Dishing with Delishes Podcast | Interviewing Food Bloggers | Help Food Bloggers Grow Their Business | Learn From Others Succe

Vanessa Mota is the founder of My Dominican Kitchen, a bilingual platform that helps busy parents put together tasty, traditional Dominican and Latin-inspired meals. Vanessa is passionate about creating quick and easy versions of the recipes she grew up eating. She loves to share them with those who want to cook meals filled with Latin flavors but that don't take a ton of time to prepare. It is her mission to show you how to make great, flavorful dishes at home without spending the entire day in the kitchen.

Husband and wife Eric and Shanna Jones are the creative team behind the Dude That Cookz food blog. Eric Jones is a Louisiana native and self-taught home cook. He shares Southern and home style recipes using simple, and approachable ingredients. Shanna was born and raised in Houston. She focuses on her passion for baking and food photography. The couple's first cookbook, Healthier Southern Cooking, is scheduled for release on February 15, 2022.

JinJoo Lee is a passionate advocate and resource for Korean cooking through her food blog, Kimchimari. JinJoo has a PhD in Computer Science and was a computer engineer for 15 years before starting her Korean recipe site Kimchimari in 2011. JinJoo has been blogging full time since 2015. She started blogging at the encouragement of her only daughter when she was going off to college and wanted her mom to share recipes of Korean food she knew she would be missing at school. JinJoo has always loved cooking and learning. She has taken a Culinary Techniques class from the French Culinary Institute, a class in Kimchi and Fermentation, and a two-month Korean dessert class from SookMyung Women's University Korean Food Institute, where she is also a Food Stylist Program graduate. JinJoo helps people get acquainted with Korean cooking by providing extra information on her website such as how-to's on making Gochujang, how to ripen Kimchi properly, the differences between Korean and US cuts of beef and pork, and more. It is her dream to write a Korean cookbook that will not only curate good recipes, but will also serve as a solid foundation for anyone who wants to learn about Korean cooking.

Maria Doss is the recipe creator, photographer, and writer behind Kitchen at Hoskins. Maria began her food blog Kitchen At Hoskins in 2016 to share easy baking, gluten free, air fryer, and instant pot recipes that are family friendly and loaded with flavor. 
 Born and raised in southern India, today she lives in California with her husband, two kids, and a dog. Maria loves to create fusion recipes with innovative techniques. She is obsessed with eating healthy but loves to indulge in the occasional decadent treat.

Amy Estes is the owner of Pinch Me Good, a food blog where she shares easy, healthy-inspired, feel good recipes that anyone can make and everyone will love and want to eat. Amy is an experienced home cook who is obsessed with eating healthy food but who also loves a good brownie. As she says on her site, "life without dessert does not work for me"! She started her blog, Pinch Me Good, in 2017. Its primary recipes are focused on produce-inspired meals, snacks, desserts, and more. Amy's goal is to bring readers delicious yet very easy and simple recipes that they can make to feel their best everyday. Amy is also a certified nutrition coach.

Pina Bresciani began her eponymous food and culture blog in 2015, focusing on authentic Italian cooking with a west coast contemporary twist. Since then, she has steadily grown her following and her audience engagement each year. Pina was born in Canada, but grew up in Canada and Italy, where she spent childhood summers in her mom's hometown of Sperlonga. Deeply steeped in Italian food, language, and culture, Pina's philosophy is centered around creating content that comes from the heart, with an aim to inspire her followers to try her recipes and share them with their friends and family. In addition to her growing recipe and lifestyle site, Pina has a well-established Instagram presence. She provides her followers with amazing food ideas intertwined with a personal touch through sharing background stories about her recipes, her family, and her favorite spots in Italy. Pina has been featured in major publications such as Buzzfeed and Popsugar. Many of her followers have written her to express gratitude that they could connect with her recipes and learn more about Italian cooking. Pina lives with her husband, Ben, in Vancouver.

Jeff Hawley is founder of HashtagJeff, where he and his team share a passion for developing tools to make SEO, digital content creation, and digital content management more successful for online publishers. Jeff has always been a free spirit. He realized early in life that he didn't like to be told what to do without understanding why. That didn't always go over well with a father in the military. As a kid, Jeff's self-determination translated to an entrepreneurial mindset. He liked working for himself, and he was always looking for different ways to make money. By the time he went to college, he still didn't know what he wanted to do, but he knew he wanted to own his own business. During his final year, he decided to learn as much as he could about digital marketing because he felt it would serve him no matter what business he pursued. Little did he know his future business would be digital marketing itself. Following college, Jeff worked for himself almost exclusively. He founded a small SEO agency that was acquired by a much larger agency, where he continued working for a few years to get experience with big businesses. In order to become as much of an expert in digital marketing as possible, he also joined a large auto dealership for a short time to gain experience with the paid side of search engine marketing. When Jeff started working with bloggers between 2016 and 2017, he quickly realized they were his tribe. Within a few months of auditing a number of lifestyle and food blogs, he began making plans to go out on his own again. Today, Jeff focuses 100% on digital publishers who primarily monetize from online traffic. They consist of food, DIY, travel, finance, and general lifestyle websites. Jeff performs site audits and teaches site owners and their teams how to incorporate SEO into their processes to increase site visibility and revenue. Jeff prides himself on making SEO more approachable for his clients.

Mirlene and AJ love to create delicious Haitian foods and international dishes they've enjoyed from other parts of the world. Their two-fold goals are to introduce their followers to Haitian recipes and to show how Haitian dishes can be used as part of other international cuisines. Both were born in Haiti, and they completed all of their schooling in the United States, where they have been blessed with careers that allow them stability and growth. But Mirlene's dream and passion is to be at home in the kitchen, in her “own world,” sharing her creativity. This works out well for AJ, who loves to eat! Mirlene and AJ are avid coffee drinkers and foodies. They are also proud parents to four beautiful souls (one of whom is four-legged).

Christina Shoemaker is the creator of The Whole Cook, a food blog that focuses on quick easy meals for busy weeknights. Christina's obsession with food started from the moment she was born. Or so she imagines. She never misses a meal and spends an inordinate amount of time fantasizing about the next one. As a mom of two, she understands the desire to feed your family well without spending hours in the kitchen. It's her mission to show that it can be done. Christina originally started sharing her family's meals on Instagram without knowing whether there was an audience for them. Turns out there was! She then launched the website thewholecook.com as a place to publish her recipes. This food journey has since turned into a full-time job that she is immensely grateful for. Every day she is honored to share her passion for cooking with her community. At The Whole Cook you'll find lots of healthy recipes for the whole family. Christina's recipes feature whole foods which means you'll see fresh ingredients, no ingredients you can't pronounce or that aren't actually real food, and very little sugar. Christina is also the author of the Clean Paleo One-Pot Meals cookbook, which includes 100 one pot/pan meals that can be made in about 30 minutes.

