Tell me a bit about yourself, Stacey. What do you do?
I run my own successful business, Champagne and Gumboots. I am the only Coeliac Australia accredited baker in WA, I specialise in creating divine gluten free cakes, cupcakes, cookies and desserts that taste so good you’ll never know they’re gluten free!
I design delicious wedding cakes, cupcakes and birthday cakes as well as attending a number of Perth’s best markets including Perth Upmarket.
I’m also a recipe developer and food photographer, I have a selection of fabulous eBooks full of scrumptious gluten free recipes plus a new Membership program teaching people to bake gluten free online all over Australia, The Sweet Course Academy.
What caused your soul searching to find your dream career?
It was more of the straw that finally broke the camels’ back. I was working as a regional manager for a national jewellery company, that required full devotion and sacrifice. I missed family events, worked over all Holidays and drove myself into the ground with stress.
One day I finally cracked and could no longer put up with the stress levels. My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant and had done everything we could to deal with my fertility issues. The one final step was to reduce my stress. I quit on a whim, with no back up plan.
6 months later I was pregnant and we accepted a transfer with my husband’s job to move home to the country (where both my husband and I are from). My pregnancy was rough and I had several complications that included a lot of bed rest so I did a lot of reading and surfing the internet. I decided while we were building our new home to start blogging! From there I realised people were coming for my gluten free recipes and so it went from there!
Ultimately, I always knew I wanted to work for myself. My parents were always self-employed from farming to retail, I grew up working for them. But I, like so many people got stuck in a job making good money that I was “good at”.
What do you like most about your work?
I love the flexibility of working at home, it enabled me to look after my son before he started school but still do meaningful work that gave me an identity outside of “Mum”.
I also love the varied work, I get to flex my creative bone constantly designing new cakes, working in the wedding industry, developing new recipes and food photography! I also love that each day looks different! I get to make time for the things that matter to me like being able to fit in exercise, time with my husband and attend school things for my son like assemblies!
Can you share one tip to help others figure out their dream career?
At the end of the day we all tend to have an idea of the things we love to do. I was a teenager when I fell in love with photography and I’ve loved baking since I was 9 years old. But so often the world and school convince us to follow “main stream” routes and careers. I did this and I ended up lost in a world I convinced myself I belonged in.
Don’t wait, there will never be a right time to start doing the things you love.
If you could tell your past self one thing in regard to your career change, what would it be?
Just because people tell you you’re good at something it doesn’t mean you have to continue doing it. You also don’t have to go to Uni to have a “career”.
Where can people find out more about the work you do?
You can find me across all the social platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube as @champagneandgumboots
You can find out more about me, my work and how to work with me at
https://champagneandgumboots.com.au/
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Would YOU like to find your dream career as well?
I created a simple worksheet, which will support you to get clarity and motivation to find a career that you love and feel passionate about.
Just contact me here to be send this fun worksheet.
This is the start of an exciting journey for you. I just know it.
Much love,
