Supper with Sylvia- Food Influencers

[01:00:00:00 - 01:00:03:07]
 (Upbeat Music)

[01:00:07:21 - 01:00:24:06]
Sylvia
 Have you ever wondered how people actually make a living eating out and posting on social media? On today's episode of Supper with Sylvia, I talked to two food influencers with more than 300,000 followers between them, each with a unique story and a niche that truly stands out.

[01:00:24:06 - 01:00:36:00]
Jeremy
 My friend was like, man, you really got something going. I think you should post this. And I posted it and it did very good. Like people was commenting, like it was a cheesy voiceover.

[01:00:36:00 - 01:00:45:09]
Sylvia
 First up, Jeremy Joyce from Black People Eats. He built a platform to spotlight black owned restaurants and a community he felt was being overlooked.

[01:00:46:12 - 01:00:55:10]
Pooja
 There's a lot that goes behind the scenes. It's not that I just show up, I get some free food, I do take some pictures, come back and post about it. I wish it was that easy.

[01:00:55:10 - 01:01:18:08]
Sylvia
 Then, Pooja Naik, AKA Chicago Pescatarian. She grew up in Mumbai, India, eating fresh seafood and noticed there weren't many influencers repping seafood or South Asian food in the US. So this is a real conversation about the hustle, the culture, turning passion into a platform and how being an influencer isn't for the faint of heart.

[01:01:20:08 - 01:01:31:04]
Sylvia
 Jeremy Joyce, I am so excited to have you. I've been following you on your Instagram and love your story. So 2017 you started Black People Eats. Give us some background, how did that get started?

[01:01:31:04 - 01:02:24:14]
Jeremy
 Well, you know what happened Miss Sylvia, I was leaving the work one day, you know, Eatily downtown, they had this black, this Oktoberfest. And I was like, all you can eat, and I don't really drink, so I was like, all you can eat food, I'm gonna go check this out. I had on my nice little suit, little jacket and all that fun stuff. And I started eating and I was like, I don't really see no people of color. So I'm gonna record this and post it. So I sent this to a few of my friends, just being funny. And my friend was like, man, you've really got something going, I think you should post this. And I posted it and it did very good. Like people was commenting, like it was a cheesy voiceover. I didn't know how to edit, I didn't know how to do video. All I knew was that my personality, it was something different about the way my personality came out. And from there, I started blogging

[01:02:25:17 - 01:02:54:17]
Jeremy
 under my name Rejoice Life. And I was doing so much, Miss Sylvia. I was doing faith, food, fashion, finance, I was all over the place. Now you get somebody that's excited, that was me, but I had to find my focus. And I found my focus, which was food, and I just started and I noticed that blogs really were not highlighting minorities or minority in restaurants, unless it was their prospective month or like a day that paid homage to their heritage. And after that, I said,

[01:02:56:19 - 01:03:27:23]
Jeremy
 these restaurants need publicity, these restaurants need help. So after that, that's what made me realize I want to create a platform to help underserved restaurants and underserved communities. So when you go make a decision to go get something to eat, you won't just think of Magianos, you'll also think of Provare. You'll be able to think of this breakfast restaurant or you'll be able to think of Luella Southern Kitchen. So I wanted to create something where they could have, their voices could be heard. And that's what made me start.

[01:03:27:23 - 01:03:42:12]
Sylvia
 Yeah, and let's talk about the impact you have because you see it fairly quickly. Tell me what some of the places that you've been to, what have you seen and how much do you actually realize the difference you're making for these restaurants?

[01:03:42:12 - 01:05:26:00]
Jeremy
 And you know what, Miss Sylvia, that's something that I had to get better at because I think for anybody who's listening, sometimes we focus so much on what we're doing and the impact where we don't really sit back and think. And I actually had to take that time to think back. I know we talked briefly during COVID when George Floyd passed and like a lot of stuff happened because that's when we met. And I remember a restaurant owner called me and she said, I don't think you realize the Juneteenth Festival that you put on, that brought in so much money. It was allowing me to pay my bills and play employees and staff. I don't think you really realized that because I was so focused on hitting the goal. I wasn't even thinking about the impact that it had on people. And I remember she called me and she told me that and I was driving, I really said like, this really brought impact to people because I just try to help people. I don't try to think about the results because sometimes when we don't hit results, I started to take it personal and I had to learn how to detach myself from the result because I take it hard when I don't hit a goal. So for me, it was really like, man, I'm seeing customers, thousands and thousands of dollars being brought in to businesses just because of Instagram. You know, we was able to raise $100,000 in two weeks to give out to restaurants in the pandemic. And it happened, I wasn't even thinking about like, we did this with like no backing and just the social media posts. And I was like, man, I'm grateful that God put me in a position to bless other people. You know, cause I don't be thinking about that, you know, all the time. I just think about, I just want to help people, let's make it happen. I don't even think about sometimes the impact that it has.

[01:05:27:03 - 01:05:41:05]
Sylvia
 Okay, so Jeremy, I love that you've had such a huge impact that this is now your full-time job, but I've wondered because you have paid sponsors, this is now your life. What do you do when you find yourself in a position where you've eaten something and you don't like it?

