Food Writer Diaries, vol. 1
A new series documenting my career change from tech to food writing. Meta offered me my job back + the creative's dilemma.
I don’t expect to be an overnight success, but I didn’t necessarily expect changing careers to be this hard. I’ve written about how I ended up in food media before, but the quick recap is I was laid off from my 5+ year job as a tech recruiter at Meta in March 2023. I didn’t hate my job in tech recruiting, but I didn’t love it either.
In my experience, recruiting is sometimes treated like the red-headed stepchild of a company - undervalued and often undermined. It can be quite a thankless profession. I was good at it and absolutely adored my colleagues, but recruiting was something I more “fell into” rather than a strategic career choice.
So, that’s why the layoff was the catalyst for me to take the leap into full-time recipe development and food media, which had been a passion project of mine for many years.
But, surprisingly, Meta called last week and offered me my job back…which is crazy and maybe a little lucky. Ever since my severance pay ended in July, I’ve deeply felt the effects of an absent steady income. I am conflicted about whether I should accept their offer, which is essentially paying me less than they were paying me before and mandating that I return to the office three days a week.
Accepting their offer would, obviously, mean 40+ hours a week working in a corporate gig, which is 40 fewer hours to spend cooking and writing. But I want my six figure salary back, because as of right now, cooking and writing aren’t keeping the lights on. Thus, we have the eternal dilemma of creatives everywhere - sacrificing time that could be spent creating art for a steady income.
I want to succeed in food media more than anything I’ve ever wanted before. But also, it’s overwhelmingly saturated here. I’ll admit - I’m intimidated! And at 32 years old, I wonder if I missed my boat. The most successful food writers I admire have been at it since college. I have no actual food media qualifications other than my own innate knack as a wordsmith, experience teaching cooking lessons, and my skill set as a home cook of 10+ years.
I didn’t major in English or journalism (kicking myself!), I didn’t go to culinary school and don’t have an MFA in Creative Writing or an MLA in Food Studies. I’ve thought about getting one. Boston University has a great online food studies program, but the last thing I need right now is student loans when we can barely afford to live in the Bay Area to begin with.
I’ve become discouraged by my pitch-to-publish ratio. Since being added to a freelance roster, I’ve pitched ten pieces and been hired for only two. Trying to get past the editors (a.k.a. the gatekeepers) often feels insurmountable.
For example, on October 24, I submitted three pitches for the December publications of a popular cooking website, offering recipes that closely followed the editors’ guidelines. I was really proud of all of them, but I was sure that my recipe for Nutella Martinis would get picked up. It usually takes the editors about two weeks to review our pitches. As of today, November 7, I still haven’t heard back. Unfortunately, I doubt any of mine have been chosen this time, but that’s okay.
One thing I do know is that if I am going to make it as a writer, I must become comfortable with rejection. Coming from recruiting, rejection is already a close friend of mine. I can never take things personally. I don’t want anyone reading this thinking I’m sour grapes about any of this. It would be great to have my pitches land more often, but I will self-publish them here if they don’t.
What I love about this platform is the freedom and control to publish what I want when I want. On Substack, I am my own gatekeeper. Now, I need to figure out how to get more free subscribers and eventually convert them to paid. But, one step at a time.
In my former career as a tech recruiter, I used networking to my advantage. I would friend my colleagues on LinkedIn and Instagram, and if they were local, I’d invite them to lunch or coffee to cement our connection. It was all quite communal.
I’ve tried to befriend some of my editors on Instagram to no avail. One, whom I had only ever worked with on one assignment via email (as in, we never even met face to face, online or otherwise), actually blocked me on my professional Instagram for no apparent reason, and then a few days later, she friend-requested me on my personal Instagram account. She still has my professional IG blocked today, and I’m more confused than ever.
I’m trying not to take it personally, but it sure does differ from the openness I’ve come to rely on in the tech industry. Granted, this is probably just “one of those things.” I am delusional, but not delusional enough to expect everyone I ever meet to like me. Human beings are fickle, complex creatures.
As for the next steps, I might accept the Meta offer because I need a six-figure income if I plan to pay for my MLA in Gastronomy. I’m also interviewing with a smaller video game/media company that I am REALLY excited about, so I’m hoping that works out.
I’ll commit to being disciplined with writing, cooking, and networking nights and weekends, although I need to ensure I don’t burn myself out. I’ll apply for the MLA Food Studies program at Boston University and attend part-time while working in tech recruiting to pay the bills. And I’ll have to resign myself to having no social life for the foreseeable future.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading!
-Paige