I recently ate my weight in cupcakes. But that was for good reason, because I was celebrating my 1-year Spooniversary. I’ve been a member of Spoon and have probably typed 10 million words all about food, lifestyle, fitness, and how hard college can be. And what a journey it’s been. I struggled to write my first article and now have an entire portfolio to share with the world. But how did I get to this point?
Spoon Wisco
For the last few years, I have been subscribed to Spoon University. I have followed it all over social media, read something on the site every single day, and made a lot of the recipes come to life.
In March of 2016, senioritis hitting hard, I committed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The same day I hit the Accept Admission button, I reached out to the Editorial Director of Spoon Wisco. And it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
My Success Story
One year ago, I was a Freshman coming into college, just trying to get by. Now, here I am, still a stressed-out neuroscience major with endless labs, lectures, and exams. I always love a challenge though.
During my first year in Spoon, I struggled to write my first article about The Cookie Joint in Chicago. It was supposed to be an easy piece to write, but I had to edit it FOUR times because I kept forgetting things. For weeks I thought Spoon wasn’t for me. However, when I got the email saying the article was finally published, I felt good vibes only.
Success came in so little time. It’s been one year and I now have well over 50 published articles (and I’m still not sick of writing yet). I have 300K pageviews and a position on Spoon’s National Advisory Council (Spoon members, ping me on Slack!). But how did I get here? How did I build my personal brand?
Loving Myself
My first year at UW-Madison was difficult. I had just lost my brother. Life was full of ups and downs, but Spoon was always there. Every week, there was a chapter meeting where I could meet fellow passionate foodies.
I wrote whenever I was happy, sad, stressed, and/or tired. All of the articles I wrote were not just words on a screen, but my ways of self-expression. It’s this thing in psychology called sublimation. You take negative emotions and displace them on something positive.
Through Spoon, I can truly say I learned a lot about myself. Spoon gave me confidence, a voice, and a chance to share something with the world. Writing for Spoon made me happy. And that happiness is key to building your personal brand. If you’re happy, you love yourself, and people love you in return.
Spoon opened a door that I didn’t even know existed. It allowed me to look at food, the world, and myself in a different way. By writing for my peers in this generation, I understood my peers and this generation. By understanding my peers and using my own voice, I built a personal brand.
Every day, I still look forward to taking out my laptop at night after all my eventful lectures, labs, and assignments. Spoon puts me in a world where I can be myself and use my creativity to the max. It helps me sleep better knowing that my voice is being heard and that my writing is helping others. It makes me happy when future content creators reach out to me.
Social Media
Social media was a huge part of my journey. Every time I wrote an article, it popped up on the Facebook feed of my 850 “friends.” My Instagram is flooded with Spoon promo, Snapchat stories full of food porn, and laptop full of Spoon stickers.
I worked with Spoon HQ this summer for their Remote Summer Writing Program. I wrote relevant content that took over the Spoon Facebook Page and website homepage. Every other week, I was a Top Contributor. My articles skyrocketed with pageviews, and my voice was heard. My brand was only growing from there.
This summer also was the start of my Foodstagram (@maplesarup_). This is something that will continue to grow as well. Oh yeah, and follow me because food.
What a year it’s been, and my college life is going to be three more years. With my personalized social media, my content, and my incredible, growing chapter at Spoon Wisco, I will only continue to #spoonfeed the world. As always, #neverforks.