Tastemaker Talk

Today our good friend Erin Collins of Meaningful Eats joins us for her second appearance on the pod! Erin and Chandice are going even deeper this time around, getting into the technical aspects and details to consider when self-publishing a cookbook. We're excited to bring this one to you today, especially as advancements in AI are making tangible keepsakes--like cookbooks--all the more important.

Plus, be sure to stick around for the Q&A with printing expert and Firewire Publishing owner, Morgan Crockett! Morgan is answering the questions YOU submitted about self-publishing/cookbook creation via social media.

Show Notes:

• Pre-order Erin's upcoming cookbook, Let's Celebrate Gluten-Free!
• Read Morgan's book rec, Who Not How by Dan Sullivan
• Join us for TC26 and get your very own, specialty printed yearbook!

The Tastemaker Team is BACK, baby! Today we're talking all about our brand/website refresh, which you can enjoy for yourself later this October!

We're walking you through our thought process when it comes to the rebrand, including how to identify your brand personality, the importance of working with a team you trust (shoutout to Lindsay and Jordan! ), and making sure that you're regularly checking in with your brand values and updating them as needed.

Show Links

• ​Build a Brand Workbook
• The Brand Archetypes wheel!

• ​Check out Jordan's work at Studio 9 Co
• ​Check out Lindsay's work at Made to Thrive

We're so excited to bring you today's conversation with Justin Moore, founder of Creator Wizard and author of Sponsor Magnet! This conversation was recorded ahead of Justin's speaking appearance at VTC 2025, and we're stoked to be giving you a teaser of his full-length session: "How to Craft a Sponsorship Pitch No Brand Will Ignore."

From helping us write a sponsorship pitch to Erewhon to discussing Justin's metal band days (yes, you read that right), this convo is a delight from start to finish.

Show Links

• Watch Justin's full VTC session - purchase your replays here
• Find more from Justin at sponsormagnet.com

You may know Bjork Ostrom from his trailblazing work over at Food Blogger Pro, and we're thrilled to welcome him to the pod this week to chat about how food content creators can prioritize purpose to reach their business goals.

Today, along with Abbey and Chandice, Bjork is covering everything from monetization methods in the evolving creator economy to Rice the pet frog. This is a fun one--enjoy!

Show Links

• Tune in to the Food Blogger Pro podcast
• Get in touch with Bjork
• Check out Bjork's must-have tech tool, the Things App!

Today Chandice is chatting with Megan Porta, who you all know and love from Eat Blog Talk! Together Megan and Chandice explore strategies for community building, how to embed your personal values into your business, and the importance of adaptability in the creator economy.

Show Links

• Find all things Eat Blog Talk

• Reach out to Megan

• Join us for Tastemaker 2026 LA!

Welcome to a very special REPLAY EPISODE of Creator Trends for 2025 with Mediavine!

With VTC right around the corner, we didn't want to throw too much content at you all at once (that's not how our brains thrive, after all!). So we're encouraging you to listen to this replay ep with Amanda Martin (CRO at Mediavine), pick up a few new nuggets of wisdom, and then join us for VTC 2025 to stream Mediavine's on-demand session to keep the good times going!

Get your VTC 2025 ticket here, and we'll see you Friday 9/12!

Today we're sitting down with our good friends from NerdPress, Andrew Wilder and Joel Carter. We're covering what branding actually means, and how authentic storytelling, brand differentiation, and core value alignment can help set you apart from AI-generated content. Today's Big Theme™️ is "Action creates clarity," and we hope that this episode speaks to those of us who have been feeling a little lost or listless lately.

Show Links:

• Find NerdPress online
• Grow your WordPress site with Hubbub!
• Get in touch with Andrew or Joel at [email protected]
• Download the Build a Brand with Impact FREEBIE
• Get your ticket to VTC in September to learn more about branding!
• Connect with NerdPress IRL at Tastemaker Conference 2026 in LA!

We're geeking out over today's episode, y'all! We're honored to be sitting down with Chef Carla Contreras, a food creative, content strategist, and the host of the Nourishing Creativity podcast.

Chef Carla is giving us a Substack introduction, and she's making a very compelling case for why food content creators need to have a presence in the Substack arena. While sharing her warm energy and creative wisdom, Chef Carla is also giving us a teaser for her deep-dive sessions at Virtual Tastemaker in September AND Tastemaker 2026 in LA!

Show Notes

• For more of Chef Carla, tune in to the Nourishing Creativity podcast
• Follow Chef Carla on Instagram!
• Buy your VTC and TC26 tickets to learn from Chef Carla IRL!!

Foodie friends, you are not going to want to skip this one! We're chatting today with Liane Walker, a mom of three, a Siftr investor, and the Managing Director of Foodie Digital.

In today's convo, Liane is providing insights on the challenges faced by food bloggers due to AI changes and algorithm updates, emphasizing the importance of data-driven decision-making and being a creator who can adapt.

Show Notes

• Check out Foodie Digital

• Check out Siftr SEO and follow along on IG

• Connect with Liane on LinkedIn

  Join us for Tastemaker 2026 LA!

Allea Grummert has worked with content creators across all niches, and she believes that when it comes to the creator economy, food creators are the honors students. What does that mean, exactly? On one hand, we're tenacious, organized, and resilient. But we also tend to push ourselves toward burnout and hold tightly to some unrealistic expectations for our work. Listen, food creators contain multitudes!

Tune in to today's episode for Allea's expert perspective on what food creators are doing really well, and where they might be able to seek support. Because you don't have to do it all, and you certainly don't have to do it alone.

Show Notes