Welcome back to the My Open Kitchen podcast! This episode is another rather long one but there is LOADS of good stuff in here so please stick with us (and maybe save it up for a big drive or walk!).
This episode is all about authenticity and features three very strong and authentic voices on the subject; Annabelle Hickson, David Prior and Kat Molesworth. Seriously – we are so lucky to hear from these three powerhouses of storytelling and I know you will come away from this episode full of conviction, inspiration and ideas.
Thank you as always to our series sponsor Country Style magazine for making all of this happen.
Thank you also to this episode’s special guest co-host Holly Manning. As many of you would know, my podcast co-host and lovely friend Skye Manson has just had her third baby, beautiful little Florence, and is taking some time to hang out with her and prepare for the family’s move to their new farm in Grenfell NSW.
So today, let me introduce my super talented fire-breathing, singing, songwriting, pr whiz friend – Ms Holly Manning! Holly and her husband Kyle run Manning PR & Events here in Orange and they look after social media, PR and marketing for many small to medium businesses so she’s a pretty rad person to have in the studio offering advice and ideas as the podcast goes on. Thanks Holly!
On authenticity
So as I mentioned above – the theme for this episode is…authenticity. I feel like this is a really big topic for anyone using social media these days. We are so busy putting our ‘best selves’ out there, and I think many of us, myself included, can easily fall into the ‘perception of perfection’ trap that Instagram seems to set for us every time we scroll through our feed.
And as Annabelle Hickson says later in the episode, it’s so easy to chase validation for what we are putting out there, that we might be missing the point – that social media is about being social, building community and sharing ideas and inspiration.
So this episode is all about getting over that idea of chasing perfection, and hopefully it will help all of us remember that our communities really just want to hear real stories from real people – warts and all.
In preparation for this episode I did a bit of reading on the topic and can’t seem to get away from Brene Brown’s take on the whole thing. If you have a few spare minutes, please read what she writes about the pitfalls of perfectionism.
Interview one – Kat Molesworth
Kat is based in London so we spoke this morning via Skype. She is one of my biggest online inspirations – Kat is super active across her blog, youtube channel, Instagram and FB and has a lot to say about successful social media use and authenticity. She is a great community builder and also the founder of Blogtacular, an annual conference for creatives and bloggers held in London. Image above by Nikki McWilliams.
Morning tea
Ok, so for today’s morning tea I made an oldie but such a goodie – this coconut chocolate slice is hands down my kids’ favourite thing. I can go all out with sourdough donuts, attempt eclairs and even layer a cake but nothing gets them so excited it seems as a tray of this stuff. Especially when I swap the coconut on the icing for hundreds and thousands. The recipe comes from our series’ sponsor Country Style’s excellent Heirloom Recipes book which I recommend every family having a copy of – it’s got all the classics!
Sophie’s Top 5
1. Sociality barbie
A tongue in cheek take on the ‘live folk ‘kinfolk’ live authentic’ IG movement – barbie in plaits, in overalls chopping wood by a lake keeping it real (see above). Very funny.
2. Hashtag Authentic podcast by Me and Orla’s Sarah Tasker.
So much useful information on growing your IG feed and being authentic! An absolute gold mine of good stuff.
3. Stir the Pot
Another great podcast – this one hosted by Edd Kimber, the winner of the first series of the Great British Bake Off in 2010 and successful blogger and author. All about food, food people and delicious stories.
4. My Open Kitchen e-course
Just a bit of shameless self-promotion I know but have you guys signed up to join the My Open Kitchen e-course yet? Registrations for round 2 are now open.
5. Wild yeast blog
If you love baking you will love this blog – so so much amazing information, recipes and advice on baking with sourdough and instant yeasts. Can’t recommend this one enough.
Holly Manning’s top 5
1. Instagram stories
Launched last august and by January it had 150 million daily users. Such a great tool for businesses and brands to build personality and familiarity. Now there’s advertising in Stories via Facebook which needs to be used creatively, not abused! I’m also loving the slideshow feature.!
2. IG users I love!
@laurabrown99 – editor of US InStyle magazine
@Baddiewinkle (pictured above!)
3. Podcasts I love
Social Media Examiner,- social media marketing with Michael Stelzner
4. Trello
A fantastic task management tool.
5. Portrait function on the I-phone 7
I love how this function allows us to give depth of field similar to a DSLR camera. If you aren’t yet on the I-phone 7, try Fab Focus app for a similar affect.
Annabelle Hickson’s Country Style article on her love/hate relationship with Instagram. Image above by the very talented Annabelle herself.
Interview two – David Prior
I always get excited when one of David Prior’s photos pop up on my Instagram feed – he has such good stories to tell from the most exciting corners of the world. I’ve known David Prior for over 10 years, or known of him rather…we both lived in the small Italian town of Bra for some years, me working in the offices of the Slow Food movement there, he, starting at the Slow Food university as one of their first students just months after I left to come home. Since completing that incredible three-year science of gastronomy course he has gone on to work with Alice Waters at her Berkley base, even coordinating the creation of the White House kitchen garden with Michelle Obama – I KNOW!! And now he is a food and travel writer for Conde Naste Traveller, Vogue Living, the NY Times and many more publicaitons. He has a lot to say about using social media well and with authenticity and not worrying about how many followers you have, but rather the calibre of followers you have.
Thank you so much everyone for listening in to this episode. We hope you listened, enjoyed and took something useful away from the experience! And as always, we finish up with a beautiful song, this one written and performed by none other than our co-host Holly Manning.