Would you take the risk and go against the norm of getting a multi-tiered wedding cake on your special day? Well, with establishments such as Cupcake Chic that risk is no more. With three outlets under their belts and 25 flavours to boot, founders Ben and Joanne have a lot to be proud of! Here at TWG, we took the liberty of interviewing Ben and Joanne and give you a glimpse into their wonderfully colourful cupcake world!
Cute wedding favors
How about you guys tell us a lil bit about yourselves and how you met?
J: We met over a messy crab-eating dinner in good ole’ Port Klang about 10 years ago. Ben was working in UK at the time and was back on holidays. We didn’t hit it off, in fact we were so ticked off with each other, we didn’t want to have anything to do with each other!
B: Until today, I still don’t get why we were so ticked off with each other. We didn’t even speak to each other. Jo thought I was obnoxious and I thought she just had a bad day. It was anything but love at first sight.
J: As fate would have it, we met again on 11th of September, 2001 – that’s right, on the very day of the 911 disaster. We were seated next to each other while watching a play at the old Actor’s Studio in BSC and started receiving text messages through the night about the towers collapsing. It was then that things started to take off. Funny how it took a disaster to bring us together. LOL.
B: Actually, the back story to that was a mutual friend of ours actually set me up for a blind date with someone else that night. Turned out we hit it off instead.
How did you guys first discover this common passion for cupcakes?
J: I don’t know if we have a “common” passion for cupcakes. We have a common direction, a common goal and a common desire to achieve in business. Cupcakes came along because I love to bake and we saw an opportunity when we discovered a lack of beautiful and delicious cupcakes in Malaysia… and the entrepreneur blood in us, pounced on it.
Who was the genius behind the idea of starting a chain of cupcake stores?
J: Me!
B: Me! Well, it never started with this grand plan to open a chain of stores. In fact, we started small by setting up a booth at the weekend flea market at the Curve shopping mall – just to test the market. One thing led to another and before we knew it we opened a retail store. Having said that, we knew of the immense opportunity and the potential of a new market blossoming and felt we had a good chance to be one of the pioneers of the cupcake industry. So there was always this dream of having created a brand that could span across the country but it never really felt real until we opened our first retail store.
J: I think it was just a natural progression. We expanded as our level of maturity in business and minds expanded.
