my point of view comes from seeing so many greats teach along side their normal business.
think of how many of us want to take or have been so fortunate as to have taken lessons w/ Braun, Ben-Israel, Peters, Vincent, Weber, Woolley, etc.
they don't seem to mind making money both ways...
doing and teaching.
Yo, Duff and Mike -- HINT -- time to start teaching!
Janette Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jun 15, 2006
Posts: 3342
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:03 pm
chutzpah wrote:
well, veronica, dogs aren't gross, but little kids are......
Ohhhhhhhh, I even know not to go there (as I try to balance in the rocking boat).
Janette Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jun 15, 2006
Posts: 3342
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:06 pm
jeking wrote:
It's because everyone has gotten so lazy that they don't want to have a JOB. They think that cake decorating looks like FUN and couldn't possibly be a JOB.
If they only knew...
Jeking,
Please, tell your Daughter "Thank You"
ANicole Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 08, 2006
Posts: 617
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:27 pm
"And don't forget the pregnant ones who go through all of the above through the course of one day(you really have to watch out for them)"
OK, I went from being miffed to mad to practically laughing out loud. This has really gone too far! I apologize for my part in it. Blame those d*mn hormones, right! By the way, I love you Chutzpah!
In the end, it doesn't matter what one person or a few people even think about you. It matters how you see yourself. And I am a (insert shriek here) HOUSEWIFE!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH (educated at that! - What a concept!) who loves to bake and decorate and I am having fun and that's all that matters. No one is going to stop me. I hope no one stops you either Mindy!
OP - can we be friends? Truly - can we call a truce?!
BakingGirl Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 19, 2006
Posts: 704
Location: The Caribbean
Birthday: Aug 06
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 4:31 pm
I, like mom2leelee who posted earlier in the thread, has an interior and furniture design degree. I worked for many years in firms designing hotel interiors and later rich people's homes. It was also during the height of the craze for home decorating shows. If I had a penny for every time someone would tell me how much they would love my job and how they easily could do what I did, I would be a rich woman.
Most of the time I would just let it go but occasionally I had fix them with my death stare and educate them on the "fun" part of my job, such as trying to explain to customers that their container of custom made furniture from Italy had gotten lost at sea, rare but it does happen. Or try and appease the customer who's designer toilet (!) arrived broken in a thousand pieces three times in a row because the manufacturer did not comprehend that you would have to pack it better than throwing it in a cardboard box when sending it overseas. Or the fact that I could spend an entire day writing up documents specifying which way the door handles were to turned in an entire hotel. Or deal with clearing things through customs, or placing pages and pages of orders from catalogues in languages that I don't speak.
But these damned TV shows makes interior design seem like it is a profession where people are wafting around touching fabric samples then having everything magically appear in the room without having to deal with anybody else.
Having said of all of that, it is not really people's fault for thinking that design or cake decorating is all glamour, fun and easy - it is the TV shows which do not show the other rather boring and unglamorous side of the story.
Now that I am a (shock horror) a housewife and a full time mum I do cakes. It is great creative outlet and a good combination of my interest in design and food. But I find the comments very much similar to what people said when I did interior design. "Oh, it looks like so much fun, I might do it too", or the inevitable comments on how expensive a cake is because let's face "how hard can it be?".
In the end of the day people are always going to make stupid comments until they try for themselves and realize that making cakes is not only fun, but it is a lot of work much of which is mundane and boring, and to get any good at decorating it takes a lot of practice too. I personally only do cakes as gifts for people so far. I have people asking me when I am going to start a business so that they can order from me, but to be honest I am hesitating because I do know that once it is a business you have all the business aspect of it as well as the hard work of actually creating a cake.
Sorry, very long winded but my point is that I can see where OP is coming from. Sorry you got blazed by people with hurt feelings.
dragonflydreams Forum Fanatic
Joined: May 31, 2007
Posts: 1294
Location: Canada, eh!
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:16 pm
jkalman wrote:
I like that thought too Doug..
And Loriemoms.. That SNL skit is probably my favorite of all times.. your sig line.
My Mother's Friend and her Teen-age Daughter was going to a Cowsils (sp) concert. A family singing group, big in the 60's.
My Mother asked her why in the h*** would she want to go see cows being sold. She wasn't much into music.
indydebi Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jul 07, 2006
Posts: 14291
Location: Indianapolis IN
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:12 pm
After putting in a 13 hour day, I just read all 12 pages of this thread. I’m pretty sure I understand what the OP was trying to say and it’s just one of those things that can’t be done as well in a written format.
