We were lucky to catch up with Margaret Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.

Margaret, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I’ve struggled with weight my entire life. Like many people, I had just accepted the like that I was “big boned” until the lifestyle choices I had started to affect my health over time. Once the doctor told me I was pre-diabetic, with elevated cholesterol, AND borderline blood pressure, I knew I had to make a change. Visiting Nancy Masoud, my metabolic specialist at LockedIn Wellness, changed it all. I was tested for food sensitivities and I learned there were foods my body tolerated better than others. After the initial shock of beginning an elimination diet, I decided to recreate the foods I’ve always loved.

As my health improved, I began share my cooking experiments on social media and the food “substitutions” I used in them. To my surprise, people loved it and started asking questions about the ingredients. I decided to start livestreaming my meal preparation and our foodie community began to grow. “Maggie the Substitute Teacher” was born! As the weight came off, I started feeling better about myself and wanted to finally move more elegantly as a woman, so I quietly enrolled myself in etiquette classes. To my surprise, again, my followers were interested in personal development as well! I now share what I have learned in The Finishing School for the Modern Woman. With the support of my man and the teaching experience of my co-founder, Lucy, we teach ladies about soft skills.

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.

I am just a mom and a home “cooker” in Atlanta (as the boys used to call me). Being the daughter of an immigrant family and a retired Home Economics Teacher, my home skills were always prioritized. Although I have an education and big corporate career, I find true happiness in taking care of and sharing with others. The biggest gift I have is in community building, so I help to bring people together around Food and Femininity content. For the foodies, I love to recreate trending viral videos of recipes, but “substituting” the ingredients that have been approved for me as meal inspiration. What sets me apart is my genuine joy for the food, the people, and being intentionally inclusive in my kitchen.

For the ladies who are interested in a more feminine way of life and love, Lucy and I stream reactions to relationship videos and group coaching publicly on my YouTube Channel, Maggie the Substitute Teacher. For those who want a more private experience, we also offer femininity classes and courses in the Finishing School for the Modern Woman. This space is especially beneficial for professional women who don’t want to lose the womanly essence of themselves.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media journey began with a personal Facebook profile created 20 years ago. It was just a place to share pictures and videos of my growing family and thoughts on daily life. When “Maggie the Substitute Teacher” started to grow, I leveraged my existing friends and family with a public announcement online, “I’m going to start a cooking channel!” I started changing my content from personal to match my cooking niche and branched out to all of the other platforms, using the same name. My online audience loves to feel included in the process, so I make it a point to respond to comments and call out subscribers by name during my livestreams. I want to get to know them just as much as they know me!

In the beginning, I used collaborations with other channels to build my presence and learn while I was also “teaching.” By being consistent and flexible, I allowed my authentic self to enjoy the content creation process and then the inevitable happened. One day, on a podcast, I was asked a relationship question and my answer broke the internet. Over 3 million viral views later, I used the momentum from that podcast clip to launch my brand to even more people. Now, I have roughly ~75K total followers across multiple platforms by allowing myself to just be me.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I like to say I’m a “reformed modern woman” and the pandemic reset all of that. As much as I loved to be nurturing, I bought into the belief that I could have it all, and at the same time. After 10 years of marriage and two active boys, I found myself exhausted and saw that my weight was creeping up with the stress. Even after an amicable divorce, I struggled to find peace and happiness with the life I had created for myself. When we were all sent home to “wait this thing out” in 2020, I, like many other women realized how much happier I was at home…working at a slower pace. With the loving support of my man, we put a plan in place for me to DO less, and BE more. I stepped away from the big executive job in favor of just being an individual contributor. I started cooking more at home and stayed away from the fast food. I stopped shouting and began speaking. I began to embrace that my femininity WAS my superpower and now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been! My online presence is simply a window in to my own life and apparently has inspired others to do the same. I’m incredibly grateful and humbled by the “reset” that saved my sanity, and my health. Now that the boys are 15 and 17, I am looking forward to growing old gracefully in a loving relationship after they graduate from high school. The year 2020 was a pivot from corporate career to a business that has completely changed everything around me for the better.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://teachablemomentswithmaggie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiethesubstitute/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaggietheSubstituteTeacher
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretappiahbrown/
• Twitter: https://x.com/Maggiethesub
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MaggietheSubstituteTeacher
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@maggiethesubstitute

Image Credits

Katlyne Hill Photography

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