[01:05:41:05 - 01:07:52:02]
Jeremy
 I really appreciate Ms. Hilliard that you asked me this question because so many people think everything that I eat, I enjoy, I actually do not. However, my vision is to spread positivity. So there was a passage in the Bible that I read cause I'm a man of God and I read a scripture and Noah was drunk after the Ark and he had three sons and one of his sons saw him drunk. And instead of covering him up, like most of us should do, you know, he did, he went to go run and gossip to his brothers. They say, look at what dad's doing. And I read that his brothers just covered him up. And when I saw that, it stuck to me. Cause I said, most of us would rather spread negativity about somebody instead of covering them. Like what if in that moment he would have covered him and say, you know what, I know you, you probably want to go on through something right now, but I'm not going to expose you to other people. So I wanted to use that same model in business. So when I go to a restaurant, I go to Sylvia's Burgers and let's say the burger is not my preference. Let's say the sauce I may not like the bun. I might not like that as being used just because I do not like it, which is my preference does not mean the whole world will not like it. So what I would do is I would say, Hey, Miss Sylvia, I did not prefer the taste of the burger. So I can showcase you making the burger, maybe putting the emphasis on the burger, but I will not show me eating it. That's what I do because I only like to showcase what I enjoy eating. But then I also realized just because I enjoy eating it, don't mean you may not like eating it. Like for example, I love my French toast. I love that really thick bread. So that's why I think Luella's Southern Kitchen has the best French toast to me because he makes his bread from scratch and his bread is hollow bread and it's really thick. Now if Sylvia makes me French toast and then you know, it's a thin piece of bread, I can eat the food and say, I went to Sylvia's breakfast and this French toast was nasty because the bread is thin and it doesn't have this, it doesn't have that. And I've had to learn that taste,

[01:07:53:06 - 01:08:18:17]
Jeremy
 that taste is how foodie should explain things and not just their opinion. Cause opinions is grounded in your upbringing, your ethnicity, your nationality, your region, where you grew up from, your exposure, all those things affect how you taste. And then emotions affect how you taste. Imagine me and Sylvia and me, you had a bad day at work and we gonna meet for dinner.

[01:08:19:23 - 01:08:46:22]
Jeremy
 Our experience at that dinner is gonna be different from if we had a good day at work. Emotions affect how you eat. So what if I order food and it's taking a long time and I'm irritated? That's gonna affect along how I eat the food, how I receive the food, how I interpret the food. So I think we gotta get better at being able to explain tastes and then figuring out we're in the right place emotionally when we're eating this food.

[01:08:46:22 - 01:08:55:13]
Sylvia
 I love that. That's so thoughtful of you, Jeremy. I should say I'm not surprised because that really is thoughtful. Everybody's taste buds are different,

[01:08:56:18 - 01:09:08:11]
Sylvia
 but you're so much fun to watch. Your facial expressions are so awesome and I smile whenever I see your videos. And this is why you went viral shortly after the...

[01:09:09:17 - 01:09:24:16]
Sylvia
 Well, you started in 2017, but then during the pandemic, it became this thing and you started this incredible following. And now you've got this database that you've created. So you're not just Chicago. Tell me about this. This is really exciting.

[01:09:24:16 - 01:10:02:23]
Jeremy
 Thank you. So what happened was I do believe in growing when you're supposed to grow versus growing too fast. So I do believe... I remember when I first started, Ms. Sylvia, I said this to myself. I said, why am I not included in this article? Why am I not being featured on television? And in one of my friends, Percy, he had told me one day, he said, if you got the exposure that you needed right now, could you handle it? And I had to be honest and I thought about it. I said, you know what, I couldn't. So I had to learn how to grow slow because I didn't know that three years later in 2020, after all that stuff happened, that I would just take a...

[01:10:04:10 - 01:10:31:04]
Jeremy
 I would just like grammatically grow like crazy. And so for me, it was just insane. I had to learn... I had to make sure my systems was in place because a lot of people start coming to my website and I had to learn about bandwidth because there were too many people. So my website ended up crashing for a little bit. So I had to learn about that, but it was a fun, exciting place. Now, when I first started, I always wanted to go to other cities,

[01:10:32:09 - 01:11:10:14]
Jeremy
 but I realized that I had to become known and effective or impactful. Let me say that I had to become impactful in my own city first. I think sometimes too many people wanna grow too fast. And I heard TDJ say, build local and grow global. You have to become known where you are first. Are you an expert in the area that you're in? Cause a lot of us, you know, like I was just in Miami for the first time this past weekend for SOB. And a lot of us, I wanna go here. I wanna expose here. I wanna go out the country. I wanna film in all of these states and all these countries. But does your neighbor know you down the street?

[01:11:11:18 - 01:11:41:02]
Jeremy
 Does the people in your city know you? Do they know how impactful your work is? Cause sometimes we're trying to grow too fast and it's not good to grow too fast. I wasn't ready to grow too fast. That's why I wanted to grow where I was planted. And then as I blossom, you start to see things and then you can know, okay, it makes sense for me to go to this city because this city, a lot of people experience this city. It makes sense for me to go to this country cause a lot of people wanna experience this country.

[01:11:42:05 - 01:11:45:21]
Sylvia
 Wow. So how many cities now, how many countries in your database?

[01:11:49:15 - 01:11:53:15]
Jeremy
 It's a lot now. It was easier when I started because now,

[01:11:54:15 - 01:12:01:02]
Jeremy
 I'm working with tourism boards, so I'm getting paid to travel now. So I can say this last year,

[01:12:02:08 - 01:12:04:21]
Jeremy
 I think we did like 12 cities in four countries.

[01:12:05:22 - 01:12:06:03]
Pooja
 Wow.

[01:12:06:03 - 01:12:08:08]
Jeremy
 Just last year alone. I do remember that.

[01:12:08:08 - 01:12:13:14]
Sylvia
 Oh my God. You must be, it's probably far exceeded your expectations.

[01:12:13:14 - 01:12:15:00]
Jeremy
 Honestly,

[01:12:16:02 - 01:13:06:09]
Jeremy
 this weekend, I was thinking like a year ago, I wanted to be at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival and a year later I'm here. I cannot believe that I'm able to do this, do this with my wife, be able to get paid to do what I love and just be able to experience things that I love without that added pressure that I had like in corporate, without the rudeness and meanness of others. It just feels good to wake up and enjoy what I do. Because for so many years in corporate America, I just woke up miserable. And I just had to like, I had to put on my face to make sure I could still handle my job every day. So it feels good, Miss Sylvia, like I still be shocked.

[01:13:07:10 - 01:13:15:05]
Jeremy
 I still be shocked. Like I'm getting ready to go out of town tomorrow to go film in Florida. I'm going to Disney World for the first time with my wife in Orlando.

[01:13:16:17 - 01:13:19:09]
Jeremy
 I'm shocked that stuff like this is happening.

