Gale Gand
Chicago, IL USA
"Get as many opportunities as you can…That will help that 'thing' find you. It's looking for you, but you have to be out there."
Career Roadmap
Gale's work combines: Food, Television, and Being Creative
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Take Roadmap QuizSkills & Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Jewelry Arts
Rochester Institute of Technology
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
When she was in high school, she got into jewelry making; took every class possible, exhausted the school's metal-working classes.
2.
Found more classes outside of school, negotiated getting extra credit for them; says that's the start of her being a "self-managed person."
3.
Eventually went to art school to keep pursuing jewelry-making; began to hate it, but loved her after-school waitressing job.
4.
One day, one of the chefs didn't show up, they threw Gale an apron and said, "You can cook; get in the kitchen."
5.
She was panicked, but once she stepped into the kitchen, "it was like speaking a language you didn't know you knew...like a calling."
6.
She quit art school, moved to France for a year; would go into restaurants and ask if she could watch from a corner, would help out with grunt work.
7.
Friend asked if she could fill a pastry chef position, she didn't know pastry but said yes; says always say yes, even if you don't know how to do something.