For Australian Apprenticeship Ambassador Mary George, her determination to become a pastry chef began at the early age of thirteen where she started her own cupcake baking business.
After watching episodes of MasterChef, attending food events and participating in French cooking classes, Mary decided to begin work experience at a French patisserie.
“I had to really push myself into the industry and put myself in challenging environments so that I have been able to work with only the best pastry chefs in the industry. This led me working with chefs like Vincent Gadan, Guillaume Brahimi and Peter Gilmore at the age of sixteen," Mary said.
Based in Bossley Park, Mary trained at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Sydney where she met head teacher, Andre Sandison, who saw her talent from the get-go and introduced her to WorldSkills.
“As soon as Andre told me about WorldSkills, I was so excited and couldn’t wait to grab on to the amazing opportunity that was given to me as I was able to compete in my very first competition. This was the beginning of the most amazing WorldSkills journey," Mary said.
Mary was offered the opportunity to become an Australian Apprenticeship Ambassador after winning the Gold Medal at the 2016 WorldSkills Australia National Competition. Later, Mary qualified for the Skillaroo squad to compete at the 2017 WorldSkills International Competition held in Abu Dhabi.
Mary said that representing her country in Patisserie & Confectionary meant the world to her.
“Since I was a kid I’ve only ever wanted to achieve my very best at everything I do and I am not going to stop now."
As part of her WorldSkills training, Mary spent some time in France participating in an intensive training program at the world’s best patisserie kitchen, Chateau de vault de Lugny in Burgundy. Mary will work alongside the kitchen team during Gastronomic Week and have one-on-one training with the chateau’s executive chefs.