I first started working for Carlo's Bake Shop in February of 2013 when their Ridgewood location first opened. It was the first location to open after the original and well-known Hoboken storefront. I remember being pretty excited that my hometown was getting the first new location but I figured it was a family-only place and I'd never be able to work there.

Wrong.

I walked in on opening day, looked behind the counter and saw a kid I sat next to in class. I think I blurted out something along the lines of, "you can work here?"

I brought my application in that day and started working the following week.

Now it's been four and a half years and I still love every second. So let me take this opportunity to give you a little insight and tell you what it's really like to work for the Cake Boss!

When I first started, I was helping customers, cleaning up and answering tons of questions about the show. But the more I worked, the more I realized how interested I was in baking. I talked to my manager at the beginning of the summer in 2016 and asked her how she would feel about teaching me. She said we were in need of another baker and she was willing to train me, as long as I was ok with being at work by 6:30am.

I don't love mornings, but now when my alarm goes off at 6:00am five days each week, I'm pretty excited to go to work.

I trained throughout the summer and eventually started teaching our decorating classes and running our birthday parties. I spent fall semester commuting home every weekend so I could keep my job, keep learning and keep having fun.

The thing I hear the most often from customers is a general wondering of how I'm not 600 pounds. This is often followed by another customer commenting that I must be sick of the product by now so I don't eat it. Let me first say that no, I am not sick of anything. I still snack on so much because honestly, I can never get enough of it. The second part of that, I don't really have an answer for. Good metabolism, I guess?

I also get tons of questions asking if Buddy and the family are all as nice as they seem, or if it's a facade for the show. At first, I was really intimidated. I was terrified to screw up and have Buddy yell at me. But I quickly learned that once you step behind the counter in your Carlo's Bake Shop shirt, you really are part of the famiglia. Everyone is super nice and understanding!

Everyone screws up, and everyone is really understanding about it. I've seen cakes dropped (shoutout to you, Gabby!), I've seen trays of cupcakes smushed and I've watched employees wipe out and drop trays of cookies (still mad I had to re-mop the floor, Kyle). The thing you have to remember is: absolutely everyone messes up sometimes. Explain what happened and move on to make sure it gets fixed.

I started as just someone helping customers and was able to move my way up into a baker and decorator, so yes, everyone has always been incredibly nice and willing to help.

I've learned so much in my last few years at the bakery. I learned that I had a love for baking I never knew about. I also learned what to do with it and how to make it come to life at work.

Everyone has been so willing to work with me as I continue to learn the ropes and improve these skills every single day.

Another common question I get a lot is asking if I've ever been on the show.

I like to think I've never been on it, but I remember seeing a preview for a new episode and spotting myself, so out of fear, I never watched the episode. So if you want to know that one, you'll have to go find it for yourself.

Following that one is asking how often Buddy is in our location and if they're ever filming in our store.

When Ridgewood first opened, it was a huge deal. It was the first location after Hoboken so the whole family was in pretty often with the cameras following close behind. We had to learn how to work and get our jobs done while ignoring the crew and giant cameras.

Every day brings something new to the table and I've loved the learning process so far and I'm excited to see what the future holds.

One of the greatest things about my job is getting to watch people come in and see the excitement as they experience Carlo's Bakery for the first time. I love hearing about how far people have traveled just to try it. Just today someone told me that visiting one location was at the top of her bucket list! It's so cool to watch everyone from little kids to elderly folks as they try something they've heard about on the show and end up with a few boxes of pastries and cupcakes to take home with them.

I've got a whole new family of coworkers who I love with all my heart. We have so much fun together and I'm not really sure we'd survive without each other! Everything you see on the show, it happens in real life, even when cameras aren't around to catch it. We prank each other all the time (sorry, not sorry, Meaghan!), we pie each other in the face and we try to see how many stickers we can put on someone before they notice.

I really do love my job. But honestly, how could I not? I get paid to make and decorate cakes!