I grew up playing sports, from the age of 6-18. I was on the travel teams, the school teams and the rec teams, I. did. It. all. I even thought that this is what was going to take me to college. So, being the young-minded high school-er that I was, I had never really thought about a career path *yet.*
I Didn’t Go To Culinary School
When I went away to college in 2011 I was faced with the big question: “so what’s your major going to be?” I had no idea. I was mildly interested in events so I decided to run with that. I pursued a Hospitality & Event Management Degree from UCF while interning at a catering company (had to get back to the food, ya know?) Once it was time to graduate I moved home and took a job in catering because that was really the only thing I knew at that point. I got to create menus, work on-site at events and learn a whole lot about business and myself.
Things Started to Shift
As time went on I became more and more unsettled with my position and where I wanted my career to go. When anyone asked what my “dream job” was I hit them with “I honestly don’t know – I just really like making food and taking pictures of it.” Prickly Fresh was born. I always had family and friends asking me for recipes or how to do certain things and decided to just have it all in one place for everyone to access
How I Became a Healthy Food Blogger
Then, you know what came knocking at my door? A job opportunity to do just that. I was going to get paid (double what I was making at the time, mind you) to take photos of food. I won’t lie – my gut was telling me this was too good to be true but I was NOT turning this down, how could I?! Guess what? It was too good to be true. It wasn’t the right fit for me at all and I actually ended up getting fired, right before the holiday’s nonetheless. I was super shocked, scared, angry and honestly a little bit relieved? At this point, I wanted to put all of my energy and effort into Prickly Fresh but it was NO WHERE NEAR where it needed to be for me to make a living off of it. This was my blessing in disguise because what 20-something in their right mind is leaving a good paying job to *hopefully* make a living being a healthy food blogger? I never would’ve left on my own. I would’ve stayed and been miserable for who knows how long.
The Universe Had My Back
After Kevin and I talked about it we agreed that I should give it a real shot. Really focus all of my time and energy and treat it like a business. It was really hard and the money didn’t come as fast as I would’ve liked it to, but I didn’t give up. I for sure spent way way more than I was making on new recipes, equipment, online photography classes, and blogging business classes (goodbye savings account). I kept learning, reaching out to my peers for help, and building what is now the all encompassing food, wellness and lifestyle brand that I’m so proud of.
Things To Remember
Everyone is on a different journey. You’re exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, but take those opportunities when you see the signs. Follow your intuition, it’s never wrong.
Thank you so much for being here, you mean the world to me.
If you’re wondering more about me, read my story here!
