We were lucky to catch up with Gretchen Norman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Gretchen , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes from my dad and husband. They are 2 of the hardest-working people I know. Also, I would have to say my clients as well. I can’t imagine letting either my family or customers down. Even when I struggle with a migraine, I push through to ensure that their orders are finished on time and beautifully. The smile on their face when they pick up their sweets is what keeps me going.
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 was one of those kids who loved to bake with their grandma and you could say that was the start of my love of baking. I was always baking and when I was in high school trying to figure out a career path my dad suggested I become a pastry chef. This sounded like the most amazing job. So I found Johnson & Wales University and earned my degree in baking pastry arts. Once I graduated I was hired on at Chateau Elan and worked in the pastry kitchen. While there I became a first time and decided to hang up my apron. Once my children were older and didn’t need me at home all the time I dipped my toe back into the pastry world by working at International Sugar Art Collection teaching an occasional cupcake decorating class as well as the retail gallery. After a while I decided to venture out on my own and started P.S. Sweets. When I started it was going to be more of the confection side of the sweets business such as pralines and caramels. However, my decorated sugar cookies have become a favorite as well as my macarons. We love creating custom cookies, cupcakes, and macarons for special occasions and holidays.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Learning the basics of cake and cookie decorating is vital to what I do. Once you have an understanding of the way all of the different mediums work you can take that knowledge and apply it to the various applications. Also, learning the business basics such as costing out ingredients and developing menus/ products are very important too. I had a wonderful instructor at Johnson and Wales who was also a restauranteur and she imparted her wisdom. You can’t take for granted the power of marketing and branding luckily I found a wonderful mentor to help in that area. The best advice I can give is to keep learning and never stop educating yourself. It doesn’t have to cost a lot as there are so many wonderful resources out there.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents were extremely supportive of my dream to become a pastry chef. They encouraged me to find the right school to pursue my goals which included driving me around the south to check out the right place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pssweets.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p.s.sweets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/P.S.Sweets
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-norman-79504129