Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Callahan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Elizabeth. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved to Provo UT for college and I noticed that there were no “foodie” Instagram pages for the area. I found a couple of Instagram foodie pages for the area when I searched, but it had been three years since they were last updated so they were virtually none. I had no experience creating a foodie page, but my mom was always an amazing chef and my father raised me to be quite the food critic growing up. I played with the idea of starting a food page for the Provo area, but I didn’t quite know if it was worth it. There was nothing about me that I felt was unique enough to draw in followers, as well as I knew I didn’t have the wallet to be a true “foodie.” I went back and forth with the idea, and ultimately I decided to create a foodie page with the intention of appealing to fellow broke college kids like myself. My goal would be to find cheap menu items from nearby restaurants.
After posting two photos, a dessert restaurant reached out to me through direct message and asked me to come in and advertise their food for them in return for a free dessert. I was really surprised that I was being reached out to after only two simple posts, but then I recalled that I was the only foodie in the area. I was their only social media advertiser for this small college town. After I realized what a valuable resource I had created, I decided to up my game and take this account more seriously. I made more of an effort to get better pictures of my food, I customized my highlights, I found a better profile picture, and I tried to be as consistent as possible in uploading posts and/or stories at least once a day.
Now, I have over 1100 followers which may not sound like much, but for our small college town, it feels like a lot. I get approached at least once a week by a restaurant to advertise for them in exchange for a free meal. I’ve actually inspired followers to become foodies themselves and I enjoy having a tight-knit foodie community in the area. I’ve even organized a foodie event and coordinated a giveaway with a local restaurant that included all of our accounts. My biggest honor is creating a cheesecake flavor at Momo’s Gourmet Cheesecake that is now permanently on their menu (Caramel Biscoff) because of a flavor-creation contest!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was relatively easier than I expected to become an area foodie, but the more offers I get to advertise for restaurants, the more being a foodie has felt like a real job. I used to only have to make time for a couple of restaurants a month and they were all within a small radius of my home. Now, I usually advertise 1-2 times a week and the restaurants could be as close as two mins away to as far as an hour away. It’s been a little more difficult to balance the new time commitments with just having had a baby. I have a six-month-old son and he usually has to come with me which can make me feel like I have to rush through a meal or not give a restaurant my full attention.
It also can be a little difficult to accept that I do “work” for free food instead of money. However, I do understand that at the end of the day, food is currency and I’m only reaching out to about 1000 followers.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I advertise food for local restaurants on Instagram to a local college audience. I am not a food critic, but more of a curator. I am proud of the fact that my advertising has drawn so many restaurants to reach out to me instead of the other way around. It’s a huge compliment to my work especially when restaurants want to do giveaways with me.
I am probably most likely known for putting the average price per person a restaurant will cost and for my pun-filled captions. I think I stand out because I’m now the “original” foodie of the area. My followers have followed me through college to graduation to my pregnancy and to now my new stay-at-home mom life. Another way I’m different from other pages is that I try to post spiritual messages every Sunday as a way to relate to my Christian university audience.
What were you like growing up?
I was always a hard worker growing up due to my perfectionism, but my parents would always tell me that I would always find a way to express my creativity through my hard work. Growing up, I discovered figure skating and made it my life-long passion. I am the oldest of five kids, so I’ve always been a nurturer, an entertainer, and a peace-keeper.
Contact Info:
- Email: byufoodie@gmail.com
- Instagram: byufoodie
Image Credit:
Elizabeth Callahan/byufoodie
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