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What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How So Much Life got its start
• From blog to a book deal
• Kelsey’s advice to new bloggers

So Much Life is a successful Austin food blog run by Kelsey Kennedy. She had started a blog before as a creative outlet and way to keep up with loved ones, but it eventually fell to the wayside. She knew she loved blogging and wanted to give it another shot, so in 2016 she decided to produce content that felt the most natural and organic for her to write about, which was Austin food. In a few years, she’s since garnered 22.7k Instagram followers, a voice in the Austin food scene, and a book deal!

Kelsey’s specialty lies in creating food guides. When visiting her blog, it is broken down by time of day, area of Austin, and what type of food you’re wanting. She also does roundups of the best places for a specific type of food in Austin such as tacos, BBQ, or pizza. She shared that her website wasn’t always super organized; she’d recently hired a web designer to help out. She said she had decided to reach out for help as to not stretch herself too thin because she knew what she was good at, and it wasn’t web design.

Her unique style and food guides are what led to her acquiring a book deal. The book, Austin Food Crawls, was released in September of 2019 and was written to be a neighborhood food guide that both locals and tourists could use to find new eats around the city.

We wrapped up with Kelsey’s advice to people starting out in the blogging and influencer space. The advice she gave was to make sure you really love what you’re going to be doing because for the first year it’s more than likely going to feel like an unpaid part-time job you put 20+ hours a week into.

To hear more of Kelsey’s advice, her favorite Austin restaurant, and her favorite part of blogging, tune into the third installment of the Positive Influence. If you enjoy this episode be sure to share to with friends and colleagues. You can listen to more of The Positive Influence here!

Host: Chelsea Bancroft

Guest: Kelsey Kennedy

 

Transcript:

this is a family media podcast this podcast episode is brought to you by our friends traverse legal they were super helpful as we started pounding media and the podcast network traverse legal has been changing the way Los practice since its own founding in two thousand four with a focus on utilizing technology to better deliver IT and business services founder start ups and emerging growth companies first legals latest offering traverse GC provides a monthly fixed fee factional general counsel offering to companies learn more by visiting traverse legal dot com

welcome to the positive influence podcast I’m your host Chelsea Bancroft on this podcast we talk about how influencers got where they are today and have them share helpful tips and stories in a positive way this week we’re sitting down with food blogger Kelsea Kennedy of so much life her blog is chock full of great recommendations and she’s a great resource for all things Austin let’s hear more from Kelsey

we recently got connected because you just come to me all the different employers there’s an Austin but I don’t know like your story very much sorry was super excited to be interviewing you today so how did you get started with your blog how long have you been blogging on that okay so my account is called so much life but that’s a shortened version of this old blog I had many years ago when I a graduated college I started this little lake tiny blog just for my family to follow is called so much life to live and I remember I started it because you know in college of ones like it’s the past four years yeah if it like it’s so much fun and this is like as good as it gets in I was like hell no like I was saying way there’s so much good stuff ahead of like so excited to see what happens in the rest my twenties and thirties and forties like I just I feel like life has the potential just to keep getting better and better and I feel so excited about that so it’s a very cheesy little name but I called it so much life to live because that’s how I felt about life and I did that just often on like for a couple years like two thousand yes as a two thousand eleven two thousand twelve and again it’s like you know five people read it is like my mom I mean it kind of fizzled out I started grad school university of Texas in like distant have time for it but I always miss blogging and like I just want to start it again and I feel like that’s it’s always been my creative outlet yes you know it’s just it’s so much fun and it’s so fun to meet people and and I love writing and I love photography and like is it’s just so much fun so I wanted to start something again so two years ago exactly and it was the very end of two thousand sixteen I started my food blog and I wanted to start blogging just because I missed it it’s so hard to think of a blog name I’m sure you can really coming up with the name is like the hardest part of the so I just took my old name and then shortened it so so much life and by my count now is food and lifestyle blog so I feel like that needs it well for what I wanted it to be thankfully the domain was available slightly snag that snagged all the social media handles right away and started writing about what is most organic and comfortable to me which is the Austin restaurant scene because that’s where I spend a lot of my time and money and I love talking about food and sharing food recommendations of I mean this is my favorite thing in the world so it was a very natural organic fit for me so it’s been about two years now that I’ve had that account

