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It's was funny... when I was about to quite the agency, I had a boss at the time
that knew me a bit. And then
I went to travel to Lençóis Maranhenses. I returned all tanned and gorgeous.
She said "Cíntia, at the moment I saw you walk through the door,
I was sure: agency is not good for Cíntia.
Because it's a completely different person.
And at that moment I was sure: Cíntia is going to quit."
Hi, I'm Cíntia.
I'm a chef at Amüse Food Store.
I never saw work as something to pay my bills.
So, even in another area... advertising,
I always had to pursue passion.
What happened is that it was stressful.
Any task became irritating.
For example, "oh, you have to do this" and I thought "that's a stupid job", you know?
"Why do I have to do this? I don't want to do this."
So receiving a task with a bad mood was the first symptom.
I said "wait, there's something wrong here. That can't happen."
And then I thought "what I used to do when I was a child, when no one judged me?"
It was a very easy decision. Some children like to read,
some children like to draw. And what I liked to do
when I was really young was to play with food.
Not play with food. Cook food.
So my presents always were a popcorn maker, a blender,
a different pan.
And I realise "I think that's a little part of my essence".
So I started. I used to cook at home, and I said "that's what I want to do, I'm gonna cook".
And finally, I left advertising.
I started in a new career. I went to study, to do internship, to travel, to do research...
I went through a big immersion process,
seeing recipes, testing... I bought lots ingredients to start
to work, to gain speed, to have familiarity with it at home.
So I went through a long conflicted period as a housewife
who received her husband at home...
Like " oh my god, what I'm doing with my life?
My husband is coming back from work, and I'm here cooking."
And then, you that used to be a independent woman
suddenly become kind of a lady. Because your husband begin to support you.
And then, like it or not, people start to make jokes about it.
So, at the same time, you have to feel confident to say
"That's okay. If the situation changes someday, it will change.
I will support him if he changes his career." I think is fair.
My concern has always more moral than practical.
I mean moral, like, "he's going to pay everything?
We always shared bills. How he now will going to pay everything?"
So it was very hard.
For those who want to change,
it's essential to have a person to help you. Can be the husband,
mother, father, uncle, friends, cousins, doesn't matter.
For those who are alone, make that decision is much worse.
By the way, I have to be very careful,
because people come and say "Cíntia, what do you think I should do?"
And I have tendency to say:
"that's it, quite your job, go be happy, go do what you like"
And then I have to say to myself "take it easy, Cíntia, it's not like that.
You can't say to people to quit their jobs.
They don't necessarily have the same support you have,
or the emotional strength that you have to deal with it."
It's very conflicted because
I think the process to understand... that immersion process
to understand where you want to go,
what do you want to do...
it can't be a period of big activities, otherwise you lose yourself
and you end up following the natural course.
If I had started to work in restaurants, I would be working in that area. That would be my career.
I think it's important to have this period of
isolation... to understand. So, for me it was something like that.
It was great. It was a very good decision.
When you have a business, you hold on to your beliefs.
I think the biggest challenge for people who change careers
is to test their beliefs.
So, I decided not to work in restaurants,
because I didn't want to work in a place where I would have to leave 2 am
I wanted to find a different business where I could leave in the afternoon,
solve some stuffs,
do a quiet production, the way I like.
So I had the idea of the store.
Integrating different food with convenience,
for people who don't have time. And a cool store to buy and give presents.
One of the main thing that we have here
is that besides being a different food, it's also very handcrafted.
Because the most important thing is you to know that there's a person
caring for the food, is not a machine cooking your food.
It's a thoughtful process... it's how a person would eat at home.
I think that the good part of running a good business we believe is that...
you enjoy all the process.
I love to talk with my suppliers. I love to be in the kitchen because the staff is there.
I love to talk with clients... So there's no moment I don't like,
not even a moment that I like more. I think that the good thing is to enjoy everything.
There's always space for good professionals.
And if you are dedicated, there will be space.
"Oh, advertising industry is saturated".
No, no... If you're good, you will have space in it.
"Oh, restaurant industry is saturated".
No, no... is saturated, that's true... but if you're good, you will have space in it.
When you have your whole life to work
you have to work with something that touches your heart.
Try it. Life is only one.