Dominique Evans Transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to The Future Of Food Is You, a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host, Abena Anim-Somuah, and each week I talk to emerging talents in the food world and they share what they're up to as well as their dreams and predictions from what's ahead. As for me, I'm the founder of The Eden Place, a community that's all about gathering people intentionally around food. I love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and creatives making their ways in the worlds of food, drink, media, and tech.
Today's guest is Dominique Evans, a social media content creator. At the time of our interview, Dominique was working with Food52, the popular platform for food, drink, and home content. Dominique worked with her team to create content that reached 7.3 million people across a myriad of channels. Stick around to hear how Dominique hacked her New York City kitchen to make studio quality content, how she finds joy cooking for herself despite doing it professionally, and how she uses her skills to support exciting food projects like the Cake Zine magazine. Dominique is starting her new gig as content creator for Chobani, the yogurt company, and I can't wait to see all the amazing content she comes up with. I know it'll make my yogurt routine more fun.
Thank you to Kerrygold and Walmart for supporting today's show. Kerrygold is delicious, all natural butter and cheese made with milk from Irish grass fed cows raised on small family run Irish dairy farms. Kerrygold's farming families pass their craft and knowledge from generation to generation. This traditional approach is the reason for the rich taste of Kerrygold. You can enjoy delicious sliced or shredded Kerrygold cheddar cheese available in mild or savory flavors. The shredded cheddar is perfect for those who love making mac and cheese. And now that grilling season is here, the cheddar slices will take any burger or veggie burger up a notch. There's also Kerrygold's classic salted butter in the gold foil. It's perfect for slathering on corn on the cob, always a summer fave. And the unsalted butter in the silver foil is an absolute must if you're turning sweet summer strawberries into strawberry shortcake. Visit kerrygoldusa.com to find the Kerrygold retailer nearest you and lots of great recipes.
I have a little housekeeping for everybody. Our podcast is headed to Atlanta for a live event. It's taking place Wednesday, June 28th from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Star Provisions. We'll have lots of snacks and drinks, a panel conversation, networking, and more. Tickets are $30 and include the latest copy of Cherry Bombe Magazine, plus all bites and sips. Come meet other members of the Atlanta Bombe Squad and learn how they are shaping the future in the world of food, drink, tech, and media. Head to cherrybombe.com to get your ticket, and I can't wait to see you there.
Now let's check in with today's guest. Dominique, thank you so much for joining us on The Future Of Food Is You podcast.
Dominique Evans:
Thanks for having me, Abena.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, I'm so excited.
Dominique Evans:
I'm so excited.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood and how food showed up in your life?
Dominique Evans:
Well, I'm from Washington, D.C., AKA the Chocolate City. My dad is from there, his father is from there, so deep roots. I just remember, I think my first food memory was growing up with my parents, they were raising three daughters, I think just my mom hustling to feed us every day, three meals a day I think was one of my first food memories deep in that city.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What were some of the things that she was hustling to get on the table?
Dominique Evans:
Oh man. She'd do big things of pasta. My mom is Italian Syrian, so from her family passed down in their blood, you're made to cook for big groups of people, a big family. So even now when we're not all home, she still makes food for a group of 10 or 15, which I think is crazy. I can't cook that way, so I admire her. Pastas, one pot meals like that, and she really got to those Italian roots, I think, for dinner.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, that's awesome. And then where were you guys going out for dinners or lunches?
Dominique Evans:
I think that the one spot, and it's actually not there anymore in its original location, which was on H Street, it was called Horace and Dickies. It was a fish spot, fried fish spot.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, yum.
Dominique Evans:
If you're from D.C. or you've been to D.C., D.C. is known its fish mostly because we're so close to Maryland. Well, it's right there. But we had lots of access to fish, so going to get fried fish, we'd get the platter for the family, get your hot sauce packet, your tartar sauce and your fries, and that was a meal. That was something I looked forward to all the time. It wasn't every week, but when it came up it was one of the best nights.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing. Food has always been a big part of your life, but you didn't necessarily land in food right away. After college, you started working in advertising. What was that experience like?
Dominique Evans:
It was kind of like any other out of college student trying to find your way. I only knew advertising. That's kind of what they pushed in school within the advertising curriculum. So you kind of go into it and that's all I ever knew. So I found a couple agencies and my first one was only there for a couple months. It wasn't a great fit.
