I had on my bucket list to have a market stall ✅

🎨 by Alcove Centre for the Arts, Open House & Vendor Market 2025.

For years, I’ve seen myself owning a cafe. Moving small town, somewhere quaint and charming and enjoying a simple life. Finding a meditative state in making coffee or baking — doing something repetitive and physical.

So last month, when a friend said she could get me a slot at the Alcove Arts Centre holiday vendor market … I was jazzed.

For some time, I’ve been exploring an art practice of simplicity and connection through the little French almond flour cake, renamed by the Australian coffee scene as the “Friand”. Perfect!

I could make holiday variants: gingerbread, orange chocolate, matcha raspberry – and introduce this dual-citizened cake to Canadians. Bringing a little food anthropology and a local souvenir for the hungry armchair traveller of Calgary.

I had a vision, and everything went as planned.

The day before the market, when I was baking 4 types of friands and double-batches, I had a humbling and humorous realization:

I don’t ever want to be a baker.

There’s a reason I’ve never caught on to pulling the perfect espresso shot, even though I’ve been taught by the best (shoutout to

Elyse Bouvier)I don’t find repetitive tasks meditative.

I hated it.

The day of baking was linear, predictable, time-managed and executed to perfection. And it totally exhausted me.

What happened over 10 hours was the realization of my skills. The me in my visions. I don’t want to be in service at the cafe of my dreams. I want to be in leadership of the creative vision and execution.

My vision is clear and fool-proof – and when I execute, I’m just reminded of how doable my ideas are. But I’m not here to be the doer.

I don’t think I’m better than other people, I simply understand what lights me up, where my energy flows, and how to tap into sustainable momentum.

It’s ideating, educating, and co-creating visions with people. Bringing in the right people who are aligned by the things I am not.

Finding those who find my friction meditative.

Me being in the ideas role is meditative.

Whilst my friend spent $7k on the first half of a chef’s diploma, I learned in $200 of baking for a market – neither of us wants to be in the kitchen. We aren’t in purpose there.

We are systems people.

We see inefficiency.

We discern ideas.

We iron out friction.

We add fun, practicality and ease to teams.

Instead of sitting with my flopped dreams, I am sitting with a greater understanding of myself and where I can best of service and impact.