Meet Elena Pryer

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elena Pryer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elena below.

Hi Elena, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Although I certainly come from a proud Mexican family with a history of many strong and resilient men and women, I think that fate and experience is a big part of where I get my resilience from. I was born into an unstable home environment back when mental illness was not recognized or treated, especially in my family’s culture. . The battle of living with a single mom who suffered from untreated bipolar disorder was a very painful test of how resilient a person could be. My siblings and I endured countless relocations every few months, witnessing our mother’s abusive relationships come together and fall apart, and lived with limited financial means. As young as eleven and thirteen my sister and I would sell candy door to door and take care of our younger siblings, cooking and cleaning while our mother worked. We also held a very deep secret; we lived in fear every day because our mother severely physically abused us as early as we could remember until we grew up and went out on our own. Then, at the age of 18, less than a year after I was living on my own, my mother suddenly died. This was probably the most critical turning point in my life that has made me the person I am today. I lived with a deep guilt because I was relieved that I didn’t have to live in fear anymore. However, it also meant that from that moment on I was completely self-reliant out in the world. Should I fail in any way, there was absolutely no one there to pick me up or catch me as I fell. No one to help me if I can’t pay my bills, no home to go to if I was evicted, nowhere to return to on holidays or for family events. Failure was not an option. Additionally, my older sister and I had become guardians of our younger siblings who were still underage when our mother died. Again, failure was not an option. As I went from a young adult through my twenties and thirties, I still experienced many difficult issues in my life, which only added to my resiliency. Given the opportunity, I would not change any of my past for anything. As a wife, parent, business owner, and human, it has given me the tools I need to keep pushing forward in an increasingly difficult world as well as allowing me to encourage others and teach my own kids resiliency in a much healthier way.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have a small business based in Tucson Arizona called Flour Mama Bakery. I have a deep passion for baking that I want to share with those around me. I am home based and bake a variety of products, including breads, cookies, pies, cakes, and scones. We are also a family business as my sister is a part time employee, as well as my young daughter. I love being able to teach my children about hard work since they help me and earn wages, show them how to manage and save their own earnings, and spend lots of time with them. My husband also helps out, so we all spend quality time as a family. Since I also have a full-time professional career, we have kept the business small and local to our community. However, my dream is to expand to a brick-and-mortar bakery one day, provide jobs within the community, and become a familiar staple in our city.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Good work ethic, patience, and being resilient are the three skills or qualities that were most impactful to me. If you are early in your journey, my advice would be to work as hard as you can as long as your life and circumstances allow. If you are working on something you are passionate about every hour is an investment in yourself. However, if your path changes along the way, don’t be afraid to deviate or take a break to give yourself room to live and create memories and relationships.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Someone who has been extremely vital to my pursuit of my Bakery would be my husband. He has always been my number one cheerleader and has given me space and opportunity to work on recipes, baking skills, and sales techniques. He is there with us as our in-house dishwasher while I am working with the kids and is always there to take care of them when I needs to focus on an important order. He is also a great partner when it comes to tackling challenges or encouraging me to keep going when I may not want to.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @FlourMamaAZ
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/FlourmamaAZ