Sandi Planinsek has always wanted to make desserts. "I never liked cakes because they were too sweet and not juicy enough. But I've always loved chocolate," he smiles. He enrolled at the Zagorje Secondary School as a Gastronomy Technician.

Not coming from a wealthy family, it was only natural for him to use his weekends to work. At the age of 19, he set out on his own. "There wasn't a single person who said - Sandi, you can do it!" All he heard was "You're too young... You don't have enough experience... You don't have the finances... You're going into business with the wrong man... Hospitality is hard..." and a hundred other fears and warnings. 

But youth is madness, sometimes in a positive way. "I knew I could do it. This is my life, my path, I'm going my own way." Three months later, he and his business partner opened a café in Litija, for which he had run up a lot of debt. More than 600 people enthusiastically welcomed the opening, but the place soon got into trouble... A little inexperience, a little wrong choice of business partners... It didn't work out. The place closed, the debts remained.

It was his debts that forced him to work several jobs at the same time, which eventually took a toll on his health. The thyroid gland succumbed to stress, the accumulated pounds showed a lack of care for himself. "At 20, I felt 70 years old. I had no will to live at all..."  

So he came to a point where he seriously questioned why he was alive at all. What is his purpose in life, why is he in the world right here and right now. Two weeks of turning these questions over and over again brought the same answer: "To create desserts and help people lead a better life."

Mum mentioned the three-month course to him Nasser Ghashi for the pastry chef. "If I don't invest in myself now, I never will", he knew without a shadow of a doubt. Despite his financial debts, he had saved up the money for this course. He devoured the knowledge. He was living his dream. He was living his dream! "It was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced." The course only confirmed to him that this was his path. To make desserts.

Among the many motivational speeches he listened to, he strongly remembered: "If you invest 15 minutes a day in one thing, you will be a professional in 5 years." Instead of 15 minutes a day, he gave himself at least an hour, which often turned into much more than that. He picked up knowledge through videos, books, experimentation... He found a job in confectionery, but this was interrupted by a coronary. Even that didn't stop him (and it shouldn't have - he still hasn't paid off his first debts). What now? He started making desserts at home. The result was his first famous fruit desserts. It was something new, different and innovative, so people started buying them, word spread ...

But he knew that it was better to learn from the masters than to do it all himself. Janez Bratovž was one of the first pioneers of haute cuisine, and it was here that he became head pastry chef after just one week on the job. But his enthusiasm was interrupted again by the corona and the closure of ...  

His unwavering will to succeed in everything he wants to do was already evident when he bought his flat. He still hasn't paid off all the debts from his first business venture in the pub, he was restricted from working because of the corona, but he bought the flat anyway. Stupidity, naivety or courage? In his case, it turned out to be courage.

"If someone says something can't be done, I tell the story. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE."

He has been posting his desserts on social media, which has been noticed by Bam - My Chocolate. They saw his determination, they saw his great work, they also knew the energy of the 'anything is possible' advantage. They invited him to record the first online courses on the basics of confectionery. "Desserts have always led me to what I wanted to do in life." There he also met Evo Klinc, which filmed cake decorating courses.

Eva made cakes like the world had never seen before ...

For the first time, he met someone who was even more in the clouds with his dreams than he was. If most of his generation were saying what could not be done, he saw what could be done. If most were looking for a regular job, he was looking for ways to be the best in the world. But there's Eva, who has even bigger dreams than him. Who is even crazier, in a positive way. For the first time, someone asked him, "What is your dream?" Yes, he dreams. Yes, he wants to share his dreams with someone. Without thinking, he answered firmly: "To have my own academy!" "Get in line," Eva smiled. "No, you don't understand," Sandi was adamant. "We'll have it together." She smiled, the dreamy 21-year-old. But nothing happened then, just regular friendship meetings where hours passed talking about sweets, the academy, dreams, relationships, learning, life, meditation ...

He received a call from Bogenšperk Castle asking if he would like a job as a cook. "No, just as a pastry chef." So, for the first time, he felt the pleasant security of a regular income while doing what he loves to do - pastry. 

But there was another dream ... Amaury Guichonov, a 2.5-month pastry chef course in Vegas. Amaury, an extraordinary visionary, who at the age of 32 had already achieved world fame for his confectionery. "If you want to be where someone else is, you have to do the things they do." Sandi wanted to get to know Amaury better - how he thinks, what he does, what habits he has... to be so successful.

