I did the Leiths Culinary Diploma in the nineties. Now, I’ve retrained as a food teacher.

I did the Culinary Diploma at Leiths from 1997–98. Since then I have had a wonderful and varied career in the food industry, including freelancing as a private chef in prestigious private homes across the UK and Europe, cooking for a private chalet in the French Alps, and working as second chef in a Michelin-recommended restaurant.

I went on to set up and run two successful businesses. The first was a thriving café-deli in my home town in Herefordshire, which I later sold. The second is a bespoke cake business, which I still run today (@homefarm.kitchen), making delicious and beautiful cakes from scratch for every celebration.

Between the two businesses, I stepped away from professional cooking to be a full-time mum to my two boys, and went on to have two more children – they still keep me fairly busy!

While running my cake business, I started offering baking classes and workshops. I loved them, and I loved sharing my skills. That got me thinking: in my late forties, and while still loving what I do, I decided it was the perfect time to go back to studying, with the aim of teaching young people.

I have always stayed in touch with the Leiths List and kept up to date with Leiths through Instagram, and that is where I spotted the Level 7 course. When I contacted Leiths to discuss it, Ben Blackburn seemed to think I was exactly who the course was written for. Now, with the end of the course in sight, I have just been accepted to study a PGCE at my local university – something the Level 7 Certificate has made possible, as I don’t hold a degree. I hope to go on to teach in a secondary school setting within another year.

I believe teaching young people will offer me not just a fulfilling and sustainable career for the years ahead, but the chance to combine my love of food with the opportunity to inspire and support young people as they develop valuable life skills of their own. Food education is about so much more than recipes – it is about confidence, creativity, health, independence and bringing people together.

Looking back, Leiths gave me the foundations for an incredibly rewarding and diverse career. Now, nearly thirty years later, it has once again helped shape the next chapter of my professional journey. The Level 7 Certificate has given me the confidence and academic grounding to take the next step into teaching, and I look forward to carrying that ethos of excellence, professionalism and passion for food into the classroom.

If you’re interested in doing the Leiths Level 7 Advanced Certificate in Food Education, find out more here.