We were lucky to catch up with Darryl Gordon recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Darryl, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I’ll admit that I have always embarrassed my kids – no sooner than our food arrives at the table, out comes my camera, and I insist on taking photos before anyone ever gets to enjoy their meal. My passion for cooking, and being a frustrated chef (that will never own a restaurant or create a dish that is restaurant worthy), has me making sure that I capture every delicious meal I eat so that the food looks incredible. After 15+ years of writing restaurant reviews in newspapers (that had a declining readership), and writing lengthy blog posts (that no one read), I was encouraged to open an Instagram account and post the photos. It seems like my love for food, capturing the passion chefs have for creating dishes, and posting these photos and videos appealed to followers, as I was not expecting 23K followers to be watching my every meal.
Darryl, 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?
My name is Darryl Gordon, and I am a self-confessed foodie. I have lived in San Diego for 34 years, and my career in marketing has allowed me to work at some of San Diego’s best companies as I help them build their brand, positioning them as industry leaders, and driving lead-generation activities. It’s that same sense of business strategy that I apply to my Instagram food account – helping restaurants showcase their food, sharing their passion for quality ingredients, and helping them build their business by giving them an opportunity to share their mission.I am proud of my relationship with all the local restaurants, and my integrity.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When the mandatory statewide stay-at-home order was issued on March 19, 2020, it was devastating to so many of my friends – restaurant owners, chefs, waiters, bartenders, suppliers, etc. Restaurants were hit so badly by the state of the virus and their revue was immediately impacted. As dine-in service quickly converted to take-our service, I was overwhelmed by the number of restaurants that reached out with a desperate need to help them share their message about to-go orders. Taking photos of food in plastic containers, cardboard boxes, and plastic bags is never ideal, but the goal of keeping restaurants in business was so critical. helping as many restaurants as I could kept me up at night thinking about the financial toll that they were enduring. Sadly, many restaurants never recovered – but I am so proud of the ones that did, despite an incredibly tough situation.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Can I say I am an old guy? All my first marketing initiatives were radio spots, television commercials ( so proud to have done three Super Bowl commercials), direct mail, and outdoor billboards. Today we live in a digital world, and keeping up with technology keeps me in a state of constant learning. What worked last month, does not necessarily mean that it will work today – actually, it’s almost a given that unless you are keeping up with technology trends, you are bound to fail. But taking the leap between traditional marketing and communication methods, and digital is easy compared to keeping up with the industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sdfoodiefan.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandiegofoodiefan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandiegofoodiefan/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrylhgordon/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIivFnw4LCGzk-RT5NTD3ow
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=9eqmrvVdTqIAtVnP4uErag