunities were better in Hong Kong than in Singapore, but I have two young children and my mother is getting older, so we decided to come home,” says the 44-year-old former department head at tech product accessory company, Belkin.
Turns out, the retrenchment was a blessing in disguise. Joyce returned to Singapore with her husband, the COO of a storage solutions company, and children aged two and four in June last year, just before the protests erupted in Hong Kong, blanketing the city in fiery chaos.
Thus, her home-based baking business was born at the end of 2019. The name Guilt Free Food alludes to the use of less sugar and only good-quality ingredients in her bakes. “If you look at butter [or butter substitutes], for example, you’ll find that there are lots of lower-grade ones that are mixed with hydrogenated fats,” she explains. “Compared to a commercial bun, mine has less sugar and no chemicals or preservatives. I also use pure butter from New Zealand. If I would let my toddler eat the buns I make, then I think anyone can eat it.”
Though business had always been relatively healthy, the tipping point came when the Circuit Breaker hit. “Suddenly, the orders started flooding in, even more so during Easter, which apparently has some association with cinnamon buns,” she says. “The last three months have been a roller coaster [ride]!”
But it’s a roller coaster she rides with glee. “This experience has really taught me that retrenchment is not the end of the world,” she affirms. “There’s always another opportunity waiting. Now I have the best of both worlds — I can stay at home and look after my children while firing up my passion for baking. The income I earn now supports part of my financial needs — and I look forward to the day that it will succeed in supporting them fully.”
