There are two conflicting sentiments that most of us have heard before: “do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life” and then there’s its polar opposite — keep your hobby as far as possible from work not to ruin the fun in it. But when you’re exceeding at your hobby and people start peer-pressuring you into doing more of it, and they don’t take “no” for an answer — something has to be done before things get out of hand.

A Redditor by the name of ‘cakedupp3‘ never intended to turn their love for baking cakes into a profit. In fact, they tried to avoid it entirely. However, similarly to those who were (kind of) forced to turn their knitting and crocheting pastime into full-time operations to help out with the shortage of surgical masks, more and more started asking the author to shower various celebrations with their yummy buttercream delights. They may not save lives, but at least they can make them much better.

Sensing that their beloved hobby was getting out of their mitts, the author deliberately placed a reasonably high price tag on their services to see if that might help to return things back to normal. To their delight, the plan has worked… But not without breaking some eggs.

Concerned whether they have done the wrong thing, the author turned to the trusted ‘Am I The [Jerk]‘ community to settle their conscience once and for all.

It’s hard to put a price tag on the things you love to do the most

Image credits: Daniel J. Schwarz (not the actual photo)

But when a hobby suddenly turns into a full-time operation and starts to lose its charm, seeing whether people are willing to pay for it might be the only way out

What’s a better way to show just how much the family appreciates your handiwork then naming your price

Image credits: cakedupp3

As the world closed down and the novel pandemic forced us to reevaluate our mortality, career choices or even trust in governments—millions upon millions, almost 4 in 5 workers, used the economic shock to quit their jobs and look for something better (thus the ‘Great Resignation’). For others, Covid proved to be a watershed moment that led to unexpected career opportunities.

Comparably to the events that led to the author’s story, Irina Ruseva, a Manchester-based ‘lockdown baker’ who’s been operating her Flour & Soul bakery from the comfort of her house for the last 18 months, never had it in her plans. But she accepted the lemons thrown at her by sudden life changes, including a country-wide lockdown and a newborn, risked ruining the joy she got from baking and joined hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs that only keep increasing like a fresh sourdough starter.

“I never thought I was gonna be where I am today,” Ruseva told Bored Panda. The 40-year-old shares that she took over this yeasty hobby after her grandfather who ran the village bakery in Bulgaria where she grew up. “I remember him baking in wood-fired ovens and I loved the smell of it.” Irina tells us everything kicked off when a couple of extra loaves were immediately snapped up after posting about them on her local Facebook group. If not for this incentive, she admits, Irina might still be working as a project manager.

People applauded the way the author dealt with this stuffy situation

Of course, running a business is not a walk in the park: roughly 20% of all new businesses fail within a year, while 1 in 3 don’t cross the two-year mark. While that didn’t scare Irina off, starting her own business didn’t come easy at first.

“There were times when I felt like, ‘why am I doing this?’,” she said. “A lot of other bakeries and bakers who’ve started out during lockdown have gone back to their main work. And that gets to you. But what happened is I changed the business to suit my lifestyle—my business fits my lifestyle, not the other way around. That’s a very difficult thing to achieve.”

Wary of the sacrifices one must acknowledge before monetizing their hobby—particularly, ruining it for yourself—Irina believes it’s better to try than live and wonder what could have happened. “You can always go back to your main work, go back to having a stable income,” she pointed out. However, she thinks everyone should try pursuing things they love to do the most, even if financial bankruptcy is far from being the only looming danger. “It’s stressful and I often feel exhausted. But I love what I do and I wouldn’t have done it for the last 18 months if it didn’t bring me so much joy. I think everyone should give it a go.”

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