it’s nice yeah okay tough question what’s your favorite restaurant in Austin okay I also have a follow up question to that because that depends on time of day part of town dietary preferences you know yes a lot so like just pick let’s say for a meal which mail you talking about or take the fifth center downtown dinner downtown right now all either way it’s probably going to fairground that’s kind of a cheap answer because there’s like size restaurants but that’s what I love to take out of town guests because then you get to experience like you know contigo and memorize probably my favorite restaurant in the city right now so you get to go to hand bit and Terry some their food and easy tiger pretzels always and forever amen so yeah I I probably take my friends they’re the most like out of town guests yeah yeah for downtown

he said that like you know it depends on which part of town and what food so I went look at your blog and I had it like really dived in your system well organized if I ever need to go and get food I’m going to your blog it is like you can go and pick time of day and what restaurant in Austin like it’s the easiest thing I’ve seen the same day in Austin longer I was looking at the other day and I was like why haven’t I found this sooner it is easier than anything they it it was a hot mess for awhile there so about a year ago actually hired a website developer and she went in and like organized all for me because I didn’t know what I was doing and I wanted it to be something where people can easily find out because I don’t know people will be message I’m sure you get this all the time two messages on Instagram like Hey I live in Minnesota and visiting Austin this random weekend of March where should I eat and I’m just like what do you like to eat where are you going to be saying you know like so I want to have this reference for people till they go and like it it is so how do I used to be but like pushing that more because it is so yeah I was like wow I had no idea I’m glad you like it

so you said you hard a web designer what were you doing before then just kind of did you teach yourself yeah yeah I just I self you know trying to figure out the whole word press saying that and not a super tech savvy person my husband is way more than I am okay like you know but blogging is not his thing all of my things I feel like collectively we like figured it out I don’t think is very user friendly website before so I made a financial investment to hire someone for me which so I will I love reading books and I read the book essentialism have you heard of that I blank check on the author’s name right now I wish I could think of it but the book is basically about finding the few things that you’re good at and trying your best at those and then outsourcing for other things instead of trying to go an inch deep in every direction go a mile deep in one direction so I decided web development is not my thing yeah some and hire someone else and it was scary because it is a big you know financial yeah I’m fascinated but it paid off and I’m so glad I did it so how did you find

so I I tried to have someone because I was not tech savvy I did my own but like it’s with that theme and I mean simple to use yeah and when I went and you someone state who really wrecked my site only got like changed the thank goodness the U. R. L. like pattern or whatever and I didn’t it was when I just moved back must really I didn’t realize and it for a month I know traffic zero I’ve gone from like you know twenty thousand and nothing good they messed it up on all I know so I like now I am terrified even try yeah where did you go to find those I started just with like I think it was dumb tack I okay I basically put it my an I basically just had like a Branham search for anyone in Austin yeah and got so many people reaching out that they are interested in taking on this job and a lot of them were not good fits for obvious reasons and then honestly how I found Madison the the girl who did my website was just like good old fashioned Google search and is that through a bunch of reviews and I still feel like you know just a written reviews of really good way to find out about someone if for sure you know if a dozen people said she design my website within the last couple months and I love it and it’s working well and I feel like it’s a good push person to consider yeah yeah that was a founder Google to now search I don’t know what I I think I do both but we’re not fortunately you know

