Food Blogger Stories Podcasts

413: Lessons in Burnout, Persistence, and Creativity after Ten Years of Food Blogging with Maggie Zhu

Emily @ FBP
by Emily @ FBP on Jun 13, 2023 in

Welcome to episode 413 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Maggie Zhu from Omnivore’s Cookbook.

Maggie Zhu has been running Omnivore’s Cookbook, a food blog all about modern Chinese cooking, for over ten years. That’s a very long time in internet years! She’s had incredible success growing her site during this time and just recently wrote her first cookbook.

But this success didn’t come without some struggle. Maggie has navigated intense periods of burnout over the last ten years and has learned that outsourcing and prioritizing her creativity are key to helping her overcome these phases.

This interview is honest, raw, and thought-provoking, and we really hope it resonates with you as much as it did with us!

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411: Working with Brands and Knowing What Your Work is Worth with Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White

Emily @ FBP
by Emily @ FBP on May 30, 2023 in , ,

Welcome to episode 411 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White from Orchids + Sweet Tea about how they work together to run two businesses, partner with brands, and create content with their audience in mind.

We’re really excited to share this week’s conversation with Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White. They’re the creators behind the food blog Orchids + Sweet Tea, and the production company, Brooklyn Sweet Tea Productions.

In this episode, you’ll hear all about the evolution of their businesses, how they negotiate with brands, and more about their experience as black creators in the food blogging space.

It’s a really inspiring episode with tons of actionable takeaways, and we can’t wait for you to give it a listen!

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396: The Business of Sprinkles with Sweetapolita’s Rosie Alyea

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Feb 14, 2023 in , ,
An image of sprinkles and cake and the title of Rosie Alyea's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'The Business of Sprinkles.'

Welcome to episode 396 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rosie Alyea from Sweetapolita about serving your audience and transitioning from blogger to shop owner.

This episode with Rosie is full of inspiration, and we’re so excited to be talking to her this week about the way she transitioned from blogging to running a multi-million dollar product-based business!

A common theme in this episode is the importance of serving your audience, and you’ll learn how Rosie did that as a blogger and now as a sprinkle business owner.

It’s a super entertaining interview, and we hope the conversation opens you up to other ideas and ways that you can be supporting your audience where they need it most!

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393: How Passion and Sourdough Feed a 9 Million Pageview Food Blog with Maurizio Leo

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Jan 24, 2023 in ,
An image of bread and the title of Maurizio Leo's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Passion and Sourdough.'

Welcome to episode 393 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Maurizio Leo from The Perfect Loaf about business growth through passion.

From co-founding and running a popular phone app to starting a sourdough blog that now gets 9 million pageviews a year, Maurizio Leo is a busy guy.

But everything he does is deeply rooted in passion, and you’ll hear why forming businesses around that passion has been crucial for his business growth and consistency in this conversation today.

If you’re looking for ways to diversify your income, growth strategies, or simply some inspiration to help you work towards your goals, you’ll get it all in this episode!

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392: How Pinch of Yum’s 1.1 Million Follower Instagram Account Got Hacked (and Recovered!)

Leslie Jeon
by Leslie Jeon on Jan 17, 2023 in ,
A phone opened to the Instagram login page and the title of Bjork Ostrom's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Hacked Instagram Account.'

Welcome to episode 392 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork explains how the Pinch of Yum Instagram account got hacked and eventually recovered.

Last month, Bjork and Lindsay went through something we all fear as content creators: they completely lost access to the Pinch of Yum Instagram account after Lindsay’s Facebook account got hacked. Talk about a scary situation!

They were eventually able to get the accounts recovered, but they went through a few very stressful days trying to get everything sorted out. In this episode, Bjork shares the entire story of how this happened, how they were able to recover the accounts, and what measures they’re taking to prevent this from happening in the future.

Last but not least, Bjork also provides some tips for how you can secure your own social media accounts to hopefully avoid a situation like this.

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390: Overcoming Burnout and Building a Successful Career as a Food Creator with Karishma Pradhan

Leslie Jeon
by Leslie Jeon on Jan 3, 2023 in ,
Flames burning and the title of Karishma Pradhan's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Overcoming Burnout.'

Welcome to episode 390 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Karishma Pradhan from Home Cooking Collective about how she overcame burnout and built a successful career as a food creator.

