For Zelda Elias, entrepreneurship was never really a departure from teaching – it was an extension of it. A former modern languages teacher with the Ministry of Education, Elias has spent the past several years building a portfolio of businesses that reads less like a resume and more like a testament to versatility: catering, handcrafted bags, woodwork, tailoring, and now, plans to establish an elementary school of her own.
The decision to venture out on her own was not made lightly, but it was one she was prepared to make.
“Well, before you do anything, you must make a start somewhere. I started while I was still an educator. I give people a little bit of me, I showed them what I had to offer. When customers come back to you, they love what you do. It. It was something for me to realize that hey, this is a good venture.”
Her catering business, Loydecia’s Catering, was born out of necessity – her own struggle, as a vegan, to find varied, quality meals. “There was not much option for food,” she said. So, she began making her own, then offering it to others, tailoring meals to dietary needs and calorie counts alike. It was customer loyalty, not a business plan, that turned it into something sustainable. “They kept coming back. They kept calling. Customer satisfaction was the real reason.”
Her bag-making venture began even more unexpectedly – on a trip to Barbados and the United States, where she fell in love with the craftsmanship of designer handbags and set out to recreate that quality herself. What started as curiosity became a signature line of hand-crocheted totes and purses, each one designed around a customer’s request and that includes the colours. “If I’m thinking I want it to look like a popcorn, then I make my bag look like a popcorn,” she said. A small bag takes about an hour to complete; her largest pieces take three to four. She’s since expanded into woodworking, crafting children’s furniture for schools and events, and offers tailoring on demand.
None of it, she’s quick to say, has been a solo effort. She’s built a small team of young women – including her own sister – training them in craft skills and giving them a foothold into income and opportunity. “It opens employment. It helps people to see that you are not limited to just one thing. You can do multiple things at the same time.”
Family, too, has anchored her. Her husband, she said, has been her steady encourager – “my great resource, my strength” – while her sons have taken on roles of their own, managing her website and social media. Getting her children invested wasn’t automatic; it meant recognizing what each was drawn to and inviting them in. “It’s all about your relationship with them, understanding them, and giving them the opportunity to explore it.”
Her faith, as a Seventh-day Adventist, underpins the whole enterprise. “I don’t make that step without God,” she said, framing her businesses not just as commerce but as a way of meeting community needs.
That same instinct is driving her next chapter: opening her own elementary school, built around the belief that early education shapes how children navigate the rest of their lives. “I can be able to now, bring creativity, not just curriculum, but know the little knowledge that I have if I can be able to impart it to them,” she said.
Asked what she hopes her legacy will be, Elias didn’t hesitate: “This is somebody who gave to the community. Somebody who loved.” Her advice to other women considering the leap is simple. “You can do anything. Don’t limit yourself. For me, I would say pray and whatever skill you have, use it. Don’t wait until something big comes. If you have to start small, whatever little you have – it goes a long way.”