About Me...

I was born in northern China and later moved to the south to pursue a degree in Business Administration. During college, I ran a small business specializing in creative Asian desserts for three years, teaching myself how to make desserts without an oven or complex tools, and becoming financially independent by the age of 19.After graduation, I was hired directly by Shimao Group at their Shanghai headquarters, where I worked in a Planning and Operations role. After a year, I decided to broaden my horizons and explore different cultures. I moved to Tokyo, Japan, where I studied and worked for three years. A year ago, I moved to the United States, and decided to follow my true passion and pursue her dream of becoming a pastry chef at CIA.        

 My Resume

Xindi (Cindy) Ma 

Address: Poughkeepsie, NY  

Email:  xindi.ma@cia.culinary.edu 

Tel: (267) 885-6392

Portfolio Website:https://sites.google.com/view/cindy-ma-portfolio/home?authuser=0

Professional Objective

I am a current Culinary Institute of America, Baking and Pastry Art Associate’s degree student. I have a background in business administration and management from my time studying and working in China. I have a passion for entrepreneurship, art and baking. I am looking forward to doing a Baking and Pastry externship in the Summer of 2025.

Skills

Skills: Cakes, Individual Production Pastries, Breads, Lamination, Pies, Frozen Desserts, Cafe Savories, Frying

Certifications: Servsafe Certification

Languages: Native Chinese speaker, N1 level Japanese, Fluent English

Education

Culinary Institute of America Baking and Pastry Arts Associate's Degree Fall 2024 - Present

• Fall 2024 Coursework (3.8 GPA) - Baking and Pastry Techniques, Introduction to Hospitality, Principal of Menus and Managing Profit, Nutrition,

• Spring 2025 Coursework (Current Semester) - Basic and Classical Cakes, College Writing, Individual Production Pastry, Introduction to Gastronomy

Recognitions

• 3rd Place Adult - 2025 Hudson Valley Gingerbread Competition, NY

• 2nd Place Amateur - 2024 Peddler Village Cupcake Decoration Competition, PA

Work Experience

Professional crafting vendor Doylestown, Pennsylvania April 2024 - Present  

• Sell handcrafted jewelry online, in third party stores, and at in-person events

• Sell customized pet paintings and redesigned clothes online and in-person

Convenience Store Clerk Family Mart, Tokyo, Japan April 2021 - February 2022

• Worked directly with customers in Japanese as part-time cashier and service worker while attending school

Business Planning and Operations Shimao Group, Shanghai, China June 2019 - March 2020

• Performed business operations and planning for food and beverage product distribution

• As a head office employee, performed data analysis on seven regional office sales to determine product performance and inform business decisions

• Wrote food and beverage product descriptions and made social media marketing post 

Personal Pastry Business Xiamen, Fujian, China Summer 2016 - Spring 2019

• As a one-person business, created pastry and food products and then personally marketed and delivered the products to students in local colleges using social media

• Designed unique products with low calories and cute packaging using a mix of western and asian styles to appeal to a younger female consumer base. Every batch of desserts would be different from the previous ones so customers would always be interested in the next new item.

• Processed large orders for catering events for college clubs

• Shipped desserts to customers from orders taken online

Previous Education

Tokyo Design Academy, Harajuku, Japan April 2022 - October 2022

Jimei University, Xiamen, China Bachelor’s of Business Administration and Management 2015 - 2019