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

Josh, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

In terms of profitability within the food photography and blogging world, I’ve stumbled across two major roadblocks: a lack of transparency from other creatives and every brand valuing different social metrics.

When I was just starting out, no one was willing to share even a base pricing model with me. Whether it be for a few product photos or an instagram post, I found myself both comprising often and working for much less than I should have. Only once some fellow bloggers began to flat out share what they were charging with me, was I then able to start charging appropriately myself.

And now I pay that transparency forward because if one of us works for free (or less than they should), the rest of the community suffers because a brand will almost always choose the creator willing to work for less. Which comes to the second roadblock where every brand has different metrics they value—whether it be your follower count, engagement rate, video views, etc.

As with any industry, what social metrics matter and how they are measure is constantly changing. Pricing models for posts used to be modeled after how many followers you had, giving the impression that if you had less followers you weren’t allowed to ask for more. I once asked $50 for work I would now have charged at least $850 for and at the time I felt I was overcharging.

Now, however, your follower count means less and engagement is gold. I’ve never once mentioned my follower count or impressions in a pitch, only the quality of work they’d be receiving and why it was worth what I was asking. Especially if a brand approaches you—that gives you the upper hand in negotiating price, so don’t lose your footing and let metrics get in the way.

At the end of the day, it’s all about paying attention to what you’re getting and learning to recognize when it’s less than you deserve. Ask for compensation, negotiate that price, learn to say no—knowing your worth and never accepting anything less is the best gift you can give yourself. Every time you trade your worth for “exposure,” companies learn you’ll work for free and your worth becomes worthless.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

By day, I handle marketing for a locally-owned company here in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I also live with my husband and our little chihuahua. By night (not literally), I’m a food photographer and baker—working to develop recipes and create social content, both for brands and myself.

I wasn’t always a baker, though I’d say the seeds were planted early on. I grew up with a mom who taught me the sweetness of cakes and cookies. I remember sitting at the kitchen counter, often, watching her pipe some elaborate buttercream decoration over a wedding cake she was working on.

Little did I know at the time, those little moments would slowly foster into a passion for baking myself. I started to bake more and more in 2019 just for fun. As the love for it grew, I started my Instagram to hold myself accountable and to share my journey with friends. Things quickly began to pick up, as just two years later I found myself published in a 2021 Holiday Cookies issue through Bake From Scratch magazine.

Not long after, I competed in and won a small baking competition on national television, getting to speak with one my long-time idols in the food space, Gail Simmons. Definitely a “pinch-me” kind of moment! Now, I’m looking to nourish and share my love of baking with others! What started as a passion has become something so much more—almost a purpose really.

Alongside my baking has always been my desire to be as visible as possible with my sexuality identity. There’s nothing inherently queer about the cakes and pastries I bake, but it’s important to me that my sexual identity is ingrained within what I do. When someone stumbles across my page, I want there to be no question that it’s a space where all expressions of gender and sexuality are welcome. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of the LGBTQIA+ community and I believe that if you have a platform, however small, you should use it.

That’s why baking is and always will be personal for me. We don’t just turn off one part of who we are to engage with another. I’m often told “stick to baking” from the faceless trolls that haunt my feed, but I didn’t step out of the closet just to be forced into a box. I am a baker and I am gay. I can be both, and I want young people still going on their own journey to see that.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

For me, authenticity is the cornerstone in building any kind of following. It’s all about creating content for the audience you want to have, not the other way around. If you let others dictate that kind of content you create, you’ll begin to compromise on what you want to actually put out. Create for yourself first, content that you genuinely enjoy seeing and making, and the rest will follow. It’s better to lose a few bad apples along the way, than spoil the entire barrel.

My own growth has definitely been gradual, with a few sprints ahead from time to time. Social media is so incredibly fickle—it’s not always easy to tell why one thing was a success and something very similar saw no light. I found that every time I tried to force growth is when it stopped the most, whether it be through giveaways or in content that wasn’t true to myself for the sake of a trend.

If you build your audience upon a foundation ingrained with authenticity, you’ll not only find yourself with a more engaged following, but also with one that follow you through thick and thin. Which is why it’s important to sustain your unique voice throughout all of the noise. After all, there’s only one of you!

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Fostering loyalty with the brands you’re working with is incredibly important. In those times where the flowing river of gigs begins to dissipate, it’s the brands you’ve established deep roots with that will allow you to keep the ship afloat.

Oftentimes it comes down to something as simple as communication. And with that I mean both throughout the entire project and after the invoice has been sent. Brands take note when you’re both prompt in your response times and keep them up to date on your progress. It communicates to them that you value this relationship and they won’t feel as if though they’re just one of a hundred others (even if they are).

Even if you’re coming up on a deadline and need more time—it’s better to be transparent and communicate that to a brand than be silently late and hope they won’t notice. Even acknowledging that you’ve received an email with a simple response can go a long way in showing a brand you care.

Every client is different in how they keep in touch or how much communication they need. Be ready to adapt to what the situation calls for. Notice I said adapt, not compromise. You’ll being to learn when your time is being taking advantage of or a brand doesn’t value the work you’re putting forth. Those are the kinds of relationships, no matter how big their name is, that will hold you back rather then move you forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joshisbaking.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshisbaking/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joshisbaking
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joshisbaking
• Email: [email protected]