Meet Emily Dong of Atlanta For The Young

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Dong.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Emily. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started Atlanta For The Young when I was a sophomore in college (5 years ago) as a “Student’s guide to the city of Atlanta”. The idea came to me one evening when my best friend and I were at Panera and I had an awesome smoothie that I wanted to tell people about. I realized that instead of telling people about chain foods, I should tell them about great local eats around the city and thus Atlanta For The Young was born. My blog started as a food guide mainly but has evolved to also include information on events coming up in the city, what photographers to follow for incredible shots of Atlanta, and a general excitement about our growing city. Once graduating school, I relabeled my blog as a “Young professional’s guide to the city of Atlanta” and I have been so fortunate to be amongst a community of people who are just as eager to explore the city as I am.

Great, 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?
I’d say it has been a fairly smooth road to get to where I am today. I’ve found the Atlanta community and the Atlanta blogger community to be very supportive. For me though, the struggles that come to mind in my blog’s journey is just trying to find a balance between time for my Atlanta blog, my fashion/ travel blog (emsies.com), my full-time job, and my personal life. I’ve always found it incredibly important to stay organized so that I can get posts up in time about upcoming events in the city, special menu availabilities at restaurants, pop-up shops, etc. because there’s a short window for promoting those type of things.

Atlanta For The Young – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Atlanta For The Young is a young professional’s guide to the city on Atlanta. On my blog, you can find restaurant reviews, upcoming events in the city, guides on the best way to spend a day in Atlanta, and more! I am most proud of the moments that I receive messages from my followers and they tell me that they enjoyed a spot that I recommended or that they had an awesome weekend because they checked out an event I shared. The blog also promotes local businesses and I’m proud to be able to expose my followers to new spots in town or local iconic gems! What sets Atlanta For The Young apart is that we appeal to a young (and young at heart) audience who are eager to get out and explore all that Atlanta has to offer!

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Besides getting positive feedback from my followers, my two proudest moments of my Atlanta blogging career have been: 1) having 8,900+ followers that follow my content and interact with me on a daily basis and 2) partnering with Delta Airlines and American Express this past year on their #DeltaAmexBlue Credit Card Campaign. I have admired both brands for an extremely long time and being able to work with Delta, my favorite airline which is also Atlanta based, and have them see my content, was an honor.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.atlantafortheyoung.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atlantafortheyoung/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Atlantafortheyoung/

Image Credit:
Hannah Lozano (hannahmichellephoto.com) – Festival Photos
Morgan Hayes (morganhayesphotography.net) – Photo of me with hat

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