Born and raised in the town of Espargos, Indira Santos told Balai in an interview that she never thought about making cakes, despite growing up in a household of pastry chefs.



"Since childhood I grew up in the midst of business, my mother owned a bar and a bakery where we lived, but I was never part of the production processes, so I didn't even know how to make cakes," she recalls.



At the age of eighteen, Indira got married and started working in a boutique owned by her ex-husband, as a manager, until in 2021 she decided to give up her job and dedicate herself to baking.



"At the time, when I turned 35, I decided I wanted to make my own birthday cake, so I went online, looked up the recipe for the cake I wanted, the decorations and filling I wanted and prepared everything my way," she says of how she ended up discovering her "gift" for baking, as the result "exceeded expectations", which led her sister to start encouraging her to follow this path.



"She started telling people that I made cakes and when she called me to say that someone wanted an order, I always refused because it wasn't my area of work and I didn't have the time," she reveals.



After a lot of insistence from her sister, by the end of 2021 Indira was already placing several orders for cakes and began to publicize her work by creating a page on social media called Empório da Dira, an initiative of her sister.



Today, in addition to cakes, the confectioner also prepares desserts, although she would like to expand into other areas of cooking and pastry, but, according to her, the demand for cakes still doesn't allow her to pursue other options.



With two years dedicated to confectionery, Indira is already reaping the rewards of her work with the recognition she received at the beginning of December as Entrepreneur of the Year on the island of Sal.



The recognition came during the 6th edition of the Djad'Sal Awards gala, an awards event organized by a group of young people from Sal, whose purpose is to acknowledge the work of figures from the island who have stood out throughout the year in different areas of activity.



Among the various entrepreneurs nominated in the organization's poll, Indira says that being among the three nominees for the unveiling of the winner during the gala was enough to make her happy, given that she has only been operating in the market for a short time.



"Winning the award was very gratifying for me, since there are several successful entrepreneurs on the island of Sal with good initiatives, standing out among so many talents, voted for by the public and the jury, has been a huge joy and a motivation to continue with my work," she celebrates.



Although the business is going well, the entrepreneur regrets the lack of raw materials on the island to use in the production of her orders, something that Indira believes could be solved if there were cake stores, as there are in the country's capital, since the confectionery sector is growing on the island of Sal.



Along this path, the Entrepreneur of the Year, Indira Santos, has a few projects in mind and is optimistic that they will come to fruition in 2024, as she has already applied for funding to expand the business.



At the moment, Indira doesn't have any employees to help with orders, but she recognizes that she has the support of her family whenever necessary. Until then, she continues to bake cakes for birthdays, christenings and weddings, while sweetening her customers' palates with desserts from Empório da Dira.



This article was originally published on the  Balai Cabo Verde  platform  - Balai .