How to Find Your Passion with Sarah Cook

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Feel like everybody else has this food blogging thing figured out, but you’re still struggling? Today I’m talking about How to Find Your Passion with Sarah Cook. And she knows about struggles. She shares candidly about the site rebrands, Pinterest mistakes, personal struggles, and more before finding her stride as a food blogger. Be ready to be inspired! 

A photo of Sarah Cook holding a chicken with the text Sarah Cook of Sustainable Cooks.

You know what this podcast is about. Right? Well in case I haven’t said it enough, let me repeat myself. This is the podcast for entrepreneurs who want:

  • encouragement
  • interviews
  • tips
  • strategies
  • lots of soul searching
  • and talk about how to make a living online.

I know I oftentimes describe this community as “food bloggers,” but I also welcome those of you who don’t do food but you’re finding inspiration in this show as well. Welcome!

Today’s Featured Listener

Before we get started. I want to share with you the review of the week. This one is from Steph Deming. Steph says:

I am a freelance food writer and I have to say this podcast really touches upon all aspects of the food blogging life. I love the fact that it’s not just for people who own their own blogs. I have learned so many helpful tips just by listening to this podcast.

Ah, thank you Steph. Your kind words mean so much. Don’t you love it when you hear positive feedback like this?

I read recently if there’s something you’re not getting enough in your life, let’s say its positive feedback, then you need to give more of it in the world! You have to give what it is you want to receive. I know it sounds a little counterintuitive, but then again, it makes complete sense.

I’d love to share you as a featured listener in a future episode, just leave a review of the Chopped podcast on iTunes (see link below). We’ll be in a positive feedback loop together!

A photo of the ocean has the text, "Find your passion," on it.

Find Your Passion

So, on to today’s discussion. Today I’m talking with Sarah Cook of the site, Sustainable Cooks. Her site name has not always fit her personal name so easily. In fact, Sarah talks about the changes she’s made to her site over time. I love this quote from her:

I started on blogger, went viral on Pinterest with a terribly junky post before I even had a Pinterest account(!), switched to WordPress (changed designs and focus/niche THREE TIMES), rebranded, and along the way messed with my permalink structure and URLs to the point of almost crippling my site for a year. In a nutshell, I’ve been a hot mess who could be raised up as a beacon for your guests of what not to do.

She shares how she was ready to quit. And then she had a moment. You know that moment, right? The one where you realize you actually don’t want to quit; that you want to fight for the work you love.

I describe it as a “find your passion” moment.

Sarah had that moment and realized she loved what she was doing. 

What Got You Here

I once read a book by Marshal Goldsmith called “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.” I think nothing could be truer about blogging. We can achieve a certain level of success, but getting to the next level, the one that will actually turn this into a business? That takes something else entirely.

Sarah said she realized what she had been doing wasn’t working, not like she wanted it to. So, she committed herself to making some changes.

Analyzing Your Content

Sarah talks about one of my favorite topics, the processes behind the scenes, including the technical side of her work. For example, Sarah describes how she uses SEO and analyzing content on her site to better understand her audience. I love how she shares about a weekly post she writes to update her audience about her life. And how to handle these posts from an SEO perspective.

I love this heartfelt conversation. I think in a world where it seems like everyone appears as if they’ve got it all figured out, it’s very refreshing to talk to someone who is so willing to be raw and vulnerable like this.

Show Notes

This episode on How to Find Your Passion includes information you’ll want to check out:

Subscribe to the Show & Feedback

Thanks so much for listening to today’s podcast. I hope you found it informative and helpful to the work you do every day. Make sure you don’t miss out on any of the Chopped Podcast episodes by heading on over to iTunes to subscribe to the Chopped Podcast. While you’re there, provide a review and rating is a great way to help other podcast listeners find it too! That’s it for today’s podcast. As always, thanks so much for joining in the discussion!

Posted in Food Blog Resources, Food Blogging, Podcast