Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanna Jones and Felice Sloan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Shanna and Felice. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
After being friends for several years by way of a relationship built on fantastic hair (we shared the same hair stylist), a passion for food, and of course, our love for cocktails, we entered the world of blogging in 2011 and Urban Swank was born.
We had no clue what blogging was really about back then. We only knew that we wanted people to explore the diversity of the wonderful cuisine here in Houston by sharing exactly what we loved and why we loved it. We would jump in the kitchen with chefs, give our readers a play by play with tasty recommendations (and drool-worthy photos), and we even hired a video team to record a “Cocktail Kitchen” series. Fun was certainly a constant factor!
After receiving the Houston Press award for “Best Food Blog” in Houston a mere 6 months in, we began to spread our wings by adding more lifestyle content. In the years following, we received several opportunities to be in front of the camera via local and major networks and continued to establish Urban Swank as a real brand – a brand that was determined to share relatable content with the mantra of “try something new”.
The support of our food community was instrumental in creating what Urban Swank is today. But it goes without saying that our passion and work ethic is the reason we have never taken a week off. We truly love what we do and getting to do it with someone who has an equally unwavering dedication to fulfilling a purpose, understands that hard work is the “secret sauce”, and is your “sister you never had” in real life, makes it all worthwhile.
Has it been a smooth road?
That’s a good question! Lily Tomlin said it best, “The road to success is always under construction”! It has been no different for us. Since we knew little about blogging we had to learn many things by trial and error. This ended up working well for us because it forced us out of our comfort zones. We also relied a lot on our experience in Corporate America to navigate the business side of things.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Urban Swank story. Tell us more about the business.
We are in the business of experiences! We want everyone to truly get out of just doing the thing that is comfortable and try something new while allowing and trusting us to give them our recommendations on the site or via our social media channels. Whether it’s heading to the new mom and pop restaurant they’ve never heard of for bunch to jumping in their car doing 24 hours in Austin, hitting a museum in the morning, and taking a wine and cheese class in the afternoon.
The thing that sets us apart is we are our brand! When you meet us, you are getting Urban Swank. One of our favorite things to hear is, “You ladies are exactly like you seem on video or online!”
We are most proud that we are building this brand on our own terms. We like to call them our Urban Swank rules, and we’ve shared many with our readers and viewers throughout the years. For example, if we need a word and it’s not in the dictionary we have been known to make one up… LOL! In all seriousness, we are just having a great time and feel honored that we get to share those moments with all our readers and followers.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Blogging has changed over the past 6 years. When we began shooting YouTube videos back in 2011, there weren’t that many doing the same. Fast forward to now and video is almost a requirement to be successful. People not only want to see what you are doing first hand, but they want to see YOU doing it; especially with recipe and beauty bloggers.
Social media will continue to strive as everyone finds ways to go beyond blogging. However, the traditional blogs should not be counted out. With the algorithm changes that have plagued both Facebook and Instagram, bloggers are finding creative ways to share their content. Editing apps are making it easier to push out some cool stuff and because of this companies are continuing to hire influencers more and more.
In addition to blogging, traditional media mediums (i.e. newspapers) are going away and the print is becoming the thing of yesterday. Online is where it’s at and we are more than ever blurring the lines between the two and understanding that people just want great curated content.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1029 Highway 6 North
Suite 650-156 Houston, TX. 77079 - Website: http://urbanswank.com
- Phone: 2817664688
- Email: info@urbanswank.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/urbanswank
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/urbanswank
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/urbanswank
- Other: http://youtube.com/urbanswank
Image Credit:
Kimberly Park
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
