Story Highlights \u2022 Cadillac High School 2022 graduate Maddy Stange was selected from more than 150 applicants to deliver the commencement address at Johnson & Wales University after earning a degree in food and beverage entrepreneurship. \u2022 Maddy spent a year studying pastry arts in France and Italy, learning traditional techniques that she plans to incorporate into her growing business, Maddy Cakes. \u2022 After considering opportunities elsewhere, Maddy has chosen to return to the Cadillac area and is searching for a location to open a bakery storefront, citing strong family and community support.<\/p>\n
CADILLAC \u2014 When Maddy Stange stepped to the podium to address fellow graduates at Johnson & Wales University this spring, it was a familiar moment.<\/p>\n
Roughly four years earlier, she graduated from Cadillac High School as a member of the Class of 2022, which included a commencement speech. Now, after earning her degree in food and beverage entrepreneurship from the Providence, Rhode Island-based university, she was again addressing fellow graduates, this time at the college level.<\/p>\n
Stange was selected from more than 150 applicants for the honor of being a student speaker at graduation. The process included submitting a biography, delivering a mock speech and advancing through rounds of interviews and presentations before university officials made their final decision.<\/p>\n
Her speech centered on an unusual subject: glitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea was that glitter gets everywhere and stays with you,\u201d Stange said. \u201cThroughout life, there are little specks that will stick with you. College is one of those things. When we graduate, we can take what we have learned and we can all sparkle together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speech marked the end of her college experience that took Stange far beyond the boundaries of northern Michigan and Cadillac. That experience has shaped who she has become and the plans that are not bringing her back home.<\/p>\n
Johnson & Wales University is known internationally for its culinary and hospitality programs. The university serves more than 8,000 students across campuses in Providence, Rhode Island, and Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as through online programs.<\/p>\n
Stange graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in food and beverage entrepreneurship, a program that combines business training with food industry innovation. Students learn how to develop business plans, manage resources, market products and launch new ventures.<\/p>\n
While the business side of the industry became an important focus for Stange, some of her most memorable experiences happened while studying abroad. While the university boasts that students can graduate with a bachelor\u2019s degree in as little as three years, Stange said the opportunity to study in France and Italy was worth the extra year it added to her education.<\/p>\n
In the spring 2025, Stange spent a semester in southern France at what she described as the world\u2019s largest pastry campus.<\/p>\n
Five days a week, she said students trained in professional kitchens, learning French pastry techniques and creating projects made of chocolate and sugar. Of course, Stange said they learned how to make croissants.<\/p>\n
The following fall, she continued her studies aboard this time in Italy. While there, her course work focused on traditional foods including cannoli, gelato, cookies, pasta and pizza.<\/p>\n
The experiences in both France and Italy expanded her technical skills and exposed her to culinary traditions she hopes to bring back to northern Michigan and Cadillac.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lean toward the French pastry side,\u201d Stange said. \u201cFruit tarts, custard cakes and things that are made fresh and served at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n
She envisions having a store front where she can offering items such as fresh pastries, focaccia break, warm brownies and cookies paired with ice cream, while also incorporating techniques she learned while studying abroad into familiar baked goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to introduce what I learned in France and Italy, but also offer what people already know me for,\u201d she said. \u201cThe traditional offerings will still be there, but elevated through technique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many already know Stange through Maddy Cakes, the baking business she launched as a high school student. According to her mother, Heidi Stange, the business has grown through farmers markets, custom orders and community events while Maddy continued her education.<\/p>\n
This summer, Maddy is expanding her presence at regional farmers markets, including Cadillac\u2019s downtown market on Fridays, the Sara Hardy Farmers Market in Traverse City on Wednesdays and the Frankfort Farmers Market on Saturdays. Again, the end goal is to have a storefront that will allow her to evolve and grow.<\/p>\n
Maddy said she is currently exploring potential locations in and around Cadillac and is looking for a space that can support future growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want something with enough room to grow into,\u201d she said. \u201cAs I look at each location, I\u2019m trying to find one that fits a 10-year plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Returning to Cadillac was not always part of that plan, but that changed as she started getting closer to her college graduation.<\/p>\n
Like many young entrepreneurs, Maddy once imagined building her career in larger cities or working at high-end resorts before launching her own business. During college, however, she began reconsidering that path.<\/p>\n
During her junior year, Maddy said she needed to figure out where she wanted to go. She decided to skip the resort route and go right into owning her own bakery. While she may eventually expand beyond Cadillac, she said her hometown offered something difficult to find elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe support from the community is what brought me back,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople ask if I\u2019m doing the farmers market or if I can make cakes and cupcakes for events. The amount of support I\u2019ve received has been incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said she would likely be disowned if she didn\u2019t also say that having family in town, namely her mother and father, played a part in her deciding to come back home.<\/p>\n
As she begins searching for a permanent home for her growing business, Stange said the encouragement she has received from family, customers and community members continues to fuel her next chapter.<\/p>\n
After years of learning in classrooms and kitchens across the United States and Europe, she is returning to the place where her baking journey began, with plans to build on the foundation that helped her get there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Story Highlights \u2022 Cadillac High School 2022 graduate Maddy Stange was selected from more than 150 applicants to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,157,6],"class_list":["post-34089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-france","tag-local","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}