068: From Hustle to Harmony: Finding Passion and Peace with Naomi Smith

From Burnout to Brave Boundaries with Naomi Smith

Have you ever looked at your calendar and thought, “No wonder I feel so tired”?

What if your creativity is not asking you to do more, but to care more for yourself? In this episode of The Savory Shot, Mika sits down with Naomi Smith, a multi-passionate art director, food stylist, prop stylist, and film director who has built a meaningful creative career with heart, courage, and strong boundaries.

Meet Naomi Smith

Naomi started in photography and grew into a sought-after stylist and director, working across commercials, film, and editorial projects. Her path is full of grit, curiosity, and a deep commitment to learning from every experience.

What You’ll Hear In This Episode

Naomi shares how years of nonstop hustling led to burnout and how the pandemic became a turning point for her health, mindset, and work habits. She talks about:

• Learning to say “no” with confidence
• Using food, rest, and movement to support her body
• Building a flexible, prepared kit for set life
• Speaking up, asking better questions, and reflecting after every shoot

This conversation is a gentle invitation to create a career that feels sustainable, joyful, and aligned.

___

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Instagram: @naomismith_

LinkedIn: @naomismith

 

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the 68thepisode of the Savory Shot.
The podcast where we talk about theart and soul of food photography.
I'm your host with the most Mica McCook.
I'm a food photographer outhere in Austin, Texas where

(00:22):
the barbecue is smoking.
The light's got attitude, and I'mjust out here powered by espresso
shots and last minute miracles.
Before we jump into today'sdelicious episode, I got to start
the show off by saying thank youto my day ones, my ride or dies.

(00:46):
The ones who have been heresince episode one dropped.
Y'all are the secret sauce, thesparkle, and the reason I keep showing
up with the mic and a messy heart.
Y'all are the wheels thatkeep this show rolling.

(01:06):
Okay, that was corny.
I'm sorry.
I'm gonna blame it on the coffee.
I'm full of espresso this morning.
So, uh, brace yourself.
If this is your first time listening,welcome, welcome to The Hot Mess Express.

(01:29):
We don't always know what we'redoing, but we're doing it with heart.
Probably a cocktail or coffee in hand,and we're laughing the whole time.
Anyway, glad you're here.
Thanks for giving this tinylittle podcast a chance.

(01:49):
I hope you enjoy the show.
Feel free to email me, send me a DM.I'm always open to suggestions on how
to make this a better show for you.
Alright, y'all, let'stalk about today's guest.
I'm joined by the oneand only Naomi Smith.

(02:11):
Naomi is an art director, foodstylist, prop stylist, film director.
Basically, if it's creative andcomplicated, Naomi's doing it
and making it look effortless.
Let me tell y'all somethingabout this episode.
This was a fun one.

(02:32):
I laughed so much in this interview,but what I loved most was how real
we got about what it's like to lead acreative career when you are burnt out,
stretched thin, and questioning whatthe heck you're doing with your life.

(02:54):
Naomi opens up about saying yesto stuff that didn't serve her.
I know some of y'all know allabout that and can relate to that.
Naomi opens up about saying yes to stuffthat didn't serve her, and I know some
of y'all listeners can relate to that.

(03:16):
She also talked about the messybut beautiful journey of learning
to say no with confidence.
Learning to say no with your chest.
We talk about why rest is partof the work, even when your
to-do list says otherwise.

(03:37):
Have any of y'all putrest in your task list?
I haven't.
She talks about how directing herown shoots changed everything.
My favorite part, we talked about thedeep soulful connection between food
and healing and what unfolds when youquit shrinking, quit people pleasing,

(04:03):
and finally, let your voice takeup the space it's been begging for.
I'm excited to get this show started.
I don't think there'sanything left to say.
If you're not hooked by this point, thenboo, I don't know what to tell you, but
I will say, before we get into all thatjuicy goodness, grab your coffee, a pen

(04:27):
and paper, and let's start the show.
Well, welcome to the Savory Shot, abiweekly show about the art and soul
of working and food photography.
I'm your host, Mica McCook.
Every other Wednesday I sit down tochat with professionals in the industry.
So that you feast on only the besttips and strategies in the business.

