Poppy joined University College Birmingham for the Level 3 part of her Professional Cookery apprenticeship in 2014, undertaking her ‘on-the-job training’ with ‘Yummy Brummie’ Glynn Purnell at his Michelin-starred Purnell’s restaurant in the heart of Birmingham.

Receiving her diploma in 2016, she went on to work in top fine dining restaurants, as well as take part in competitions across Europe, all of which came to a sudden halt with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown last March. 

Being out of work, however, ended up as a blessing in disguise, taking her down a very different, but equally rewarding, path to the one she had imagined. 

Living back at home with her family, Poppy was introduced to social media platform TikTok by her little brother and sister and after uploading a 60-second video of how to make a perfect hash brown, she found herself a social media sensation.     

“Whether it was boredom from the unusual amount of free time, or that I'd secretly dreamt of one day teaching others to cook on screen, I decided to give it a go,” she said. “Particularly since the short, snappy nature of TikTok meant it looked like it would be relatively easy to create my own. 

I started out with a few easy recipes, churros, fries and a tomato sauce. A few people would ‘like’ and comment, which was initially a surprise as I hadn't been sure anyone would be interested. I was really proud of an early comment from an NHS worker who said they had enjoyed my tomato sauce and that it had helped make a simple dinner for their family after a long shift."