We were lucky to catch up with Reim Alshamahi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Reim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

As a dessert business owner, I have learned so many things and I couldn’t been more happier. By January 2023, it would be my second year as a business owner. Although my business is really small business, owned and is run by me, I wouldn’t like to have another job. I’m my own boss, have control over my schedule, and can take breaks whenever I like, which is very useful. My business helps my balance my schedule between university and work life. I do sometimes think about my teaching job in the future and if I will put my business on the side and focus on my education job or vice versa. Being teacher has always been my dream job before being a business owner. Teaching is the the only exceptional job that I would allow myself to put my business on the side. Other than that, I love my business job and no job will make me more happier. My customers and supporters are the ones that make me the happiest in my job and make me happy that they trust me for their special days/events.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a small dessert business owner where I run my business on Instagram. I sell many kinds of desserts and I love bring out my creativity into the work I do. I sell chocolate covered treats such as cakepops, strawberries, pretzels, rice crispy treats, marshmallows and many more. I also make cakes for weddings, birthdays, engagements, and/or special events. Parfait cups are my customers favorite and I make several flavors of them and hope to increase my flavor options one day. You may ask how did I get into this or what caused me to open a business through social media? And the answer is really simple, YouTube. It was the summer year of finishing high school and I wanted to do something fun and creative. I started watching baking videos then slowly started watching how to open a dessert business and so on. My family was really supportive and pushed me to start. I practiced, learned, and planned out what I believe I needed to start my dessert business. I officially started my business on January 2021 and I will hit my two year business anniversary in 3 months! I am so proud of how much my skills and knowledge has grown through these months. I’ve met new people, loyal clients, entrepreneur friends and so many others! I’m beyond thankful for my clients and supporters!!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Currently my dessert business is still a side hustle of mine. I do plan in the future to turn this in to a full time career but don’t know how and when. I did plan before to have my business as a side hustle since I’m a full time student studying to become an elementary teacher. I wanted a job/hustle that is very flexible with my school/family schedule, and at the same time I can work whenever I get free time. I honestly love my side hustle since it still allows me to do the things I love without stressing me out.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building my audience was the most challenging for me. I didn’t have any social media platforms before I started my business nor “business friends” to help shout me out. Social media wasn’t really my thing, and I preferred communicating with people/friends in person instead. It took me a couple of months for my business to get out there. My mother was the fist one to share my Instagram to all her friends through all her platforms, which was so sweet and supportive of her! I started making business friends that had the same passion as me where we would exchange our ideas and shout each other out. My friends would always shout me. Some clients started placing orders and overtime told their family/friends about me and that’s when I started getting orders. It’s important to show your audience your work and what you offer. I try to post my work on IG and create reels where you can share videos. I’d say reels are one of the best way to create a larger audience since more people are exposed to it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @dipped.dessert
• Other: email: [email protected]