yeah by on cool well so when was the first time like you’re like oh shit I’m really doing this like like what was your biggest first success the really celebrated okay so I well I guess what seemed like a big deal to me at first yeah I was really excited about now is like okay that yeah that’s not that I feel like right at first is being invited to restaurants yeah which now I realize like it doesn’t take very much yeah it’s a restaurant really because everyone loves loves free publicity writer place but at the beginning I was like this is super cool blurred giving me free food yeah and is this I love eating so was like right my alley so that was fun for awhile but then the like the very most significant thing that’s happened since I start my blog was I got a book deal six months ago says about a year and a half after I started my blog and it’s and so we’re actually have to submit it all to my editor by this Saturday selling going three restaurant visits today and a lot to do this week to wrap it all up that is going to be released in September two thousand nineteen awesome and that is just like that the coolest thing to happen to me so far I feel like writing a book is kind of the the thing that a lot of bloggers have is like yeah an end goal like that would be awesome to land but yeah point so that felt very validating to have a publisher reach out to me and say we love your writing style and your photography and we’re looking for someone to write this book and we want you to do it so that was just like yeah definitely the coolest thing that’s for sure world

can you are you able to tell us more about yeah yeah yeah so it’s called Austin food crawls okay and it’s a neighborhood food guide to Austin so I was like my dog okay yeah awesome it’s just going to be as a full color paperback books so the type of thing that both locals and visitors can like pick up and carry around town with them and its fifth fourteen chapters so each chapter has its own neighborhoods knows you’re in you know Miller or downtown or folding creek and wherever you are you just find that chapter and all have about six to eight recommendations for where it cleans combination of like fast casual hi and dining food trucks breeze at super tacos there’s like a a bonus food crawl at the end so my favorite breakfast tacos in the city and best barbecue ill so I think it’ll hopefully represent Austin food scene while fighting just want to like you know branch out they’re tired of eating at the same old place every I mean they were like experience awesome food scene yeah that’s awesome

Sir you’re doing it all on your own yeah I’m I’m doing of probably eighty percent of the photographer okay Hey have the photographer they work with and she’s doing some of it for me and then all the writing is my tail so thankfully I’m not doing the layout and design like that the publishing houses holds even that and I’m so thankful I don’t have to deal with that yeah I I sent it off to them this weekend and then for the next nine months it’s in their hands will they do lay out and I’ll be involved in that process to you but this to my work will be done by the end of this week super call have a life jacket even working on this and they reach out to me in may okay and then a quick fix it has been quick yeah wow it’s been quick but not really because I’ve you know been eating in Austin for like six years and so a lot of it is just like building from my experience in the Allentown so I don’t know like how I wanted to organize the book and the places I wanted to include you know based on like years of being here yeah not just like okay six months let’s go out and start explaining you know Google’s best restaurants right I mean it works sometimes yeah

that’s awesome so as long as a whole kind of what has been one of the biggest challenges for you biggest challenge right now at this stage of life is just finding the time to get it all done it’s not my full time job I’ve been busy and lots of other areas yeah I’ve been so and and I think that’s more often the case I think there are a couple full time influencers but it’s it’s hard to do it full time yeah I without some sort of income supplement on the side and so and just having the time to to do my regular job and find the time to have you know the get the creative juices flowing I guess it’s not really finding time to get the work done but it’s finding the time to have rest and let my brain like recharge and figure out what content do I want to write for the upcoming year and like all the planning and I found find that that’s the hardest part is just feeling like I have enough rest yeah to be creative yes I think he leads yeah that makes sense I I do the same yeah I’m not full time blogging yeah yeah did you plan your thing you’re planning how far in advance do you plan out your content you know do you use it is their tool to use that’s really helpful are you more like and ask about that because I don’t play it very well I don’t have any tool except for like yeah my you know my calendar yeah gal like that’s I have the calendar that’s just my like personal work life a calendar that I shared my husband for like home life and you know points and that point is we have to let each other know about and then a calendar for my blog life yeah you know we’re all do like restaurant visits or whatever is that I have going on and and you know and a good months I have everything planned out like four weeks in advance and I feel like those of the months that I just feel most in control and organized and like okay him producing great content right now I feel so good and confident about these blog posts and publishing like everything feels in order and then the last six months with this book going on I feel like it’s just a miracle for middle class one day at a time I’m like I can’t even yeah right is actually it is depending on the season of life and this just happens to be a busy season so I just have a minute organized honestly so yeah that you’re writing about super badass hello that’s super cool I’m

