RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Saf Haq didn’t grow up wanting to be a baker, but when she was in university, she used baking as an outlet for stress.

She would share her cookies with friends and loved the excitement and enthusiasm from giving people her baked goods. It was a rush. A few years later, she actually went to baking school because she remembered that rush of happiness she felt from her university years. It was there that she met her business partner Lisa Brow and in 2017 they opened Tart and Soul Cafe. It started off as a bakery coffee shop, but now is also the wholesaler to many of the other bakeries in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“I love puns,” explains Haq. “They are my favourite. Tart and Soul was a name that I already had on the back-burner. We wanted it to be a place where everyone comes and chills out and relaxes...it’s reflected in the name and it really has become its name, essentially.”

The space has evolved into a community hub and there are now plans to expand into the space next door.

“It was really important to us for it to be super welcoming to anyone. We literally mean anyone. Any gender, any nationality and age group,” Haq says. “And for me, as a queer, Muslim woman who has mental health stuff as well, it’s really important to feel like you fit in somewhere... I think that makes our space really unique and important.”

Haq’s father is from India and her mother is Pakistani. They came to Canada in the 70s and she was born here. Growing up during the height of Trudeau immigration, she is a child of multiculturalism and knows its importance in building a strong society.

The Startup and Slay Digital Series highlights successful diverse Canadian entrepreneurs. It’s sponsored by CIBC, Futurpreneur and Ryerson University. A national call went out for submissions and Tart and Soul was among six of the chosen entrepreneurs to be featured.

“I think it’s important for representation, for women to see other diverse women doing cool things,” says Haq. “Just seeing the breadth of what you can do. You just need the motivation and encouragement and excitement of other people who have gone out and done that to feel like you can go out and do it.”

Encouragement also came from the home front for Haq. It was her mother who co-signed the loan so she and Brow could get the funding to start their business. “We were lucky to have someone who could co-sign a loan for us,” says Haq.

The Startup and Slay Digital Series featuring all the entrepreneurs is available for viewing at www.howshehustles.com.

• If you’d like to share the story of your arrival in Canada, please write to desinews@rogers.com or call 416-695-4357.