(04:52):
Alright, t, let's get started.
Naomi, thank you so, so much forcoming on the show on the Savory Shot.
I'm so excited to have you here.
So welcome to what I like tocall the Hot Mess Express.

(05:13):
Thank you for having me.
I'm very excited about this conversation.
Oh man, I am too.
I mean, right before we hit therecord button, I was like, oh
man, I could talk to you all day.
Like, this is like cafe style.
Let's go have lunch andwe're gonna be here.
We're gonna close out the restaurantand talk all the fun stuff.
But I wanna jump right into this.

(05:35):
You are the literal definition ofa multi creative, like you've got
so many hats on and I love it.
But you started out with theBFA in Photography and you are
now film director, art director.
How did these worlds of photography,styling and directing, how do each

(05:58):
fit in your life at this moment?
So when I was younger at 18, Ireally didn't know what to do, but
I knew I wanted to go to art school,and of course when you go to art
school, you have to choose a major.
I thought photography wouldbe one of those things.
I also really loved capturingmemory of a moment or a situation.

(06:18):
Just doing all the assignments incollege was very fulfilling for me.
And because I had to style my wholeportfolio and doing all these assignments
from the different professors I had.
I thought it was very exciting.
I think that's really kind of wheremy art direction, prop styling,
food styling all came from is itreally just started from college.
And when I graduated from college,I really didn't know what to do.

(06:42):
So I was one of those peoplethat cold called a lot.
And I also kept track of whoI was cold calling and whether
people would give me a chance.
So I was a photo assistant for up to sixyears while I was a photo assistant, I was
PAing reality shows and TV shows on top.

(07:03):
YouTube was blooming.
So I was helping out with my friendson their YouTube channels and
just creating like little comedysketches for the local theaters.
And it was all free exceptthe PA stuff was paid and like
the photo assistance was paid.
The other big thing was since my BFAwas in photography and advertisement

(07:26):
focused on food and beverage, Ireally wanted to get into food.
And I did shoot a lot backthen with just various events.
Mostly my bread and butter was events,but I really wanted to shoot food.
And I learned really quickly in Atlanta,there weren't a lot of people doing that.
And those that did do it did it reallywell, and there wasn't really room for

(07:48):
more food photographers back in 2013.
Like you just didn't think of it.
Social media was not heavily used atthat time, and restaurants probably
only worked with people they knewor that was referred to them.
So I knew that already itwas gonna be very hard.
So I started reaching out to foodstylists that I was coming across

(08:12):
on LinkedIn, or if I Googled them,food stylists that were just around.
And a few of them gave me a chance.
I worked at the Fratellistudio back in the day.
I worked with the food stylist,James Herring and Charlene Perry.
They're both retired now.
But I worked with a couple of foodphotographers, Brian, uh Woodcock

(08:34):
and Calvin Lockwood and a couple ofother food photographers back then.
And I really loved it.
But it was hard because like my main foodstylist I worked with was Charlene Perry.
During that time, I exclusively,mostly worked for her for styling,
and I never grew outside of her.

(08:57):
And when she got sick, Iwasn't fully developed yet.
And then when she had to takea leave for up to two years, I
didn't know what to do with myself.
And I said, never again willI put all of my eggs in one
basket working for one person.
And that's when I fell intothe film industry and the
movie industry was booming.

