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

Kayla, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I believe that it takes consistency and discipline to be successful in anything that you do. Even if you find yourself not being as disciplined in some things, just simply being consistent will almost always develop you into becoming disciplined. Being dedicated and setting goals is a key component as well. It’s easier to reach things when you know which direction to aim for!

Kayla, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, my name is Kayla and per social media, I go by “ThatGirlCanCook!” because hey, I CAN cook if I can’t do anything else, lol. I am a YouTuber and Recipe Developer. I found my way into creating recipes for social media by way of the COVID-19 Pandemic. I am a former High School Science Teacher and when school was closed due to the coronavirus, I was stuck at home with absolutely nothing to do. I always wanted to start a channel but never felt as if I had the time, money, or equipment to do so. I took the opportunity of being at home to begin this cooking journey. I started with an iPhone 8 and a cracker box to prop it on and began recording some of my favorite and most comforting recipes.

Over a short period of time, my channel began to gain traction and attention. One week I had 112 followers, and then the next it was over 1K. My subscriber count rapidly grew over time, and now we are currently at almost 200K subscribers. What I started out as just fun turned out to become a full-time passion and I have not looked back ever since.

My personable sense of humor and southern hospitality is what I believe set me apart from other channels on YouTube. I mean man, there are sooooo many channels to watch and choose from but I believe that my supporters genuinely found me and stuck with me based on how I communicate with them and how personable I can be with them. I am most proud of organically growing my channel from just me and my friends watching up to now being sponsored by major brand deals, participating in Network television cooking competitions, being featured in articles and magazines, and gaining exposure to share my content with the entire world. It has been an amazing experience.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that there are NO boundaries or limitations to what you want to create. I can challenge myself in any situation and be as creative as I want without a list of rules to tell me about what I can and cannot do. Food has always been an art form to me. A lot of my recipes are so much more than just something to post for likes and views on social media. I play with flavors, aesthetics, and other aspects of my dishes to help compose or interpret a story or possibly just however I am feeling at that moment. I am and can be inspired by literally almost anything and inspiration sparks my imagination to be as creative as I feel the need to be.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Oftentimes, people underestimate what’s required of managing your presence on social media and creating content for viewers to engage with. I’ve seen A LOT of hurtful things about content creators and how it’s not considered a “job” in real life. Well, I beg to differ as it definitely takes a lot of time, thought, planning, and MONEY to create content to keep social media afloat.

As creators, we have to always keep in mind that if it weren’t for the support of our supporters, then we would be nothing. However, our supporters or “non-creators” must understand too that we are also regular people behind the cameras as well. We depend on their support and social media platforms as a source of income that is sustainable enough to take care of our families and loved ones just like they work an 8-5. The type of work may be different, but it is still WORK!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/thatgirlcancook
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatgirlcancook__/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTGCC
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSfp_9k2EAlzzjCUcoYWiIw

Image Credits
Sydney A Foster