Meet Tiffaney Strayhorne | Owner of Pauline’s

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

Hi Tiffaney, how do you think about risk?
Risk! This is a word and life experience we cannot escape. I think in considering risks we tend to rank them based on the possible reward. We should really ask ourselves what happens if we in fact don’t take the risk. What if you never risk driving to school for your children to experience socializing at school? what if you never risked making the investment that affords you the comfortability or a home and financial stability? What if you never risked vulnerability by exercising your voice publicly to find your lane with Shoutout Atlanta? risks can be huge, infinite, and it can be as small as taking the change to believe in yourself, A risk is the cusp between the thought… the urge, and the choice. Once the choice is made, the risk has gifted you with the experience. We all know that experience is he driving force of life. The more experience you have, the more you’re capable of teaching and passing on your POV that has been shaped by such. How grand is that? That’s how you create what we are all here to leave, a legacy.

My life and career have always both been a sort of reverse monotony. Very early in life I had some major struggles. I wont name them all but, during my developmental years I kind of just had to figure it out. Who I lived with, how can I get a job as fast as I can? What can I do to make sure I don’t have to pass this instability along to my family once I’m old enough to have one? My grandmother was always my primary caretaker until she passed my 8th grade year and then my whole world turned upside down. I was living on my own really at 17, strained relationships. Even thought I was always a scholar it took me almost an entire year to get the help I needed to be able to enroll in college, I just wanted to bet on myself to make the best of things and that in itself is a HUGE risk because it went against everything I currently knew. College took a couple of tries and I went from fast food to healthcare. Talk about risk! I went into the delivering babies and then orthopedics in operating room and risked my safety on the daily to help people that needed me…. the mental and emotional rewards for putting out good into the world were well worth the risks. One time i was so broke I packed up everything I had and moved to California where the money was to work in surgery. I wasn’t fearful like most people would be because I was betting on myself so heavily on a consistent basis at the point I knew that a RISK was all MENTAL.

Speaking of mentality when I shifted from being an employee that was the first time I cried in years thinking of the risks. I’m always the adventurous type and although I knew I possessed all types of skills, a little adulting took place and I had to list the liabilities behind stepping away from being full time 11 years with the same career. I told myself … what if it’s not enough? (I’ll make it enough), What if I don’t know what I’m doing? (we educate ourselves, information is free), what if it doesn’t pan out to be what I need it to be? (what if it does?). I was mentally prepared to shift when necessary like I always have because if I was trusted by companies with the lives of other people, it was only right that I trusted myself my own life to be successful on the other side of said risk. Nobody can push you harder than you. Its a major risk to push boundaries, but was it really me to sit in monotony? It wasn’t. I took something that I shared with someone I loved so much, really her legacy and I made it my own. I started baking more often. I took online classes and risked money I really didn’t even have to invest in a great outcome. I knew how to bake… I couldn’t ice a cake to save my life but I was already in it . It was sink or swim, Luckily I can swim like a fish! I still moonlight a little at the hospital to protect my investments and spend time with the team I’ve gown to love a day or two out of the month. But I am rewarded every time my business line rings with the satisfaction that I have cultivated yet another life experience that can be used to help someone else whether I am feeding their loved ones or feeding their minds with motivation they need to achieve the success they seek on the other side of every risk they will have to take on their journey. I remember when I first started traveling to provide wedding services outside of my home town! Talk about fear… well, I made a plan, I executed and now its a regular occurrence almost every week during wedding season. I’m always going to try something new, put it all on the table and risk it all to touch new heights personally. With self confidence and consistency a risk is just a blip on a huge radar of opportunity. It’s go time!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Choosing to make my passion a business was extremely difficult because I held it so close I didn’t know if I wanted to share. Its been three years now, I started with a hand mixer and a couple of pans. I had to learn to balance work/life on my own, which is really what we are all looking for. I still don’t always get it right, especially since I’ve grown from maybe 10 cakes a month to 10-14 cakes a week. I’ve had to learn to delegate tasks, manage money, count inventory and plan ahead, market, advertise, communicate with customers and to remain consistent in an inconsistent world.

As a girl I always griped about having to do all the work when it came to food preparation with my grandmother. She sat in tall yellow chair in the corner of her green kitchen with vine patterns all over the wall paper and told me what to do step by step. Since she passed years ago, its one of my the most important memories I have of her now, No matter who a person was, the history of the relationships they all came to eat with her when she cooked. I shared those same experiences with my friends because I had the same love for them, but the public… that was a hard one for me. I made the announcement that I was going to sell not only cakes, but that experience because it really stuck with me for a lifetime. So far I’ve been successful at taking her legacy, fusing it with my art and using food as a medium for expression and homage to her. That is for sure why I chose to name my business Pauline’s, its all for her.

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?
You definitely have to start your week with brunch! Plush Bar & Grill is the perfect place, the drinks are flowing, the food is great and the DJ is amazing. After 5 we go to 5 points south to hit up Hush Lounge, they have the best live broadcasted R&B Sundays ever and they wrap up no later than midnight. We have the most beautiful outdoor spaces here so a hike on Monday is supreme, Red Mountain is top tier with gorgeous trails, a little history and family oriented. Definitely go online to preorder from Pauline’s for a sweet treat at the end of the week thinking ahead. Umami in lakeview is the spot to go on Tuesday’s for the best sushi and Calamari ever… then Bizarre coffee bar downtown for that hometown experience. Midweek breakfast at the Original House of Pancakes is a must for all the high school nostalgia, Thursday, rail road park and scooter rides at Good People Brewery. Finish the evening at Magic Touch Body Werk for a relaxing massage. On Friday definitely swing by Moe’s Juke Joint for live music and drinks. There’s always an event to check out on Saturdays to go with the flow.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
David Shands! You definitely want to subscribe to pateron and catch the social proof podcast. It really connects you with high achieving people that look just like you. They share their experiences to put you exactly where they are, faced with the choice to take the chance or not and they come out on top! @sleepisforsuckers is his IG you can catch snippets there. But really, the conversation is different when you sit with the winners… it definitely puts you in the mental space to be a winner too.

Website: www.paulineshomemade.net

Instagram: @paulineshomemade

Facebook: Pauline’s LLC

Image Credits
Floral photo was provided by danny austin photography