Hello there,

I am new to the cake world but have been wanting to join it for quite some time now. I recently decided to go to the LCB in pasadena and take their culinary arts program. I also have an interview on Thursday for Sweet Gems in Huntington Beach CA (www.sweet-gems.com) for an internship.

I was just wondering if any of you could give me some good advice. Am I going about this the right way? How did you guys get into this? I guess I am just nervous about quitting my stable job and taking out a loan for school and want to make sure I am making a wise decision.

Ashley

Hello Ashley and let me welcome you to CC as well as congratulations on taking the first step into a new and exciting world. I dont bake or decorate professionaly altho I think had I known when I was much younger how much I would love doing this I would have probably taken a course myself lol as for help or hints well I'll leave that to the experience bakers on here and hopefully they can help you out. I wish you all the best of luck in your future.

Darcat,

Thanks for the welcome. I have to admit I have been lurking for a week or two hehe

lol as have a lot of new comers but believe me there is such a wealth of info on here that it is constantly inspiring me to try newer things. You made me laugh when you mentioned yr stable job as my daughter who is 24 drives a horse and carriage for the tourists and she hates when winter comes and she has to find a "regular job" lol as there is not enough tourists for her to make a living in the winter.

Welcome to Cake Central! Now that you have posted you *will* be addicted! LOL

Congratulations on your recent move into the cake decorating world! I think it sounds wonderful!

I actually know how you feel! I am not sure how old you are but, I am 25 and just recently my husband has allowed me to quit any type of job I would want or could do to go back to school! I am now a full time student with baking and decorating on the side! Anything I can get I will do for a little cash! I am very happy doing what I'm doing and at first...yeah, it was scary! I couldn't accept that this was what I HAD to do with my life instead of going from little job to job! Now, I am even a cross roads because I am starting my degree in Communications and I want to get into Culinary Arts! So, I feel really strange starting somewhere and wasting money but, I am glad I'm doing it!!! There is no "right" way to get into cake decorating. If you are doing it and you love it and want to pursue it further then, you should!

If you have the support to do this, you should! don't wait! Don't worry about the loans! That's why they're loans and you are going to pay them off when you are making $80grand a year!

Good luck in your recent success! I hope you get what you want!

I'm in culinary school as we speak, in a pastry program, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's been amazing and I've learned so much. I'm actually about to open (I'm buying and taking over an existing one actually) my own shop to do pastry and cakes.

If you do decide to go for it...You'll LOVE it!

This site is so my type of people. I first started posting on chef.com and those people were so mean!

You are wasting you time you need to do this and do that and what you think you can just get a business up blah!

SO NEGATIVE!!

This environment is much more me!

I'm 22 and I guess I feel like I either continue with the career I have now or I make a change. My boyfriend offered to help take care of me, but I know in the long run he wants to have a big house and live an expensive life. He is already kind of used to us living that way because we make a decent paycheck as things are now.

I am just scared he thinks I'm going to get out of school and go back to making the same or close to the same amount of money. EEP! I told him probably not but maybe someday in the far future.

It's actually a full Pastry Diploma. The school I go to created a program that is as long and as intense as the savory program only just for Pastry. We have a savory component we have to take so we are "well-rounded" and marketable to small restaurants that might not be able to just hire a pastry chef.

It's nutty, and very challenging, but I LOVE it!

-Michelle

I have not been to pastry school, so I can't give you any advice there. But I did want to say, based on other life experiences, that you should balance your love of what you want to do (cake decorating) with the realities of finance.

If you (and your boyfriend - since it sounds like he will be supporting you) are used to a certain way of life that earning $65k -$85k a year affords you, then it could be very difficult making a transition to a frugal lifestyle.
If you quit your job and take out student loans, will you still be able to pay your rent/mortgage, utilities, car payment, cable bill, etc. without being super stressed out each month? Are you willing to possibly have to give up enjoying movies and meals out? Is your boyfriend willing to do this (you mentioned he seems to want an extravagant lifestyle) or do you he think he might start feeling some resentment?