[01:13:19:09 - 01:13:25:21]
Sylvia
 That's amazing. And people are saying, "Oh my gosh, Jeremy, "you're getting paid to eat for a living." But it's not all that easy, is it?

[01:13:25:21 - 01:14:19:21]
Jeremy
 No. See people, I think it's easy for us to judge a seat that we never sat in. Because my whole life is based on a metric. What happened if my metric go down? Like the added pressure of always having to perform, the added pressure of if you do not perform well, that's it. And that stuff really can take a toll on you. That's why like recently in December, I took a month off social media because I had realized I was consuming too much. I was taking it in too much. I was letting this consume me too much. I was like, this should not have this much pressure on me. And I had to take a step back because it was bothering me mentally too much. Sometimes you gotta recognize, like, yes, this is a fun job. I love it, but there's so much added pressure.

[01:14:19:21 - 01:14:38:23]
Sylvia
 Okay, so obviously there's too many places for you to even say what's your favorite. But because we are Chicago-centric, I want to find out what is your go-to restaurant in Chicago when you just want some comfort food and everyone knows your name and you just feel like it's home. Where do you go, Jeremy? You trying to get me in trouble?

[01:14:38:23 - 01:14:39:22]
 (Laughing)

[01:14:39:22 - 01:14:47:18]
Jeremy
 I think so. I always be, I try to get out of this. I'll be like, can I pick a different city? I always try to pick a different city. So in that way, I can't get in trouble.

[01:14:47:18 - 01:15:03:23]
Sylvia
 But here's the deal. Okay, here's the deal. You're not gonna get in trouble because there's so many great restaurants out there. But I think we as Chicagoans all have our go-to spots and every chef I've spoken to, every distributor I've spoken to, this is a question I always ask them because we all have a spot. What's your spot?

[01:15:03:23 - 01:15:09:00]
Jeremy
 All right. Can I give you like the full day breakfast, lunch, dinner? Sure. Breakfast,

[01:15:10:08 - 01:15:21:05]
Jeremy
 I'm picking Luella Southern Kitchen. I'm getting any French toast that he makes. Chef Darnell's amazing, man. He's wonderful. Give me that French toast.

[01:15:22:05 - 01:15:29:01]
Jeremy
 Give, oh, oh my God, that French toast. Oh my God, that French toast. So that's breakfast. Okay. That's breakfast.

[01:15:30:04 - 01:15:30:14]
Jeremy
 Lunch.

[01:15:30:14 - 01:15:32:07]
 (Laughing)

[01:15:33:13 - 01:15:53:12]
Jeremy
 I'm going to Afro Joe's in Beverly to go, cause I'm closing my eyes and I'm thinking about the sandwich right now. I will go to Afro Joe's and get the beef short rib grilled cheese with the blueberry lavender lemonade with no ice.

[01:15:54:19 - 01:15:57:11]
Jeremy
 That is one, oh my God. That sandwich,

[01:15:58:12 - 01:16:10:03]
Jeremy
 it's either that or the shrimp po' boy from Daisy's those sounds just undefeated. But then cause it's the middle of the day, I'm going to need a snack.

[01:16:11:06 - 01:16:21:23]
Jeremy
 Yeah. So I'm going to go get me, oh, what snack? Oh, I'm going to go get me a chocolate chip cookie. It's so many places.

[01:16:24:13 - 01:16:27:18]
Jeremy
 I will go get me a chocolate chip cookie from,

[01:16:29:10 - 01:16:31:13]
Jeremy
 I think Mindy's hot chocolate.

[01:16:33:12 - 01:16:41:16]
Jeremy
 Yeah, Mindy's hot chocolate. Cause I always get them, oh man, that cookie is great. That is a good cookie. And then for dinner,

[01:16:43:23 - 01:16:44:15]
Jeremy
 for dinner,

[01:16:45:17 - 01:16:52:04]
Jeremy
 I'm either going to go to two fish to get some fresh shrimp and a fried lobster tail.

[01:16:53:04 - 01:17:04:14]
Jeremy
 Or I'm going to go to Pravare and get the shrimp scampi with trio seasoning, replace the shrimp with chicken.

[01:17:05:16 - 01:17:07:02]
Jeremy
 That is my favorite.

[01:17:09:04 - 01:17:12:04]
Jeremy
 I don't eat, I can't even go that much because I eat it that much.

[01:17:12:04 - 01:17:23:06]
Sylvia
 That is-- My gosh, okay. That's good. It all sounds delicious and I want to try it, but I have to say that is an exhaustingly filling, yummy day. And then you roll over and you go to bed.

[01:17:23:06 - 01:17:35:07]
Jeremy
 Oh yeah, no, I got to go walk so I can burn off all those calories. There you go. Then I'm going to go to bed. But honestly, that's like a day, like if I was taking somebody out, like when people come to Chicago, I typically,

[01:17:36:23 - 01:17:46:17]
Jeremy
 now because of we going all the places, we just bite in and that's it. We're not like eating, eating. We're going to like take a little bite. We're going to split the meals. So then that way we can go for ourselves and all of the food.

[01:17:48:10 - 01:17:54:00]
Sylvia
 I love it. That sounds like a wonderful day. So what's the future, Jeremy? You've got a lot going on. What's next?

[01:17:54:00 - 01:18:41:18]
Jeremy
 Honestly, for black people eats, I don't know if you know this, but I recently made an announcement. So I started doing traveling to rhythms and as an African American man growing up, I noticed there was just certain foods I did not really try growing up, because you know, Chicago's a segregated city and there's just certain neighborhoods. You just don't go to it. You don't feel welcome to go to. And I started traveling and I started noticing, there was foods that I have never tried before. And I'm 33 years old now. In the city of Asheville, which is currently probably in my top food city right now, everything is farm to table. Everything is fresh. I went before the flood. So I experienced amazing food. And I went to the city of Asheville

[01:18:42:22 - 01:19:12:08]
Jeremy
 and I had tried Hawaiian food for the first time. I tried Filipino food for the first time. And I'm telling myself, I'm 33 years old. Why am I just now trying this? Why am I just now eating ramen for the first time at 32? Why am I just now trying these foods that I've never been exposed to? And the food was amazing. The flavors were things I've never experienced. I had duck adobo and I'm just eating these, Hawaiian ribs and the flavors are unexplainable.

