We were lucky to catch up with Denisse “Foodie from Tj” recently and have shared our conversation below.

Denisse, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I decided to start this journey in my life because I wanted to do something that truly made me happy, that inspired myself and others to follow your dreams no matter how old you are, by sharing my passions and most of all I wanted to show the real authentic me!

In all my professional career I was so afraid to show the real authentic me because in the corporate world appearances do matter, you do get judge from what you say and how you act, and I felt like I was repressing myself in so many ways, I felt I was hiding from the rest of the world, I felt miserable, I couldn’t relate to nobody in the corporate world, I always felt very different and out of place, but now that I get to work with my hobby, blogging and just being my authentic self, I feel so free and happy! I get to show others that it’s ok to be yourself, to follow your dreams no matter how big they are, to share with others your passions, to create a community and connect, to support one another, to be kind and loving.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Denisse also known as “Foodie from Tj” I was born and raised in Tijuana, Baja California Mexico. I learn English from a very young age when I was around 5 years old by watching TV specially Sesame Street, people usually don’t believe me but it’s true! I grew up watching American TV and listening to Music. I would always watch KPBS, talk shows and even old school tv sitcoms that are classics now a days, I learn a lot about the culture. I love being a foodie, I enjoy food and sharing the experience with others so much. My spirit feels young, I believe in love and I am a kid at heart, I love connecting and hearing about other peoples journeys, experiences, struggles, successes, dreams, passions, goals; I love learning from others to grow as well as share my experiences and maybe help others as they’ve helped me.

I got into Blogging because I saw a need, there was no one doing what and how I currently do in my city and that is using my second language (English) to provide help to people visiting the city of Tijuana that don’t speak Spanish.

I created this blog where I show content with photos and videos regarding the city of Tijuana related to gastronomy, restaurants, new and traditional spots to visit as well as sight seeing wether you are a tourist or a local of Tijuana.

I want to help people from other countries that are visiting as tourist, people that decided to move to Tijuana and don’t know about the city or the language to facilitate their stay while they get accustom to the city. To guide locals from the city in discovering new or visit classic places and get to know more our beautiful city and what it has to offer.

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing and hearing from someone that is new to the city, discover that Tijuana is not what they thought it would be based on negative media they have watched over the years. They get a little taste of everything and falls in love with the city and start visiting more often until it begins to be their frequent and favorite destination. I Love it!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I would off done this earlier without doubting myself if I could do it or not. I wished I wouldn’t have been so overly critical of myself and worried about things I couldn’t control, others thought, their criticism and just be me and do me! I wish I would of had a mentor before embarking on this journey because I felt in the beginning very clueless, I didn’t know what I was doing I went with the flow, I felt overwhelmed and had anxiety but after all that I went through It help me a lot on my growth in so many aspects and guess what? it all worked out in the end.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building my following has been a long journey, a very exciting and happy one. If you are thinking of starting and growing your own social media presence my advice would be to just be your own authentic self, don’t be afraid to be you! to show people who you are, what you like, to connect with others and relate to your audience that is the most important thing to create, connect and grow organically and authentically your own community. Don’t try to be or act like someone else, don’t think about the numbers or compare yourself with other creators specially if they have a very big following as well as creators in your same niche it only creates anxiety, self doubt and overthink everything. It also can generate to always be in competition with others because you are always comparing yourself with other content creators and that’s exhausting! it messes with your mental health so much and generates burnout very quickly. Be in competition with your self and not with others, set your own goals and if you accomplish them set more and bigger goals! Always try to better yourself in more healthy ways instead of comparing yourself with others because their journeys and purpose maybe way different than yours is. Also you are not perfect! so deal with it! lol Accept that everyone has flaws and you are perfect just the way you are with all your imperfections, the minute you start accepting yourself you can become unstoppable and can accomplish so many things!

When it comes to creating content be consistent, have fun doing what ever you decide to do, try to get in the whole trends that are happening in the moment, something that it’s popular and add your own touch. Also show your audience what makes you different from others, why they should follow you. Identify an area that hasn’t been talked about related to your niche and how you can help others with, something different. What is going to make you stand out from others. But the most important thing of all never forget to have fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.foodiefromtj.com
• Instagram: foodiefromtj
• Facebook: foodiefromtj
• Twitter: foodiefromtj
• Yelp: foodiefromtj
• Other: TikTok @foodiefromtj