Other CCr's can give you a better idea of what kind of salary you can expect to earn when you graduate, so that you can take that into consideration.

I am NOT saying you shouldn't do it. If this is truly your passion then I think you should find a way to do it. But I also think that you need to think realistically at what this kind of financial change will do to both your lives.

2 years ago my DH quit his very successful career to become self-employed. He loves what he is doing, and the potential to make big bucks is there down the road. However, it has been a HUGE financial strain on us (and we have 3 small kids). It is very hard having to make choices about what we can afford to get each week at the grocery store. I haven't bought myself anything to wear in two years and I could really use some new underwear, but the kids need new shoes (and I haven't found any their size at garage sales yet). I wasn't prepared for the money fights DH and I were going to get into. Hopefully you get the idea.

It is a big decision with a lot to think about. But again, if cake decorating is truly your passion, then you should find a way to make it happen.

Good luck!

wysmommy- what school do you go to?


Cathy- I have really thought about that. It is one of the major reasons I feel a draw back. I know I don't mind changing my lifestyle but I worry about him.

Right now he is in the Police Academy and not making any money, I am helping him. The difference is when he gets out he will be making close to $90,000. He has told me he would rather I follow my dream and do what I need to, but to make sure this is what I really want and if the money is worth it for school.

I feel like it is now or never because we don't have kids or a mortgage. I am selling my car to get a cheap one. I dont want to wake up one day at 30 and say ok now I'm going to do this. Its hard enough with the bills I have now and I couldnt imagine if I had a family and all that.

The good thing about my line of work is the car business is always here. If I need to make money I can get a job at a dealer fast and make cash in the first month. So I'm not as worried about getting my job back if I have to.

Have you considered continuing to work, saving money for school while living on a scaled back budget just to see what it would be like? That way, after school, you could start your new career without debt and you would not have to take a job based on salary but on your interests.
My 2 cents =)

I agree with the PP's who have said to save the money to cover the tuition and your living expenses first instead of quitting and going straight to culinary school because you'll be in debt up to your eyeballs if you don't have enough in savings to cover everything because there just aren't enough in student loans to cover the $40,000 that you'll spend in the next two years on the Culinary program. Being in debt to a small extent is o.k. but the extent that you will be from Culinary School if you haven't saved up just isn't worth it. Culinary students end up in just as much, if not more debt than a 4-year degree student because the debt load is spread out longer for the 4-year degree.

Secondly, check out your local Tech schools!!! LCB is a good school, but you'll get just as much of an education for far far less $$$$$ at a Tech School that has a good culinary program and if you take the same stack of money, you'll have enough left over at the end to use as seed money to start your business up. Less than 3months after you graduate, no one will care where your culinary degree came from. They're only looking to see if you're trainable.

Ultimately the ideal degree to get into the BUSINESS of baking/decorating/pastry more than the fundamentals of baking... Get a Marketing Communications and Food Science degree from a 4-year College or University!!! That will actually SAVE you money down the road because your education will be dealing with everything buisness side because your customer base is what will determine the baking side. You'll also be able to get up in front of a crowd and give a coherent speech/demo/media interview (have you ever noticed that if a chef appears on the local news they rarely make eye contact with the camera, their arms are crossed in front of them, etc.). It'll help you spot trends before they really take hold, handle inspections, food safety handling, the basis for everything food related...

Not to say you shouldn't do it, but check into other programs before you jump head first into a "big name" Culinary School and go into serious debt that you could have used to literally build a basic licensed kitchen for yourself.

I've searched for other trade schools, but in my arean its pretty much AI or LCB both are expensive. What do you think of a community college?

While going to LCB I was going to work. Hopefully at the dealership and try to pay at least 10-11k while in school.

it would be great to have that money for my business..

have any of you heard of the Kitchen Academy?

What CakesbyCathy said is very true... the reality of the drop in salary can be harsh, especiallyif you have a family.

BUT - and it's a big one!
I always waited - first we buy the house, then we start a family, then we get the kids through school - you all know what I'm talking about.