Then I found myself at another one. We worked with a lot of B2B technology, hospitality. I was there for a while. I learned a lot of stuff, a lot of paid media, but I just wasn't happy. It wasn't what I wanted to do. I had a real calling to food. Every day, I was just like, how can I find this food world? It was at the time where Bon Appétit was really popular, New York Times was really popular, and I just wanted to be immersed, especially BuzzFeed, Tasty.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, those short from videos.
Dominique Evans:
Oh man, those hands and pan. I just wanted to be someone who was doing those hands and pan videos, but I was too busy just grinding on the advertising hustle. So that's what I ended up doing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Food52 was your first job in food.
Dominique Evans:
Very first.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How did you land that role?
Dominique Evans:
I got lucky. I wish that it was a very extravagant story of that I called up someone and they gave me this big opportunity, but really it was me every day getting a decline from every place I applied to. Every place was like, "No, sorry, we hired someone else." And I was feeling really discouraged. I really went to move somewhere.
I just kept having a search on my LinkedIn, food social media, and I kept searching it every day and I'm like, "I got to find something. Something one day will pop up." I really only had three places in my head and Food52 was one of them. One day a social media coordinator popped up on my LinkedIn. I was like, immediately throw the resume, get everything together, let's go, let's hustle, and submitted. And I got a call a couple days after.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Why did you think that social media was going to be the way for you to start your journey in food?
Dominique Evans:
Well, that's all I've ever done was social media, and that was from my first internship in school. I think that was just I was really gravitated towards it. I love the platform. I love how involved you are in the pop culture space. You're in the know. I always felt like I was someone who just, it worked with me, social media. So I knew that the only way I wanted to work with food was in social media.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What's really awesome about Food52 is you are often some of the most popular channels when it comes to food. I think you're the second and most followed on in social media for Instagram, you're big on TikTok, almost half a million followers. How do you build distinct voices across all the platforms that you have?
Dominique Evans:
Yeah, a lot of people think that you're just throwing the same content in all platforms, which is easy and it's true. But we found out that a strategy works that our Instagram audience just isn't our TikTok audience.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Totally.
Dominique Evans:
They're just totally separate and you kind of have to think of them as totally separate platforms and they are. So on Instagram, we really focus on our hands and pans formula. People really just want to get to the recipe. They want to see how it's done, and they want to get to the link in bio to get the recipe to try for themselves.
But then on TikTok is where we have a lot of fun because that's when you can be unhinged and just go off script and do whatever. They want to get to know the people behind the company. They want to get to know who you are and learn a little bit more about you. And that's why I love how TikTok is so personable. So we kind of like to keep those separate with kind of a nice medium between the two, but definitely TikTok is versatile. Instagram, you got to kind of stick to the script.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
There's so many ideas that you can possibly have for social media and you probably have to post constantly because you want your feed to stay relevant. But what's the process of getting a video up and how do you work with different departments and teams at the company?
Dominique Evans:
Really it starts with my team, which is the social media team. We are under our fearless leader, Julia, who is amazing, and our video editor, Isabel. We all work together at the beginning of the week to see what we've been seeing over the past weekend online, just on our own time. There really is no formula to what we do. It really is what are we laying down and seeing on our feeds and what could work and be applicable to Food52.
So we'll usually we'll talk that out, see what kind of ideas. That's what comes from us. But a lot of the times it comes from other teams. We're really collaborative teams. So say editorial has this recipe that did really well on the weekend, we can bring that to life through video and I'll take time to add that to my schedule for the week. Or even Isabel might film or we'll do a team video together in the office. We'll think of ways to bring things to life in that way. So sometimes it comes from just things do well on site or things come from us.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Such an important part of social media is the virality of things. When you are thinking about what to put out, is the big picture of will this or will this not go viral something that comes up in conversation?
Dominique Evans:
It definitely used to be that way. When I first started, I think I wanted everything to go viral, but if I thought that way all the time, I think I'd just lose my mind. I wish everything could go viral, but if everything went viral, then everything would be viral. That would be the new norm if everyone's just getting millions of views on everything.
