Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, California, Ivette Alvarez has worked at one of Los Angeles’s biggest library branches for a little over 5 years but little do most know, she also runs two small businesses, Ivetters Claws and Ivette’s Delights, from the comfort of her own home.
When Ivette graduated high school, she wanted to turn her love for baking into a career by attending culinary school, however that idea was not approved of and shot down. Although she did not go to culinary school, she continued her love for baking for fun at home.
She mentioned that during quarantine she spent a lot of time getting into TikTok, a social media outlet, where she came across a post about making coffee cake and decided to try to make it.
When she baked her coffee cake, her brother mentioned the idea of selling it because of how delicious it tasted. And so Ivette started taking orders and selling her coffee cake.
“It was a big hit,” she said. “People love them, especially at work. Whenever we have parties, they say Ivette bring the coffee cake.”
Another delight that became popular for Ivette’s Delights business was her flan. Ivette shared that her and her family used to love to buy flan from a local grocery store in Northgate, LA but like all restaurants we grew up going to and loving, the taste changed. Because the flan tasted funny, Ivette searched up a recipe for flan and attempted to make it herself.
“Surprisingly, it came out very delicious so I would make it for our carne asada bbq or any party and people were like are you selling these. And that’s how that came about.”
She’s done one pop up, where she sold out and has considered doing another one. “I’ll probably do it again. It was so much fun.”
Ivette mostly sells coffee cake and flan but has made cupcakes for special events like a graduation party and a baby shower. Although she makes her sweet delights, she mentioned that she doesn’t really promote them as much as she promotes her other business, Ivetter’s Claws. Because she mostly makes just coffee cake and flan, she doesn’t considered her Delights a priority at the moment.
Aside from baking sweet treats, Ivette also has a love for getting her nails done. Growing up, Ivette shared that she would go with her mom to get their nails done every two weeks but when the pandemic hit everything shut down and their biweekly nail trip came to a pause. However, one day Ivette’s mom talked her into learning how to do nails and purchasing supplies. From then on Ivette began doing her mom’s and her own nails from the comfort of their home.
“Of course in the beginning, it was trouble but as time went on and with practice I was getting better.”
When businesses began reopening, Ivette’s sister went to get her nails done where she discovered Gel-x. When Ivette’s sister got home, she told Ivette about it and encouraged her to learn how to do it since Gel-x prices are so expensive. When Ivette learned to do gel-x, she one day posted a photo to her Instagram story where her friend asked if she could do her nails. While Ivette said she was not comfortable at all she went ahead and did her friend’s nails. While this first started off as a hobby and no intention of gaining clients, it eventually led to Ivette building clientele thanks to her friend Vanesa.
In the beginning Ivette faced challenges such as low confidence and fear of cutting people.
“I’ve cut myself and when I’ve done my mom’s and sister’s nails, I’ve cut them. I was so scared, I think that’s why it took me so long to start accepting clients.”
Another challenge was feeling like her work was not good enough.
Fast forward 3 years post pandemic, here is Ivette with her home nail business, Ivetter’s Claws, where clients come every two weeks to glam up their nails. This has boosted Ivette’s confidence and has made her happy because it tells her that her clients love her work.
“It feels amazing. It makes me feel like ok maybe my work is good enough because there are times when I doubt myself.”
Ivette always asks her clients, if they have any inspirations or nail ideas to share with her so she can prepare for her appointments beforehand. She does the best she can with photos she is sent and always works with her clients by expressing what she can do to ensure her clients are satisfied with the outcome.
On her free time, Ivette sits in her nail room where she creates and paints new nail designs. She also gets inspiration from Instagram and sometimes changes up the design a little. “I practice beforehand because I’m the type of person who needs to see the design before doing it.”
Ivette mentioned that she has looked into making press on nails and considers starting her own shop by selling them on Etsy.
When asked about opening her own nail shop, she said, “I feel that if my clientele grows a lot more, then I’ll maybe consider opening a little nail shop and maybe even sell my delights.”
Ivette plans to create a website for her nail business and hopefully open her Etsy shop where she’ll sell press on nails. As for her sweet delights, maybe in the future she’ll have a shop but because she only specializes in coffee cake and flan, her main priority is her Ivetter’s Claws.
I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a slice of coffee cake and flan and must say they are definitely delicious. Although she does not promote much for her Ivette’s Delights business, feel free to follow her Instagram @ivettes_delights and order yourself both treats.
I’m not someone who gets their nails done but I have seen Ivette’s work and plan to make an appointment because her designs are stunning. Check out her YouTube channel Ivette Alvarez and follow her Instagram account @ivetters_claws.
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