We recently connected with Lauren Toyota and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lauren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I think starting a business and an online brand was the biggest risk. I dedicated myself full-time to hot for food—which at that time was a blog and an Instagram account— in 2014 because I got laid off from my job as a television host at a broadcast company. On one hand, I was left with nothing else to lose, but I had no guarantee it could become anything let alone know if I could make a decent income from it. With nothing but time on my hands from losing my regular job that I had for nearly a decade prior, I started making content. I posted on my Instagram account and shared recipes on my blog. I also started vlogging my huge life change on a YouTube channel. This started to gain some attention and I was just having fun. A few months after that I decided to create recipe videos on a YouTube channel for hot for food. From that point I started to see how this could potentially grow and around this time I was also learning about monetizing a blog and a YouTube channel. I happened to meet the right people at the right time and signed with a management team who specialized in monetizing YouTube creators and this is where things started to unfold and feel more sustainable. In 2016 I officially incorporated the business and was making a substantial salary from all these efforts, as well as hiring team members.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started blogging as hot for food as a hobby as I transitioned into a vegan lifestyle. I was never sure how to monetize it or make it a business. For a few years during this time, I was a television host and producer for MuchMusic and MTV Canada in Toronto, Ontario. I did this career for nearly 10 years. Once I got out of that industry I started pursuing my own brand and business full time in the summer of 2014. I started to vlog and create recipe video content on YouTube, posted to Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, attempting to build a larger community and following. This worked and was creatively very fulfilling. Before long I was making money from brand partnerships and other collaborations with media outlets etc. I had signed with an MCN, Kin Community, who helped manage these requests and deals. In 2016 due to the success of my YouTube content, I was offered the opportunity to make a cookbook. This was an exciting and challenging project and a huge learning experience. I think it’s the thing I’m most proud of when it comes to pursuing this career path, and quite an achievement for a first-time entrepreneur and someone who never felt they could accomplish something like that. The debut cookbook was quite a success. I even went on a book tour through the USA with Greyhound sponsoring a huge charter bus wrapped in my face and cookbook cover! It was so fun to connect with the audience in real life that supported me. It was really such a humbling experience and solidified my reputation in the vegan culinary activist space. Two years later I did a second cookbook, and moved to LA to pursue more expansion. I also wanted to live in the sun and escape the harsh Canadian winters! I am still creating content full time. I launched a paid membership called EAT IT by hot for food and now I’d like to pivot into bringing my services to people’s homes as a private vegan chef.

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

When I first started dabbling in social media I was a television host. It was part of my job to connect with the viewing audience via Twitter during live broadcasts. That really gave me a feel for the voice one needs to have and helped me finess my authenticity. I was also posting without too much worry about what I was saying. I think having been a tv host helped with that too—it built a certain confidence. I loved playing around and experimenting on Instagram especially because from 2013 to 2016 it was such an engaging platform. It was during this time in 2013 that I launched @hotforfood on IG separate from my personal TV persona and built an organic following for my vegan food and recipes. I tapped into the use of hashtags, sharing comments on fellow foodie accounts to get attention, and I have to say that it worked so much easier back then in some ways. I was able to build a following of 100k within the first year of posting. Consistency with posting hasn’t changed though. That’s a key strategy. Not worrying about what you’re posting, but just posting is something to keep in mind too. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the most curated or beautiful photography or videography. People want to connect with YOU! Create some kind of framework or schedule for your content as well. That will help keep you on track and motivated. Follow and engage with accounts and creators you love personally. Make your content as personal as possible. And have fun. I think that’s the most important as people can tell if you love what you’re sharing!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am currently in a pivot moment. My life has changed drastically in the last couple years, mainly because I had a child. Managing a toddler and all that goes with that makes my creative endeavors feel very strained. I’m looking at ways to continue using my platform and brand to launch another aspect of this business. It’s weird to talk about it as it’s unfolding because I don’t have any results at the moment. I am in the dark and the stickiness! But what I’m remembering during this phase is to stay present and work toward these new goals one step at a time. Checking in with my intuition and gut reactions to things is also a mindful practice and tool I’ve always used when it comes to making decisions for my business. REmembering it’s ok to ask for help is a big one. I have built this business primarily alone and continue to work alone most of the time so it’s foreign to me to ask for help and get vulnerable with people to say ” I need this from you”. But it’s something that every business owner needs to do throughout the life of their business. So I’m in that now. I’m exercising that muscle.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hotforfoodblog.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hotforfood & https://www.instagram.com/laurentoyota
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hotforfoodblog/ & https://www.facebook.com/itslaurentoyota/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurentoyota
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hotforfood & https://twitter.com/laurentoyota
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/hotforfoodblog & https://www.youtube.com/laurentoyota
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hotforfoodblog

Image Credits
by Vanessa Heins (first two images only)