I wish it was like that, but I think it's just trying your best and putting out what you think will do well, even if that thing doesn't do best. I think some of my favorite videos just tanked, but hey, got to pull through, keep going.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, I think that's just the beauty of creativity. Some things will resonate and some things won't.
Dominique Evans:
It's the algorithm, honestly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That too.
Dominique Evans:
We're falling victim to the algorithm.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You're finding creativity with the algorithm.
Dominique Evans:
Oh man, struggle.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Something that I really appreciate about Food52 as well is you partner with a lot of contributors. I feel like a lot of food companies or food channels mostly work in house. They stay with their staff. How do you work with the contributors that you have on social to share their vision but also make sure that it's aligned with the brand and the brand goals that you have?
Dominique Evans:
This is honestly my favorite part of the job is it kind of takes a load off me too because it's kind of like, oh, back in the day I would make tons of videos a week, but now when you bring in more people, it kind of is like we're spreading the wealth and everyone gets a chance to show off their video on this huge platform, which I think is really, really great.
A lot of the time they'll come to us or we'll come out with a list of who we think will do well. A lot of people think that you have to be this huge creator on Instagram or TikTok with millions of followers to work with us, but really you can have 500 followers. It really isn't about followers. It's what you are creating and if we can see it aligning with us.
We've been taking a lot of risks lately, coming up with a lot of different creators that maybe you wouldn't have seen us work with in the past, but we're trying to enter different spaces, whether that be how interview series are so popular on TikTok now where people are on the streets or I don't know, more storytelling videos. Those are so popular. I think we're trying to get into a lot of different spaces.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I think it's really awesome too, because it's not just about recipes and developing content, you're also showing hacks and different ways to make cooking easier and more approachable. How do you think about using social media to educate people who want to get better and get more passionate about cooking?
Dominique Evans:
Yeah, I think that's the whole point. I mean, recipes are just the baseline. You can only go up from there. So many different parts of food, it doesn't start there. It can start with hacks in the kitchen, cleaning. That's also so popular. I think food is not just from A to B, this is how you make a recipe. I think that there's just so many avenues you can take.
And I love the educational elements because I'm also learning when I make them and I'm showing them. And really all of these articles are exist on our site. We're taking this amazing content that our editorial staff and our contributors have put onto our site in bringing it to life. Those are my favorite ones. I think people really resonate with those, even more so the recipes because they can actually watch it and then do it right there in their home.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
When it comes to community, how have people reached out to you to tell you how they're resonating with the content you're putting out there?
Dominique Evans:
Yeah, I mean, I love reading a comment. That's one thing about me. I'm going to read a comment. I think it's also funny that when people comment, I think they think there's a huge team behind Food52's accounts, but really it's just two people on the social team.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Keep that illusion going.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah. I'm like, "Okay, you guys want to think that there's tons of people." But I think it's more so the praise of people saying things look good. It's just me creating things at home, following a recipe. Not all the times is perfect and I kind of have to do it in one take because I only have one box of the recipe to make.
I think that just overall praise makes me feel really good in the comments, especially a really high profile account. It can be a little nerve wracking. It's kind of nice to see the community come through for me or when the community comes to me and says, "Hey, maybe you didn't do that right," which just also keeps me in check too. I got to stay humble.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Social media can be a good place with that. It's a place where you can connect with people. You can get all the incredible accolades and all this stuff, but it's also really tough because there can be some really mean comments, really hateful comments, even on something as simple as food.
How do you and your team think about ways to make sure that you as a social media team is good, your mental health is good, but you're also not just tolerating anyone just saying anything?
Dominique Evans:
Definitely. I remember my first ever mean comment I ever read. I think I took it to heart and I was really sad because I'm putting myself out there and doesn't make you feel good. But now I'm like, "All right, bring them in. That's okay. That's okay." I mean, they're just words and they don't make me feel so bad. I can see that if you got so many, it could be overwhelming, but I'm okay with it.
But I will say as someone who manages our community management on social, it's really important to me and my team, the whole team, that our creators feel safe and feel supported. We don't want any sort of hate comments that are extreme. Obviously people can voice their own opinion, but if it goes past the line, that won't be tolerated. So those would be removed for sure.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. Today's show is presented by Walmart, the world's largest retailer. So many people in this country depend on Walmart for its groceries and trust Walmart to have high quality food at affordable prices. That sounds like the future to me and the present.
