Graphic designer quits 10-year career to become a full-time baker
THE thought of leaving a job to start a new business can be incredibly exciting, and many professionals have done just that in recent years.
Gisela Harck is the visionary founder behind Harck & Heart. Her unique journey from graphic designer to master baker has transformed her childhood love for baking into a thriving business.
Born and raised in the northern suburbs of Joburg, Harck said her parents inspired her journey into entrepreneurship.
“My dad was a fully-fledged entrepreneur. My mom was a full-time mother and most of her time was taken up by caring for us as children but she too ventured into entrepreneurship by baking for a local ‘tuisnywerheid’ (home industry) to earn an extra income.
“Seeing entrepreneurship in action at a young age opened my mind to the possibility of being an entrepreneur myself. It also sparked my interest in baking.
“I remember helping my mom in the kitchen baking and making the most delicious things for us from cakes and cookies to breads, preserves and jams for us.
“Having a sweet tooth myself I was automatically drawn into the kitchen every time some sweet temptations were being created,” she said.
After completing post-matric she decided to take a gap year to travel the world. She worked as a waitress to save up money and on the side, she decided to bake gingerbread houses and gingerbread men to sell at markets for extra money to earn her ticket to travel to London.
She loved this process as it involved her creativity and gave her imagination free rein.
She said the uptake of the products at the market left a lasting impression, and the reaction that the cookies received from young and old sparked her desire to make this into a business one day.
Harck worked in London for 1 year and 5 months and in the US for a few months before heading home.
She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Arts at the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography. Working in the creative industry for various companies helped her build a strong creative foundation.
“My time at Just Design, a strategic branding agency, was great. The knowledge I gained there still stands me in good stead today.
“A year before starting at the agency I started baking gingerbread cookies during the festive season to sell to colleagues, friends, and at markets. My first oven was a small, two-plate table top oven combo that you often find in student apartments.
“I was baking six gingerbread men at a time. Over the next four years I slowly increased my orders and then employed my first employee after moving to an apartment with a normal-sized oven,” she said.
Things got to a stage where she could not perform both her job and her business successfully. In August 2016, she left the comfort of earning a salary to venture out into the unknown with her own business.
“It has been a very intense journey, by no means an easy one but it has most certainly been worth the while. Through entrepreneurship and exponential growth, I have learned so much about myself and others, systems, and processes, and best of all, I am still learning every single day.
“I am so very grateful for all that have helped, assisted, and cheered me on along the way,” she said.
Harck & Heart pride themselves in being authentically different. She said the origin of their creations is based on tradition but the execution is different from anything else that you see on the market at the scale that they can produce.
“We mostly have a unique approach to cookie designs, product ideas, and presentations. Our keen eye for detail and the attention that each cookie receives are quite incredible.
“All aspects of our production are hand-crafted. Each cookie is hand cut and baked, individually decorated and packaged. It is all a manual process executed by a very talented team of bakers.”
“I am very excited about the future of the business. We have many exciting projects in the pipeline. I look forward to growing the company to the next level and becoming in our way, a formidable force in the baking industry.
“This October we will be launching our festive range which is so exciting – we have added a few new additions to our festive family including a ‘Cracker Cookie’ which – when you break it open – reveals a beautiful note with a message as well as edible sprinkles.”