Of course, any grad from a technical school is considered a professional.
In any kind of profession you have to put your time in to be recognized and respected. My fiancee is an executive sous chef at a hotel in a union position, we are homeowners, looking at purchasing a third vehicle, and do quite well. His income is pretty much the sole provider for our household.
well, hold on a minute there... not to put too fine a point on it, the term 'professional' that is, but there are legally defined 'associations of professional' whatevers... doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, etc. these associations exist because the knowledge their members (professionals) possess is too technically complex to be regulated by politicos, beaurocrats, 'lay' folks like you or me, etc.
so the defining point of these professional associations is that they are self-regulating - by law, and it is very much against the law to hold yourself forward as being a member of one of these associations if you are indeed not a member
people tend to use the term 'professional' quite loosely, coversationally, but the term does have a narrow legal definition too... and i'm sorry but chefs and grads from technical schools do not fall into that narrow legal definition, regardless of how wonderful their creations may be or how much money they can bring in
just sayin'
