Today we’d like to introduce you to Ishmene Cabral.
Ishmene, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Most people call me “Ish” for short. I started my foodstagram, @del.ish.ious, in June 2017 as a way to post about the food I eat. I had noticed that I posted a lot of food on my personal Instagram and Snapchat and figured maybe I should just have one place to post all of my food. I’ve always been interested in taking pictures of my food before I eat it, so starting an Instagram to log all my food adventures seemed like a great idea.
I really didn’t expect much out of it, I thought it would be a fun way to log the food I ate and look back on the food adventures I went on. Especially since it was the summer before my last year of college when I started my foodstagram, I anticipated lots of boba runs and food adventures. I have a serious love for boba — I’ve been a boba lover for over ten years now. WOW, I’m old! One of the reasons I wanted to start my foodstagram was so I had a collection of all the boba places I’ve been to because I love trying new places every time.
It took me a while to gain traction, and for a while wasn’t being too consistent because school was my main priority. However, nearing the end of senior year I reached a milestone for my foodstagram — 500 followers! By that time, I was out of school and could put more focus into my hobby! I started going to more food places and posting more consistently. Now almost a year out of school, I’m up to 1,800 and throughout this time I’ve met so many food bloggers, collabed with restaurants, and attended media events.
It’s definitely been a fun and rewarding journey because of all the cool people I have met and networked with. Not to mention it’s also a great perk to try lots of different and new foods and being able to share it with the foodie community! 🙂
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I took me a while to finally create my foodstagram. I contemplated it for maybe two months before just pulling the trigger and making one. It was mainly due to the fact that I was not sure if it would be successful or not because the food community on Instagram was so big and established already. But I realized that it wouldn’t matter if it was successful or not, the main reason I wanted to start it was just for fun anyway.
No matter how big my following has gotten, I try to remain grounded and remember the reason I have my food blog. It might seem easy from the outside, but running a food blog is a lot of work. It’s basically like another full-time job! I’m going to be honest, there have been times where I felt like I have to post on a schedule to make sure I remain consistent with my content. Sometimes I would be too hard on myself if I didn’t post something and those were the times I started to feel more like a job than a hobby. It was then that I decided to take a small break from posting, gather myself and remind myself that it was okay not to post all the time and just try to do things for myself and not to please other people. I had to remind myself that if it ever started to feel like a job or it was taking too much work, I can always take a break because it’s only a hobby and I should enjoy what I’m doing.
I always make sure to have fun with my foodstagram, engage with other people, and post content that I like. I am definitely not as hard on myself, and I have really felt a difference in how much I enjoyed food blogging when I wasn’t being so critical of myself. Food blogging is for sure a lot of work and takes a lot of dedication but if you enjoy it, it’s really not bad at all!!!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a foodie that loves to try new places, far and near! I do, however, live in the 626 area so most of my food adventures are focused around LA and OC. The 626 is pretty much foodie and boba lover heaven because there’s a boba spot or new restaurant to try on every corner!
One pretty unique thing about me is my serious love and obsession for Disney Tsum Tsums, I have over 100 in my collection! I’ve incorporated them into my food pictures on my foodstagram so that I can put them to use somehow. I think they add a cute touch to the picture and plus, I haven’t seen that many Tsum Tsum foodstagrams!
Aside from being able to share my love for food and boba with my friends and fellow foodie community on Instagram, I’m especially proud of all the new people I’ve connected with and met through it all. Because of my foodstagram, I’ve been able to attend influencer events, tastings, collabs, and I even won a trip to Japan! It’s been a fun journey and I’m excited for what other opportunities are yet to come!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Hmm, that’s a good question. In my opinion, success is when you’ve fulfilled everything you set out to do in life and are happy with what you are doing. I think that everyone defines success differently in their life. The way I define success is through happiness. I hope to be able to accomplish the goals I set for myself but most of all, I want to be happy.
Some people base their success on wealth and material gains. However, I think that even the wealthiest person on Earth won’t feel fulfilled because they may not be happy with other aspects in their life.
In today’s society, people are always comparing each other’s success but the goals you set for yourself can only be achieved through your own hard work and perseverance. A small goal for one person may be a huge goal for another. Ultimately, we all define success differently and we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others’ success. Personally, I think that as long as I am trying my best to reach the goals I set for myself, enjoying the process, and feel happy about my progress, then I am successful. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/del.ish.ious/
- Yelp: https://ishcabob.yelp.com
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