(upbeat music)
- I was was working as a
restaurant manager and a baker
at a small restaurant I had
been at for about eight years,
and I really enjoyed my job, but it had
gotten to the point where I
could not advance any farther.
I looked into culinary school
programs all over the state,
and I didn't wanna move
too far from that area.
But when I saw what Fox Valley Tech all
offered in their culinary program,
and that my son was going off to college,
and I was suddenly an empty nester,
it just seemed like the
absolute perfect time
to make that decision.
It was a whole new world
when I first started,
not working full-time and
suddenly being a student,
and doing homework again.
And it was a really
wonderful way to connect
with younger people who are
getting into the industry,
and I could bring that life experience end
of it to the program.
You'll learn the nuts and
bolts of profit and loss,
cost controls, management, and that
is all built into the program, so,
even if you're not a hospitality major,
you still get that great
business-end of it,
along with the cooking skills.
So, you come out of it
ready for the real world,
and ready for possibly owning a business.
It is a very exciting,
irons-in a-lot-of-fires,
type of career that I do, but I
knew I did not wanna be
tied to a restaurant job,
where I did the same thing every day.
I really wanted to reach out to people,
focus on wellness, so, I do
a lot of corporate wellness,
like Lunch and Learns, and
things to help companies
advance their wellness program.
And that's a paradigm
that's really shifting
and becoming an exciting new
frontier with businesses.
I also do personal chefing
with people who maybe
have special dietary needs.
I also really love teaching, and I
teach at several different locations
throughout Northeast Wisconsin,
and I really, really enjoy
that aspect of my job.
People really want to
know what's in their food.
They want to be more in
control of what they eat.
They're not caught up in
media and advertising,
but rather, let's actually
think for ourselves,
and start cooking with real food.
Be fearless, because everything you want
is literally on the other side of fear.
You can't stay cornered,
because there's always another chapter,
another facet to your
life that you can explore.
(upbeat music)
