When people ask me where I work and I say, "Mayo Clinic," they say, "Wow." It makes me feel good that I work here.

I come in at 6 a.m. and make pies, pudding, cakes and fruit crisps for the dining rooms and patients. I also work in the meat shop and slice ham, turkey, beef and cheese for the dining halls. There is a lot of food to make, which makes for a busy day. I work with large quantities of food; we have big mixers that hold up to 80 gallons, deck ovens that hold 18 pies, and kettles that hold about 60 gallons. I make about 20 to 25 pies a day. During Thanksgiving and Christmas we make over 100 pies a day. My role at Mayo allows me to come to work early in the morning and get off early in the afternoon. I like being home with my kids when they come home from school. I like the variety of my job.

People interested in this job should enjoy working with food. You also need to be able to get along with your co-workers. Multitasking is also an important skill, because some days you are juggling two or three things at once to get everything done.

If I hear somebody say, "You guys have great chocolate cake," that makes me feel good.