Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: What's going on, y'all? Corpus Christi Originals back at it again. Coming to you live from the Streamlab Studio downtown Corpus Christi, Texas, at the Produce Sound Studios. And we had some technical difficulties on the livestream, so we're just recording it, and I'm gonna post it later so you guys can check it out. Today we have Haley Wilson of LocalTxFoodie. What's going on?
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Not much. What's up with you?
[00:00:21] Speaker A: Not that much. I've been liking this conversation we've been having so far.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it's been good.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: For sure.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Get to know you.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, for sure, man. We're talking about. We're talking about favor. Your job at favor, and then you're supporting local businesses and that your day job at favor helps you find places to, like, put content on your. On your Instagram. Are you mainly on Instagram?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: I'm mainly on Instagram. I have TikTok, too, and I have Facebook. So it's kind of like, those are the only three I really do anything on. And then I have my website, too.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Do you feel like you have to have all three of those platforms?
[00:00:57] Speaker B: I don't know. I feel like they all have their own followings. You know what I mean? Like, they all kind of generate different audiences, so I think it's good to have them all. I don't think you have to, but I think it helps.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool. So it helps you. So you use them, obviously, for your business, to help grow your. Your business. Is that. That's the main reason for having those?
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
And really the reason I started it, I've been doing social media for a long time. I just kind of always did it for fun, and it really still is just for fun. But I didn't get as serious about it until about two years ago, and that's when I started this page.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: And so I kind of use it. It's kind of just, like my passion project. I like to highlight local businesses. I like to bring them more attention that they deserve, and, you know, kind of bring an audience of people who are, like, wanting to find new places to eat to restaurants that I personally like, so. Yeah, yeah.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: So. So your. Your husband's saying that if you have to have canned cokes, it's gonna be good food. Is that.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: He's always said that, I don't know, like. Like, we'll go into a place, and they'll have just, like, a fridge with canned drinks. He's like, oh, I know this is gonna be good. Like, why do you say that? He's like, I don't know. Just every time I've been at a place with canned drinks, I know it's good.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Okay. And then he's always right, so I'm like, all right. Okay.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:21] Speaker B: I trust this weird judgment.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: Which place were y'all at?
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Anybody express.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Here in town. South side.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Yeah, it's, like, connected to a gas station off of Tiger Lane. Yeah. So it's kind of like Kostora's Tiger Lane over there. Like, heading towards the south side.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: Awesome. Awesome. That's cool.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like a hole in the wall. Like, it's really good.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Is it.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: What style food is it indian food.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Indian? Oh, yeah. My wife just started getting into that stuff. I don't know what she ordered, but they had, like, lamb or something like that. Is that a normal meat choice to have that?
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, they. They do, like, chicken, lamb, goat, a lot of vegetables, sometimes fish. Kind of just depends on the restaurant. Like, I know persis. They have salmon on their menu, so it just depends where you're at.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: Yeah. How do you. How do you, like, develop, like, a taste thing to where. I don't know what you call it, but you have, like, a taste thing to where you appreciate it. You know what I'm saying? Because some people get stuck on mexican food. Mexican, like, you know, especially, like, my culture or whatever, and then you taste, like, that indian stuff. When I taste it, I was like, this is. I was trying to eat it, like mexican food, right. Which is basically scarf it down.
But this stuff, I was like, you're.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Like, oh, my sinuses are getting.
Yeah, it's like a different kind of spice. You know what I mean? Like, I think a lot of times when people think of spice, like, in food, they think of hot.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: But indian food isn't always necessarily hot. But this, like, sometimes it is. Sometimes spicy in indian food means hot, but sometimes it just means, like, a lot of spices. And sometimes, like, those spices, for me, specifically, like, clear out my sinuses. It's kind of like eating too much wasabi. Like, you're like, this is not good, but also it kind of feels good at the same time.
[00:04:13] Speaker A: That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. So you were mentioning that you were kind of slacking on your content, but your content is cool. Like, I seen it mostly on Instagram, and I just found you on Facebook, and most of your stuff is on Instagram, so that's pretty cool.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah, my main platform is definitely Instagram. I have to, like, push myself to remember to post on Facebook and to post on TikTok. Like, if I'm posting just a photo, it will automatically post on my Facebook, but my reels don't automatically post to my page, so I have to, like, really remember to do it at the same time. And a lot of times I forget, so.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Right on. So. So how do you choose local businesses to highlight on your platform?
[00:04:54] Speaker B: It really kind of just goes based on, like, what I feel like doing, I guess. I don't know. Like, I really want indian food. Let me find an indian place. I haven't been to, and we don't have a lot of indian restaurants here, so that may not be the best example, but, like, oh, maybe I really want pho today. So where have I not been yet? Yeah, but at this point, I do get restaurants that reach out to me that want to partner with me and want me to feature them. I would say it's still, like, a heavy mix of actual partnerships and collaborations and me just showing people what I'm eating for lunch today.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: That's so cool. So you're making money off of, like, not. Not monetization, but them, the restaurants paying you for it?
