Julie Deily runs the blog and website The Little Kitchen which she started in December 2009 at the urge of her sister. During the last four years she’s been working as a full-time blogger, freelance recipe developer, and food photographer as well as consulting on blogs and social media.

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In this episode you’ll learn:

• How to listen to your gut and stay true to yourself
• Importance of a support system
• Value of being vulnerable for your audience
• How to stop comparing yourself

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Tell us a little bit about you, Julie Deily, and what you do.

When I started my food blog I was a software engineer. I started a food blog to share recipes with family and friends. A lot of times I would have a dinner party or host a holiday dinner, and I was sending the same recipes to my family over and over again.  I never thought in a million years that I would be making money out of it. It wasn’t in my thought process at all.

What would your best advice be to a person who’s considering quitting their job and making their business full-time?

I’m like the worst person to give advice on that because literally had to be pushed out the door to do it. I really looked back in my life and I always like to take the safe route.  I really think you have to look around you and see. I think it’s a support mechanism. Having a support mechanism in a place is so important. I’m so lucky that my husband is so supportive. Sometimes it’s hard. Traveling is hard. Sometimes the hours are hard as you’re working like 50-60 hours. But in the end, having someone there who is cheering you on but also always keeping you grounded. Having a really good support network is so important including other food bloggers and entrepreneurs or kind of an inner tribe. Once I had a tribe a where I can talk about an event, ask questions, and  throw ideas to a sounding board, I realized it’s so important. It’s so important to our success.

How do you stay true to your ideal client avatar?

I ask myself, “What do my readers care about?” I really care about the people who try to put dinner on the table, who are trying to take care of their kids, who are thinking about travel, or who have pets like I do. I’m not thinking about what other bloggers are always going to say, what other entrepreneurs are going think of me all the time. It’s bringing service to people who come to my site. I’m really trying to think about what I can give them.

I feel like people get burnt out when you do things that do not mesh with your mission statement, with what you feel deep down, and with why you started your site or your business.You lose yourself you get burnt out and you want to quit.

Can you share a big problem or disappointment since blogging full-time?

The biggest flops happened when I don’t listen to my gut. Something about a contract that makes me uneasy, something about what they asked me to do that makes me uneasy. If I don’t speak up for myself, I want to kick myself in the end. One of my mottos is always speaking up, always negotiating, always renegotiating, and always just standing up for myself. I’m tired of the bad rap that women get in the media or in society in general, if we speak up, we’re not nice or rocking the boat. I don’t believe in that. Being really authentic and keeping my voice is big for me.

How did you figure out the line on what you share and what you don’t share?

That’s hard. I found that the more vulnerable I became, the more I found my voice, and the more I got back which wasn’t my motive. Last October, I decided to write about my childhood. I was extremely scared of being judged. The amount of support, and the amount of people that sent me emails, share about their own experiences, that completely floored me. If I wasn’t vulnerable, I would have missed out.

How did you start the consulting part of your business where you would consult on blogs and social media? 

I have this need, want, and desire to help others and see them thrive. I get so excited by giving my friends advice. It started out as giving advice to people that I care about and then I started getting clients where I actually get paid to help them, and that’s really exciting. 

Do you have one thing that you want your followers to know about you that you think they don’t know?

One thing I don’t think they know and maybe I have to say about more is that I love hearing from them. I love hearing them share their stories with me, and I love when people have successes with the recipes that I make. I love when people respond to what I’m writing about because when you’re being vulnerable, you don’t know if there’s someone out there experiencing the same thing as you. I love engaging with people on social media. I love to hear what people are thinking and for them to share their own stories. That really excites me.

Julie Deily started her blog, The Little Kitchen, in December 2009, at the urging of her sister. During the last three plus years, she has been working as a full-time blogger, freelance recipe developer, and food photographer as well as consulting on blogs and social media. She creates food that is no fuss and usually quick and easy in her little kitchen.

Find Julie!
Blog: thelittlekitchen.net and juliedeily.com
Instagram: @thelittlekitchn and @juliedeily
Twitter: @thelittlekitchn
Facebook: The Little Kitchen

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