so what’s your favorite part of you know blogging and and getting to trial these restaurants working with brands devices like super cheesy but friendships that I’ve built I mean that like the cliche in a cheesy answer but I didn’t think that that would be something that we get out of line honestly I thought that I would just eat tons of great food and which is great way high up there that’s one of my favorite things and I love that but I didn’t think I would actually form real true friendships lying you know right so I started blogging like basically right when I right before I got married like a month before my wedding and so I didn’t have any of my blogger friends at my wedding because I didn’t know any of yeah but now it two years in a like oh my gosh I wish like I had known all of your back yeah and and you have been my wedding but now they’re these really close friendships where I’ve been going to like other people’s weddings and parties a I like traveling around Texas a doing road trips with them and like true friendships that I wasn’t necessarily expecting yeah I’m out of all this and that’s like truly the the best part of it not who makes it super fun and an I don’t know I feel like that makes it substantial yeah makes me want to keep going with it for sure that’s a good point that’s not anything like something that I ever thought was gonna come from from blogging yeah but again and that’s really what matters yeah all the friendships and like you’re spending your time with yeah what matters more than anything else yeah and so I’m I’m really thankful that that happens and I think it’s nice to have someone that like you can kind of relate with because this is a weird industry now and to be like you know is that the things that you want to complain about like talk through yeah I can’t necessarily do that with someone that’s not in that world yes totally in really nice to like make a lot more blogger friends and just be able to be like yeah this photo like by this brand like god yes my gosh all the time yeah you need some to complain with speaking out yeah

what’s what’s like your least favorite part of doing or being implants are doing the blocking that kind of thing others on least favorite part is when I was in a I would say I’m guilty of this as well but it’s really easy to get caught up in like the gossipy complaining world whether it’s talking about a brand or talking about over lies is so hard because we have to yeah post all these pictures you know like at whatever yeah is that where complain about the Instagram algorithm is like yeah messing up our lives again or something crazy like that any I think it’s good to like talk about it with someone who understands and like complain about it a little bit but my least favorite part of social media world is when that becomes the only thing that people talk about which is having all the time when I’m gone yeah going to an event or party or whatever it is and like for three hours that’s the only topic of conversation as like how much Instagram sucks there’s a couple of really want to talk about something else now it’s like yeah so I I am so thankful for the Austin influence our world and I feel like in general it’s just such a kind supportive group of people yeah and and there’s not a whole lot of gossip and backstabbing and like it’s just a really friendly group so in general like that’s that’s not a huge deal to me at all yeah and it’s it’s mostly just like really kind supportive group there’s just occasionally certain conversations from like I am so tired of talking about yeah whatever it is I want to move on yeah so I don’t know that’s actually a tiny insignificant thing yeah I is like the biggest deal to me some not so not very much is not very much I don’t like about yeah

so before we wrap this up what would be your biggest advice to someone just now starting out I’m the biggest advice would be look at what you want to DO so whatever sort of account you want to start small business owners or whatever it ends and especially if it’s blogging influencing Instagram make sure that you’re willing to do it for zero money for at least a solid year of yeah so basically are you willing to take on a part time job they’ll take at least twenty hours of your week and not get paid a dime for it for awhile because I think you have to have that sort of a love for it whether you make money fast did not earn right but I think you have to have this like mad love for whatever you yeah I put out there and be willing to do it for free for a short term like yeah I love it enough to do it for free yeah and make sure that you feel that way about it first says saying I’m gonna start this because I’m gonna be famous and rich yeah because I got a lot of all our land line never gonna work I’m never going to work out yeah that’s awesome that’s really good advice actually

so yeah thank you so much for coming on line and maybe tell them where they can follow you yeah I got a solution my my website is so much life dot com and all of my social media handles are one word so much life blog thanks thanks Chelsea this is finding so much for having me today just talking weather makes me hungry thank you again Kelsey for sharing your story with us as always we will have a link in the show notes to Kelsey’s blocks you can read more about her and her recommendations the positive influence podcast team includes me Chelsea Bancroft producer Mariah gossip an audio engineer Jake Wallace thank you everyone at banning media for your support don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode and maybe leave us a review on I tunes to help other folks find the show thanks for listening