We were lucky to catch up with Denise Browning recently and have shared our conversation below.

Denise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I was born and raised in Brazil. Before marrying an American doctor and immigrating to the United States in 2002, I worked for several years as a lawyer.

Back then, it had never crossed my mind I would be earning a full-time living as a food blogger abroad.

I always loved to cook (and eat) although I had not much time to do so in my country. I vividly remember that I used to observe my maternal grandmother when she was cooking. With her, I learned simple food can be as good as any elaborate dish depending on the quality of the ingredients and how well you are able to cook them.

My first 2 years in the U.S. were a real challenge! I had to adapt to the culture and learn the language, but above all, I had to be able to cope with how much I missed everything and everyone in Brazil.

After a couple of years, I went to culinary school to pursue my passion and graduated with honors in Culinary Arts – Le Cordon Bleu program. By the time I finished my externship, I was at the end of my pregnancy. I spend a few years taking care of my children, before working as a culinary instructor and food blogger.

I choose to become a food blogger because I wanted to share the cuisine of my home country with the world and also to work from home while spending time with my children.

The first 4 years under From Brazil To You.Org were dedicated to Brazilian cuisine. After that, we expanded the blog to include other cuisines worldwide, but mostly focusing on healthy cooking. This is how Easy and Delish came to be in 2 languages: English and Portuguese! All the international dishes we cook are easy to make and delicious, but most have a healthy twist.

These almost 11 years of blogging have been full of challenges but at the same very rewarding in many ways.

After expanding the concept of my blog, we have received more than half-million visitors per month from around the world, most from the United States and Brazil.

It is really a full-time job! I have to write, cook, food style, photograph, videographer, and market my recipes as well as make decisions as a business owner. Unlike law school, I had to learn these crafts by myself and through some quick online courses.

On top, I also develop recipes for national and international brands and most recently, for the Food Network website. Among those food brands are Parma Ham, Cacique, Bush’s Beans, and Nestlé. In addition, I worked as a food and culture consultant for a few multinational brands like Coca-Cola and developed a menu for a Spanish food restaurant in Brazil.

But most of my income comes from advertisements and brand sponsorships. In recent years, I started earning the same or more than my husband who is a doctor, depending on the season of the year.

Because of my food blog, our work has been featured in many well-known sources such as The Smithsonian Magazine, Elle Magazine, Huffington Post, The United Nations website and cookbook, and Livestrong, among others. We also have appeared in local food segments on Univision and Telemundo as well as SA Live on KSAT 12.

Our mission has been to serve busy moms like me with healthy and simple recipes, food trends, and cooking tips, making their life easier in the kitchen. At the same time, it is a tribute to the food and culture of my 2 countries and their diverse cuisines.

Three years ago I was approached by a book publishing house to write a cookbook. In 2020, I had my first cookbook published, ‘The Complete 5-Ingredient Cookbook: 175 Easy Recipes for Busy People’, which reflects our cooking style and simple approach to food and busyiness of life.

Looking back, there wasn’t much I would have changed. Perhaps I had started my blog as a global cuisine one, instead of dedicated solely to Brazilian cuisine. My audience would have been larger right off the bat!

But at the same time, it had such a positive impact that my best press features and sponsorships have been due to the cuisine of my home country, Brazil.

All that I can say is I am grateful for this journey, full of highs and lows. Because of it, I have been able to make great connections with people and brands and learned so much in the process.

Winning has always been the goal, but it was from the mistakes that I made that I got the best lessons. It made me eager to learn my craft and make a good living from it!

Denise, 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 was a successful lawyer in Brazil. After marrying an American and immigrating to this country, I spent a couple of years learning the language, and then I went to culinary school.

After graduating, I decided to spend a few years dedicated to raising my children. Meanwhile, I had the idea to start a food blog while raising them because it was something I could do from home.

The blog grew so much that I became a full-time blogger and later on a food instructor and consultant.

I had to learn to be a businesswoman and also do the creative work that a food blog requires such as writing, food styling, and photographing in order to succeed.

I am proud to have learned my craft, for having been featured in important websites and magazines, and also for working with well-known national and international brands.

All the opportunities I have had, including writing a cookbook, it was because of my blog.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The pandemic was one of the most challenging periods as a food blogger because it tested my creativity as well as my ability to adapt to all the changes in a short period of time.

I had to learn to cook several dishes without some key ingredients such as eggs, dairy, and yeast. I also had to make my dishes more budget-friendly than they already were.

On top, my readers wouldn’t stop asking for simpler recipes with fewer steps and would require less time to cook. The pressure was on and my creativity was running low.

I am a very social person and the pandemic made me feel isolated. My family of four was confined almost 24/7, leaving home only when strictly needed.

Due to it, my mental health started to deteriorate to the point I wasn’t so sure anymore I could be as useful to my readers as I used to be. My ad earnings also decreased although my traffic had almost doubled!

It made me question whether I should continue blogging. But at the same time, I didn’t know what else I could do for a living in those conditions.

What helped me was to find out I was not alone. There were several food bloggers that were facing the same challenges and sharing the same feelings.

We had a private group on Facebook where we were free to exchange ideas and come up with solutions on how to help ourselves and our readers in the best way possible.

Some of those quick, budget-friendly recipes became later on some of the most profitable recipes in my blog. I learned adversities can bring out the worse but also the best in you. It will challenge you, sometimes to the point of a breakdown but it will also test your love for your craft, your resilience, and your persistence.

It made me reaffirm I ain’t no quitter!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When I started blogging, we didn’t hear much about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Blogs were written by sharing your personal story and views. Only a few years later, we learned Google had put in place algorithms that would rank blogs and recipes. I had to learn as fast as I possibly could the best SEO practices in order to succeed in this business.

The problem is this was something new and there weren’t many resources available online. I had to hire an auditor to report all the things my blog was lacking technically. Through his detailed report, I started learning the do’s and don’ts of SEO and putting them into practice.

My blog contains more than 900 recipes. I had to go back and re-write many of the old posts and update the images with the recommended sizes.

I had also to learn how to research keywords in order to rank on Google searches. Blogging became way more technical than anyone in the industry could possibly imagine. No post is accidental or intuitive! They are the fruit of great research and are quite time-consuming.

My last 4 years have been consumed with optimizing those old posts to meet the guidelines while publishing new recipes.

The work has been intense but at the same time profitable!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.easyanddelish.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easyanddelish/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/easyanddelish/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/easy_and_delish
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC78QyqQp5AaeOvoLW371O4A
• Other: PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/easyanddelish/

Image Credits
I already included the credits in the image files. All of them belong to me, except for one where I am in the kitchen surrounded by some food dishes (credit to Anna Angenend, written in the image file).