Web Creators: Recent Episodes
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Meet Courtney Quinn, the web creator behind Color Me Courtney, a bright spot on the web where she shares her positive outlook on life.
“I see my blog as my own little corner on the internet where my community can always find joy, whimsy, fun, love and strength,” Courtney says. “My main goal is to promote self-confidence, celebrate inclusivity and embrace all the special quirks that make you unique–all through my love and affinity for color.”
That’s a mission we can definitely get behind, especially in these, um … maybe not always so bright and colorful times.
We reached out to Courtney to learn more about her story and to see how she manages the Web Creator life. Read on if you need a dash of sunshine and color to brighten your day. And stay tuned for our exclusive IRL interview with Courtney, coming soon to YouTube!
What does your average day look like?
That’s the thing about this job, there is no average day because every day is so different depending on the time of year, my content series, current events in the world, etc. People assume that web creators just create beautiful images and videos with witty captions and call it a day. For me, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because 80 percent of my work is things that people may not see: storyboarding, calls with brand partners, content strategy, emails, backend website developing, editing and engaging with my community.
What inspires you on a day-to-day basis and gets your creative energy flowing?
Color Me Courtney at its core is a true reflection of me and my (many) interests–fashion, lifestyle, food, culture, entertainment, etc.– so I don’t have trouble with “turning it on” or finding creative energy. Oftentimes my problem as a creative is actually the opposite, and the challenge is really to be more focused on reining things in and making sure all of the ideas get executed.
To get into the flow, I try to separate my days into buckets so I can be the most productive. I’ll do one day a week that’s all meetings and phone calls and another where I’m binge watching a show in my pajamas while I’m answering emails and editing and planning content. Then the next day I’ll get photoshoot-ready and dedicate all my time shooting content. Of course, this doesn’t always go according to plan. There can always be interruptions like a timely cultural moment, an urgent email or just being present for my online community. But it does help to plan my day and create some semblance of a structure.
To get into the flow, I try to separate my days into buckets so I can be the most productive.What’s the best part of your job?
I love the creativity, the freedom to express myself and working with my favorite brands, but the best part of my job is my amazing community and the ability to connect with others. There are so many conversations about the negative aspects of the web, but I love to shine the light on how it can positively bring so many people from diverse backgrounds together. That’s what my community is! It means so much when someone tells me how my post has brightened their day or gave them confidence to wear an outfit, or just let them know that they weren’t alone!
Sometimes though, people can forget that there is a real-life human being on the other side of the screen and that you’re not always omnipresent. At a normal 9-5 you either have off-days, take vacations or leave your work at the office when you go home. However, in this industry it’s a little tough to take a week vacation or even clock out for the day because there are always alerts and people are constantly reaching out. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but you definitely have to set aside time for yourself because it can be overwhelming if you don’t “turn it off.”
A healthy dose of stop-motion sunshine from Courtney’s Instagram.
What’s the mission behind Color Me Courtney?
Color Me Courtney and my online shop, Color Me Magic, is a vibrant fashion, lifestyle and culture media company that is designed to empower others to "Dress Outside the Lines," promote self-confidence, celebrate inclusivity and embrace all the special quirks that make you unique. It’s been great to create a safe space to express my unique thoughts and interests and encourage my community to come together to share theirs as well.
What is something that inspires and motivates you every day about the web, or in general?
The most inspiring thing is to see how many people your content, conversations and general presence can have on others, whether they are other creators or moms just entering a new career. That relationship is reciprocal in that there are so many times where my community also inspires and motivates me.
The other inspiring thing is that my online presence isn’t stagnant, but rather grows with me. I’ve been fortunate that it grows in terms of followers and readership, but more importantly it's grown as my interests, hobbies and career have evolved, and that’s amazing to me. Because of this, I’m constantly thinking of new concepts and the process of being able to take them from idea to execution and seeing everything come to life is inspiring and motivating.
There are so many conversations about the negative aspects of the web, but I love to shine a light on how it can positively bring so many people from diverse backgrounds together.What tools do you use to make your stuff?
