_“Are you awake?!”_

Knock knock knock. Bang. Bang. Bang.

A loud knocking sound just keeps on banging on my door.

_“Yes, I’m coming!”_

Another day as a baker.

I usually wake at 3am to open the cafe.

Check inventory.

Bake. Bake. Bake.

My alarm is definitely my sister yelling to make sure I don’t doze off (as always)

_“I don’t feel like opening the cafe, today Juana.”_

I said in a very sluggish tone.

“_Don’t mind the critics, Diana.” _

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That’s my sister, Juana, my every supportive sibling who’s cheering me up on days I don’t feel like to.

We opened a bakeshop a year ago at 5th Street, famous for Asian buns and Vietnamese style Coffees.

5th street is where art meets culture in New York. It’s where creators roam around, get lots of pictures and spend a lot of time at a coffee shop.

“_We just didn’t hit the targets last year.”_

In my negative and harsh voice tone.

This is me getting irritated every time I open the excel sheet to calculate if we even break even.

_“Are you sure Diana? Why bother with numbers?” _

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She’s surprised why I’m acting this way so I explained:

_“We have lots of competition here. I want to open a big cafe and hire more staff. We’re small and I feel it’s limiting us to serve more.” _

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My sister just hug me. Tightly.

She feel my pain because I was laid off last year and baking has been my passion. And my comfort hobby.

“_Ever heard about pop-ups?”_ My sister asked.

“_Let’s invite partners or investors to help us. I think it’s about time.”_

And I immediately reply:

“_I’m afraid of these changes, Juana.” _

I added “_Being an accountant, every centavo is accounted for.” ___

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_“You have to trust that it will, Diana. If you want to grow, we’ll have to let people help us.” _

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I paused and reminisce the time when people lined up on our first day.

It was a fulfilling experience to serve Asian pastries in a Western neighborhood.

Yes we encountered lots of challenges too but my sister reminded me help is on its way. I just have to take it.

I kiss my sister and told her “c’mon let’s get ready. We’re open at 5th street and start accepting orders at 7am.”