Samah Assaf was born in Edmonton in 1980 and moved to Lebanon with her family when she was six years old. She moved back to Edmonton in 2000 and got married to Mahmoud Amerey in 2001. They have four lovely children, Eman, Awid, Leila and Yasmeen.
She went to NAIT and received her Diploma in Banking and Business and after graduating from NAIT, she worked for ATB for just over a year. She was and has been a housewife since her first born child.
Samah always dreamt of being a Baker from when she was a child growing up in Lebanon. She loved when her parents took her to a bakery and this is where her curiosity and passion for baking arose. She always dreamt of making all those desserts and loved the aroma of those bakeries.
Now she enjoys those smells in her very own kitchen every time she bakes for people. Her passion is baking and she began her home based business, “Heavenly Sweets By Samah” in 2017.
You can check out her Facebook Heavenly Sweets by Samah | Facebook and Instagram Samah Assaf (@heavenly_sweets_by_samah) • Instagram photos and videos pages where she displays her lovely desserts.
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When did you start your business? Was there something/someone who inspired you?
I started my business in 2017, when friends and family kept complimenting me on my sweets and saying that I should go into business selling them.
They would say, “everyone loves them.” I was inspired by my mom. She would come home after visiting someone and tell us about the amazing desserts they served.
I would always ask if she got the recipe from them and she always did. She would then bake us the same desserts. My mom was very passionate about baking and this is where I get my passion for baking from.
Would you say you reached all of your goals since you started or do you have more to achieve?
I have met most of my goals since beginning this business but I still have much more to accomplish. The first couple of years were tough as I did not make any money but my business began to pick up in 2019.
One major goal I would like to achieve is to publish my own dessert book with all of my recipes so I can share them with others.
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What are the ups and downs when dealing with the Arab community?
I love our community and for the most part, they are very supportive and appreciative of each other.
I love the support they give me and I always try and support our community as well. Our community is a very close knit community and the word of mouth advertising they give me has helped my business become successful and I am very grateful for this.
What would you change if you had to do it all over again?
I would have taken a course in decorating cakes as this is one of my most difficult challenges.
What challenges has Covid-19 brought to you and your business and how did you overcome them?
Covid-19 was difficult for all of us as the whole world was shut down. Business came to a complete halt for a few months but Eid Al-Fitr turned things around and the orders started rolling in.
People can’t live without food and great dessert, especially in times like this and during times of celebration. In tough times, I know I can always depend on my faith and my community. When I say community, I don’t just mean the Arab and Muslim community but I mean our Canadian community.
Half of my customers are non-Arab and they love celebrating their holidays with my desserts as well. I am truly grateful to all of my wonderful customers.
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