I used to be exclusive to Dropbox, but I just switched to Google Drive so now I operate completely on Drive. I use Adobe Suite (Lightroom mostly) for editing but I do it almost exclusively on my phone. I edit video in Final Cut or Premiere depending on the project and I use VLLO and Splice for on-phone editing.
And finally … what advice would you give someone trying to make it in your industry?
Find the thing that makes you special, different and unique. Then celebrate it and build a brand around it. The number one mistake that I see when people are starting out is they try to be everything to everybody instead of starting with the things they are most passionate about and building a community and business around that. Too many people try to conform to the trends of the moment and get lost in the shuffle, or they fall for the trap of comparing themselves to others, and that’s 100 percent a losing game.
Today we are bringing visual and immersive Web Stories to Discover, part of the Google app on Android and iOS and used by more than 800 million people each month. The Stories carousel, now available in the United States, India and Brazil at the top of Discover, helps you find some of the best visual content from around the web. In the future, we intend to expand Web Stories to more countries and Google products.
The Web Stories carousel in Discover showcases some of the best visual content from the web.
Browsing Stories is simple. When you tap on a Story on the shelf, you enter an experience that’s full-screen and immersive. Tap to move forward to the next page, or swipe to an entirely different Story in the carousel.
Tap to advance inside Stories and swipe between Stories.
In addition to Discover, we continue to surface more Web Stories across Google Search results globally on mobile.
Web Stories show up in a variety of Search results.
Made for the WebFor creators and publishers, Web Stories are entirely under your direction, just like any other content on your website. Story authors are in full control of monetization, hosting, sharing and adding links to their Stories. Plus, the web offers one of the largest audiences for creators, with publishers already seeing strong results, as shown in the stories.google showcase. And because Web Stories are just an extension of a website, some early adopters of Web Stories are showcasing their stories on their home page, social channels, newsletters and more.
To help jumpstart the Web Stories ecosystem, we worked with a diverse group of publishers and creation tools in the U.S, India and Brazil this year to collaborate on the product and build out its features.
Google has been collaborating with a wide variety of publishers on Web Stories.
It’s easy to get startedWeb Stories can be created by anyone, whether you are an individual creator or a publisher, and more than 2,000 websites have already published Stories that have been indexed by Google.
Drag-and-drop tools like the Web Story editor for WordPress, MakeStories and NewsroomAI make it easy to create Web Stories in minutes to your website. And if you’re technically inclined, you can always code Web Stories yourself. Learn more about how to create high quality stories on our new stories.google site or with the Storytime YouTube series.Create Stories with one of many Story Creation tools.
We can’t wait to see what stories you tell.
Stuart Schuffman, a.k.a. Broke-Ass Stuart, is a globetrotting superblogger who has built his brand around the idea that you don’t actually need tons of money to enjoy yourself. Since the early 2000s he’s made it his mission to uncover hidden gems in his hometown of San Francisco and in cities like New York, San Diego, Detroit, Austin, and all over Europe as a longtime stringer for the backpacker’s bible, “Lonely Planet.”
Over the years Stuart has published a handful of top-selling urban adventure guides dedicated to “busboys, poets, social workers, students, artists, musicians, magicians, mathematicians, maniacs, yodelers, and everyone else out there who wants to enjoy life not as a rich person, but as a real person.”
But to call Stuart a travel writer is to sell him short. He’s a web creator—a TV show host, marketer, social media manager, editor, writer, and publisher all wrapped into one.
Launched in 2009, his website Brokeassstuart.com has grown from a local’s guide to metropolitan hotspots into a cultural force with an editorial staff covering politics, news, music, arts, and culture in the Bay Area and beyond. Even more impressive is the fact that Stuart still serves as the “Editor In Cheap” of his website while simultaneously writing and producing comedy shorts, live shows, and independent series that follow up where his show “Young, Broke, and Beautiful,” which aired on IFC in the early 2010s, left off.
“Life is an art project for me,” he says. But it’s also a job. And that’s where things get interesting.
We talked with Stuart to hear how he learned to navigate the ever-evolving landscape web creators face today.
So tell us ... what makes a web creator? What does your average day look like, etc?
It’s anyone dumb enough to plug away, day in and day out, over something they love and that they want to share with other people. I say “dumb” because it’s a terrible way to make a living, but if that’s not your main concern, it’s incredibly fulfilling on pretty much all other levels.
