Podcasts Archive

Monique Volz On Reinventing Ambitious Kitchen Over 14 Years

by Emily @ FBP on Nov 11, 2025 in Food Blogger Stories, Running an Online Business

Welcome to episode 544 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Monique Volz from Ambitious Kitchen.

Monique launched Ambitious Kitchen in 2011 as a passion project and now it has grown into her full-time business (with several employees) and a New York Times bestselling cookbook (and another cookbook on the way). In this interview, Monique shares how she has adapted to all of the changes in the food creator landscape over the last 14 years, how her priorities and definition of success have changed, and the different “eras” of her business.

Due in part to an incredible season of growth during the pandemic, by 2022, Monique was burned-out. The pressure of keeping up with constant content demands — especially in the age of TikTok and Reels — prompted her to take a step back and refocus. She shifted away from the pursuit of virality, re-centered her creative goals, and leaned into the process of writing her first cookbook. In recent years, Monique has downsized her team so that she can focus on creating content (as opposed to managing a team) and returned to what she loves most: creating from a place of joy.

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Food Blogging News Roundtable: Black Friday Strategies, New Raptive Requirements, and a Guide to GEO for 2026

by Ann @ Food Blogger Pro on Nov 4, 2025 in Building Traffic and Growing Your Audience

Welcome to episode 543 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re bringing our very own Emily Walker (Associate General Manager, Food Blogger Pro) back to chat with Bjork about the articles we shared in our latest blogging newsletter!

In this episode, Bjork Ostrom and Emily Walker discuss the latest articles from the Food Blogger Pro blogging newsletter. They talk about where digital marketing is headed and how to make sure your brand doesn’t get left behind. Spoiler alert: If you’re only focused on Google, you’re missing out! Bjork and Emily break down the reality that users under 45 are looking for answers across an average of five different platforms (yes, we’re talking TikTok, Reddit, and all the rest). We delve into the exposure effect, which is a fancy way of saying that the more consistently people see you in different places, the more they trust you.

Tune in to learn why adapting your content (aka not just copying and pasting) to fit all of those channels is your biggest opportunity right now for brand discovery and building genuine credibility with your audience!

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Scaling a Team and Reaching 2 Million Monthly Pageviews with Isabel Orozco-Moore from Isabel Eats

by Emily @ FBP on Oct 28, 2025 in Running an Online Business

Welcome to episode 542 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast!

In this episode, we’re welcoming back Isabel Orozco-Moore from Isabel Eats, who first joined us on the podcast back in 2019 after she had narrowed her niche to Mexican recipes. Since then, she’s grown her blog from 650,000 to over 2 million monthly pageviews and grown her team to 3 full-time employees (including her husband!) and several contractors. Isabel shares how she’s built a sustainable business by focusing on slow, intentional growth, smart hiring, and maintaining joy in her work.

Bjork and Isabel chat about how she avoids the comparison trap, what it’s like working with her husband, and how she uses tools like Airtable to stay organized while managing a growing team. Isabel also gives us a peek into her upcoming cookbook project (coming spring 2027!) and shares what it really takes to scale a business while still loving what you do.

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Maximize Efficiency with AI (Without Losing Your Voice) with Trey Griffin from Raptive

by Ann @ Food Blogger Pro on Oct 21, 2025 in Building Traffic and Growing Your Audience

Welcome to episode 541 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Trey Griffin from Raptive. This is the second episode of Can’t Be Automated: A Raptive Series on Scaling, Standing Out, and Staying Human.

In this episode, Bjork and Trey Griffin get real about AI, which is here to be your new workhorse, not your competition. They dive into how tools like Custom GPTs can give you a massive efficiency boost, helping you move past the grunt work of brainstorming and drafting so you can focus on creative risks and developing better ideas. By letting AI handle the routine tasks, you’re freeing up your most valuable resource (your time!!!) to strategize and stay ahead of a rapidly changing content landscape.

The biggest factor that will keep you relevant? Your human touch. Since AI can create a mountain of content, your unique personal branding and authentic storytelling is now more crucial than ever. They’ll talk about why the creators who build genuine connections and layer their own personality into their work are the ones who will stand out in a saturated market. This episode provides the blueprint for leveraging AI for speed while ensuring your core content remains something only you can create.

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Authenticity, AI, and Audience Connection with Stephanie Woodin from Raptive

by Emily @ FBP on Oct 14, 2025 in Running an Online Business

Welcome to episode 540 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This is the first episode of Can’t Be Automated: A Raptive Series on Scaling, Standing Out, and Staying Human. To kick-off the series, Bjork interviews Stephanie Woodin from Raptive.

This week, we’re joined by Stephanie Woodin to pull back the curtain on her brand-new podcast with Raptive, Ctrl+Alt+Ask, and dive into the fast-changing world of the creator economy.

