This year will mark the 10th anniversary of my move to Australia. Yes, how time flies. When I moved to Melbourne in 2008, my youngest was only 18 months. I became a full-time mom. Working full-time before, it was great to have a change of lifestyle and be fully committed to the family. But I've always known that the day will come when the children will grow up and have a big part of their life being independent of their parents. When that day comes, what will I be doing? My hope was to return to the work force.
Having stopped working for a few years and with no local working experience, I have real fears that my return to work will be an uphill task. I know mothers who were trying to get a job for years without success. In fact, my expectations were so low that I was prepared not to go back to what I was doing professionally before but settle for any job, even menial jobs like being a cashier or store assistant. However the Lord had been good to me. The story of how I got back to work was amazing and it demonstrates that no matter how big a mountain we face, God can overcome it for us. With our human strength we may think that it is impossible but with God, nothing is too big.
2011
With a lot of time at home, I picked up different craft hobbies. One of them was cake decorating. From experimenting to creating, I soon started taking small orders of cakes from friends. I printed some name cards and set up a Facebook page called "D'Cupcakes of E".
2013
D'Cupcakes of E officially became "Kekx Kreations". It was a registered business with a council approved food registration license. I even bought public liability insurance. I was still operating from home and this model of business gave me lots of flexibility to still be there for my family. The income was not a lot but I was being paid for my creations.
2014-2015
I enrolled in a Certificate 3 in Retail Baking course as it was an area I was interested in. It was a fully funded course so I didn't have to pay anything. The first school I signed up with got their funding taken away about 1 month after I started but I didn't give up. I managed to find another training provider in the west and I even had a friend enrolled together. For about 6 months, two of us would take turns to drive and go to class 2 days a week while the children were in schoo. It was great fun and we made breads, cakes and pastries to bring home to our family. I successfully completed the course in July 2015 and got my certificate.
2015-2016
Shortly after I completed my Cert 3, I enrolled in another course, Certificate 4 in Training & Assessment. This was a certification that I needed to possess if I were to go back to training. Although I had no idea how to yet, I thought I'll equip myself first. I found a training provider near where I stayed and the evening timing was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, being blessed with a good trainer and the course was well developed.
While still studying for my Cert 4, armed with my Certificate 3 in Retail Baking, I decided to put in an application online for a position in Coles as a "trade qualified baker". It was my first job application in Australia. Thanks to my experience in baking and cakes, I got an interview at the Coles and the manager decided to hire me after I showed him my portfolio of cakes I'd made and I was showing flexibility to work odd hours. I was elated. I had just landed my first job in Australia! (to me, running my own baking business was not a "job"...:p) I was going to be a staff member of an organisation! Thanks be to God, I had my first breakthrough!
During the September school term break of 2015, I began work for 3 days a week, from 5 -9am. The traffic was quiet as I drove to work and by the time I got home, the kids were still not awake. I was thankful for the job but it turned out I didn't enjoy it as much. Instead of putting me into the kitchen where I can do baking, I was asked to do bakery assistant duties, such as packing bread into the bags and labelling them with the correct stickers. There was nothing challenging about that besides recognising the various different types of bread and the speed. We had to get most of the breads ready on the shelves by about 7am when the store opened. As I was new and inexperienced, I was not as fast and also maybe because I wasn't used to waking up so early in the mornings. I worked under a supervisor, who looked half my age, she was very energetic and thinks she's very capable. Even though she had no training in baking, she thinks that I needed to be trialled at packing breads before being allowed to assist in the baking.
I quickly began to get bored at packing bread. It was easy job but I really wanted to get into the act of baking. About 1 and a half weeks into the job, I searched online again and this job for a Bakery Trainer came up. I sent in an application out of discontent with my current work in Coles, even though I was still undergoing training and wasn't fully qualified as a trainer yet. Surprisingly, I got a call the next day for an interview. At the interview, the school offered me the teaching job on the spot. It was amazing how my current work in Coles bakery, running my cake business and my Retail Bakery qualification had all come together like a jig-saw. I couldn't believe how easy and smooth it was. Again, it was amazing the Lord's timing.
By the time the school holidays was over, my time with Coles ended and I started a new chapter of my career, this time as a trainer. And I have not even finished my training yet! I was paid more and the hours fitted into the school hours exactly (9.30am-2.30pm). I could not ask for more. I cannot not explain why except that the Lord's favour had been on me.
Part 2...to be continued
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