I think (and hope) many on here have the opinion that I am helpful when I can be, that I’m willing to share anything and everything with those who are serious about becoming a biz (how many copies of my biz plan have I sent out? I’ve lost count but I know it’s over 40!). I believe in karma and I believe we all need to share our experiences to help those coming behind us get a leg up as THEY begin to start their biz.
Yet with all of that, I also encounter those folks that make me just throw up my hands and go “WHAT THE HE**????? Do you know ANYTHING about this industry??? Do you have any idea what’s involved in a BUSINESS????” For all the helping and the sharing I do, yes, I ALSO reach a frustration level with those (repeat ….. with THOSE!!!! Not with CC’ers who are here to learn and share and learn, so don’t everybody get all defensive again) who have no idea what it’s all about.
And there is a difference between those who “have no idea what it’s all about” ……. and those who have no idea and they KNOW they have no idea …. so that’s why they’re asking. The 2nd person I will bend over backwards to help … the 1st person is the one who causes us frustration.
And none of us, including the OP, believes the 1st person in my example above hasn’t any “right” to start a business. She didn’t’ say that. It’s just frustrating. That’s all. Just plain ‘ole regular we-all-go-thru-it frustrating.
I get it double whammy …. Anybody who’s ever fixed a Thanksgiving dinner for 20 thinks they know how to cook for 200. Yet they know nothing about special equipment to keep food at food-safe temps, how to transport, what equipment they need, how much time to allocate for cooking, for PREPPING!!!!, how much food to buy, etc. etc. etc.
When I resurrected this biz, my neighbor AND my daughter both dropped out of our “partnership” because they had no idea it took this much time. They thought it was the “fun” part of cooking and setting up a pretty food table at a big party. Uh-huh. They kinda forgot about the website maintenance, the advertising, the meeting with brides, the food samples, the taxes, the paperwork, the taxes, the filing, the taxes, the buying supplies, the prepping supplies, the loading the van, unloading the van, washing 100 plates and 300 pcs of silverware …. You know, the WORK part!
AllCakedOut wrote:
The friends and family, I don't understand either. Why is it always "You should start a business", and not "You should get a job doing this"?
Of all the comments, I couldn’t let this one go by, or rather I couldn’t let the RESPONSES go by. ACO’s question wasn’t why do YOU want to start a business … her question was “why do FAMILY MEMBERS always TELL OTHER PEOPLE to start a business?” So the replies that were a little defensive on why each individual CC’er wanted and/or started a biz had nothing to do with her question. She wasn’t questioning the business owner or the business owner wannabe … she was questioning the FAMILY MEMBER’s reason for suggesting owning a biz instead of suggesting working in the industry.
It was just venting. It was just one more of those annoying frustrations that we encounter that sends us over the edge sometime.
If this story had been about her kid that had asked one too many questions and how it just sent her over the edge, we all would have come back with understanding on how kids are, and how they just don’t get it sometimes, and we would have laughed with our own over-the-edge stories of OUR kids. I doubt very much if anyone would have gotten defensive about “well MY kids aren’t like that so I’m insulted that you brushed all kids with that kind of negative attitude!”
mushbug9 Frequent Member
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 304
Location: Oxford, MA
Birthday: Nov 15
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:22 pm
I was determined to NOT get hooked up in this thread but I find myself coming back again and again.
I can absolutely see both sides of it. The OP came off...as it did, but ment something else.
My sister and i were in the car the other day. It was hot. I made a comment that I can't even walk from the house to the car without sweating. She says "Its because of your weight". I looked at her and said THANKS!!!! I knew what she ment but it was like word vomit, she said what came into her head. I knew she ment that I had "extra insulation" and I get hotter for that reason (and stay hot according to hubby...woo hoo). I just said THANKS as I did and her mouth dropped. SHe saw what she had said come out ENTIRELY different than what she ment. Word vomit is worse when its in print though I think. Either way, I hope ALL on here who felt offende including the original poster can see the humor in what all4cake said
SHIKAKA!!!! (bowing down to the great white bat)
Made me crack up. I will have to steal that next time I comment about going to the "real" cake store instead of Michaels....SHIKAKA!!!!!!
littlecake Forum Fanatic
Joined: Sep 18, 2006
Posts: 1594
Location: the fine line between genuis and insanity
Birthday: Nov 21
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:37 pm
I think it's sad we have to really walk on eggshells on here now, there is so much offense taken.
