Elaine Baluyut

From consulting to confections: Elaine Baluyut is whipping up success

For former consultant Elaine Baluyut, the road from AlixPartners’ London office led her back to her roots—both geographically and culinarily—with the launch of Masarap Desserts, an Asian-inspired bakery in Vancouver, Canada.

Some of Elaine’s fondest childhood memories are from the time she spent in the bakery that her parents owned in Manila, Philippines prior to her family’s move to Vancouver when she was 7. “I remember my mom telling me to stop bothering the bakers, but they would always pull me off a little piece of dough that I could play with on the side,” she recalls. After high school, Elaine considered getting a pastry arts degree but ultimately decided to pursue another unconventional interest: mining engineering. 

An internship in Europe sparked her desire to live abroad; post-grad, Elaine made her way to London, pivoting to tech modernization consulting. It was a chance meeting with an AlixPartners SVP that introduced her to the firm’s Business Analyst Accelerated Program.

“The program gave me a solid foundation in business fundamentals and hands-on client experience,” Elaine says. From learning to read financial statements to crafting compelling stories for pitches, she credits the program with equipping her with a toolkit of consulting skills and giving her invaluable opportunities to collaborate with senior stakeholders.

After a little more than two years, personal circumstances led Elaine to decide to return home to Canada. Her mentor at AlixPartners helped her weigh the options of making a cross-continental consulting life work or taking the moment to try something completely new. “She was the one who genuinely told me in a very candid conversation that no matter what I did, I could still grow my career,” Elaine says. “She had my best interest in mind. That really speaks a lot to the culture of AlixPartners—they really want the best for their people.”

This period of uncertainty turned out to be a catalyst for inspiration. Knowing that she wanted a career that would continue her path to growth, and armed with both her solid understanding of business fundamentals and her observation that there was an increasing appetite for natural Asian-inspired flavors, Elaine decided the time was right to start her own venture. Drawing on her lifelong passion for baking and her Filipino heritage, she launched Masarap Desserts— “masarap” meaning “delicious” in Tagalog.

“Our ube cookie was the bite that started it all. I baked an original recipe for the cookies for my family, and my mom was like, ‘You should sell them,’” she laughs. Elaine began by testing her mouth-watering and unique creations, from pandan coconut cookies to almond mochi cakes, at Farmer’s Markets in August 2024. By December, she had secured her first grocery store client.

Making the leap from consultant to entrepreneur obviously hasn’t been a piece of cake. “It's a lot more work than I expected,” Elaine admits. But she credits her time at AlixPartners for equipping her with core business skills and a problem-solving spirit. “Being able to look at my numbers with honesty and do cashflow forecasting has been helpful,” she notes. Prioritization, a key consulting skill, has proven invaluable. “I ask myself, ‘What actions do I need to take this week to help make a step-change in where I want the business to be?’"

Another key skill gleaned from her time at AlixPartners: the ability to look at her own business through the eyes of a consultant. “You’re able to take almost a bird’s-eye view on your own business and reflect on ‘what’s working, what’s not, what should I be doing more of?’” she says.

As Masarap Desserts grows, Elaine is looking to the future—her five-year vision includes having her own production facility (right now, she explains, she’s baking at a shared commercial kitchen and continuing to expand distribution across British Columbia and neighboring provinces).

The AlixAlumni network continues to provide support. She recently connected with a grocery consultant from the firm who provided indispensable insights into the retail landscape. “She helped me understand some key metrics I should be asking for with my clients,” Elaine explains.  “I’m so appreciative that somebody I didn't even know while I was an employee of the firm took the time to share their expertise and support with me,” she says. “This, once again, really demonstrates that AlixPartners is committed to seeing its people, past and present, succeed even beyond their tenures at the firm.”

When asked for her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, Elaine doesn’t hesitate: “Be open to being very uncomfortable. It’s a very uncomfortable situation!”

But clearly, challenging as it may be, Elaine has found her sweet spot, and she’s poised to bring a taste of her heritage to dessert-lovers in Canada and beyond.