We were lucky to catch up with Jazmin Lara recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jazmin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you manage your own social media?
For @jaz_and_food, I manage my own social media. I’ll admit, I’m no expert but I’m definitely interested in experimenting with editing software and start making my own videos. The reason why I made this decision is because at the start of the account, I didn’t think anything of it. I just took a picture and Bam! I created a food blog. I will say I’m also a creative oriented person so I love doing small projects such as flyers, presentations etc. I’m very grateful for the support of my close friends and family but I’m ready to start producing content that can be viewed by more people. I’m still trying to get a format set up for my posts, so my advice would be to try out different formats that are easier and the most convenient for you!
Jazmin, 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?
Starting my food account, it was just for my circle of friends and family to see. I started in highschool just for fun and was just posting all the food my mom made (which is always delicious). I soon started to take pictures of the food when I would dine out. It was awkward at first, trying to take pictures of the food with the correct angle while my friends were waiting to eat their food. Now, my family and friends know the drill when the food comes out, “the camera eats first! ” What makes my food instagram different are the punny/flirtatious captions which is my attempt to make the audience smile. An accomplishment for me is if the restaurant comments or reposts my story. Not to brag, but I did have Shake Shack comment on my post! In the future, I am hoping to get sponsored posts and work with restaurants I love. At the end of the day, I want to inspire people to try new foods. Some of my friends and family started sending me their own pictures of their dinner plates which I think is very sweet.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Majority of my audience on my social media are my family and friends which I am very grateful for. I repost my food blog posts on my personal account as well which is how I was able to build an audience. The reason why I started the food account was because if I would post something on my personal account, it was always about food! I wouldn’t call myself an influencer (not yet) as I always get overwhelmed when I make a post. What made my stress go away was just posting more and slowly being more active on social media. I’m not an expert on this at all as I am also trying to learn how the algorithm works and strategic timing of posts.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect would have to be when my friends and family tell me that they tried one of the restaurants that I posted! I love to try new foods so I’m glad I am encouraging other people to try new things too! Another thing that makes it rewarding is seeing the restaurants reacting to a post (like, repost, comment), it makes my day :)
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaz_and_food
