How I decided to become a Pastry Chef

My story; Some helpful techniques to pick your career path, and how i picked mine!

I studied and cleared CA in the first attempt. It was never something I wanted to do, I didn’t even have a clue of what it meant till the time I started studying for the first exam, or even much later. I think I figured the meaning of an audit, 15 months after my CPT exam, when I was two months into my job as an ‘article’ at a mid-sized CA firm. But I believe it was destiny, while all my friends were in Universities across the world having the time of their life, I was figuring my way awkwardly around the corridors and stairs of H. R .College, regularly dropping in to the ICAI office at Cuffe Parade, expected to wait hours in lines for forms and registrations, just to be told it’s lunch time, you gotta wait another hour! Through it all, I kept telling myself, I’ve started something, I can’t leave it half way through, I have to finish it and then do whatever I want. This was mostly because of the number of people who drop out of CA and people brush it off as ‘Oh, it’s a tough course, you need to be really smart. My relative passed everything in the first attempt, but he’s so super smart ya!’. I decided I am smart, I wanted to sort of prove it. So I worked well, I worked extremely hard. I closed off communication with most people for 4 months before my Finals, blocking most of my friends to avoid any unnecessary distraction. I enjoyed my time as an ‘article’ too. Working with ARCs, a ‘booming industry’, and I killed it at work. ‘You’re sorted, you can walk into any job in an ARC and you’ll be set. Why are you even thinking about it?’ Through the 5 years of ‘studying to become a CA’, I was baking a lot of cakes and cupcakes, taking orders, hardly covering costs but enjoying it so much. There was a clear passion. So after the CA exams, I decided to work at a restaurant for a few months while still completing my ‘articleship’ and GMCS training. I was honestly not regular, nor did I give it my everything. But every second I was inside the kitchen, I felt liberated, full of energy, not a single thought of being tired, and time would go by so quickly! I knew this was right for me. I got a job working in the food industry but on the financial aspect of the business. So I could be involved in both the industries. Maybe that would deal with my passion and also put my ‘skill’ of being a CA to use. I spent a year making business models, learning about sales, marketing, franchising, and got to experience working in a true typical Gujarati firm where I was treated like a daughter to everyone. Funnily enough, I had left my job at the CA firm saying I am going to follow my passion. And this was nothing close. After some time, I started feeling like this was not right for me. And I was really confused about whether I could still find a way to do what I love or it was too late. After months of talking to my parents, my boss, my friends, getting opinions... I was advised by a senior at work to use this technique to decide on your future path: 1) You make a list of all the things you want from life – Family, Wealth, Fame, Health etc. You can have as many as you would like. 2) Then you assign percentages to each of these, based on how important it is to you. If I place Family and Health at the same level, I could give them each 30%, then Wealth 20% and Fame 20%, in such a way that it adds up to a 100% 3) Then, you place all your career options on the columns of a table, and your life goals on the rows. And give each of these a rating, between 1 to 10, depending on how much you feel you would be able to achieve of each goal, if you picked that particular career choice. 4) Finally, you multiply the score by the percentage of that particular goal, career wise, and add up the answers to get a final score for every career out of 10. A simple mathematical way to figure what you should do! Here’s a rough example of mine:

From mine, you can see that working in an ARC actually ranked the highest, whereas working as a pastry chef came in as the second-best option. It’s a little difficult to give each of these criteria the right rating, but it is more about what is in your mind and gives your thoughts a clearer direction. I know, ARC would have been the best option, but I also know, after 10 years of doing the same thing, I would probably decide that I've made enough money, and would like to follow my true passion. So why not just go for it now? But I still wasn’t convinced. Till one day, I got a call from a friend, who said that my previous boss was giving a speech to a really big crowd and used me as an example of how one should always follow their passion. The same day, on my way to work, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said ‘This is your destiny’. And I took it as a sign. Because I’m a big believer. I gave my notice the same day and began my research on Culinary schools. I decided that despite loving the Kitchen and the energy of being a Chef, in the long run I would rather stick to Pastry. It is not as difficult, and it is something I have loved all my life. It won’t burn me out.

I chose to do a 5 month diploma in Culinary Arts, followed by a 3-year bachelors degree in Pastry at ENSP, an Alain Ducasse School in France – more on how I made this choice in my next blog! During the time between the job and the start of my course, i started Let's Get Baked - and got such a good response, that i was sure i could do well as a Pastry Chef! So Thank you all for your encouragement and support!

I hope this story can encourage you to drop the mundane job and do what you love. I know making the decision is terribly tough, with so many factors to consider. But if its what you truly love, you can trust that you will find your way! :D