WHO AM I?

My name is Holly Stevenson and I am the creator of 'The Messy Kitchen'. I'm 25 years old and live in Swansea in the UK.

I graduated with a BA Hons in Educational studies and opened (and closed) my first business all before the age of 22.

My business was cake design, which lasted for over 6 months, however I found it ruined my love of baking so decided enough was enough and I shut it down.

From a young age I have loved baking, it started off with my grandmother. I would go and stay with her every Friday and we would make cakes and biscuits.

When my cousin Charley was born, she would come over to my house on the weekends and as a way of entertaining her we would make cookies and cakes.

Now she is ten and is still my little helper, she loves to come over and help me and for her age is very good at it.

 Over the years I have focused on practicing and promoting myself as a baker. Within the past 5 years 'The Messy kitchen' has been a blog, a business and now a part of my life. As well as blogging I have also set up a baking community with over 100,000 followers.

I love sharing my recipes and seeing people use them. It makes me happy to know that people like them, and just having that one comment now and again off people you don't know telling you how much they love your food is such an amazing feeling.

Baking is now my life, I read cookbooks before bed, spend more money on baking equipment than clothes and talk cake.

My original dream was to open up a diner, however after being self employed I realised this career wasn't for me and instead I have been treating baking as a hobby.

The most support through all this has come from my friends and family, they are always encouraging me to follow my dreams. They taste my food and tell me what they thing, give me positive criticism and help me figure out the best routes to take.

They also know that by being my friends they have cakes for life, whether it be birthday or wedding cakes. Sometimes I think they stick with me for all the free goodies!

 So this is me, I'm just a simple girl with a love for baking. Thank you to everyone who has followed me over the past few months, after years of not believing I was good at anything I have finally found something I am passionate about. This year has been so life changing, and I can't wait to see what the next few years hold for me.