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Not always. It just depends on the situation and what they want to negotiate with me if they're reaching out to me specifically, sometimes it's, hey, can we just do this for trade? And so we'll give you $100 voucher towards a meal and you'll post for us or whatever. It kind of really just depends. But the more work it's going to take, the more likely I am to say, like, hey, I need some kind of money to make this make sense for me because my time is valuable.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Exactly what point do you, if I'm.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: Going to spend hours editing? Like, I can't always do that for free. And I would expect that most people will understand that because most people are not going to go to work for hours for free.
If you're really passionate about it. I do some charity, I do work with some local events, and all my work planning those events is free. I'm not making any money off of that stuff, but I know that it's supporting local nonprofits in those cases. Of course, this is something I've signed up to do for free. To begin with.
If someone's reaching out to me specifically asking me to do work for them, more often than not, I do need to make some kind of money off of it. But I'm not. I'm not out here looking to make like, some kind of big profit, really. My goal is just to build up local business and to share the places that I love. Yeah.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: What's. What inspired your passion for supporting local businesses?
[00:07:08] Speaker B: I think it really started with, like, growing up, like, the way I grew up. So my mom started a business when I was in middle school, and so kind of just, like, watching all the hard work that goes into building a business and sustaining that, like, so many hours, just, you know, you work harder than anybody else, you know what I mean, when you run your own business.
And so I guess just, like, seeing what goes into that kind of just ignited a passion for me. And so I feel like half my life, I've been passionate about local business and supporting business and understanding why it's so important to support local over a big chain. Your money goes further with local. You know what I mean? It pays for their kids, t ball. It pays for, you know, making their business bigger. It pays for all kinds of things that you can't really fathom, you know?
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome, man. That's so awesome. Is there a memorable experience that you have visiting a local business?
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Hmm.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: It's kind of hard to.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's hard because there's a bunch of businesses. Yeah. So earlier this year, I got invited to go to San Antonio for bird bakeries.
I think it was their 12th birthday. Hopefully I'm right about that.
And I got to meet the owner, and she was just, like, super nice.
Her name's Elizabeth Chambers, and she actually just had a show on Hulu come out, like, shortly after I visited with her. So she was, like, nicer than I could imagine. So it was cool. It was a cool experience. I got to meet some other San Antonio food influencers who have followed for a long time, so it was cool to actually talk to them in person.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a market for it. It's so interesting.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Yeah, it's crazy.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. Do you notice any trends in the local business scene in corpus?
[00:09:08] Speaker B: I don't know. I mean, I think you have a good kind of era of growth of people who are, like, wanting to change things and try new things and kind of just, like, step into a more modern era. And for corpus, that's kind of unique, because I think a lot of people that live here kind of always will agree that it always kind of feels like we're a little bit stuck in the past. So kind of seeing, like, a younger generation rise up and start new businesses and start pushing us into the future has been kind of cool.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Yeah. How do you feel about when businesses, like, don't kind of, like, make it and, like, because businesses open up and close, you know what I mean?
[00:09:49] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's definitely, like, sad. You know what I mean? And I think, I mean, it's pretty normal, honestly, across the board, most restaurants don't make it, and that's just the. How statistically true. And a lot of things go into it. Most businesses are not going to be profitable in their first year, and if you're not ready for that, it's going to be tough. You know what I mean? And it's just the sad truth is that it's not easy to make it in the restaurant world, so you really have to be prepared for that. So there's a lot of places that, you know, I've loved, that I've seen go away despite. Doesn't matter how good your food is, sometimes it's not enough.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: Oh, man. Is your mom's business still around, like. Oh, it is. Really?
[00:10:35] Speaker B: Yeah. She's getting close to, like, 20 years.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: Is it business or.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: No, it's an e commerce business.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Oh, really? Wow. She does it for other people. She does it for herself.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: For herself, yeah. So she has a warehouse here in town, and she's kind of gotten into manufacturing and stuff over the last year or so, so. And she also does, like, property management and stuff like that.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Man, that's Bob, that's awesome. Yo, warehouse here in corvus. That's cool. Manufacturing is. Does it, is it a. Can you want to share more about that?
[00:11:07] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. So it's metal.
