Healing hobby turns hustle for Rikki May bake a cake
Published:Thursday | April 25, 2024 | 12:10 AMShanel Lemmie/Staff Reporter
During the pandemic, many of us turned to hobbies to bypass the deafening silence that was amplified daily by the constant lockdowns. For medical student Rikki May Reynolds, that hobby was baking.
Starting with a her mother’s favourite, carrot cake, Reynolds said her first attempt at the pastry was less than stellar.
“It wasn’t great, so I just said, ‘You know I have to make it better next time’, so I tried again for Christmas, and I asked my friends, ‘Do you want to try?’”
Giving away the first batches while at the hospital during clinical rotations, her peers were the first to encourage her to start selling her creations.
Adamantly ignoring the prompts, she said the practice was merely to be a distraction from the woes of life. Though firm in her stance, it wasn’t until she had to recover from the sudden death of her close friend, Bilal Abayomi, that some of their prompts began to break through.
“One thing he would always say,” she said referring to Bilal, “is that I should consider letting other people try the stuff I bake. I was really down last Christmas, and I wanted a distraction, so I just came out of my comfort zone and said let me just do this for Christmas and sell some cupcakes. It [has] just been growing from there ‘cause Christmas is gone and I’m still doing this.”
She continued: “I tend to be hard on myself, and then with medicine, it’s a field where it can feel very unrewarding despite your efforts, so the fact that I put in the effort and people love it and give such good feedback. I don’t know it’s like a win-win that I give people stuff that they love, and then I feel like I’m reaping the rewards of my efforts because I don’t feel like an impostor like medicine can make you feel at times.”
Though the hobby-turned-hustle has been pulling double duties as both a distraction from her own sadness and coping mechanism for her grief, the practice has also been teaching her some valuable lessons.
“I always used think I wasn’t the most creative person, so this just brings out that side of me,” she began.
“Honestly, it’s helped me with my time management, and that was something I really used to be awful with. I still have one more exam left at medical school, so I know when I start [my] internship, that’s going to change my schedule for sure, but right now, how I make it work is I used to have this horrible habit of baking in the night and staying up all night. Now, I schedule it into my day. I go to the hospital for a session and come back and bake.”
She went on: “Also, how I find the time is I’m not taking up more than I can manage. I don’t want to get overwhelmed and find less joy in this. I also still want to have [time] to do things like my school work or just anything else, so I work it around my schedule and everyone that has ordered, they’re understanding.”
Also helping her to manage her rigorous schedule is Reynolds’ dedicated days where she focuses on preparing and delivering only certain treats like her now famous carrot cheese cake.
Though Reynolds says her little bakery has been the thing ‘keeping her sane’, she has always been cautiously awaiting the day it no longer brings her joy. “I took a break for a bit last year after Bilal passed, and then I just got back into it in the summer, and I really loved it. Right now it’s, in a way, keeping me sane, so I don’t want a break from it. I thought it would reach that stage, but it’s still a healthy distraction.”
Until then, as she looks ahead to a career in mental wellness, Reynolds says her hope is to be curing minds alongside bellies with her sweet treats.
“Sometimes you have to ignore your brain and follow your heart, as cliché as that sounds. You can experiment, and it’s not always a big risk to try and profit off of your hobbies. And sometimes your little experiment is what can bring you the most joy.”