I read this yesterday and told Michelle that I would share. I have also been witness to some of this behavior which has led me to remove myself from most of the LARGER cake groups and ally myself with a few trusted individuals instead. Im not naïve...but, I am new to online relationships and I know that nastiness does occur. Thats why I always repeat what I learned years ago in kitchens WORK CLEAN. That phrase covers so many different aspects of life in general. Stay out of the garbage and if you have true intentions...you will succeed. Cheers! PLEASE read this and SHARE it: Lately Ive gotten a few messages from people who are being horribly bullied by other cake makers. There are people leaving fake negative reviews online, saying awful things in forums, snarking at people publicly, encouraging their own clients to go and be awful to other business owners (WHAT THE....?), starting FB groups whose sole purpose is to talk smack about a specific person, and on and on. I have to say that I am shocked at the things Ive heard being done to people because I didnt even know that level of cruelty was possible in this industry. With this blog, I aim to raise the bar of professionalism in this industry. I teach you what I know in the hopes that it inspires you to live a life and have a business youre proud of. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am to read thse kinds of emails. To bear witness to those threads that get out of hand, to listen to someone crying to me about how their businesses and life has been ruined by some silly person with a keyboard but with no conscience. For MANY of us, cake isnt about business at all - its our happy place, the thing we can do to feel useful while we raise children or battle depression. For some its the thing we do to supplement our income to afford things like healthcare or new shoes. We all have different and valid reasons for being here. I cant tell you how many people tell me they got into this crazy business simply because it HEALED them from physical ailments, mental health issues or it gave them STRENGTH during difficult times. I cant tell you how many people tell me it gave them confidence to return to the workforce, that it made them feel amazing to finally have something they were GOOD at and people appreciated. We are in an industry which is all about LOVE (even the divorce cakes.) I base my life and I write this blog on the premises of education, love, and gratitude. Reading these stories of bullying and hate make me doubt what I do - and that means that the bullies win, doesnt it? Im going to give it to you straight - Im also human, which means I complain, I snark and I go OH MY GOD did you SEE that ugly cake?! but I do it entirely in private. I do it only to my real life, close friends, in very private places. I dont spend much time doing it because my time is better spend elsewhere. I dont attack other people publicly or on social media, I dont go after people, and I dont engage in those threads that look like theyre going to end up somewhere which is not good for anyone and it would never occur to me to send evil messages of hate and threat. You should choose to behave in the same way. You have the choice how to behave - in life, in your business, online and offline. YOU are in control. Choose to see this industry as an opportunity to support and uplift one another, NOT as a place where its dog-eat-dog (or dog-eat-cake) and so we all have to madly push people down as we climb up. Choose not to engage in those horrible behaviours. CHOOSE to join me in creating an industry we can all be proud of. CHOOSE to join me in believing that we are all in this together, and by working collectively well do better than we will by tearing one another to shreds. As much as I am so inspired by your messages and emails of success and gratitude, I am hugely sadenned by your messages of please help, how do I deal with personal attacks? I should also say that I do not think the majority of this industry is to blame for this. I think its a couple of bad eggs. For the most part I do believe we as an industry ARE helpful and supportive - but not surprisingly its the few who impact the many. We need to shut down and walk away from those few noisy ones. WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER. There is enough room for all of us. BE AWESOME. BE KIND. Thats all you have to do. Trust me when I say thats a hell of a lot easier than icing a cake, and you ALL know how to do that. Michelle P.S. Some months ago I wrote an article on this topic as well. Its here: thebizofbaking/2014/06/were-in-this-together.html
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 04:31:40 +0000
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