Meet Jessie Evans of Jessie Eats

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie Evans.

Jessie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am an actor first, but the entertainment business is a crazy one, and never consistent. I wanted to find a way to have control over my creativity, and turned to my other passion in life…FOOD! I started my food blog “Jessie Eats” four years ago, focusing mostly on creating video episodes and using social media as a way to share food and restaurants that I was excited about. I love bringing my audience on a food journey with me, whether it’s getting a sneak peak of a restaurant right when it opens, becoming emotionally overwhelmed over the first bite of a Cronut in NYC, or crying over the spice levels of Nashville hot chicken at Howlin’ Rays! (If you have not tried Howlin’ Rays be prepared! That chicken is SPICY!) Over the years my audience has grown, the opportunities and things I have tried are overwhelmingly exciting, and the amount of people in the food community I can call my friends is so special! I love getting to share and excite people about chefs, places, & dishes that they didn’t know about!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I joke that I have made up how to do everything as I am doing it. Luckily, I have always been comfortable in front of the camera with my performing background. But as a one-man production crew, I have been forced to learn by doing (and a lot of trial and error.) I am the host of each “Jessie Eats” episode in addition to wearing the hat of the producer, director, camerawoman, content creator, DP, editor, sound (most restaurants and food festivals kill me with their blasting music), web design, etc. But with all of this hard work, I get challenged in the best possible way and am constantly growing in my creativity and the production value of each episode.

Every episode I have faced a “problem” behind the scenes, (whether it’s bad lighting, or forgetting to film some B Roll or a sound issue.) Although I will never share these problems with my audience, the most exciting things in my episodes for me personally are the results from finding a solution. For example, when I was first starting to film & vlog, I noticed that every description I used about a dish was that it tasted “so good.” Instead of being upset with myself for my lack of descriptors, I embraced this and now my theme song lyrics ends with “she likes food cause it’s so good, so good, so good!”

I think my style of editing each episode has also been the gift result of a problem. Out of necessity, I film everything “guerilla style,” which means I’m shooting really quickly in real locations during normal business hours on a tiny camera/iPhone. I enter the restaurant and action! It’s real, raw, and doesn’t feel “produced.” Since Jessie Eats started out as a passion project, the other struggle has been to find the time/money to back it. But at the end of the day, I am so happy every time I am working on it because it brings me so much joy. It is my happy food outlet. Working 5 million side jobs to pay bills as an actor, a food outing has also been so special and meaningful to me, because it’s a celebration of working hard. (I have always saved my tips from side catering gigs so that I could enjoy big tasting menus.) Because of this, there is a big variety of food on my blog, ranging from the nine course tasting menu at Maude to a trip to San Gabriel Valley for a dumpling crawl that won’t break the bank.

Please tell us about Jessie Eats.
When I started “Jessie Eats” I noticed that most food shows were led by middle-aged men. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Anthony Bourdain! But I never saw a host I felt was the approachable everyday person, especially for my demographic. And a lot of food bloggers I followed on Instagram only focused on the photogenic food trend of the month or places I couldn’t afford. (Hence a lot of tips from catering gigs being saved on my end.) I’m happy that I fit the mold of what was missing. Anyone with a camera can be a food blogger. We are so lucky to have amazing editing tools on our phones. Bloggers take the time to plan out a post, use a beautiful template, go to the “it” place of the moment that will get you a lot of likes. (And honestly I enjoying following a lot of these foodies.) But I think what sets me apart is that I bare my authentic and unfiltered self, and stay true to what I think. “Jessie Eats” episodes are in the moment reactions that are raw and honest, and usually very emotionally driven for my passion of food. I’m not afraid to show the humor of the moment, like setting myself up to eat stinky tofu for the first time. I will never post something just to post it. It is important to me that what I put out there, I am excited about and want to share with my audience for them to try for themselves.

I am proud that I have been accepted in this food community, which allows me to constantly do, enjoy, and be able to make an impact. I feel like I got my “golden” ticket” invitation into the food community directly from LA Times Food Critic Jonathan Gold. When I finally met him face to face, I introduced myself with my name & an explanation of who I was, and without hesitation Jonathan responded, “I know who you are.” And that was it! It’s silly how this simple recognition made me feel like my voice & opinion mattered. He personally made sure to “hook me up” with passes to my favorite LA Times food event, The Taste, when I was just starting as a food blogger. I will never forget him for this and am very proud to call him a mentor. These little shared conversations and moments are why I love this food community so much. We SHARE! Chefs put their hearts and souls into creating and sharing special dishes with their diners. And we, in return, hopefully share them with our loved ones, while creating a memory of a shared experience. Using the Jessie Eats platform, I get to continue this shared conversation.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Passion!!! Personality! And a hunger for what I do (and the food of course!)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessieeats.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessie_eats/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessieeats/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessieeevans

Image Credit:
Susan Sheridan Photography

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