In developing the curriculum
for the program, I looked back on my own experience of getting
my artisan chocolate business started. There were three major
attributes I had to master before I could call myself a Professional
Chocolatier. Most of these I learned "on the job" by
trial and error - very costly and stressful.
If I can give you one piece of advice, its this: learn and master
while you have another job or source of income. Once you open
your business or start promoting yourself as a teacher or author,
you'll be so wrapped up in the "doing" that you won't
have time for the "learning" and you'll make mistakes
(which cost you money) or worse, make a fool of yourself - I speak
from experience.
Now, back to those important three attributes of a chocolatier
that you need to master before launching any chocolate enterprise:
- Exceptional Chocolatier Skills
- you've honed your chocolate techniques and recipes by practicing
over, over and over. You can produce the perfect chocolate at
a moment's notice when that producer from Oprah or the Today
Show calls.
- Hunger for Knowledge - you've
researched extensively so you know your industry and product
inside out. This gives you the confidence to answer any question.
- Insatiable Curiosity - as a
chocolatier, you know what is happening in the industry - you
become the definitive source for information for your customers,
students, readers or clients. You're able to source new suppliers
and apply trends in product or processing to your business.
If you have those three attributes, BEFORE you launch your new
career as a chocolatier, you are already a success. This is where
our online Professional Chocolatier Program can help.
Don't get me wrong, learning with others and from a teacher or
chef standing right beside you is great. But it is also expensive
and doesn't give you the flexibility of practicing or researching
when it fits your schedule.
Certainly an intensive hands-on experience using professional
equipment and producing volume chocolates is important and that
is why we also offer the Maître Chocolatier Program. But
before you take a program like that, you need to get to the point
where your skills are instinctive. That skill allows you to concentrate
your efforts on learning the equipment and producing exceptional
products in volume.
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