A picture of a yule log posted to social media helped land one pro Colorado baker into competing on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship.

The owner of Aurora’s Bánh & Butter Bakery Cafe, a French and Asian fusion bakery, Thoa Nguyen said lessons and friendships from the show will stick with her for life.

Nguyen opened Bánh & Butter in the spring of 2022 and as the holiday season approached, posted a yule log to the eatery’s Instagram page — as she had been doing with many of her creations since opening. After seeing the post, casting agents from Food Network reached out to the bakery directly and after some careful consideration, Nguyen was off to California to compete in the 10th season of the show.

Halfway through the ongoing eight-episode season, Nguyen is still going strong in the race for $25,000 and bragging rights, winning one of two challenges in the most recently-aired fourth episode. Nguyen, like many of us, isn’t the biggest fan of watching herself on camera.

“I still hate hearing my voice. Sometimes the emotions are amplified with the time constraints [of the show]. I’m very collected at the bakery but [there] I’m stressed and on auto pilot,” Nguyen said of the show, which gives contestants just hours to make innovative baked goods from specific ingredients.

Although not allowed to disclose just how far she made it through the competition, Nguyen came away with some new wisdom and friendships. After a tough start in the beginning of the season, Nguyen responded to the adversity.

“I’m most proud of the progress I made. I started moving up, didn’t give up or shut down and trusted in myself and my training. … I want to lead with empathy. I’m not going to push any contestant out of the way to win $25,000,” Nguyen said.

The other contestants and Nguyen still share a group chat to this day. There they share “new bakes for the day and redemption bakes of things we maybe didn’t do so well on the show,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen also hopes to improve Aurora’s perception through her work and appearances on the program. Aurora’s food scene is “underappreciated. East Colfax gets this bad rep but in order for our community to grow, we need more foot traffic,” she said. “Doing this show can really open peoples’ eyes.”

It’s started to pay dividends as well, with followers of the show turning into customers. Nguyen even got recognized at a recent Broncos game by fans for a photo.

Nguyen — who is of Vietnamese descent but formally trained in France — brings her passions for both under one roof in her Aurora storefront. Nguyen’s grandfather instilled a love for French cuisine with delicacies from his work with the French government before she ultimately trained in the country. Nguyen’s specialty, laminated doughs and puff pastries, are on full display at the shop. One of her favorites, strawberry croissants, serves as their top seller.

New episodes air on Mondays on Food Network but can also be seen on Max and Discovery+.