We were lucky to catch up with Elaine Duran recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elaine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers?

I remember clawing my way through learning the art of cake decorating. It was desperation and struggle that birthed my cake game. I didnt want to be a cake artist. I had no choice. My husband had suffered a heart attack, I was let go from my job, and I had 2 babies in diapers who needed their mommy. The thoughts of my sleepless nights and the uncontrollable crying are unforgettable and quite heart wrenching til this day. I acted fast because I was in survival mode. I consumed every cake class I could find, every cake magazine, every youtube tutorial, and every cake show to sharpen my skills. It became my addiction. I strategized and took baby steps in my approach. I first thought if I learned the basics of baking then I can sell basic cakes. Then I thought if I can learn fondant then I can sell fondant cakes and increase my revenue. Then I started sculpting cakes with hopes that I could charge more and support my family during this difficult season. The Cake Boss was the craze at the time and Buddy Valastro had a show called “Next Great Baker” My sister thought that after 8 months of toiling and reinventing myself that I was capable of competing on the show and brought me the auditioning application. I thought she was crazy. I was the only one who couldnt see how good I was getting because all I had was tunnel vision for provision. We submitted it with our fingers crossed. I was told by production thank you but maybe next year. Instead of crawling up in a ball and giving up I honed into my skills and sharpened up my wedding cake approach to broaden my portfolio. By this time my business was picking up and I was being recognized in my community as “La Chica Dulce” which means, “The Sweet Girl”. The next year came to audition and again production said maybe next year. They say third times a charm. On the 3rd year of auditioning production asked if I had a partner. I said yes! My husband David was all healed up by then. I’ll NEVER forget the phone call when they said,” Congratulations David and Elaine. You are both on the show”! This taught me perseverance, to fight ,to believe in yourself, and to NEVER take No for an answer. We did it! Next Great Baker Season 4. We were the only married couple on the show and America’s top tweeted team. Heck I didn’t even know what Twitter was at that time because I was on hyper focus lol.. We even won the Carrabba’s Italian Grill Challenge where we recreated one of their dishes and gave it a mouth watering tropical twist. They called it Durans Divine Pineapple Poundcake. The dish was featured, served, and sold out at all the Carrabba’s Restaurants across the country.

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?

My brand was built on faith. Faith to dream big and believe even if your scared. I’ve always been a risk taker. I love living on the edge bc I know where my help comes from. It comes from God above. I want to share that with the world along with my desire to INSPIRE people to ASPIRE before they EXPIRE. So many people die with their dreams inside. If I was able to make something great out water, sugar, and flour. Then imagine how much more you can accomplish if the desire has been passionately burning inside you. I want to awaken people to dream again and be Fearless with their dreams. We all know if your dream doesn’t scare you your not dreaming big enough. “Taste and See” is our company motto. I want my customers and followers to Taste and See how good God has been to me. I want to share that goodness with everyone through my fabulous cakes, my mouth watering desserts, my coaching classes, and cake classes and so much more.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Almost 5 years ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer. Once again God held my hand because I am able to share my story today. As soon as I received the knows I gave up the business, the website, the customers everything. I went into a positive hibernation. This mama bear focused on my family, my children, my health, my emotional and spiritual wellbeing, I wanted to fight back with a sound mine. I wasn’t worried about the business. When you are faced with the possibility of death finances are not a priority your quality time is with those that you love the most. My concern was getting healed up. I was working so much I had neglected my health. I wasn’t doing my monthly check ups or even mammograms. Only because when you are young you just think your invincible and that it can’t happen to you. But it did! 3 and a half years into my care I was told by the doctors my Breast Cancer was gone that I was doing better and I could go back to doing things I could do before but much carefully. So with much thought and consideration my husband and I decided to reinvent ourselves and with my support my husband took over the business. We scaled down on orders and sizes. We went from huge cakes to personal size gift cakes and desserts with occasional custom cakes. Just when we were about to launch the business. I get the opportunity to compete on Food Networks, “Easter Basket Challenge”!! I was a finalist in the competition and talk about perfect timing for a business launch. Resilience is key in this story because by the grace of God I was able to bounce back and recreate a new way of living without giving up the talent that got me here. In everything I do my desire is to leave a legacy of hope, faith, and love. Which is why we changed our business name to Everything Elaine.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I strongly believe you must never ignore your resume and past experiences. I thank God for all of my jobs. I bring a little bit of all of them to the table when I am dealing with clients, customer service, deliveries, and orders. From my younger years working in retail, or my days as a celebrity manicurist, or my days working at the Ritz Carlton, Disney, or even my days as a 911 operator. All those experiences have truly paid off. My work ethic is insane. I embraced everything I was taught and apply them every day in every way possible. This is so important because work ethic and and genuine care for your clients is everything.

I create, I execute, I serve, because I care. Every client is my number one client. I treat them as if they were royalty. They deserve my best.

Client’s Problem: My clients call because they are in need of a cake

We Solve: By not only providing quality service from beginning to end but even after the final delivery making sure they receive an ongoing experience. Oh, and of course the memories they create from each experience with one of our magical edible creations is just the cherry on top! :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.everythingelaine.com/
• Instagram: @Everything.Elaine
• Facebook: @Everything.Elaine.FB
• Linkedin: Elaine Duran
• Twitter: Everything Elaine
• Youtube: Elaine Duran
• Yelp: Everything Elaine
• Other: Pinterest: EverythingElaine Tiktok: @EverythingElaine

Image Credits
Photographer : Adrianna Gunn GoldenView Photography