321: Paul A Young - the secret to becoming a fine chocolatier

<div>"If you feel stuck in a rut or bored at work, it may simply be down to the fact you've stopped learning," says Paul A Young, one of the world's leading chocolatiers. "You shouldn't feel guilty about that."<br> <br> Paul's career is fascinating, as much for the various twists and turns, as for the sheer level of achievement.<br> <br> He says it all began as a child, helping his mother and grandmother with the baking on a Sunday: "I wasn't very academic at school," he says. "But I did excel at arts and home economics."<br> <br> After initially getting into art college, he had a very late change of heart and ended up doing a BTEC in hotel and catering management at <a href="https://www.newcollegedurham.ac.uk/">New College Durham</a>.<br> <br> <a href="https://foodmatterslive.com/live-event-series-careers/"><strong>Find out more about the up-coming Food Matters Live careers event series<br> </strong></a><br> In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, he reveals how he ended up working with <a href="https://foodmatterslive.com/article/marco-pierre-white-puts-redefine-meats-new-meat-on-restaurants-menus/">Marco Pierre White</a>, forming a lifelong friendship: "That's when my world changed."<br> <br> Paul also reveals the one piece of advice from Marco that sticks with him to this day, and it was more to do with what he wore than what he cooked.<br> <br> But just as he was on a career trajectory that most could only dream of, disaster struck.<br> <br> He had managed to rise to the position of Head Pastry Chef at Marco's restaurant when things took a turn for the worse: "I was on the treadmill trying to be the best I could be. But I left because I got ill. I just couldn't keep up the pace anymore.<br> <br> "I didn't know how to look after myself. I wasn't eating very well, that's no reflection on Marco and the team, that's my own responsibility."<br> <br> Eventually Paul saw a doctor who told him he was seriously dehydrated and malnourished.<br> <br> After a period of time out of the kitchen, Paul r