“I left with clarity, confidence, a strategy that reflects who I am, and the message I want to share”

"I didn't leave this program with a viral account. I left with clarity, confidence, a strategy that reflects who I am, and the message I want to share.” When I first joined the program, I wasn't looking for a magic formula. I simply wanted to understand social media better, and to feel more comfortable in front of the camera. That's the one place I still catch myself slipping into being someone I'm not, and being authentic is something I always work to protect. I won't say I flew through every lesson. One assignment asked us to create a video about storytelling to build trust, something true to us. Mine as about how divided the world can feel these days, even though I’ve seen something different through food and at the table. I’d just come from lunch and wine tasting with friends, and let’s just say wine and recording assignments do not mix. I couldn’t get the words out right, so I turned it into a blooper video instead, a lighthearted what-not-to-do-before-recording lesson for my classmates. I recorded the real one the next day. Even now, when I need a reminder to just be myself and have fun, I go back and watch it. Running a business and juggling other responsibilities meant I fell a little behind, but I enjoyed it so much that I plan to go through the lessons again because there's so much value packed into them. The biggest change for me wasn't a viral video or an overnight jump in followers. It was learning to think differently. I came away knowing how I want to show up. Not by trying to be someone else or chasing every trend, but by showing up in a way that’s true to me, my brand, and the work I do. At first, I had a hard time seeing where I fit. So many of the examples centered around coaches, consultants, and businesses built around booking calls, and I couldn't picture how that applied to me: a chef, author, and recipe developer whose stories about Italy are about tradition, dishes passed down for generations, and culture. Some of my classmates were the ones who changed my mind. When I said out loud that I thought this course wasn't really for me, they pushed back. They told me I had valuable things to share and that the program was exactly right for me. They were right. Once I stopped looking for my business in someone else's examples and started applying the principles to my own, everything opened up. If you're running a business that doesn't fit the usual examples, I'd tell you what my classmates told me: stay long enough to find where you fit. It's there. I've already started seeing encouraging results. I get the best response on videos where I'm speaking directly to camera, people tell me those come across differently from my other content. My audience has grown by a few hundred people. That may not sound dramatic in the world of social media, but to me it's meaningful progress, and I’ll gladly celebrate that. The clarity I gained is what I value most. I found formats that come naturally to me. Rather than trying to do everything at once, my plan is to master one before I move to the other. Alongside those, I want to experiment with YouTube long-form versus shorts. And when I'm in Italy, I plan to post quick, unedited videos of the trips, the journey, and how I source my recipes. No production, just real. Most of all, I'm grateful. Grateful to the instructors for teaching so generously, to my classmates for their encouragement and honesty, and for a program that challenged me to see social media from a different perspective. My vision hasn't changed. I still want to bring people together through food, stories, and culture. What's different now is that I understand how to share that message so it truly reaches people. That vision is already in motion. My third cookbook is launching soon, and unlike the first two, I finally understand that building trust has to come before I ever try to sell anything. I still have a lot to learn, but I also know I'm heading in the right direction, and that's an amazing place to be. I didn't leave this program with a viral account. I left with clarity, confidence, a strategy that reflects who I am, and the message I want to share. That's a foundation I can keep building on. And somewhere along the way in this course, I learned something else too. I don't want to chase anymore. I want to manifest.