💻 Career Compass #5
Diving into the paths of other modern millennial women.
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Welcome back to Career Compass on
: a monthly series exploring other women’s musings, meanderings and methods for navigating life, with a focus on their career paths. Through short interviews with twenty- or thirty-something women, we’ll explore linear and non-linear career paths, how they approach work to make it work for them, and the blurred lines between hobbies and hustles.💻🧭
Another first for Career Compass this month - we have a doctor in the house! Not a medical doctor, but a woman with a PhD in Biomedical Science, yet is currently in the process of exploring a career in baking… Finally! After telling me that’s what she’s always wanted to do, literally when we first met around 12 years ago.
Sarah Waldie, now based in Malmo, Sweden, grew up in England’s Essex and is half-Scottish (an uncanny link to last month’s guest, Gaby Kirk!), and has also lived and worked in France and Switzerland. We met as wide-eyed freshers during the first weekend of our university experience, unknowingly to be flatmates for another three years. Late night chats over pizza and rom-coms, or chocolate digestives and textbooks, made clear that, though she had an immense talent for, and dedication to, science, Sarah’s passions lay elsewhere.
Many of us leave those passions dormant, or only to be fulfilled when we feel we can indulge in a bit of downtime. And for the best part of a decade, as she navigated long days in the lab and long nights writing up reports, Sarah did too. But, at 29, she made a brave leap out of the science world and into the unknown but exciting prospect of baking and pastry-making full-time.
Now 30, planning a wedding and learning a new language, Sarah is still figuring out the path into baking as a career. Still navigating the change. And so, what better time to dive in and explore what that entails …
Thank you Sarah for being a guest on The Navigation!
Could we start off with you sharing some musings on taking the leap to explore your passion for baking, and how you decided that was the right move for you after finishing in your last post-doctoral position?
Sure! I found myself not really enjoying my work and feeling very unmotivated to look for a new job. My post-doc contract was a fixed length so I knew when I would be finishing. I had every intention to look for industry-based jobs in my field, but as those are less commonly short-term fixed-length positions, I thought this would be the perfect time to take a break and do something for myself that I had always thought about doing.
At dinner parties and in other social situations when someone might ask, “if you weren’t doing what you are now, what would you do instead?” running a bakery has always been something that kept coming up for me, and now felt like a good time to pursue this and see how the opportunity might work out! It was never really meant to be a career change, just a few months away from science to gain some expertise in a field I had always been passionate about and to learn some new skills, but I just loved the first few months of exploring all the potential this idea held, and it was clear to me this was the right decision. I’ve trusted this feeling, and am continuing to see where it might lead!
I know it wasn’t an easy decision for you to take that leap, but it’s so good to hear that you could feel the pay-off so quickly.
Could you share a bit more insight into the meanderings that led you down this path of the baking-scientist-doctor?!
In school I had always been quite academic, and while I loved baking at home and for other people, I never really considered it as a career path for myself. I was always likely to go down an academic path with a natural draw to the sciences. When I was in sixth form trying to figure out what I was going to study at university, a woman came in to give a talk about her career as a food scientist and I was sold! That always encouraged me and I knew that combining my interest in science and love for food was the path I wanted to take.
While studying chemistry at uni I soon realised my time in the lab was not my favourite time of the week and it seemed likely I would not be pursuing a career in a lab-based environment. I had originally planned to do a study abroad year in France as part of the degree, to be able to develop my language skills. But when the time came, I was applying for internships as well, as I thought gaining some work experience would be insightful into how life might look after uni. I was very torn between the two options as studying abroad had always been a main focus of mine and directly impacted what universities and courses I applied to.When the opportunity came up to do a work placement in France I knew I had to go for it! During that year I enjoyed working in the lab much more than I thought I ever would and seeing other people in the lab carry out PhDs, it struck me that a career in research might be the right way for me to go after all. I ended up going back to the same lab in France to start my PhD after graduating and collaborated with a uni in Sweden where I spent the last year of my doctorate, and defended in November 2020. Though thesis writing in lockdown was not a fun time!
