Chingonas! Happy New Year! Happy Valentine's! Ahahahaha! Sew much has been happening in mi vida, for starters, we bought a house! The hard work and sacrifice Husband and I made the past few years have finally paid off. I moved into my new Sew Bonita Headquarters this past week, and now it's time to get to work.
This is the first blog post for 2018, and I'm elated to feature my fellow Chingona, Maria Almeida Rea with Sweet Rose Cupcakes! Maria is one of many hardworking women I know. Not only is she self-employed, she is in a business that is 365 days a year, making and creating some of the most amazing, edible pieces of art while providing joy and happiness to her customers. As a self-taught baker, her talent has grown immensely and she continues to create gorgeous cakes and desserts that speak for themselves. Let's meet her!
Who is Sweet Rose Cupcakes?
Sweet Rose Cupcakes is a wife and stay at home mom of 2 girls who in her wildest dreams NEVER thought that selling cupcakes would evolve to cakes and to now being interviewed to be on someone's blog. I mean seriously Elena, in all honesty, I never ever ever expected it to get to where it is now. I'm someone who took a chance and I'm so grateful and I have never looked back.
Inspiration All Around Me
Its everywhere! Food, clothes, animals, buildings. It's everywhere. For example,I literally look at a purse in the store and I break it down in my head as to what size cake pans to use, what would be buttercream detail and what would be fondant detail. But obviously, my biggest inspiration is my kids. Especially my Charlotte Rose, she is almost 7 and she is the name behind Sweet Rose Cupcakes. She gives me ideas when I tell her the theme of a particular cake. And her attention to detail is pretty awesome. She sees every cake order that leaves our home and gives me the final thumbs up "Charlotte Rose Approval"! I work hard for her and her sister Mila. To hear her say how my cakes are "the best and no one makes cakes like you mom" makes me so happy. She so proud of me and I'm so honored and blessed to be their mom.
Challenges = Growth
Girl where do I start? I had a rough childhood. I did not have a relationship with my mom nor do I really have one still and I'm 38 years old. Raised by my grandmother I learned to do a lot for myself. I don't have the childhood that many had, playing with friends and going outside on Saturday morning. I was abused in so many ways growing up but it has made me who I am today. As I said before I had to do a lot for myself and learned not to depend on anyone for anything. At the age of 17 and a senior in high school, I had a one bedroom apartment with 2 other girls and went to school full-time and also had a full-time job. If that isn't considered a challenge than I don't know what is. The biggest challenge so far was having to quit a full-time job when my oldest was only 18 months old. Not having a reliable babysitter I had to even take her to work with me at times and have someone pick her up from there so that I can go to work. I then later took a giant leap of faith after a long discussion with my husband about what to do with our child. So I quit my job and I started to bake cupcakes from home for family and friends and depended on a lot of word-of-mouth to get my name out there. But now thankfully my biggest challenge is trying to keep my almost two-year-old daughter Mila entertained while I bake and work on fondant work for the weekend orders. Like I said I have faced many challenges but I worked through them and learned a lot along the way. They have all taught me something new in one way or another. So here's to the next challenge. I'm ready!
Always in the Cocina
My Mexican cultural heritage has shaped me into who I am and what I do because I started helping in the kitchen at a very young age. Very young maybe about 3. I started to make my own tortillas with a palote my Ama made me from a broom handle. At my mom's it was the same I had to help in the kitchen. She had my father, myself and 4 siblings and also all of my nieces and sons in laws that needed to eat after work/school. My job was to help in the kitchen or take care of my nieces. I also learned the basics of baking at a young age from watching my mom. She was always baking cookies, pies, and cakes, everything you can think of, even jello parfaits were always in the house because my father had a sweet tooth.
Definition of a Chingona
To me, a Chingona is someone confident. Who doesn't follow or even try to lead but just blazes her own trail regardless of what others might think. Headstrong and focused and so full love to everyone that she meets and everyone around her. Ready to help others in any way she can without any kind of judgment and without expecting anything in return.
Got any good Chisme?
Will yeah I have to brag about being the February feature for Sew Bonita. That's a huge honor are you kidding me! I will hopefully be doing more pop up events and maybe even spread out into some local businesses to sell some goodies. It's a thought that has run through my head. So who knows, if you go out to eat your next desert may be from Sweet Rose Cupcakes.
Chingona Tribe
I'm always sew inspired by hardworking women. Especially mothers. There's a certain tenacity that they have. To be able to not only hustle their business but to play the role of a caretaker while raising kids. That's a whole other level of kickassery. Thank you for reading on Maria. Please follow her on the links below!
¡Besos!
ELENA FLORES
FOUNDER | CHINGONA
