Today for the Women's History Month project we are celebrating this fantastic young woman
Meet Amy Springer, 39, wife, step-mother, dog mom and confections artist.
"If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be." Maya Angelou
Amy was born and raised right here in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
Amy went to the University of New Hampshire directly out of high school and after a semester of being undecided about her future career, she decided to pursue teaching English. She was fortunate enough to study for a semester at Regent’s College in the heart of London, and was able to explore Europe on weekend excursions and visit family in Scotland.
During the summer months when she wasn’t studying, Amy got a job at a grocery store who, upon learning of her creative abilities, placed her in the bakery department to decorate cakes. It became a hobby to decorate cakes for her friends at UNH while it was time for finals. Once Amy graduated with her bachelor’s degree in English Teaching and minor in Environmental Conservation, she decided that the school atmosphere was a bit too political and not a good fit for her. Instead of heading to the Master’s Teaching Certification Program at UNH, she decided to pursue her passion in baking and cake artistry and enroll in the Le Cordon Bleu program at the former Atlantic Culinary Academy/Macintosh College out of Dover, NH. When she graduated with her Associates in Food Science in 2005, Amy was well experienced in making dishes using classic French techniques and creating world class pastries and cakes.
Amy is now the lead cake artist and creative director at the well-established Reilly’s Bakery in Biddeford, ME. After befriending the owner just after graduating from culinary school, she found out that the bakery needed a cake artist. She went from working on weekends to supplement her 40 hour per week desk job, to being a full-time cake artist at the bakery in 2016 and has since helped bring in record cake sales and introducing new cake styles for Reilly’s.
Since her full-time status Amy’s cakes and decorated cookies have been featured in multiple magazines and on wedding blogs. Custom designs had once been extremely limited at the shop and now Reilly’s is considered one of the best bakeries in Southern Maine to get a specialty cake. She has worked so hard to help bring the bakery’s reputation for amazing cakes into reality. Although culinary school taught the science behind the baking side of making cakes, most of her decorating skills have been self-taught and developed by practice for the last 20 years. Essentially, she plays with food and gets paid for it.
In adulthood and on her own, Amy loved being social with friends. Over time, an occasional drink out turned into drinking every day and her best friend became red wine. After years of living her life around her next glass, the inevitable hangover the next morning, and realizing that her closest friends had had enough of her humiliating herself by overindulgence, she decided to quit cold turkey. She is now six years sober and has absolutely no plans to ever drink a drop again.
As many of us do, Amy grew up hoping that one day she would fall in love, get married and have tons of babies. After she met and wed her husband, Jason, who already had two daughters of his own, they started to work on growing their family. After two years of trying to get pregnant naturally, they realized that getting pregnant may not be as easy as it seems to be for some. They spent three years working with fertility specialists trying multiple procedures. After many devastating miscarriages, the couple decided to stop treatments.
That time in Amy’s life was incredibly dark. She felt alone in her grief and did not know how to move on from the losses. She had an overwhelming feeling of guilt and self-blame despite her Dr.’s reassurances that her efforts were not the issue. She tore herself from the darkness by throwing herself into her work and creating with her hands, adopting dogs to grow her family and bring her joy. When she felt comfortable enough talking about her journey, she learned as much about infertility as possible to become a member of online infertility communities that help others suffering the same grief she has felt. Although she still feels the losses, she has found new hope in light in helping others and by focusing on what she does have rather than what she had once dreamed.
Having a job that doesn’t feel like a job at all. Being able to bring people joy with her talents. Being recognized by magazines and online blogs for her hard work. Finding confidence in herself and her abilities.
What are my passions?
"Aside from creating edible works of art Amy also loves painting in watercolor. She is an avid reader, particularly historical fiction, sci-fi, and anything Stephen King. She is a huge fan of the horror genre in both book and film form. Amy also loves singing and paddleboarding with her youngest stepdaughter and husband, watching basketball, and snuggling her dogs."
What do I value most in life?
"Right now, my health and every minute of sleep! Amy works long hours both at the shop and in her home studio, so any time spent with her stepdaughters, her husband, her mom, and snuggling her three terribly behaved dogs is a precious moment for her."
Advice for other women:
"Do that which makes you happy whenever you can, and if you can find a way to make it happen, get paid for it and work won’t feel like work. Happiness is most easily found by bringing happiness to others and by earning the reward through hard work"
Here is another one of Amy's favorite quotes:
“The true measure of success in life isn’t money, fame, or power…it’s laugh lines.”
*****
Thank you, Amy, for sharing your journey with us all!
#whm #womenshistorymonth #womanoftheday #womensupportingwomen #mainephotographer
1 Comments
Mar 27, 2022, 8:41:20 PM
Nancy Pyzynski - I have worked with Amy’s Mom for almost 30 years, and have seen Amy grow into a fabulously talented, beautiful, funny, woman. Thank you for pushing yourself out of your comfort zone Amy, to share your journey. The photos of you are stunning, as are your creations. Always excited to see what’s next in your bag of tricks! Bravo!!