So it's mostly like, metal wall base. So, like, if you ever go somewhere and you kind of see, like, stainless steel at the bottom of the wall or corner protectors on the wall or even, like, a metal sign that's, like, cut out. Um, that's the kind of stuff that she does.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: So all this, every. Everything she makes is, I'm assuming. Well, she's been in business for years, while she probably got all kinds of customers. That's very interesting.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: It's a heavy mix of, like, residential and commercial. And she also works with, like, a lot of architects, like, you know, specking out designs for new construction, like new hospitals, airports.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: She's an engineer or.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: No, she just happens to supply the products. So she. Yeah, works with people who actually do that kind of stuff.
[00:11:53] Speaker A: Wow. You create your own. Your own job, own business, and, man, that's amazing.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: And we work. I mean, I say we. I used to work for her, so it's really, like, pretty national and some international as well.
But it's funny because people are like, oh, we're in corpus. I'm like, well, like, we're in corpus, but we don't really do local sales. She is trying to do more local sales as she starts to do more manufacturing herself, like, you know, in her warehouse.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: But for most my life, it's been, like, drop ship across the country.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: That's so cool. Yeah. Wow.
Is she gonna give the business to, like, one of you guys or.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Potentially. So I worked for her for a long time, and, you know, like, I grew up watching her build the business, so I know a lot about it.
So eventually, more than likely, I will take it over and kind of just, you know, depends on where my life goes, you know, if anything, if, you know, all else fails, we'll sell it.
Cool.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Yeah, that's it. Yeah. I always wonder, like, if these businesses that do exist for a long time, if they actually give them to their kids or if they sell it or.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it really just depends. I mean, having, you know, like, a family business is pretty nice to be able to hand down to your kids as long as they know how to run it, sustain it, like. But it's, you know.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah, that's interesting.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah, keep. Keep on building on what you already spent all this time building. Don't let it go.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Yeah, man. That's so awesome. So we were talking them earlier before. We have technical difficulties about your. So you work at favor, favorite delivery. Shout out favor if you.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: Yeah, shout out favor and Heb.
[00:13:34] Speaker A: Yeah, favor and Heb. We shop Heb often, and we get delivery from Heb. So favor is exclusively the delivery for h e b?
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Yes. So Heb owns favor, and they've owned it for about six years.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: They own favor. Wow.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a Texas company. Yeah, we're Texas is Texas only. Texas only delivery company. So we're only in Texas.
And I think that's part of what makes us so successful is that we're just really, really focused on what we're doing in one state.
[00:14:07] Speaker A: That's amazing. Yes. It seems like that'd be a cool aspect because you're a local Texas foodie.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: Perks together, I guess. Right?
[00:14:15] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. And, man, your role there at favor is pretty interesting. Like, you find new restaurants to add to the app.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: To make accessible for people out there. So how do you go about doing that? I mean, is it difficult to find new restaurants? Do restaurants reach out to you to get on the app? Like, how does that happen?
[00:14:37] Speaker B: Yeah, it's kind of a mixture. So I would say, like, maybe 5% of my leads are inbound. So restaurants reaching specifically out to favor to get up on the app, and then the rest is me looking for restaurants that I know that people want. So, like, you know, I know that everyone. Well, not everyone. A lot of people love sushi. So looking for good restaurants that have good sushi that people would want for delivery. So it's really kind of just like, about trying to get into the consumer's mind and knowing what they want and then trying to make those partnerships happen with restaurants.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: How did you. Wow, that's interesting. How do you learn that? Like, how do you. Cause you don't think, like, the consumer. A lot of people, they just think, okay, I need businesses. Where do I start? And, you know, they start somewhere else. But you're thinking, like, in the mind of the consumer.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: I think that's just part of, like, who I am and how I've always been. Like, I always try to put myself in whoever the customer is. Like, whatever job I'm doing. Like, what do they want? And trying to achieve that. And I think that's what anybody who's in hospitality, that's excellent what they do do. They try to put themselves in their customers shoes and try to accomplish what the customer wants.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: Yeah, hospitality, that's big. That's a big one right there. So your role is senior account executive.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that sounds huge.
It's not as fancy as it sounds.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: Has it allowed you to support local businesses?
[00:16:10] Speaker B: I think so. So my main focus at favor is to partner with local businesses team who work with corporations.
So the majority of what I do is going after smaller and sometimes regional brands.
So, for example, like, I can kind of work after going after, like, shipleys if they're owned by a franchisee.
But as far as, like. Like, whataburger, like, I personally would never go after them because they're more of a corporate account. So my job is to go after small local businesses and bring them valuable customers that are ready to spend money with them.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Yeah. There's a restaurant that was sponsoring us for a while, Elvago Burger and barbecue. Have you tried them out?
[00:16:57] Speaker B: I haven't. They are on my, like, mental list of places I need to go.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Oh, my.
[00:17:02] Speaker B: I've heard a lot of good things.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Yeah, it's delicious. You should try them out. And I was thinking about them because, like, is there certain criteria that restaurants have to meet in order to be a part of favor?
