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We were lucky to catch up with Elena Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Elena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Before working full-time on my food blog, I taught in public education for 13 years and acquired a master’s in reading. I left my teaching career to serve people by sharing my knowledge of cooking and baking. I started my food blog in the summer of 2020 when we could not visit Italy or see our family. I poured my heart and longing for my Italian home into creating achievable Italian recipes that every person could recreate!
Everyone can cook delicious Italian food! My parents had demanding careers, yet they always managed to make delicious home-cooked meals on weeknights. As I grew older and moved out of their home, I carried this part of me wherever I went. I cooked and baked and made many memories and new friends by bringing people together through our family recipes.
I am also passionate about teaching the right way to cook pasta! It makes a huge difference for any home cook. For example, learn how to boil pasta perfectly at www.cucinabyelena.com/how-long-to-boil-spaghetti-pasta-perfect-every-time.
Elena, 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 Story Where it all started…
I was born in Sardegna, Italy- the home of my mother’s family. My parents met in Paris, France and that is where I spent the first six years of my life. My biological father, from Reunion, Island, France, and my mother separated when I was four years old.
About a year later my mamma met my Danish dad. My parents, both genetic research scientists, then moved from Paris to Salt Lake City, Utah where they fell in love with the mountains and stayed ever since!
I moved to the United States without knowing any English, or anything about the culture. It was a complete shock, but I adapted quickly. I attribute parts of my resilient personality to learning to adapt to different situations as a child.
My parents had demanding careers, yet they always managed to make delicious home-cooked meals on weeknights. This was an integral part of my childhood.
As I grew older and moved out of their home I carried this part of me wherever I went. I cooked and baked and made many memories and new friends by bringing people together with our family recipes.
My roots in Sardegna, Italia
Always keeping a deep-rooted connection to my Italian family I spent every summer of my childhood and young adult life on the beaches of Sardegna with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives.
These are “my people,” the tribe who helped raise and shape me into the woman I am today. Read more about these experiences here: Sunday Story: Sardegna a Place to Call “Home”.
In Italian culture, food is the thread of life. Food is tradition, family, laughter, joy memories, and most of all a love language that binds generations. I fondly remember a place where groups of grandmothers gathered to plot their next meals and compare recipes and methods. This is where I developed my passion for cooking, baking, and most of all sharing food around tables of new acquaintances, old friends, and family. The flavors I bring to the table reflect recipes, memories, and stories from people and places that bring me the most joy.
I stood over the shoulders of family members cooking in the kitchen and watched, smelled, tasted, felt, and listened, but rarely, if ever, did I see a recipe. When asking about a recipe, my nonna often said, “No lo so? Un po di questo e un pizzico di quelo. Ti devo fare vedere.” or “I don’t know? A little bit of this and a pinch of this. I’ll just show you.” Then she demonstrated with her hands. It’s all in the feeling of the ingredients. That phrase always stuck with me.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I first started my food blog and business it was called: MammaMiaMangia (mangia means to eat). A little less than a year after starting my brand and blog I had someone essentially copy everything I was doing and use a similar name. It confused my audience and many new viewers were going to this other brand. The story dragged on and in the end, I made the difficult choice to completely rebrand. I changed my website name and everywhere on social media to my current name, CucinabyElena.
Going through this process gave me a taste of what it takes to stay true to yourself and your brand. For a hot second, I wanted to give up and just quit. Rebranding, even though I was pretty new, was not easy. I had been on several T.V shows with my other name and Google was finally starting to recognize my blog, etc.
You can either let adversity destroy you, or use it as a catapult to bring you to new places. I am grateful I kept going.
I love my brand now even more than when I started. No matter what challenge you face in your business take it as an opportunity for growth and refinement. Keep going. It’s worth it.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
There are thousands of food creators and food bloggers that are widely successful and established. As I set foot in a new space it was, and still is, difficult not to have imposture syndrome. Sometimes, I get paralyzed by thoughts of inadequacy when comparing myself to others. All comparison kills creativity and I remind myself of that daily. I find strength in serving my community and sharing my knowledge and passion for Italian culture and food.
It’s difficult to unlearn doubt and fear since it’s hardwired into our minds. We fear new and uncertain situations and circumstances, but if we don’t allow the opportunity for failure we will never learn/know our true capabilities. Unwiring the thought of, “I can’t” to “I’ll try” can make all the difference.
The more I stay in my lane and create for my audience and the people waiting to discover my brand the stronger I feel. The world needs what you have to offer and that is uniquely different from what someone, even in your same niche, has to offer. The more you think about serving your audience in an authentic way the more invested people become in what you are selling/offering/creating. The world needs YOU. You matter and what you have to give matters.
Contact Info:
Website: www.cucinabyelena.com
Instagram: @cucinabyElena
Facebook: @cucinabyElena
Other: Pinterest: @cucinabyElena
Image Credits
All photo credits belong to CucinayElena
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Dining and Cooking