She went to school for criminal justice, now a Delta woman is a two-time cake wars champ.
If anyone can prove that not giving up on your dreams can pay off - it's Melissa Zunich.
Zunich has competed on Food Network's show 'Cake Wars' twice and both times, she won.
"Winning it twice was just crazy, it was pretty amazing because the first time - I knew we were good, but the first time I was surprised, because I knew who we were up against," Zunich said. "We were up against a lot of people that were trained. A lot of people that had been doing this for 10-plus years."
Why was it so surprising? Well, Melissa has never had any formal training and works out of her own home.
"I just kind of did it on the side. I taught myself everything just watching Food Network and watching videos on the internet, so completely self-taught so was my assistant. She's never had any formal training either," she said.
Zunich competed on the show with Sunny Hintze, who also happens to be her cousin, as her assistant.
Hintze was also her assistant the first time she appeared on the show last year.
The second time they went up against champions of other Cake War seasons which made this year's win even more surreal Zunich says.
"The second time, when we beat obviously professionals and other teams that had won cake wars before, it's really validated our talent because we beat out some really good people," she said.
This towering Pokémon cake is what made Melissa and Sunny two-time baking champions.
Last year, the pair became champions thanks to this Dr. Seuss creation they baked up.
As you can imagine, business has really spiked following her two big wins.
"Just seeing the love and support that I have from my family, and friends, and community - like it is unbelievable to see how many people have reached out to me and said that they are watching or following my story wanting to try my stuff. It's just completely amazing," said Zunich.
Her advice to others who think their dreams are impossible - don't give up.
"Keep practicing and keep pushing for their dreams because obviously it can happen," she said. "I could look back at the first cake I made and kind of laugh because I'm like - 'holy cow, I've come a long way since then.' You just got to have a lot of confidence and don't be afraid to fail because - I mean you're not always going to fail."
Her next goal is to open up a store front to keep up with the orders. For now, you can check out her Facebook page to place orders.
