Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marci Symington. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Marci, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
My husband and I were in Sedona at the Elote Café, enjoying the best of what Sedona has to offer: great margaritas and Chef Jeff Smedstad’s Southwest cuisine in the stunning setting of Red Rock Country. I was taking pictures of the entire weekend, from our hikes to our hotel—Auberge de Sedona—to our meals and was struck by the thought that I wanted to share this with my mother, as we often had this type of exchange with one another. The problem was she had passed away a year prior. I had spent that year in a fog of grief, and this trip to Sedona was the first time that I had some clarity about the whole experience of being an “orphan”. I had been reading some food and travel blogs and just felt compelled to start my own blog, to continue that conversation and connection with my mom. Coming up with a name was the hardest part. Ultimately, I felt that no one could really know me unless they understood the fact that being raised in Texas was an integral part of who I am today, even after having spent the last 25 years in Arizona. So, after a day of hiking and with a belly full of enchiladas and tequila, TEXAZTASTE was born.
I didn’t have a plan: it started out as a travelogue essentially. I documented the places we would travel and where we stayed and dined. My whole adult life, people had been asking me where to eat and vacation, so this was a logical path for me.
This kind of exploration helped me discover the burgeoning food scene in Arizona, and my focus slowly started to turn towards my adopted state. Through social media, I met other bloggers and writers who encouraged me to start honing my photography skills. Invitations to media events started rolling in and next thing I knew I was labeled an “influencer”, something I had ironically never heard of at the time.
The blog, however, was always my primary focus, and through networking, I met some wonderful people who encouraged me to take my writing to local and national publications. Currently I am a contributor for A Taste of AZ—a local publication dedicated to highlight the best of local food and drink—and have a column called Drinking and Dining from A to Z in The Tasting Panel, a national publication for the wine and spirits industry.
As you can see, the process was an organic one. Eventually, I see myself writing a memoir that incorporates stories from my childhood and adult life that is centered around the culinary world. I would like to not only continue that conversation with my mother, but also to share her beautiful spirit—and that of my father as well—with my readers.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I feel I am going through a challenging time right now. I got on Instagram as a way to grow my readership for TEXAZTASTE, and really loved exploring my creative side with beautiful food photography and travel inspiration. I attended a conference called Instacamp in Palm Springs with 150 20-somethings to learn a few tricks—who says an old dog can’t learn a few?? I worked hard to build up my followers, delighting in reaching certain milestones, like 500, then 1,000, and finally 10,000 which would allow me to become “Instagram Certified”. And then, on Tuesday morning, my Instagram account got hacked. In a matter of minutes, I lost complete control of my creative content I had been accumulating since 2013. Nefarious? No doubt, and extremely frustrating. Instagram support has been totally useless. I was told to file a complaint and wait for an email return in one business day detailing my next steps, to which they replied they were too overwhelmed with COVID-19 to look into the matter. I panicked at first, then breathed deeply to will myself out of this situation.
As I manage an Instagram account for a property my sister and I co-own in Texas (@morrisranchschoolhouse should anyone be curious), I was able to direct message the perpetrator. “You are such an asshole for hacking my account, “ I wrote. Within minutes, a reply: “lol. Pay me $500 and you can have it back.” Wanting to offend but maintain a shred of dignity, I typed out, “Screw you.” Then he/she/it blocked me.
Since then, I have been able to see from my children’s accounts what has been going on over at @texaztaste while fielding dozens of texts and calls reminding me, quite painfully I might add, that I have been hacked. The story is not over…they have messed with the wrong lady. I will start over again if I have to. If I made it to 10,000 once I know I can do it again.
UPDATE: I have since resolved the IG and am back and better than ever!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Authenticity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.texaztaste.com
- Instagram: TBD (read answer to one of my questions) lol texaztaste
- Facebook: texaztaste
- Linkedin: Marci Symington
- Twitter: Marci Symington
Image Credits
Christine Johnson was the photographer of my portrait. All other photos are by Marci Symington for TEXAZTASTE.