Today we’d like to introduce you to Lise Ode.
Lise, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Hi there! I’m Lise (Leeza) – the creative force behind the popular site, MomLovesBaking.com (a food & lifestyle blog). I love creating delicious recipes, taking beautiful photos and posting each week to my blog. My recipes are mostly desserts including traditional recipes as well as gluten free and dairy free options because my daughter is gluten/dairy intolerant due to her Hashimotos condition. I also share savory dishes from time to time and enjoy sharing my everyday life with my audience including my kids, pets, dancing, “what I really eat (healthy foods)”, fashion, hair/make-up and some silly videos with my bestie.
I have an online course: How to Grow a Huge Instagram! I teach how I went from 2K to 196K followers on Instagram in just over a year (and still growing every day)!
A little about me, I’m a self-taught baker with a background in graphic design and B.S. in Fashion Merchandising from Florida State University. I had a wedding cake business for many years, then became a two-time finalist in the historic Pillsbury Bake-Off (2013/2014) which inspired me to start my blog in 2013. Read more on the Mom Loves Baking ABOUT page.
Has it been a smooth road?
If you told me in college that I would be a food blogger one day, I’d probably laugh out loud and say what in the world is a blogger? I went to college in the 80s, long before the internet was a thing. The business I have now has developed over the last six years as a conglomeration of all the skills I’ve learned in my various jobs. Being a baking blogger combines my graphic design background with my love of baking. Plus, having a cake business for four years when my kids were little, taught me all of the cake decorating skills I needed to create all kinds of creative cakes.
Becoming a blogger in the beginning was the biggest challenge because my graphic design experience was with print work. There was definitely a learning curve to get up and running with WordPress. Then I had to learn how to use a fancy camera and navigate social media. After that, it was getting to know the people in the food blog community and understanding how a virtual business could work. It was my husband’s idea to start a blog back in 2006 but I had no idea how to do it, so it wasn’t until 2013 that I finally got the nerve up to start my blog. I was inspired after being a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off which gave me confidence. I felt that maybe I was good at creating original recipes and maybe someone else might be interested in following my baking adventures.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I have a virtual business. I’m a food blogger and social media influencer. I consider myself a creative entrepreneur. Creating a job around my hobby. Doing something I genuinely love and actually getting paid for it. It’s a beautiful thing. Basically, I bake stuff that I like and document the recipe, then share it with the world. I’ve accumulated over half a million followers over the years, so I get paid through advertising on my site as well as doing sponsored posts and affiliate marketing. I don’t technically sell anything, although I do sell an online course on How to Grow Instagram which I just launched last Fall where I teach how I grew my Instagram from 2K to 200K in just over a year.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
You actually can live anywhere to be a blogger, but the cool thing about Atlanta is that there a lot of bloggers living here. It’s a great place to connect with other bloggers. It’s also the perfect place to attend blogging conferences. I love the Pinterest conference that happens every year and there are many more. It’s important to connect with people in real life when you have a virtual business. There’s also a wonderful baking community here. So many talented bakers in the Atlanta area. And we love to support each other via social media.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.momlovesbaking.com
- Email: lise@momlovesbaking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momlovesbaking/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momlovesbaking/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MomLovesBaking
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/momlovesbaking/
Image Credit:
Jennifer Scott Photography
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.
