I grew up in Somerset  England, on a small dairy farm. At an early age I was often found picking blackberries and raspberries off the bushes on the country lanes. That's how I got started baking. The farmers wife, she had taken a shine to me, would let me hang about in her kitchen. One day she caught me with my stash of berries and taught me how to make a Linzer tart, and that was it! I was off, Linzer tarts for everyone!
By 18 yrs old I was  an Assistant Pastry Chef in a four star restaurant in Santa Fe NM, Realizing that cooking and baking was something I really liked I started to study the culinary arts at the local community college. After finishing a year, I felt I needed to go to a big league school to earn a place at the table. I set my sights on Johnson & Wales University in Miami Florida, earning an Associates in the Culinary Arts in 1995.
I started working at the best restaurants I could find and learning as much as I could. But baking and pastry still called my name. 
In 1997 I moved to New York and started to work at Lespinasse, one of three 4 star restaurants in the city at that time. I started as a cook and quickly became the Assistant Pastry Chef. Next was France!