We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Constance Martin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Constance below.

Hi Constance , thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Looking back on it, I do wish I had started my creative career sooner. A lot of the content I create are YouTube videos, corresponding e-books, and more. If I had started on YouTube a few years prior it would have allowed me to keep doing what I love without as much physical stress on my body.

I started creating food content during the pandemic. For many years, starting at the age of 23, I had owned restaurants back in Guyana where I’m from and transitioned to private catering when I moved to the United States in the 1980s. However, as I got older I had to stop catering because of other responsibilities and demands in my life. Instead I would cook and sell food at various bazaars and pop-up shops.

During the pandemic I was thinking of ways I could earn more money, and my daughter suggested I still cook, but create videos, ebooks, and teach virtual classes. That way I could make money without as much physical strain on my body.

Starting during the pandemic gave me plenty of time to explore and discover which aspects of content creation I like. However, by this point YouTube wasn’t as simple as it was back in the day. Now it really requires strategy to ensure you are growing and reaching the right audience. Long gone are the days when you can just randomly put up a video and it goes viral quickly. Had I started sooner it would have sped up the growth process for me on YouTube. It also would have allowed me to continue doing what I love without having to take a break or put as much physical strain on my body. Ultimately, starting when I did is still working out and taught me so many skills along the way. It’s a win at the end of the day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the founder and CEO of Mama Martin’s Kitchen, a company that strives to showcase homestyle Caribbean food, culture and traditions through content creation and merchandise. We particularly highlight Guyanese food and culture.

Getting into the content creation industry was something that made sense at the time I started. Not being able to cook and sell plates or cater during the pandemic left me with limited options of how I could earn money. It only made sense that I would transition my efforts to a more virtual presence, and I’m glad I did. It’s given me much more flexibility over my time and allowed me to do more than I personally would have been able to do had I not started going virtual. It’s also allowed my daughters and I to create content together and essentially build a family legacy through Mama Martin’s Kitchen.

Mama Martin’s Kitchen currently offers virtual cooking classes, digital cookbooks, and we are in the process of planning physical products we intend to offer. Of course, we have our video catalog on YouTube that shows simple step-by-step recipes. We strive to primarily focus on foods that are affordable to cook for a family. We don’t want you to break the bank to enjoy a meal.

Because this is a family effort, it’s not abnormal to see my grandson in a video from time to time, or even have my daughters featured on my channel sharing their favorite recipes to cook. When you watch my videos you will feel like you’re in your grandmother’s kitchen–a warm atmosphere, relaxing conversation, and delicious recipes involved. We pour that same love into the products we create so you can enjoy them and create memories with your family.

I’m most proud that at the age of 71 I’m still able to do what I love in a flexible way. I’m proud of how far I’ve come with this company. I’m really excited for the long-term vision of Mama Martin’s Kitchen. We have huge plans for the future and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think it’s so important for those who are not in the creative space to understand just how much their engagement makes a difference in our work, particularly on social media. When I say engagement I mean a like, comment, share and/or save.

Being a YouTuber, it’s common practice to tell people to like, comment, share and subscribe. For us as creatives, that phrase becomes second nature and a habit. However, to the consumer it’s easy to gloss over that request. At the same time, it’s so crucial because of the impact engagement makes for a brand. Never underestimate the power of sharing content, liking and commenting, etc. Majority of platforms today take engagement with content or even a product into consideration when sharing it with the general public. Even if a product is being sold on Amazon for instance, the more satisfactory reviews it has, the more likely that product is to be recommended to the public.

So if you see an Instagram post you enjoy, engage with it by commenting on it. If you see a Facebook live that resonated with you, share it. Bought a digital book you like? Leave a review on the site you purchased from. All of these actions seem minute, but they are critical for the creative. We can’t grow alone, and we pour so much into what we do as solopreneurs or small business owners. Every little bit of support counts.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

When it’s all said and done I truly want to create a family legacy with Mama Martin’s Kitchen. One of my biggest prayers is that I will create something that my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on can inherit and enjoy long after I’m gone. To me its deeper than what is done today. This is purpose.

Thinking of this is what keeps me going when I may have a slow season, or I may have to slow down a bit due to my health, or any other issues arise. I’m blessed to be my age and still have the passion and ability to work towards this dream. As long as I keep that in perspective there is nothing that can truly stop me.

I don’t want to spill the beans, but just know that there is expansion coming to Mama Martin’s Kitchen and it will be a name you will see more of. I look forward to walking this journey with you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mamamartinskitchen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamartinskitchen
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/MamaMartinsKitchenHome