Breakfast, for some the best meal of the day. For others, something only consisting of a strong cup of coffee. And for some, a business idea. Like for alumna Hedvig Littorin, who started her “foodie” Instagram account during her Service Management studies and released her first cookbook on healthy and tasty breakfasts in 2019.

In our interview with Hedvig, we learn about her Pop-Up Café in Saluhallen, a successful New Year’s resolution and the recipe for an ideal weekend breakfast.

Q: You graduated from the bachelor’s programme in Service Management with a focus on Health Management in 2017. Can you tell us what you have been up to since then?

After I graduated in June 2017, I moved back to Stockholm, and started working as a Marketing Coordinator at EF Education First. I had an internship there the summer before, which gave me a great benefit to come back to the marketing department. I stayed at EF for almost two and a half years and exactly a year ago I moved on in my career and started working as a Performance Marketing Specialist at IDEAL OF SWEDEN, where I still work.

Besides full-time work, I also run my own company Eatnlive and launched my own cook book a year ago (Hedvigs Morgonstund).

Q: What sparked your interest in healthy cooking? Where do you get your inspiration from?

I have had an interest for healthy cooking almost as long as I can remember. I am probably inspired from my family from the very beginning, but in 2013, I started my “healthy food Instagram account” Eatnlive, and I have since then been cooking and developed my interest even more. I would also say that Instagram is a platform where I get a lot of inspiration from other “foodies”. I also get inspiration from cookbooks and food newspapers and articles.

Q: How has your Lund University education been beneficial in your work and business?

At Lund University I didn’t only meet friends for life and had three amazing years. I also learnt to take responsibility, work with deadlines, to structure and organize which is something I find helpful in my everyday work.

In my programme, Service Management, we studied marketing, communication, business and organization which are somethings I also find very helpful in my work today.

Q: In 2019 you released your cookbook Hedvigs Morgonstund – why did you choose to write a cookbook? And why did you choose to focus on breakfast recipes?

That is correct! I have, for a very long time, had the interest of healthy cooking and started my Instagram account 2013 where I, in the beginning, wanted to inspire myself. But today, I also want to inspire other people with healthy eating and healthy cooking, where balance is always the key! To write a cookbook is something I have dreamt of for many years.

In the end of my exchange semester in Singapore autumn 2016, I travelled to Bali and Sydney where I was inspired by juice bars, smoothie bowls, etc. I really felt that these kinds of cafés, were something that was missing in Sweden, and especially in Lund. That made me come up with the idea to open my own Healthy Pop Up Café that I opened during my last spring in Lund, 2017, in Saluhallen. Here I served fresh juices, smoothie bowls, overnight oats, raw food fika, etc. And from here I developed my ideas even more and decided before New Year’s 2019 that my New Year’s resolution was to launch a cookbook!

And from there it all started. My focus on breakfast recipes was a quite easy choice since breakfast has always been, and still is, my favourite meal of the day. You can eat breakfast even for lunch and dinner, right?

Q: Would you like to share your favourite breakfast recipe with us?

Oh of course! I have a lot of favourites, but let’s give you the ideal weekend breakfast. Avocado toast, smoothie bowl topped with granola, fresh fruit berries, and, peanut butter. And a cup of coffee with oat milk. And let’s give you the recipe of one of my favourite smoothie bowls, a recipe from my cookbook – “Pink smoothie bowl”.

You need:
2 frozen bananas
2 dl frozen mango
2 dl frozen raspberries
½ dl coconut milk
1 tsp baobab (not necessary but give your bowl an extra boost)

Peel the bananas, chop into small pieces and put in the freezer. Carefully mix the frozen bananas together with mango and raspberries (you need a strong smoothie mixer or let the frozen fruits unfreeze a little), add coconut milk and baobab and blend with a fork – then mix again. You might need to stop the mixer and blend with the fork a few times and/or add a little more liquid to get the blender going.

What baobab is and what it is beneficial for is something you can read in my book. 😉 You can find it at www.hedvigsmorgonstund.com

Q: You run your own company Eatnlive, how do you see your business evolving in the future? Where will you be in 5 years?

I have opened a café, I have held workshops for cafés and restaurants in Stockholm to help them develop their healthy supply, done “healthy catering” and then launched another cookbook. I more or less constantly think of what the next step will be. While I, at the same time, just enjoy having my food Instagram Eatnlive and inspire with new recipes there. In the future my dream is to be able to work with Eatnlive full-time. But exactly what the focus will be is yet to be decided.