[01:19:13:09 - 01:19:54:08]
Jeremy
 And I said, I need to start trying other food. I need to start trying other culture food. And the lady walked up to me and she said, you're in Chicago, you've been to any restaurants from the beer. And at the time, I only did black-owned restaurants. And I was like, no, cause you know, I only really do black-owned restaurants. I would go to other restaurants, but I'm never really being, I don't really take much of an effort. And she said to me, you can be the bridge to really change communities by bridging people together, by trying other foods and being that person that gets communities to intertwine. And she said that to me. And then next thing I know, I started doing traveling. And I was at home and I said, you know what?

[01:19:55:08 - 01:20:40:01]
Jeremy
 I'm gonna start trying other nationalities and other cuisines and exposing myself and my community to foods that we've never tried. And I started to notice a lot of my friends, some of my friends had tried other foods, but most of them haven't tried certain cuisines. A lot of my friends, that's African, they've never tried certain other African cuisines. So I made an announcement that this year, black people east is gonna start trying other nationalities and cuisines. So I'm looking forward to that, being exposed to uniting the world through food and culture and eating from a black perspective to unite the world. Because I believe if I can try other cultures and learn them and learn their stories, I can tell their stories in a way where people will be able to connect to those stories just like their own.

[01:20:41:04 - 01:20:44:08]
Sylvia
 I love that. Can I take you out to my favorite Puerto Rican restaurant in Chicago?

[01:20:44:08 - 01:20:46:12]
Jeremy
 Yes, you know what? I've never had Puerto Rican food.

[01:20:46:12 - 01:20:49:00]
Sylvia
 Oh, Jeremy, it is.

[01:20:49:00 - 01:20:50:08]
Jeremy
 What's your favorite? What's your favorite place?

[01:20:50:08 - 01:20:55:20]
Sylvia
 Well, there's a couple. I'm not gonna tell you yet. I wanna take you. There's two I wanna take you to.

[01:20:55:20 - 01:20:58:10]
Jeremy
 Yeah, because I've never had Puerto Rican food.

[01:20:58:10 - 01:21:00:17]
Sylvia
 And when I tell people they like-- Oh, Jeremy, this was meant to be.

[01:21:00:17 - 01:21:07:08]
Jeremy
 Seriously? I was like, oh yeah, I got a try. Cause I just had a cubing food for the first time in Miami.

[01:21:07:08 - 01:21:09:14]
Sylvia
 Oh, and yes, good stuff.

[01:21:09:14 - 01:21:11:15]
Jeremy
 I said, what have I been doing?

[01:21:11:15 - 01:21:45:07]
Sylvia
 Yeah, that's the food that just gives you comfort to me. When I go to Miami, if I eat Cuban food, it's very close to Puerto Rican food too. And whenever I eat it, my taste buds just light up. And I feel like somebody is just embracing me. It is heaven. So we are doing a Chicago theme, Puerto Rican day for sure. I can't wait for that. Thank you so much, Jeremy. If there's anything that you would say to people that you want them to know about you and the whole influencer world, as people look to social media and everything else, what would you want people to know?

[01:21:45:07 - 01:21:52:16]
Jeremy
 I would say to two people, I would say to influencers, I think it's time to change the way we market to restaurants.

[01:21:53:17 - 01:22:22:16]
Jeremy
 I think Keith Lee coming out, excuse me, was a very great thing because he showed influencers and restaurants that a lot of the money that's being paid to influencers from restaurants is starting to get out of hand. Cause I even used to get paid from restaurants and honestly I felt convicted and I stopped. Like I no longer take payment from restaurants anymore. I think restaurants need the budget to continue to do things.

[01:22:23:20 - 01:23:14:11]
Jeremy
 I think influencer marketing was the way to go back in the day for restaurants. And I think now you have everyday people who are just coming and just showcasing restaurants. So I think influencers need to change how they help restaurants. I don't think it should be a pay to play model. I think they should figure out other ways to benefit restaurants outside of being paid to eat. Cause I noticed there's a loss of trust in that factor now. It's not the same anymore, how it was 10 years ago. I noticed it's changing. So if I was an influencer coming up in the food space, I would change and maybe rethink about how you can make a living being a foodie. Cause charging restaurants is not gonna be sustainable anymore. I don't believe so. What I would tell individual people though, I would say, you know, find something you love

[01:23:15:11 - 01:24:25:19]
Jeremy
 and know that you're doing it to serve other people. You're not doing it to be seen. You're not doing it to be heard. You're not doing it to get attention. You're not doing it, you know, for yourself, you're doing it for other people. Everything you do in life, it must be to serve other people. And if you're not trying to serve other people, then you might as well stop doing it because it's selfish and it will not last. Like I've only lasted in the business because I realized what I do is not about me. It's about telling us stories. And I've had my moments where, you know, it's still why don't I get recognized? Why didn't I get this award? You know, why didn't I get nominated for this? Why didn't I get this brand deal? But I had to realize that was because I was trying to serve myself and forgetting that my mission was to unite the world through food and culture. And if I never get recognized, if I never get another award, if I never get another deal, I know that my vision was to connect people and it was never about awards and accolades. Because sometimes we start things and we lose sight of that. Don't lose sight of the goal. I lost sight of mine for a while. And I'm grateful that I was convicted enough to get back on path and realize it's not about me.

[01:24:27:01 - 01:24:42:23]
Sylvia
 Well, you are very inspirational, especially for your young age. Keep doing what you're doing. And what's the tag? I want to hear, I want to give me the sound that you make when you have eaten something you absolutely love. That's how I want to end this podcast. Go for it. Hey, my wife,

[01:24:42:23 - 01:24:45:21]
Jeremy
 oh, it's funny. I'm kind of woo.