Monica Lensink is the founder, recipe writer, and photographer behind Nourish and Fete, a website with fresh, fast, everyday recipes tailored for home cooks and busy families. Monica is a former diplomat and intelligence analyst who began blogging as a hobby in 2016. As her career evolved and her family grew, Monica transitioned her website from a casual "mom blog" to its present focus on food -- and got more serious about making it a professional source of income. The recipes at Nourish and Fete are designed for home cooks who value convenience and time, yet still want to create high-quality meals and love making things from scratch. One of Monica's core beliefs is that home cooking can be easy and rewarding, despite or even because of the crazy pace of modern life. Her goal for Nourish and Fete is to be a resource and inspiration for readers to eat well and celebrate the everyday. Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Monica currently lives outside of Washington, DC, with her husband, two young children, and their beloved dog, Cookie. Her two grown step-children live nearby and are pescatarians, which explains the growing collection of plant-based and seafood recipes on her site.

Candice Walker is the creator of Proportional Plate, a food and lifestyle blog that encourages readers to educate themselves about their food, learn what foods feel good for them, and to feel proud of the food choices they make. Proportional Plate doesn’t tell you what you should or shouldn’t eat: it tells you to listen to your body and learn what food choices are right for you. Author of the blog, Candice Walker, creates recipes for a nutritious and sustainable diet that inspires excitement, rather than guilt. Candice prioritizes fresh, locally sourced ingredients, seasonal produce, and cooking methods that anyone, regardless of skill level, will find accessible. Candice started Proportional Plate because she wants people to stop feeling guilty about their food choices. She began writing about food as a way to help her busy friends plan their meals, experiment with new recipes, and share knowledge about eating sustainably. Over time, she learned how to create and enjoy nourishing, delicious, seasonal, balanced meals that make her body and her self feel good. Proportional plate recipes are influenced by international and fusion cuisine. This is partly because travel has always been a big part of Candice's life, including a year traveling the world with her husband. It's also due to her heritage. Candice's mother's side of the family are Persian, and her father is Israeli, but his parents grew up in Eastern Europe and Cuba. Candice grew up with incredible culinary role models, blending traditional Persian dishes with Jewish and Eastern European recipes and fostering a love of experimenting and creating new things!

Jenna Passaro is on a mission to help foodies cook up their wildest dreams — in and out of the kitchen. Years ago, Jenna ditched a predictable career path with very few vacation days to pursue a life of fun, food and travel. Along the way, she started Sip Bite Go and wrote The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook. Jenna also hosts the podcast, My Weird Food Obsession, which explores the fascinating stories behind people who pursue careers in peculiar food niches. Jenna is based in Portland, OR and is always in the mood for pizza.

Lauren Vavala shares a variety of recipes on her blog, Delicious Little Bites, to help families navigate a multi-diet home. Lauren is a former dental hygienist turned full time food blogger. She is currently attending culinary arts school. Lauren specializes in low carb and keto recipes, gluten free recipes and vegetarian recipes, but still loves to bake and indulge in a well-deserved treat every now and then. She also takes as many courses as possible in food photography with the hopes to eventually start to shoot food photos for local restaurants. She has been published in Delaware Today magazine, has appeared on local news segments and has been featured on many other online publications. After several years living in Utah and Colorado, Lauren is now back in Delaware, where she resides with her fiancé and two sons.

Kevin O'Leary wanted to dedicate a blog that encompasses the food he loves but didn't quite fit in his popular blog Kevin is Cooking. His new blog Silk Road Recipes covers all the cuisine that can be found along the Silk Road. New blog, new lease on life Kevin O'Leary was bitten by the cooking bug as a teenager. He went on to work in restaurants and the catering industry but although life intervened, he never really stepped away from the stove. Now, Kevin lives the cooking life every day, inspired by his international pantry and by his ongoing effort to put a fresh spin on classic recipes. Kevin founded his first food blog, Kevin Is Cooking, in 2014 to share his inspiration and help busy people get that meal on the table. After Kevin realized that he was cooking and publishing recipes he wanted to instead of what his readers were gravitating to, which is Tex-Mex, Mexican, grilling and BBQ, he changed gears to give them what they wanted. But that left out a part of Kevin's culinary experience that he still wanted to express. So, after tossing around the idea for many years, Kevin decided to start his second blog in October of 2020. Silk Road Recipes focuses on recipes that he has always loved and has been making and perfecting for many years. Kevin got his inspiration from his many trips to a lot of the countries along the Silk Road and wants to excite others to enjoy the meals that he has come to love. From condiments, to spice blends, to appetizers, to full meals, Silk Road Recipes has it all. He's focused on expanding the content and helping his new readers find that cooking doesn't have to be difficult and life is too short to be bland.

Tanya Harris is a former attorney who started her food blog, My Forking Life, as a hobby in 2016. Her goal is to provide her readers with quick and easy meals that are full of flavor. She wants everyone, even busy people, to be able to cook more often at home. Tanya posts a lot of gadget recipes, pressure cooker and air fryer recipes, because these have helped her get dinner on the table quickly. She has increased her blog traffic to over 100,000 page views in just a few months by providing her readers with content they need and enjoy. After her interview two years ago, she quit her full time job as an attorney in late 2019 and has grown her blog to over a million views per month. So, in this episode will discuss the growth with Tanya Harris.