Walmart is always listening to its customers and values the feedback received about new products and flavors. To help meet and exceed customer expectations, Walmart employs a range of experts like classically trained chefs in vital roles within the company. I love knowing that.
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And now back to our guest. Something that I think has come up a lot in social media, or at least in recent years, is the ways that AI and generative models are infiltrating social. How do you and your team think about that in terms of how it impacts food and social media?
Dominique Evans:
We were honestly just talking about this because we were saying how-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Perfect timing.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah. We were just talking about this because we saw that you can add in a photo and it can give you a caption to something you're writing. I'm like, "That is incredible because that could make my life so much easier." Obviously we have never tried, just full disclosure.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Everything is made from hand at Food52.
Dominique Evans:
Yes, from our minds. But it is incredible that that can happen. I've been seeing some really cool content of people AI generate their food meals for the week. I think it's really great. I think that we could use it and shift it in a fun way for content. I don't think I'm ready yet for it to control my day-to-day social posting, but for now, I think I'll take over. I think I'll take over the writing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
AI is still something that I'm personally treading lightly with, and I feel like a lot of people and food are still getting used to because there's still something so beautiful about people making food and recipes being a combination of trial and error and things that work well or things that you can use to enhance flavor. So yeah, definitely treading lightly there.
Dominique Evans:
Oh, same. Toe dip, barely that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Social media in the last I would say five to 10 years has really transformed the way that we see food. I feel like everyone I know from food I find on Instagram these days. Before it was like you would go on Food Network or you'd read in magazines.
Dominique Evans:
Throwback.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How do you think the industry is reacting to social media creators now, and how do you hope to see that change in the future?
Dominique Evans:
I think we're loving it from my perspective. I think it makes our jobs a lot easier to be like, we have this prompt, can you join us and turn this to real life? Like say for summer, there's tomatoes, peak tomatoes. Can we get a creator who is really good with that? You can literally just source them for what their specialty is.
That is something great for all media companies. I think a lot of brands too don't utilize creators so much, as much as they could. I think that there's not a brand that couldn't reach out to creator to work with them on some kind of whatever their industry might be.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, for sure. I would love to talk to you too about your cooking style and how you enjoy cooking. How would you describe your cooking philosophy or cooking style?
Dominique Evans:
I love to cook, obviously.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Good. Yeah.
Dominique Evans:
I think my style has never evolved. It's kind of been the same thing for a couple years, I'd say. So it's very Mediterranean. I've stuck with that. I think it came down from my grandfather who's Syrian, and I got a lot of that Mediterranean influence just growing up, going to different Syrian restaurants, Mediterranean, Lebanese restaurants. I'm very influenced by the way that they cook.
So I use a lot of herbs in my cooking, lots of lemon, bright flavors, lots of spices. I think that's the way I cook. I really like bright flavors. That's why I love the summer and the spring. I feel like that's where it really shows my style of cooking.
Also, I love family style, so that's one thing about me is that, like I said before about my mom, how she cooks, I think that was passed down to me as well. I love having people over and just big plates and whether it be like tabbouleh or a Fattoush salad or just letting produce shine.
I think a lot of my cooking comes from going to the farmer's market, seeing what's there. I am a farmer's market girly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Which one are you loyal to?
Dominique Evans:
Well, I am loyal to Fort Greene.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Heck yeah.
Dominique Evans:
She comes through for me. I think some people hate on her because she doesn't always have stuff all the time. She's not as big as-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
She's a smaller one. I feel like-
Dominique Evans:
She's a smaller one, not as big as Union Square.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Or Grand Army Plaza.
Dominique Evans:
Or yeah, Grand Army Plaza. But it's just, I can walk. You can walk anywhere, but I can walk.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It is New York, yeah.
Dominique Evans:
But I can walk to Fort Greene and it feels good to walk there and just seeing what's in season. I have my apple man.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You got to have your apple man.
Dominique Evans:
You got to have an apple man for sure. So I'll go, we'll see him, and then get my other produce.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What are three or four recipes that you would consider to be in your canon for days that you're like, "I don't know what to cook, this is the formula that I'm going for?”
Dominique Evans:
Well, like every other person, beans. I'm kind of one of those-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Beans are back.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah, beans are having a moment.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
They really are.