[01:24:48:20 - 01:25:05:01]
Sylvia
 I love it. It's just so great. Like I said, I can't help but when I talk to you, when I see you on social, you make me smile. Keep doing what you're doing, my friend. Can't wait to see how far you go with this. And can't wait to take you to my Puerto Rican restaurant in Chicago. Thank you, Jeremy Joyce, for joining me.

[01:25:05:01 - 01:25:08:04]
Jeremy
 So great. Thank you for having me, Ms. Sylvia. I appreciate it.

[01:25:08:04 - 01:25:21:21]
Sylvia
 Coming up next, we spotlight Pooja Naik, AKA Chicago Pescatarian, one of the city's top food influencers with the seafood twist. She loves what she does, but says it's not as effortless as it may look.

[01:25:26:16 - 01:25:27:23]
Sylvia
 And we'll be right back.

[01:25:30:06 - 01:25:50:01]
Sylvia
 Hey, foodie friends, if supper with Sylvia feeds your soul like it feeds ours, show us some love. Subscribe, like, leave a kind review, and share it with someone who loves a good story and a good meal. Thanks for joining Supper with Sylvia. It's the love of food that brings us together, but it's the stories behind each fight that brings this to life.

[01:25:54:23 - 01:26:17:11]
Sylvia
 Puja, it is so great to have you on the podcast. You and I have gotten to know each other over the last few years because we're both foodies. I think the first time I met you, we were at a really fun media night dinner at the Langham Hotel. And we hit it off, we had such a great time, and I've been following Chicago Pescatarian ever since. How did you become an influencer?

[01:26:19:03 - 01:26:29:05]
Pooja
 I get this question asked all the time. First of all, yes, I love meeting you, and we've had so many fun media dinners since then, so thank you for having me on your podcast.

[01:26:30:15 - 01:26:34:23]
Pooja
 I have always loved seafood. I grew up with seafood.

[01:26:36:01 - 01:27:18:07]
Pooja
 I grew up in Mumbai in India, which is on the coast. And so seafood was a staple in my household growing up. And food is a core memory for me growing up. My grandmother's cooking, going to the sea with my grandfather to pick up fresh crab that the fishermen just brought, all of those memories. So seafood is ingrained in me, and I actually, fun fact, try to become vegetarian, and then probably lasted a couple weeks before I went back to seafood. I'm like, no, I miss the taste of fish too much. So then I adopted the Pescatarian diet and was very passionate about it.

[01:27:19:09 - 01:27:34:03]
Pooja
 Having lived in Chicago, you know, we are very famous for our deep dish pizza, our hot dogs, all of, you know, meat-centric food, but I felt like there was a lack of representation of seafood and even South Asian food, because I'm Indian,

[01:27:35:08 - 01:27:54:15]
Pooja
 in a blogging space, or just in general. And I realized that we need somebody to highlight the amazing seafood we had. And so that's how I launched the Chicago Pescatarian. It was a passion project, so yeah. And how many years ago was that? That was 10 years ago, actually, on the dot, yeah.

[01:27:54:15 - 01:28:10:01]
Sylvia
 Wow, 10 years ago. But what was it that made it take off? Because you have at least 100,000 followers right now on Instagram alone. What was the turning point? Because people always wonder, how do you become an influencer? How do you get so many people who are following you?

[01:28:10:01 - 01:28:16:13]
Pooja
 Yeah, so it hasn't been, you know, an overnight journey at all. It's been a decade, but I,

[01:28:18:06 - 01:28:49:19]
Pooja
 so when I first started, I mentioned this was a passion project. I was just sort of highlighting my own dining experiences. And once slowly I realized that people were engaging, and I was forming a community, I said, "Okay, you know, there's something to this. Maybe I can do this more full-time." And I really, it was after the pandemic that I kind of took it more seriously because we had more time, we were on social media more. And that's probably when it really took off. So maybe at the five-year mark.

[01:28:51:13 - 01:29:09:18]
Pooja
 And I've learned a lot. So there have been a lot other newer bloggers that have come in and have hit, you know, the 100,000 mark much faster. It has been a slow and steady race for me, but I think I learned so much in the process and formed so many amazing connections that I wouldn't change a thing.

[01:29:09:18 - 01:29:12:16]
Sylvia
 Yeah, and so what did you do before this?

[01:29:13:21 - 01:29:16:05]
Pooja
 So I have been in marketing always.

[01:29:17:08 - 01:29:20:01]
Pooja
 And so it was easy to market myself,

[01:29:21:03 - 01:29:36:11]
Pooja
 but I've always been in marketing. I've been passionate about it. I studied, my undergrad was in economics, and I worked for the government agency for a while in Michigan, and then I was involved in membership marketing and yeah, now to blogging.

[01:29:36:11 - 01:29:53:11]
Sylvia
 Okay, I love that. A lot of influencers seem to have that business background, which is interesting, which is something that you need as well. So I feel like you really were the first person I saw kind of promoting the whole seafood industry at the time. Would you say that's true?

[01:29:53:11 - 01:30:03:05]
Pooja
 That is true. I think I still have this on my business card, but I am Chicago's first, and I think only seafood blogger as it stands.

[01:30:04:18 - 01:30:14:18]
Pooja
 Less blogging now, Instagram, you know, transition more to Instagram as a platform, but definitely talking about seafood focused probably, yeah.

[01:30:15:21 - 01:30:23:00]
Sylvia
 And this is something you do full time now. Tell me how this works. How does an influencer make a living?

[01:30:23:00 - 01:30:55:02]
Pooja
 Yeah, so I don't do this full time yet. I'm on my way, but yeah, you can definitely make a living because you can monetize. Now, I will, if I had to give a tip to an emerging or budding content creator, I would say, start monetizing early. I realized later in the game that, hey, like, you know, you can charge for your time. But it's really about forming those connections, being on the right food PR list,

[01:30:57:06 - 01:31:28:08]
Pooja
 forming a bond or like a relationship with chefs, creating that rapport where they look, and also becoming sort of the expert, creating the niche enough to gain credibility. And then you can diversify into other things, but I started with seafood because that was truly my passion. And I think that once the audience sees the passion, I think they will follow along, like, you know. So the restaurants will see it, chefs will see it, and that's just how it kind of took off from there.

