I Quit My Job 4 Spring Baking Championship!
If you searched Kareem Spring Baking Championship, Kareem Bakery Brooklyn, or Kareem Youngblood, let me give you what you came for: the truth. No sugarcoating. Just the real, sweet, and sometimes sticky path to choosing myself.
Let’s talk about the part they don’t show on TV.
Spring 2024. I was working full-time at a nonprofit in Brooklyn, holding down an entire program by myself. For over a year, I was the only person on my team, and I built the whole program identity from scratch—branding, flyers, outreach, and a full website redesign for the entire organization.
Kareem and Family watching Spring Baking Championship
I was also their unofficial in-house baker. I had already been on Netflix’s Sugar Rush and Food Network’s Chopped Sweets, and every birthday or staff event, I was the one making cakes. They loved name-dropping me like I was their own little office flex. But support? That was a different story.
Eventually, they hired someone else to “help,” but by then there wasn’t enough work for one of us, let alone two. So I ended up rebranding other departments and managing projects far beyond my title. Meanwhile, leadership barely showed up and when they did, it felt like I was working for people who were more concerned about appearances than real impact.
I’ll never forget the day I asked the team to Google “HIV testing near me.” We were sitting in a building that offered HIV testing—yet the closest result online was three miles away. We were struggling to get our numbers up, and I brought a solution. Free. Easy. Immediate. Did they fix it? Of course not.
If you run a business or nonprofit, you can fix this:
Claim or create a Google Business Profile: google.com/business
Add accurate location, hours, and services
Use keywords your community is actually searching for
Ask clients to leave reviews
It’s free. It’s fast. And it’s one of the easiest ways to make sure people can find you when they need you.
Then the Call Came…
When I was cast on Spring Baking Championship Season 11, I was ready. I asked for 1.5 weeks of PTO and maybe 2 weeks unpaid.
Their response?
“Ugh, no… you don’t have the time.”
That was all I needed to hear.
I had completed a digital marketing bootcamp through Columbia. I had the skills. I had the drive. I knew I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by.
So I resigned that same day—just in time to get paid out for my PTO. My last check? $1,500, which hit my account the week I landed in LA to film.
Eight Months of Nothing but Faith
After filming, I came home to zero income and no job offers. I was unemployed for eight months. No checks. Just faith, hustle, and the belief that this wasn’t the end of my story—it was the beginning of a bigger one.
Then it happened.
I landed my first major digital marketing contract with a research lab at Columbia University, doing what I love: content strategy, HIV prevention messaging, design, storytelling—my lane. And I’ve been in my bag ever since.
And now? I'm trending.
People are searching:
Kareem Spring Baking Championship. Kareem Bakery Brooklyn. Kareem Youngblood.
And they’re finding me.
Don’t Tell Me What Not To Do
I get why they tell us not to quit our jobs for a TV show. But in my case? Quitting was the move. It was the only move.
It could’ve gone bad. It did, for a bit. But now I’m building a future that makes sense for me. I’m mixing purpose with passion, strategy with sugar, legacy with layers.
So the next time someone tells you not to do what feels right for you, ask yourself:
What’s your dreams come true?
Because mine started the moment I walked away from a job and walked into my calling.
What would you do? Pls comment and engane in the conversation