Dominique Evans:
Everywhere I go, I'm honestly like, "Are we having too much bean content?" But then I'm like, no, we're not.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Never stop with the bean content.
Dominique Evans:
I don't think we could have too much. I love it. And when it has an egg on it, I'm like, "Yes, that's the crème de la crème right there." Yeah, I like a lot of beans. I am an at home vegetarian. I'm not actually, but I feel like at home I eat a lot of beans and either dry or from a can. I love lentils, things like that.
Usually I'm making a dahl. I just made one this week. Simple dahl over white rice with red onion, lots of herbs, lime, that's like a go-to.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Definitely going to plug another Future Of Food Is You guest, Umaimahv[Sharwani], who has her brand From Paro.
You have all this energy working in the food industry, working in social media constantly, but you're also a consumer of social media. What are some accounts that you're inspired by these days, and how do you take the things you're learning and apply that into your personal Instagram? Which is beautiful and colorful, by the way.
Dominique Evans:
Thank you. I think a lot of people that I'm inspired by are friends that I've met online, as everyone does now. I think one that I'm inspired by the most is Noreen Wasti. She creates the most beautiful food and decorates with these edible flowers and herbs.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's another big one.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Edible flowers, yeah.
Dominique Evans:
Edible flowers, yeah. I run to the market for them. They're usually sold out, of course. She inspired me so much. I love her cooking style and I love going over for lunch or dinner with her or just eating out and seeing what she picks. She really inspires me.
I just honestly think going through my Instagram, I love how it's evolved to these kind of lo-fi Instagram handles where it's like no filter, just people just taking the photos of their food on their countertop. No lighting adjustments, just like raw, unfiltered, and I think those really inspire me. Just seeing people are cooking every day, nothing special. They didn't take the time out to plan this. It's just what they're eating.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's just feeding for nourishment, not feeding for performance.
Dominique Evans:
Exactly, exactly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You're cooking out of a tiny New York City kitchen.
Dominique Evans:
Yes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You're making videos that are seen by millions of people around the world. How have you managed to produce quality work in your apartment? Are there any tricks or tips that you've figured out to make things shine?
Dominique Evans:
I definitely finesse my setup. I do not have a window in my kitchen. How my apartment works, it's like the windows are one side. I was not blessed with windows in my kitchen, though I would love them.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
One day.
Dominique Evans:
One day. So I literally have a chair in my living room in front of my window with my tripod and my camera, and I am running back and forth, I kid you not, between my stove and the chair with hot oil with the hot pan or the hot pot or boiling water to film that three second clip that everyone sees at the end.
No one sees me running back and forth, and I've actually had people from work come over or friends be there when I'm filming, and oh my gosh, my poor roommates who have had over the years have seen this as well, just like me running to film. That's the behind the scenes, me sweating behind camera and breathing. Thank God there's music to cover that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I know. There's good vibes. Do you have any tips or suggestions for people who are wanting to get into short form content, wanting to produce that high quality content, but again, have the window 20 or 30 feet away from their stoves?
Dominique Evans:
I think that the chair method that I do is pretty great. I will say that natural light is key to getting great content. People really want to see what it looks like without a filter, so I really do think that finding a way to get your setup by the window is prime. But honestly, see if it works in your kitchen that doesn't have a window. It could work too. Honestly, I think that TikTok and short form is evolving that people really just don't care what things look like anymore.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
There you go.
Dominique Evans:
Do whatever you want, honestly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Do the best with what you've got.
Dominique Evans:
Mm-hmm.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. You're also really awesome about supporting other creators and founders in social media who are working in food stuff. You run social media for a Cake Zine, which is a magazine that's dedicated to all things cake. I feel like cake is another thing that we're seeing blossoming. What is your role there?
Dominique Evans:
I was brought on by Aliza and Tanya, who are the co-founders, and I work with them basically just to get their social up and running. We pull user generated content, we pull pictures and stories from the zine, pop culture with cake. I work with them to manage their Instagram feed. Also I work on their biweekly newsletter, which is where we have just a bite and we interview cake makers-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So cool.
Dominique Evans:
... whether it be edible or non-edible, which is pretty great, it's all well-rounded, all different bakers to come on and answer a few questions, whether it be what is their favorite non-fiction cake scene or dessert scene, or what is their favorite baking hack. I think it's really interesting to see behind the scenes of these makers.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Is there a particular baker that we should be looking out for?
