I'd do it all over again....

They say that when you truly love what you do, you never work a day in your life. These past couple months have given me a first-hand experience at that - going to bed every night excited about the next day and waking up every morning with such eager anticipation of what each day had to offer, learning the ropes of a new trade, facing the fears and uncertainties of the unknown while at the same time, the exhilaration of new hopes and possibilities. Within a month, we've gone from starting a business from
scratch to handling large-scale corporate orders and appearances at multiple local events, scaling up from 200 items to 2500 items which was, by the way, a whole new animal in and of itself, and serving over 1000 guests at one time. All in a single month. I've never worked 36 hours straight without sleep while at the same time, I can't recall ever experiencing such thrill from not sleeping, working straight and riding on pure adrenalin when I was in the corporate world. I don't care how much you love your corporate job, but having been there, done that, and now crossed over from employee to owner, nothing in the corporate world can compare to the electrifying exuberance of running your own business. Risky? Definitely. Odds of failure? High, perhaps. I'm still figuring out how to maximize the return on investment and how to spread our limited resources to activities that make financial sense yet will not detract from the fun and creative experiences that we so enjoy. What I've learnt and experienced these past several months are beyond my expectations; I count that as a first positive ROI! It's a long journey ahead but this is a path that I can't wait to continue on. I consider myself so fortunate and blessed to have a strong support network of family and good friends, those that motivate you, fuel your dreams and are behind you all the way. I've also realized, throughout this process, the level of solid training I've received at LCB, something I did not know how to appreciate prior to this. You have read about my experiences from the school and I never quite got around to sharing about the horrifying episode with Mean Chef during my finals back in December - yes, believe it or not, it was another drama with Mean Chef - but once I started working in a real kitchen, everything made perfect sense. Working in a commercial kitchen is very much different than baking from home. The discipline, the strict organization, the time management, the scurried pace and the need to do EVERYTHING fast, the hygiene factors, the detailed planning, the ability to troubleshoot just by sighting the ingredient mix, the texture, the touch, the smell of your bakes, the various techniques that you've been armed with......I am so thankful for every single thing I've learned from pastry school and even more so, the opportunity to live in the pastry center of the world for without either, I would not have been able to push the envelope when it came to menu planning, baking techniques and product quality. Incidentally, our first large order came from an experienced Chef and that, to me, speaks volume.  Even during this initial stage where every business is critical, I've chosen to walk away from a couple opportunities; I'm weird like that but I'd rather offer products to discerning customers than do business with those who have little clue about quality pastries, who have never seen nor tasted macarons and thought they were mini whoopie pies, or who believed viennoiseries should be the size of super Big Macs or expected muffins and cupcakes to be in every pastry chef's product lineup; by the way, are you aware that a regular muffin has 3x the calories of a butter croissant? A bit of a pastry snob I may be, but when you've put so much into creating a product, it's a natural desire to want people who know how to appreciate the products, and perspicacious customers who recognize all the intricate details that go into the making of the products.
This is not a post about how well our business is doing because we are far from where I want to be. Nor is this an advice to quit your jobs and start your own businesses because like I've said, I myself am still figuring out the path to a positive ROI.  This is simply a validation of a personal choice made months ago, and hopefully, and encouragement to those out there who are thinking about following your hearts - my advice - just do it.
I wanted to share a synopsis on my advanced pastry course in LCB last Fall-Winter but let me just leave you with this short clip that I made that highlights my most important takeaway from the whole LCB experience. Enjoy.