This episode is to relay what I learned while I was on hiatus. It is my introductory episode that kicks off the new season which will begin on January 13th, 2021, so stay tuned. Hello everyone, it's Elaine and I am back at the mic. When I first announced that I was going on hiatus, I was feeling like all I did was toil away and didn't have a good work/life balance. So, when I announced my decision to 'go on hiatus', I actually didn't think I'd get back into podcasting. I thought that was it for me. Well, I was wrong. My last episode was published on December 20th in 2019 so, it has almost been a full year since I hung up my microphone and headphones. During that time, I learned many things. Let me start with what I learned regarding the podcast, which I found very interesting. After I pressed publish on that last episode, I danced around the house, feeling free and happy that I didn't have to reach out, schedule or sit down and perform those interviews. But even more exciting to me was I didn't have to edit the episodes. Because as I've mentioned before, it was extremely hard for me to let those "umms", false starts, sometimes-hard-to-follow sentences, and deep pauses just 'be'. My training as an actress, performer, and recovering perfectionist reared its ugly head and made me spend hours editing each episode. I tried to make both myself and my guest sound as good as I possibly could. But in the process, I sucked the fun out of podcasting. I loved chatting with my guests, but I was starting to dread the interviews. Not because I didn't want to talk to them, I just didn't want to edit the episodes. And I wasn't ready to hire someone to edit them for me since the show didn’t make me any money. So, after that last episode and my freedom dance party, I enjoyed the holidays and even enjoyed the first few months of the new year. We all know that the pandemic has been a big part of our lives, but I don't think it had anything to do with why I started to get the feeling that I should get back into interviewing other bloggers and experts. Those niggling thoughts By the time May rolled around. I was thinking daily about getting back into podcasting. But then I'd talk myself out of it by reminding myself how I felt the last few months of 2019. Then it occurred to me, "What if I don't publish episodes every week?" "What if I published twice a month or even better, ONCE a month?" I struggled with those questions because I've heard from many of my awesome listeners that though they understood why I stopped; they did miss the show. So, if I only published one episode a month, would people still want to hear the content? I asked a few bloggers their opinion and it ended up being a resounding yes. That made me happy. So here I am. I have rebranded the podcast from Dishing with Delishes to the Dishing podcast because, let's face it, I was trying to connect it to my food blog Dishes Delish and play on the word dishing as in chatting or better yet, gossiping (because I am nosy) and delishes to represent other food bloggers. But try saying that over and over and over. It's a mouthful. Those that helped me So, the podcast is now the Dishing Podcast. You can still get to the website through the old dishingwithdelishes url. Charles Smith from WPOpt.net has happily and efficiently redirected the site to the new url which is dishing.co. I also had Vladi of the husband and wife team from LIL Creative Digital Agency design both the artwork for apple podcasts and the logo for the website. The format for the show will stay the same - interviews with food bloggers and an expert or two, but I need your help. I’ll still ask the questions I’ve been asking my guests all along, but I’d also love to know what YOU want me to ask them. Please share your questions for food bloggers and food blogging experts with me at elaine @ Dishes Delish dot com. I can’t wait to hear from you. Blogging thoughts and ideas Now, to talk about what I've learned about blogging. When you first start out, everyone will tell you that you need lots of content. But I’ve learned that’s not always smartest move. What you need is quality, not quantity. And even though that’s what I was learning as a member of Food Blogger Pro, I still decided to pump out as much content as I could because I was excited; I knew one of the recipes was bound to go viral and I’d start making money. I do wish I hadn’t gone that route and had been more selective with what I published. But I was on learning and on a mission. When I first started, I published 2 food posts a week. A month or two later I made one of the smartest moves for the blog by adding a cocktail post to the weeks publishing schedule. Once I did that, I started to see growth on the blog. So, I published 3 posts a week for three plus years. Then in year 2, I started a podcast called Maturepreneurial to help individuals over 40 to either start or succeed in their businesses. During that time, I made my mistakes and learned what I needed to learn in order to feel comfortable enough to launch the Dishing with Delishes podcast in year 3, which was the podcast I really wanted to do. As you can see, I love piling more things on my plate. After I started the Dishing with Delishes podcast, I decided to stop the first podcast, which I eventually sold to a lovely woman who has integrated it with her own podcast. But even with one less podcast, it was still a lot of work – three recipes a week on the blog and one episode on the podcast. For at least a year, but probably more, I kept saying I was going to go down to two recipes a week – one food and one cocktail. But I was afraid that my growth would stagnate. I was also nervous about taking time off and in a day or two here and there or a two week vacation where I didn’t do anything for the blog. I felt if I did, my traffic would plummet. I finally asked friends, guests on the show and members of Food Bloggers Central whether any of them who cut back on publishing new content saw an adverse result on their blog. Surprisingly, the majority said no. If anything, they saw an increase in their traffic when they stopped posting as often. Or took time off. Everyone needs time off And sure enough, that’s what happened to me. You need the time and space to rejuvenate, reflect, to have ideas germinate without the constant thought, “I’ve got to publish a post.” And even if your traffic went down a smidge - though I did not see that on my site - it will bounce back when you either start publishing again or your audience settles in with your new schedule. And isn’t doing some self-care worth the risk of a small impact, if any? So, after 3 ½ years, I went down to two posts a week. Before I reduced my schedule, I had my audit with Casey Markee and Casey’s advice was to work on either shooting and re-writing the recipes or culling them by no-indexing or downright deleting them. I had created close to 425 recipes in those 3 ½ years. That’s a lot. Too many, in my opinion. Now, I understand why people tell you to pump out the content, but just know that it might not be the best thing for you. You have to work within the limits of the time you have in a day, in a week and in a month and so on. You also have to consider all the things you have to do around the post, like social sharing, while maintaining quality content and having the time to enjoy living your life. The appeal of touching a unicorn One other thing I’d like to relay, and this might be a little controversial - although experts are experts and know more than we do, we still have to trust our own intuition. I remember reaching out to someone about a post that was a unicorn because I wanted to insert some process shots. I already knew what this expert would say, which was “do not touch a unicorn.” But I wanted to touch that unicorn, horn and all because sometimes you have to buck the system and see if your intuition is right. So, I decided to do some testing, even though I realized it could impact that post. So, when I republished this post with new photos including process shots and updated the copy, I watched it very carefully on Google. I actually tested this with two posts. Both posts had been in the search results carousel and week by week, they remained in the carousel, even after I touched them. I’m not saying experts are wrong and we shouldn’t listen to them. What I’m saying is, my instinct was telling me to update these posts with process shots because it would be better user experience. And thankfully, I was right. They are still in the carousel and haven’t budged. In fact, the original unicorn moved from #3 in the carousel to #1. I have since found out about the Limit Modify Date plugin which allows you to update a post without a change in the modified date. Now whether this stops the powers that be from knowing you made updates, I don’t know. I’m thinking their crawling bots can see the changes anyway. But for whatever reason, my test posts weren’t affected. Back to my publishing schedule After seeing that reducing the schedule didn’t affect my growth, I decided to reduce it even further. Now I’m publishing one post per week and that has given me the time and mental space to do other projects. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating for you to go down to one post a week: I’m advocating figuring out (and doing) what’s right for you. I’m excited for the coming year and can’t wait to see how it plays out. It feels like it’s going to be an expansive year. Here’s to a fabulous new year with incredible growth for everyone. What's next Thank you for listening and stay tuned for my next episode on January 13th when I re-interview Tanya Harris from My Forking Life. I decided to interview Tanya again because she has had explosive growth in the two years between my first interview and the new one. She went from 100k pageviews a month to over 1 million. How’s that for growth? Tune in on January 13th to hear how she did it. Until the next time, this is Elaine Benoit signing off.

