Today we’d like to introduce you to Candy Hom.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Candy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a Rochester, NY native who went in search of warmer pastures (I got tired of scraping ice off my car for 6-8 months of the year!). So, my husband and I moved to San Diego, CA and we lived there short of two years before the sunshine tax emptied our pocketbooks (do people still say ‘pocketbooks?’) and figured we had to find another warm pasture with a better cost of living.
And that’s how we ended up in Atlanta.
During all these adventures, I have worked on my blog (www.soupbelly.com) where I post about recipes, family and photography. This eventually lead me to start my Instagram account (soupbelly_blog) detailing all that restaurants have to offer in the Atlanta area and recipes inspired by these dining experiences.
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?
I still consider myself an Instagram newbie (just about 1 year now). It has not been a smooth road and I would say the biggest obstacle for me was trying not to get discouraged when I didn’t feel I was gaining enough followers within a certain amount of time. I set goals for myself and since some of them were unrealistic, I fell short. I’ve learned to take it one step at a time now. I search for authentic Instragrammers to follow who have the same interests as me, and who have given me lots of inspiration. Learning from them is how I improve my own Instragram game. I think, I’ve come a long way – 1 year ago, I didn’t even know what a hashtag was!
My first piece of advice to you: be authentic. And this is something, I learned from 9 years of blogging before I even started Instagram. People love honesty. You don’t have to totally put yourself out there with every random thought that pops into your head (unless that’s your thing), but you can give them a piece of you that’s real. And, when people see that you opened up to them, they will be more apt to reciprocate.
My second piece of advice: great photography. Instagram is purely visual, if you don’t have great photos you are more likely to be passed over and your authentic writing can only get you so far (unless you’re on twitter). There are great blogs out there that offer tutorials on how to get the best shots, how to use Photoshop, to use or not use filters, the best lighting, the best angles, etc. and it’s all for free. Shameless plug – check out http://soupbelly.com/photography-tips/ for tutorials on food blogging! Some of the best Instagrammers don’t have a fancy SLR camera, but get fantastic shots on their phones. I use my phone for half my shots, especially when I’m at restaurants. Even with my background in photography, I am constantly learning and improving how I shoot photography and am proud to say, I’ve come a long way, even this late in the game. If I can do it, I’m sure you can.
My third (and corniest) piece of advice: if you love what you do and know you are (or will be) good at it, you will succeed. I know, it sounds like a ‘head in the clouds’ kind of statement but in most cases, you prevent yourself from being successful. Stop listening to that voice that tries to set you back. Not everyone gets featured on buzzfeed, goes viral and automatically gets 100k followers in a day. If you don’t have luck, make your own luck. Over time things will happen for you.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Soupbelly story. Tell us more about the business.
I majored in Graphic Design and Photography and worked as a graphic artist for 7 years, doing photography on the side. Using these two skills combined with a love of food, I created my blog, www.soupbelly.com. I realized, I enjoyed sharing my thoughts on food and was able to connect with many other bloggers and readers with the same interest. The blog mainly focuses on my recipes with step by step photos.
And when I’m not cooking, I’m eating, which leads me into Instagram. Instagram is my way of showcasing all that restaurants have to offer, in the Atlanta area as well as other cities I travel to. When a restaurant opens up, I’m there and I love the feeling of promoting a new business by showing what they have to offer. Instagrammers can help make a difference in this sense and I’m proud to say, I can stuff my face to improve the economy. I also post images of my recipes, most of which are inspired by dishes I have tried at restaurants.
What sets me apart from others is that ,I like 99.9% of all foods. I don’t have a ‘thing’, as in being purely vegan, or all smoothie bowls, or only BBQ, or whatever current food trends are happening. Everything has a place in my belly. I make fun of açaí smoothie bowls with frozen fruit on my Instagram profile, but not because I won’t eat them, as they are probably delicious. I just don’t do trends, I also don’t like pretentiousness, food purists or food elitists. I will happily argue you that McDonald’s french fries are better than In-and-Out fries (because they are). I don’t like doing what everyone else is doing in that momen and I’m not doing the opposite out of spite. I’m just doing what I want to do. And, I truly believe that doing your own thing will get you the farthest being an influencer.
Another thing that sets me apart is my Chinese background. Years ago, I was searching for Chinese restaurants in the Atlanta area and found some scathing reviews written on Yelp. One of the reviewers stood out because they complained that the Hong Kong style pan fried noodles were cooked inconsistently (crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside), the tea had leaves in it and they gave this poor restaurant 1 star because of it! I immediately went to this restaurant and the food was authentically delicious. Because I knew, that the noodles were supposed to be cooked that way (textural contrast, people!) and the tea was supposed to be loose leaf style. People who don’t have knowledge on the proper way of Chinese cooking can kill a restaurant with one ignorant review like that. I feel like it’s my job to showcase authentic Chinese (or any kind of Asian) food in the Atlanta area and not just the bastardized dishes like sweet and sour pork or sesame chicken. Although, I like me some Americanized sesame chicken every now and then.
And lastly, I don’t do this for fame. In fact, it is the last thing I want, as I am incredibly introverted and like to be behind the camera rather than in front of it. But it is the price to pay for doing what I love – sharing my cooking and dining experiences. I find that people going into Instragram purely for fame don’t build a strong fan-base with people who can connect with them and that isn’t something I want. But, everyone can do what works for them. Just know your priorities.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
68% of Instagram users are female. Therefore, women are able to influence others on a platform that grows and changes faster than basically any other platform out there. Women have an incredible amount of power on Instagram.
I’m all about change in society. There are many influencers with a huge following, who can simply call out a brand or company that discriminates or does something that sets us back and that brand or company is either forced to change or shut down. Companies make products or offer services for profit and caring for the public is a by-product of that. If profit is threatened, they are obligated to care about us. That is power.
So, I guess my answer is, through Instagram, we are given the opportunity to make a change.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.soupbelly.com
- Email: soupbelly@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soupbelly_blog/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soupbelly/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Soupbelly
Image Credit:
Candy at Soupbelly
Getting in touch: VoyageATL 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.