Stephanie has spent years working with top creators at Raptive, and now, as the host of Ctrl+Alt+Ask, she’s taking calls from creators to talk about everything from burnout and branding to revenue strategies, AI, SEO, and more. She’s the perfect person to chat with Bjork about the unique challenges creators face today.

In this episode, Bjork and Stephanie unpack what it takes to thrive as a content creator in a crowded space, how AI is reshaping the industry, and practical ways to grow and connect with your audience.

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The Journey to $100k as a Content Creator with Johnny Brunet

by Ann @ Food Blogger Pro on Oct 7, 2025 in Monetizing an Online Food Business

Welcome to episode 539 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Johnny Brunet.

Johnny Brunet’s story is proof that a pandemic pivot can lead to major success! He went from stand-up comedy to mastering the Blackstone griddle, finding his sweet spot by creating content specifically for beginner cooks. He shares the secret sauce of his content empire: how he strategically focused on one niche tool to stand out and why targeting the starting-out crowd was the perfect gap in the market for massive growth.

Beyond the cooking, Johnny gets real about the business, breaking down his successful revenue mix of YouTube AdSense, eBooks, and affiliate marketing. You’ll get his best advice on keeping your sales funnel incredibly simple and the importance of smart content marketing to drive product sales. This episode will give you the blueprint for turning a niche idea into a full-time income without spreading yourself thin.

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How Jessica Robinson Built a Profitable Food Brand Without SEO

by Emily @ FBP on Sep 30, 2025 in Building Traffic and Growing Your Audience, Monetizing an Online Food Business

Welcome to episode 538 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jessica Robinson from A Farmgirl’s Kitchen.

From publishing her first two cookbooks to launching her site, Jessica walks us through the early days of her journey as a food creator and the strategies she used to help her gain momentum — fast! She talks about why she chose to focus on Pinterest and Facebook instead of traditional SEO and how those choices paid off, allowing her to monetize her business within just a few months.

Jessica shares her tips for growing her audience on social media, monetizing through the Facebook Content Monetization program and Amazon affiliate links, and how her short-form videos not only drive traffic but also boost her SEO. With over 430k followers on Facebook and a rapidly expanding presence across platforms, Jessica emphasizes the importance of diversifying income streams and traffic sources and connecting with her audience through relatable, authentic content and storytelling.

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Food Blogging News Roundtable: AI-Generated Food Content, Optimizing Opt-ins, and Building A Personal Brand

by Ann @ Food Blogger Pro on Sep 23, 2025 in Building Traffic and Growing Your Audience

Welcome to episode 537 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re bringing our very own Emily Walker (Associate General Manager, Food Blogger Pro) back to chat with Bjork about the articles we shared in our latest blogging newsletter!

In our latest episode, we sat down with Bjork Ostrom and Emily Walker to talk about the future of food blogging. The main takeaway? Don’t let AI steal your thunder! We dive into why your personal stories and unique perspective are more crucial than ever to standing out. We also cover why building an email list is your most valuable asset (stop us if you’ve heard this before!) — it’s the one place you can directly connect with your audience.

So if you’re looking to create content that feels genuine and builds a real community, this episode is a must-listen. Bjork and Emily share tips for creating high-quality content that not only ranks with search engines but also earns the trust of your readers.

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The Journey to Reaching 30 Million Views a Month with Jeanine Donofrio of Love & Lemons

by Emily @ FBP on Sep 16, 2025 in Food Blogger Stories

Welcome to episode 536 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeanine Donofrio from Love & Lemons.

In this episode, Bjork chats with Jeanine Donofrio, the creator of the massively popular vegetarian food blog Love & Lemons, which now receives over 30 million monthly pageviews (!!!). Jeanine shares the story behind her blog’s evolution — from a personal creative outlet that she started in 2011 to a thriving business with multiple employees.

Bjork and Jeanine also talk about how Jeanine balances creativity with content strategy, manages the pressure of staying consistent, and how she navigates seasons of burnout.

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Branding, Blogging, and Q4: How to Stand Out Online with Madison Wetherill

by Emily @ FBP on Sep 9, 2025 in Building Traffic and Growing Your Audience

Welcome to episode 535 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Madison Wetherill from Grace and Vine Studios and Joyfully Mad.

In this conversation, Madison discusses the importance of personal branding and website optimization for food bloggers, especially as they prepare for the critical Q4 season. She emphasizes the need for food creators to carefully define their niche and audience, effectively communicate their brand message, and integrate your brand into your site.

Madison also shares strategies for standing out in a saturated market and the significance of calls to action on websites. The discussion highlights the evolving landscape of content creation and the need for bloggers to adapt to stay relevant and connect with their audience.

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