I wanted to publish this episode to let you all know that, after long and careful consideration, I have decided to take an extended hiatus from the podcast. Here are my reasons: This has been a passion project for me and, although I thought I might someday make money from it, I realize now that probably won’t happen. So, it’s time for me to focus my attention on my true money maker, which is my Dishes Delish food blog. Dishes Delish has grown leaps and bounds since I started this podcast. I attribute that growth to a few things. The first was my audit in June of 2018 with Casey Markee. That was the catalyst. I had interviewed Casey before that but at the time I decided to move forward with my audit, the blog had only five thousand sessions a month. Mind you, I had been blogging for almost 3 years. Casey helped focus me. He taught me to not pick keywords like “dark chocolate caramel marshmallow cashew butter cups” Yes, I actually used those keywords in a post. As you can imagine, it gets 0 monthly searches. But I’m the reigning champ of that keyword. I am in the carousal and #1 in Google search results. And that’s only one of my really long keywords. Casey also got me to write for my readers and help solve problems. That was a game changer for sure. Another game changer was the viral moment I had in September of 2018. The HBO show Camping mentioned a jelly donut shot in one of its episodes and at that time, the monthly viewfor those keywords was only 330. But here’s why I had that viral moment. My Jelly Donut shot was already #1 in search results, so everyone and their brother who watched that episode of Camping clicked through to my website. That shot is still #1 and now has a monthly search volume of 4400. That shows you how something can grow just by having exposure. And that exposure was also a growth catalyst because, as with all such exposure, having people look at my jelly donut shot brought them back to the site to see other content, which gave me even more sessions. By October of 2018 – and remember: in June of the same year, I had only 5k sessions a month – I qualified for Mediavine and in November their ads went live on my site. Fast forward 6 months, when I was lucky to have another viral moment. My pistachio cookie recipe became my top post, toppling my Cadillac Margarita from 1st place. The popularity of this cookie post allowed me to apply for (and join) AdThrive. Now remember, to join MediaVine, you need 25k monthly sessions. AdThrive requires 100k pageviews. Now, I tell you all this for two reasons, first to explain why I’m placing the podcast on hiatus. I need to focus on the blog to make it even more successful by adding various income streams. Secondly, I am hoping to inspire you by letting you know that you can do it too. Don’t get me wrong, it takes a lot of work and sometimes a little luck. But you don’t have to have a viral moment to succeed. Many of my guests didn’t have one, and yet they are successful; it just takes years and hard work. So, keep at it and don’t give up. Write for your readers, help them solve a problem and create quality content. I also want to say that it is not always necessary to pick keywords that have a high monthly search volume. Some of my more popular posts have under 1000 monthly searches on Google but they do really well on Pinterest. So I would have missed out on this if I’d listened to the experts and neglected to follow my gut. Experts are great and can be a big help but you also can rely on yourself by doing what you think is best. You can also help yourself by joining Facebook groups like Food Bloggers Central. Ask questions, learn from other bloggers mistakes and if you’re wanting some inspiration, visit Dishing with Delishes and re-listen to interviews with food bloggers who forged their way before us. You can also listen to experts like Casey Markee, Andrew Wilder, Matt Molen and Grayson Bell just to name a few. Now you’re probably wondering if I’ll be returning to the podcast. My first instinct is to say no, because I need the break without having to think about the show, interview future guests or edit episodes. Last year, I started publishing the podcast in seasons thinking it would give me a break but, I never really felt like I had any time off and believe me, I need that time for blog growth endeavors. But you never know. I will miss chatting with other bloggers and learning more about their journeys. Don’t be a stranger! If you see me on social media, say ‘hi’ or drop me a line at Elaine @ Dishes Delish dot com. Because, as you know I love chatting with bloggers and would love to hear from you. Okay, it's time for me to sign off. This is Elaine Benoit from Dishing with Delishes and Dishes Delish. I enjoyed this fun ride and thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening in. Happy New Year, everyone! I wish you a prosperous 2020.

Marye Audet-White is a long-time food writer whose work and expertise are featured in cookbooks, websites, magazines, TV programs and her food blog, Restless Chipotle. With a 40 year focus on the importance of family and a passion for southern comfort food, Marye Audet-White has become an expert in melding the two together effortlessly. She's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more. Marye also works to help other women learn the craft of blogging through courses, coaching, and mentorship programs.  Her ultimate goal is for women to be able to provide for themselves and their families while being able to work from home.

Dennis Littley is a retired chef, live stream show host and producer, social media consultant, and speaker who can be found at his food and travel blog, Ask Chef Dennis. Dennis is a retired chef and culinary instructor who enjoys life by traveling and eating his way around the world, sharing his recipes and adventures along the way. A native Texan who spent most of his life in greater Philadelphia, Chef Dennis now resides in Kissimmee, Florida with his wife Lisa. During the newest phase of his culinary journey as a food and travel blogger, Chef Dennis has amassed an impressive following, including 950K+ social media followers and 80+ million impressions monthly.

Suzy Karadsheh (ka-RAH-chee) is a true daughter of the Mediterranean. She was born and raised only two blocks from the Mediterranean shore in Port Said, Egypt; a quick boat ride from places like Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Proximity to the sea’s riches, combined with her family’s fondness for big gatherings, turned Suzy into a passionate cook who lives by the values of the Mediterranean diet. She is all about easy, wholesome recipes with big Mediterranean flavors! To fully leverage her delicious heritage and big Mediterranean personality, Suzy established The Mediterranean Dish, a leading food blog and online resource dedicated to Mediterranean recipes, diet and lifestyle. What started as a hobby in 2014, has become a multi-faceted business including an e-commerce site that offers quality Greek olive oils, all-natural and organic spices, and more! For people seeking a healthier lifestyle and a taste of the Mediterranean, there is no better place than The Mediterranean Dish.

Melissa Riker is founder, recipe developer, and photographer behind The Happier Homemaker, a lifestyle blog focused on everyday recipes and home management for busy families.   Melissa is a former cancer researcher who left her career in the laboratory after having the first of three sons. She started her first blog in 2007 to keep in touch with family as a military spouse living far from home. The blog evolved to DIY and decorating as she and her husband undertook projects in the houses they bought, rented or built each time they relocated. Melissa absolutely knows the stress that comes from managing a home: school, lunches, jobs, spouse, children. She founded The Happier Homemaker in 2011 with the hope of inspiring families to find joy in their homes again. Over the years, Melissa has grown her food blog into a six-figure business while moving four times in eight years, including a year spent abroad in the United Kingdom. She and her husband Randy launched Riker Media, a lifestyle media company, in early 2019 and recently purchased a second, established food blog, Shaken Together Life, to add to their portfolio of websites. When not behind the camera or laptop, Melissa travels extensively. She also enjoys her pets, gardening, bird watching and time behind her easel, painting.

Aneesha Gupta is a lifetime cook and author of the Spice Cravings food blog, where she shares fast, easy recipes that produce consistent results, even for new cooks. Aneesh is a foodie by birth and the mind, body and soul behind Spice Cravings. She shares quick, easy and healthy global recipes that are LOW in effort and BIG on taste or, what she calls, "Everyday Gourmet"! Aneesha's recipes are inspired by her love for spices, her north Indian roots, her global travels and most importantly, her life as a working mom. A recipe doesn't make it to the blog until it is tested multiple times and rates a thumbs-up from her taster-in-chief husband and her teen-chef twin girls!

Manali Singh is the author, recipe developer and photographer behind the Cook With Manali food blog, where she shares easy vegetarian meals. Her debut cookbook, Indian Vegetarian Cooking With Your Instant Pot®, was released in the fall of 2018. Born and raised in India, Manali Singh started her food blog in 2013 when she moved to the US on a visa that didn’t allow her to work. But what started as a way to kill time, quickly became a full-time gig. Her work has been featured on BuzzFeed, MSN, Yahoo and other influential websites. Manali lives with her husband in beautiful Seattle.  She enjoys watching Bollywood movies in her free time.

Mike and Patty Hultquist are the power couple behind the spicy food paradise, Chili Pepper Madness, where bold, vibrant flavors of all types come to life. Mike is the cook and crazy wild chilihead, and Patty is the photographer and official taste tester for the Chili Pepper Madness food blog. Together they are the team that brings you zesty fare from around the world. Mike is the author of The Spicy Food Lovers’ Cookbook and The Spicy Dehydrator Cookbook. He considers himself a “gourmet chilihead,” cooking up a range of foods from zesty Cajun cuisine to hot and spicy Thai and American cuisine to the hottest of the hot and anywhere in between. He has a deep passion for sauces and hot sauces and anything with big flavor. Patty is a "converted chilihead," who gained a passion for spicy foods over the years and now can’t get enough of them. Together, the Hultquists offer a perfect balance of fiery and flavor.

Bethany Kramer is the recipe developer, food stylist, and photographer behind A Simple Palate - a food blog dedicated to creating wholesome, easy to make recipes that are abundant in flavor. Bethany grew up in a family with a love for Italian food and learned to cook at a young age. She founded her blog, A Simple Palate, in 2014 after marrying her husband Drew and finding her passion for cooking food for the people she loves. Drew is the other half of the brains for A Simple Palate and handles the technical side of the blog, including design and development. A Simple Palate not only reflects Bethany's love for healthy and seasonal cooking, but also pays homage to her Jersey roots and love for Italian food. Bethany and Drew currently live in sunny Los Angeles with their English Springer Spaniel puppy, Hudson.