As for my average day: things have been really topsy-turvy since COVID hit. Over 50 percent of our income dried up overnight so lately it’s been a lot of trying to figure out creative ways to fund this thing. I mean, I guess that’s how I spent much of my time before but, now it’s even more dire.
Otherwise though, a typical day sees me: editing and publishing other people’s work, writing articles, doing social media for the content we create, doing sales, marketing, and business development, and answering a titanic amount of email. The thing about running your own independent media company is that my partner and I have to do about 30 different jobs. But at least I don't have some jerk boss I gotta deal with so it’s mostly worth it.
Can you tell us a bit about your schedule? How do you get into the flow? What inspires you on a day to day basis and gets your creative energy flowing?
I give myself like an hour or so in the morning to watch Netflix while I slowly wake up. That way I’m ready to work without feeling rushed when I get down to it. As for inspiration, I’m always floored and inspired by the awesome content being created by our writers and editors. They make me so proud that I get to publish their voices. In fact, that’s one of the things I like best about what I do, I get to amplify voices that don’t always get heard.
Otherwise though, I get most excited when I’m creating new things. Life is an art project for me. Just in the past five years or so, I created and hosted seven episodes of a live late night show, put out a web series, won “best local website” a couple times, put out a zine, and ran for Mayor of SF. I’m working on some cool new projects right now that are still under wraps.You’re super prolific! Can you describe your journey a bit?
I’ve been doing this whole Broke-Ass Stuart thing for like 16 years now, so it’s a LONG story. But I’ll give you the short-ish version.
Shortly after I finished college at UCSC, I was working in a candy store in North Beach. One day a guy I knew from the neighborhood I grew up in in San Diego came in with the woman that’s now his wife. As they were walking out she gave me her card and it said she was a travel writer. I thought, “I wanna be a travel writer” so I decided to become one.
I put out my first zine, Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco that summer (it was 2004). That was popular so I did an expanded version the following year. That ended up winning me “Best of the Bay” and I got a little notoriety. I got the zine in the hands of someone at Lonely Planet, and they liked it, and I ended up getting to go to Ireland to write about it for them.
I wanted to keep doing Broke-Ass Stuart but I also wanted to step it up and I actually found a book deal on craigslist. So I ended up doing three books. A Broke-Ass Stuart in SF book, an NYC book, and a book that was applicable everywhere in the U.S.
Then in 2011 I had a travel TV show on IFC called Young, Broke & Beautiful. It was amazing. All the while though I was building up the website to be an arts & culture destination, so as my popularity grew, so did the site. Then running for Mayor obviously helped as well.
At this point we’re one of the most influential sites in the Bay Area for arts, culture, nightlife, and activism. It’s been a hell of a ride.
What are the best/worst parts of your job?
Getting to amplify voices that don’t always get heard while informing and entertaining hundreds of thousands of people a month is the best part for sure.
And then the hardest part, as you can imagine, trying to keep this thing afloat. I started this whole thing to be an art dude, but somehow ended up being a business dude out of necessity. I’m much better at creating funny and beautiful things than I am at making money. But I end up having to spend more time being a business dude than getting to create stuff. I’m at my happiest when I’m creating.
At the end of the day what is the ultimate goal of your blog/website?
I used to care more about being famous, but as I get older, it doesn’t matter that much. I just want to create things that hopefully make the world a better place. Activism is a huge part of what we do at BrokeAssStuart.com. Over the years we’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various charities and causes. We’ve turned out tens of thousands of people to protest the many injustices that plague our world. Our Voter guides sometimes get like 30k views. And we’ve also made a lot of fart jokes. Gotta keep things balanced.
Any words of advice for someone just getting started?
It's important to ask yourself if you really want to make a living doing something that you love. I know your immediate response is "Duh! Of course!" but really think about it. You're taking something that gives you joy and release, and turning it into a job. There will be many days where it is simply a job and that's something you need to be ok with.
Another quick piece of advice is: build your audience before you try to monetize it. Get people to love what you do and believe in you before you start asking them for money.
