Culinary

Being “Multi-Passionate” Does Not Mean Flaky

by Marian Schembari on April 28, 2010

Love of my life, Marie Forleo, has a fab blog in which I await her latest postings with, you know, bated breath. I’m in her coaching program, so you’d think I’d get enough Marie. You’d be very wrong. Love letter aside, I got an update from Marie today announcing her latest post was – gasp! – by some dude called Johnny B. Truant. Well, poop. I clicked anyway because I trust Marie’s judgment and I am oh-so-glad I did.

This would be Johnny

Mr. Truant is now the second love of my life and maybe we can all get married and live in a house together whilst blogging about our passions. I was nodding my head like a crazy person at every sentence. He wrote about Marie’s concept about being a “multi-passionate entrepreneur” and how it’s okay to be yourself and not get stuck talking about your niche all the time. I’ve grown to hate that word.

What should you do… FOREVER?

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately with the theme “what should I do with my life?” and am reading a book by the same name by Po Bronson. Take that, combined with Marie’s program and my serious Quarterlife Crisis and I come to the conclusion that not only does it not matter, but you don’t have to choose just one thing. I know I’ve written about this before, but this is the first time I’ve been super-okay with that. I really enjoy what I do – helping authors connect online – but understanding that it’s not something I’ll do forever makes me love it. It makes me better.

Do I really want to give career and social media advice for the rest of my life? Not particularly. And that’s the reason I started the Pajama Job Hunt. You’d think that starting a company slash classroom would require some form of long-term commitment, but it’s the lack of commitment that solidified my decision.

I was so bogged down with the idea that I needed to find the PERFECT job, The One that combined all my passions so I wouldn’t feel bored 30 years from now. But too much of anything can make you sick. When I first decided to go to culinary school a guy I was dating told me, “Are you sure that’s something you want to do?” I thought he wasn’t being supportive but he explained, “I just don’t want you to lose that passion you have for baking by making it your job.” He is one smart cookie.

You don’t always lose your passion if it’s your job, but tying yourself down can make you multi-passionate people question that choice for years. I don’t want to be that person. At first I though about combining all my passions, maybe open a bakery to satisfy my pastry passion, write about opening the store to satisfy my writer’s passion, probably blog and Twitter about it to satisfy my social media addition, then travel and sell things I found in said store. I’d write about that too. As lovely as that sounds, I think instead of focusing on 50,000 things at once it might be more beneficial to do what feels natural RIGHT NOW.

When I quit my publicity job I enrolled in culinary school immediately, thinking I needed to “catch up”. I couldn’t find a cosigner for my loan though and was devastated. Now I think it happened for a reason, because while I’ll do the pastry thing asap, right now it feels good to blog and write and help authors. I want to move ahead into the career/social media thing and, funnily enough, the Pajama Job Hunt came about when I finally let all that other pressure go.

Just a number, baby

People are “accomplished” when in an industry for 20 years. Especially authors. “John Smith is a board certified Expert in Blahblahblah and taught Expertness at College X for 15 years and has written 50 trillion books on Expertise. He resides in Kentucky with his wife, Jane, and their dog, Expert.” You’ve seen that bio a hundred times. It’s all about how long you’ve been doing something, how many times you’ve been acknowledged for doing it and how public you’ve been in the process. I bet John is sick to death of Expertise, don’t you think? Plus, how much of an expert can he still be? Industries change.

You are made up of many passions

I’m going to leave you with this little nugget of awesome: Truant wrote, “Carving out one aspect of yourself and saying ‘This is who I am’ is dumb.”

Love that man.

{ 33 comments }

Oh My Goodness, I Want This Job (and would rock it so hard)

by Marian Schembari on March 7, 2010


I’m in love. “Unconditionally and irrevocably.” With a potential job.

As I write this I’m in my pajamas working from home – as per usual. I love what I do. I love working for myself… But damn.

Here’s the story:

This past month has been a little rocky. I left my part-time day job to devote myself 100% to freelancing. I was at that point where I was getting enough business that I could afford to work for myself, but not enough to live “comfortably.” But I did it anyway and took that leap.