[01:31:28:08 - 01:31:32:14]
Sylvia
 You're going out there, your videos are so much fun. You're trying the food.

[01:31:33:19 - 01:31:39:08]
Sylvia
 Do you get paid by restaurants to come and try their places out? Tell us how that works.

[01:31:39:08 - 01:31:41:09]
Pooja
 Yeah, so sometimes I do.

[01:31:43:20 - 01:32:03:01]
Pooja
 There's a lot that goes behind the scenes. It's not that I just show up, I get some free food, I do take some pictures, come back and post about it. I wish it was that easy. But really, any one collaboration is from start to finish, is research, planning. Sometimes I have to write the script ahead of time,

[01:32:04:10 - 01:32:10:23]
Pooja
 communicate with the establishment and make sure that I'm portraying them in the light that they want to be portrayed in.

[01:32:12:03 - 01:32:19:15]
Pooja
 So there's so many steps, editing, photographing, shooting the content. And so I would say that it's really,

[01:32:21:13 - 01:32:28:00]
Pooja
 you have to be willing to put in the work. It becomes very contractual at the time, but it's also,

[01:32:29:08 - 01:32:38:07]
Pooja
 yeah, there's definitely a way to monetize in this profession, but it's not always paid. Sometimes it's paid and sometimes it's just a trade.

[01:32:39:10 - 01:32:43:12]
Sylvia
 Okay, so this is interesting. So for people who are listening and they're trying to become influencers,

[01:32:44:13 - 01:32:52:01]
Sylvia
 at what point do these restaurants and do these chefs start reaching out to you because they realize the value of your audience?

[01:32:52:01 - 01:32:53:07]
Pooja
 Oh, great question.

[01:32:54:10 - 01:33:05:06]
Pooja
 I think sometimes it could be a time factor, like, oh, we've been working together for so long, like, I trust you, there's credibility. Sometimes it could be as,

[01:33:08:09 - 01:33:20:20]
Pooja
 it could be about, hey, you really helped increase our reservations by 20% this past weekend, whatever. It could be related to something that they saw, an uptick.

[01:33:22:10 - 01:33:57:21]
Pooja
 So it just depends. I don't think that there's a hard and fast rule about how they decide, but I think time and credibility play a big factor. They see, I will consistently say this, that passion, whether it's your audience or whether it's people wanting to collaborate with you, they see the passion shine through and they can tell if you're really passionate about it, if you're in it just for the money. And I think when they see that you are as passionate as them about bringing their business to light, I think they are more prone to wanting to reach out and say, hey, let's do a paid partnership.

[01:33:58:21 - 01:34:17:07]
Sylvia
 Okay, so this is a question we always wonder about too. I have to ask you. So before you decide to sign a contract or before you decide to maybe showcase, have you ever had an experience where you went there and you thought, oh my gosh, this is not good. I don't know what I'm gonna do. This is awful.

[01:34:18:17 - 01:34:19:20]
Pooja
 So few and far,

[01:34:20:23 - 01:34:31:02]
Pooja
 surprisingly in a decade of me doing this, I have not had too many of those experiences, but it has happened. You know this, Zevia, it has happened. But I think,

[01:34:33:02 - 01:34:48:00]
Pooja
 see, I'm not a critic, I'm a blogger, I'm an influencer. So when I go in, I am trying to focus on just the positives and highlight the positives. So there's always something positive that I can find. So if there's maybe eight things I'm trying,

[01:34:49:08 - 01:35:10:16]
Pooja
 I can focus on the maybe the two things that I really liked, even if it was just one thing. So I can do that and I can tweak it that way. If the ambiance is not good, maybe I don't feature that so much into the content. So I can play around with it. And the good thing is I'm not invisible, I'm not a food critic, so they know I'm coming.

[01:35:10:16 - 01:35:34:09]
Sylvia
 Right, they know you're coming. I love that, that's such a good point because there's a restaurant in town that is very popular. It's fairly new and I'm not gonna name the name, but I had all the dishes leading up to the dessert and all the dishes leading up to the dessert were not very good, but they had one of the best desserts I've ever had in my life. So in this case, if that happens to you, then you might just focus on that dessert.

[01:35:35:09 - 01:35:45:16]
Pooja
 Yeah, well, I wish, but a lot of times, a restaurant's not gonna be happy with being like, "Oh, you just talked about dessert and left." So I'd probably then maybe feature the ambiance.

[01:35:46:17 - 01:36:06:09]
Pooja
 I talk about sort of the background and the history of the restaurants. So I would have to get creative with it, but yeah, I would probably highlight the dessert the most because that's what I liked and I wanna be authentic to my followers. They really counting on me to bring them the real, the inside scoop.

[01:36:07:17 - 01:36:22:10]
Sylvia
 So you grew up in India, you are here in Chicago, Chicago is home now for you. Has your new found career in being an influencer taken you outside of the city to explore other foodie areas?

[01:36:22:10 - 01:36:25:23]
Pooja
 That's also a great question. I, yes,

[01:36:27:04 - 01:36:35:15]
Pooja
 my husband and I, we travel, we're avid travelers, so we travel a lot. We try to explore at least two new countries a year.

[01:36:36:19 - 01:36:39:18]
Pooja
 Surprisingly, a trip to Iceland

[01:36:41:03 - 01:37:00:06]
Pooja
 brought a lot of collaborations and I would have never expected Iceland. So whenever I'm planning a travel, I will reach out to some seafood restaurants there to see if they're interested in collaborating or partnering in some way or if I'm going in, I'll be like, "Hey, it's Chicago Pescatarian, come again," whatever.

