Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherronda Daye.
Sherronda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My Story….How I got started…Well, my story is this. In 2010 I was at living a pretty awesome life. At 30, I was a Homeowner of a lovely 4 bdr 2 1/2 bath home in the Country Club of Miami. I held the top position in the office of a well-known local politician. I had earned several degrees. Had two beautiful daughters, one whom at that time was a newborn and then one day…. all of that changed. The politician I worked for was up for re-election and subsequently, he lost. When he lost…..so did I.
So, there I was with a home, degrees, a car, mouths to feed and no job. Pretty soon depression moved in. Everything I thought I knew up to that point was challenged. My faith. My self-worth. Even my life. One day, as I was sitting in my car in my garage, explaining to God why I didn’t want to go any further, why I couldn’t go any further, I was compelled to bake…weird I know…but true. So, I went in the kitchen and started to bake. The first cake I baked was a coconut cake. After that I baked another. Then I tried my hand at cupcakes. Before I knew it, I’d baked more than I knew what to do with. So I packed them up and took them down to the building where I used to work. To my surprise people enjoyed them. So much until they offered to pay for them. So, I went back home and from that day, Danava’s Sweet Boutique was born. I named the company at that time for my daughters, Danisha and AvaMonet. Pretty soon I was baking every day and selling more cupcakes than I’d ever imagine. You see, I had mouths to feed and depression to beat. Business was going really well. I was baking for weddings, baby showers and even had a few “major” clients. After a few years of baking in my house, I outgrew the house kitchen and was blessed enough to be allowed to use the kitchen at my childhood church.
Once I started baking out of the church, I took on more clients and the business began to take a turn in a direction I could have never planned for. I received my first opportunity to provide baked goods for a major foodservice company. Life was good again. Until one day I got a call that my mother had suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. I wanted to travel and see her, but it was snowing where she was and I couldn’t get there, so I sent flowers and expressed how I felt. A few days later she went home from the hospital. I was relieved. A few days later, after working very late and not getting home until 3 AM, I was awakened by the phone. It was the hospital again saying my mother had returned and she’d suffered a massive stroke and it did not look well. Although the weather was still bad, I had to get to her. So, I flew to Michigan, drove through the snow. Walked in the hospital, held her hand…..in what seemed like moments…she was gone. My mother was gone and I was again done. I had no desire to bake. No desire to create. None. One day while cleaning out a few of her things, I decided to open her bible. When I did, a letter fell out that she never got a chance to give me. The letter told me to never give up, to never quit and to stay in love with God.
After reading that, my entire outlook on the business was different and the purpose of it became clear. So, I renamed the business Sweet Jalane’s after my mother, Sherron Jalane. I started baking again, business grew again and I outgrew the church kitchen. At the beginning of 2017, my mentor told me about a program for Food Entrepreneurs like myself at FIU. So, I scheduled a meeting to go over the following week. That very week….my father passed, the weekend of my birthday. I felt depression trying to creep back up. I felt devastation rising again. I felt purpose fleeding, then I thought of the note from my mom and I pulled myself together. A week after my father’s funeral, I went over to FIU met Anna, the program director and the rest is history. We moved into a state of the art kitchen space at the Chaplin School of Hospitality by way of the StartUP FIU Food program and through that program, the business has expanded beyond measure. We have numerous clients, retail and wholesale. We are also in current talks with national brands to bring our products closer to the people. We plan to change lives one bite at a time.
For you see, life can be a piece of cake….Call me, I’ll bake one for you!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth…yeah no. LOL. I mean but what fun would smooth be? I believe that it is through the trying and testing of our faith that makes us strong. Had I not gone through every obstacle, setback, dark moment, and then I would not be talking to you today.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Here at Sweet Jalane’s we specialize in Simple, Sweet and Southern Desserts. My mother was from Lake Charles, Louisiana. So growing up with a grandmother who knew her way around the kitchen and my aunt who makes the best pecan candy around, you never really notice what you pick up when you’re young, until something happened in your life that brings it out of you.
We are most known for our bread pudding, our banana “crack” pudding and our cobblers. We even have Vegan Cookies now that you would have no idea where vegan unless I told you.
I am most proud of the fat that we remain true to who we are. We have no additives in our products and no additives in our brand. I am a mother, sister, daughter, aunt, cousin, WOMAN. Like many others and I don’t even want to pretentious and act as if I have not experienced any hardships in life. People ask me what I put in my cakes and things to make them taste so good. My answer is simple, I wrote the recipe with my tears.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was always singing, reading, dreaming or saying something silly. I’ve always loved music. All kinds of music. I recorded my first song when I was 5….Away in a Manger. My mother was known for her heaven sent voice all over. And she had every intention of me having the same ability. So, to this day, I sing whenever I get the chance…especially when I bake.
I loved to read. Books were a way of escape for me a lot of times growing up. I was always a dreamer. Dreaming up adventures and what I could become when I grew up.
Being Silly….well that’s simple. Somebody has to say something silly to brighten the room. That someone was and often times still is, me. I’ll take laughter as my medicine over sorrow anyway.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sweetjalanes.com
- Phone: 3053223909
- Email: orders@sweetjalanes.com
- Instagram: sweet_jalanes
- Facebook: Sweet Jalanes
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