[00:17:14] Speaker B: I mean, not necessarily. So, like, we don't do, like, you know, home based kitchens, things like that. So it has to be, like, an actual, like, restaurant.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Like, brick and mortar place.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Like a brick and mortar. I mean, maybe a ghost kitchen as well. You know what I mean? We do work with those.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: Okay. So there's some restaurants who have, like, their regular, you know, business, and then they'll have, like, an extra concept within the business that they do just for delivery. But they're still a brick and mortar restaurant after all. So you have to be a brick and mortar restaurant. And then other than that, really, my ideal partner would have, like, consistent hours. You know what I mean? They're not, like, changing it up every other week.
They're staying consistent. They keep their menu relatively consistent. Maybe change it every now and then. Like, if you have a daily special, like, okay, but if you're changing your menu every single week, that can get a little, like, taxing, you know, for a favor to have to change it constantly. Yeah. So really, that's pretty much it. Just someone who's, like, you know, kind of ready to try to grow, even if that's incrementally. And just ten extra orders a day can really add up over time.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Do you see. Do you see the restaurants that you've added? Like, do you see them growing?
[00:18:31] Speaker B: For sure? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: That's good.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, like, for example, we are partnered with Kiko's, and, you know, Kiko's has had a very long standing brand that they've built themselves, but they do very, very well on favorite delivery.
And, you know, this year, they opened a second location, and, you know, I'm sure they could have done that without us, but I'm sure, like, having that extra income from favor doesn't hurt.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: Nice. That's amazing. And we were talking, so no shade on food trucks, but food trucks are difficult. Right. Because they move around and maybe their hours change.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:07] Speaker A: Have you had any food trucks or are there any on the app?
[00:19:10] Speaker B: Yeah, so I have a food truck. I. They just changed their name. I'm not sure what their new name is. I actually need to figure that out. It was called seven seas.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. On the Weber and at the Hamline shopping center.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Exactly. So they are partnered. I just need to, like, get everything updated since they changed their name because I think their food truck, like, caught on fire.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: Oh, seriously? Yeah.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: I was unfortunate. So I think they had to, like, replace that food truck. So I think with the replacement, they ended up changing the name.
So they. I know that they've done pretty well.
I also just partnered one in Kingsville who has, like, a permanent spot. It's called, like, tremendous tacos.
Trying to think who else. I was partnered with Sushiria, but he is moving, so, you know, that's hard.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Derek, we're gonna have him on.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah. He's awesome.
[00:20:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: He is one of my besties.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: Oh, he's always, man. He's always been real cool with me. I went to Del Mar with him, and then I think a and m for a time, but he's always real chill. He's cool, dude. Bass player. Awesome. Bass player. Yeah, we're gonna have him on. So Sushiria. Shout out. Sushiria.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: So what are some of the challenges and rewards of working with local businesses through favor.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Challenges? I mean, I think what's challenging with working with any restaurant owner is just that they're so busy and understandably so, but sometimes trying to, you know, make meetings work and try to fit time into their schedule or just getting in a hold of them in general, even if they. They want to work with me and they're excited to work with me. Sometimes getting things, you know, rolling with them can be a challenge, but, I mean, that's really, like, the main one is just, you know, I have to stay persistent and try to not feel like I'm being annoying.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I was gonna say, like, are there. I'm pretty sure there's some places, like, man, if you had favor, you would actually. You know what I mean? But they, like you said some. Some of them, like you said earlier, some of them don't feel like they're equipped.
In your eyes, you're like, no, you are like, yeah.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Like, you've got this, believe me.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. That's awesome. So you doing. So next topic. We're talking about social media management.
So how do you feel about. Let me see what I got here. You manage multiple restaurants, social media, social media pages. How do you approach creating content that stands out?
[00:21:36] Speaker B: Oh, gosh.
I mean, really, I think I just tried to, like, like, fit the vibe, and that can sometimes be harder because you're not shooting in your style. You're trying to find, like, the style of the restaurant itself. It's like Nueces Whiskey library has a very different vibe from Bellino's. And while they're still similar, they kind of have that, like, elevated feel.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Like, Nueces is kind of more, like, moody, whereas Bolino's is, I don't know, like, it just has that finer dining essence. So really I'm just trying to, like, really represent the brands, like, as they are so that, like, you know what to expect. And I'm not presenting something that you're not going to experience. I'm not making it look better than it is, which, I mean, they're both excellent concepts, so don't get me wrong there.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: But I'm trying to portray what they really are so that, like, you can know what to expect when you're coming in to see us.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: That's awesome. Wow. So how did you get into, like, doing it for, I guess, managing social media for other companies?
