Welcome to Made in Asia, Lifestyle Asia’s new podcast series that aims to connect cultural dots and communities across Southeast Asia through the power of voices and storytelling.
In the latest episode, we sit down with Claire to hear her raw, real, and refreshingly unfiltered journey from working overseas as a flight attendant to running her own F&B venture. It’s a story that is resonating with thousands — and not just because of the bagels. What started as a homespun craving for a good bagel evolved into Grumpy Bagels, a now-popular bagel shop in Kuala Lumpur that’s fast becoming a cult favourite.
Grumpy Bagels has become so famous that it is now a must-visit for inbound visitors from the world over. Paired with great story-telling, Claire has inspired a huge following especially for those who aspire to start a food business like hers. But this trajectory is not something she has had in mind.
“I’ll be honest with you… I never thought I would be famous by being a cafe owner. When I was in Emirates, I thought of being a travel blogger,” she recalls. “When I started Grumpy Bagels, I began sharing the renovation stories in the first few months of operation. It was also because of marketing budget restrictions that we had to think out of the box. It was when I posted a content on how you’re a business owner, which means that you have to do everything, that I gained 30,000 followers in a day.”
Claire’s transition from being a flight attendant to a business owner wasn’t a picture-perfect pivot. In fact, it was messy, uncertain, and deeply personal. Speaking to Made in Asia, she shares the emotional toll of adjusting to life on the ground, especially after being retrenched during the pandemic, and the quiet courage it took to follow a hunch: that her love for comfort food — and storytelling — could be something more.
The idea for Grumpy Bagels came about not as a business plan, but as a form of self-healing. Claire finds peace when she’s in her element, making desserts and baking. She’s also self-taught, and always experimenting in her home kitchen. “During the lockdown, we were craving for bagels and that’s when I started experimenting making bagels… and the rest is history,” she confides.
Her social media presence began to reflect her experiments with doughs, renovation stories, and true-life experiences as a new business owner. Slowly but surely, people started to notice her.
In an era of polished perfection, Claire’s approach stood out. She wasn’t trying to “go viral.” She was just telling the truth. Her Instagram captions became emotional outlets, her stories a window into the highs and lows of starting a business from scratch. And that authenticity hit home for many.
“I was just sharing because it helped me process what I was going through,” Claire tells us. “But then I started getting DMs from young girls saying they were inspired to start something of their own.”
Grumpy Bagels soon grew into more than a brand — it became a community. What makes Claire’s story compelling isn’t just the food (though it’s excellent). It’s the vulnerability. In opening up about the realities of entrepreneurship — particularly as a young woman in Malaysia’s competitive F&B scene — she has become a quiet force of inspiration.
Also in this episode of Made in Asia, Claire reflects on how life has its plans for you. “I don’t have everything figured out,” she says with a chuckle. “But I hope my story shows that you don’t have to be perfect to begin.”
Hosted by Martin Teo, Editor-in-Chief of Lifestyle Asia KL & SG, Made in Asia headlines the theme of “Community” for its pilot season. Stay tuned as we bring you fresh, bi-weekly conversations with some of the brightest voices in Malaysia and Singapore.
Follow us on:
Spotify: @MadeInAsia
Instagram: @lifestyleasiakl & @lifestyleasiasg
YouTube: @LSAMadeInAsia
