GretaRodgersHawkenProjects2022

 Our last few days at the bakery have been spent shadowing Amber, and also helping some customers upfront. Amber not only works in the back, but she also helps customers and ensures to the best of her ability that each customer leaves satisfied. We have learned a lot about her managerial tasks by shadowing her, but I think my biggest takeaway was her attitude towards her crucial role of assisting customers and creating a safe space for employees. While I am not quite sure about what career I want to pursue yet, I am positive that she has set a very important example that is applicable to any career. She consistently goes out of her way to help everyone around her. One of the biggest things she stressed was how key it is to attempt to brighten customers' days. It wasn't hard as many people came bustling in eager to share stories about who the cake is for and why. It has been a pleasure to be able to listen to all the stories, especially ones in which people have been to an event...

 The first few days of our final week at Nothing Bundt Cakes have been spent going and helping where needed. They have been a little short-staffed, and we are happy to help in any area. Now that we have a basic understanding of working both the front and the back, our mentor Amber can place us where we will be most helpful. This means we have been doing a little bit of everything, from crafting, to helping customers, to helping out in the back. We have fallen into a routine at the bakery and feel very comfortable with many things that first felt a little nerve-wracking. For example, taking complicated cake orders has shifted from something we dreaded, as we were worried about messing up the order, to something we look forward to because we can help customers pick out different decorations and colors. In addition, we have improved at crafting many of the cake decorations and are finding it more and more fun. We have also formed deeper connections with the employees at the bakery who...

 This week we started baking, which was very exciting. I have always loved baking and being able to bake was the biggest reason why my group and I decided this opportunity would be perfect for us. It was a little more nerve-wracking baking in a professional setting, especially because the batches are so large, so if a mistake is made, then a lot of product could potentially be wasted. However, after joining the bakers and frosters in the back, our worries were quickly put to rest. The environment was very welcoming and the employees wanted to help us. In addition, there were also some employees training to bake and frost as well, which showed us that not everybody is immediately good at certain tasks. It was very interesting to see baking on a professional level and how large the operation is. Everybody focuses on a small task and works in an assembly line fashion to remain as efficient as possible. In addition, it was cool to see the flipside of where we had been for the past week...

 The start of our second week at Nothing Bundt Cakes has been very exciting as we have been able to take on a lot more responsibility. We have been able to begin helping customers, and even though at first we needed some assistance, especially with more complicated cake orders, we have become much more knowledgeable about the products and significantly more efficient at serving customers. It has been really nice to have conversations with customers about the different events in their lives that they are celebrating.  We have also been learning a lot about the business side of running a bakery, even from just working up front. Firstly, Nothing Bundt Cakes is a franchise, which puts a lot of limitations on the bakery. Recently, corporate discontinued the flavor Pecan Praline, and even in our short time of being at the bakery, several people have come in every day asking for the flavor. This was interesting to me because even though it seems to be a fan favorite at the South Eucl...