(09:18):
I knew I could be an art directorand leading stylist in design,
production, design and starteddoing that on top of commercials.
So I was always bouncing betweencommercials and TV shows, whatever
job, because I was hustling hardat 20, I really just needed to pay

(09:39):
my bills and build up a resume.
And so I just kept using my contacts and,and reaching people out was like, hey, if
you need anyone, I'm down to collaborate.
If you need someone for a shoot, I'mdown to photos assist, I'm down to
PA. I PA'd six different departments.
This learning because like whenyou're straight out of college,

(10:00):
you know some things, but youalso don't know the real world.
And I learned really fast in orderfor me to build up something.
I had to learn from professionalsand I had to give the chance to not
be the know-it-all, but to absorbwhat I was learning on a job and
hope and prayed that people likedmy personality, liked who I was, and

(10:23):
kept bringing me on to other things.
And that's how I really developed.
So most of what I wasdoing was all by referrals.
And this is the network.
When you're in the editorial world,the commercial world, the film world,
everything is a people's relationship.
And you have to be building thoserelationships, keep communication,

(10:46):
and also be on your best behavior,stay professional the entire time
because anything you do, people willremember you, whether good or bad,
and you wanna keep getting jobs.
So you wanna also always be open,but it's absolutely okay if you
don't get along with everyone.
Oh yeah, for sure.
And something you mentioned earlier thatI just had to snap my fingers to is, is

(11:09):
not having all of your eggs in one basket.
If the pandemic taught me anything,it was to have a backup plan for
the backup plan and just to have myfinger in a couple of other projects,
other couple of ways of bringing inan income in case this doesn't work.

(11:31):
How do you stay open to creativeopportunities that come your way
without feeling burned out or withoutlosing focus on the opportunities that
you're already currently working on?
That is a very good questionand that is something I recently
learned and the answer is when Iwas younger I got burnt out a lot.

(11:52):
'Cause I wanted opportunity.
I was constantly seeking it.
I would never let myself breathe.
But now being 35 and being moreunderstanding of the world opportunities.
I think what taught me how to notburn myself out was the pandemic.
Taking a step back, appreciating whatyou have, your world, your hobbies,

(12:19):
seeing your friends and family, andknowing where your support network is.
Also, I think for me, I needed therapy andI'm not sure if everyone needs therapy,
but for me, I needed someone that I couldtalk to so I wouldn't put it on my friends
or family or loved ones, and I feltthat was a very healthy habit I created.

(12:41):
Daily exercise, kept me from reallybeing pushed over as well, and also
keeping my body strong, staying hydrated.
I am all about using food tonurture my body and I definitely
educated myself on this.
I really am very mindful ofwhat I put in my body and what

(13:03):
I don't eat when I'm working.
And what I can eat when I'm not working.
I also have taken away a lot of foods inmy life that cause me to have brain fog.
Like for example, my bodydoesn't really like fried food.
I always enjoyed it.
Don't get me wrong.
Fried food is great.
I'm from the south, but it makes mevery tired and I always knew that.

(13:25):
So when I'm working, I don't eat anythingfried, and I only treat it as a treat.
I don't eat it all the time.
I even once every eat it,every once in a while.
I didn't take it away completely,but the things I did take away
completely was I don't have any sodas.
That is something that Ifelt like I needed to do.
And when I was in college, I drank alot of coffee, like a lot of coffee.

(13:48):
I think I destroyed my body likeeight to 10 cups a day for four years.
Wow.
Yeah.
Like that was not healthy.
I don't recommend that to anybody.
I mean, I was right up there with you andI was a heavy smoker, so creative fields
just kind of land in those kinds of vices.
And so I took away coffee, caffeine, andI learned from my personality and my body

(14:13):
and mindset, if I wanted to stay focusedand organized, I needed to find another
way to help me focus, not rely on coffee.
I still drink caffeine to a degree.
It's green teas primarily, but not everyday and not even past four cups in a day.
I actually stop drinking caffeine entirelyafter 2:00 PM and I rely on fruits.

(14:36):
I rely on my supplement.
If I get a little groggy rightaround two, I take a B complex
vitamin that really helps.
I carry around my water bottlethat has some electrolytes in it.
I always have lemon water withme with a little bit of mint
leaves and a sprinkle of sea salt.
I'm gonna tell you that doeskeep you energized 100%.

