Larah Bross
Mama Bross
Cover Star discuss The importance of Family and a good Work Ethic​
Larah BROSS reflects back on her childhood memories in Montreal going out on bike runs for hours with no care in the world. She also reveals that growing up in the 80s her first concert was MC HAMMER and often while she puts on her cassette player, she would write down lyrics on a piece of paper to rap along.
Larah expresses that bagels were a big part of her childhood and describes it as comfort food. She explained that in Montreal you can find a bagel shop in every corner. Sometimes she would travel 20 minutes away from home to wait in long lines just to buy her favourite bagels.
Starting her own business was the last thing she saw herself having, especially since she had no business background. 4 successful bagel shops later, Larah became a household name around the whole of Edinburgh and Scotland.
Larah made the impossible happen when an idea came to her during her daily runs, after the second day of the official lockdown announcement. She felt that it was important for people to still get their everyday comfort food from her shop. With 4 staff on board, 200 hundred orders a day and the internet literally breaking, Mama Bross plan was a huge Hole success. One thing about Larah is that she loves her Hole puns and making everyone laugh. Getting the opportunity to speak to her and glimpse inside her world was a unique experience that I will cherish forever.
Larah shares meeting her partner Marc in her late 20s while both were working on a cruise ship. She said his first interaction with her was something along the lines of “Do you want a sweetie?”. “Exotic” is what Mama Bross described Marc’s Scottish accent, asking him to repeat it again. As they spent time working together in the cruise-ship the time came for Larah to move down to New York for a few years while Marc went back to Scotland. Few years later he invited Larah to Scotland for the fringe festival back in 2006 during a heatwave. She soon grew to love the culture and people hence decided to stay.
“It’s all about connections. It’s all about contacts” says Larah. She emphasises the importance of being open to learning from the young generation. “I have to keep learning I can’t just decide this is life, I must evolve and that’s very important to me”
“Even if you fail you’re going to learn from that” says Larah for future entrepreneurs. “Don’t spend too much time trying to research all the reasons why you shouldn’t do it. Go for it.”
“Being a mom is the only thing I think I’ve ever truly cared about.”
