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

Dione, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Being a content creator, I think it’s important to be consistent and also have the ability to pivot. While my Instagram is a passion project/creative outlet/side hustle and not what I do full-time (although sometimes it definitely seems like it is!), I’ve posted consistently since 2017 when I started my account. It can definitely be difficult to maintain due to losing the creative spark, comparing yourself to others, etc, but if I enjoy seeing the content from someone I follow, I look forward to seeing what they post next, so I try to apply that mindset when posting on my own account. However, I will say that there are times that even if I know a post may not perform well (for example, travel content vs Cincinnati content), I will post it because it’s what I want to share with others – and you never know, it can always help connect or build a new relationship with someone! As for the pivoting aspect, when reels were first introduced, I was sooo against jumping on the reels train. I continued posting static/image posts, but eventually a brand I was working with requested for a reel and I figured that was my push to finally try making reels. Looking back on my first reel to now, it has definitely improved and evolved over time. I’ve gotten into a groove and template of what my reels look like. If you don’t start, you won’t ever get to where you are now!

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

I’m Dione and my food Instagram is @drinkingdiningdione! My parents are from Taiwan and I was born in Dallas, TX, but grew up in Columbus, OH. I’ve lived in Cincinnati since 2015 and currently work full-time in the clinical research industry while running Drinking & Dining Dione on the side. I created the account because Cincinnati was a new city for me when I moved here and my way of exploring the city was through its food scene. Every Friday, my roommate and I at the time would check out a new restaurant or bar for happy hour and I would be taking pictures and videos of my drinks and food, but had nowhere to upload or share the content. Cincinnati’s food scene is very up and coming and there are so many options to choose from. There’s also a ton of things to do in Cincinnati too! While my content is mostly Cincinnati-based, I also post about my travels, experiences, and lifestyle interests. I enjoy sharing my content with others to encourage others to try something new or different, or just bond over a mutually loved spot! Every post, reel, and story takes time to create and I’m so glad that people refer to my account as a resource. I am definitely grateful that this platform has allowed me to build relationships and receive opportunities and experiences I may not have been able to otherwise! I’ve considered expanding my social platforms to offer additional services and resources, but only time will tell :)

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

Looking back, I think I would have reached out to other content creators more to gain their insight on how they operate, handle certain situations, or general feedback. Granted, the number of influencers and content creators back in 2017 in Cincinnati (or even as a whole) was much smaller than it is now, but I think when you’re first starting out, you see these accounts that are bigger than you and you feel a bit intimidated reaching out to them or put them on a pedestal. Even connecting with influencers and content creators who are around the same size as you starting out would have been helpful as a sounding board too. Collaboration over competition!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Honestly, I don’t have a degree or any prior experience in marketing, so I was truly just learning as I was doing it! I initially started following local restaurants, bars, and businesses and would tag them anytime I posted content of their dishes, drinks, or products. Since I enjoyed trying new places and getting happy hour/specials, I would include this information in my caption because this is information I would have wanted to know about if I was looking at places to eat or grab a drink at! When I started back in 2017, it was a few years prior to reels being available. I remember it took me just under a year to get to 1,000 followers! With reels now, it’s a lot easier getting exposure and you see content creators hitting 1k in a handful of months, let alone 10k in a year or two.

For any type of content creator, I would say just be authentic and posting organically (tagging the business/brand even if it’s not sponsored or paid, but just because you love the product/what they offer) is a great way to start. Everyone has to start somewhere – it doesn’t just happen overnight! And sometimes you may end up spending a ton of time on a post or reel and it doesn’t perform well – that’s okay! There are times where you might not put a lot of effort into a reel and somehow it goes viral. There will always be ups and downs and that’s just part of the journey. That’s the Instagram algorithm for ya!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/drinkingdiningdione
• Email: [email protected]