We recently connected with Vanessa Hartley and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I’ve lived a life that has been blessed with small acts of kindness in many ways. Whether it’s granting favours, or through gifts or acts of service, there’s been no shortage of kindness that I have received. There is one random act from a stranger that stands out, just because it was random. I actually went to the grocery store to top up on some stuff and while waiting to cash out, I saw that someone had a single item. I prompted them to go ahead of me while I got my loyalty card and monies ready. He went ahead and cashed his item but also cashed my items as well but I didn’t realise until I heard the cashier state a figure I know could not have been for me but was being directed towards me. As the situation became clearer, this kind stranger simply paid for our groceries, told me “Thank You” and disappeared with his one item, while I stood there still trying to fully grasp what had just transpired.

I may not be able to duplicate this random act of kindness right now, but I step up when an opportunity arises to give a helping hand.

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 Jamaican born and raised, with a dream to travel the world. Until that dream is realised, I embrace all the cultural experiences that are right at my doorstep, fueled by Jamaica’s motto of “Out of Many, One People”. My food blog showcases the varied types of cuisines available in Jamaica, showing what is available and how my fellow Jamaicans or visitors to the island can also enjoy the same experience.

Through my reels and videos, I share my views, opinions and suggestions, best practices and adventure experiences relating to food and lifestyle in hopes of bringing the opportunities to the forefront. That is my content creator/blogger life that I share with my architecture and graphic design life that pays the bills.

Being able to connect with people of all ages and cultural backgrounds and being open to new experiences is something I pride myself on. To be able to disseminate the relevant information and inform the followers and be trusted to provide information is also something I am grateful to be able to do.

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.

The whole process to create a single video or post begins with formulating the idea or topic of the post. It has to be relevant and that is a little more complicated if your topic is not trending. How do you bring an idea across and get people interested. Secondly capturing the raw content, especially for myself is a major key. For any process or recipe, if your raw material is good, your work is half way complete. Quality of video, aesthetics, the actual content, everything has to please the eye visually to get the viewers interested and keep them coming back for more. And this is all after you have mustered the courage and the strength to put yourself, your voice and your business in the public sphere… an issue that more than a few creators struggle with regardless of what you see online.

Now that you have collected all the raw footage that is already visually appealing and relevant to the topic and to the context of the topic, its time to edit. The music associated, if any, the timing of the video clips, the captions to ensure the deaf can enjoy it as well, and the overall length of the video are a few of the careful considerations in making a video to post.

This all before you post it. Uploading it to the media platforms welcomes a whole new slew of tasks and processes that would need to be followed that contribute to the success of a single video on socials.

The work that a content creator puts behind A SINGLE VIDEO, much less the 3+ videos PER WEEK (subjected to change) that the media platforms are requesting to stay favoured, is most times very overwhelming and this is not the only thing they have going on in their lives. So when you see you favourite creator post something that you like, give it a like, leave a comment and share it to your family and friends.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

It is definitely to educate and enrich the lives of everyone who is willing to learn and embrace the cultural experiences that I portray in my videos whether it is about food and lifestyle.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatsnewonthemenu/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatsnewonthemenu
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PinkPeachhh
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/pinkpeachhh/

  TikTok: @pinkpeachhh, @whatsnewonthemenu

Image Credits

Vanessa Hartley (PinkPeachhh)