Is your mouth watering yet? It should, because Rie’s treats are sinfully sweet and absolutely addictive.
At 15, she would sell cookies to her schoolmates as she baked frequently, and continued to sell her culinary concoctions even as she pursued her tertiary education. One might be surprised to learn Rie is a medical graduate – in fact, baking helped her to pay off her tuition fees.
Eventually Rie realised her side business could actually serve as a career. And so, even though she completed her medical degree, she took the plunge – with her family’s blessings – and embarked on SugaRie in April 2019.
Rie started small and business, she recalls, was initially slow. Curiously, it was her choice of packaging that gave SugaRie the boost it needed: people were drawn to the yellow box that holds her baked goods.
“The colour was apparently attractive,” she muses. “Many people found the aesthetics of our product different.”
Social-media influencers soon featured SugaRie’s cookies on their pages, with celebrities like Neelofa and Nora Danish giving the goodies a shout-out.
This surge in interest propelled the company to success, and Rie has since moved her operations from her home to a more appropriate commercial lot in Subang Jaya.
She tells FMT that she got the inspiration for stuffed cookies when she watched bakers create muffins with filling. “I thought, ‘Let’s try putting that in a cookie.’ It was very spontaneous.”
The cookies come in many flavours including Nutella, Milk N Cereal, Biscoff biscuit, S’mores and Raspberry White. Seasonal varieties are also featured; for example, autumn- and Halloween-themed cookies are on offer this month.
And though some Malaysians prefer crunchy cookies, many have taken well to SugaRie’s soft and cakey creations.
Rie admits she was inexperienced when she started the business and continues to learn as a budding entrepreneur. But she credits a strong support system, largely made up of her family and partner Zidane Doshi, for keeping her motivated and on track “no matter how much I fall”.
Zidane also plays a hands-on role in the business by helping her bake, while Rie focuses on concepts, marketing and fulfilling customers’ orders. They work together on potential new flavours and ideas, with Rie having the final say.
In a good month, SugaRie can sell up to 10,000 cookies, and the recent lockdowns have been a boon as online businesses like SugaRie have thrived.
Rie is more than pleased with the way things are going and has no immediate plans of returning to the medical field. “I love that I’m my own boss and get to call the shots,” she says.
She dreams of setting up a physical store, and even a franchise of SugaRie outlets in the near future.
As to what advice she has for those who are considering switching careers as she did, Rie says, “Don’t be afraid to risk it all. If you never take that first step, you will never know.
“I, too, wondered, ‘can I really do this?’ And eventually I decided if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, we’ll figure it out later.”
Check out SugaRie’s scrumptious cookies on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Place your orders via Shopee for delivery nationwide.