In her former working life, Sue Ringsdorf worked as a budget analyst for Southwest Airlines. She left the corporate world to be a stay-at-home to her two sons. After her sons were grown and Sue saw the empty nest approaching, she contemplated what the "next phase" in her life would be. She had always loved being in the kitchen trying new recipes and cooking the tried-and-true favorites passed down from her family, so on her 50th birthday, she decided to start her food blog, SueBee Homemaker. When she’s not in the kitchen, Sue and her husband, Mike, are exploring as many bike paths as possible. They are on a mission to bike ride in every state in the U.S. Sue documents some of their adventures on her blog, under the Life is Good page. Sue has dedicated her blog to her mother, who was an excellent cook and baker, and who passed away from Alzheimer’s in April of 2019. She shares many of of her mom’s recipes, which can be found on her blog under Norma Jean’s Kitchen.

Grayson Bell is the founder/CEO of iMark Interactive, a WordPress support company offering businesses and bloggers assistance with technical issues and site development based around WordPress. He's been using WordPress since 2003 and found a passion helping others with issues on their blogs and sites. When he isn't working on WordPress related issues, Grayson loves spending time with his family and traveling around the world to soak in different cultures and lifestyles.

After making over $150,000 in only her third year of blogging, Kate Kordsmeier launched The Six-Figure Blog Academy to help other creative entrepreneurs make money doing what they love, while keeping their souls intact. For almost ten years prior to founding her blog, Kate Kordsmeier worked as a full-time freelance food and travel writer and recipe developer. Her content has been published in over 125 magazines, newspapers and websites, including USA Today, EatingWell, Cooking Light, Travel + Leisure, Shape, FITNESS, Women’s Health, The Washington Post, Clean Eating, Vegetarian Times, Wine Enthusiast, SELF and Real Simple. Today, Root + Revel is a full time business, where Kate publishes articles and recipes that inform and encourage natural, mindful living, without sacrifice. Root + Revel provides a wealth of guidance and content covering everything from nourishing food to science-based self care; safe, non-toxic and effective green beauty; creating a healthy home environment; and holistic wellness. Kate is also a senior manager with Beautycounter, on a mission to get safer products in the hands of everyone. A self-described "entrepreneur down to her bones," Kate has expanded her business to help other online entrepreneurs benefit from her success through such offerings as one on one coaching and DIY resources, including how to start a food blog, how to grow an audience, how to turn blogging into a successful business, how to pitch an e-book, and the Six-Figure Blog Academy. Kate lives in Atlanta with her husband, Matt, their son, Jackson, their two cats, Scout and Boo, and their puppy, Finch.

Cheryl Malik is the food blogger behind 40 Aprons, where she creates and shares healthy recipes and wellness lifestyle content for real people. In addition to running her food blog, Cheryl Malik is the cofounder and CEO of 40A., a food blogger virtual assistant agency, and Layer Cake, a design agency for food bloggers focused on better user experience and brand development. Cheryl also works one-on-one with food bloggers in a food blogging and photography coaching program, helping bloggers upgrade their platforms and increase their traffic and revenue. In her spare time, Cheryl also runs Quattro Mama, an apparel shop for new mamas, as well as Real Good, a skincare and wellness line for busy, real women. She’s also the Editor in Chief at Easy Healthy Recipes.

Cassie Heilbron is the recipe creator and food photographer behind Cook It Real Good - a food blog that focuses on quick, easy and healthy recipes, with a bit of indulgence mixed in between for good measure. Cassie Heilbron started her first blog – Be Forever Healthier – in early 2017.  The blog focused on healthy recipes, health tips and life hacks.  But after a few short months Cassie realized she was really only interested in food, so she narrowed down her focus to healthy recipes. As the years went by, this no longer felt like the right fit for Cassie, who’s food philosophy is everything in moderation, including moderation.  So earlier this year she rebranded to Cook It Real Good and opened up her niche to include not just foods that are good for you but also foods that are good for the soul Cassie also hosts the Cook It Real Good podcast, where she shares cooking hacks and tips with home cooks.

Meet Laura Tobin, your Guardian Angel in the kitchen. With 200 recipes and over 50 videos showing how to make traditional Mediterranean dishes, she can motivate even the most reluctant cooks! Laura is an Italian national growing up in Rome and vacationing in Southern Italy, Laura's passion for food and cooking began as a child, when she accompanied her mother to Cordon Bleu cooking classes.  Those early experiences fueled an ongoing love of food and launched her inspiring culinary journey. As an adult, Laura has traveled the world, whether for pleasure or to relocate to foreign countries. With each new culture came a new and intriguing cuisine to discover and master. Eventually settling in the Côte d’Azur, married and with two young boys, Laura started an English-language food blog to share her favorite Mediterranean recipes with friends.  She named it Your Guardian Chef. Little did she know then, that what began as an impassioned hobby would one day become her own 'guardian angel', helping her to find focus and heal following the sudden loss of her husband in 2018. In the wake of tragedy, Laura took a step back to adjust to her new life as a single mother of two teenage boys.  She found comfort in cooking and before long, found herself in front of her laptop, intent on re-energizing her hobby.  In the space of just five months, her renewed attention to the blog has seen it grow by fifty percent, her Facebook followers double and her videos explode with views and shares. With a new puppy by her side, and a burgeoning blog in her lap, we are delighted to invite Laura to share her story and her passion with the Dishing with Delishes audience.

Jess Hoffman is writer, photographer and recipe developer behind Choosing Chia, a food blog dedicated to delicious vegetarian recipes. Based in Montreal Canada, Jess Hoffman began helping out in the kitchen at a young age. She founded her blog, Choosing Chia, after a spontaneous trip to India where she studied yoga and Ayurveda, a wellness practice that focuses on creating a healthy body through diet, exercise and mindfulness. Upon returning home, Jess found a new passion for healthy, plant-based cooking. Jess loves sharing recipes that focus on wholesome, plant-based ingredients and are easy to make. Choosing Chia reflects her beliefs on diet and a healthy lifestyle, featuring delicious, easy to make vegetarian recipes that focus on fresh ingredients. Jess's recipes have been featured in publications like the New York Post, People magazine, Buzzfeed, Well & Good, Country Living, Mind Body Green and other trusted sites and magazines.

