For over two decades, Rina Onyeobi, the Creative Director and CEO of Cakes n’ Slices, has turned flour, sugar, and passion into art, the kind that graces weddings, state events, and private celebrations across Delta and beyond.
From baking her first cake in a tiny Lagos kitchen out of necessity to becoming one of Asaba’s most sought-after bakers, Rina’s journey is a story of grit, grace, and growth.
In this interview, she talks about her humble beginnings, the challenges of running a business in Nigeria, what she’s learning from Gen Z bakers, and why she believes success is never instant, it’s baked over time.
Who is Rina Onyeobi?
I am a baker and caterer, the Creative Director and CEO of Cakes n’ Slices. I hail from Okpanam and am married to an Asaba man. I hold a degree in Sociology from Lagos State University.
How long have you been into it?
I started playing with baking around 1999. Then I started baking professionally in the year 2000. In 2001, I had my first wedding cake. I registered my company in 2002. So, yes, officially, 24 years plus.
How did you get into that?
I grew up with a mum who baked, but I hated it and never paid attention. When I was a child, I was more interested in licking the bowl after the batter, you know. I later got married in 1997 although I was still in school.
That time, my husband was the one taking care of my needs. And when our first child came, we had to take care of the baby’s needs, the home front, and before it got to my own needs, sometimes we didn’t have that much luxury. And I just felt I can’t keep doing this. Why don’t I do something for myself? Being raised by a single mother, I learnt that hard work and perseverance from her.
Around that time, my sister-in-law’s first son was going to have a party, I played with butter in my kitchen, baked a cake, and someone asked, “Who made this cake? It’s so nice compared to the store-bought ones.” And I said, “It’s me.”
That was the first time somebody ate my cake and liked it. But when I decided to do something, I had to ask myself, “What can I do?” I was still in school, so I couldn’t work. I started baking and giving to a Mallam in the neigbourhood. Then we lived in Lagos. By the end of the day, the cakes were gone like that. I kept baking every Friday. I would take to banks to sell. Basically, that was how it started.
So you never learnt it professionally?
I had my first training probably like five years after I had started. I learnt everything in my kitchen, and then we didn’t have access to the internet. There were no recipes; it was trial and error. I just kept practising, making mistakes, getting it right.
Even the first order I got, I went to Baker’s World in Lagos, bought the cake magazine, and then the parent in my daughter’s creche chose a picture. Then I took the picture, went to the cake shop, and, I would look at it, trying to buy things. And that was it.
My first job, the first money I was paid, I bought my palette, turntable, and the things I needed. And I remember I was icing the cake, and it was not looking like what I wanted, you know. At one point, I was crying, asking myself, “Who sent me to do something I’d never done before?”
The character cake was a teddy bear. When it wasn’t looking like a teddy bear, I was almost giving up, and my husband said, “Just continue.” And before you knew what was happening, it was looking like it. My husband always pushed, encouraged, and assisted me.
At the end of the day, the customer liked the cake. My daughter’s first-year birthday cake was actually my first trial at butter icing. When we set the cake to snap her, the oil from the butter was running, and I realised probably the butter was probably too much. When I was going to make butter icing the next time, I reduced it. So that was it. I just kept documenting everything, my mistakes, and where I got it right.
Baking and running a baking business require two different skills. How has it been so far, running a business for over two decades in Asaba?
I started from Lagos. My first wedding cake, I was pregnant with my third child, and I had to go all the way to Port Harcourt from Lagos. My husband was not too comfortable with the idea, but I told him, “You know, it’s my first wedding cake.” I had to make it in Lagos. I went with ABC Bus. It was a seven-tier cake. I packed them in boxes, took ABC from Lagos to Port Harcourt. I was five months pregnant. That was the beginning of my courage.
The “wow” and the applause for me that day set the tone to say, “Rina, you can do anything.” I learnt how to make fondant with that cake. Yes, I learnt how to make fondant and how to cover with fondant.
Then we moved down to Asaba in 2003. At that time, my business was just getting known in Lagos. I had done up to four wedding cakes by 2004. So coming here, it was like a breath of fresh air.
So it was better to do business in Asaba than in Lagos?
Yes, because Asaba was like a breath of fresh air compared to Lagos, which had big shops. There was Baker’s World, and there were different big shops. I was just beginning to get known, beginning to break into the Lagos baking market.
One very big cake maker in Lagos, Cakes and Cream, became my friend. She was my neighbour, and she tasted my cake and said, “You can do it. Why not do this as a business?” Because at a point, I didn’t have that confidence until I did my first wedding cake. I used to always be scared, what if they didn’t like it? But the day she tasted my cake and realised I had no professional training, she was like, “Wow.”
I told her I had a wedding cake to do, and she said, “Okay, I don’t teach, but sit down and watch me work.” And just seeing the way she was making the fondant and working, I had an idea. I went home and did the same thing, and I brought out the wedding cake.