I could talk about this all day long. I've actually given a talk about how to "turn your side hustle into your main hustle" a number of times including at General Assembly and at Patreon's yearly conference, so if anyone reading this is interested in me giving the talk to you and your friends/coworkers reach out and we can figure out a price.
And finally a quick #PayItForward. Name five other websites doing awesome stuff in your field.
SF Funcheap
48Hills
TableHopper
The Hard Times
Berkeleyside
Follow Broke-Ass Stuart on social media: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Patreon
Web Stories are a new content format on the web, so we’re all learning together what works and what doesn’t when it comes to creating them. To help web creators develop a sense of what makes a story great, we’re kicking off a series to share tips and ideas from high-quality Web Stories we’ve discovered in the wild. Watch the above episode of our YouTube series “Storytime” for this first batch of stories, read it as Web Story on your phone, or scroll on if you prefer reading.
The tablet-friendly high adrenaline storyFord's Mustang Mach-E 1400 Prototype makes a Tesla look like a toy by INPUT
Not only does this story turn it to 11 from the very start through smart use of video and a super streamlined font, it’s also a great example of a responsive story—that is, a story that works just as well on tablets and desktop as on mobile.
The video-first completely bonkers jet set storyWould You Try This Jet Suit? By Seeker
Many of the best videos are those whose content simply wouldn’t convey anything in written form. Similarly, there are topics that work much better as a Web Story. This story is completely bonkers to look at, and it’s a great example where the media carries the story, not the text.
Why not just do a video? Well, for one, the same content as a video would be awkward to consume when you’re on your phone but not in a position to turn up the volume, and you can click through at your own pace when you’re in a hurry.
The ultra-relatable first-person cooking storyHow To Make Japanese Curry by VICE
A typical recipe blog post doesn’t convey the aspect of cooking well, and most videos are too stressful as you can’t easily skip or pause at the right moments!
This story solves both problems with an ultra-relatable, first-person narrative from a chef that calmly walks us through the process of making Japanese Curry at the pace that works for you.
The ultra-efficient, skip-ahead edutainment storyHow Stuff Is Made: Money by Refinery29
The educational skip-video technique works not just for recipes! It’s also great for edutainment stories that a user would want to consume at their own pace.
The shoppable book recommendation story10 Black-Authored Books To Add To Your Summer Reading List 2020 by Nylon
Stories can be a great format to present shoppable listicles like this summer reading list featuring 10 Black-authored books. Unlike the many slow, ad-plastered full-page slide shows on the web, this story is extremely accessible and pleasant to consume.
The inspiring food truck owner portrait with immersive background audioStreet Food Icons: The Burger Sisters of Kenya by VICE
This story does a lot of things right. First, it uses background music to great effect, making it very “lifestyle-y.” Then it simultaneously zooms in on the food and the subjects, told in a first-person narrative. Web Stories are great for portraits like this.
The curiosity-inspired “You’ll never guess what this is” storyWhat Are Superconductors? by Seeker
Stories aren’t just useful for lifestyle topics. Here’s a science story presented in a very engaging way. The cover page gets one hooked immediately by asking the audience to participate, which makes the reveal and subsequent explanation even more satisfying. Beautiful.
The “I-tricked-a-teenager-into-learning-art-history-by-packaging-it-in-a-story-that-slaps” story5 fatos excêntricos sobre Salvador Dalí by AH
This story about Salvador Dali uses psychedelic visuals, modern text highlighting, formatting and animations to teach art history in a surprisingly accessible way.
The nature-always-looks-better-with-Ken-Burns story5 destinations to see wildlife with your kids by Lonely Planet
Not all stories need flashy animations, illustrations or even video. Sometimes it’s enough to pick a classic typography style and let the content breathe and speak for itself. This story by Lonely Planet demonstrates this beautifully, using only subtle Ken Burns-style animations on images to immerse the reader.
The whimsically illustrated animated how-to storyHow Do I Deal With Nighttime Anxiety? By VICE
Right from the cover, this story understands you. It’s instantly relatable not just because of the whimsical illustration, but because this story is about the reader. It starts with a reader question, then continues with bite-sized, easy to grasp quotes from an authoritative subject expert, and finally ends with a strong call-to-action on where to find more. 10/10, would read again.