He worked as a pastry chef on top of his regular job to save €26,000 for this course. Meanwhile, Eva was working on Amaury's cake. "It was the beginning of December", Sandi recalls as if it were today, "when she showed me this cake. I started to shake ..." He turned to Eva and said, "Eva, Amaury will see this, if it's the last thing I do."

And he went. To Vegas. On a plane for the first time. Without any real knowledge of English.

Sandi met an older classmate at Amaury's school who loved hearing stories from foreigners - what brought them to America. So Sandi found a supporter in Vegas, to whom he told his difficult business journey for the first time. His dedication. His dream. And, of course, he told all about Eve and Amaury's cake. The millionaire mostly asked questions, but here he just said, "Go to Amaury and show him. Don't wait for someone else to do it. No one else will if you are not alone. Eva should bring this cake to America." She would, if she had the finances. "Call her and tell her to come. I'll pay for her flight." They argued for a long time, because Sandi thought this was too generous. But he insisted: "Don't worry. I'll pay. I have the money." 

Sandi got teary-eyed, and the next moment he was hugging him, and the next he was calling Eva, even though it was the middle of the night on the other side of the world. "I found you an investor to come to America and show Amaury the cake!" They were jumping with excitement, one more than the other. After two months of struggling to get such a thing to America, to get the necessary paperwork and permits for a sculpture that is essentially food, they had succeeded.

But then disappointment. When Amaury saw this cake, he ignored Eva and Sandi... Nothing. It happened - nothing.

But he could not ignore them. Sandi won and became the best student on his course.

Their supporter asked why Eva and Sandi were not working together. He encouraged them, guided them, mentored them... So, already in America, the final decision was made - when they returned to Slovenia, they started building their story together.

On 1 September 2023, the two companies will start jointly running live and praline courses and from February 2024 will launch Slovenia's first online and live Q&A pastry academy.

It's not just the classic online courses, but the whole support is key. "We follow Pareto's 80/20 rule. 80 % of success depends on mindset, 20 % are skills and knowledge. Information is learned, mindset is acquired. That's why we don't just teach confectionery, but much more." So it is not uncommon for a trainee to say, "I thought I had come for a course, but I got a life lesson." Of the 45 people on the course, 5 have opened their own businesses.

Within a few months, they had set up the entire graphic identity Sugar Queen and set up the marketing, made an online shop, filmed an extensive online academy with over 120 videos (filmed before and during Christmas, also for New Year), wrote a book with over 60 recipes, supported by video content. They put together a Sugar Queen box, which gives them ingredients that can't be bought in regular shops; because one is not enough, they wrote two more extensive books, and they also ran courses in companies... "We worked 20 hours a day. Crazy. That's when I realised what an incredible business partner I had next to me - exceptional, she will go above and beyond to achieve what needs to be achieved."

Eva is still making cakes. Sandi is making pralines.

"We see that people are buying us. They are more interested in us, in our story, than in our products. That's how a lot of people can connect with it. It's magical to feel supportive people coming together, a kind of community of nice people, united by our passion for confectionery."

What is their biggest mission?

"Yeah, that's interesting," Sandi smiles as his eyes light up. "The biggest mission of our lives is similar to the one Dewesoft has set in the hardware world, only we're in confectionery. When we first heard about Acrobat City, how it was going to be a place of endless possibilities for anyone developing their own physical product, how it offered everything from enthusiasm, education and mentoring to support services and shared services... we knew - this is it. This is what we are going to do in confectionery waters. A resort, a village or just a place where you get everything in one place. A supportive environment that helps people to succeed, so they can grow into the person they want to be and become what they want to be. This is what means the most to us. We are working towards it."

They felt first-hand that you need a lot of effort, discipline, and at least one real person who believes in you. They want to keep on giving.

What would be some general advice to anyone still embarking on a creative journey? "If you never give up, you can never lose, you will always get there. There are many hurdles to get there, but if you are firmly convinced that you will succeed, the only difference is that the winner has tried once more. When you follow what you want, the right people always get in the way and what is meant to be always happens."

Their slogan is very meaningful and encompasses their entire journey: "Anything is possible if you want it to be."

See more at: www.sugarqueenacademy.com