We recently connected with Jessica Formicola and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I would say that my resilience comes from moving around a lot as a kid. My father was transferred for his job and this forced my sister and I to learn how to make new friends, be adaptable, learn on-the-fly and be resilient. As a kid. and even more so as a teenager, I hated these moves. But as an adult I can see how it positively morphed me into the adult I am now. I am not scared of challenge- I face it head on. I like new things and often seek new opportunities even if they might seem a little out of my league or wheelhouse.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I was previously a psychotherapist and college professor. My husband and I started fertility treatment and I needed an outlet that wasn’t emotionally taxing so I started to tinker around in the kitchen. Being transplants with no local family, we’d invite friends over for dinner to try my creations. They would ask for recipes, so one day at work when a patient didn’t show for an appointment I Googled “how to start a blog”. I just wrote the recipe, no images or other content, and shared it with these friends.
I distinctly remember the day that more than just them looked at the site. I had no idea that “food blogging” was a thing or others were out there. This was long before Instagram, TikTok and even websites having the ability to be monetized. Since, it had evolved and 7 years, 16 rounds and 5 miscarriages later, we were finally having our first child. When she was born I was financially stable enough to quit working at the hospital and teaching and instead just went full time with my website. Now we employ 17 full time, part time and contract employees, I wrote a cookbook, appear regularly on TV, podcasts and radio and in the last month had the honor of being a judge on a cooking competition show called Plate It! You can check out all 8 episodes on the Very Local app for free. It was a lovely experience and so much fun to be at the judges table instead of cooking on camera.
Savory Experiments stands out among the estimated 2 million food blogs because I am not a professionally trained chef, which makes me relatable and approachable. I’m just a suburban mom who loves good food, but usually doesn’t have the time to make a super involved meal. We like to provide takeaways with every recipe, knowledge about the ingredients and technique and empower readers to customize our recipes to make them their own. Part of this mission is giving people confidence in the kitchen and reframing meal preparation as something fun, perhaps even quality family time, instead of a chore.
We aim to make your family meals taste restaurant quality using the five “S”s: salt, seasonings, sauces, substitutions and senses. Together we try new things and share our experiences; the good, bad, funny and embarrassing.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Never give up and realize that good things often take time. One of my hardest lessons has been that even though I’ve offered oodles of time and taught myself all there is to know, some things in my industry come down to pure luck and who you know. That has been a tough pill to swallow, but I use that energy to propel me forward in areas that I do have control over. Learn all that you can learn and become an authority in your field. Realize that you are never done learning, there are always improvements to be made. I still watch every single news TV appearance and listen to every podcast to see where I can improve my performance skills and better relate to the audience. Self-awareness is a skill that many others still struggle with and if you can perfect it, you’ll go places.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I truly believe in self-care. I think it comes from my time as a therapist. I was recently involved with an issue that really rocked me. I pride myself on being truthful, kind and respectful and not everyone else is so when it negatively comes my way, it really shakes me to the core.
I took time to myself by scheduling a massage and a facial and then took a step back and discussed the matter with trusted friends who will tell me the honest truth. The resolution wasn’t one I particularly liked, but not everything in life will go your way and there are a great many things you don’t have control over. The sooner I came to that conclusion, the sooner I could move forward on other projects that were positive and that I did have control over.
On a daily basis, I run, take my dog for walks and do yoga. Of course, I spend time with my family. Kids have a way of centering you and showing you what really matters. Today I had a very insightful discussion with my 5-year-old about seeds and water: back to the basics.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.savoryexperiments.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savoryexperiments/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavoryExperiments
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-formicola-0644069b/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Savory_Cooking
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOhcqHQ1Ch4JodddRhPK94A
- Other: https://bestdessertrecipes.com/ https://mysaucerecipes.com/ https://mydinnerrecipes.com/
