Sands is a big fan of career changers who for many reasons bid farewell to jobs they disliked. In some cases where companies have laid off people, some have turned to his school and discovered their own true passion, just as he did.
Sands earned a degree in bio-chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, aiming at medicine as a career. Along the way, in his pre-med courses, he had discussions with instructors in classes and other doctors outside of school in private practice. When he disclosed his reasons for becoming a doctor, he was advised that making a great deal of money was not a good enough reason. He was urged to find another career.
At that point he got a Masters in Education and, discovering a love of cooking, he enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu. He now supervises a staff of hundreds of educators at the college and is actively involved with the students. Some of his protégés go on to the highest levels in the culinary industry.
“Preparing food is a business”, says Sands. “Dollars made have to pay rent, phone bills, payroll and then something called food. We practice cooking, but we are also teaching the cooks how to become professionals in the food-service business. We’re just as much a business-oriented school as we are a culinary arts school. After all, kitchen managers and chefs run good size enterprises. Budgets, cash flows are many times more important in the perishable food world than in other types of companies.”
