Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica & Navid Parsa. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jessica & Navid, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Photography and videography both require expert technical skills and creative ingenuity. Navid has been interacting with cameras from a young age and finds the technical aspects the most appealing. While Jessica didn’t have early exposure to photography and videography, she ran her own food blog for many years before they met, which provided her with expertise in social media management and marketing, as well as a creative vision. Combining both of their hobbies seemed like the most logical next step. Thus, The Parsa Kitchen was born, and the work began—along with the obstacles.

When you start sharing what you create, you quickly see how your skills measure up. Although we were not complete beginners, we still felt like novices. We realized how little we actually knew about photography, videography, brand management, and content strategy. Choosing the path of least resistance, we decided to “learn on the job” and improve our skills through practice and repetition. While this approach did help us enhance our abilities, it would have been more advantageous to take a step back and pursue additional education in the areas we were lacking.

Eventually, we purchased a videography course and dedicated time to learn, little by little, ways to improve. Have we finished the course? Admittedly, no—but we intend to. Like all of us, the largest obstacle in life is TIME. This process has taught us that while it may seem logical to rush ahead and skip the slow, methodical learning process, taking the time to do it right the first time will always save you time in the long run

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi there! We are Navid and Jessica, the faces behind The Parsa Kitchen. The origin of our brand is quite the journey, so let’s jump in. Jessica ran a food blog in high school and college for six years before meeting Navid, sharing healthy recipes and wellness tips. Navid had his own photography business, capturing moments at weddings, birthdays, graduations, and more. When they met, they began to share their passions with each other, and slowly but surely, they decided it was time to combine the two.

In April 2024, they officially changed the name of Jessica’s blog to “The Parsa Kitchen” and established the business as an LLC. Building on the work Jessica had done to grow her platform over the years, they took the page to a whole new level. Utilizing Navid’s extensive photography and videography skills, they began creating high-resolution recipe videos for their audience and advertisements for food brands.

Navid was born in Iran, so Persian culture and cuisine play a significant role in our brand. We share both American and Persian recipes in an approachable way, using the tagline “nooshé jān” at the end of all our videos. Nooshé jān is the Persian equivalent of “Bon Appétit,” directly translating to “may it nourish your soul.” Our desire is that everyone who tries our recipes feels they nourish not only their bodies but their souls.

In addition to the content we share with our audience, we have a separate part of our business dedicated to creating high-quality advertisements for food brands. Food videography and photography can be quite challenging, and we are grateful for the opportunity to create content for brands we believe in.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Navid and I (Jessica) met in January of 2020 through a dating app, just before the pandemic hit. At the time, I was running my food blog and accidentally connected the account to my dating profile. Navid came across my profile and was immediately interested, particularly in my food. He wanted to message me but had run out of his “swipes” for the day. Panicking and unsure how to connect, he decided to pay $0.99 to “super swipe” me, ensuring he was the first profile I saw when I opened the app.

Two weeks later, I accepted his invitation to connect, and we began messaging. Shortly after, we met in person, and the rest was history. We spent the pandemic working from home together, cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner with each other every single day. The kitchen became our happy place, and the flow we had while cooking together was magical. A few years later, we decided to create a business together and named it “The Parsa Kitchen.” Sometimes it is admittedly hard to work with your spouse, but it has only made us better communicators and given us an appreciate of what one another can do.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Some people identify as creatives, while others see themselves as non-creatives, but we believe every single person is meant to create. Both Navid and I (Jessica) still work full-time corporate jobs while running The Parsa Kitchen as a side hustle—or, as we like to call it, our passion project. TPK is our creative outlet and a way to express the side of ourselves that our corporate careers don’t allow. By exercising our creative muscle, we’re able to bring this skill to our work in the office and in our day to day lives.

Each of us has a creative part of our brains that yearns to be expressed, but often, we can leave this side of us suppressed. Some may excel as painters, writers, or photographers, while others may find their creativity in developing new technologies for their companies or coming up with solutions to difficult problems. This is all creativity. There is no single way to be creative, and the more we appreciate creativity in all areas of our lives, the more we can all flourish

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theparsakitchen.com
• Instagram: @theparsakitchen
• Facebook: @theparsakitchen
• Youtube: @theparsafamily

Image Credits

All ours.