Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Suls.
Chelsea, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I actually started What’s Chels Eating from my boyfriend’s couch while I was bored watching football one Sunday. I was beginning to find my own style in the kitchen at the time and I was constantly taking pictures of my food when going out to eat in San Diego, so posting on Instagram naturally felt like the next logical step.
That said, I’ve always been drawn to the way that food brings people together. Growing up, I loved helping my mom bake the recipes her grandmother shared with her, and standing in as my Italian grandmother’s assistant while she spent hours making our family meatball and sugo recipe. Our family was big on sharing stories over a meal at the dinner table, something I regularly facilitate with friends in my adult life, too. Fostering this same feeling of community is paramount to me when it comes to sharing my favorite recipes, kitchen hacks, and discovering new restaurants.
At its core, my brand is all about inspiring others to be creative in the kitchen, have fun with food, and enjoy a little bit of everything. So what began as a desire to post pictures of my meals under the pretext of needing something to occupy my time on NFL Sundays has since evolved into a genuine love of sharing my everyday eats and supporting local businesses.
While things have changed since I first started my page–I’ve since become a 49ers fan, and that boyfriend and I got married–what you see on Instagram and TikTok is a true reflection of my philosophy of enjoying good food with authenticity in my corner of the internet.
My family meatball recipe, however, will remain off limits… 🙂
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Finding time for recipe development, testing, and figuring out my filming style while working full time has definitely been a balancing act! I’d say consistency has been my biggest challenge, but it’s getting easier with repetition. At the start of this year, I made an intentional shift to build a deeper relationship with my audience, understand what kind of content they want to see from me, and let those insights inform my path forward. So as my brand continues to grow, engaging with my audience and other local businesses has been equally insightful in that regard as it is rewarding. And I’m having a lot of fun, too. That’s really the larger shift that I’ve made: bringing the carefree elements back into social media while still staying true to my values and continuing to serve my audience with content they can relate to and trust.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I lead a Brand marketing team at a software company in the e-commerce space, and my background is in media and digital advertising. I spent the first five years of my career at agencies in San Diego and then made the jump to the brand side because I started to feel limited in how much I was able to help my clients while in a partnership function. I wanted to have a direct impact on growing a brand, and I was ready to sink my teeth into creative storytelling and brand strategy.
One of the reasons I love What’s Chels Eating is because it’s a genuine intersection of my personal and professional life. It’s been incredibly enjoyable to have a creative outlet that’s allowed me to leverage my marketing expertise while building the foundations of my own brand. What’s Chels Eating is in its infancy, but I’m really excited about the possibilities and different directions I want to take my brand. It’s uncharted territory for me on a personal level, but that’s the part that’s really fun.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I was a really picky eater growing up! I basically didn’t eat any vegetables until I got to college and I vividly remember Thanksgiving dinners where my plate consisted of mashed potatoes, dry turkey breast, and a dinner roll. I can’t remember how or when I course-corrected, but my passion for sharing food and trying new restaurants probably stemmed from years of exclusively eating chicken tenders for lunch.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatschelseating/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@whatschelseating?lang=en
