Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamila Muhammad.
Hi Jamila, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always loved baking. My fondest memories of baking are from my grandmother, Naomi, but we lovingly called her Nanny. She called me Mila as a nickname. After she passed I took on baking as a hobby to connect to sweet memories with her. I got married, and had children and didn’t really think of it as a career goal. Eventually, there was a major shift in my life where I decided to go back to school and take up a degree in Baking and Pastry management. Shortly after I divorced and was raising three girls alone. This all was very overwhelming at the time coming from being a stay-at-home wife and mother to finding that jobs were hard to come by without experience. I applied to two places, Disney and Seaworld, but told everyone in classes that I would be working at Disney. I lasted maybe 90 days at Seaworld before I decided it wasn’t a good fit for me or my girls. I really felt hurt, confused, and out of place. Then I got THE CALL, from Disney, I was very excited and worked there from 2012 to 2015 and this was the beginning of my love for pastry. I worked in Park Event Operations in the kitchen where Food & Fine is hosted every year. I learned so much and took this knowledge along with every job I had since, from baker to working at a manufacturing plant as a supervisor and then promoted to quality control, to an executive chef at a local tea room, to an assistant bakery manager to a bakery manager at natural foods stores and full time since January 2020 in my own bakery Mila’s Front Porch.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There was no smooth road. parenting alone, being a woman and a black woman in this industry has been a journey. I have had lots of angels and help from an industry mentor along the way. I find that my motivation to succeed pushed me to the point I got to today. I once heard a motivational speaker say “how bad do you want it? then he goes on and tells a story about a man who meets a businessman to learn how to be successful he meets the man in the morning by the ocean and then the man takes him out into the water by increments until the water reaches over his head and he holds his head down under the water. the businessman lifts his head up after what seems like an overwhelming amount of time and asks the young man how bad did you want to breathe when I held your head down? he responded BADLY, I wanted to live. he responded that’s HOW BAD YOU HAVE TO WANT IT!” This is how i question myself every morning I don’t want to wake up early, or I don’t feel like getting in my car to make a delivery, i know I want that kind of success more than I even want to breathe. That’s what brings me through the challenges I face.
We’ve been impressed with Mila’s Front Porch, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I offer the amazing opportunity for those with special diets to have the dessert they have had in childhood or in their dreams but haven’t been able to find made with their diet in mind. i can make it gluten-free, sugar-free, keto, plant-based, dairy-free… the list goes on and on. and it takes just as rich and delicious as the traditional desserts I also make.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I live in Oviedo and I love the ability to drive to things I like within a short distance. Being raised in a small town in Ohio this feels like home here in Oviedo. There are wonderful parks, excellent schools, and always something to do in Oviedo. I can’t say I don’t like much about Oviedo.
Contact Info:
- Email: chefmila@milasfrontporch.com
- Website: http://milasfrontporch.com
- Instagram: milasfrontporch
- Facebook: milasfrontporch
- Twitter: milayasmeen
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