We were lucky to catch up with Taylor Golub recently and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

I always knew I enjoyed cooking, and it was something that came naturally to me. Family and friends would always tell me that I should start a food blog, but of course that voice in my head said to me, “Why would anyone outside my family and friends even care.” My husband Brett always motivated me and consistently told me to start posting on Instagram and to just do it! Well, in 2018 I finally posted a photo and a recipe, along with announcing the launch of my food Instagram account. I remember feeling incredibly vulnerable and that imposter syndrome voice was telling me that I don’t know what I’m doing. From that first post, I knew that I had to continue. But it was like ripping off the band-aid effect and just putting yourself out there – it was quite freeing, actually.
Even though I was comfortable with the cooking part, I didn’t know anything about photography, and that was during the time of Instagram when it was strictly photos! I began to watch videos on YouTube about food photography and began to chat with other creators who were all so helpful giving advice and sometimes even giving me suggestions to my work. Eventually I became more confident and it showed in my photos. When videos became the big thing on social media, it was very similar to learning photography – a lot of practice and learning. I am constantly learning and evolving so it is a nice challenge.
As I posted more, I began to receive DMs and emails from brands wanting to send me products and eventually lead to brand deals. Being a content creator, the majority of our earnings come from brand deals, so getting my first few were beyond thrilling! But as that came along I had to learn another area of business and that was finances. Now that I was getting paid, I had to set up a business checking account, get an EIN (Employer Identification Number), a professional email address, along with other administrative items. It was definitely overwhelming, but it was another challenge and another new skill gained.
Fast-forward to 7 years later, I have over 30K followers across all of my social media accounts. This experience has been thrilling and rewarding, and I’m so proud of myself for diving head first into this industry.

Taylor, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

After graduating from California State University, Fullerton in 2013 I wanted to immediately start in the industry that I studied, which was Marketing and Advertising. I worked in various corporate companies working in their marketing departments, usually more on the social media strategy side. But I always knew in the back of my mind that I would much rather do all of this work for myself in some capacity, but I just didn’t know what that was yet.
I have always had an entrepreneurial mindset, and I knew I’d never be happy until I could have my own business someday. Once Covid hit, and I was working for a marketing agency at the time, I just had this total mind reset. I actually had launched my Instagram food account 2 years prior, but I wasn’t very consistent with posting. I remember there was this term going around during 2020 called The Great Resignation, where people were discovering what they really wanted out of life and their career! I felt like that was happening to me, and I knew I could make my Instagram successful if I could focus on it full-time. Once I decided that was what I wanted, and discussing this with my husband, I put my resignation in and never turned back. With the experience of marketing and social media under my belt I immediately started pitching myself to brands, and eventually I was able to land a few deals and I felt elated! I remember I wasn’t even at 1,000 Instagram followers yet, and I was getting more deals than creators who had much more than I did and then having them reach out to me to find out what I was doing! I remember simply saying, you don’t reach out to brands? I couldn’t believe how many of them answered my question, saying no! You can’t just wait around and hope they magically appear in your inbox, you have to put yourself out there and ask! Of course, I got a lot of rejection, but that is part of business, and I was prepared for that rejection.
My biggest advice to new creators is to not take rejection so personally. Many brands have certain specifics that they are looking for, such as follower count, engagement rate, budget, and so many other factors. I know that I cannot get every deal that I pitch, but I do know that eventually one will say yes! When one does say yes, I always do my best to turn in all of my deliverables on time, or earlier if I can, be punctual, professional, and finally be yourself. This is how you build long-lasting relationships. Brands are more likely to work with the people they can trust, versus having to constantly look for new creators.

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

Well, like most creators, when you start off, you usually alert the people closest to you. But, there is a downside to that as well. Sometimes the people closest to us will be the most critical, so I’d say, don’t let them ever get you down because you are the one putting yourself out there – not them!
The beginning of anything is always the hardest because you are trying to get people to see you, and let’s face it, nowadays, everyone is on social media in some type of capacity. But by being your true authentic self, even if you don’t show yourself much in your content, is critical. For the longest time, I never showed myself in my videos. I still don’t feature myself too much, but I do like to show a bite shot of myself. I always wanted the food to be the star of the video, but it is good to include yourself in any way you can. Look at any of the big creators and they are front and center.
Once you start to build your following, you want to always engage with your followers. ALWAYS respond back to comments. If someone is taking the time to comment, you can take the time to respond back, that is also how you build a relationship with your followers. I may not have a million followers, but my audience is very loyal, and that is the most important thing to have.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love the fact that I can create whatever type of recipe I want and put it on social media for people to watch and hopefully cook for their family! I get the biggest thrill when someone tags me in a post or comments to tell me they made one of my recipes and loved it.
Having full creative control is very rewarding. When I worked in my previous marketing jobs, it would be difficult at times when I could see something as a clear as day that would work or not, but I had to go along with the flow. Those experiences are what keeps me going as well. I think the mindset of an entrepreneur is definitely not a know-it-all, but someone who has a true passion for what they see and believe in. You have to be willing to go to bat for what you believe in and know that you put your heart and soul into the work.
Being in the creative space in today’s world is so exciting because there has never been a time when you could show off your skills in a way that anyone could see them without even having to leave their living room. Our talents don’t have to be hidden anymore, or waiting to find that person who will believe in you. We have the ability to show the world our talents where millions of people will believe in you, and that is what I call rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorgolub/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaylorGolub85
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorgolub85/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@taylorgolub