Click here to go to Hedvig’s Instagram account Eatnlive
Click here to go to Hedvig’s website

This week we meet alumna Annie Lindberg, who studied archival sciences at Lund University. Today she works at Skissernas Museum as acting director and has told us all about her journey to where she is today. 

What did you study at Lund University and why?

I studied archival science within the Master’s programme in archival science, library and information science and museology at Lund University and graduated in 2012. Prior to that, I studied art history at Halmstad University. During that programme, I had an internship at Skissernas Museum, which was when I came into contact with the Lund University collection and the archives at the museum. I instantly loved it and this was essentially a whole new world. I strongly felt that I wanted to continue working with it. This was what I was interested in! And this is why I chose that Master’s programme.

During the programme I had a hard time choosing between different tracks, such as museology and archival science. Eventually I picked archival science because it opens the door to more work opportunities (one has to take that in to account, too) and it was a good combination with my previous studies. When applying you had to write a letter of intent and then you were called to an interview. So there were several steps in the process, which was nerve-wracking.

What was the programme like?

It was really good, though I do remember wanting a more theoretical approach. The reason for that was because of my background in art history, where you only read, analyzed theories and applied different perspectives and so on. But in retrospect, it was good that a lot was more practical, because working with archives is a craft. You have to learn certain systems, both qualification systems and archive systems.

What knowledge did you take with you from your studies?

During the Master’s programme, many of the tasks we had were group assignments. I went from studying art history alone, to archival studies where suddenly the whole programme felt like one long group project. That experience was very useful for my work life. But of course, everything I learned, I have taken with me in my endeavours.

What was the best part during your studies? Do you have a favourite memory? 

All the people, classmates and the community. I was never involved much with the nations, but I had a great time with my group from class. There are many favourite memories that intertwine but my classmates and I often held themed dinners, where we would eat our way through the different food cultures of the world. We would have Moroccan and French evenings, for example, which are some of my best memories.

I sometimes get nostalgic thinking about my time as a student and just being able to indulge and develop within art and archives, which is something I truly love. That feeling would just hit me all of a sudden and I would think: “I can’t believe I get to just sit here and read and learn about my favourite subject all day.” I still feel the same way today – I get to work with my biggest interest – and to me, that is amazing. I can get very nostalgic when I open a new book and think about life as a student, because I really liked reading and I can miss just being able to read and write all day. That’s something I don’t have that much time to do nowadays. I think back on my student days with a lot of joy, much of which is connected to my studies, learning and developing.

What have you been up to since graduating and what do you work with today?

I have been working at Skissernas Museum for the past 9 years. I got the job right after graduation but back then, it was 50% as an archivist. Later I became a coordinator and about three or four years ago, I took over the responsibility for the art collection at Lund University. It happened when the last art curator retired and the art collection had become a big part of Skissernas Museum, which it hadn’t been before. The thought was to make an inventory and figure out what to do with it. Recently, I became acting director, a position I will have for the following year.

What does a typical work day look like?

Before becoming the acting director, I worked a lot with collection management and digital research infrastructure. This includes everything from digitisation of the collections, to the search ability and development of a functional database. The collections belong to all taxpayers and we at Skissernas Museum are making sure they are stored and preserved forever. If the collection isn’t visible, it’s like it doesn’t exist.

I do, however, especially like working with collections. The work can involve a multitude of tasks: overseeing and storring art pieces in physical storage facilities, making sure it is the right temperature, knowing how the art pieces should be stored in individual acid-free packaging and then registering all of them. There are 30,000 objects and we have to come up with a good system for finding them.

Another challenge I am faced with is the question of what pieces we should keep; because no archive or museum can keep everything. Therefore, it is important to think about the representation, whose stories we tell, but also what researchers would want in 100 years. What might seem insignificant now, can be very relevant in the future.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I will definitely be working with art, hopefully in a museum. I want to work with collections and with research. I don’t know if I will work at Skissernas, but for now I still feel I have some projects to finish there.

Do you have any tips for future students within your line of work?

It is quite easy finding jobs within archival work, but not within art history. The business is tough and there are not many jobs. At the same time, I think one should follow their dreams, but maybe be realistic and broaden your horizons a little. Don’t be scared of taking jobs that might not be your dream job, because all of that will lead to something; that’s how it was for me. So follow your dream, but be open-minded to all kinds of opportunities, be realistic and be prepared that it can be tough in the beginning of one’s working life.

Besides here on this blog, you can read more about Annie Lindberg and the Lund University Art Collection by clicking here for English or here for Swedish.