I’ve gotten quite a few new followers recently thanks to this Substack (YAY and thank you for being here!), so now feels like a good time to explain this.
It’s honestly something I should have addressed a while ago anyway, because I get this question a lot. It’s probably my own fault for not self promoting the way I used to, or the way I advise my clients to do. Who are my clients? You might ask. Well…keep reading.
But first! The origin story. Because it’s a fun one.
I spent the first eight years of my career in ad sales and marketing. I worked at Us Weekly magazine (which was very fun as my first job in my twenties), then a bunch of ad-tech type startups and a few food websites who shall remain nameless.
I was good at it in some ways and genuinely liked parts of it, but if you’ve ever worked in sales, you know the highs are high and the lows are soul-crushing.
I also had a talent for choosing companies that would eventually go under, which did not help. When I got let go from my last ad sales job at 30 years old (in 2014, you do the math), I had two things going for me: a “hustle & grind” mentality, and a food blog/food photo skillset that was quietly gaining traction on Instagram.
I’d been running my food blog theskinnypignyc.com on the side since 2008 - restaurant coverage mostly, bizarre recipes, and very random rants about usually nothing (but food related). I called it “The Three R’s.” As dumb as it sounds, it worked.
It was the kind of content I made because I loved it and not because anyone asked me to. Instagram was moving for me around 2015. Brand deals were coming in too. I had no husband, no kids, and no real reason not to bet on myself. So I did.
The other thing I didn’t have? A plan. But who needs that when you have a steady growing following and a dream?!
I told myself if I didn’t try this now (“this” being my food blog/Instagram full time) I’d regret it. So I jumped in with both feet, or perhaps more accurately, head first. Without a fucking helmet.
Again, I cannot stress enough the part about not having a plan and how much I do not recommend that as a business strategy.
Because here is what I did not fully account for: New York City, where it costs approximately $50 just to open your eyes in the morning, does not care about your passion project. You need real money to live here. The brand deals were real - $1,500 here, $2,000 there if I was lucky - but I was not pulling the $5-10k per post numbers that make influencing a viable career in this city.
Also, even if you can make $5K on a post, you might not see that money for 2-3 months. Ask any content creator and they will likely have a PTSD response to “NET 60.” That’s referring to payment terms. So you don’t get paid until 60 days AFTER the post goes live. It’s not always this way, but 30-60 days was pretty standard.
The anxiety of not knowing where my next paycheck was coming from was hell. I burned through my savings faster than I’d like to admit, and one day when I was walking home, crying because I felt so goddamn lost, I realized I didn’t have enough money in my account to treat myself to a manicure. Not even a mani-pedi, mind you, a regular manicure. That’s like, $30? Maybe $25 back in 2017 because #inflation.
So at 34 years old, I decided to rent out my apartment (that I own) and move back home with my mom in Queens, where I grew up.
I want to say something about this because I think it deserves more than a punchline: moving home is not as embarrassing as everyone makes it out to be. It’s not a shining moment, obviously, but sometimes it’s exactly what you need to do in order to get your life together. I feel like people talk more kindly about going to rehab than about moving back home.
For me, removing the financial pressure by renting out my apartment actually gave me the space to figure out what I wanted without desperation driving every decision. And my mom and I are close. I knew even then that I’d look back on that time and not regret it. You don’t get infinite time with the people you love. Remember that.
My plan was to stay for six months, get my life together, and figure out the next move. I stayed for two years lol. Zero regrets.
Then, in 2020, about a month after I moved back home to Williamsburg, COVID happened and I lost nearly every client I worked so hard over those two years to gain.
You cannot make that shit up.
I incorporated as The Skinny Pig Inc. in 2018, had about four restaurant clients by 2020, and right as my business was getting off the ground, the universe went “lol one sec” and threw a fucking 90-mph curveball.
Restaurants, if you recall, did not exactly thrive in 2020. It was a lot to handle, mentally and financially.
But here’s the thing about hitting the reset button, twice: eventually you get very clear on what you’re actually good at and what you actually want to do.
SO WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT AND WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO?!
I know, I still haven’t answered the title question!
What I actually do is this:
I am a food content creator (formerly known as a food photographer/blogger), writer, social media manager, and creative director.
