10-year-old entrepreneur turns love for snacks into product for family business

Saskatchewan's Bright Black Future: Modesola Orimoloye

Modesola Orimoloye is starting a legacy with her family through an entrepreneurial idea.

The 10-year-old Regina Grade 4 student has been helping produce the homemade puff puff mix the family's business, Laura's Delights, sells since she was five years old.

The idea to start selling the mix was actually Modesola's.

"When I was little, I would always watch my mom make puff puff in the kitchen," she said. "I was super excited when she finished making it."

Puff puff is a Nigerian snack made of fried dough, similar to a beignet.

"We mixed all the dry ingredients together and packaged it," Modesola's mother Laura said. "So all people needed to do was buy it, add water, let it rise and deep fry it."

Laura said that when her family relocated to Canada in 2016 they found it hard to find puff puff the way they liked it back home. This inspired her to start taking ready made orders for puff puff in 2017 through her catering business, which then led to Modesola's idea to sell the mix.

"She was little but she is a very smart kid," Laura said.

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Laura said all hands are on deck to help the family business run smoothly. Modesola's younger brothers Olabiyi, 7, and Olajuwon, 2, help with packaging and sealing the boxes, while dad helps with creating the mix and dropping it off.

"Right now all of us help until we are able to get a machine or a co-packer," Laura said.

Over the years, the demand for the mix has increased as African stores in Regina have started stocking it. Modesola is able to help her mom create the mix, usually over the weekends and sometimes after school.

"My favourite thing about the business is watching everything come together after we've mixed it all together," she said.

On the flip side, her least favourite thing about the business is how long it takes to make the mix.

Modesola's friends at school have noticed how much hard work she is putting in.

"They know I have a business and they are wowed about it," she said.

Orimoloye would like to own a puff puff bar, where she would sell her puff puff mix along with ready-made puff puff and homemade drinks.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.