Today we’d like to introduce you to Yohann LE Bescond.
Yohann, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
So, I started studying and working in pastry-culinary at 15 years old, in the West Country side of France.
After five years of studies and collecting five of the best pastry-culinary diploma, at 20 y/o, I decided to move abroad.
Life brought me to Miami in Avril 2016, where I started as a Sous-Chef in a French bakery named Le Macaron.
I have worked my way to the top of the company and I am now the Executive Chef and second manager.
At 24 y/o, I am now managing and training about seven people, and working for many many restaurants and hotels all over Miami and Ft Lauderdale area.
I have been published in the New Miami Times for my work, as I have worked for many exclusive places such as American Airline Arena, SLS Hôtel, Delano Hotel, just to name a few. I also have supplied some customs macarons for Bruno Mars during his last tour at the AA Arena.
I have learned Spanish along the way, practicing and learning from my team, to be able to drive them better.
I am now responsible for the growth of the company, but also the training of the team, creating new items, and seeking new clients. I am now sharing my time between the kitchen and out, as a sales rep.
On a personal note, I have been striving to be a model, and the gym has been a very important part of my life for the past three years.
I have been able to work with many photographers in Miami, but also in NYC when I was visiting last year.
I just got a call from my lawyer saying that I’ve been granted the EB- 1 exceptional abilities green card by the US government. I am now going to be a resident and not anymore under a work visa. This is another huge step in my career and journey here is the USA!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I would say that it has been a tough road for a few months.
The first owner of the company was found to be a dishonest person, who would not pay his employees.
I have been struggling for 2.5 years, depending on him and the working visa he made me. If not happy with my conditions, I would have need to go back to France. The management was terrible and it was a daily struggle to make the best of what he would let us (myself and the other employees).
In September 2018, he sold the company and the new management offered me the opportunity to show my competences and grow.
On a personal note, it has been a long process to adapt my European culture to the American one. Not the same way to hang out, to live, to share. Also, since I moved to the US alone, I had to create a social life from scratch, in the other language.
It took me a while but now I am enjoying my life to the fullest, having a lot of fun in my work, and also with the great number of friends I have been able to get along the way. I could even say the other family.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am proud of my career that I have been able to grow in such a short time.
In France, at 24 y/o, high chances are that I would have stayed just a line cook in a little bakery.
I am so proud to train people with what I learned in France. Most of the time, they are coming with zero knowledge of pastry culinary, and I get to train and mold them from scratch.
I can see my team happy to learn new techniques and that makes me the happiest. For me, it means that I do good work as a manager and chef.
I am also proud of my journey as a model. Most of the people and friends from France were saying that I was delusional to think I could even be shot.
After hours and hours at the gym, and a lot of work on my self-confidence, I have been able to get amazing shots with amazing photographers. I am very happy about the work I am able to create with them.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were just starting out?
I have truly no ideas. I am trying to live day by day, not worrying about the future or past.
If I could meet a younger version of myself now, I would say: It’s gonna be hard, you gonna cry, but you already know it’s gonna pay a thousand times and it’s worth the pain.
Don’t worry too much, you will be fine, just take the day as it comes.
You have everything that you need inside you.
You gonna live your dreams and it’s just the beginning.
Contact Info:
- Address: LJ Bakery / Le Macaron7835 NW 15th Street
33130 Dorà - Website: Under construction
- Phone: 7862039380
- Email: yohann@ljbakery.com
- Instagram: @lemacaron_miami
Image Credit:
Eduardo Corzo, Miss Freedom Photography, Rick Day, IShoot305, WaterNDust
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