[00:22:42] Speaker B: Really, it just kind of fell into my lap, to be honest. I was just doing what I, you know, just managing my own account and did some collaborations with Belinos, and then they asked me, hey, would you be interested in helping us run our social media? And I was like, yeah, so I've been doing that for a couple months, and I've been doing my own social media for, like, years and years and years. So this is not something necessarily new to me. I've been doing for photography for, like, half my life.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:23:16] Speaker B: So that's not something new to me either. I just never really, like, put it out to the world that I did that stuff. So the more I kind of have put it out there, it's just people have asked me. I didn't seek it out, it just came to me.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing. So just by you creating your own content, they reached out to you?
[00:23:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: That's awesome.
So, so small businesses, what are some common mistakes you see small businesses make on social media? How can they avoid them?
[00:23:44] Speaker B: Just, like, super simple things. Not having a link to your website on your social media, not having your address on your social media. I will be scrolling on Instagram and on reels and see something that looks awesome. I go to their page to try to figure out where they are. Like, are they in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio? Where are they? Can't figure it out.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: So people should be able to figure out quickly where you are. And if they can't, then that's a mistake. Even just having a highlight on your Instagram page or something, just, like, where, you know, location, hours, that kind of thing, that can be super helpful. And a lot of people don't do that, which I think is funny because it's so simple. They just don't think of it.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Wow. So interesting. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, I don't know. Why don't think of it? Like, there's a lot of companies too that don't have social media. And if they did have social media, you know, I mean, they would get more business, for sure.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: I think we live in an age where people. They. At least, I feel like a lot of people I know they want to kind of go into these places feeling prepared. Like, before you go to a restaurant, you want to see the menu. You want to see, like, is there any. Even something I like there? And if you can't find their menu online, you're like, well, I don't know. Like, if you're going with friends, I guess I'll figure something out, right? They've got at least have a salad, so. But I feel like a lot of our younger generation, like, they want to know what to expect before they go. And so most people are researching the menu. They want to have their drinks planned out. They want to have their appetizers planned out. They want to have their entree planned out.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: Like, they want to plan out in your outfit.
[00:25:21] Speaker B: Should I have a smaller meal so I can eat dessert? Like, you know what I mean? Like, what's the vibe of the restaurant? I want to know what to wear a. So, like, if you don't have those things available to people, like, you may be missing out on a big segment of customers who would otherwise come to see you.
[00:25:37] Speaker A: How do you know that? People look at. Look at those. Look at it like that.
[00:25:42] Speaker B: I like to know, like, you know, especially if I'm, like, traveling to San Antonio. Like, where have I not been to eat?
[00:25:47] Speaker A: Is that part of the reason why it's hard for y'all to decide where to eat?
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Probably.
Everyone always puts it on me. Like, Haley, you're the one who knows everything. You pick where we're going. And I'm like, like, I always pick someone else. Pick.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: You're like, okay, what time? What day?
[00:26:03] Speaker B: Let me see what I have saved on my Instagram folders. Because I have, like, folders for, like, every major city, like, in Texas.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: So I can know, like, oh, I'm traveling to Houston. I want to go try that, you know, middle eastern restaurant that I haven't been to yet. Whatever.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Amazing. Yeah. How do you balance managing your content and the businesses you manage content for?
[00:26:25] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really just a lot of, like, planning my schedule ahead, which is hard for me because, like, every day in favor looks different. You know, someone might be like, hey, I'm available right now, and this is the only time I'm available this week. Come right now. Come meet me right now to sign on favor. I'm like, okay, so a lot of times I'm having to, you know, drop what I'm doing to go meet with restaurants because I have to take care of my number one job, which is favor.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Right.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: And, you know, a lot of the stuff I do with restaurants is in my spare time. So I'm doing it on my lunch break. I'm doing it after my normal work hours on the weekends, you know, whatever that may look like. So really having to schedule things is super important for me to, like, stay on top of everything I'm trying to accomplish.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's. That's cool. Yeah. So when you're. When you're posting for your business, the businesses that you post for, do you have the. Is it, like, is it, like, I got to do post two posts a day? Yeah, it is something like that sometimes.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: So, like, for some specific ones, like, it also depends on what the restaurant owner wants from me. So some restaurants are like, I just want you to do four to five posts a week, or, I only want two posts a week. And then, you know, like, they. They're paying me based on what their expectations are of me. So if I'm expected only post two times a week, I'll try to look at, like, you know, the analytics and see, like, when are our followers most active? And try to post during those times.
Or if we have, like, specials going on and we want to make sure that our followers know, like, hey, we have a special tonight, then I'll try to post, like, before dinner time so that as people are, you know, scrolling after work and they're like, oh, let's go eat here, because that special sounds great. Or, you know, whatever it might be.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Yeah, no, those analytics, man, that's huge. For sure, man.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: You see when it's a great tool.
