Meet crissie elep | entrepeneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with crissie elep and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi crissie, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in Manila, Philippines in 1978. Cooking and feeding my community has always been a part of my life. At a very young age it was very important for my mother to teach us good work ethic. She taught us how to prep and cook our native foods. She would make a pot of food for us to the go out and sell to our community. Something obviously stuck as both my sister and I love to bake and cook. She opened a business in London and I built one here. Now that I have 3 children of my own (27, 25, and 8) I try to teach them the same things my mother instilled in us. I want to show them that as long as we work hard and have each other anything is possible.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
If there’s one thing about me it’s that I’m never not in my kitchen baking or cooking. I love feeding people! Whenever I cooked for family, friends, neighbors everyone would keep telling me I needed my own place. I wasn’t too confident at first, starting my own business when I had a stable career was a very big risk. I started out doing it on the side, by doing the same thing my mom did. During the weekends I made huge amounts of food and with the help of my husband and kids and the support of our friends & neighbors, I was selling out every time!
I made a Facebook page and before I knew it cake orders were coming in and people were wanting to try Filipino food. Soon it felt like I was doing this full time.. so I thought why not actually do it full time. I handed my resignation and the ball started rolling from there. Now I’m living my dream. I’m so proud of Crissie’s Homemade, Food Truck and Bakery. Sometimes all it takes is a leap of faith. I’m so thankful for my family, friends, and community. Without them this wouldn’t be possible.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love outdoor activities so whenever family or friends comes to visit us, we either drag (yes, drag) them to go hiking. The Manitou incline is always a must. Then we take them to the lake for some relaxing time, kayaking, stand up paddle and of course because it’s me, we bring food and just eat away. In the winter time, we love to ski, so we always try to get our visitors to join us. Colorado is so beautiful you really can’t go wrong on where you take them.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out to my husband, Efren. And my children: CJ, Lorielle and Ayden. For always hyping me and my food up, pushing and encouraging me to follow my passions, and helping in any way they can. They are my biggest motivation.

Website: crissieshomemade.com

Instagram: Crissies.Homemade

Facebook: @CrissiesHomemade

Image Credits
Thelma Chandler Photography