Welcome to our “Get to Know” series! Each Tuesday (for the next year), we’re going to introduce you to a creator in the wellness space that we think you NEED to know. The creators we feature are of various backgrounds. Whether they’re an online content creator, coach, or owner of a product-based brand, they each have their own niche in the wellness world and contribute to the space, as a whole, in an incredibly meaningful way. We’re setting this up Q&A-style so that you can learn more about each creator’s why, the content that they’re most proud of, and exactly how you can be a part of and contribute to their journey. We hope you enjoy our conversations with these wonderful people and brands. We know they’re going to enrich your lives!
This week, we’re interviewing Lily Morello of LilyBubbleTea. Lily says, “Food is definitely my love language and my way to learn about other cultures.” Follow along as we learn more about Lily:
Why did you start your business?
Lily: I started my Instagram account @lilybubbletea because I needed a creative outlet; I was having a frustrating time at my tech job and wanted to have something fun to focus on in my spare time, so I could turn off my thoughts about work. Shortly thereafter, I was laid off, and continued to work on my food photography and styling as a pet project while giving myself some time to recoup mentally and emotionally. Somehow that turned into companies and restaurants reaching out to me, wanting to hire me to shoot photos of their food. But that was not planned at all!
What’s your mission/purpose statement?
Lily: I want people to feel inspired to learn more about cooking and about food in general. Food is definitely my love language and my way to learn about other cultures. Cooking comes easily to me, and I am hoping others will see that it is more important to develop some good basic skills in the kitchen than trying to follow a precise recipe that traps their creativity. Many of the “recipes” on my blog are part of a series I’ve called “awkwardly vague recipes” where I’ve tried to provide descriptions of visual cues instead of exact measurements, or instructions that are flexible to an individual’s tastes; I am hoping this helps make cooking more approachable.
Also, I shoot and edit everything on my iPhone, and my hope is that I can prove to people that creating great content is not about having specialized or expensive equipment. It is so much more about the person behind the camera or camera phone.
What 2 (or 3!) pieces of content are you the proudest of?
Lily: Despite having taken several photos that I feel really happy about and love looking back on, the pieces of content that I am most proud of are the ones where I was able to share something that resonated with people (whether the photo was any good or not). It’s the ones that made people feel nostalgic, or where people messaged me afterwards “that reminds me of something I went through, too”. Those types of connections through my content really make my day!
But here are a few of my aesthetically favorite photos:
- This very fall-themed styling for my pumpkin pretzel buns.
- These celebratory toasts I made for my 2-year anniversary of my IG account.
- These hot chicken bao—one of my favorite fusion ideas!
Where are you going next? What’s your goal for the next year?
Lily: I struggle with goal setting and tense up about questions like these because I really don’t know. All the success I have had as a freelance content creator so far was not part of my plan when I lost my last full-time job, so that whole experience has taught me to focus more on working day to day to get better at my photography rather than have some kind of grand plan.
How can we (and the Fed and Fit community) best support you?
Lily: You can follow me on Instagram at @lilybubbletea!
