We were lucky to catch up with Eliza Marrero recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eliza, appreciate you joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

My parents and grandparents raised me. I am who i am because of them and that is something i will forever be grateful for. At a young age, my parents would bring me to there business dinners and events. My little sister and I were trained to be polite, respectful, to listen, engage and behave well. We would go to every convention, most conventions, and other events surrounded by grown ups. We were always in the spotlight. That then led to me marketing myself and networking at these events and dinners. They taught me that appearance and first impressions are everything and that we are in control of our narrative. Growing up going to these events has made it easy for me to get along with grown ups and people of all ages. It led me to love networking and sharing my stories and going to huge events never being afraid to speak my mind or introduce myself.
Secondly they taught me i could do and be anything. A pre story:
My grandparents are immigrants. My grandfatehr came from cuba alone with absolutely nothing but his name, his hunger, and a few dollars. He didnt go to college or have any help. He worked multiple jobs without knowing any english to get by. He worked preparing horses at the racetrack in exchange for sleeping in the horse stables. HE was a bus boy at the turf club to which he would tell his colleagues “just you wait, one day everyone will know my name, im going to own 45 horses, and have my name on the box in front of the winner circle” they would ridicule him telling him it was impossible he was just a broke boy sleeping in stables. To which we always replied “why not” those dreams not only came true but he went from sleeping in stables to training horses for presidents and celebrities all over the world. He was the first cuban to ever win trainer of the year in florida. Hes my inspiration. My hero. My why. Because if he could not only accomplish his dreams his goals but surpass them. Then why cant i. He came from nothing and created everything he has worked endless hours against all odds all alone. So i can quite literally do anything. I am so beyond blessed and lucky to have been raised by him my grandma and my incredible parents. Since i was little he has always encouraged me telling me anything is possible to prove everyone wrong. He did all of that despite obstacles i could never even imagine going through. They have given me the tools and resources to succeed and i will in turn give it my all. Because anything is possible and no obstacle is every to large. If my grandpa could do what he did then so can I. Creating a gluten free empire no matter what comes my way. Because since i was little i have been ambitious and resilient and i have the most supportive, smart extraordinary family anyone could ever ask for.

Eliza, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Eliza Marrero and I am a senior seeking a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing as well as a minor in speech studies at the university of tampa. I have had a passion for baking and cooking since I was a little girl, always bringing my baked goods to school, neighbors, extracurriculars etc. I have always loved making people smile through my food as I’ve always believed food has a power to bring people together. That all changed when I got diagnosed with celiac disease my freshman year of college. My life was all of a sudden turned upside down as I began battling my new life. For those that dont know celiac disease affects every aspect of your life, and continuing to consume gluten as a celiac can lead to infertility, stomach cancer, and irreversible damage to the intestine. I was a freshman living in a dorm without a kitchen, and without a car. The university told me it would not be safe to eat anything on campus since they could not guarantee it was gluten free. I lived off of uber eats and the limited things i could create using a microwave and waffle iron. However, I was still getting sick every time I ate. Restaurants label their foods GF but very few if any take the allergy seriously or know that even a crumb of gluten could lead to hospitalization, it has happened to me more then once. Unless the restaurant is 100% gluten free it is impossible to guarantee cross contamination. What i missed the most were desserts, being able to enjoy something sweet should not be a luxury. My parents spent thousands trying to send me foods and desserts but more times than not they are disgusting and not worth the extremely high price tag. In Tampa there are only 4 100% gluten free restaurants. I made it my mission that summer to become an experiment in gluten free desserts and food. Once I mastered it, I knew I had to share it with as many people as I could. Before I knew it Ela’s Sweets was born. Specializing in Delicious 100% gluten free baked goods including cupcakes, cookies, cakes, and more. We focus on nostalgic flavors you can’t get anyone else. We are currently selling under a cottage food license to ensure celiac safe 0 cross contamination. You can place your orders via our instagram. My goal with Elas sweets is to not only provide delicious sweet treats but to create an inclusive warm environment, a family for those with celiac and gluten intolerance who often feel secluded. We plan on creating events both virtually and in person where people can come together, share stories and enjoy delicious treats. Thus far we have conducted interviews, held focus groups, and surveys to get more industry insight and feedback. Looking into the future we hope to open a store front and ship our products across the nation. Look out on our social media and website for updates. At ela’s sweets we pride ourselves on more than the taste and safety of our product but the overall customer experience making sure everyone who enters leaves a little sweeter with memories that will last a lifetime.

