Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JeriLynne Clifford. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

JeriLynne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I was a caterer for over 35 years. I dissolved my business in 2017 in an attempt to reduce time on my feet and stress. We moved to the Hill Country in 2019 and I was a practice manager at a local hospital. When I found out I was losing my job in 2022, I realized how much I missed cooking, but needed another avenue vs catering.
I decided to work on my dream of creating a cookbook and share my love of cooking and entertaining via a blog and social media.
I have created a business using a life long skill and passion without the stress of catering.

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

Creating the Hill Country Bon Vivant brand is an ode to my inspiration, Julia Child. Julia lived her life as a true Bon Vivant. To me a Bon Vivant is someone who lives an elevated and intentional life filled with gratitude. I share recipes, table styling and entertaining tips through my blog on Substack and social media. My goal is to help and encourage others to gather family and friends around a table around food and to learn the true art of effortless entertaining. Celebrating life and creating memories always happens with good food and fellowship around the table.

As much as I love and appreciate technique, I also want people to understand and embrace the perfection in imperfection. I use recipes as a guideline. I love empowering people to try new things and create wonderful and tasty dishes!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In September 2023, our home was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. We were left with nothing. We are blessed to have an old hunting cabin on our property, so my husband and I moved into a 556 sq foot space.
I develop recipes and teach classes online. Our cabin does not have a stove. I have continued to teach classes using an induction burner and a toaster oven.
Showing you don’t need a fancy kitchen to create a meal for the ones you love.
I continue to teach and create recipes for my upcoming cookbook. I am also creating evergreen cooking courses, while in this space.

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

After starting my business and building my social media presence, I was hacked. I lost all of my followers and content. I had to start all over. This time, I did it with more intention. I decided that being consistent and authentic was more important than vanity numbers. I also saw the light. Social media is not mine so I had to create a community off of social media.
I worked on developing an email list where I send a newsletter, The Revue, once a month. This newsletter is my way of sharing with my community all of the highlights of the month.
I also have moved my blog from my website to Substack. I enjoy the search engine ability of that site.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hillcountrybonvivant.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_hill_country_bon_vivant/
• Other: https://substack.com/@thehillcountrybonvivant  

Image Credits
Edit Crabtree Dave Capote Tim Henke