Cleanfluencer, loungewear and homewares designer, property philanthropost, and now children's book author. Is there nothing to which Sophie Hinchliffe can't turn her hand?
Her brand new children's book, Welcome to Hinch Farm, sounds as though it might be based on personal experience...? '100% yes!' she laughs. 'It's based on our own little family’s experience of moving house and I still can’t believe any of it’s real, if I’m honest. Both the move to Hinch Farm, and now having my own children’s book series. A huge treasure forever!'
Sophie lives in Essex with her husband Jamie, their sons Ronnie and Lennie, their cocker spaniel, Henry, their alpacas, Roy, Rodney and Raymond, and their chickens, Peggy, Pam and Pat.
Although moving to their 'forever home' on the farm was exciting, Sophie explains that such a big change can be overwhelming for kids. When she saw this in her own sons, it was the inspiration behind the book.
'Moving is such a big adventure for any little one, and with any sort of change can come uncertainty and nervousness,' she says. 'We hope that sharing our own experience will help other families going through the same thing. That’s where the idea of the story came from.'
The book is beautifully illustrated by Hannah George and, if you happen to be one of Sophie's 4.6 million followers on Instagram, then you might very well recognise details about the family and the farm.
Since we know Mrs Hinch has a solution for everything, how did she eventually help her kids feel stable and secure when so much around them way changing?
'With the move, we made sure we introduced the idea slowly to the boys by talking to them about it as much as we could when the opportunity felt right,' she explains. 'Once we were in, we made a real effort to make sure that they were surrounded by familiar comforts in their new environment, especially right in the beginning. One of the first boxes we unpacked, before anything else, contained their books and their toys. We played lots of games together as a family, even more so than we already do. We made sure they had so much fun right off the bat in their new space; so they could see that, although the surroundings were different, the happiness remained.'
Sometimes it feels as though life would be much better if Mrs Hinch was in charge of the country. The secret of her extraordinary success is surely that she helps people feel calm and in control of things, just through a few clever cleaning hacks and parenting tips. It honestly seems as though as she wants to do is help people.
'I hope my young readers will take away from our story that it’s completely okay to feel uncertainty and nervousness because change can absolutely be scary,' she says. 'But new beginnings can also be very exciting and, with the support of your loved ones by your side, you can achieve anything.'
Welcome to Hinch Farm, written by Mrs Hinch and illustrated by Hannah George, is out now
