We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Theresa Foust. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Theresa below.
Theresa, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic definitely comes from my mother, she had her own cleaning service. My mom serviced residential and commercial properties. There’s times I’d see her go to work at 7am and not get home until 10pm without a complaint. She’d always tell my siblings & I, “if you’re going to do a job, to do it right or not at all”. I’ve literally seen this woman go to work in some of the worst weather conditions or even at times of her being physically in pain. But no matter what she’d get dressed and go get the job done. Having the opportunity to watch my mother be great at her craft and own it every day is something to be proud of but knowing I couldn’t give anything less than of myself. She took pride in being sure she was on time which in her mind it’s arriving 15 minutes prior to the actual start time, dressed properly for the task at hand and doing the job right following any instructions given. I have a very strong work ethic and will always thank my mother for that, it for sure has afforded me opportunities, opened doors, and allowed me to reach peek levels throughout my career and now into entrepreneurship journey.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am Chef Re, owner/operator of ReRe’s Sweet Treats located in Charlotte, N.C. I create delicious desserts such as chocolate covered strawberries, cake pops, breakable hearts, rice krispy treats, cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, cupcakes, and cakes. Being a baker is super exciting for me because I get to do what I love, every day. The true joy comes when I’m given the opportunity to create one of my master dessert pieces for a client special day. Whether that’s a wedding, birthday, engagement, baby shower, gender reveal, or a just because moment. Often times when a client provides feedback in regards to their treat they received, I get the question often “what do you put in it”? I have to say a lot of love that’s the key ingredient to ReRe’s Sweet Treats desserts. With that being said, I’m excited to share that I’ll be spreading the love and launching face to face classes for adults and children. Stay tuned more information and sign up instructions will be release on all social media platforms.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The best advise I’d give anyone starting their journey to develop or improve. Would be practice, patients, and consistency for sure. When you’re gifted with a talent you must practice it in order to grow and improve your skills. The more you work at your craft the better you’ll become at it. It takes time to perfect your skill and even once you feel like you’ve improved, you’ll honestly never feel like you’ve perfected it. Which is why you have to give yourself grace and be patient when stretching yourself to a new level. Consistency has to be one of the most important ingredients to the recipe, don’t give up and stay focused on what your goals are.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
I feel like an individual can go all in on their strengths and take the time to invest in improving on the areas that they aren’t as strong in. It’s all about being able to balance your strengths and weaknesses to perfect your overall craft as a whole. Because I’m able to display my strengths with a sense of ease it’ll open the opportunity to challenge myself to dedicate more time and focus on my weaker areas. If I want to be the best at my craft I have to be willing to stretch my knowledge and be fully rounded in all areas. For example when I first started icing cakes, just the crumb coat would take hours because I could never get it to a smooth appearance. Then I began to practice and take time trying different techniques until I found the one that works best for me. Now I’m able to utilize my strengths as I’ve improved other areas to improve my craft but make it more exciting as well. All while being more efficient and being able to provide a stellar product to my clients, again it’s all about balance.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/rere_sweet_treats?igshid=1lc0l41vniw9e
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reresweettreats/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@ChefReRe
Image Credits
@i_am_da_shooter