I work primarily with hospitality clients - restaurants, bars, breweries, bakeries, food and beverage brands (and occasionally chefs too). Here’s my website if you want more info, my portfolio, or to get in touch.
I handle everything from strategy and content calendars to photography, video direction, copywriting, community management, and analytics. Community management means when you DM your favorite restaurant, it might be me you’re talking to. :)
I currently work with seven or eight clients, which is kind of a lot for one person but also exactly how I like it. I work with a small team: a content organizer who helps me manage the calendars and research post ideas, a videographer and photographer I bring in for clients who want higher production value content, and a graphic designer I pull in as needed. It’s intentionally lean. I prefer being busy and doing good work consistently, which requires not spreading myself so thin that the quality suffers.
I know what I can manage well and I’m not interested in scaling for the sake of it - I like my life the way I designed it aka just a little chaotic. Running a business with multiple employees is not necessarily something I’m interested in right now. Maybe one day, but not now. And good help is hard to find.
When I have hired people in the past, they usually leave after 2-3 months because they realize managing a social media account is not all fun and games. It’s boring a lot of times. It’s tedious. And frankly, a little unrelenting. It. Doesn’t. Stop.
You have WiFi? You can do your job.
You’re in Paris on vacation? They have WiFi there too. You can do your job.
You’re in the hospital? Well, you probably have your phone. You can do your job.
It’s one of the FEW jobs where 99% of it can literally be done from your phone.
It’s a gift and a curse.
And it’s also one of those jobs where the expectation is to get it done IMMEDIATELY when asked. The memes like this exist for a reason:
But I digress again. Every job has negatives, and ultimately, this is the type of job that suits me. I’m a multitasker, I’m creative, and I’m a good communicator. Unless I’m on a shoot or driving somewhere, you will hear back from me within an hour.
What I’m good at, if you want to pass around to any food friends who need social media help:
I turn things around quickly without cutting corners, I’m obsessively detail oriented, and I’m extremely organized - which, in the hospitality industry, where everything changes at the last minute and someone always needs something yesterday, matters more than almost anything else. At least I think so.
I am good at food photography and even made my own Lightroom Presets so you can edit your photos easily with the tap of one button. I sell them here on Etsy for $5 and they download right to your phone for use on the Lightroom Mobile App. I’ll admit they’re not the most intuitive thing to set up, but that’s not my fault, that one’s on Adobe for making shit complicated. Everyone I know who has bought them, uses them and loves them. I use them literally every day.
I’m also a writer, as you may have noticed. And I love comedy, so there was a moment or two in my career where I did a little bit of standup, on camera hosting, and a little bit of script-writing for short form content.
Scripting and directing short form video, shooting/acting in skits, finding the right tone for a brand’s voice - that’s some of my favorite work. I’ve had content go viral more than once, which is never predictable but also isn’t entirely accidental.
Where do I want to go from here?
Thanks for asking so I can speak this into the universe: more creative direction work. That’s truly my favorite thing. Being on a shoot with multiple people helping bring your vision to life. More collaboration with agencies and larger brands too. I’ve done it, I’m good at it, and I want more of it. I like those shoots because I get to actually direct and create rather than simultaneously direct, shoot, edit, post, and manage the comments myself.
To that end, my right hand/wrist has pretty bad arthritis from all this work (not kidding), and I can only imagine that will get worse as I age, so I’m always looking for new photographers and videographers to assist me on shoots. If that’s you, send over your portfolio/IG, and I’d be happy to take a look! Because when there’s a team and a real creative vision and a budget that supports it, the work gets genuinely exciting. And much more creative than the stuff I can do by myself.
Also if you’ve seen the BTS on my other IG page, we have fun out here.
For now - if you’ve been following me for a while and never knew what I do for a living, now you know. And if you or anyone you know is looking for someone to handle their social media, content creation, or creative direction, you know where to find me.
And I will absolutely answer your text.
Random, but about 2 or 3 years ago I was at a corner in Williamsburg and I realized I was standing right next to you. Been following since the Skinny Pig days and got a little starstruck but I didn't say anything for fear of coming off like a weirdo lol. The peak behind the curtain was fun and maybe we'll get a reply from whoever always replies on IG from Misfit Creatives. They always seem to chime in in the comments.