So coming to Asaba, it was different from what they were used to. It was just different. And then, grace, people started hearing about me. I had a friend whose father was the deputy governor, so with her, I was able to break into the government circle, and that was it.
You’ve made cakes for many big names. Who are some of them?
Let’s start with the Ibori tenure. I was baking for the governor. I was baking for the House of Assembly. My first government job was, I think, for the Speaker then, Hon. Daniel Igbrude. I did his birthday. Big names, politicians. The late Iwuayanywu’s wedding cake, too. I started from the top, and while I was at the top, I also catered to those under. I didn’t just remain there. I made my cakes to cut across every class. Whatever your budget is, you can meet your expectations.
What has been the challenge so far? Has everything been smooth sailing all through?
Because I learnt on my own, I worked alone for years. When I first came to Asaba, one of my biggest challenges was getting quality ingredients. I had to source most things from Lagos, and I still do. I prefer that because I won’t compromise on quality.
If you say my cakes are expensive, that’s fine, but I’d rather charge right than use fake or substandard ingredients.
What are your major challenges now?
Power is one of my biggest challenges because most of our equipment is heavy-duty. There was one time there was a power surge, which blew off most of my equipment because we were on. I made a big decision years ago not to power my ovens or mixers with NEPA.
Every time my oven comes on, my chest tightens, because NEPA can be very unreliable, normal current one minute, and then the next minute it just drops. After that experience, when I had to bring my technicians from Lagos to work on the equipment that had been affected, I decided, no more.
If I’m around and need to work, I just wait for the generator. It’s expensive, but it’s better to be safe.
What is something that you are learning from the New Age bakers, and what is something that you think New Age bakers can learn from people who have been in the industry for decades?
For the older ones like us, we have experience. It got to a point where it’s more about doing the right thing than making money. It’s more about impacting the younger ones. You know, I think for me, it’s gotten to that point where it’s not all about money anymore. It’s about what I can offer to my society, to the young ones who work with me.
And then, what I’m learning from these new ones is to come out of my comfort zone. I’m a very reserved person, and I think it has affected my work. I don’t like to be out there. I remember when I just came to Asaba, when you do weddings, they would ask you to come out and talk about it. I dreaded it. And it got to a point where I started pushing it to MCs and Comedians. I like to be myself when I’m behind the scenes. I don’t like to be out there. I don’t like noise, so I like to do my things behind the scenes. What I’m learning from this new generation, they have guts. They are not afraid to try new things.
So I think I’m learning consistency from the younger ones, because they’re out there. Whether they are good or doing rubbish, they’re out there. They are doing their marketing. I would say they are carrying their market on their head. I’m still not there where I can also carry my market on my head. I think I’m learning consistency and power of social media from the new generation.
What is the hardest thing about baking that people do not know?
No matter how long you’ve baked, there are still days things go wrong. Ingredients fail, cakes collapse, or textures change for no reason. Sometimes I pause, take a breath, and start all over again.
We once had a chocolate cake that just wouldn’t set right. After several failed attempts, I told my workers, “Pause. Let’s re-bake tomorrow.” It came out perfect the next day. That experience reminded me that baking is like life, even with experience, you keep learning and adjusting.
How do you balance your work, your personal life, your family, and everything that needs your attention?
I will say I have a community of family. While I was working, like I said, I was pregnant with my third child when my business started. And then in Lagos, I had a very good nanny who helped me with the kids. But one thing, when my kids go to school, I bake. When they come home, I pause. I raised five kids, and I work between the hours when they go to school. However, my mother-in-law and sister helped me a lot in raising my kids while I was building my career.
I didn’t open my shop till my last child was two. I worked from home for years so that I could pay attention to them. And then I had my mother-in-law, who was always standing in for me when I had to travel, because when I came to Asaba, every weekend there was one wedding in Warri or neighbouring towns.
What would you count as your biggest achievement in over 20 years of business?
Seeing people I did wedding cakes for years ago, have children and watching theme grow. There are some of them I’m still baking for their children.
Outside work, what are your hobbies?
I love to travel. Anytime I get an opportunity, I just move, the UK, Canada. Travelling opens my eyes. When I travel, I go to pastry shops. I see things, new equipment and techniques. I try to do one or two courses. The last training I had was in Turkey, which was in 2020, before COVID.
Finally, what are your goals for your business?
Do I still have goals? I’ve been at this since I was like 24. The year I turn 65, if the Lord tarries, I think I want to retire with a school. Yes, a catering school. I want to retire from a catering school. For now, I think I’m doing more of NGO than business.
I used to train people for free, but I started charging so they would take it seriously. My husband calls my training “NGO work” because I’m more interested in helping young people find direction than making money from it. So when they come in and they see what we go through, they lose interest. They don’t like that it’s messy. They don’t want that hard work; they want an easy life, they want the flashy part. And I tell them, before I got here, you know, it’s pain, sweat, you don’t just come, cake is not just come, mix, bake. It’s a process.
The Government has to help us reorient the youths to want to do legitimate work.
