Max Nicholson, your not so common 16-year-old baker with a fledgling cake decoration business, is vying for province-wide recognition of his trade.
Together with his videographer friend Nate Klassen, Nicholson created a two-minute video for Discover Trades BC, Show Us Your Skills Video Contest.
“The purpose (of the contest) is to promote trades as a career option in B.C.,” said Nicholson.
The video contest was open to any public and independent school students across the province and as of submission deadline, May 14, 32 videos across the province were submitted.
If he were to win top prize, $2,000 would go toward his school’s (Grand Forks Secondary School) trades program and Nicholson would win a MacBook Pro laptop.
“If I do win, it would be great for my food’s teacher Ann Thompson. She says that the school needs more budget for cooking so it would be good for that,” said the 16-year-old.
He said even if he doesn’t win, the video that he’s made would be a good marketing tool for his baking business, Alaythia Cakes.
Nicholson “drifted into” baking three years ago after getting some cooking experience at Yaky Jacquie’s. That encouraged him to pick up a few baking books and pursue his new-found passion a little further.
He started experimenting at home but his family couldn’t eat the treats fast enough.
“I wanted to bake more so I thought, I’ll bring (the baked goods) to the (local) farmers’ market and sell my product there and make some money to buy all the baking equipment, because all the icing tips and that gets expensive,” he said.
He started selling a dozen cupcakes at the farmers’ market and now, three years later, he is selling upwards of 18 dozen cupcakes, as well as muffins, cookies and tarts.
“I have quite a few loyal customers,” he said.
Besides baking for the market, he also bakes cakes and treats for parties and events.
“I’m just really doing what I enjoy,” said
Nicholson. When the Gazette asked him why he entered into the Discover Trades BC video contest, he said it was because it’s important for kids his age to know that trades are a viable career option.
“A lot of people think of trades as a second option and I think it’s important to know that trades don’t have to be a second option,” he said. “Trades are a good job and we need to have trades, especially baking – everyone wants to eat.”
Nicholson has viewed all 32 video entries and he’s confident that his video stands near the top.
“We devoted lot of time into our video. I don’t want to be over confident, but based on watching them and other people’s opinion, I think I will be in the top three.”
The Top-10 rated videos will be judged by a panel of judges, which includes Mike Holmes from Holmes on Homes and Trevor Bird, contestant from Top Chef Canada.
Vote for Nicholson at: http://bit.ly/12e5CWK.