We had the good fortune of connecting with Shauntay Parrish and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shauntay, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking has played a major part in my life and career. I took a risk by applying for jobs in a city I had never visited, and when I got the job, I leased an apartment online without even physically seeing it. That is how I ended up in Dallas. In my business The Glam Kitchen, I took a risk 2 months after starting my blog by making and selling an eBook. I had barely even gotten comfortable with recipe writing but God put it on my heart to release a recipe eBook to monetize. I had no idea if anyone would buy it, but now that I am a year and half in and completing my 4th eBook -I can see that risk being a stepping stone into building my income for my blog. I am so grateful that I took those risk. I believe that taking risk and having faith is essential in life and business. I would rather say “I tried and it did not work” rather than “I wonder what would’ve happened if I did that “.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is called The Glam Kitchen and, on that platform, I share information through my blog www.theglamkitchen.com. I share Free recipes and also sell recipe eBooks to my audience and my goal is to improve millennials comfort levels in the kitchen. Cooking can be fun, therapeutic, and bring a lot of pride -and that is what I showcase to my audience. Through my social media I also share tips and tricks in the kitchen and answer a lot of cooking questions that my audience may have. I think that authenticity and creativity is what sets me apart from others. I am vulnerable with my audience and candidly share things from my personal life with my audience. I do not portray to be something I’m not on social media, what they get on the blog and on social media is what anyone who knows me in real life gets. I am most proud about being able to impact the lives of others everyday as well as make an income from my passion. It just doesn’t get any better than that. I think that I got to where I am today business wise by prayer, following Gods voice, and consistency. I pray about everything before I do it and I remain consistent with my business. I also have a quality over quantity approach to creating content, and that is the method I will continue to choose. The internet is very noisy and a lot of people think that putting out more content will increase your views and likes. I think different, I believe that putting out less -but high-quality content is what impacts your social media and website. It definitely was not easy getting my business to where it is today. No one tells you about the loneliness and doubt that follows you on your blogging journey. It can be lonely because you are always working on content and can’t really share your website struggles a lot because people don’t understand the behind the scenes of blogging. And it can be full of doubt because on social media you are flooded with other influencers who may be doing better than you and it may make you doubt what you are putting out. I overcome those 2 things with prayer and trust in God honestly. If I keep my mind on God, he will keep me at peace. Whenever I feel lonely, I make sure I reach out to my group of friends to vent and rant and when I feel doubt, I also read scriptures about faith or watch a sermon on YouTube. The lessons I have learned up to this point are – Content is king and Stay in your lane. Content is the most important thing in the blogging world in my opinion. By making sure you put out great content, your blog page views, follower count, and engagement will take care if it itself. And by staying in your lane you are committing to focus on your path and your pace. It is very easy to get sidetracked by what everyone else is doing, but that takes you away from your goals. Stay focused on your business goals- what anyone else is doing does not add anything to your end goals or bottom line. I would like the world to know that my brand is not cookie cutter, but authentic and full of love. When you visit The Glam Kitchen, you are getting recipes written, tested and photographed by me. When you reach out to me for questions, I answer every DM and email. I genuinely love cooking and sharing recipes with the world and I think that love flows through into the blog and my social media. I would want them to know that The Glam Kitchen brand exist out of genuine love for cooking, not solely for monetizing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I absolutely love the Canvas hotel rooftop bar so I would take them there for drinks, I would also take them to my favorite spa – The Texas spa castle, and of course I would cook them a meal in The Glam Kitchen. Usually the family and friends that visit me do not want restaurant food lol they want me to cook the food they see on the blog and on my social media

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my beautiful and loving mother Dorothy, my Dallas bishop TD Jakes, and various podcast and books that I have read in the past 2 years. My mother is hands down the most supportive person in my life. She is always down to listen to my crazy ideas and claps harder than me for my accomplishments. My bishop TD Jakes is one of the reasons I’m in Dallas, I have followed him since 2016 and he delivers the word of God like no one else and speaks to my Life situations like no one else can. My shoutout also goes to various podcast. Patrice Washington, Myleik, and the Food Blogger Podcast have all been essential to my growth as a woman and business owner.

Website: Www.theglamkitchen.com
Instagram: @theglamkitchen