Then I found out that I need to leave my current living situation, resulting in the first time ever in the history of the world where the love of my life (aka my roommate, Desi) and I will no longer be living together. This is depressing in and of itself. But add to that moving costs, finding another apartment (which will most likely be significantly less awesome than where I am now) and the fact that I couldn’t find a cosigner for my culinary school loan, and my dreams have been all but tabled.

Basically I was a teeny tiny upset.

However…

Then I wake up this morning and it’s 55 degrees and the sun is shining and not only do I have a seriously awesome apartment lead (it’s a sublet and there’s a piano) but the first thing I see on Craigslist is an ad for this job… at… wait for it… THE INSTITUTE OF CULINARY EDUCATION:

The Public Relations Associate position is a full-time position, reporting to the company’s Director of Sales & Marketing. The ideal candidate is eager to burst onto the Public Relations and food-scene. The candidate should be immersed in or passionately interested in the world of food, cooking, chefs, and restaurants – and appreciate the value of education.

By the Hammer of Thor!

I’m not even kidding you. This job exists. And it was literally hand crafted for me, I’m sure of it.

My Application

I’ve been spending all day working on an incredibly personal email to the Director of Sales and Marketing, crafting a bad ass cover letter, touching up my long neglected resume, tweeting about it, finding every possible spec of information on ICE’s online presence, writing this blog post as a supplement to my application AND creating a marketing plan. Too much? Honestly, I could care less right now.

Here’s a fun little excerpt from my email to the press office: “I’ve attached a more ‘traditional’ cover letter outlining my accomplishments and qualifications based on exactly what you’re looking for, but I just wanted this email to be a little more personal, a little more passionate than your stereotypical job application. And in case you want to see some of my ideas in action, I’ve attached a short proposal on how ICE can continue to grow in the media….

We can have videos on DICED of students preparing certain recipes and asking questions, interviews with chef instructors, book giveaways, contests/coupons on the Facebook fan page, tweets with special tips and sneak peeks for followers… the opportunities online are endless, fun and beyond exciting!”

Think I have a shot? Everyone keep their fingers crossed and if you know anyone at ICE, pass my info along, will ya?

Will keep you posted!


{ 17 comments }

Aaannd, I’m back (a life update slash Big News)

by Marian Schembari on December 11, 2009

So, I peaced out for awhile, but not without reason. Here’s the scoop:

  1. I left my job
  2. I was accepted to the French Culinary Institute
  3. I’ve started freelance writing more seriously, as well as doing some social media consulting

WTF? Correct, my friends. I don’t think I’m made to work in an office, first of all. I think I have too much energy and a (healthy?) amount of attitude. Regardless of my awesome job, I’ve always wanted to be a pastry chef. I mentioned in an earlier post how I want to do a thousand things in my life and we shouldn’t all be tied down to one career. Well, ever since writing that I’ve been wondering why I wasn’t practicing what I preached.  Then, I picked up a copy of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It! (review to come) and his no-nonsense attitude really kicked my ass in to gear. That night I applied to my dream school, the French Culinary Institute, was accepted, and quit my job.

It’s kind of been a whirlwind since then. Fifty percent of the people I’ve told think I’m a crazy person.  AppRetro Housewifearently if you’re lucky enough to have a job “in this economy”, quitting is suicide. Well, eff that my friends. I’m not going to wait 10 years and end up tied down to a life I don’t want and a job that doesn’t make me insanely happy to wake up every day. So regardless of what random people (and the occasional family member) tell me, I’m going to be a kick ass pastry chef who writes.

Classes start soon and I’ll be baking up a storm three nights a week and doing random jobs by day to pay the bills. I picked up a Twitter gig with the New York Times and a few other opportunities have come my way. Hopefully I can find a waitress job and temp a little. My biggest problem? A loan. Pastry school is expensive and apparently at 22 I’m still a dependent (bite me, FAFSA) meaning I can’t take out a loan without  a cosigner or relying on my parents. I guess the next goal is figuring out a way to do this on my own. If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way. Also, I’m going to be doing some website revamping in the next few days, so keep the eyes peeled!

{ 12 comments }