Well, finally, earlier this year, I thought "At last - my turn!!!". Plans made, business name registered, all the usual. Then I had a minor injury to my neck - no biggie - except for numbness of fingertips and arthritis-like pain in the rest of my hands! Ever tried to decorate ANYTHING with numb fingertips and burning cramps? It may get better with treatment, but who knows?

SO, my advice is ... GO FOR IT !!! And good luck to you! You can always go back to selling cars or whatever - you are only 22 with responsibilities only for yourself (and your boyfriend, who is being so supportive)!!! If not now, when?

Given what you've just mentioned about NEVER wanting to work in a restaurant and getting an externship working as a decorator... WHY WAIT??? Get a part time job at Sam's, Walmart, grocery store, etc. decorating cakes and really determine if it's the job/business for you! Granted, you won't be doing the upper end cakes, but it's going to give you a dose of reality of the business side of the industry and you'll have a jump start on production speed that your other classmates won't have. Which would you rather do, go to school for two years, go into debt approx. $40,000.00, go on your unpaid externship (which YOU will have to find YOURSELF)... Or... Get paid for your "externship" before you consider whether or not going on to culinary school is the right move for you to make if you aren't sure about working in any aspect of the food industry. A lot of great chefs have worked a lot of cruddy restaurant, pastery, food biz jobs before they got to where they are today and without working those jobs wouldn't have had the foundation to be where they are.

As for deciding between LCB or AI... I'd go AI if those are your two choices in the area. At least for here (sorry Moy you're the exception here), the pastry program at AI is SO much better than the LCB graduates. As for Community College as another option, I think that's the realistic way to go because you'll get just as good of a culinary education, but you'll pay half (or less) the price. I guess what I'm trying to say is the degree only tells your potential employers that you're trainable, that's IT. It's the old saying "What do they call a Doctor who graduates at the BOTTOM of his class??? ... DOCTOR!". The school doesn't determine what kind of pastry chef you'll be, only you can determine that.

I actually should start working at sweet-gems later this week. www.sweet-gems.com

She is a small cake decorator but seems very talented and willing to bring me on and teach me a few things. The schooling is part for the career and part for me. I want to go to school and learn the savory and all that they have to teach. i guess im kind of a snob that way.

Besides that I cant get a part time job at walmart ect because I work about 66 hours a week and am lucky the lady at sweet-gems is willing to let me come work with her for only 1 or 2 days a week. WAY LESS than party time. Even when I go to school I will be able to work. I would much rather work at an externship for free doing cakes I admire than a place paying me 6.50hrly doing sheet cakes with baloons. I know how to do that!

Thank you for your advice on the schools. Cruddy thing about AI is their program is 3 years and 70k while LCB is 15 months and $40k. I'll have to look into it closer though.

Wow - I just checked out Sweet Gems.
If you have been accepted for a job by these people and they are willing to train you, perhaps you don't NEED expensive courses - their work is amazing and looks to cover pretty much every aspect of cake decorating! Remember, the most succesful cake-decorating comes from the head and the heart - if you don't have the imagination and the love for it, all the courses in the world won't matter.
Sure, you need some "know-how", but look at the level of help and advice available right here on CC !! And the people at Sweet Gems sure seem to know what they are doing!
As for "having it all" - you won't know till you try. You are in the perfect position now to make it happen - a supportive partner and the security to give it a go. You are only 22! If it does not turn out the way you hoped, it is not the end of the world. And if it does - what a bonus! - and still plenty of time to make a financial success of it before you start worrying about starting a family.
I repeat - GO FOR IT!
P.S. Thank you for the kind wishes

I'm going to disagree with everyone on here now, and stick up for school.