[01:37:01:10 - 01:37:45:23]
Pooja
 And a lot of times, it's like, oh, there's a lot of countries where they don't know what content an influencer world is. And it's just like, what do you mean? You wanna come here and eat the food for free? So, and it's not that kind of drive, but it's funny at the time. But Iceland is a country that apparently really has its influencer game down and it's very seafood centric. So I think they were super excited. So I did do a lot of collaborations there. I got my taste of international food blogging over there and then I got excited. I was recently in Norway and I was able to collaborate with a few restaurants over there, also great seafood.

[01:37:47:07 - 01:38:04:07]
Pooja
 So, yeah, it's starting to emerge and I like to see that. It's good to see. And then this cross-pollination, right? Like, oh, like someone from Chicago now can probably, if they're a pescatarian and they're in Norway, they can go to the restaurants I've highlighted.

[01:38:05:10 - 01:38:12:21]
Sylvia
 Okay, two questions for you. What is the hardest thing about being an influencer and what's the best thing about being an influencer?

[01:38:12:21 - 01:38:31:00]
Pooja
 Oh, that's so much. That's so much, it's a loaded question. But I think the hardest thing about being an influencer is I think creating a niche and gaining credibility, I think, and then being consistent.

[01:38:32:17 - 01:38:47:22]
Pooja
 Whether it's the Instagram or whatever social media algorithm or whether it's the real life, people wanna see consistency. They wanna see you. And sometimes if you take a break, you really can't afford to take a break because you have to be front and center.

[01:38:48:23 - 01:39:03:13]
Pooja
 So if someone asked me, what is the one thing about consistency? I would say post every day and post at the same time. And I've been doing that consistently. I maybe miss a day or so here and there. So I would say that's the hardest thing about being so on top of it.

[01:39:04:18 - 01:39:51:21]
Pooja
 And the content creation part itself, it takes me maybe 20 minutes to shoot content sometimes, but it can take me up to two hours to edit the content. And a lot of late nights trying to get that or if they're deliverables that are due, just keeping track of the different deliverables for different restaurants. Different restaurants might have different hashtags they want, different types of SEO optimization. Like there's so many nuances. So I would say that that's probably the hardest, most challenging thing. I would say influencing is, being an influencer is not for the faint hearted. It's hard work and the best thing? And the best thing is just this lifestyle you get to live where you get to meet different people, you get to enjoy experiences you didn't even know existed.

[01:39:53:17 - 01:40:17:15]
Pooja
 I recently featured an Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea and that was really amazing. And then I did a giveaway because it was so big, but it's just things like that. You get to meet, I met you, you're doing this podcast. So forming relationships, people I would have never met, I would have never eaten experiences I would have never had. And it's more than the average person in Chicago can do. So I'm very grateful for that.

[01:40:18:22 - 01:40:33:04]
Sylvia
 Very special. I should say I have seen her husband out and about. He's such a good sport. He's out there helping her with, get the video content. And I know, Puja, we were at an event and you said, he was like, I'm done for the week. I cannot do anymore. And he didn't go that night.

[01:40:33:04 - 01:40:45:20]
Pooja
 Poor guy, he's an attorney by trade, but photographer by night for me. And I've trained him so well. Sometimes I go into a restaurant and I'm chatting with the chef and he goes out and gets me my shots. And so, yeah.

[01:40:45:20 - 01:41:08:08]
Sylvia
 What a guy. That's a keeper. Okay. So since you focus on fish, let's talk about, I want to know what the go-to hotspots for you are in Chicago when it comes to getting that pescatarian content that you need, not only to nurse your body, but for your soul too, because you just know it's a guaranteed good spot.

[01:41:08:08 - 01:41:10:18]
Pooja
 Nourish my soul. Wow, that's deep.

[01:41:12:22 - 01:41:13:03]
Pooja
 Oh,

[01:41:14:10 - 01:41:20:01]
Pooja
 another loaded question. People, what's your favorite restaurant? Are you kidding me? Like that's the hardest thing to answer.

[01:41:21:01 - 01:41:31:05]
Pooja
 So there's seafood-centric restaurants and then there's restaurants that do seafood well or have seafood dishes. And for me, because I'm eating out sometimes seven days a week,

[01:41:32:08 - 01:41:50:17]
Pooja
 when there's a memorable dish, the restaurant becomes memorable for me too. So some of these restaurants that I'm about to name are based on a dish or two that I've tried that have blown me away. So I recently over the past weekend tried Mira in Bucktown. I don't know if you've been.

[01:41:50:17 - 01:41:54:08]
Sylvia
 Oh, I have not, but I want to go. I've heard so much about it.

[01:41:54:08 - 01:42:17:05]
Pooja
 A good friend of mine was able to snag a reservation and we just went on our own. It wasn't a collaboration or anything, but I loved it. It's Indian and Mexican fusion. And sometimes I'm very careful with these fusion cuisines because they're two very strong cuisines. So you really have to, you have to feel that blended well. And Chef Rashi Manoj Kumar has done an amazing job.

[01:42:18:06 - 01:42:45:03]
Pooja
 So I would say that's a top now. And it changes as you can imagine because restaurants are evolving too. Bar Mar by Jose Andre and the Loop. That is the most beautiful bar, isn't it? Beautiful bar and they have a giant octopus. Yes, it's a chandelier. A chandelier and lo and behold, their favorite dish there is the octopus for me. I would also say RPM seafood.

[01:42:46:05 - 01:42:50:12]
Pooja
 They have a miso black cod. That's just a divine.

[01:42:52:11 - 01:42:58:19]
Pooja
 Yeah, so those are probably, I love Zuko, I love Umo. I mean, there's so many, I can keep going.

[01:42:58:19 - 01:43:11:18]
Sylvia
 Is there like a neighborhood place that you like to go to, maybe smaller mom and pop or just something that's kind of comfort for you that's not so fancy or that you and your husband are like, "Oh, let's just go there, this is easy."

[01:43:13:04 - 01:43:33:12]
Pooja
 I will say I've, last year I discovered Don Pez fish tacos in, I think it's a buck town. And oh my goodness, it's the best fish tacos in town. It's the best fish tacos of my life. Highly recommend, it is a mom and pop owned shop and it's just amazing.

