soooooo i applied to be a WMI a couple of months ago and just got the call this morning from wilton that a position opened up at my local michaels i filled out all the applications and the wilton lady told me everything looked good, now all i'm waiting for is my interview with michaels (i just got off the phone with the manager and he said everything looked good as well). i'm super excited- but super scared! my forte is definitely fondant/gumpaste (and yes, i let the wilton lady know that lol) so i'm scared to focus on buttercream so much! she told me she'll send me dvd's and that she's confident i can pick it up easily and do a good job so that helped

another thing i'm worried about is the fact that i'm only 23! i know i can teach well, i'm just not sure how receptive older ladies are going to be to me correcting them :/ am i worrying for nothing? haha i know a lot of ya'll are WMI's so i'd like to hear some of ya'll experience

Congrratulations,
i think you will be fine, as for older ladies. they just enjoy getting out of the house and having fun. Most are only looking for things to do for the family.
My first cake teacher was only 21 and she was great. That was almost 30 years ago. She is still doing cakes. I have taken many classes from others and you can always learn something new from them.
In my classes most of the people have not taken them seriously just out for fun.
Just enjoy the people and you will have fun. It is great to be able to enjoy your work.

thank you so much! that makes me feel better i guess i'm just looking for a confidence boost haha!

Congrats, that'll be so much fun!
My WMI was only a few years older then me ( I'm 27 ) and she was fantastic. There were lots of older ladies in the class, and there was never any problems, the older ones were more rambunctious then the younger ones! Lol Most of the time it was just about having fun and being out of the house and socializing. Students are there because they want your help.. You'll do great!

First thing I say is HAVE FUN!!!! I have been a WMI for just over a year at Michaels were I live. I worked at two stores at one point, but have recently got back to just one. I LOVE IT!!! It is so awesome to do.

If you are looking to have questions answered though we have a GREAT group on Yahoo that is instructors and we help each other with situations that may come up and you are looking for guidance. If you want to PM me your address, name and location (I think that is all I need) I can ask the moderator to send you a invite. Let me know.

I just had to do the math... I was only 25 when I started teaching. I currently have a student, a repeater actually, that took Wilton classes back when they were at Penny's (which is where they were first taught, over 30 years ago). We joked the other night that's she's been decorating as long as I have been born.

I've taught students anywhere from 10 years old to grandparents. No one has seemed to be bothered by my age at all. And I actually look younger than my age to boot!

Just go in there with confidence and teach them what you know, under the Wilton umbrella, and throw in a little extra now and then.

A great place to get tips and advice is the WMI Yahoo EGroup. It is for instructors only and there are over 300 WMIs that are members. Some are new to teaching and others have been teaching for 10+ years. It's a great source of information.

You can become a part of it by sending an email to: [email protected]

In the e-mail include your name, WMI # and your supervisor's name. This is so Selina can verify you are a WMI and get you set up on the board.

The group she is talking about is the same one that I was talking about. I don't think she has to have your Number but I did forget to ask for your supervisor. But either one of us can send the request.

thank ya'll so much! i'll pm you the info in a bit

Sunset, all she needs to do is send an email to the address I put above. That is the email to subscripe to the group. Selina will get it and take it from there.

I'm not sure what all she askes for any more, but she will ask you something to verify that you are a WMI.