I've gotten careful what i say around here, if i wanna vent, i sure don't do it on the open forum anymore, i'll write my cake buds privately...the ones who "get me"....
getting your butt BBQed isn't much fun.
roxxxy_luvs_duff Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Feb 08, 2007
Posts: 2876
Location: Kerman, CA
Birthday: Nov 24
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:37 pm
SHAME on Duff for having his own show and SHAME on Duff for having a show that makes the normal everyday person want to learn how to make cake. I would hope he would never hear all the compaints about his show since he does mention CC on his website as a great place for cake decorating tips
If you dont want people bugging you for info then dont reply. Its as simple as that!
mjnj Newbie
Joined: Apr 11, 2008
Posts: 12
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:59 pm
I didn't take the time to read all of these--there are a lot--but I want to add my two cents anyway. I went to culinary school and have worked as a pastry chef for the last 8 years. Unpaid internships are standard in the restaurant industry, but maybe not for cake decorators. I too have had people approaching me about this kind of thing lately. "I want to go to culinary school so I can be a master decorator like the ones on TV." Here's the thing--you do maybe one or two days of decorating at most culinary schools so really, that's not the place to start. I always tell people about the specialized courses at places like Caljava or Wilton or even Colette Peters' classes. In the end it would probably be cheaper. But really what people don't realize is how much PRACTICE it takes to be a really good decorator. Like I say, I have been baking a long time but still feel I have a lot to learn. OP, I totally get what you are saying and agree. It's a lot more than people realize.
Texas_Rose Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 26, 2008
Posts: 892
Location: San Antonio, TX
I have a question for you: Have you ever written to your mechanic and asked him to teach you to change the oil of your car, so you can do it yourself? (and not pay him for his time or his materials) How about your local Air conditioner company or TV repair guy..Have you ever asked them to show you how to repair your appliances? (again, not pay them for thier time) They know you aren't thinking of going into business, that you just "want to learn" . They would turn you down too.
That's not really true, though, of other industries. I've learned lots of things from repairmen...I can install a toilet, even weld the o-ring back on if it's broken. I can replace anything inside the toilet tank that breaks. I can fix the garbage disposal when it's stuck (not with a broom handle either). I can put a timer in a washing machine or a dishwasher. I can change out a bad electrical outlet or a light switch. I know what to do with the AC when it freezes up or starts spilling water on the floor. I can replace the thermostat in a walk-in cooler. I can reprogram gas station cash registers when they go down (the older ones anyhow, it's been a few years). And it was all from watching people make repairs and asking them a few questions. Maybe it's because they don't think a woman would ever become competition for them, but repairmen LOVE to talk about their work. I've never had one say he was too busy to explain something...of course, I'm not saying, "Teach me this so I can make money doing it too." I'm saying, "Oh, that's so amazing! I can't believe you fixed it so fast? How did you ever learn to do it?"
kimmypooh79 Frequent Member
Joined: Jun 24, 2008
Posts: 303
Location: Middle Tennessee
Posted:
Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:08 pm
AllCakedOut wrote:
mo_like_it wrote:
This really is a pessimistic view! Plenty of people have successful businesses without formal business training.
That's why I also said "or are at least naturally gifted with a business mind". It seems too many people are all caught up in what they see on tv (not much of the business end of things), and totally don't get that it is a *business*
Despite your also stating "naturally gifted" you are still saying that you have to have a mind for business in order to start a business. Some doctors have a fancy degree and are not fit to take my blood pressure so a degree doesn't necessarily mean anything. I don't think you have to have a degree or be "naturally gifted" to start a business, cake or not. You just have to have the determination and a willingness to learn what it takes to succeed . People that can afford it hire other people to take care of that part. Maybe those people asking you all these "annoying" questions don't know where to start. Maybe you should be a nicer person and point them in the right direction instead of insulting them in a forum where they can't defend themselves. It's disheartening to read the things that you wrote. I decorate cakes because I think it is fun. I stress a little during but am happy when I finish and have a piece of edible art sitting in front of me to show for it. I have a passion for it right now and can't wait to start a new cake. I am curious if you started doing it b/c it was fun and you had a passion for it or b/c it was "THE THING" at the time.
It sounds like you have lost your passion for it and maybe cake decorating isn't "THE THING" for you.
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