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

The best story I could share that shows my resilience is how I started Ela’s Sweet. Since I was little (pre diagnosis) I always wanted to open up a restaurant or bakery as it was my passion. However, everyone said it was unrealistic, that I would be a slave to the business that most fails. Getting diagnosed with celiac disease changed my life in many ways for the better although at the time it felt like my worst nightmare. In life you don’t always get to choose the cards but you always get to choose how you play them. For a while it felt like I was mourning the loss of a person I had known my entire life. Gluten was in everything I spent almost 19 years consuming it.to then not be able to consume it for the rest of your life. It was the biggest shock physically, emotionally, and socially. People don’t understand the severity of the disease. They make fun of you and think you choose to not eat it for fun. Every time you go out , you feel like an inconvenience. It led me into a deep dark hole but I knew I had the power to change the narrative. Yes there are a million bakeries and restaurants in the world. But gluten free? Extremely slim and rare. Gluten free that actually tastes good, even more rare. I used that to my advantage, that would be how I stood out. There’s a need for it in the market,small competition. And so much room for growth. On top of the fact that my desserts are so delicious you would never guess they were gluten free. People then thought I was even crazier and so I told them and continued to tell them.. Watch me. It started in April 2023 when I entered a new venture expo with simply an idea, my ambition, and of course my delicious treats. I was one of a few businesses to enter as just an idea as part of extra credit for an entry level entrepreneurship class. The judges were blown away with my story, my desserts and my potential. I ended up winning second place amongst dozens of businesses and startups that had been worked on for years. That day was a wake up call. For the first time people outside of my family believed in me, investors believed in my concept and me, people were offering to assist me and mentor me. I knew I had something special. Fast forward to this semester i joined the University of tampa’s accelerator program which has given me guidance and mentorship. I also worked on it in my capstone entrepreneurship class. I entered a C.R.E.A.T.E pitch competition this time with more than just an idea and ended up passing the preliminary rounds entering an intense bootcamp. For the final round I created a 5 minute pitch and pitch deck. I ended up winning first place taking home $3,000. This story goes along with the greatest lesson my parents and grandparents have shown me. It re- emphasized that anything is possible despite the odds if you work hard enough.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Going into a little more detail about the new venture expo. Although it wasn’t persa a sale i took a risk marketing wise and pulled off more than i could have imagined. Let me paint the scene. Ent 320 introduction to entrepreneurship class and everyone had to come up with an idea. I pitched elas sweets to the class knowing that may would probably laugh and not take it seriously. My business ended up being chosen to work on and i was given a team of 4 students in similar position as i was. As the semester went on the professor told us about the new venture expo where students in capstone classes as well as startup business in the tampa area had the opportunity to pitch their company to a panel for up to $3,000. He said if we did it he would give us extra credit and participation points as we would have to set up a table and spend hours preparing. I was struggling in the class and thought it would be a great way to earn some extra points. While i had a team they were simpleng doing the work because they had too not cause they wanted too and i knew it would be triple work on my end to prepare. We agreed to do it. And something inside me lit up. There was a voice inside that told me to go all in to give it my best shot. Knowing it would be quite impossible to win with just an idea. And so I did what I do best. I spent hours making signs, menus, name cards. Desserts, accumulating all the decor I could manage. I even got cupcake essential oil and diffused it around our station. That day I wasn’t nervous, I was excited to share my passion and my dream with anyone that wanted to listen. I had never in my life done anything like that or presented my idea before besides to my class. Everyone in the lower center that day was talking about elas sweets coming back for seconds and thirds and fourths. I made over 200 mini cupcakes and 100 mini cookies that were all gone by the end. Even then I didn’t think we would place. We were surrounded by individuals with fancy signs and photo booths and business plans. All I did was DIY everything and had very little experience. But for some reason something inside me thought I had a chance to maybe place third. Ikept telling myself to calm down to not get my hopes up. I’ll never forget that day. When they began to announce they called third place it wasn’t me. I thought well i had the best time and gained so many contacts and experience, i tried my best with what i had. And then they called ellas sweets. And i went numb at first because they didn’t say ela and i didnt realize they had just said wrong and then i look up and see the check with elas sweets name on it. Ill never forget that feeling. Felt like i was on top of the moon. It showed me i could do anything be anyone i wanted to be. It showed me that people believed in me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elassweeets.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elas_sweets_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spark.ela.2020
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliza-marrero/

Image Credits
Brooke Stephens