Do What You Love

If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life, says the old adage. Lorraine chai discovers how foodpreneurs Ili Sulaiman and Samantha Lee turned their passion into their bread and butter.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE TURNING YOUR HOBBY INTO A CAREER

1 Prepare to hustleSamantha shares that if there is one thing she’s learnt from her experience, it’s to work as hard as possible. Keep practising, even when you’ve already mastered it.

2 Be ready to learnIli believes there’s always something new to learn. Even if you think you know the industry very well, always be ready to expand your horizons.

3 Never do it for fameBoth women believe that passion plays a big part in being successful. It’s also the main factor in staying relevant and acing whatever it is that one sets out to do.

When Ili Sulaiman meets Samantha Lee, food naturally dominates their conversation. After all, what they have in common is how they both started their food ventures as a hobby. Today, Ili is a notable celebrity cook and the brain behind the food blog, Dish by Ili, and the social enterprise, Agak Agak Initiative. Samantha is a Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia graduate and a celebrated food artist who tells stories via her creations.

ILI SULAIMAN

FROM PASTIME TO FULL-TIME

When you're born into a family where almost everyone is a good cook, it’s likely you’d start cooking at a very young age. “One of my earliest memories was food prepping,” shares a spirited Ili. “I would sit by my grandma when she cooked, with my legs in the sink!” Her fondest memory is following her family around the kitchen, be it her grandmother, mother or father. “I especially enjoyed festive seasons like Raya, where everyone in the family would get together to cook and bake.”