(14:58):
So, yeah, I retrained my body duringthe pandemic, and I'm the healthiest
version of me now, and I stoppedburning out as much because I started
taking care of myself and beingmindful of food, exercise, hydration.
And if I know that I'm gonna have abusy week, I try not to stack up on

(15:18):
too much in my schedule, and I know Ineed time to decompress in the evening.
So that is something that it's like,yes, you're gonna have opportunities.
Don't ever think that you won'tget this opportunity again.
If someone wants to work with you, they'regonna keep reaching out, or you can just
follow up with them later and be like,Hey, I can't work with you right now.
But I can work with you onthis week or in this month.

(15:42):
Let's get together andwork and collaborate.
And I think that's it.
Like don't ever think like youwon't have this opportunity again.
I think when I was younger I alwaysthought that this opportunity will never
come and I like really like made ittoo dramatic and really it wasn't that.
No, I mean you're dead on.
I remember my twenties just feelinglike I had to constantly be moving

(16:06):
and hit the ground running andthat you sleep when you're dead.
And I was one of the many who fellinto the trap of like girl boss.
And if you're tired, you work anywayand you work through, you burn the
midnight oil and that type of thing.
And I feel like now that I'mentering into my forties.
I'm all about the self-care andknowing like if I'm not right, then

(16:29):
I'm creatively not gonna be right.
So I'm gonna take a minute to go domy creams, put my skincare lotion
on, and, and make sure I get agood sleep because the next day I
need to be on top of everything.
And yeah man, I'm right there with you.
I love that so much.
And I think this is a goodsegue into my next question.

(16:53):
As creatives, we often needdifferent outlets to like feed
different parts of like who we are.
What creative outlets otherthan the styling and directing
photography nourish you?
And what part of Naomido they each light up?
So every year, my partner and I,Justin and I, he and I create a

(17:18):
budget of where we wanna travel.
So we always plan outwhere we wanna travel.
We don't travel in a luxury way, like wedon't wanna go over a certain mountain.
We are there and like I recentlycame back from Denmark, I
highly recommend it to anyone.
It's a beautiful country.
Try to explore more ofDenmark than just Copenhagen.
We went to two cities, Copenhagenand Aarhus, and then we took a

(17:42):
plane to Amsterdam and that was ashort trip of seven, seven or eight
days, like including travel days.
So that was really nice.
Traveling to me definitely feeds my soul.
Though we can't do it often when Iam traveling, no matter where I go,
I wanna explore not only the foodthat's in that country, but the
culture and then the art history.

(18:06):
What feeds my soul isalways being curious.
And even in Atlanta here whenthere's new exhibitions, one of my
goals around the country, if thecountry has a botanical garden.
I love gardens.
I love flowers and plants, andI love to see the different
botanical gardens around the world.
So that is something that I love to do.

(18:27):
And then if I'm in a mountainousregion, I try to always do one
hike, one or two hikes as well.
That's another thing I really enjoy doing.
I know with hiking you can paceyourself, but you can also see the
scenery and really immerse yourself inthe land of wherever you're traveling.
Some of the places that I've traveled,I think I really got that from my mom.

(18:48):
'Cause my mom used to takeme to see, visit her friends
in New York or California.
She had friends in Torontoand I had family in Hong Kong.
So I was lucky that I got a chance toexperience Hong Kong when I was younger.
I had visited thereeight times in my life.
Sure.
It's very different now 'cause I haven'tvisited Hong Kong in a long time, but I

(19:11):
think last time I went was 2016, so thatwas the last time I was in Hong Kong.
It's a big metropolis city, so it'sconstantly changing, so I might not
even recognize it when I go back.
What I also like to do if it'snot involving like money is what
I like to do at home is read.
I really enjoy reading, whether I'mreading fantasy, whether I'm reading

(19:36):
nonfiction, or even just learningnew recipes from my favorite chefs
that had just released, releasedtheir books and just constantly
working on skills in the kitchen.
Not only being a good stylist on set,but actually also being a good cook.
Like knowing how things are doneand knowing the differences between

(19:56):
styling for camera and then stylingand eating at home and cooking for
yourself or cooking for your loved one.
And I am naturally verycurious person, avid learner.
So if I don't know something, I'm gonnago out of my way to go and learn it.
Oh, I love that.
I love that.
Oh, that right there with thetraveling that you do, I bet.

