We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charlotte Hancey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charlotte below.
Charlotte, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I grew up in a family of amazing home cooks. I was drawn to the kitchen from an early age and loved helping out my mother and grandparents by doing the simplest cooking tasks. When I left home and began my own family, I found my talent and passion in the kitchen. For years I was know among my family and friends as a great home cook and one who always had the best recipes. Never did it cross my mind to make a career out of it until about 17 years into my marriage. I was back at college in my late 30’s to get my elementary teaching degree. I happened to catch a moment on local TV that my favorite lifestyle show was doing a chili contest. On a whim, I entered my “famous” Sweet Bacon Chili recipe and was shocked to be picked. I had always been obsessed with cooking shows on TV and thought “those people have the best careers” but never pictured myself doing it. I went and filmed my segment for the chili contest and it lit my soul on fire. I was really good at cooking on TV! I ended up finishing my degree but was also asked by the local TV station to come back for regular cooking segments. I started teaching but also filmed cooking segments into the nooks and crannies. I also started a food blog just for fun (not even thinking about monetizing) and because I wanted a place to keep all of my TV segment recipes. A couple years went by and my food career was soaring. I was getting collaborations, cooking class opportunities, and my social media was quickly growing. I started to feel torn between teaching and my dream foodie career. I would teach 2nd grade all day, come home, and go straight to the kitchen. It was then that I realized cooking wasn’t just a hobby, it was my stress reliever, my passion, my art, and what I was meant to do with my life. After 4 years of teaching, I decided to go all in as a food blogger, TV chef, etc. It was a scary leap leaving the security of my job to total entrepreneurship. Going all in was the best decision! Giving my full attention to my blog, social media, recipe development, etc literally paid off. I was able to increase my blog views to monetize with ads, increase my social media following by tens of thousands, and find so many fun opportunities to use my teaching degree in cooking classes. I am only 5 years into this unexpected career and am so excited for the future of “Charlotte Shares.”
Charlotte, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I grew up in a small east Texas town and as much as I couldn’t wait to leave at age 18, I now ache for it living out of state. My longing for the amazing cuisine I grew up with sparked my passion for cooking and desire to share with others. I love to create recipes that are made of simple, everyday ingredients but bursting with bold flavors the size of Texas. Creating shortcuts in recipes to make them more achievable for typical busy families is my specialty too! I enjoy using my background in teaching to educate others as well. I want people to feel confident in their kitchens!
I also, LOVE cooking on TV! I have filmed over 70 live TV segments on local ABC, NBC, and Fox stations. I feel like I come alive in those 5 minutes on air. My biggest dream is to cook in a national TV show either through competing or simply showing off one of my popular recipes. I literally have a Food Network logo on my vision board. It will happen someday!
I wrote a cookbook! My first ever cookbook titled, “Texas Favorites” was released in fall 2022 and it has been such an enjoyable and rewarding experience. The cookbook is full of classic Texas recipes like King Ranch Chicken, Charro Beans, Dulce de Leche Banana Pudding, Roasted Chile Queso Blanco and more. I am already excited to write another cookbook!
I am most proud of the ability I have to try new things and go for my dreams. I never would have known that cooking on TV was a possibility for me unless I got out of my comfort zone and tried it. I never would have known that my blog could lead to an income if I hadn’t first, created one, and also gave my full attention to it. I have had to “do it scared” so many times in my food career and am proud of my self for thinking “why not me?” It has paid off over and over!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In the thick of my newfound successful culinary career, my husband who is in the Air Force Reserves had to deploy overseas for 7 months. I had managed my career through a previous deployment so I honestly had no worries. However, he left in January 2020 and we all know what happened to the world just 2 months later. When the world came crashing to a halt with the pandemic, I felt so hopeless with my career (among other things). I had all of these incredible dream opportunities in the works that were canceled. I could have stopped creating recipes, doing TV segments, teaching cooking classes and posting on social media but something in me told me to keep going. I created simple pantry staple recipes, I filmed cooking segments virtually for the local news, and I taught virtual cooking classes. I kept trudging forward through the hardest, scariest, loneliest, 7 months of my life. Even though my business didn’t explode during that time with success, it progressed and I’m so grateful I didn’t give up.
How did you build your audience on social media?
In 2018 I switched my personal Instagram account to a creator account. I changed the name to “Charlotte Shares” and had about about 700 friends following me at the time. As I started to share food content with a public account, I grew to 5000 followers by 2021. During that three years I had a lot of frustrations. I saw other food content creators grow super fast and found out that many had used a fake growth service to do it. They were getting collaborations and opportunities that I wanted because they looked so great with their 10K+ following. The thought of using a service to gain random or fake followers seems so disingenuous and I knew I could never do it. I wanted to grow a real audience of people who genuinely wanted to follow me and support my content. Many people follow me not only for my recipes but because I like to “keep it real” in my Instagram stories. I talk to my followers like they are my friends because they are. I LOVE the community I have built on my little speck of the internet. My slow and stead wins the race approach worked because my consistent posting and patience has lead me to a current Instagram following of 26K+. Fall 2022 one of my recipes, Caramel Apple Cheesecake Trifle, went viral then several more Reels followed suit. I gained so many new friends and it has been so much fun! My advice to anyone starting out or frustrated is to post with the intent to educate, entertain, or inform but never to get likes or follows. Keep posting, keep sharing your passion, stay up on trends, and build a community through stories.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charlotteshares.blog/
- Instagram: @charlotte.shares
- Facebook: @charlottesharesblog
- Other: TikTok: @charlotte.shares
Image Credits
Charlotte Hancey Affinity Photo Studio