Soft Girls Who Hike (Emily & Lucy) won Canon Rising Star bCreator of the Year at the ITV bCreator Awards 2025. We spoke to the duo about outdoor confidence, memorable hikes and what the future holds.
bCreator: You’ve inspired a movement in outdoor confidence - how did it begin?
Soft Girls Who Hike: During lockdown, we really got into morning walks and eventually felt trapped and wanted something more but weren’t quite sure how we could do that as we didn’t drive. We realised since then it’s a lot more accessible than we thought. Before we started soft hiking, we felt inspired to join a group hike, however we discovered that their style of hiking wasn’t like ours. We felt like we didn’t fit into the hiking community but when we shared our story, we discovered there were so many people with the same mindset as us.
So we started finding hikes nearby train stations and in our local area as we watched Abbie Barnes on YouTube and felt really inspired by her videos as she focuses a lot on her mental health and chronic illness which felt miles away from your average competitive hiker - with the added bonus that she covered hikes in our area.
We then came up with the idea of ‘soft hiking’ whilst on a hike, and we were saying how nice it was to take things at our own pace, go off trail to look at history plaques or interesting looking mushrooms, and we realised how we were on the same page with how we see hiking and it wasn’t like your average competitive Instagram hiker that tracks miles & time. That just didn’t resonate with us.
We then said “it’s kind of like a softer way of hiking - soft hiking” which we then set up a TikTok to document our walks & hikes. We answered what soft hiking is when a commenter asked and we had about 40 followers at the time, and we woke up the next morning to see the term trending and thousands of comments of how it resonated with people in many different ways.
bCreator: What message do you hope your content sends to people?
SGWH: We hope that they can embrace their softness in the outdoors and realise they belong in the outdoors spaces too. Our biggest dream is to create an inclusive community of like-minded people who want to embrace their softness, and to make the outdoors feel welcoming to everyone.
A lot of our followers commented that they felt self conscious about themselves, had negative experiences on competitive group hikes and experienced other obstacles such as chronic illness which were barriers for them. It is important to acknowledge that everyone faces everyday battles but our main goal is ultimate inclusion.
We had a comment from an Olympian who said they love soft hiking too! So you can be the fittest athlete and still be kind to yourself on the hiking trail.
We even had some comments that people felt inspired to try a soft hike themselves and asking if others in their area would like to join. So, we created a Facebook group where soft hikers can join and meet others just like them, we’ve seen some heartwarming journeys on there - the best so far being two mothers who met for a soft hike and their toddlers became best friends!
bCreator: What’s been your most memorable hike or moment outdoors?
SGWH: One of our most memorable hikes was to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. A place that holds deep meaning for Emily. Her mum passed away in 2015, and her ashes are scattered there, so it’s always been somewhere she feels a strong connection to.
That hike was incredibly special for both of us. It became more than just a walk - it was a shared moment of reflection, love, and remembrance. There were so many little signs that made us feel like she was with us; a bouquet of flowers floating gently in the stream, a butterfly circling us, and a rare sighting of a white-throated dipper at Janet’s Foss, who perched nearby and watched us quietly for almost fifteen minutes.
Emily: Grieving through spending time in nature has been so healing for me. My mum was such an outdoorsy person. She loved walking, exploring, and being surrounded by nature so I always feel closest to her when I’m in those kinds of places. Even though it’s been ten years since she passed, grief doesn’t really get smaller; it just changes shape. Visiting Malham again felt incredibly grounding, like a gentle reminder that she’s still with me in the world somehow. Getting to share that with Lucy made it even more special.
bCreator: How did it feel finding out that you’d won the Canon Rising Star bCreator of the Year award?
SGWH: We were in total shock!! We were in a category with 11 other incredibly talented people and we didn’t expect to win. But we felt incredibly honoured that to be chosen and to have our community recognised.
bCreator: What does the next year look like for Soft Girls Who Hike?
SGWH: We hope that more brands recognise the real value of community - of getting outdoors, slowing down, and connecting with nature as a powerful tool for mental wellbeing. Our aim has always been to uplift and empower our community, creating spaces where people can show up exactly as they are, supported through meaningful brand collaborations that share our values.
As two women building this with heart and limited resources, every bit of support helps us bring more people together.
This year, we’re taking things a step further by working towards our Lowland Leader qualifications, so we can start leading our own soft hikes and continue building safe, nurturing outdoor experiences for everyone who joins us.
A big thank you to Emily and Lucy for taking part in our winner interview series. You can follow Soft Girls Who Hike on TikTok here and Instagram here.
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