‘You need to make God your CEO’

Akara Bakery, a mythical fairyland of cakes and coffee, is located in the Dennistoun area of Glasgow. Scotland has an unquenched sweet tooth crying out from every household, so a successful bakery must definitely stand out from the crowd. Lewa admittedly just loves food. “Cake is an avenue for that,” she muses, “but it’s more creating flavours and predicting trends that I like. Or seeing if the things I think are good, people will also agree with.” This love for a flavour-filled challenge shows up in her whimsical taste combinations, like banana dream cake (a light banana sponge with miso caramel, whipped hazelnut and chocolate ganache, and milk chocolate feuilletine) and berry Earl Grey. 

The name Akara comes from Lewa’s Nigerian heritage, a spin-off of the words ‘bread’ and ‘cake’ in the Yoruba language. From the moment she opens her mouth, however, it’s not hard to tell Lewa is Glaswegian, born and raised. More than her accent, it’s her self-deprecating, jokey banter between laughs, while stringing words together in depth-filled witticisms, that shows the flair for communication for which both her very different cultures are known. The vibrant, airy vibe of Akara seems a natural extension of Lewa’s inviting personality. Beautifully coloured cakes kick the senses into overdrive as eye-pleasing shades beckon from their display case. Even more inviting than the welcoming atmosphere and its owner is the wisdom and knowledge it’s clear God has grown in the 35-year-old, through the process of opening her shop.

An eye for business

“Baking isn’t my joy, but I like the business side of food,” Lewa explains when describing how she first started her business. Her family put misplaced interest in her younger sister pursuing baking because she’d always make the same vanilla pound cake when their aunt came to town. Lewa took the baking supplies her sister would rather have traded for Nikes at Christmas and started using them. A natural self-starter, already thinking in terms of how to scale things in high school, the schoolgirl began to see baking and business as a good fit. 

“When I got to university, I started to bake for fun – baking for people’s birthdays, friends and family – and then because of cost and ingredients, people would be like: ‘I’ll pay you,’ and I started making up random prices, under-selling myself like there was no tomorrow.” Later, working at a call centre, there was a bake sale. Impressed after tasting her cakes, someone asked for her prices, so she got their email, went home and made up the price list for her first real client. Gradually, she moved from baking in her mum’s kitchen to her own, then opened her bakery.

“It just came together. Opening the shop became a goal, not a desire. I’ve never been one that has had a dream or a passion. I like doing things with my hands, but then I realised I also like business. I like making a profit.” She explained how becoming more successful in business has ultimately led to less baking. “Having your own business exposes you to different parts of yourself. Even within running the business, I found out what my ideal role was. There’s the job you would choose to have and then there’s just the other things you have to do.” When it comes to the actual baking these days, “other people can do it. There are people that are more skilled than me. I prefer to actually hire people that are better than I am, because it’s me and God’s vision, so that’s irreplaceable. The working of the hands is replaceable. It’s learning that and not getting stuck in the, ‘Oh, I’m gonna bake’. Now when I do a bake shift, it’s therapeutic, because I don’t really do it too much. It’s become romantic, because it’s a break from the emails and the cogs turning.” 

Hearing God for her business

Lewa credits changing track, after graduating with a degree in psychology, to short business courses, Scotland’s Social School of Entrepreneurs and a Business Gateway mentorship. But opening Akara just after COVID was anything but simple. “The opening of the store was the most daunting thing, honestly. My biggest fear was that I thought I would have no joy and no life. That is what happened for a few years.” But inviting God into the details of her life, like plans for her future and her business, helped her on her trajectory. “When I was praying about it, I felt God say, ‘Yes! Go for it,’ and so every step of the way when there were hurdles, I was like, ‘Are we still doing this?’ and he’d show me a picture of things to come, and those things came to pass.” 

Having your own business exposes you to different parts of yourself

When asked for an example of how God showed up in the difficulties of starting her business, she was full of them. “When I was opening the shop I had to do a full refurbishment. This place used to be a model/hobby shop and it had those office tiles and carpet everywhere. It was about 40k back then to refurb the place. I was on my last pennies, but I wasn’t finished, and I remember being so stressed. I prayed; I couldn’t hear anything.” When her mum suggested she soak in the Spirit for a bit, listen to worship music and relax, she did, and God showed her a picture of herself by a coffee machine, laughing. She hadn’t bought a coffee machine yet but as she was laughing in the picture, she felt that everything was going to be OK. 

When the local builders she used threatened not to finish unless she paid her final instalment, she refused the payment until work was complete. “They just started losing their minds. This was my final straw, and they were threatening me a little bit. Then they walked away.” A friend swooped in out of nowhere, finishing all the work for £50. “That was probably worth £500-600. The last thing I had to buy in the shop was a coffee machine. Now I had that last £500 as a down payment to pay monthly for the coffee machine. If the builders had actually finished the job, I wouldn’t have had the money for the machine.”

Advice for the future

When asked about the advice she’d give to other Christian women starting in business, Lewa counsels with confidence. “It might sound cliché, but you need to make God your CEO. There’s a time when I actually said: ‘I’m gonna have a business meeting with God, and let’s talk about what’s the future of this.’ I’ve asked: ‘God, how can I get out of debt?’ Be open to his way, not just yours. You can be the kind of person who stands on business and is unwavering, and that’s a benefit but it can also come with being too stubborn. I think it’s important to have God by your side and be open to him telling you to go in a direction that’s not natural for you. Because the natural is fine, but the supernatural is so much better.” 

The natural is fine, but the supernatural is so much better

As for the future, this godly girl boss plans to open another shop and an online business shipping around the UK. “God is the one who showed me, ‘You’ll have multiples,’ so I can feel confident in saying I’ll take his word for it.”

akarabakery.co.uk @akarabakery

Words by Hope Bonarcher

Imagery © Paul Thorburn