We recently connected with Felicia McDermott and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Felicia, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started my food account as a creative outlet and a way to promote local restaurants. It began on X (formerly Twitter), where I shared food photos, and then I created an Instagram account to expand my reach. I immediately loved how easy it was to connect with other food enthusiasts. To grow my following, I experimented with different strategies—such as following a set number of accounts each day and consistently engaging with others’ content. Around the same time, I also managed a separate Instagram account for our family dog, which gave me the chance to try even more growth strategies and learn through trial and error.

I’ve also gained valuable experience through school and work. In graduate school, I took several marketing courses where many of our projects involved creating social media marketing plans. These classes gave me a solid foundation before I even launched my food account. After graduating, I worked at a local hotel spa, where I created social media content and took product photos. I studied how brands showcased their products on social media to help guide my own photography and staging. That role sharpened both my eye for composition and my content creation skills.

Following that, I managed the social media for another local hotel and its restaurant. This was an exciting shift, as I began producing Instagram Reels and experimenting with video content. My experience with my food account proved especially helpful in creating engaging posts for the restaurant. Since then, I’ve gone on to manage social media for a local chamber of commerce and a nonprofit, further expanding my skills and versatility as a content creator.

To be honest, I still feel like I’m learning every day. I continue to draw inspiration from other creators—especially fellow food accounts—and have joined group chats with local foodies. These communities have been great for sharing ideas, discussing trends, and learning from one another’s experiences. Looking back, I think I could have sped up my learning process by joining these groups earlier or taking marketing classes sooner in my career.

The most essential skills I’ve developed are building relationships and doing thoughtful research on the businesses or products I’m promoting. You can learn so much from talking with business owners, creators, and customers. Studying a brand’s existing social media presence helps me understand their preferred style, tone, and the type of content that resonates with their audience.

One of the biggest obstacles I’ve faced is not comparing myself to other creators. It’s important to stay focused on creating content that I genuinely enjoy and am proud of. Another challenge has been maintaining a healthy work-life balance, especially since I manage social media both professionally and as a personal hobby. Still, my food account brings me a lot of joy, and I make it a priority to continue doing it for fun and creative fulfillment.

Felicia, 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?

I grew up in Sarasota, Florida, and have lived here for twenty-four years. I attended the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, where I studied event planning. After graduation, I began working at various hotels in Orlando, then eventually moved back to Sarasota to continue my career in the hospitality industry.

I’ve always loved working in hospitality and have learned so much through my experience. Over the years, I’ve worked in a variety of roles, including at a hotel spa and in sales and marketing. When I began helping with social media and taking photos, I realized how much I enjoyed the creative aspect of the work. That discovery led me to continue growing my career in social media and content creation.

Although I originally studied event planning, I’ve continued to apply those skills as well. I currently help plan fundraising events for a nonprofit and also assist a local event planner in coordinating weddings. These experiences allow me to use my creativity and organizational skills in different ways, which I truly enjoy.

Outside of work, I visit local restaurants and promote them by taking photos or creating videos in exchange for a complimentary meal or a gift card. I think what sets me apart from others is the thought I put into each piece of content. I always take time to review the business’s existing social media presence to ensure that my photos or videos match their aesthetic and brand style. I genuinely care about the businesses and products I help promote and want my content to reflect that.

I’m still learning every day, and I enjoy connecting with other foodies on Instagram. I believe there’s always room to grow, and we can learn so much from one another in the content creator community.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience by actively following and engaging with other food accounts. To stay consistent, I set a daily goal for how many new accounts I wanted to follow. Before following, I would review each profile to see how many people they followed—if an account followed a large number of others, I figured they might be more likely to follow me back. This helped me grow my reach in a targeted way.

In addition to online engagement, I also attended a few local events where I had the chance to meet other foodies in person. These connections made it easier to support one another online. I eventually joined some foodie group chats, where members share content, and help boost engagement by supporting each other’s posts. That’s why I believe building relationships with other creators is so important. It creates a sense of community and helps everyone grow together.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The main goal for my page is to help promote local businesses and restaurants. I’m passionate about supporting the local community, and I enjoy using my platform to spotlight places that people might not have discovered otherwise.

At the same time, I want to continue growing as a content creator and learning new skills along the way. There’s always something new to explore—whether it’s a different editing style, a new platform feature, or creative ways to tell a story through photos and videos.

It’s especially rewarding when a business I’ve promoted engages with my content and shares it. It’s a great feeling to know that my post helped drive visibility or growth for their page, while also building my own audience. It becomes a win-win for both of us, and that’s what motivates me to keep creating.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: foodwithfeliciamcd

Image Credits

foodwithfeliciamcd