Trust, listen, don’t play the blame game: Fluff Bakery founders’ recipe for a healthy marriage and thriving business

When we can’t afford to do big gestures, we do try to show small forms of appreciation, such as treating them to lunch and a massage every month. (The couple shared that they also commit to sharing 10 per cent of their yearly profit with their staff and gave them a two-month bonus in 2020.)

Ashraf: It’s also important to be authentic. We don’t sell anything that we personally don’t like to eat and we only sell products that we feel are as good if not better than our competitors’. 

Syaira: My favourite item on our menu has got to be anything with our lemon meringue in it, especially the lemon meringue tart! It’s so simple but I feel ours is one of the best. The lemon curd is lip-puckeringly sour – as it should be – and everything else balances it out.

AT THIS STAGE OF YOUR MARRIAGE, WHAT DOES LOVE MEAN TO YOU? HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR VIEWS ON LOVE HAVE EVOLVED?  

Syaira: Growing up, you see in the media that love is all about the big gestures … the big proposal, the big presents… but after nine years and a kid, I’ve really come to see that love is in the everyday small things – the little acts of service that the other person appreciates.

For me, that’s Ashraf loading and unloading the dishwasher at home when I’m too busy or too tired, it’s him sharing the load of the daily ins and outs of parenthood, that’s him just listening – or pretending to – while I ramble on about the latest baking or cooking obsession that I have even though he’s not even 1 per cent interested in what I’m saying. It’s him making my daily life easier by making sure that I have all that I need to create a harmonious family environment at home. Showing up and sharing the load – that’s love. I show my love in the food that I cook, and by spending hours in the kitchen for a family dinner. 

We also know each other’s love language. Mine is physical touch and acts of service so when he makes the effort to stroke my back to comfort me or just reach out for my hand, sometimes on a really hard day, that’s all it takes to feel loved.