By that point I was enjoying the work and wanted to continue in research, so carried out my first post-doc. I liked research but wanted to start looking at industry positions as having short term contracts continuously (as is common in research) wasn’t what I wanted for my long term future. I realised that if I wanted to move towards food science as a career I needed to focus my job search in that area. Whilst my PhD wasn’t worlds away and there was some crossover, it wasn’t giving me direct access to those jobs. I found a second post-doc, more in the food science space, and with a food science company collaboration I thought I had hit the jackpot!
After some months in this role though, I came to realise it wasn’t what I expected it to be and began to feel burnt out. I had lost all motivation for research and the thought of committing to a job and a career in this field was not a happy one! This was when I really took a good look at what I actually enjoy in life, and how I could take a break from science and do something purely for myself, with no clear links to my career. Baking kept coming back to my mind, and it felt like the right time.
Having known you through all these years of this journey, it feels exhausting even for me to think about, let alone for you having experienced it!
So in a more practical sense, could you share some methods for how you're actually exploring a new career trajectory - what research are you doing, what did you do in those first few months after your last post-doc?
Google is my friend. I just started looking at pastry schools/cooking schools in Europe and went from there! There are so many choices giving such a range, from a full degree-length programme of a couple of years to some masterclasses lasting just a day or two, with prices to match. I didn’t want to commit to very long courses as at that point, at the end of my post-doc, I was still quite convinced this would just be a short term experience for me and didn’t want to have too long a break before going back to science.
Ultimately, location and cost were the determining factors for me. I have always loved the French language and going to pastry school in France to learn about French pastries seemed like an obvious choice! That narrowed my search initially, and then I came across Gastronomicom which offered the perfect mid-length courses (I did three months) at the most reasonable price. Finding all this information was one thing, but applying and going through with it is of course something else entirely. I was excited at the prospect but extremely nervous to do something completely different. Telling people was also very hard for me. I was worried about the potential judgement and people asking why I would be turning my back on science and going down this route. I shouldn’t have been so nervous as everyone was actually so excited for me, and really encouraging, but it was definitely daunting!
During the course I knew it was the right decision - I loved every second of it, and started to wonder what it would be like to work in this industry. I was still a bit torn on whether to go back to science or look for work in a bakery to really see if working in this environment was right for me, as it would be very different to pastry school every day.
As I had no job lined up for when I finished, I moved back to Sweden after the course to live with my boyfriend (now fiancée!) and figure out a game plan from there. I started to apply for jobs, but it was difficult to get anywhere without much experience. In applications I tried to convey my passion for baking, and did get an interview and trial day at a local bakery. It went okay, but ultimately my lack of experience meant I didn’t get the job. It was simultaneously encouraging and discouraging, but I kept applying elsewhere for internships to gain experience, with the aim to look at more permanent jobs in the future. After a few months of searching, I got an internship at a local bakery I love, Leve, and was over the moon! I worked there for four months and learnt so much. It wasn’t always easy, but gave me some true insight into what working in a bakery would look like, if this is something I really wanted to go for.
During the internship I was still looking and applying for jobs. I had a couple more interviews but again due to the lack of experience I didn’t get the positions. This was disheartening, but also promising that even without a full three years of training at a pastry school, I could still be considered for positions. Not only did the bakery give me experience but also the opportunity to meet people who work in this field, and hearing about opportunities elsewhere. Ultimately it was good for “networking” in a way I hadn’t thought about before.
The internship was unpaid, so I started looking for local markets where I might be able to sell baked goods to earn some cash. It was quite difficult to secure a place even looking at the market route, but I did manage to get a spot at a small local Christmas market last year. This was a nerve-racking experience as I’d never had any sort of commercial venture like this before. But it was such a good learning curve and I had so much fun! It was lovely to have complete strangers come and buy something and even see some come back again later to buy more. It was a lot of work but I enjoyed it so much, from the planning and recipe testing weeks beforehand, to selling to people in the rain! I’ve actually been through the process again recently, preparing for a market I’ll be selling at on the day this lands in your inbox! And am keeping my eyes open for any upcoming opportunities.