[00:28:14] Speaker A: Yes, for sure. Oh, my God. Yeah, so. So you have a small business consulting.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: I mean, I can. Yeah.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: So what is that anyway, I really.
[00:28:26] Speaker B: Like, it can be. It can be a lot of things. So if a business, like, just doesn't know, like, you know that you want to get started with a business and you don't really know what all to do, I can sit down with you, walk you through what that looks like. So, like, hey, this is how you file for your tax id. Hey, this is how, like, some different, like, website platforms you can use and you can build your own website because it's super easy because they have templates. It really just depends on what somebody wants to do as far as what general direction I'm leading them really, all it is is leading them to doing all the things that they need to do themselves. It's not doing things for them necessarily. Or maybe it is showing them how to use quickbooks. You know what I mean? Hey, these are things that you can expense. I don't know if you knew that expense, your mileage, if you're traveling for business.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: It's all kinds of things.
[00:29:17] Speaker A: That's something you learn with your mom running your mom?
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I, working with my mom, I, like, did everything, all the accounting, all the marketing.
She did most of the SEO, but I helped with it.
[00:29:31] Speaker A: Do you design websites or.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I did my own, like.
[00:29:35] Speaker A: Actual code or, like, working with the template.
[00:29:37] Speaker B: So I used to be able to do HTML. No one uses that really anymore, so I do not do the new stuff. If you want that, I can lead you to someone who can. I know people who do, but I am not. I am not your smarty pants.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: So what's the process you take with a new client for social media?
Social media management or consulting?
I mean, I guess you kind of mentioned it, right?
[00:30:07] Speaker B: Really? It's just like, hey, what do you want to accomplish and what are your expectations of me?
And sometimes maybe they want to accomplish something that two posts a week is not going to do. So it's like, hey, like, I understand that you don't think you need to post that much, but you actually need to post more. Or, you know, maybe they just want to. You know, when people go to their social media, they just want to have all the vital information there. So maybe they really only need one post a week because they're not really trying to grow on social. They just want to have the vital information there for people, their menu, their outlook.
Yeah. Like, essentially just informational. So maybe you really only need to post once a week. If you don't really care about growth, it all just comes down to finding out what their goals are and coming up with how I can align with them to get that accomplished.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: Do you think restaurants need a. Need a website or you think social media will do that for.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: It just depends. I personally, I think it's beneficial because when you google a restaurant and. And, you know, my first. My first instinct is to look for their website because typically it's more likely that they manage that more than anything else. You know what I mean? So if I want the most accurate menu, I usually look at their website because some people will, like, put their menu on Facebook, but it'll be, like, updated in 2017. So you're like, that's probably not accurate pricing. So, like, typically I want to go to their website and see their accurate menu so I know what I'm getting myself into. Am I spending a $100 or am I spending $20? Like, what am I looking at here?
So, I think it's beneficial to have websites. They don't have to be super fancy. You just need all the basic information, maybe three pages max, like an about us, a menu page. And, like, your homepage, you know, it doesn't have to be that crazy.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool. What's some advice you would give small businesses looking to expand their reach?
[00:32:10] Speaker B: My advice would be to really try to, like, honestly grow your social media if you want to reach new people, because that's where most people find things now. You know what I mean? Like, they're. They're looking for social media to tell them what they want, essentially. You know what I mean? That's kind of how the algorithm works. It finds out what you like and it pushes that stuff out to you.
So if you want to find people who like what you have, then push it out on social media because the algorithm's working in your favor, you know what I mean? It's pushing out who is most likely to like your stuff. So that is a huge benefit to be on social media, but also to not be afraid of change. So, like, you know, keep doing what's always worked for you, but also look out to like, is, are my products what people still want today? And, you know, if not, then evaluate, like, hey, what could we change? What could we add, what works, what doesn't work, and try to kind of like, evolve with the times. You know what I mean?
[00:33:14] Speaker A: Yeah, that's big.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: Yeah. I was talking to the radio host last time and he was saying how the radio basically evolves with the times, and that's how one stays around for a long time. Very interesting. Do you find that like, sponsored ads or. Ads. Ads help the businesses or.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: I don't know, I feel like it's. I feel like if you're gonna spend your time doing an ad, make it worth your time. Make it something that, like, really, truly represents your product, because I see a lot of people sponsor ads that I'm like, if I didn't already know you and know what your product was, I would have no idea what I'm looking at.
[00:33:49] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: So, like, don't. Like, even though Facebook ads, Instagram ads are pretty cheap, you know what I mean? Like, you can probably spend $10 and like reached a 700 people or something, but, like, it. Is that grabbing customers? Because if I don't know what that is, I'm not gonna click it. You know what I mean?
[00:34:07] Speaker A: So make sure you.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: So make sure it represents your product well, if you're gonna do it well.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: Do you have you used. Do you use them or, like, for any of your businesses?