Dominique Evans:
Oh my gosh. Well, I think it's because she's on top of mind right now, I have to say Natasha Pickowicz. Oh man.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
She's that girl.
Dominique Evans:
She really is.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Is there someone else that's up and coming that we should be giving flowers to or someone that you hope that in the next couple years is going to be on that Natasha Pickowicz level?
Dominique Evans:
I think that Aimee France of @yungkombucha420 is-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that name.
Dominique Evans:
Oh, it's so good. She is so great and so sweet, and her cakes just, they blow me away, just delicious, beautiful. She forages for the little toppings that she puts on top, whether it be like little sticks or flowers. It's incredible at how she uses seasonal ingredients and turns them into this work of art, and they're also like topsy-turvy, literally work of art.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
She's got this rustic put together look to her cakes-
Dominique Evans:
Definitely.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
... that are awesome.
Dominique Evans:
And they're delicious too.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. I'm curious to think, as you think of yourself in the food world, you're clearly on social media, are there other avenues that you're hoping to explore one day or you would love to get your feet wet in?
Dominique Evans:
I think I'd love to start cooking for people. I've always wanted to do a supper club, which I went to one for the very first time and it was like a pizza popup.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's so fun.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah. I know, people making pizza in their apartment, it was the real deal. I have always wanted to do that. I think it's really nice to have people into your home and cook for them. I do that normally with friends, but I would love to get people who I don't know and get them to meet each other or popups with friends at other places. I would love to start cooking for people in real life and start that. Maybe it's something I can dabble with someone else and we can work together, but I think something real that people can show up to.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Would it still be under that Mediterranean vibe inspired by your family?
Dominique Evans:
I think so. I think I have to stick to the roots, yeah. There's no time to try new things. I'm like, "Okay, let me stick to what I know here in this new space, and then we'll start to try new things."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You walk and then you run.
Dominique Evans:
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Exactly. Well, we can't wait for a seat at the table when you have your amazing supper club series.
Dominique Evans:
Definitely.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Dominique, this has been amazing, but we are now going to do our fun Future Of Food Is You tradition, our future flash five. Are you ready? Are you excited?
Dominique Evans:
I'm ready. I'm excited. I'm nervous.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Those are all the three things. I am too, but I think you'll have amazing answers. The future of social media.
Dominique Evans:
Unpredictable.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of farmer's markets.
Dominique Evans:
More accessible.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of video content.
Dominique Evans:
Even shorter and sponsored.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of food trends.
Dominique Evans:
Tastier.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of food zines.
Dominique Evans:
Available to everyone.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Dominique, if we want to keep supporting you and learning more about what you're up to, where are the best places to find you?
Dominique Evans:
You can follow me on Instagram @dominiqueevanz with a Z.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Awesome. Thanks so much for coming.
Dominique Evans:
Thank you for having me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Before we go, our guest is going to leave a voicemail at The Future Of Food mailbox just talking to themselves 10 years from now.
You have reached The Future Of Food Is You mailbox. Please leave your message after the beep.
Dominique Evans:
Hey, Dominique. It's Dominique. By the time you're listening to this, you'll be 37 and right now the thought that is really hard to grasp. I'm sure a lot has went down in the last 10 years, but I hope life has been treating you well and you've collected another decade of hilarious and interesting stories that you can continue repeating like you already do, but you know this already.
I'm sure by this age, you've traveled to so many places, met so many people, and experienced so many great things. I'm genuinely curious to know what you've been up to. Hopefully, you're bringing over literally everyone for the holidays and random themed dinner parties. That's where you thrive.
Wherever you are, I hope you're happy and in good health and surrounded by the people who love you and care about you. If anyone hasn't told you today, you're amazing, you're smart, you're loved, and I'm so proud of you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's show. Do you know someone who you think is the future of food? Tell us about them. Nominate them at the link in our show notes, or leave us a rating and review and tell me about them in the review. I can't wait to read more about them. Thanks to Kerrygold and Walmart for supporting the show. The Future Of Food Is You is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Thanks to the team at CityVox Studios, executive producers Kerry Diamond and Catherine Baker, and associate producer Jenna Sadhu. Catch you on the future flip.