We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian Lane a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
The reason I started my creative journey was out of a combination of wanting to share my love for food and boredom. As of late, I don’t have too much time to be consumed by boredom. Luckily, this has had little impact on wanting to share my passion for food until recently. I’ve been even more busy with my primary job and starting a couple new businesses that this hobby of being a food influencer has been pushed to the sidelines. To make matters worse, Instagram has been slowly reducing my exposure for my still photos. They really want to push reels but I don’t have the time anymore film, edit, and post these videos. As a result, my motivation has been at a loss. It feels draining when your hobby that never felt like a job starts getting different requirements and guidelines in order to provide the same amount of satisfaction on my end.
Brian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m in the Arizona vegan foodie influencer industry. Followers of mine expect to be influenced by my food choices no matter the place or kitchen. I want to promote yummy looking vegan whether it’s from my kitchen or a restaurant. Something that sets me apart from other vegan instagrams in the wow factor I include. More often than not, I go overboard with the size or junk food combo in a post. To contrast, I allow my follows to see my blood work and promote yoga, working out, and eating lots of salads as well. I’m most proud of the work I’ve done with a friend of mine, @comfortfoodvegan , to start a vegan food vendor business. We have teamed up to create a restaurant called @VeggieThiefAz and we make vegan chicken. Our menu will consist of chicken sandwiches, tenders, popcorn nuggets, and fries. We don’t have an opening date yet, but hopefully for this fall of 2023.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I focused more on the videography aspect earlier in my creative journey. Tiktok is ruling social media while the other platforms are trying to catch up by pushing videos on their feed. If you don’t post videos often and good quality videos, you will get lost in the algorithm
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being creative is having the community that comes along with it. Everyone I’ve met in the Phoenix vegan community has been so welcoming and loving. I’ve gained some of my closest friends from this community and the creations we made together will forever be my favorites.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chillvegandude
Image Credits
The photo of the crunchwrap is from a place called dos pink tacos and the photo of me eating Sonoran dog is from El Guero Vegano