That's it for today! Subscribe to the blog for more great Web Stories, and if you see a great story we should feature, let us know on Twitter.
“Where did she find that outfit?!” is something you’ll probably think within minutes of meeting Abby Mills, the blogger behind the vintage fashion and lifestyle blog Clothes & Pizza. The next thing that pops into your head might be “she literally has the coolest tattoos I’ve ever seen.”
Abby Mills is a style icon, but that’s only part of the picture. She’s also a CEO, photographer, model, copywriter, accountant and salesperson all rolled into one.
Which is really just to say … she’s a web creator. But exactly how does one person do all that stuff and still have time for anything else? Read our interview with Abby to see how she turned a passion for vintage finds and deep-dish delights into a thriving life on the web.
What does your average day look like?
No two days are the same, but they are generally a mix of unglamorous behind-the-scenes work like answering emails, shooting photos, writing for my blog and real-time sharing on Instagram stories and elsewhere throughout the day). Most of the time I am in sweats (especially these days), writing or planning future work. But my content is a pretty authentic reflection of my life, so I show the unglamorous casual stuff too.
Right now, I wear all the hats: I’m the CEO, photographer, copywriter, accountant, head of client services, salesperson, and janitor. Which is great because I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself. But it’s bad when I can’t blame Susan for drinking the last cup of coffee without putting another pot on.
After all the nuts-and-bolts business stuff, how do you get into the flow creatively?
The more I stay off the internet, the better. I find it hard to focus on my own creative process if I spend too much time looking at what other people are doing. There are so many talented folks out there doing really unique and creative things. And while that can certainly be inspiring, I think it can also lead to a lot of second guessing, or copycatting, if you aren’t careful.
I don’t approach content creation from a purely creative standpoint, I actually think about it more from the standpoint of the function it serves. I.e., what problem does this piece of content solve? How does it answer a question, or alleviate a pain point, or unlock a new idea for my community?
So I usually start with the problem, and then build the content around the best way to answer that problem. For example, if my community is having trouble styling graphic T-shirts, I create a styling video that shows three unique ways to style a graphic tee.
The bag really ties it all together. So, how did you get here?
A few years ago I celebrated a bunch of big life milestones in a span of a few weeks—I turned 30, got married, and started a new job in a new industry. I had wanted to start a blog for years (like a decade). And I figured I might as well tack another big thing onto a series of big things.
It was important to me to have a blog outside of social media. A place on the internet that I own outright. So I started my website and my Instagram account at the same time.
I went into this industry pretty naive and inexperienced in the content creation world. It took me a few years to feel like I found my niche, and start to hit my stride. This industry changes really fast. There’s no blueprint for how to be successful, and no one way to “do it right.” Which is awesome because it means there’s room for lots of people and lots of viewpoints. But it’s also challenging
I have really enjoyed learning how this industry works, at the same time that the industry is coming into itself. We are definitely building the plane while we’re flying it, but it’s a fun ride.
If there was one product or service that could make your life easier, what would it be?
I love the idea of a web-based place to share ephemeral content. Or a place to take ephemeral content (like from Instagram stories) and make it into something else. Or even have the ability to archive it for public access. I can’t tell you how many DMs I’ve gotten that are questions related to expired IG stories!
On that note, what Google products/services do you already use?
All the things. I would not be able to manage my business without the combo of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs/Sheets, and Google Drive. I maintain my content calendar and track my deadlines in Google Calendar. I manage my outreach, contacts and finances in Sheets. And store/deliver my deliverables in Drive. I’ve found Docs to be a great way to collaborate with my clients as they can add edits, comments or approvals directly to my content before it goes live, without a lot of friction.
What’s the best part of your job? What about the worst part?
[The best part is] being my own boss, having my own autonomy to work on whatever I want (try new forms on content, experiment with different creative outlets) and only work with clients/brands who I believe in. I never have to take on a project that I’m not 110 percent stoked on. The worst part is probably turning off, or unplugging. Because my content is an extension of my life, it’s sometimes challenging to draw a hard separation. There are of course many things about my life that I don’t share with my online community—I keep my family and friends private, for the most part. But I genuinely love connecting with my community over all sorts of things. Setting boundaries at any job is difficult, but it’s especially difficult when part of your job is sharing your life and being a resource to people.
