She is known for creating pastel-coloured sweets and watercolour wedding cakes painted by hand that have captured the imagination of 89,000 Instagram followers.
But it was actually a children’s birthday that first inspired May Issa, the mum-of-four behind the popular Sweets With Love account, to try her hand at baking.
May, 36, wanted to bake a cake for her daughter’s first birthday in 2013, a change after celebrating with store-bought cakes for her two elder sons’ past celebrations.
The Sydney mum, who worked in baking before her children were born, always loved cooking but never had any kind of formal training.
May Issa, the mum-of-four behind the Sweets With Love Instagram account complete with hand-painted watercolour doughnuts (pictured), revealed that baking gives her confidence
It was her daughter’s first birthday that inspired May (picutred with her four children) to try baking after she decided she wanted to bake a cake instead of buying it from a store
Fast-forward five years and May is now running an entire baking business on her own, with 89,000 Instagram followers loving her pastel creations
‘I’ve never done any courses,’ May told Daily Mail Australia. ‘I just try things that I love to eat and that my family love to eat.’
She would often find inspiration from social media, teaching herself just by seeing Instagram pictures and ‘giving it a go’.
‘I often sit in front of a cake not knowing where I’m going to go with it,’ she said. ‘It’s about that amount of passion and love you put in it.’
Soon it was her own personal Instagram page that was giving May a confidence boost as friends and family began to request her delicious treats for themselves.
May decided it made sense to try and start her own business, but at first her decision to pursue baking shocked even her parents.
‘My dad said, “Oh, you’re not going to do much with this”. But now he’s saying “Gosh, I was wrong!'” she recalled with a laugh.
May has never taken any cooking or baking courses. She would often find inspiration from social media, teaching herself just by seeing Instagram pictures and ‘giving it a go’
May decided it made sense to try and start her own business, but at first her decision to pursue baking shocked even her parents. ‘I always thought I wasn’t a creative person’, she said
It was also through baking that May began to find a confidence in herself that she didn’t know she had as she tapped into a newfound but natural talent.
‘I always thought I wasn’t a creative person, and now I get told that every day,’ she said.
Now May not only juggles the business, but is a stay-at-home mum to four children aged four to 12 years old
‘You never know what you’re capable of. The more I think I can’t do this, the more I try and the more I realise I can achieve. I break my own barriers.’
And that includes juggling a business she completely runs by herself with being a stay-at-home mum to four children aged four to 12.
May, who bakes at home, does most of her work for the business at night when everyone else has finally gone to sleep.
Although it has led to many a late night, May said she perseveres because she doesn’t want to miss out on being there for her children.
‘While my children are young I won’t open a store or anything like that,’ she said. ‘My parents had a fish and chip shop when I was younger and I felt like I missed out.’
‘I think that’s played a big role. I want them to have a mum at home because I missed that. What I missed in my childhood, I don’t want my children to miss.’
May’s schedule can sometimes get crazy, such as when she recently made three handmade costumes for a school parade in one night after her most hectic week yet.
‘I got home from my last delivery and my children had a book parade the next day – and I always make their costumes,’ she said.
May, who bakes at home, makes most of her incredible creations at night when everyone else has finally gone to sleep
As restless as her life can be – from learning how to run a business from scratch to hours of cleanup – May said she still finds baking to be incredibly therapeutic
‘I’d had the biggest week of my life but I couldn’t let them down and I always go all out with the costumes.’
‘I was awake until who knows what time again, but two of them won best costume. Imagine that moment.’
As restless as her life can be – from learning how to run a business from scratch to hours of cleanup – May said she still finds baking to be incredibly therapeutic.
She is especially calm when she gets to hand-paint her cakes and matching donuts, one of May’s specialties, in the middle of the night.
Although it has led to many a late night, May said she perseveres because she doesn’t want to miss out on being there for her children (pictured with her husband)
‘Being a mum with four kids can be a lot to take on, but this is just kind of my own space,’ she said. ‘I have my own world as well.’
‘If I didn’t love it, I couldn’t continue it, it is a very demanding business,’ she said. ‘I didn’t plan this or think I would ever get this far.’
‘There’s a lot behind just baking a cake, but because I love it so much, I just keep going, and I just keep doing it.’
Now May is gearing up for her first pop-up next week, and plans to get her own studio space to continue to work as well as find another pair of hands to help.
‘I was just a mum doing what I love,’ she said. ‘And now I’m thinking of building my own studio.’
Now May is gearing up for her first pop-up next week, and plans to get her own studio space to continue to work as well as find another pair of hands to help