Speaker #0Welcome to the Revolution Patisserie podcast. I'm Joanna Lepape, a wellness pastry chef and world pastry champion. Mother of two beautiful little girls and above all, a woman, let's say in search of meaning. I think I dreamed of this podcast for years and then one day, after thinking about it too much, I told myself, that's it, go for it. Now is the time because I have so much to share with you. Stories, encounters, intuitions, I've had and above all, a vision. I think a vision of a world where we the chef put our knowledge, our expertise and our love for delicious cake at the service of our nutritional needs, let's say, and overall well-being. Every day, I have the privilege of meeting extraordinary people. nutritionists, doctors, athletes, chefs, entrepreneurs, teachers, all working like me to nourish better children, athletes, and so on. Each of them embodies inspiring examples, carrying projects full of meaning, all united by a single purpose, to nourish the human being in all its dimension. So here I am, diving in, and I'm truly happy to take you. on this journey with me. For this first episode, I wanted to start at the beginning, simply by introducing myself, because maybe you already know my work, my book, or maybe my creations. But here I want to tell you the story behind the image, how I moved from sports to pastry, from prestigious competitions to a more aligned, vibrant, and meaningful approach. Maybe chapter one begins when I was very little, with my first love, sports. Yes, sports have always been for me a true school of life. Basketball was my first great passion, for its teamwork, its discipline, its collective strategy that could lead to victory or defeat, just as a fan. I think very early on, I absorbed that culture of pushing beyond one's limits. Naturally, when it became time to choose my studies, I went into sports science. And that's when I discovered French boxing, a powerful, solitary, almost meditative sport. Because when you are on the ring, it's just you and your opponent. It teaches you discipline, resilience, and inner strength. So I grew up inspired by athletes, of course. At that time was Serena William, Michael Jordan. role models of performance and success, but also perseverance through defeats. Later, I remember a quote from Kylian Mbappé that deeply resonated with me and even guided me in pastry. Before you even learn how to kick a ball, you must build an unbreakable mindset. And I think I didn't know how to do any pastry things, but I had that mindset ready. That mindset, I think I realized had been forged back then, and it still fuels me. today. That same energy now serves another passion, pastry. Chapter 2. I call that the revelation. The revelation in Australia. After my degree, I felt unhurried to travel, to live abroad, to open my mind. At 21, I took my working visa holiday and left for Australia. First, Sydney, then Perth, when I worked in a French pastry shop called like a light defense over there i discovered a whole new universe australians would walk in amazed and emotionally in front of the beauty of the cakes and tarts i saw pastry through the eyes as something magical for me it was a shock because in france pastry had always felt normal part of everyday life not not something so special, but something shifted in me. A seed was planted. So when I returned to France, I had a powerful intuition. Pastry was calling me. So I quit everything to study, starting from Vero, driven only by passion and a clear intention. I'm going to create my own job. I earned my CAP PST3, trained at ENSP under Chef Nicolas Jordan, where I learned the art of haute couture pastry. where every detail matters. That really experience led me to Paris. At that time, I only had that one new word, Paris, as you know, the capital of the pastry. So to Lutetia, then Le Maurice where I worked with Cédric Rollet and Maxime Frénéric. I think at that time it was an incredible demanding environment and in parallel I joined the French national pastoral team for the Mondial Les Arts Sucrés. In 2014 with Gaëtan Fillard we won that championship, that world championship. It was massive, intense. I think a dizzying intense year between the competition and life at Lemuris. After the victory came one question. So now what's next? Chapter 3. I call that the fall and the awakening. Soon after I began teaching at École Ducasse and launched my consulting company, GLP Consulting, at the time I collaborated with brands creating chocolate collections for Ladurée and traveled the world giving masterclass. But one year later, a burnout came. Everything collapsed. And with it came the essential question. What am I really doing in this profession? That first pause became my salvation. Because, you know, at that time, I was thinking, like, what is the meaning of that? If you succeed in one way and then you are, let's say, sick in another way. What is the meaning behind? I think I realized I had been serving on each two pillars of pastry, aesthetics and taste, but something was missing, the well-being. So I decided to create a third pillar, healthy pastry. At that time, gluten-free and low glycemic pastries were emerging, but none truly resonated with me. I wanted to go further. So I met doctors, nutritionists, naturopaths, and Chinese medicine practitioners to understand how they approach food as a health that we never talk about in pastry. And because as chefs, we are trained to please the palate and the eye, but not to nourish the body. So I was really wondering, how can I bring that healthy world in pastry? After years of research, in 2023, the project Revolution Pastry was born. Both a book and a movement. For me, it became my way of transmitting all that I had learned to chefs wanting to evolve, to schools wishing to teach differently, also to individuals looking to bake in a healthier, more conscious way. Chapter 4 is a mission. Today, this mission drives everything I do. Through my books, my masterclass, my talks and collaborations, I aim to make pastry a tool for transformation. It's just, you know, pastry is a tool. It is something that I use to express the message, not just for chefs, but for everyone. And as a mother of two little girls, I want to inspire the next generation and work alongside chefs who share this vision. I'd like to also highlight some chefs. Let's talk about them. Three, I have right now in my mind, Maxime Frédéric, because he has this deep respect for producers and the hearse, and he did bring that to his pastries and talk about it and make the link with the producer, which is amazing. Jessica Pralpato, with her dedication to seasonality and their own waste pastries. She's so involved in that conscious pastry. And of course, I can't forget that amazing chef, Pierre Hermé, let's say our spiritual father in pastry, still innovating. Now exploring plant-based pastry with Linda Vongdala in the book that they wrote together. Always push limits, ask more questions about how we can create more, innovate more. They all prove that pastry can evolve while staying extraordinary. I think this podcast is just the beginning of that revolution because yes, pleasure can be a revolution. We often say in pastry kitchens we don't save life but maybe in our own way by giving meaning back to what we create we can change lives and maybe even the world so if you do feel called to evolve to give deeper meaning to your craft stay tuned the next episode will show you all the ways to approach this new form of pastry at 360 degrees i can't wait to see you there thank you
