“Cancer has taught me to do what I love.”

Those are the words of Siew Heng Boon, the owner and founder of Jelly Alchemy, a 3D jelly art business based in Sydney, born out of the artist’s passion for food and art.

Made with seaweed jelly powder, Siew uses tools to inject intricate motifs such as koi fish, floral patterns and pandas onto a clear base.

“Trusting my instinct is really important to get the designs right. When I am working on a piece of artwork, I design based on flow and balance.

“I am very pedantic about details hence I do take my time to complete every piece,” said Siew, who elaborated that one 3D jelly art can take up to four hours.

Her artworks took the world by storm and received rave media coverage from around the world, all within a year after getting her business up and running.

Unfortunately, just as her business started thriving, Siew was diagnosed with breast cancer.

But that did not deter her as four years on, Jelly Alchemy is flourishing and Siew is now considered the master of the trade within the field.

Here, she shares about her fierce battle for survival, how cancer actually gave her the affirmation to propel Jelly Alchemy forward, and what it takes to balance family life and pursue your own passion zealously.

Tell us your story.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and worked in the corporate world for a few years before settling down to become a homemaker. It gives me great joy to cook for my family and even more so when I get the chance to do food decoration during special occasions.

When I first discovered 3D jelly art (I was in Malaysia when I learnt it), my gut instinct told me to bring this art to Australia. It was so niched back then, relatively unheard of.

I struggled a lot and took many hours to complete my first piece of artwork on my own. In fact, it was so bad that I didn’t even want to finish it and threw it away.

What makes you confident in what you do now?

A lot of patience, determination and I have a good eye for colours, which helps tremendously. Cliche as it may sound, practice makes perfect. No shortcuts here.

I persisted. I worked very hard to figure out tips and tricks of the trade. With every piece of artwork, I took note of the lessons learnt. As I continued to practice, my skills naturally started to improve.

Could you share with us some of your milestones?

I learned my first 3D jelly art in August 2016, and officially launched Jelly Alchemy in February 2017. That same year, in November, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Nevertheless, I pushed on and taught my first beginners class in September 2018, launched my own line of tools in March 2019, and appeared on a TV show with Elise Strachan in January 2020!

The next month, in February 2020, I taught my first class at the Australian Patisserie Academy

I then launched the Jelly Alchemy website and jelly art frames in March 2021, and subsequently launched online classes in April 2021.

Tell us about your journey with cancer a year after Jelly Alchemy was launched.

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I received four orders for the week. I sent a message to all of my clients, apologising to them that I had to cancel their orders. One of them actually told me to keep the money and she will wait for her order when I recover. Their compassion touched me till today.

In between the diagnosis and my first chemotherapy treatment, I made sure to deliver my products for a school fundraising project that I have previously committed. I knew that it would be my last time crafting jelly cakes for a long time. In my mind, I was bracing myself to go through an extremely tough journey.

With the overwhelming love and support from my family, friends and medical team, I took the courage to craft jelly art again. After every chemo session, I would calculate the days that I knew I would be bed-bound and then set a target to make it on a certain timeline.

Every time I crafted my jelly art, it takes my mind off all those side effects. It was definitely a good few hours of relief.

I did not take up any orders. I did, however, make jelly art for the doctors and nurses to thank them. My jelly art got better during this time!

How has your cancer journey impacted you and the business?

Cancer has taught me to do what I love. I have been blessed to receive a lot of media coverage that has told my story and inspired many people to take the courage to pursue things that they love.

One of my passions in life is to inspire and assist less fortunate women or women that are going through issues in life.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, I was approached by a local Malaysian Facebook group to run an online class for their members, to equip them with skills that they can use to earn some side income for their families.

I agreed to help and many of my online students are running small businesses making 3D jelly art. This is the most satisfying part of my job as a teacher.

What would you want to tell other women who are going through a similar situation?

To all the women out there who are going through cancer, whether they run a business or not, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Most of the horror stories that you read online don’t happen to everyone. A lot of people cope well throughout their treatments.

I am one of them. Allow yourself time to recover and always be kind to yourself.

What are your top three pieces of advice for women wanting to start their own business?

1. You need to believe in the products and services that you are selling.
2. Social media is powerful. Use it to your advantage.
3. Take one step at a time and never be afraid to fail.

This article first appeared on Set the Tables.

Set the Tables is positioned to inspire and educate those already in the industry as much as the aspiring reader who dreams of a future in the food business, and maybe even the merely curious tantalised by the vast and irresistible universe of food and drink.