Today, we’re really excited to share this conversation with Karishma Pradhan! She runs the site Home Cooking Collective, and she has a really unique story to share about how she became a full-time food creator.

In this episode, you’ll hear what her career used to look like as a data analyst, why she transitioned to working for herself, how she overcame feelings of burnout, and how she earns an income now by sharing food content online.

It’s a really inspiring interview that emphasizes the importance of finding work that serves you and empowers your physical and mental health. We hope you enjoy it!

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384: How Toni Okamoto Runs Two Food Blogs and Grew Her Email List to Over 80,000 Subscribers

Leslie Jeon
by Leslie Jeon on Nov 22, 2022 in ,
Hands placing a bowl of figs on a cutting board and the title of Toni Okamoto's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Running Two Food Blogs.'

Welcome to episode 384 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Toni Okamoto from Plant-Based on a Budget about how she runs her two food blogs and how she’s grown her email list to over 80,000 subscribers.

Today, we’re really excited to share this conversation with Toni Okamoto! She’s the creator behind not one, but two, successful food blogs: Plant-Based on a Budget and Food Sharing Vegan.

In this episode, you’ll hear what she’s done to get both blogs accepted into Mediavine, why she decided to expand her team, how she’s grown her email list to over 80,000 subscribers, and more.

Toni’s passion for her work shines through in this interview, and we know you’ll have so many takeaways after learning her story and content creation strategy!

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379: 5 Tips for Growing Your Blog with a Full-Time Job with Shweta Garg

Leslie Jeon
by Leslie Jeon on Oct 18, 2022 in ,
A woman typing on a laptop and the title of Shweta Garg's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Growing Your Blog with a Full-Time Job.'

Welcome to episode 379 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shweta Garg from Masala & Chai about how she’s grown her blog while working a full-time job.

Are you growing your blog while also working a full-time job? Do you struggle to find enough hours in the day to get everything done? If so, you’re not alone!

Today, we’re chatting with Shweta, the blogger behind the site Masala and Chai. Since launching her blog, she has been growing it while also working a full-time job, and she’s been very strategic in maximizing her time and resources to grow and monetize her site.

In this episode, you’ll hear her five best tips for growing your blog while also working a full-time job, as well as what she’s done to earn $9,000 in one month from her blog. We hope you enjoy hearing Shweta’s story and advice in this episode!

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378: Monetizing as a Food Creator Through Digital Products, Cookbooks, and Ads with Tessa Arias

Leslie Jeon
by Leslie Jeon on Oct 11, 2022 in ,
Camera in front of a laptop and the title of Tessa Arias' episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Monetizing as a Food Creator.'

Welcome to episode 378 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tessa Arias from Handle the Heat about the unique ways she monetizes her business as a food creator.

Today, we’re really excited to share this conversation with Tessa! She’s a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and blogger behind the site Handle the Heat and a big proponent of diversifying your income streams as a food creator.

In this episode, you’ll hear how she sells both physical and digital products on her blog, her best tips for those who want to start selling digital products like courses, why she doesn’t want to rely entirely on ad revenue, and more.

Tessa’s story is so inspiring, and she offers some really insightful advice for other food creators in this conversation. If you’ve been looking for some unique ways to monetize your business, you won’t want to miss this episode!

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375: From Blogger to Cookbook Author (Part Two) – Preserving Family Recipes Through Cookbooks with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack

Leslie Jeon
by Leslie Jeon on Sep 20, 2022 in , ,
Two people holding hands and the title of Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack's episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'From Blogger to Cookbook Author (Part 2).'

Welcome to episode 375 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack from Muy Bueno in Part Two of our From Blogger to Cookbook Author series.

Welcome back to our From Blogger to Cookbook Author series! In this two-part series, we’re interviewing a few bloggers who have landed cookbook deals to learn more about how the cookbook writing process works.

And in this final installment of this series, we’re chatting with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack! In addition to running her blog, Muy Bueno, she has also written two cookbooks, and she’s currently working on a third. Suffice it to say she knows a thing or two about the cookbook process!

In this episode, you’ll hear how she wrote her cookbook proposals, what it was like writing a cookbook with a co-author, and her best tips for creators who want to write a cookbook one day. We hope you enjoy this episode!

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