At the end of the day, what is the ultimate goal of your work?
This is so cheesy, but it’s probably helping people. I see my content as helpful to both my community (individuals who follow me) as well as the brands I work with. I tend to seek out new/small/indie brands, and really love sharing them with my community and being a part of growing their customer base. As an entrepreneur, working with other entrepreneurs is really inspiring for me.
I have always had unusual and particular taste—I love finding the best unique things, and discovering new brands who are really changing their respective industries. Sharing these brands with my community feels like a win-win-win to me.
I’m passionate about mentorship and advocacy in all areas of my life. And my digital presence is an extension of that passion. I really love supporting other creators, helping them recognize the value of their work, and ultimately sharing how they can monetize their business. I really enjoy giving back to the blogging community—and sharing things I wish I had known back when I started. For example, I do donation-based mentorship sessions, where all the money goes to organizations supporting civil rights and social justice initiatives.
What is something that inspires you every day about the web or in general?
I’m really inspired by all the different formats of technology that people use to connect with creators and communities—it’s pretty endless. Longform video, shortform video, podcasts, blogs, ephemeral content, etc etc. I’m at the point in my content creator “career” where I don’t feel pressure to jump onto every new format (I never did Snapchat or TikTok). I focus on doing a few things well, and not spreading myself too thin.
I also love learning about new brands who are using technology to change the fashion industry. For example, I’ve recently discovered this shoe company called Hilos—they 3D print the soles of each shoe (no gluing or nailing multiple parts together) which ultimately produces less waste and lowers their carbon footprint (pun intended).
What advice would you give someone just getting started? Or, what would you go back and tell yourself having learned all you’ve learned so far?
Maybe this is the same answer for both questions, but I think a lot of people go into the creator space without knowing what they’re doing, which makes sense because it’s a relatively new industry, and creative people usually just want to create. So they look at all these other people who seem to be super successful and they think “Oh, I have to be like that person. I have to take photos like them, or emulate that kind of style.” I feel like I did that as well, and it took me a while to figure out my unique perspective, and my approach, and my own style of content. So if I could go back, I’d want to just embrace who I am more and my unique point of view, what really makes me me. And I would just go with that right from the start.
The creator space I work in, the fashion space, is very saturated so the more you can embrace what makes you different the more successful you will be. Just you being you will give you an element of uniqueness (and authenticity) and people will connect to that.
In the last 20 years, the capabilities of the web have grown tremendously, but it’s also become more complex. Figuring out how to configure, manage and monetize your own site can be difficult, especially if you’re not technically savvy. Social media apps, and the massive growth of mobile phones, are popular because they make it easy to create and share content online—but that doesn’t always translate to the web, even though it has the widest audience of almost any platform on the internet.
We want to help with that.
Today we’re launching Google Web Creators to provide tools, guidance and inspiration for people who make awesome content for the web. In addition to this blog, you can check us out on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
A web creator could be a blogger, a photographer with a website, or a journalist—anyone who places their content on the open web. And while web creators may have different backgrounds, industries or areas of expertise, we think we can all learn from each other. By building a community of web creators, we aim to create a place where people creating for the web can learn, be inspired and grow.
In the coming months we’ll be sharing a lot of ideas and guidance to help those already creating on the web, as well as those interested in getting started:
- Guidance on how tools from Google and others can help
- Profiles of people in the creator community who are already producing great content
- Tips and tricks on how to be successful
To start, we’ll be featuring web creators like Abby Mills, a vintage fashion and lifestyle blogger, Hetal Vasavada, a Masterchef contestant who blogs about food and travel, and Cole Gaffney a cookbook author who shares recipes on her site. We’re also highlighting more than 20 different web creators who inspire us on our new Twitter handle, @webcreators.
We’ll also launch interactive forums like office hours and (virtual) events to answer your questions directly and build the community. For now, our YouTube channel is a great place to start to learn more. We’re excited to connect with all of you.
