Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vanessa Gordon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Vanessa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?
I do and am very grateful that I have the opportunity to do so. My husband is a physician, so he does not get much time off. However, when he does, we seize the opportunity and vacation together as a family. We typically choose one destintion within a reasonable driving distance of where we live on Long Island, and we choose a unique destination around the world that none of us have ever been to. For instance, we are heading to northern Vermont to go skiing, and then later in the year we will travel to the South Pacific.
I will say though that it is nearly impossible to separate me from my job as a business owner. I am always reachable and have to be otherwise I am potentially missing out on opportunities. I simply love what I do and don’t mind always being ‘plugged in’.
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 am the CEO and Publisher of East End Taste, a digital media company based in the Hamptons on Long Island. I am also the Founder of the Hamptons Interactive Brunch, an annual summer event series. My background is in freelance journalism and creative writing.
I have been writing stories since I was three, or really since I was able to properly hold a pencil. I wrote my first novel when I was thirteen and had it published by the time I was seventeen. Since then, I wrote two additional novels in my spare time. My goal is to get back to creative writing full time within the next few years. There is nothing like diving into your own thoughts and writing it all out on paper, something that is yours and yours alone. It is so sacred.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
The methods for how I built my audience on social media have shifted significantly over the years. For instance, in the very beginning stages, I felt it was much more of a direct and simplified process in terms of growth. I remember when six years ago, Instagram displayed their posts in chronological order. Now it is completely algorithm based. My social media team spent a significant amount of time on Twitter engaging and interacting with accounts of similar interests. Our growth on Facebook has been and is still more based on advertising campaigns.
Jumping forward to today, I show that it is indeed possible to start an Instagram account from scratch (started my account in the fall of 2021) and have built a strong and steady following since. I focus on strong content and always with a call to action or significance. My goal by the end of 2023 is to have regular brand campaigns and partnerships with my personal Instagram account.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Yes, it did. I never expected East End Taste to take on its own life form and eventually turn into a full-time business. East End Taste originally started as a hobby. It was a blog meant to share news and updates of my family’s travels and happenings throughout the Hamptons through a fun and attainable approach. It was when I was approached by those I know in the media and marketing industries who saw the significant potential I had and encouraged me to transition my blog into a digital publication. Since 2019, we continue to double or even as much as quadruple our revenue year after year.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eastendtastemagazine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessapgordon
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/eastendtaste
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessagordon9/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/eastendtaste
- Other: https://www.vanessapgordon.com https://www.instagram.com/eastendtaste https://www.instagram.com/hamptonsinteractivebrunch
Image Credits
Single images of Vanessa, credit: JT Santini All others: Courtesy of the Hamptons Interactive Brunch