We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gigi Ashworth a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi GiGi, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

Before Instagram and TikTok were even a thing, I would publish content to a blog I used to run called GiGi Eats Celebrities. It was a place where I would introduce people to new food and fitness products in my own quirky, outside-of-the-box sort of way. Back when blogging was “all the rage,” I was part of several food and fitness communities that would pair bloggers up with brand deals. I will forever remember the first time I earned money through my website. Under Armor wanted to work together, having me showcase their latest shoe line and activewear. They wanted me to create a unique video (I posted on YouTube at the time as well) and write a blog post, and as a reward, they would send me a pair of shoes, some fitness pieces, and… Wait, for it… $50! I was OVER THE MOON and shocked that someone could even get paid to post something for a brand! Mind you, this was back in 2011 when the term “influencer” wasn’t exactly a thing yet. Anywho, this experience opened the door to many more opportunities in the future, leading me to make a living off of blogging (and Instagram, eventually).

GiGi, 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?

GiGi (Genevieve) Ashworth is a popular allergen-friendly, ketovore-centric food personality, also known as, The Salmon Queen. She also happens to be a two-time best-selling cookbook author and has her master’s certificate in Nutrition Communications from Tufts University and her broadcast journalism degree from The University of Colorado, Boulder.

GiGi cannot eat wheat, grains, dairy, gluten, sugar, nuts, eggs or fruit. She also has Ulcerative Colitis, IBS-C, and doesn’t have a large intestine. That being said, she doesn’t see her complications as a death sentence. She turned her limitations into extensive knowledge and now tries her best to help others see life with overcoming illness from a glass-half-full perspective.

People regularly seek advice from GiGi’s platform (including all topics pertaining to salmon, traveling with food intolerances, and/or autoimmune diseases, and/or simple nutrition questions, and/or parenting/relationship advice) and also chow down on her allergen-friendly / clean keto diet-approved recipes that everyone can enjoy. She is described as having an infectious, no-bullshit, hilarious, trustworthy, salmon-loving personality.

GiGi has garnered the attention of many, which led to her authoring her first book, She Does Keto, an informational cookbook on the ketogenic diet and why it’s beneficial for women (also contains 115 recipes). GiGi has been living a ketogenic lifestyle for the last 20 years before it was even a “thing,” and researches this way of eating on the daily.

GiGi’s second book, Seduced By Salmon, was published two years after her first, thanks to her audience’s desire to have all of GiGi’s knowledge about salmon and a multitude of drool-worthy recipes in book format.

As a devoted fitness enthusiast, a rather blunt and light-heartedly vulgar diehard allergen-friendly foodie who has been dubbed the Salmon Queen thanks to the fact that she eats roughly fourteen pounds of salmon a week and has been doing so for the last ten-plus years, she has been told that she is proof that you can educate and inform as well as entertain all at the same time!

How did you build your audience on social media?

While I cannot share a story about how I built my audience (there are far too many that it would turn into a novel), I can share one bit of wisdom that is NECESSARY when it comes to building an audience. BE AUTHENTIC. BE GENUINE. BE REAL. BE HONEST. There is nothing worse than someone on social media lying about their beliefs, interests, etc. purely to gain a follower and make a buck. It may work initially, but it will only bite you in the ass eventually. My audience loves and respects the fact that I am brutally honest and never sugarcoat anything. I would much rather make ZERO DOLLARS and be honest with my following than make $15,000 and lie to them.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I have to say the most rewarding part about being a creative is… I get to be creative in the comfort of my own home, in my PJs, and I call the shots. Ha! Okay yes, that’s a huge perk BUT really, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is reaching like-minded people or people who are genuinely interested in learning about what I have to offer. Nothing makes me happier than helping others if and when I can. This happiness is truly what fuels me to make content regularly. In a world with so much hate, my goal is to make people smile and forget about the hatred for even just a few minutes!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gigieatscelebrities.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/gigieats
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiGiEatsCelebrities/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genevieve-ashworth/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/gigieatscelebrities