Elizabeth Lindemann is the food blogger behind Bowl of Delicious, where she shares easy recipes that are made with wholesome ingredients and that cater to people with busy lifestyles. Elizabeth started her food blog, Bowl of Delicious, as a side hustle and a hobby on nights and weekends when she was a high school art teacher. The blog has since grown into a full-time business. A former New Englander, Elizabeth lives near Austin, TX with her husband, Zach, and two young daughters, Zoey and Eleanor. Elizabeth has always had a voracious appreciation of food, cooking, and eating. Maybe it’s because she grew up in a Greek family that cooked - and ate - a LOT of delicious food. She honed her own cooking skills in college and grad school, and she quickly discovered that cooking was more than just a casual hobby to her. But teaching at a Title 1 school serving primarily low-income students had its challenges, and it was easy to fall off the cooking bandwagon and opt for take-out. Elizabeth quickly learned that when she took the time to cook healthy food at home on a regular basis, she had more energy, less stress, and was able to handle the demands of her job better. Along the way, she picked up on tricks and shortcuts to make home cooking doable even with a very busy lifestyle, while still using wholesome ingredients. So, she started Bowl of Delicious to share her recipes and tricks, and the rest is history! Bowl of Delicious specializes in "real food for busy people." Elizabeth's goal is to get more people to enjoy the countless benefits of cooking at home even if they think they don't have enough time or money, because these limitations often go hand-in-hand. She believes that cooking at home should help relieve stress, not cause it. Elizabeth's recipes are quick and easy, made in one-pot or pan, are Instant Pot or Slow Cooker friendly, or easy to make ahead or freeze in bulk. They're usually budget-conscious and family friendly, and don't ever use unhealthy, processed ingredients as a shortcut. In her personal life, she tries to stick to the 80-20 rule when it comes to eating healthy, whole foods, because she couldn't live without the occasional Reese's Peanut Butter Cup or cheap pizza take-out! While Elizabeth doesn't teach high school anymore, she's still busy in a different kind of way, with being a mom and running a business. She loves that the blog enables her to continue to "teach" and help other people who struggle with cooking at home find success and joy in it!

Anjali Shah is creator of The Picky Eater food blog, where she shares her passion for delicious food and her desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun. Anjali is a food writer, published author, board certified health coach, nutritionist, mom of two, and an advocate for healthy, clean eating for individuals and families. Her work has garnered nationwide attention and has been featured on Oprah.com, Women’s Health, Cooking Light, Reader’s Digest, CNN, Food Network, SELF, Glamour, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, Whole Foods, SHAPE, and at Kaiser Permanente. Anjali grew up a “whole wheat” girl, but married a “white bread” kind of guy. Hoping to prove that nutritious food could in fact be delicious and desirable, she taught herself how to cook and successfully transformed her husband’s eating habits from a diet of frozen pizzas and Taco Bell to her healthy, yet flavorful recipes made with simple, wholesome ingredients. Anjali’s programs are focused on teaching individuals and families how to make healthy choices and pick the right foods at the grocery store for either weight loss or overall wellness and maintenance. After becoming a mom, Anjali expanded her programs to include strategies and techniques to combat picky eating in kids of all ages. Anjali started The Picky Eater in 2012 to make healthy food accessible, tasty, easy to make at home, and picky-eater proof.

Meeta Arora is the author, recipe developer and food photographer behind the Piping Pot Curry blog, where she shares quick and easy recipes made using the instant pot and other gadgets in the modern kitchen. Meeta is a former product specialist by profession and a foodie at heart. She strongly believes that each one of us has a chef inside us; we just need some inspiration to explore the ingredients and create great food. Meeta grew up in Mumbai, a melting pot for people from all over India and a place where food defines culture. There she learned to cook from her mom, a wonderful cook who made the effort to pass down her love for cooking to her daughter. Meeta shares recipes for a variety of cuisines from all around the world but Indian food has always been closest to her heart.Meeta currently lives in California with her husband and beautiful daughter.

Chandice Probst is the bubbly personality behind This Vivacious Life. Chandice is a food and entertaining blogger and the co-author of Gluten-Free on a Budget. Chandice’s work has been featured in print and online industry publications, most notably Mingle Magazine, Women’s World, and Kara’s Party Ideas. As someone with celiac disease and a degree in health science, she has led the charge in hosting celiac awareness nights with MLB and NBA teams around the nation, raising money for research. While she loves to cook and entertain, Chandice loves being a wife and mother most. Learn more about Chandice at This Vivacious Life.

Sam Merritt is the creator behind the food blog Sugar Spun Run, where she specializes in sharing sweet and simple dessert recipes from scratch, with the occasional savory comfort food mixed in. Although Sam has been baking as far back as she can remember, she works hard to ensure that bakers of all skill levels will find success when they bake a Sugar Spun Run recipe. Each recipe is carefully tested and perfected before Sam shares them on her website. Sugar Spun Run desserts have been featured on a number of websites including TLC, Better Homes & Gardens, and People. Sam has also contributed to online magazines such as Country Living, Woman's Day, and Parade. Before she became a full time food blogger, Sam worked as a research coordinator at a hospital. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband and their three dogs.

Leah Hall and her husband, Jay, are co-creators of Gastronom.com, where they blog about "libations and spirited travel." Jay and Leah started the Gastronom in 2012 and soon found their niche by focusing on spirits and mixology. The Halls love cooking at home, swimming in their pool, travel and of course, cocktails! Jay and Leah love to entertain and believe that food and drink not only nourish us but feed our souls, as well! They are all about local culinary scenes, unique cocktail ingredients and spirited travel. Gastronom's recipes have been featured on liquor.com, feedfeed and Drizly. The Halls have grown their blog to be Leah's full time job since 2016. They love to share their cocktail recipes and hope people use them to make an ordinary day a special day! Jay and Leah Hall have been married almost 14 years and live in Omaha, Nebraska with their two boys.

Isabel Orozco-Moore is the recipe developer, photographer and content creator at Isabel Eats, a food blog all about easy Mexican recipes for home cooks. Isabel inspires others with her real life experiences in the kitchen and gives tips and tutorials so others can enjoy a little more Mexican spice in their lives, too! She started her blog as a hobby and personal outlet in 2015 and grew it into a full-time business in October 2017. Isabel’s recipes and photos have been featured on sites like The Kitchn, Good Housekeeping, Buzzfeed, Delish, Self, The Huffington Post and MSN. Isabel is 31 years old, lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with her husband and two cats and is a proud first-generation Mexican-American.

Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli are the creative couple behind Sugar Love Spices, the blog where they celebrate their Italian heritage and share their love of food, photography and travel. Loreto is Canadian of Italian descent and Nicoletta, born and raised in Rome, Italy, is now Canadian by marriage. Sugar Love Spices is the diary of a bustling kitchen where Loreto and Nicoletta combine their passions for savory, sweet and a bit of spice. The couple shares recipes from their favorite cookbooks and blogs, along with original creations and techniques from their kitchen that include musings on ingredients, ethical farming, beautiful people, great utensils and their experiences with restaurants and travel. Their love of local organic producers is what defines the couple's way of life and a respect for the treatment of plants and animals. They also believe in the energy you put into your cooking. While not professional chefs or photographers, Loreto and Nicoletta love food and photography (and travel), very very much.

Nora Taylor is the author, recipe developer and food photographer behind the Nora Cooks food blog. Nora went vegan in 2010 and soon developed a passion for vegan cooking and baking. Before going vegan, she hated to cook! She experimented with recipes for years before starting her food blog. In 2017, Nora started her vegan food blog to share simple, everyday vegan recipes that would appeal to families and even meat-eaters. Nora lives in beautiful Oregon with her husband, three kids and three cats.

