For hospitality business owner Tim Bone, Ballarat's rising tide lifts all boats.
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"I think when our hospitality industry does well, it just lifts everyone up," he said.
"To be a part of that is great."
A well-known face in Ballarat, Tim Bone is a strong advocate for locally grown produce - and "the city is just going to grow and grow".
"As a Ballarat community, we feel like we're all in this together and we all try and work together for the common goal, to make Ballarat the best town it can be," he said.
Mr Bone has always loved cooking, but before he became famous for food he was on the route to becoming a teacher.
Mr Bone fell in love with education after Year 10 work experience.
"I loved the idea of encouraging young people to be the best that they can be," he said
"We've all got those teachers you can remember, whether they were fun, understandable or reliable and I wanted to be that person for a young generation as well."
Growing up in Nhill, he felt there were two options for him when choosing a university.
He was either going to move to Adelaide or Ballarat
"It was one of those fork in the road life moments," he said
"Something drew me to Ballarat."
After completing his education degree, he mixed his two passions and became a cooking teacher at Yuille Park.
In 2018, Mr Bone's life changed dramatically when a MasterChef producer encouraged him to apply for the show.
"I was working for a lady who ran a coffee van in Geelong and before a new season, [MasterChef] send producers to look at farmer markets and encourage people to apply," she said.
"She put my name forward and said 'I've got the perfect bloke from Ballarat that should apply'."
Mr Bone said the experience was a big step out of his comfort zone.
"I still am quite a reserved and shy person, but MasterChef not only gave me confidence in my cooking ability but in my own confidence within myself," he said.
"Doing that sort of stuff in front of hundreds of people, the more you do it, the better you get at it.
"I feel pretty relaxed doing it now or cooking demonstrations at the big festivals, I love it now."
When he was on the show, Mr Bone said he felt very supported by people in Ballarat, both family, friends and the wider community.
"It was sort of that thing where I didn't want to regret not giving it a go," he said.
"Since MasterChef, coming from a community like Ballarat, everyone got around me, which is nice.
"The support was really lovely."
Mr Bone said stepping into ambassador and MC roles, like Ballarat's Foundation Dancing with our Stars event is a way for him to give back to the community who support him and his Tim's Toasties business.
"I just feel like I can step up ... tell the world how great our town is, and use my platform to really just showcase the amazing things that are happening here in Ballarat," he said.
"If I didn't have the support of the local community coming to buy toasties, I wouldn't have a business."