Her Story
About Bridget
My journey in the culinary arts began in 1995 when I started making cakes for my daughters, and it just kind of morphed from there. I realized I needed more formal education, so I went to Le Cordon Bleu to get that formal training and really hone my craft. After completing my culinary education, I became a bakery manager at New Frontiers natural food market on the Central Coast, and then was recruited by Cal Poly where I became their head pastry chef, running the entire department and feeding 35,000 students across 11 different units. We were producing about 125 dozen items per day - everything from cookies to pizza dough, French bread, croissants, and bagels. I also helped the university open up a bakery cafe within their library section. When the recession hit and California started downsizing in education, I was laid off, so I decided to go back to school and get my Bachelor's degree in Education. Just two weeks before finishing my capstone, I called my alumni at Le Cordon Bleu to get a job description for a chef instructor position, and my mentor told me they were hiring. Three weeks later, I was interviewing and then working as an instructor. Everything I've ever done in this industry, I've just kind of fallen into - it's been an interesting thing. After Le Cordon Bleu closed due to financial issues, I worked at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa while finishing my Master's degree, working 50-60 hours a week plus my coursework online, and I finished with a 4.0, which I was very proud of. In 2019, the president of the Institute of Culinary Education, who had also been president at Le Cordon Bleu, called and asked if I'd be interested in teaching there. I've been there ever since, going on 7 years now. I started as Associate Dean of Students, which was more of a coaching, mentoring, counseling, and disciplinary role, and then in October 2024, I stepped into the senior instructor position. Currently, I teach online courses in social psychology, business communications with social media and marketing, and leadership classes, as well as culinary arts and pastry arts. On campus, I go in three nights a week and teach pastry classes, mainly in the advanced techniques of chocolate, sugar, and advanced cake design, including their capstone wedding cake project. I also teach gum paste and how to make flowers from the base to the finished product with wired petals and how to arrange them on the cake in a bouquet-type style.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Bridget
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just be prepared for the challenges. You are dealing with different personalities, different generations, and also dealing with a generation of PTSD. Patience is a very important thing in the field. Understanding - understanding that everybody comes from a different place. But also, too, remember sitting and watching those that are going to go ahead and walk across that stage and what you've helped to get to fulfill their dream. I tell my students that even though you're working and making a living, you can do it. There's gonna be some sacrifice in some things, but it's not permanent, it's only temporary. And during that process, once you get to the end, you've accomplished that. You know, you can accomplish that one thing, so don't deter yourself just because you're having to work and make a living. I try to say, well, you know, here, this is what I did, and I can give you some pointers on how to kind of navigate so you can get through.
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