Five minutes with… Laura Hadland

How did you come to be involved with the food writing community?

I've been writing my blog, Extreme Housewifery, for nearly 12 years now. I use it to showcase great independent food and drink in Leicester as well as writing about the experiences I have when travelling – which are often wine related! If it wasn't for the way my blog helped me to shape and grow my interests, I would never have become a part of the food writing community nor had the chance to start my own business working with independents to help them shout about what they do. My first paid writing work, restaurant reviews for the local paper, certainly came off the back of my blog writing.

 

What project are you most proud of? 

At the moment I am really proud of an article I wrote for Pellicle Magazine last year about Charnwood Cider. I think it's an interesting story and I worked hard to get every element of it right. It brought this one-man producer to a national audience for the first time and I got a lot of messages from beer festivals and consumers who tried his cider because of my piece, so I'm glad I was able to support someone in my community.

 

What are you working on now? 

At the moment I am working on figuring out how to raise Willow (my 12-week-old rainbow baby) alongside running my PR & marketing company Thirst Media and writing the official biography of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) ready for their 50th anniversary next year. All of these projects are challenging and rewarding in their own right, but the CAMRA project is probably the most intimidating as there are so many stories to squeeze into one book – and it will be my first published book so I'm feeling the pressure.

 

How has the Guild membership been influential in your work, if at all?

I have really enjoyed writing articles inspired by the producers I met on the Guild visit to Northern Ireland last year. Although the trip didn't lead to any paid work, I was still able to place a number of articles which were really good practice to write. And I've been able to put lots of people in touch with those same producers since the visit and hopefully help forge some connections. I think this is why the Guild is important for me. Writing and running my own business can be very isolating, and the Guild has been a great way to meet like-minded people and make good friends as well as feel supported in my work.