"It wasn’t conceivable in Southland that a young female could forge a successful career in hospo [hospitality industry]," she said.
After more than 15 years in the industry and one of the owners of Invercargill’s The Batch cafe, she got the ultimate validation stamp.
This week she was listed among New Zealand’s top 50 most inspiring and influential women in food by Cuisine magazine.
She was the only person from Southland to be included in the publication.
"It's probably taken me a few days to sink in, but it's pretty, pretty special to be listed among some of the most capable females in food."
A "born and bred" Southlander, Ms French grew up on a sheep farm and learned from a young age the importance of fresh produce.
After school, she ventured into part-time work but it was in the hospitality industry she found her feet.
"It wasn’t something I thought about when I was young. I think it was more of a journey of growth."
Fourteen years ago, she joined her business partner Gareth Hamilton to open The Batch.
She created a real connection with her customer base and she feels lucky for that, realising how much the cafe meant to them.
"It's not a new business to me, but yet the knowledge that I can learn from our community is constantly evolving and if you're willing to look and listen, there is so much to learn and to offer and to be connected with.
"So we have an amazing food community here."
Ms French was proud and humble about the nomination and hoped to continue to champion for the food community in the region.
"I think there's some real momentum in the community ...
"It's such a huge risk to be a food grower. It's unbelievable, so I just really hope to build on that momentum as there's so many people working so hard to really try and get that community [the] knowledge around how lucky we are to have the amazing produce we have in this region.
"We have the largest coastline. We have so much access to seafood and really just try to encourage the community to get into that local farmers’ market, support the local growers, know where their food comes from so that we can have a really thriving, successful, secure food system in the region because I really think we all win."
