Neha Sethi: Balancing Cookies and Kids

If you’ve ever indulged in a cookie from Sweetish House Mafia, you already know the magic Neha Arya Sethi brings to the table—quite literally! As the co-founder and head chef of the beloved brand, Neha juggles her role as a baker, entrepreneur, and mom with grace. We caught up with her on a cozy Sunday morning, while her little ones busied themselves nearby, to chat about her journey with Sweetish House Mafia, her approach to balancing work and family, and the lessons she hopes to pass on to her children. (Yes, there were cookies involved!)

Miko Lolo : Up top, As a mother of two and an entrepreneur, have you found a balance between the two?
Neha Sethi : I think yes, I have found a balance between being a mother and an entrepreneur. I would attribute that to having a strict schedule, in the sense that when my kids are at school, I go to work. Whatever I can get done in those 3-4 hours is what I manage to do. When they’re back home from school, I am here with them so that I get to spend the maximum amount of time with them. And then, when they inevitably go to some class or the other, I get back to work from home or handle phone calls, for instance. So, I find that I can balance spending time with my children without letting my work suffer.

What’s a typical day in Neha’s life?
So a typical day—on weekdays at least; weekends are a different ball game because I completely relax on the weekends—starts with some form of exercise in the morning. You know, it’s either the gym, squash, or maybe Barre. Then I come back, have a shower, of course, and get to work immediately after that. I’m at work for a few hours, and then by the time my daughter comes home, which is around 2 o’clock, I’m back as well. We grab lunch together, and then I spend time with both my kids. My son’s already home, so he eats lunch by himself or with my in-laws, who I live with. The second half of the day is usually with them or taking them to class. Evening again is with the family. So, yeah, and of course, I get some time to myself as well.

What time management techniques or tools do you find most effective in staying organised and efficient?
Honestly, I don’t really use any time management techniques or tools. I don’t even think I’m familiar with any. For being organized and efficient, I have, in general, always been that way since I was a kid—you know, with lists, Excel, and things like that. I have my to-do lists, and I stay on top of them as much as possible. I have post-its in my room that remind me of things that need to be done, and they get chucked as the tasks get completed. So that helps me keep on top of things. But in terms of time management, umm, it just happens.

You made a switch from finance to baking, how did that happen?
So I studied finance as an undergrad at Wharton, and I worked as a banker in New York. In that year, I realized I really didn’t like the industry. So I think the switch from finance to something else was inevitable because I didn’t enjoy that field at all. I had been baking since I was a kid—I really enjoyed making desserts and sweets. Once I got back, I was trying to figure out what to do next, considering finance was out of the question. I just turned to baking as a calming mechanism or just to occupy myself, and that just took off. So it just happened; it wasn’t planned. Leaving finance was planned; getting into baking was unplanned.

What were some of the challenges you faced when starting SHM? And how did you overcome them?
Luckily for me, I started SHM on a small scale with just a Nano, travelling to specific locations with small quantities. Back then, social media was organic - there were no algorithms, boosting, or paid ads. It was much easier for people to discover things naturally. As a result, a lot more people found out about us. Starting with a Nano wasn’t too challenging, and I got media coverage pretty quickly, which was amazing!

By the time I decided to open a physical shop, I already had a following and had spent about a year and a half doing the groundwork, going through trials and errors. So, that part wan't too difficult. When it came to opening the actual store, my brother-in-law Aakash, who’s now my partner, handled the business side, while I focused on being the chef, doing R&D, and developing the products. Opening the store itself was a bit challenging, mostly because of the licenses, BMC issues, and typical bureaucratic hurdles in Bombay. But these are things you learn to overcome and manage one way or another.

S wears the Voyager Trails Cuban Collar Shirt

If you could create any whimsical dessert without any constraints, what would it be and why?
I think I would want to maybe somehow get the nostalgia of the past. Those chuskis—I’m sure you still get them, I just don’t know where—those ice lollies from those plastic packets. They were just amazing. Basically, just desserts of the past. Back in the day, you didn’t have many options. You had your black forest cake, you had your pineapple cake, and then you had Goriawalla’s cake, which I’ve eaten recently, and I realized I am not a fan. But somehow, just maybe incorporating the flavors of the past into one amazing cohesive dish would be amazing, I think.

What advice would you give to other moms who aspire to start their own businesses while managing their families?
My advice would be to do away with the mom guilt to begin with. I think that’s a big factor that cripples a lot of moms. You know, about going back to work or working while having kids at home, I have realized that I am quite shameless in that way; I am not going to feel any guilt. Like I said before, I need to be happy so my kids are happy. I give them the amount of time they need, and they don’t complain. I go to work. At least they don’t complain to me now. When they grow up and say that Mom didn’t spend time with me, we’ll deal with it then. But I do my best by them and by me, and the only way I can do that is by foregoing the mom guilt as much as possible.

Another piece of advice I would suggest is, of course, to work with your kids’ schedule. It’s easier said than done and is a pretty generic answer—go to work while your kids are at school or occupied. So, just reiterating that you should try to do that. I know a lot of people don’t have the flexibility that I do. Because my business is already established, I can work for fewer hours and do the rest from home. But if that’s a possibility, then try to work from home as well. Even if you can’t give your kids your full attention, if they know you’re around, I think that makes a difference. Even if you’re locked up in a room, at least they know that you’re there. I think just them mentally knowing that, okay, Mom is under the same roof as me right now, would really make a difference to them.

And to add one last thing, whoever tells you, “Oh, are you sure you want to start a business? You have such a young kid,” please ignore them. You know your family best, you know your timelines best, you know your schedule best, and you know your capabilities best, so please do not depend on someone else or be swayed by someone else’s judgment of what you can and cannot do. If you think you are capable of starting a business even though you have a young kid, please just go ahead and don’t listen to anyone. There’s always going to be someone to bring you down or make you question yourself. I would always say, if you have faith in yourself, just go for it and don’t listen to any of the naysayers.

D wears the Voyager Trails Flare Dress