Baker Spotlight: Joohee Kim of Joohee Bakes
Get to know the talented and generous bakers that graciously donated their time, effort, and absolutely scrumptious baked goods to our virtual fundraiser, Baked with Love. In our Baker Spotlight, we focus on one of our volunteer bakers and explore what drives them to not just create, but to give.
Mini Macarons by Joohee Bakes. Purchase them here!
The second baker in our Baker Spotlight series is Joohee Kim of Joohee Bakes. She operates locally out of Englewood, NJ. She is also a Zimele Ambassador, having gone to South Africa on the 2015 Ambassador Trip with Zimele USA.
Where does your love of baking come from?
I think it stems from the love for the arts and the creative, tactile art-making process involved. I also love how baking lends itself as a great tool for sharing love and encouragement.
How has baking positively influenced the other aspects of your life and the person you have become?
The discipline of baking has matured me as a person in so many ways. I think kitchen work in general helps one to become meticulous with planning and preparing, attentive to time and safety, and creative and efficient with the use of resources. I had none of the skills in these areas, and especially in multitasking. But as with any discipline, more practice helps, and I'm constantly training as I go. But it's definitely helped me to become more responsible and less reckless as a person, which is helpful well beyond the work setting and in all of my relationships, too.
What are your ideals and how do they come through in your baking?
I would love for the baked goods to be enjoyable and encouraging to people who consume them. In the end, they are just small desserts, but it's still a humble mission accomplished if they helped lift up somebody.
Any reflections on Zimele's mission that you would like to share with us?
When I traveled to SA on the 2015 Amabassador Trip, the Zimele women taught me to live life not our of fear or scarcity, but to the full. Personally, the Zimele community I saw was truthfully living out the faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). They indeed love extravagantly. I think I will always be remembering and learning this from these women. I'm so thankful that Zimele USA is doing this amazing collaborative bake sale also in our local community, in a way just like the Zimele bakers in South Africa do. I'm so grateful and humbled to be a part.