Baking a name for herself!

Ester Kamati



At the age of 28, Alma Tangi Nakanduungileh is climbing the entrepreneurial ladder and adding sweetness to her clients’ lives.

A qualified microbiologist by training, the Windhoek-born and raised young woman owns and manages her own cake shop called Tangi’s Cakery.

It caters for all types of events, from birthdays, graduations, weddings and whatever else one can think of.

With an impeccable work ethic, muffins, cupcakes as well as cake baking and decorating are her specialty.

She has done it all, from Cinderella-themed birthday cupcakes to Las Vegas-themed bachelorette party cakes.

Nakanduungileh said as a child she watched her aunt bake and she grew to love the process, without knowing that baking would become her career.

With three businesses running, Nakanduungileh is a triple threat. She emphasised the importance of being self-reliant, adding the best part about being an entrepreneur is being in control.

“I am a very independent soul and from the few years I have been in business, I have come to realise how important that is,” she said.

She manages Tangi’s Cakery, which caters for sweet-toothed clients, Tarzan Investments CC, which sells and distributes potjie packs (red meat soup bones) all over Windhoek, as well as Eembeke oil products for hair and skin.

“You have to work hard to play hard,” she said, adding she barely gets any free time. After a hard working day, she will most likely be found hanging out with her loved ones, while having deep and meaningful conversations about who is the better footballer is between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

When stressed, Nakanduungileh finds relief in listening to fiction and non-fiction audiobooks, especially when baking.

“It makes the process that much more fun.” She advised start-up entrepreneurs to trust in their abilities and practice patience, as it would otherwise be difficult for people to trust in their capabilities.

“It becomes difficult to not just throw in the towel, but you have to persevere and show people what you are made of. Luckily for me, it paid off.”

She said many of aspiring entrepreneurs think that success comes overnight, but they are highly mistaken.

“Many influential entrepreneurs failed multiple times before they could finally get traction, and it was the same for me”.

Nakanduungileh urged the youth not to sit around idly, but rather teach themselves the necessary skills you do not learn in the classroom. These include how to do their taxes, as well as the difference between good and bad debt, among others.

“Once you have learned all this, you have already taken a step towards becoming an entrepreneur.”

Nakanduungileh is always trying to better herself and her craft.

She believes that social media is a powerful tool that should be used to reach out to more people and make them aware of products. She religiously posts all her latest work on her social media pages and engages her clients on these platforms. All the information you may need regarding Tangi’s Cakery is available on their website.

Fun facts about Tangi

1.She loves to solve problems and therefore really likes maths;

2.She is a decent singer and dancer;

3.She has a really bad aim;

4.She describes herself as charmingly awkward;

5.She normally only speaks when spoken to;

6.She has a paralysing fear of water;

7.She gets bored easily;

8.Her brother nicknamed her after a witch in an Indiana Jones movie when she was eight and still calls her by that name;

9.She won awards for best performance in her faculty and didn’t know she was a recipient until the day prior to the awards;

1. Her baking career is a happy accident that started when she was unsuccessful while applying for a microbiologist post.