It’s been quite the whirlwind year, and as you say, not always easy. I think your experience shows how dedicated you have to be to whatever it is you’re pursuing, if there’s not an obvious route or path to follow.
As well as a baker, you're also an expert knitter! So why did you decide to pursue baking, rather than knitting, when exploring this new venture?
Aw thank you! Yes, the granny hobbies continue!
I learnt to knit when I was quite young and then dipped in and out of it through my teens and early twenties. I rediscovered my love for knitting and saw it in a new light only a few years ago when I found the world of knitstagram! I was suddenly seeing such stylish and modern garments being knitted and it definitely opened a new world for me with my knitting. I’ve been exposed to so many small scale independent designers whose work I love. I find it very inspiring and motivating to try new things with my needles and yarn. I’ve learnt so much and seen so many things I didn’t know were possible which is super exciting for the world of knitting and slow fashion!
I have been tempted to explore the world of knitwear design, and I do sometimes like to experiment with new techniques and stitch patterns for myself, but I really love having knitting as an escape and a relaxing hobby I can pick up - and drop - whenever I have the time or feel the energy to do so. I really got into my knitting again during the last post-doc role and it was such a good outlet for me to make time for myself and enjoy the process of doing something completely different, with no pressure and no deadlines. I feel like if I started to design knitwear patterns it would come with expectations, even just pressure I would put on myself, and it might take the enjoyment away. I don’t want it to feel as though it’s something I have to do rather than just something fun for myself.
Never say never though! I did actually start working on a jumper pattern based on a jumper in a friend’s wardrobe which was fun. I enjoyed thinking through wool I might want to use and how many stitches I would need to start off with, but am happy to keep that on the back burner until real motivation strikes. There are so many wonderful small scale designers out there I am very happy to not have to work out the tricky bits and just follow some instructions as they’ve done all the hard work for me. But there is such satisfaction when a garment is finished and you know you’ve made that with a couple of sticks and a bit of string.
When I first got into knitstagram I set up my own account dedicated to just that, a little corner of the internet where I could document my works (and bakes as well!) - check out @sarah.makesandbakes - but I’m quite bad at remembering to post a lot of the time so I mostly just use it to follow other accounts and get inspired.
Though I have seen the world of Instagram used as a place for business, and set up a separate account specifically for my baking, which is @moreish.malmo. I wanted to keep this profile specifically for showcasing bakes, and I set it up when I did the market stall. If selling baked goods is something I continue to do, I want to be able to use this space for potential business promotion (though I’m a little way off that just now!) and see where it takes me. Being at the hands of the Instagram algorithm doesn’t always leave me with much hope, but the potential exposure can be rewarding!
Totally fair enough to keep knitting purely for a hobby, and I think it’s great you recognise that you need that!
To wrap up, as you know, the Cultural Compass series is a key feature of The Navigation, so do you have anything you've read/watched/listened to lately that you'd like to recommend for readers?
Yes! Most of my time is filled with baking and knitting so mostly related to those…
🍰
’s - a Substack newsletter on all things baking, recipes and tips! He’s not exactly unheard of, but still great recipes so worth checking out if you haven't already.🎧 Olive Magazine Podcast - I discovered this during lockdown and have loved listening over the past few years. Lots of recipe tips, but also guests from all over the food industry discussing their expertise, including cuisines from all over the world, and future trends in food and drink. Older episodes also feature travel guides/tips and foodie recommendations based on where they were visiting (mainly pre-pandemic), all still available to listen to.
🧶 NE Knits - There are so many knitting youtubers who have podcasts that I love to watch, but NE knits is my most recent find and I love her podcast style. She mostly talks about her ongoing knitting projects and things coming up, but she also does pattern round-up videos discussing various patterns with a theme, and they’re great for knitting inspo!
💬 Swedish Made Easy - I’m currently trying to learn Swedish and this Instagram account provides some light relief in highlighting how difficult this can be! (As well as providing some helpful resources).
Love that eclectic mix, thank you so much! It’s been a delight to catch up with you around all this, and I’m so excited to see where this baking adventure takes you!
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Loved this! 🤍