Alison Reed began her hospitality journey by attending The Culinary Institute of America, after graduating with an Associate's Degree in 2004, she spent 9 years in Washington DC working her way up to Executive Pastry chef status at two restaurants and a hotel. Alison was nominated for Pastry Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington in both 2012 and 2013 respectively. After a very successful stint in DC, Alison moved back to her hometown outside of Kansas City. Upon arrival she quickly went to visit her old community colleges brand new state of the art culinary building and had a great idea! Within two years she began her first step into teaching as an adjunct for baking and pastry classes. In 2017 she began teaching at a local high school in their culinary technical program, after five years of both teaching at the high school level and still remaining an adjunct, she started on full time at Johnson County Community College. During this time, she completed both her Bachelors and Masters in Career and Technical Education. She serves on many committees at the college to better prepare her students as well as better assist with college wide initiatives. This is her eleventh year as a hospitality instructor at the college now teaching Introduction to Hospitality, Baking and Pastry classes, multiple level savory cooking classes, Menu Planning, and Food Safety classes. She is also a member of the local Les Dames d'Escoffier women's philanthropy group.