[00:34:16] Speaker B: I haven't started using them with any of the restaurants I work with. I'm going to, but I have used them pretty heavily with my mom's business.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Oh, right on.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And it usually, like, does well, the conversion rates, usually pretty good.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: That's cool.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: So it kind of just depends on. Just. Just be smart with your ads. That's all I'm saying.
[00:34:39] Speaker A: Yeah, that's cool. That's awesome. So, small business. So you pass over travel? You still travel or.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: I try to. It's. You know, I have a four year old, so it's really hard. You know, I have, like, you know, full time job and all this other stuff I do on the side of. So mostly my trips are, like, short. Like, San Antonio, Houston, Austin.
I have family in East Texas, so maybe we'll go visit them. I went to New York in early December last year, and that was super fun. I think we're gonna go again and, like, maybe November.
So, really, it's only, like, maybe a couple trips a year that are, like, outside of Texas, but for the most part, it's, like, close to Corbett.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: Yeah, not too far.
[00:35:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I gotta, like, make the most of my time, like, you know, and so that usually means staying close.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:35:32] Speaker B: Going to port a this weekend.
[00:35:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: For real, though? Yeah, for real.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: Do you have a favorite city that you like to explore?
[00:35:41] Speaker B: Um. Honestly, I really love going to San Antonio.
[00:35:44] Speaker A: Really?
[00:35:44] Speaker B: Like, it's. I feel like it's. It's so spread out. There's, like, a lot of, you know, like, you can go to, like, one area and spend, like, the whole day. You know what I mean? There's. You can go shopping and find places to eat and, you know, like, find a unique coffee shop or a unique bakery or, you know, like, whatever.
And also, I really love going to New York. That's, like. But it's. You can only do so much in, like, a short amount of time, so.
[00:36:13] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:36:14] Speaker B: And honestly, flights are not bad to go there. It's, like, from San Antonio, it's, like, 200 something bucks round trip.
[00:36:20] Speaker A: Cool.
[00:36:21] Speaker B: So the expensive part is getting when you're there.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:24] Speaker B: Hotel, food. Everything's super expensive.
[00:36:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:27] Speaker B: Getting there is not bad.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it's definitely. Oh, yeah, we've been there. We've been there once, man, it is nice. Yeah, yeah, it is very nice. Those. All the buildings and the old man. It's awesome. We took the subway everywhere. I mean, we rarely took cabs, but we took the subway nice. Every place is. We tried New York pizza. I can't remember the place, but we just wanted to try some type of pizza from New York.
[00:36:51] Speaker B: 99 cent pizza.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't remember what might have been.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: And then, honestly, it wasn't bad.
[00:36:57] Speaker A: They have those little push cart. The little guys, they have those push carts where they sell food. This guy was selling, like, peanuts. Like, oh, man. You could smell it around the corner. I'm like, dude, we got to get some of those.
[00:37:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: Broadway. We went to a Broadway show. What did we see? A school of rock. We saw nice live school of rock. It was awesome. Yeah, it was cool. So what are some future plan goals or projects that you have for, you.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: Know, I feel like I'm constantly so busy that it's rare that I sit back and look at, like, the bigger picture. I feel like I used to be a much bigger person, like, bigger picture person, but now I'm just, like, running, running, running, running, running all over the place.
[00:37:36] Speaker A: Because you got so much going on right now that you.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it's hard for me to think of, like, what is next, but I just want to keep growing with favor. I love my job. I don't plan to leave anytime soon.
I really, really love it. So just hopefully, like, keep growing the corpus market here with favor and, you know, my other markets, like Victoria, and then honestly, just keep. I mean, like, personally, like, my. My goal with my social media is not necessarily to keep growing numbers wise. I mean, sure, it's great. Like, my goal is to always support local business and to bring awareness to them. So, like, my growth will hopefully only benefit them.
But, you know, I just. I just want to keep, you know, supporting local business, helping them grow, because it's hard to start a business here in corpus. It's hard to start a business anywhere. So any support I can provide them, the better. If they do well. I do well. That's how I feel.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Wow. That's a cool way to look at it.
[00:38:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
Oh, man. So do you. So do you see the role of social media evolving for small businesses in the next few years?
[00:38:49] Speaker B: I mean, I don't know. It's hard to know because I feel like times keep changing more and more and more, and I feel like it's almost hard to know what's next.
I don't think social media is going away anytime soon, so I do think it's still important to invest in your social media and to try to grow it.
But the other thing, too is I think people think it's harder than it really is. Do you know what I mean? I think that people think, like, oh, I have to be super good at photography to manage my own social media. I have to be super good at technology.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: I don't want to put a video of myself.
