How It All Started: Baking Dreams in a Small Apartment
I never imagined that a simple craving for sweet bread in the morning, paired with a warm cup of tea, would be the beginning of everything.
We were living in a small apartment back then — just my husband, my oldest daughter, and me. Even though I had formal culinary training and experience in professional kitchens, life had taken me in a different direction. I was working at a Brazilian restaurant in Calgary, and in my spare time I baked for friends and acquaintances. I didn’t have professional equipment, just a basic KitchenAid mixer that could barely handle half a kilo of flour. But I had curiosity. I had the desire to create. I had that feeling of “home” that baking gives you, even when you’re far from where you grew up.
After leaving the restaurant, I met Marilyn when I started working for her cleaning company. I had no idea she would become such an important part of my journey. She encouraged me to leave business cards, to offer my breads to her friends and clients, to believe in myself a little more. She trusted me without knowing me for years, and I’ll always be grateful for that. To this day, she orders her birthday cake — and her son’s — every single year. It’s a beautiful reminder of where everything began.
Eventually, I started offering my breads to local shops. I have to admit, it didn’t go as I hoped. Many stores wanted to set their own rules: no branding, their prices, their conditions. It wasn’t the success I imagined, but it taught me something invaluable: to believe in myself and in my products. To defend my work. To understand that not every space is meant for you — and that’s okay.
And then, by one of those twists of fate, I found myself back at Minas, the Brazilian restaurant that had given me my very first job in Canada. Returning there felt like coming full circle. It was a place where I had found friends who quickly became family, where I learned to navigate a new country, a new kitchen, and a new version of myself. I worked with them for several years, balancing my growing bakery business with the responsibility of running a professional kitchen. It was exhausting at times, but it was also deeply fulfilling. Minas shaped me — as a cook, as a leader, and as a person.
Then came my second pregnancy. And soon after, COVID. I was excited to continue growing at the restaurant, but life placed a choice in front of me: be present for my daughters during an uncertain time, or continue my career outside the home. I chose to stay home. I chose my girls. And without realizing it, I also chose my bakery.
During those months, I had the chance to expand my menu, organize my social media, and — for the first time — show the world what I could do without fear. It felt like everything paused just long enough for me to step forward.
Today, as Casa K’iin grows into something bigger, clearer, and more intentional, I love remembering that it all started there: in a tiny apartment, with a limited mixer, flour-covered hands, and a hopeful heart.
This blog will be my way of sharing that journey — what I’ve learned, what I’m still learning, and what I dream of building.
Welcome to this story.
Welcome to Casa K’iin.
