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

Julia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

A risk I took during my entrepreneurial journey was when I messaged a chef on Instagram asking if he had any work opportunities for me. The thing is, I had only met him once in my life and he lived across the country from me. It was a day after I had just quit my job with a geotechnical engineering firm to pursue my cooking passion.

Here’s the backstory: I met Chef David in New Mexico in January 2023. I was visiting my family and we decided to go to a restaurant located on a family-owned farm. It was known for its bike-friendly environment, beautiful gardens, inviting aura, and of course, good food. While walking to our table, we saw Chef David come out of the kitchen with a delicious-looking plate of shrimp and kielbasa pasta. My dad commented about how good it looked and Chef David mentioned it was specially made for the wedding reception that was being held in one of the barns. After a few minutes of receiving our food, Chef David came to our table and gave us a complimentary plate of pasta! He introduced himself as the head chef and was very friendly. I could immediately tell how passionate he was about the farm and restaurant. It was inspiring. We ended up having a great conversation and I showed him my food blog. We followed each other and that was that.

Fast forward to four months later. It was May 2023 and I had just quit my job without a set plan. All I knew was that I wanted to be creative with food. Since we had such a great encounter together when we met, I decided to message Chef David on Instagram and ask if he had any work opportunities for me. I explained that I had just quit my job and wanted to pursue my passions for cooking and content creation. He knew I was based in North Carolina, so I told him I was willing to move across the country for the summer to New Mexico. We hadn’t talked since I met him in January, so I was pretty nervous to message him out of the blue. To my surprise, he was so excited to hear from me! He told me he got inspired by my recipes and videos and would love to have me on his team. Just a few weeks later, I packed my bags and drove from North Carolina to New Mexico to work there for the summer.

Taking that risk was one of the best decisions I made for myself. I had such an amazing time working at the restaurant. I learned many farm-to-table recipes and new cooking methods. I also gained great leadership skills. Chef David let me be as creative as I wanted to be, so I would also help curate and think of new items for our weekly specials. It was great gaining experience working in a kitchen and developing new and fun dishes. I also took over their social media account and helped them gain over 1,000 new followers. Within just 3 months of working there, I felt like I was part of such a close-knit community. I was told by the owners that I was the most influential person who had worked at the farm, which made me feel like I made a difference. I was even offered the chance to train as head chef, however, I knew that there was still a lot in store for me. I wanted to give myself the chance to have the freedom to explore all the opportunities that could come my way. I returned home that summer feeling grateful I took the risk, re-energized, and excited to see what else was in store for my future.

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?

Hi everyone! I’m Julia Silva, and I go by Julia Not Child. I’m a self-taught food content creator, recipe developer, and home cook. I got into my craft in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. Amidst all the chaos, I found cooking as my form of therapy– I loved experimenting in the kitchen, documenting the cooking process, and tasting the final product. Since it brought me so much joy, I decided to start @julia.not.child on Instagram as a passion project. After 3 years of making cooking tutorial videos, developing recipes, and networking with other food content creators, I decided to quit my job and turn my passion project into my full-time career.

My brand falls under food content creation, with a focus on home cooking. I develop step-by-step recipes, test them, and then create cooking tutorial videos to post on my food blog. I love all types of cuisines and many of my content varies from quick and easy recipes to complex ones. I also offer food content creation as a freelancer for various small to large-scale businesses. I help my clients gain exposure and grow their audience by creating high-quality videos that highlight their products naturally and authentically. I also help them gain traction, higher reach, and more engagement in their social media accounts to help increase their customers. When it comes to small, local food brands, I like to be more hands-on when I can. I offer cooking demonstrations in settings such as farmers markets or vendor pop-ups, where I work alongside the business and cook with their products.

I think what sets me apart from others is my authenticity. I try to be as real as I can be with my audience. I know that social media can sometimes only show the highlights of life, so I try to normalize showing cooking fails and some of my mental health struggles as well. I am very passionate about mental health, so I like to incorporate some mental health talk in some of my posts on my food blog. My goal for my brand and food blog is for it to serve as a platform where people can go to find inspiration– whether it’s to discover and try a new recipe or feel empowered to go after your dream. I want to grow my social media presence and brand not only to provide recipes, but also to be able to encourage others to pursue their passions.

It has been less than a year since I quit my job to turn my passion project into my career. With that being said, I am still learning how to be an entrepreneur and grow my brand. The beauty in trying to become an entrepreneur and build your own brand is the endless possibilities that come with it. I have been exploring the thought of being a private chef, creating a food product to sell, taking private orders, etc. It can be overwhelming and there are times when I feel like there are still so many things I need to do to get where I want to be. However, at the end of the day, it’s about the journey and that is what I am most proud of. My journey. Throughout this journey of mine, I have accomplished many things I never thought I would accomplish. I was featured in Brian Baumgartner’s Seriously Good Chili Cookbook, I have partnered with some of my favorite big brands, I have performed cooking demonstrations, and so much more. I hope to continue to grow my brand, be an inspiration, and continue my entrepreneurial journey to get where I want to be. Thank you for reading and following along!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I want to shed light on the amount of actual work and dedication it takes to become a creative/content creator and make content. I have a feeling that many people see creatives as dream chasers who just have fun doing what they love. Although that is correct, I think non-creatives struggle to understand that becoming a creative/content creator and producing high-quality content is not a walk in the park. What our audience usually sees is the 15 to 30-second result of our work. What they don’t usually see is the amount of mental and physical energy and time it takes to create that 15 to 30-second video. Especially for a small business or a start-up entrepreneur such as myself, who is typically just a one-person team most of the time.

My journey as a creative has been fun and beautiful, but also challenging at times. As a creative, my work doesn’t start when I begin to film or document whatever it is I am showcasing. My work starts when I begin to brainstorm ideas on what type of content I want to share with the world. That alone can already be mentally challenging. Then once I have a vision of what I want to create, it takes time to set up all the equipment and get all the proper angles and lighting. Not just a few minutes, but a good amount of time. Additionally, speaking as a food content creator who specializes in home cooking videos, cooking in general can take at least an hour alone. However, when you incorporate setting up, prepping the ingredients and measurements, filming, getting all the right angles, cooking, and then cleaning afterward, it can take all day. That also doesn’t include the time and effort it takes to edit and cut down over 40 minutes of filming on average, down to 15-30 seconds. I feel as if non-creatives don’t think of all the work that happens behind the scenes in order to create something. There is a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into becoming a creative, so it is important to keep that in mind if you are looking to start your journey as one.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the feeling I get after putting so much of my time and effort into creating something, sharing it with the public, and then seeing someone get inspired by it. It may sound cliche, but it’s true. For instance, I know that many people are intimidated by cooking. So to be able to share my passion with the world and receive comments or messages from random people saying they’ve been inspired to try to cook one of my recipes is so rewarding to me. The fact that I get to help people feel motivated enough to do something good and nourish themselves is a wonderful feeling. This also goes for all creatives– whether they are in food, lifestyle, art, etc. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to create and share something, so it’s rewarding to see the final results of our work and the positive impact we have made in our community or niche.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @julia.not.child || link: https://www.instagram.com/julia.not.child/
• Other: Email: [email protected]