Hello there! Thank you for taking the time to visit my site! Welcome back if you have been here before.
My name is Samantha (Sam) and I am one of the many weird and whimsical humans that roam this earth and make life just a little more enjoyable. I am an up and coming cheese professional and someone who really likes to share about my life inside and outside of cheese. I am currently on a journey to become, not only a better cheesemonger and cheese professional, but a better teacher about the cheesier things in life and how cheese affects every day life. I am a manager of a cheese establishment and responsible for educating my team on cheese history, cheese making, cheese cutting, and most importantly, cheese food safety. I am also heavily responsible for making sure my customers, like you, are educated on the cheeses they select to ensure optimal satisfaction.
Where have I been?
I originally launched this blog back at the beginning of this year with the intentions of making this a really fun and educational blog for me and others interested in cheese. I was starting my six month journey to becoming a Certified Cheese Professional and very gung-ho about sharing all the things I learned and creating my own content based on that. Little did I know how much of my time and dedication this course would take on top of being a cheese manager, wife, and managing life in general.
It’s not that I lost the motivation to continue this blog, it was that I needed to decide what my priorities were at the time. How impactful would this blog be if I didn’t focus on myself and my education first? Trying to pressure myself to get this blog up and running as fast as possible was not going to make me or this site any more successful than if I just took my time to set it up the way I want and write about what I want. I decided after going through all the motions to get this going that I need to take a step back and realize things like this take time. Just like it has taken me time to learn to be a great cheesemonger (and human being).
I am heading into my mid-30s now which is very hard to believe for me because they seemed so far away not too long ago. All through my teens and 20s, I was doing nothing but telling myself “work, hurry up and figure out what to do with your life”. I rushed so many things at the beginning of my adult life that I didn’t realize I forgot to stop and live and enjoy those years. Now, I sit here at this computer writing about how I wish I had done more with those delicate years. I do know what I went through in those years has made me who I am today and I am very proud of who I am. However, I wish I had dedicated more time to developing myself for my golden years instead of rushing through life like I had no time left. I think I was mostly influenced by the people around me. I had a cousin who was in her late-teens getting married and starting her journey to adulthood, I had a sister who was going into college and knew what she wanted to do, I had friends hitting milestones I only dreamed of. It made me feel like I was behind and needed to hurry up or I’d miss out.
It wasn’t until I turned 31 years old that I found out I am neurodivergent, officially diagnosed. Meaning my brain does not work like a neurotypical brain. I have ADD and a touch of the ’tism. This was noticed when I was a child by my parents and those around me but nothing was ever truly done about it. Not saying I have had to suffer up to this point, but having help with a brain that works against me sometimes would have been beneficial to my development. I’m not blaming my parents here for how my life turned out. I am responsible for the decisions I made and how things turned out. However, I think my life could’ve been very different if I had learned early on why I was different and learned to manage.
Where am I going with this is? In learning of my diagnoses of ADD and autism, I learned that neurodivergent brains do not develop their frontal lobe until their early to mid 30s. Kind of scary to think about but it did help me realize I really am going through life on my own timeline. I’m not behind, I’m not slow, I’m right where I need to be. I tried to rush a timeline that I was not ready for and ended up suffering consequences. It makes me sad now, but I am relieved to know that I am and have always been truly allowed to make decisions in my own time. I don’t need to rush or hurry up. If I’m not ready for something, I’m not ready. I’m willing to wait until I know in my body, mind, and soul that the decision I want to make is the right one. I don’t have to meet everyone else’s agenda or do what everyone else thinks I should do.
Since this realization, I have taken my life back into my own hands and really focused on what I am ready for and where I want to go from here. I took the time to heal and be rid of everything that no longer served me and the life I want. I began learning who I truly am and accepting who I am inside and out. I know I have a long life ahead of me and I have plenty of time to figure out what I want out of this life. I have taken more time to make decisions before acting on them and focusing on how it feels before committing. It’s worked out for me so far.
I am now married after 30 to the best husband and partner. I have a very successful and enjoyable career in cheese. I have a comfy and cozy home full of plants, Pokemon, cheese, love, and any video game you can imagine. But most importantly, I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and I am so grateful for the life I have now.
I have learned to embrace my different and accept that I’m not going to be like everyone else. No one else can be me and this is what keeps me going each and every day.
What does this have to do with my cheese career?
Being in the cheese world, I have found that I can’t learn everything about cheese in one night. It is very impossible. It is an ever changing and improving industry and once you learn one thing about it, understand it, adapt to it, you’re having to change again. It’s not something I can rush and expect myself to just know. I have to take the time to learn about changes, adapt to those changes, and teach those changes to my team and my customers. Cheese is ancient and has been around for over 9000 years. The cheese they had back then is not the cheese we have now with all of the advances in technology and animal agriculture. Every day someone is coming up with a new cheese recipe, a new way to produce cheese, a new way to make agriculture more planet friendly, a new way to improve animal happiness, etc. It’s all changing all the time and change takes time. Just like me.
Cheese is a staple in our every day life. We eat it as a snack, we put it on a sandwich, we add it to pasta, we make cake icing with it. It’s everywhere and yet, so little people know the true treasure that cheese is, how it’s made, and where it comes from. Since being in the cheese industry, I have found that it encompasses everything I love about my life. It’s not just a food for me. It’s art, it envelopes my love for animals, nature, science, self-expression. It allows me to be a part of something bigger than me and connect with people just like me. Cheese has brought joy and excitement back into my life in so many ways and it’s something I believe I will stick with for a very long time.
I really hope you enjoy the posts I share. Expect a lot of cheese topics but also a lot of me. I want this space to be somewhere I can share with you all and do it as myself. I do allow comments on my posts so if you feel inclined to share feedback, go for it! Thank you again for visiting!
Go forth and stay cheesy!
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