Joy Shull is the the content creator and recipe developer behind Build Your Bite, a food blog that focuses on vegetarian and vegan recipes. In 2014, Joy dropped out of college one semester short of a degree to pursue her dream job – food blogging. Looking back today, she does not regret her decision.  She has turned her blog from a part time hobby to a business that supports her family. Joy is very passionate about doing what you love for a living and loves to encourage other entrepreneurs to find a way to make it work. Joy taught herself to cook at 15, a necessity when living most of the time with a dad and three older brothers. Her dad’s idea of a home cooked meal was a frozen dinner with three rounds of salt and pepper, so she spent many nights learning new recipes to cook for her family. Joy is married to Robbie and has a two year old son named Crosby, who is her biggest motivator.

Helena Bohdanovych and Volodymyr (Vladi) Vasylenkov are husband and wife who, among other things, happen to be in love with everything digital. They believe every business is about people first, and stand behind that principle in everything they do. Most of all, they enjoy creating meaningful content, helping their clients grow and contributing to the development of the digital future. Working with the amazing people from around the world, the two have spent a big part of their lives in the USA and Australia.  They are now based in Portugal. Helena and Vladi find inspiration in waves, because they are a great representation of life, and in good coffee, for no particular reason.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Kylie Lato grew up eating a traditional Midwestern "meat and potatoes" diet. Her fondest childhood memories include spending most weekends in the kitchen with her grandma measuring flour, mixing batter and making messes. As she grew up and moved out on her own, her love for food, cooking and photography continued to grow and develop until friends and family convinced her to start a blog. These days, you'll still find Kylie in the kitchen on the weekends. Only now, it's her toddler helping her make all the messes! Kylie's daughter and husband are her official taste testers and all Midwest Foodie recipes are approved by them before they make it onto the blog. As a working mom and busy blogger, Kylie understands how difficult it can be to get a wholesome dinner on the table at the end of the day. Through her blog, Midwest Foodie, she hopes to make your life easier by sharing simple, family-friendly recipes that are made with seasonal (mostly healthy) and accessible ingredients.

Gary White likes food. He really, really likes food. In third grade, he remembers taking Jiffy cornbread to school for show-and-tell. Who does that? When he was in middle school, he could cook dinner for the whole family and he often did. One of his specialties? Lasagna. So by the time he left for college, he could hold his own more than most 18-year-old guys. Over the years, Gary worked in some fantastic restaurants with great chefs, who exposed him to new worlds of food, ingredients and cuisines. What he learned at work, he often tried to duplicate at home. He also went through seasons of eating different diets – everything from vegan to low carb – and that involved lots and lots of cooking. Along with that, cooking shows have always been one of his favorite forms of television. From Gordon Ramsey to Vivian Howard, Gary learned quite a bit from cooking shows. When he had an opportunity to audition for season 8 of MasterChef in 2016, his cooking went to a whole other level. On the day of the first audition, he was completely shocked when he made the first cut. And the second. And the third. And then when they asked him to come back the next day. And it just kept going. With each cut, they just kept calling him back. Before he knew it, he was on his way to Los Angeles.

Matt Molen is also the CEO of Personalized Paths. He is the creator of Email on Autopilot (www.emailonautopilot.com) and teaches Email Jump Start! Matt provides marketing consulting and personal coaching services to some of the world’s top bloggers. He is also a public speaker. While chief marketing officer to one of the fastest growing Internet companies, Matt implemented practices that brought in more than $10 million in annual email e-commerce sales.

Molly Kumar shares light and healthy versions of Indian and family-favorite recipes from all over the world on her food blog, Easy Cooking with Molly. Molly has been at home in the kitchen since she was three years old, toddling after her mother to touch all the utensils and taste all the spices she could get her hands on. She baked her first cake at five, which was when she fell in love with cooking and baking. Molly says, "Even on the days when I’m most stressed, making a simple dish puts me in a zen state of mind." Raised in New Delhi, Molly and her husband now live in California, where they moved after getting married. Today, Molly blogs about recipes inspired by her travels around the world. She strives to make delicious, everyday meals that are easy to prepare, a feast for the eyes, and easy on the budget.

Sophia DeSantis is the author of Veggies Don’t Bite, a food blog featuring plant-based and mostly gluten and refined-sugar free recipes targeted to all types of eaters. Sophia is a former elementary school teacher turned food magician. She lives in sunny southern California where she referees three beautiful boys, one husband and an old, sweet cat.  Sophia's super power is using whole food ingredients to create plant-based recipes that will change the way the world views healthy food. From comfort food classics to veggie-filled meals, with the occasional sweet indulgence, she creates a place where all types of eaters unite.  Sophia has been featured on many websites including Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Women’s Health and Red Tricycle to name a few.  She has also contributed guest posts to a variety of other sites and print magazines, including Parent’s Magazine.  Her first cookbook, Vegan Burgers and Burritos, was released in November 2017.   Through Veggies Don't Bite, Sophia hopes to reach anybody interested in making a positive health change in their life.  Her motto is: eat, play, relax, repeat. 