[00:39:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Or like, I don't want to be on camera or whatever. And I'm like, well, you don't even have to be. I'm not on camera that often. On my page. Like, every now and then. Yeah, my voice isn't even on my page. Yeah, notice that you got, every now and then I'll do a voiceover. But also, I hate my voice.
That's part of the reason.
So, yeah. Back to kind of, like, the importance of social media and business and, like, how things evolve. I really don't know what's gonna happen, but I think, like, you just kind of have to keep pushing for growth.
You know, your in person sales in a restaurant or in your business, like, trying to gain every customer that you can. You know, I mean, like, open yourself up to every avenue, including, if you're a restaurant, including delivery, including having online ordering for, like, so people can just place your order ahead and come pick it up.
[00:40:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:19] Speaker B: Because people, people, like, want things fast. They want everything fast, fast, fast as fast. So if for them, if they think it's me faster to place an order online and then drive to you and come pick it up, they're gonna do it. So if you're limiting yourself by not having things like that, then, you know, you're, you're losing potential customers, you're not.
[00:40:40] Speaker A: Staying up with the market. Yeah, that makes sense.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: Yeah. So just don't be afraid to evolve, I guess, is my thing. And things change so fast every single day.
[00:40:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: You know, it's hard to know where, where things are going to go.
[00:40:52] Speaker A: Yeah, it seems like, it seems like when you, when you're trying to take that step, there's always that fear of failing. Right. Do you personally, like, how do you find yourself enduring something that you may think that you're gonna fail at?
[00:41:05] Speaker B: Oh, that's hard, I think.
I don't know.
I definitely have gotten in my head before. Maybe I've been scared to approach what I perceive as a big restaurant concept because, you know, that they're more likely to say no to you. So it's not like, almost like fear of rejection and trying to overcome that. And what I've always tried to remind myself and what I remind my teammates is that if you don't ask, the answer is no anyway. So that's kind of how I try to just push forward.
[00:41:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:44] Speaker B: And just try to be like, you know what? Whatever. Like, I'm not gonna remember this in two weeks. Like, just do it, you know? Like, it. It can only hurt myself if I don't. Yeah, try, you know?
[00:41:56] Speaker A: Yeah. It's like. It's like you end your work week and you go home, and you're like, you hate your. Like, for me, I'm like, oh, man, those people, what they did. You get home, you see your kids and your wife, you're like, man, this is where this is fun. This is where this change. Your mindset changes. You're like, I'm glad I'm here. You know? This is what I'm doing it for.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: Yeah. You do it for your family. Like, remembering your, like, why you're doing what you're doing is super important, too. You know what I mean? Like, you have, like, family members depending on you and, you know, just, like, your own personal, like, success. Like, you know, like, you're kind of competing against yourself.
[00:42:31] Speaker A: Yes, exactly.
[00:42:32] Speaker B: You know, competing against your own ego, like, not being. Not wanting to be told no. So you just don't ask.
[00:42:37] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, like, yeah, overcoming yourself. Like, you're. It's hard having your own obstacles. Well, thanks for coming on the show. Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Sorry for the start, for the live viewer. Sorry, you guys. Uh, we'll post this here.
[00:42:51] Speaker B: So, hey, technology. Yeah, it happens.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Is there anything you like to share?
[00:42:56] Speaker B: Um, you know, I really can't think of anything specific, but, um, thank you so much for having me on. And, you know, I guess my takeaway for people is, like, don't be afraid to put yourself out there. You don't have to be perfect to start your own social media. Um, if you are passionate about something, if you have any kind of creativity in, you just put it out there. It doesn't have to be perfect. I think people get in their head that think, like, well, I don't have that many followers, or, I don't know, I'm not that good or whatever. It doesn't matter if you want to scroll all the way down to the bottom of my instagram and look how bad it was when I started. That can be your motivation. Right there. So, you know, go back to the number one or, like, look me up on some of my old accounts. They're not that good.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: Yeah, like, some people don't leave them up.
[00:43:45] Speaker B: Like they, like, archive them. Yeah.
[00:43:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:48] Speaker B: Yeah. I feel that.
[00:43:49] Speaker A: That's cool, man. Good advice. Thank thanks for, thanks for doing that. So we follow you. So we find you local Texas foodie no spaces.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Yeah, local TX foodie on Instagram, TikTok, and. And my Facebook would be local space TX space foodie. And then my website is ww dot localtexasfoodie.com.
[00:44:08] Speaker A: Nice. All right, well, thanks for coming on the show.
[00:44:10] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:44:11] Speaker A: Thanks a lot, everybody. For what? Yeah, thank you for watching. You guys stay tuned for the next episodes. Like, subscribe and share this video or this post or whatever so we can get some other people watching it. Thanks a lot, you guys. Have a good one.
[00:44:23] Speaker B: Thanks to.