Think of a job in the food business and Nicole Gaffney—a.k.a. Coley—has likely had it. Since dropping her 9-5 job in 2010 and beginning a catering business, she’s been a contestant on “Food Network Star,” opened her own smoothie and acai shop, Soulberri, in her hometown of Brigantine, NJ and even published her cookbook, “The Art Of The Smoothie Bowl.” Along this journey, Coley has captivated audiences online via her blog Coley Cooks, where fans and everyday cooks can find Coley’s amazing recipes.
We chatted with Coley to learn more about how she’s built her businesses by channeling her passion for cooking with a little help from the web.
Tell me how you got started in the food and drink space.
I’ve been involved with cooking pretty much my whole life. I grew up in an Italian family and we got introduced to cooking at a really young age. I really took to it and always wanted to be a chef when I grew up.
I had worked a couple jobs in sales that I wasn’t loving and previously had always worked in the food & drink industry really since my first job scooping ice cream. I finally decided that I needed to pursue it.
It was in 2010 I quit everything and I went to culinary school and I started a private chef business. I live at the Jersey store so we get a huge influx of people in the summertime. I found myself obscenely busy in the summer and unable to enjoy anything and it was just crickets in the winter. I’ve always been a fan of food blogs and wanted to start one as a hobby. It was an outlet for me to focus on the foods that I love to cook.
It was a year or two after I started my blog that I went on the TV show “The Next Food Network Star” and that opened up a lot of doors for me. About six months after the show had ended, I had stopped doing catering / personal chef [work] and was focused on blogging and my YouTube channel and it’s been all uphill from there.
What does an average day look like for you now?
The cool thing about what I do is that everyday is a little bit different. I try to wake up around 7 a.m. to work out, have my coffee, check emails and social media. By around 10 a.m. I settle in and work on my blog, if I'm posting a new recipe I'll edit some pictures, or do some writing and work on recipes.
I have the smoothie shop (SoulBerri) so we have meetings with the managers, to see how things are going. Then I’ll make a trip to the grocery store to pick up what I need for dinner later. I try to do my food photography later in the day: (1) because the lighting is better and (2) because it’s what we are having for dinner.
I also do quite a bit of work for a major shopping network, representing two different companies on air a couple times a week. So for those episodes I’ll get all my hair and make up ready—nowadays we aren’t going to the studio so I’ll get all the food prepped, the kitchen cleaned up and ready to record. That’s usually some time late in the afternoon so after that, I’ll make dinner, clean up and watch some Netflix with my puppy.
Were there mentors along your path? What did you learn from them?
Bobby Flay has been a mentor to me. I met him on the set of “Food Network Star,” he was one of our judges and he actually has a restaurant in Atlantic City which is five minutes from me. He comes here to do events every so often so I’d go to his events and eventually we developed a friendship.
He’s given me so much great advice and explained the industry to me more, pulling back the curtains. He’s been a great friend and a great mentor and I look up to him a lot. When it comes to celebrity chefs, I don’t know if there’s anyone much bigger than Bobby.
How do you measure return on investment?
It’s mostly getting traffic to my blog because I’m making money on ad revenue. The more traffic that I can get to my blog the better. When it comes to working with different brands and getting sponsorship they just want to see that you have a big following and know that you are getting a certain amount of page views per month or followers on social media
Are there particular blogs that you follow and inspire the type of content that you look to put out there?
Yeah Definitely! I started blogging because I was such a big fan of blogs, there are so many big ones that a lot of people know. Smitten Kitchen. Deb, everything she posts looks so good. I feel like we have the same exact taste in food so she’s constantly inspiring me.
AlsoHalf Baked Harvest which is run by Keegan Gerrard—her photography is so beautiful and artistic, it’s been really inspiring to me with my own food photography. I’m constantly learning new techniques with food styling and lighting. It’s cool to look at what other people are doing and being artistically inspired by that.
What resources do you use to learn more about blogging?
There’s a blog called Pinch of Yum and they’re one of my favorites. Great recipes but they also have blogging resources for people that are looking to become food bloggers. Pinch of Yum also has a photography course and that’s one of the first courses that I took when I started really getting serious about blogging. So easy for me to get started to learn about food photography. Really get in there and practice because if you're not practicing you're never going to learn anything.How have you accommodated to remote blogging? What type of equipment do you recommend people get if they are on a limited budget and starting their own project?