Learnings and Leanings I decided to do a special edition episode for a few reasons. First, I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to share what I have learned, which feels like a lot: what I've learned from doing this podcast; what I've learned from my guests; what I think and how I feel about all of it. Second, I want to tell you about some changes that are coming. I'll explain more in a bit, but basically the podcast continues to evolve and these changes will reflect that. Thirdly, I want to talk about some of the services I use that I find beneficial for my food blog, Dishes Delish, and think would be helpful for other bloggers. None of my recommendations are sponsored. Snafu and the Lesson Learned The catalyst for this special edition episode was a problem I encountered last Tuesday, March 5th, when I uploaded Elizabeth Falcigno's interview. It was supposed to be published today, March 13th, but actually came out the day I uploaded it. I had scheduled the episode for the correct date and time, but there was a glitch that overrode my settings and Libsyn published it immediately. I noticed what had happened within a few minutes but even though I quickly tried to reschedule it, iTunes had already pulled the feed and people had already started to listen to the episode. To get downloads so quickly was amazing to me, but still, it wasn't what I'd planned. Since this snafu left a hole in my publishing calendar, once I calmed down, I realized it was my chance to record and publish this update instead of an interview. So here we are. One of the things I learned from this snafu is not to freak out about problems that come up, especially if you can't fix them. And believe me, I tried. Was I upset? Yes. Did hubby have to talk me off the figurative "ledge"? You betcha! But basically, what I realized is the only thing that really upset the order of my world was that Elizabeth's episode came out the day before Chris Collins'. Did that hurt anything? No. It just changed something. I feel grateful and protective towards my guests. I want each person to get their time in the spotlight and I was worried that Chris would lose the spotlight because of Elizabeth's episode. Well, that didn't happen. Both episodes have gotten great download numbers even though they came out on consecutive days. So, instead of pulling out my hair and wailing at the technology, I accepted it and I'm happy for the lesson I learned. Letting Stuff Go - Like Plugins Mostly, I have a love/hate relationship with change. I love it in some ways and hate it in other ways. Hubby and I used to change our furniture around a lot because both of us or one of us - usually me - needed the change. The weird thing is I would more often than not feel kind of lost after we plunked the last piece of furniture down. Because of the change. Not that we undid anything, but it used to make me cry a little. The reason I tell you this is because it sort of explains why I hung on as long as I did to using the social sharing plugin called Social Warfare after I learned it was a problem. I'd read comments on Facebook. A lot of people complained the plugin broke their site once they updated it. BROKE THEIR SITE! Can you imagine? The way I dealt with it, was to not update it, which we all know is not a good practice. When I interviewed Andrew Wilder and he raved about Social Pug, the social sharing plugin developed by Mihai Iova from devpups.com, it still took me a few months to decide to actually switch. Even though Andrew mentioned that Social Pug did exactly what Social Warfare did, I still clung to what was 'known'. Well, today I'm really glad I jumped on the Social Pug bandwagon. Not only does it do everything the old plugin did, but when I had some questions and reached out to Mihai to ask them, not only has he responded quickly but he answered my questions and really cared that I understood his answers. So, if you are like me and want to cling to what you know, I'm here to tell you that I don't regret for one moment making the switch to Social Pug! Change might be challenging, but that doesn't mean it's not good. Now, I'm eyeing Mihai's Optin Hound plugin, since I really need to change my current one, which I'm not going to renew. Services I Rely On I've mentioned before on the show the support I get from my virtual assistants, Helena and Vladi. Together they manage different aspects of the website, social sharing, and SEO for me. I've often said that one of the best things I have done for the blog was to get a site audit by Casey Markee, (you can hear his episodes here and here). But the other best thing I have done was to hire Lil Creative Digital Agency, which is Helena and Vladi's company. I've been working with them for almost 2 years and am here to say that their help has done so much for our business. Not only are they efficient and communicative, but they go the extra mile and are always positive. They answer my questions readily and take time out of their lives to send me feedback or brainstorm ideas with me. I consider them my friends. I will be interviewing Helena and Vladi in the coming months, which I'm really looking forward to. Stay tuned for their episode. One of the services I was most excited to hand off to them was the maintenance of the Dishes Delish website. Even though I'm technology savvy, it's hard to keep up with all the changes and frankly, I don't have the time or desire to do it anymore. So, I subscribe to their maintenance package and couldn't be happier. No more staring at the settings for WP Rocket (or some other plug-in) and guessing if I got them set up correctly. I can rest assured that they will get it done and I don't have to worry! As Toni Dash advises, hire someone who has the expertise you don't so you can focus on creating the content only you can create. Changes to the Podcast Okay, here's what I'm planning for the Dishing with Delishes podcast. Don't worry, I'm still going to be producing episodes for the show. Since the podcast is still growing, I'm not actively looking for ways to make money on the show, so my main source of revenue comes from my food blog, Dishes Delish. I'm imagining that as the show grows, I will do some sponsored ads that I'll insert into each episode, but I keep putting it off because I want my listeners to have a great listening experience and being clobbered over the head with an ad takes people out of the experience. When/if I do sponsored ads, I will only promote companies that I think will be beneficial to you, my audience. Just so everyone understands where I'm coming from, each episode takes me a long time to produce. First comes the pre-interview communications. It takes time to reach out to people, ask if they want to be on the show, respond to their questions and then send them next steps, if they do. So, let's say I spend two hours a week doing that. Next, comes the actual interview, which runs anywhere between 35 minutes to an hour. Then, comes the editing, because I'm not sure everyone knows that I edit every single episode. A 30 minute episode takes me, on average, anywhere between 2 1/2 hours and 4 hours to edit. Why does it take me so long? Because I'm a perfectionist. I take out as many "umms", false starts, pauses, and other types of language that I feel detract from the listening experience as I can. When we are in front of someone and speaking, we hardly notice the "umms', the starting of a sentence and then stopping mid-way to say something else. We just accept it as normal. But when you have headphones on and you're listening to the show, they are glaringly obvious. At least to me. They've got to go! Next up is the show notes page. Thankfully, Christopher (hubby) takes some of the writing out of my hands, like editing and inserting the bio we receive from guests. But I compile and add everything else on that page and that takes me around a 1/2 hour per episode. Uploading and configuring each episode for my media host, Libsyn, takes me between 15 minutes and 1/2 hour. After the episode goes live, I write to the guest, providing them links to share their episode with their social media networks (for which I'm eternally grateful, when they do). The last thing I have to do is share the episode to all of my own social media networks. Do you see how much work that is? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to do it. I love talking to my guests and hearing their stories. I love learning from them about their journeys and their businesses and want to continue producing this podcast for many years. But in order to do that, I've decided I have to limit how many episodes I produce. So instead of 52 episodes a year, I will be producing the podcast in seasons - think television seasons. I will have two seasons a year - 20 episodes per season. The first season will start in early January and run to mid May. And the second season will start early July and end before Thanksgiving. I feel very positive about this change. I think it will give me the time I need to focus on the money making activities for my blog while still reaping the benefits of producing the podcast. What I've learned One of the things I've learned after talking with over 70 food bloggers and experts is that we all have different approaches and journeys. Some of us started blogging so family members and friends could access our recipes without us having to provide them over and over via email. Some of us started because we love food and have a deep desire to share it. Some of us started because we learned how easy, fun or beneficial cooking is and wanted to inspire and help others to learn, too. And some of us started blogging as a business opportunity. One of the things I really enjoyed was when Kate Kordsmeier stated loud and clear that she started her blog as a business. It was refreshing to hear that because that's why I started mine. I felt funny saying that to people because it felt shameful on some level. But after hearing Kate say it and knowing other guests did it, now I say it proudly. Another thing I've learned is no matter if you have an expensive full framed camera, a starter DSLR or a smartphone, the more you take photos, the better your photography will be. Like the old saying, practice makes perfect. So keep plugging away and if you get discouraged, go back to your old photos to see how far you've come. Another thing I've learned is to celebrate every win you've accomplished. This is something Christopher and I both try to do whenever possible. Too often we don't take the time to celebrate and that makes us lose an opportunity, because we all know that blogging is hard work. Like, really hard. Why not look at what you've accomplished and celebrate it? The work will always be there. We put in long hours. Unless we are super lucky, it can take years to see results. So I say, stick with it and don't quit, but in the meantime work to improve your writing, your photography or anything else related to your business. It will pay off in the end and bring you satisfaction along the way. That's what I think. What do you think? If you've been listening to the show for a while and/or have a blog of your own, I would love to hear what you've learned, either from Dishing with Delishes guests or from your own journey, in a comment on this page. It doesn't have to be long or include a narrative. Short and sweet is fine. You can also shoot me an email if that's easier. Send it to Elaine at Dishing With Delishes dot com. Also, if I'm not covering the questions you want to hear me asks my guests, please either use the comment section below or email to tell me so. That is all. :) Thank you for listening to my podcast. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Elizabeth Falcigno started her website The Clean Eating Couple in 2013 as a way to chronicle her journey with health and wellness. After quitting her corporate marketing job in January of 2018, Liz now works for herself full time and focuses on creating healthy, delicious recipes that are easy to make. Liz also helps brands in the food space with recipe development and images for their websites.

Chris Collins' blog, Don't Go Bacon My Heart, is all about making food fun. Chris Collins believes that home cooking should be enjoyable and the food you cook should always bring a smile to your face. He's also a firm believer that you can lead a perfectly healthy life and still put a whole cup of cream in your pasta. Chris began his blog merely as a way to document the recipes he was creating in his spare time. After moving to Australia for two years, his blog grew and so did his passion for food. When he returned to the UK, Chris made the decision to pursue blogging as a career and has never looked back! In his spare time, Chris is either thinking about food, eating food or wondering how he can justify eating something that 'Serves 4'.