Karina Delova: Growing Alongside Your Dream

Karina Delova is the driving force behind the brand My Cookielicious and a graduate of the Pastry and Bakery program at HRC Culinary Academy. Her professional journey initially led her to the pharmaceutical industry, but her creative passion remained in making desserts. That’s how the idea for My Cookielicious was spontaneously born—a business aiming to popularize soft cookies in Bulgaria. Today, Karina shares with us her love for pastry and the lessons she has learned along the way.

What motivated you to choose the Pastry and Bakery program at HRC Academy?

With the support and strong encouragement of a loved one, I decided to follow my passion and fully dedicate myself to this craft. That was the moment I realized that when you love what you do, difficulties become just lessons that help you grow—no matter how cliché that may sound.

As someone who started building her professional path alone in a fast-paced industry, the courses at HRC, one of Europe’s leading culinary academies, were a natural choice.

I began with the intensive Pastry and Bakery program. I had the pleasure of learning the intricacies of baking from Chef Viktor Svetoslavov and pastry from Chef Alex Ivanchev.

What were the most valuable lessons you learned from them?

One thing that left a strong impression on me was how dedicated they are to their profession. Their consistent self-criticism serves as a motivator to be better than the day before. They gave me a vivid example that with enough hard work, persistence, and determination, you can become good at things you never thought you could master.

My time at the Academy will always be one of the best things I’ve done for myself.

Despite the challenges of juggling classes with daily work and responsibilities, being in an environment surrounded by people who share your passion is an invaluable, energizing, and motivating experience. I remember waking up every morning excited for what lay ahead.

What skills acquired at the Academy do you use in your daily work?

Discipline and teamwork are essential—not just in the kitchen, but in life. HRC is a place where I met incredible people I can always turn to for professional advice and more.

The training significantly broadened my knowledge and gave me so many new ideas and flavors to experiment with. In my desire to apply the techniques I learned in the Pastry and Bakery program, I’ve introduced new presentations for my cookies.

What are the biggest challenges in running a pastry business?

I’ve learned that it requires very precise work and a lot of patience.

Entering a field completely unfamiliar to me, I realized how much work is actually involved in a kitchen. And that cooking is just the pleasant part. For a production process to run smoothly and with quality, the entire process must be meticulously monitored—from sourcing high-quality ingredients, their storage, monitoring, pricing, shipping, and distribution. A dish goes through many hidden stages before it reaches the end consumer.

To start a business in this field, you need immense dedication and countless hours of work—so many that you lose track of time. The focus shifts to results and who you become along the way.

And just when you think you’ve learned your lessons, something new always comes up—that’s the beauty of the process.

Growing every day alongside your dream!