[01:43:33:12 - 01:43:42:00]
Sylvia
 So I would highly recommend it. Describe the taco to me. Don Pez in Bucktown? Yes. Okay. Yeah, Don Pez. Describe the taco, what was so good about it?

[01:43:43:03 - 01:44:04:01]
Pooja
 For one, they have many different kinds of tacos so you can pick different seasonings, but I don't know, it was the sauces. It was the fixings that they had were just so, even the slaw and the fish itself was so just juicy and everybody, now I'm hungry for tacos for breakfast.

[01:44:04:01 - 01:44:07:11]
Sylvia
 I'm with you, now you've got me craving, I'm gonna go try it myself.

[01:44:07:11 - 01:44:19:18]
Pooja
 And then the Baja fresh fried taco was actually crunchy because sometimes it gets soggy inside the taco and here it was like they weren't able to make sure it still remained crunchy. So I just, yeah, amazing.

[01:44:20:21 - 01:44:21:22]
Pooja
 Very casual spot.

[01:44:21:22 - 01:44:22:05]
Sylvia
 You know,

[01:44:23:14 - 01:44:56:21]
Sylvia
 it sounds perfect. Chicago, we have Lake Michigan, but we don't have an ocean, although a lot of people come here and think Lake Michigan is part of the ocean because it's so vast and large. So interesting that a pescatarian is able to find the kind of fish she wants and how do restaurants manage to bring such fresh fish to our city every day because I think, obviously you go to the East Coast, you're gonna get literally out of the ocean and on your plate, but are we competitive that way?

[01:44:56:21 - 01:45:15:14]
Pooja
 I think we are. I mean, we are probably, if not at par with New York City, we're right behind, you know. I would like to say sometimes we're ahead in certain aspects of our foodie world, but we are. In fact, one of my obsessions in recent years is omakase,

[01:45:17:01 - 01:45:20:10]
Pooja
 you know, so sushi at the chef's counter,

[01:45:21:12 - 01:46:20:13]
Pooja
 a very immersive experience, love it. Usually like a multi-course tasting of sashimi or whatever fish, but those are the places that are actually flying in fish from Japan, sometimes daily and sometimes biweekly. And it's amazing, right? It's like, how are you doing it? But in general, I think restaurants, especially seafood focused restaurants are realizing that they cannot afford to not practice with sustainable seafood, you know? So they are spending big money because one of the questions I always ask when the chef or manager comes out to say hello in one of my collaborations, I will ask, you know, where's your fish from? You know, where are you sourcing it from? And it's okay if it's a seafood vendor in town, there's some very reputable ones, but more and more I hear like really solid names and solid sources and I'm like more and more convinced that okay, like we're headed in the right direction.

[01:46:21:17 - 01:46:29:08]
Sylvia
 I think we have some of the most amazing restaurants. You're right, I think we are as competitive, if not more in many cases than some of the big cities, including New York.

[01:46:30:13 - 01:46:38:08]
Sylvia
 So tell me what the future is for you. What are your hopes and dreams with this influencer life? What are your goals?

[01:46:40:02 - 01:46:41:07]
Pooja
 Well, let's go full time.

[01:46:43:18 - 01:46:43:18]
 (Laughs)

[01:46:43:18 - 01:47:00:09]
Pooja
 And also to just be a real influencer, you know, I wanna be the person and the resource that people look to for the pescatarian lifestyle,

[01:47:01:16 - 01:47:17:14]
Pooja
 for, you know, seafood. A lot of times I'll have tourists write me and say, hey, you know, my wife's pescatarian, but I eat meat. Do you have places, you know, sort of curate, maybe help people curate a foodie trip here in Chicago,

[01:47:18:16 - 01:47:23:06]
Pooja
 an international blogging, like I was able to do in Iceland and Norway, like more of that.

[01:47:24:10 - 01:47:40:11]
Pooja
 Eventually, maybe have my own podcast talking about seafood and not just seafood, all kinds of food, because as you know, now I'm food and lifestyle and I've diversified, but seafood will always be my passion.

[01:47:40:11 - 01:47:51:23]
Sylvia
 Yeah, well, you do a great job at it. And any final words for people who maybe are listening and have always wondered about what it takes? Any final words?

[01:47:53:06 - 01:47:55:03]
Pooja
 Final words, yes, I always have words.

[01:47:55:03 - 01:47:55:23]
 (Laughs)

[01:47:55:23 - 01:48:24:01]
Pooja
 I would say be real, you know? I think that people catch on to that and being authentic and being real because one of the reasons influencer marketing, per se, works better is because not some ad, people see you walking in, biting into the food, actually interacting with the restaurant or the people. So it's just important to keep that front and center and to remember that the authenticity is important. It'll shine through and people,

[01:48:25:03 - 01:48:32:22]
Pooja
 the audience knows when you're being real and when you're being not. And it really, I think is a key to success.

[01:48:33:23 - 01:48:44:08]
Sylvia
 Yeah, I think that word authenticity, right? That's how I live by it. You just be authentic and people can relate. Okay, so where can people find you? How can people follow you? Tell us everything.

[01:48:45:18 - 01:48:50:18]
Pooja
 Thank you. People can find me on Instagram at Chicago Pescatarian.

[01:48:52:01 - 01:49:13:01]
Pooja
 One thing I wanna make sure, the distinction, there's two pescatarian spellings. So it's P-E-S-C-E and not P-E-S-C-A. So Chicago Pescatarian. And I also do have a website, it's www.thechicagopescatarian.com. And I am on TikTok and Facebook as well, also under Chicago Pescatarian.

[01:49:13:01 - 01:49:27:20]
Sylvia
 Very fun. But just so fun to talk to you. Can't wait to see you at the next event, which I'm sure is right around the corner. But boy, I've learned from listening to you. It's a whole lot of work and you do a great job. So thank you for coming on and sharing that. So appreciate you, my friend. Good to see you.

[01:49:29:12 - 01:49:38:08]
Sylvia
 This podcast is produced by Jane Stephens, audio engineering and original music by Donnie Cutting, social media and promotions, Magali Blasdell.