(20:20):
Seeing like how other restaurantslike present their dishes.
What is the local produce like over there?
Like I know all of that contributes towhen you're on set and you're styling
for a brand that's based in anothercountry or based in another region of
the country, like just having exposure toall of those different cultures, I feel

(20:44):
like that's feeding into your career.
Am I right when I say that?
Yes, you're absolutely right.
Since I have a degree that focusedon advertisement and marketing,
the first thing when a productioncompany or an agency reaches out
to me and they want my services.
When it comes to food styling andprop styling, the first thing I

(21:06):
ask is, do we have a color palette?
Do we need to focus on branding colors?
Does the food also need to tie into that?
What season is this gonna be shown?
Is this year round or is it goingto be for spring, summer, winter?
When will it be released?
And is there anything I need to avoid?

(21:26):
Anything that might be a competitionin other brands and things of that.
We know that California advertisescompletely different from New York.
That's completely different from Atlanta.
They're all different regions, and weknow that Chicago, Minneapolis also
advertise their food a little differently.
So also doing the research and alsoasking these questions to my client

(21:46):
to make sure that I'm doing thebest that I can by also doing my
research of what they have out there.
If the client says, we'rerebranding, we don't wanna use
anything that we had before.
They'll send me photos of referencesand be like, this is not what we
want to do, we want to do, andthen they send me images like this.

(22:07):
That's very, very helpful.
I find that if any clients are listening,having more mood boards of the do's and
don'ts and giving a more clear visionto your stylists, to your designers, to
your production companies is very, veryhelpful because then we can be like,
okay, I fully know we're gonna avoidthis tone, this color, this composition.

(22:30):
We're gonna upscale it, elevateit, or make it more farm to table.
Making it more connecting to theaudience, you know, completely
taking away that artificial lookand making it feel more genuine.
It's all about lighting andcomposition when it comes to editorial.
Or even with social media, likeI've done a lot of brands that are

(22:52):
more social media heavy now on theiradvertisements that they really push
their product on various platforms.
And of course I've worked on majorcampaigns for certain brands and
they're releasing a very specifictime, probably also with a celebrity.
So we'll probably see likehow is it gonna be approached?
Is there a dietary restrictionwith your celebrity?

(23:14):
How long do we have them for?
We have to be mindful oftiming when we're in shoots.
Like if we have the celebrity for atmost five hours, everything has to be
ready, they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.
And then we do the beauty shotsafterwards and maybe a hand model is
similar skin tone of the celebrityand then they left and then we keep
continue shooting after they leave.

(23:36):
There's a lot of thingsto think about with that.
Earlier you said something andI jumped and praised on it, but
I do wanna touch on it again.
About, if you don't know how to dosomething, you go out and learn it.
For creatives who don't have thatperspective or operate from that
perspective, what would you say tothem to like try to change their
mind to adopt that perspective?

(23:58):
Well, I would say there's alwaysmore than one way to do something.
My methods might not work for everyone,but staying creative and curious is
an important aspect of any career.
If you wanna be successful, you wannabe promoted, you wanna keep moving up,
you want a more diverse portfolio withbetter clients, you have to know what is,

(24:20):
I hate this word, but what's trending,what's not trending anymore, and also
not worry about who's looking at you.
Also, still being mindful, just be you.
Don't oversell yourself.
Find your style and if you like somethingso much, people are also gonna be
attracted to you because of your passion.

(24:41):
People do generally gravitate towardsthe people that are avid learners
and that they are curious andthey're asking the right questions.
'Cause you don't wanna work with someonethat only wants to push it their way
or only their way, and that's it.
There's no way, like nobody wannawork with that because it's so rigid.