I go to Cambridge Culinary in Cambridge, MA. I'm studying under a master pastry chef from France. There is no way I'd get in 20 years of working in a pastry shop what I've learned in the 7 months I've been there, working with him. I'm not saying there aren't other ways to learn, I'm just saying that I could comfortably walk into a 4 star restaurant and apply for a pastry chef job, or assistant job, and I'm not sure I could do that without school. I've been recruited by 2 restaurants in Boston, through school, without even trying. That's a bonus. The things I've learned about Pastillage, sugarwork, and commercial baking are things that I apply to cakes as well as to plated desserts, show pieces etc... The information I have learned in lectures and lab time is stuff that has allowed me to let my imagination expand what I'm able to do. I sat through a 3 hour lecture on eggs and I now when I'm making something I know how to adapt it for more people, allergies, color, flavor, moisture...all sorts of things. I had to learn baker's math, which was a pain, but allows me to take any recipe and make it in whatever quantity I need without having to figure out 3 x 1 3/8 is going to be.

It is expensive, it is hard work, it is also one of the most informative and useful things I've done with my life.

I'm doing this in my 30's with a husband and a 2.5 year old. It's been hard for me to rationalize the expense of school, as well as the time away from my son. I'm in class 9 hours one day and 14 hours the next. I'm tired, I drive an hour and a half each way to get there, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

You are in your 20's and have all the freedom in the world to learn now, before you have the kids, mortgage etc. I only wish I had done it when I was where you are. I would have had 10 more years to use what I've learned.

Whatever you decide, do what's best for you. No one can tell you otherwise. Just check out all your options before you settle on something.

Best of luck in whatever you decide!
Michelle

OZcookie- Doesnt that place look awesome! I am really hoping I get the job. It sounded REALLY promising. What I like about that place is she is a one woman show. That's awesome because I can see how you get things going on your own and I think really learn from her. I have decided I'm really going to go for the school. The more I think about it the more I know thats a good path for me. I learn well in a class room and there are things there that I may or may not learn until I have to learn the hard way by making a mistake.Like wysmommy was saying they have the nutrition classes, Sanitation, math, a little management course, a lot of contacts, and I will get to learn from many chefs not just one! $48,000 is a lot, but last night I was thinking about it and heck I spent almost that much on my last car...why am I hesitating when it comes to education!

Ashley - Congratulations and Welcome to CC you'll get the most fantastic information on cakes, cake decorating and etc.

Now as a former pasty school graduate, I graduated from FCI (French Culinary Institute in NYC) and I want to 2nd what Wysmommy says about the school. It's definitely the way to go, and as she says you have a better chance of being hiring with the diploma in hand. Now as the cost of the school and giving up your life I understand. Is it possible for you attend the school part-time while maintaing your full time job? I did it, it was quite difficult but after 9 months, 3 weeks and 4 days I never was more happy to finish school. I did not want to give up my health benefits and the money that I was accustomed too. I was 35 when I started the program and I wouldn't change that experience for anything in the world. It opens your mind as to what you can do in Pastry, you work in some wonderful mediums and believe me you have nothing but respect for those sugar artists that you see on Food Network.

Definitely do it but see if you can still keep your job in the process or at least cut back on some of the hours.

Congratulations once again.

Hello I just thought that I would share my experience. I was 30 when I decided to leave my very comfortable life and job and go to cullinary school for pastry. First and foremost I would not change that decision for the world. Having said that I feel a need to tell you about the things I didn't expect or plan for. Yes the money issue is big you should only expect to make between $10 - $12 an hour when you get out and that may not include any benefits. Also your lifestyle will change, I used to travel and dine out all of the time but now I'm working nights and weekends. You can't make happyhour any more and you will be working more during the holidays and sometimes your freinds and family won't understand. The good thing is that your boyfriend won't be working traditional hours either. Because it is hard to keep a relationship with a 9-5er. Trust me it is a much bigger adjustment than you are expecting. And sometimes it gets tough, very tough. And there will be days when you want to quit and go back to your easy life. But stick with it because the rewards are worth it.

By the way I learned more about cake decorating from Wilton and on my own than I did in school. However I learned all my pastry skills from school and work. Good luck and I hope this helps!

Tlt218 - I thought it was just me. I had to take Wilton decorating classes and I learned so much it's ridiculous. But I agree with you, I wouldn't change the experience nor the skills I learned in school for anything in the world.

OOOH I just checked out the website for the woman you are interviewing with! She's awesome!

Maybe you could work for her while you were in school? It would be awesome to learn from someone like her too!



Michelle