Today we’d like to introduce you to Toni Williams.
Hi Toni, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
This all started from my love of food. I have always been what one would call a foodie. As a child, my parents cooked a lot and on weekends, we would venture out and try different restaurants. A lot of what we did and do as a family revolved around food. As an adult, I became more adventurous with the different foods I would try and experimented a lot in my own kitchen.
When I first started, my goal was to highlight local restaurants around the city. I wanted to share my experiences with my audience in hopes that they would support these local establishments. This expanded to sharing local gems in other cities across the country as I was traveling regularly for business and pleasure. I then began to share dishes I would cook at home. I wanted to make the idea of cooking less intimidating and to give my audience the confidence to get in the kitchen more and try different recipes.
Blasian Bon Vivant is more than just me sharing my lively food and travel adventures. Whether you want to check out a new restaurant, book a flight for a mini getaway, or try your hand at a fancy recipe, these things aren’t out of your reach. I want to inspire and encourage you to take some time to indulge in your own personal “good life” and live it to the fullest!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I decided to start my blog, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just posting things, not really thinking about the quality of the content. It was more of a hobby for me. This changed as I began to learn more about the blogging business. I have learned so much from my fellow bloggers and content creators. As I began to treat this as my business and not just a hobby, I invested more time into research and into the quality of my content. I am still learning as I go and I embrace it.
Sometimes it is hard not to get caught up in comparing yourself to others and the numbers game (number of followers, number of likes, etc.). That’s when I have to take a step back and remind myself of why I do this. Yes, I want people to connect with and like my content, but that isn’t what drives me. I genuinely enjoy what I do and hope others can see my joy through my content. It is sometimes challenging to find ways to make my content unique, but I have been having fun finding inspiration and developing my own style and voice.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
First, I think it is important to break down the name.
BLASIAN /blei ·zhn/ adjective. encompassing both Black and Asian heritage.
BON VIVANT /bän vēˈvänt/ noun. a sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes especially with respect to food and drink or a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink).
Blasian Bon Vivant encapsulates who I am. I am a food and travel blogger and content creator as well as a social media influencer. I am such an advocate for creating a life you love. For me that might be creating new recipes in my kitchen, discovering unique eats at local restaurants, sipping on craft cocktails with my friends on a beautiful patio, hopping on a plane by myself to get away for a few days, meeting new people and learning about different cultures, or even just relaxing in the comfort of my own home (with a glass of wine in hand). By sharing my lively adventures (and any tips or tricks I have up my sleeve) my goal is to inspire others to find the things that add fulfillment to their life.
I create all of my own content from photos to videos to recipes to blog articles for my website and various social media platforms. I am also an ongoing recipe contributor for Vitacost’s The Upside blog. And I just launched my YouTube channel where I will be sharing more video content of my food and travel adventures.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I have learned a lot from my fellow bloggers and content creators. However, I would be remiss not to give a big shout-out to long-time friend and digital content creator, Marielou Mandl (@marieloumandl). She has been such a big supporter over the years. She has encouraged and challenged me to try new things. She has also offered advice and assistance in any way she can. She deserves all the credit for the name Blasian Bon Vivant as it came about during one of our brainstorming sessions. I can’t thank her enough for her guidance which has played an integral role in my growth.
Aileen Luib (@theballeronabudget) has also had a significant impact on Blasian Bon Vivant. She helped me become more clear on my mission and focus which sparked my rebrand. With her guidance, I was able to learn more about managing the business of Blasian Bon Vivant which is just as important as the content I am putting out there.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@blasianbonvivant.com
- Website: www.blasianbonvivant.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/blasianbonvivant
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/blasianbonvivant
- Twitter: twitter.com/blasianbonviv
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTVpcjriDzuzfnBXloy67pw
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/blasianbonvivant
