Just three years ago, I was a jobless stay at home mum, who had just given birth, at the start of the global pandemic. My care free freelance video editor job vanished overnight. I felt helpless, trapped and quickly fell into postpartum depression and anxiety attacks.

I turned to baking to slow down. I discovered that all you need are 3 simple ingredients like flour, water and salt to make a loaf of sourdough bread. But I struggled to adapt bread making recipes online to work with our tropical climates. Some of my loaves looked like flattened UFOs, and worst of all, my loaves tasted sour, gummy and disgusting. Incredibly, I persevered and kept trying despite failing. I was baking a loaf every day, determined to get the steps right, persevering until I figured out how to make my loaves better.

Bread making not only taught me patience, it also taught me about perseverance. Bread making also taught me kindness. Kindness to myself, to accept failure, and to laugh at all of my mistakes. 

Looking back, I wished that I could have found someone to teach me, and guide me. Someone who understood that making sourdough bread in the tropics requires radically different techniques and re-writing recipes. Someone who can make bread theory, easy to understand for absolute beginners. 

Today, I am happy to inspire and share my passion for bread making with so many students. I make my classes fun! I make complicated bread theory easy to understand. More importantly, I believe that bread making teaches you to be a better person. Just like the way it has helped me learn about patience, perseverance and kindness.