GREAT British Bake Off 2018 runner-up Kim-Joy Hewlett's luminous disposition and commitment to colour, detail and imagination, couldn't fail to cheer and uplift. And fortunately, all of those qualities are found in her debut cookbook, Baking With Kim-Joy.
The Bake Off experience, she says, had an impact on her approach to life and wellbeing. Here's how...
:: HER SELF-CONFIDENCE HAS IMPROVED:
"I know it's a cliche and everyone says it, but I've become more confident. I didn't see myself necessarily as a creative person before, and when people say that to me now, I'm like, 'Oh, OK'. I'm more confident in that... But I still have my doubts, like everybody does," she says.
"I've also learnt that I've got resilience. I quite like being at home, taking my time, not being rushed, chilling out – and I guess a lot of us have those doubts: how are we going to cope [in a new environment] or a new kitchen, under time pressure? But I learned I could manage with that. I did it."
:: SHE HAS BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HER EMOTIONS:
"I'll often get really upset about something straight away, and I'll have a mini-strop and a mini-doom and gloom moment where I think everything's going wrong – I don't really believe it in my head, but I express it like that..."
"[But] sometimes, if something bad happens to you, and you hold it all in, you don't cry, don't talk to people about it, you don't really let yourself feel it, and it's actually worse. It's a strong thing to be able to [show your feelings]," she explains.
:: PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE:
"You're patient for different things," she reflects. "I'm really patient at decorating biscuits and I'm patient with people – I think because I used to work with people with learning disabilities."
:: YOU NEED TO TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF:
"It is hard; life right now is not designed to have time for yourself," she says. "I think it's important to set aside some time.
"When you focus so much on one thing – like decorating biscuits – it's an escape from any thoughts or worries you might have. [People say] 'Well I just work all the time, and I look after the kids, and I have no time to myself' – but it's about working with them to explore, when can you fit this time in? Is there 10 minutes before breakfast even? Or when the kids go to bed? Are you doing something for yourself?
"It doesn't have to be baking, but obviously, I would say – bake!"
:: Baking With Kim-Joy: Cute And Creative Bakes To Make You Smile (Quadrille, £18.99) is out now.
