Where do I begin with cooking as a career?

I have always loved to cook, I have a passion for it. I work all day long and cannot wait to come home and cook. I will sometimes spend between 3 and 4 hours in the kitchen after work. Lately I have been receiving many positive comments baout my cooking and I thought to myself how wonderful it would be to have a career that I actually WANT to do! Right now I am in the medical field working for an MRI unit, but I want to do something that challenges me and my creativity. I am still young so I want to make the right decision while it's still relatively early. However I do have some concerns about this particular field because I have heard some negative things about the pay, I am not in a postion where I could just leave a fairly good paying job and get something for half of what I was making. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[momoreg]

Ilovecooking,

Welcome to cheftalk!

If you are willing to start over again with a low paying job, the culinary profession can be very gratifying.
If you are not prepared for a cut in pay, you can always continue loving cooking from your home kitchen. Pro cooking is not only low starting salary, but also often involves doing a lot of repetitive or menial tasks that you may not necessarily love.

Either way, you'll find a lot of pros and non pros here who share your passion for food and cooking, and it's a great site. I look forward to reading more of your postings, and hearing about whether your thought progresses into a change of career.

[Isa]

Welcome ILoveCooking, Chef TAlk is a greaty place, I am sure you will find people to give you sound advice.

[coolJ]

Well first of all, welcome aboard. I'm trying to think of some advice to pass along, but I'm drawing blanks, so all I can say is that from my experience what makes this trade so great is the fact that no two days are the same, which I like, because I love a challenge.
Best of luck with whatever career decisions you make.
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Jeff,

"No Rules, Just Fun"