We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elaine Delgado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elaine, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Hi there, My name is Elaine Delgado and I am the CEO & Operator of Voguish Boards LLC, A Creative Charcuterie and Grazing Company based in Tampa Bay and now Connect & Cocktails LLC a small business private networking event, hosted quarterly. I started making charcuterie boards for fun in 2021 for family parties and holidays. One day my friend said that I was getting really good and that I should start a business! So two years later, here we are! Me and my husband met in the kitchen as Chefs. We both have a culinary background. Although we never expected to own a business like this, our culinary background had helped grow our business tremendously. I am the brains behind the creativity and my husband is my right hand prep man. He preps everything for me while I focus on grazing and making my vision come to life. I have grown immensely in the past two years as I have built a strong clientele and still continue to do so. I am now at the point in the business where connecting and networking is the way to move up in this industry.

As my natural entrepreneur spirit continued to grow, I had the amazing opportunity to host a networking event on my own. Since starting Voguish Boards, I have met so many small business owners like myself that needs a space and time to share their business here in Tampa Bay. I gathered all of these business owners and hosted my first networking event in Tampa at Aloft Hotel Downtown. After hosting my first one, and seeing all the support I received from family, friends, and other business owners, I decided to make Connect & Cocktails my second entrepreneurial venture. I came up with the name, vision, and how to run this event with a close business friend. Connect & Cocktails is a private & ticket-only networking event for local Tampa business owners. Attendee’s receive a cocktail, access to a grazing board by me, a raffle ticket, and the opportunity to connect with other local business owners and shop their small business.

After seeing the intense growth of Connect and Cocktails after just my second time hosting something like this, I had to make it official. I am so excited to be a part of this community I am building. Connect & Cocktails focuses on giving vendors and small businesses the opportunity to make meaningful connections. Given a small intimate setting, you will find it effortless to have the right conversations and get to know those attending and other small business owners like yourself. We want to see you flourish and indulge in the art of networking & most importantly we want to build a community of trusted and established vendors that work together to grow their businesses. That is the Connect & Cocktails difference.

I am truly so excited for what the future holds in both of my business and to be a part of something bigger than myself. I started something out of nothing and that is what it makes it all so worthwhile.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi there! I’m Elaine, CEO and operator of Voguish Boards LLC, A Creative Charcuterie and Grazing Company.

Based in Tampa Bay, Voguish Boards offers specialty curated grazing/charcuterie boards, boxes, and tables for any occasion! Specializing in grazing tables, Voguish Boards brings a unique and creative way of bringing everyone together. Our Grazing Tables are the perfect way to elevate and make a statement at your next special event, corporate function, or party. Our goal is to design a piece of charcuterie/grazing artwork that will wow your guests. We prepare each table with creativity, passion, and detail to aim to impress.

I started my business from absolute scratch with no help from anyone in the industry. To say it has been a ride, is an understatement. But starting from the bottom has helped me learn so much about myself and what I am capable of. I think what makes Voguish Boards different is MY creativity. Running a Charcuterie business is not EASY! I have plenty of competitors & maybe to some people what I make may just be a grazing table, board, or box like you’ve seen before. But what’s special about this is that my creativity is mine. No two people can create the same. If you look closely to how I place food together, although I just do it and don’t plan a single thing, when I’m working I’m constantly thinking of why and where to place certain things together and why it looks good here or maybe better over there. & in the end, it’s so surreal to even believe that I’ve created a masterpiece. It’s the “wow”, the “oh my god this is incredible”, the “I’m gonna share your business with everyone I know”, the “this is just so beautiful”, the “this looks amazing”, the “how do you do this”. It’s ALL of it for me!

In October, Voguish Boards turns two. & two years in, I still can’t believe my hands and brain can do this. The pressure and stress I feel every time I have a an order to deliver my best work, makes it all so worth it when I see what I’ve created in the end. I will forever be so proud of myself for believing in my business & building it from scratch. I’ll let you guys know when it’s finally settled in, maybe it never will, & that’s so special to me. Plus I could never have done without my friends, family, and clients who continue to support me and trust me to make their events special.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think what was helped build my reputation within my market is my amazing customer service and how I pride myself in the work I deliver. Charcuterie is NOT cheap. It is a luxury service and not all of us can afford it and even those who can, deserve my best work. I pride myself in filling my boards with as much of everything, I DO NOT leave empty spaces, I don’t place crackers on boards because they take up unnecessary space and leave me little space to fill it with plenty of hearty items to fill your guests. My crackers come on the side. I also do not have a set amount of cheeses, fruits, sweets, etc that I choose to put on my boards depending on the size. I will give you as many different cheeses, and other items as much as I can fit. I write thank you notes for all customers to thank them for supporting my small business and how much it truly means the world to me. I also follow up the day after with every customer to make sure they received complete customer satisfaction. Quality is also another huge factor in my business reputation. I have gotten amazing feedback on how yummy and fresh my choices are and how appreciated that is. That is the Voguish Board difference.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I’m a creative entrepreneur based in Tampa Bay with a little over 7 years of experience in blogging, social media and marketing. After creating my very first blog in 2016, my passion for social media influence and creativity has only grown since. During 2020-2021 my knowledge of social media and marketing skyrocketed and it brought me to landing social media managing positions, affiliate partnerships, & starting both my businesses. Thanks to the knowledge I have acquired, building my social media audience has been effortless and I truly do enjoy it. The advice I can give is to learn and take in as much information as you can about building your social media. Follow social media marketers, take classes, and do your research. We learn by doing and it’s okay to make mistakes. It is extremely important to stay on top on trends and be active so be prepared to to make this commitment when wanting to grow your presence on social media which in return will grow your businesses!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bio.site/voguishboardstpa
• Instagram: @voguishboards @connectandcocktails
• Other: CONNECT AND COCKTAILS WEBSITE https://msha.ke/connectandcocktails?fbclid=PAAaZtdheaihGpPJ7gWPSbDBg_8KxjAh3zJwvyE-zI7Vy4rKzDK8Qr6ioubaE_aem_AeJhDyyTag35BJ4oSt5lqYeVuC7yGi6WkVT9E3xSz_-Y4-BEUiLGOkqD7MQXzfRq9AM

Image Credits
Chasity Raley