I’m just using my computer for Skype sessions. One thing that network appearances often require is being hardwired to the internet with an ethernet cord because you do have such a limited amount of time to be on air. If you do have something that’s really important, make sure you're hardwired in. Also lighting is really important, natural light is great but it’s also so up and down, you don’t know what you're going to get and it changes when the sun goes behind a cloud. So investing in a decent light is worth it. A good headphone or microphone set is also really good to get as well.
What’s next for you in the short term? Are there any larger projects that you're working on that you’re looking forward to sharing?
This one’s on a personal level but my husband and I are building a house. My husband is an architect and this has been a dream of ours for a long time. We bought a lot of land on the water last year and we’ve been in the design process. We’re actually going to be breaking ground next week which is really exciting.
I want to make sure I include a lot of that in my content and share that with my readers and followers because it’s something that people are interested in. Especially the kitchen design, a few years back we redid the kitchen in our current house and I shared that content with my followers and they really liked it.
Once we’re in the new house I'm excited to ramp up my content creation even more and get back into creating videos because we’ll be in a brand new house on the water that will be super modern and Scandinavian, unique and I’m going to want to show it off so I cannot wait!
Last question. If you could have one meal as your last meal what would that be?
There’s so many things that I love! Chicken milanese which is a thin breaded crispy chicken cutlet, with a simple arugula salad with fresh tomatoes, lots of lemon, shaved parm. Now that I'm thinking of that it sounds kind of boring—who wants to eat a salad for their last meal! Maybe it’d be a really good burger and fries—can’t go wrong with that!
Hetal Vasavada of Milk & Cardamom is a New Jersey native who bakes and blogs from her adopted home of San Francisco, CA. Her cookbooks have been reviewed by The Washington Post andThe New York Times, among others, and she’s even been a contestant on “Masterchef USA.” Before you say wow, consider the fact that she’s also a new mom. Double wow! We talked to Hetal about her tips, goals and history as a web creator.
What do you think makes a web creator? What does your average day look like?
A web creator is anyone who shares their art or skill via social media or the internet. My average day consists of creating and working through an editorial calendar, recipe writing, photographing and editing images, and finally, going through lots and lots of emails!
What inspires you on a day-to-day basis?
I only work on recipes that get me excited to be in the kitchen! I usually start by writing down the type of recipes I need to create (Diwali, Christmas cookies, etc.) and then writing down feelings and visuals that bring me back to those moments as a kid. From there I start thinking about recipes that could best represent and evoke those exact feelings. My inspiration comes from my family, events and cultural aspects of my childhood, and more.
How did you get your start?
I started off in the healthcare industry and made the change to food about five years ago. I had an unusual beginning to my new career due to being on “MasterChef USA,” which kind of gave me the confidence to pursue a career in food. Once I was off the show I started working as a recipe writer and developer for startups in the Bay Area and worked on building up my blog and social media following.
At the end of the day, what is the ultimate goal of your site?
Create a record of recipes and thoughts that my daughter can go back to and make when I’m long gone.
What is something that motivates you?
Talking to my community and seeing how much they enjoy or relate to my food experiences. I really enjoy interacting with the community I have created on the web.
What’s the best part of your job?
Getting to eat everything I make!
What’s the worst part?
Eating all the failures while recipe testing.
What tools do you use to make your stuff?
Canva, Adobe, Snapseed, Wordpress, and Unfold!
If there was one product or service that could make your life easier what would it be?
So many! An all in one social media post scheduler which does video and photos. An app that automatically schedules in old posts/recipes based on trends and reposts. For example, if chocolate chip cookies are trending this week, it will take an old chocolate chip cookie recipe of mine and repost it to social media with a prompt for me to update the caption. And a sponsored post manager (like Asana but specifically for paid sponsorships) so I can keep track of all the brand requests, needs, contracts and invoices.
What advice would you give someone trying to make it in your industry?
Create dishes unique to you and find your niche and explore every angle of it!
Name five other people, blogs, brands, or websites doing awesome stuff in your field or beyond.
TheChutneylife.com
LoveLaughMirch.com
Zheelicious.com
ChocolateandCheesePlease.com
DiasporaCo.com
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