(25:02):
And sometimes when you're onset, whether motion or stills,
sometimes the magic comes fromsomething that's not planned either.
And you're flexible.
You stay flexible in the changes thatis happening through your talent and
models through, oh, let's try this.
Sometimes a client will chime in, be like,can we try this and see how it works out.

(25:25):
And you're not sticking to the schedule,but you're being like, okay, I'm open to
this shot and let's just see how it goes.
And I think that's always important,being flexible, being creative and leaning
towards what your client really wants.
'Cause sometimes they don'tautomatically know what they want.
They have an idea and you're there toguide them and help them getting the

(25:48):
best version of their product, whateverproduct it may be, food, beverage,
anything that is for advertisement.
In marketing, you want the best version,and that's how you're gonna keep getting
hired is always putting them first, butalso staying creative, knowing what's
out there, not copying someone else'sstyle, but being like, okay, I haven't

(26:11):
seen the client use this kind of method.
Let's try it and see how they feel.
Give three options, combine onewith your idea, another one with
their idea, and then a combinationof their idea and your idea.
Oh, I like that a lot.
And I like the idea of like being an acreative person or just a curious person.

(26:36):
I definitely say that photographersneed to be open and go, let's give
it a shot or let's try it out.
And if you don't like it, youdon't have to do it anymore.
You mentioned that you love solvingproblems creatively, especially
when you're in an environmentwhere your ideas are truly valued.
And when you're in an environment, likein a photo shoot, it is a high, it can

(27:00):
be a high pressure situation, and youdo have to solve problems really fast
and you have to think on your toes.
I mean like,, my background intheater prepared me for being a
photographer on a commercial set.
I do not freak out when things go wrong.
I feel like I just zone in andI'm like, okay, let's do this.

(27:20):
Theaters taught me that anythingthat can go wrong will go wrong.
And so you have to like think on the spotof like, how am I gonna solve this problem
in front of all these people and not havethem know that something is going wrong?
And I feel like that makesme a creative problem solver.
So in your eyes, what makes someonea strong creative problem solver?
What ticks on boxes should theypossess on like a mental, or what

(27:45):
ticks should they possess on a mentalchecklist for solving problems?
Ooh, a mental checklist.
Well, I have a lot of toolsthat help me solve problems.
So I always bring as much as I can to set.
Like, I feel like I bring half mylife with me on a job because I always
think, well, what if I need this?
What if I need that?
I have it, whether I use it or not.

(28:06):
It's a part of my kit.
And whether or not the, like thereis a kit fee for every stylist.
There's a kit fee for photographers,there's a kit fee, your equipment.
So I always try to bring as much as I can.
With stylist, I have a lot of tools.
I make sure I have a cutting board.
I have various knives.
I have various tweezersizes and length sizes.

(28:28):
I have pins and was it toothpicks?
Although I prefer the pins becausethey really can hold the structure
of the food from sinking too much.
You also want various bowl sizes,so if you know that the food isn't
going to be interactive too much,like let's just say you're dressing
a salad and no one's touching it,you don't want that salad to sink in.

(28:49):
You want a cup that will fit into yourhero bowl to be in the center of it,
and then you can put the salad on there.
The other most common tool I use is eithermasa or instant potatoes, creating the
structure and not letting it sink in.
So there's always gonna be differentproblems when it comes to food

(29:11):
with art, direction and design.
When I'm on set, I make sure Ihave various tools, assorted tape.
My knowledge on adhesive is so wide,I won't get into it, but knowing how
to solve anything through adhesive,through like for food styling, I have

(29:31):
always been asked for dulling spray andfishing line that I just keep it on me
now because it's so commonly requeststhat I'm like, if I have it, I need it.
And as well as making sure you havedifferent ways to cut things such as
scissors, or I also have a classic boxknife, or also have a pocket knife.

(29:52):
There's different waysto cut things as well.
You have a utility, scissors on top ofyour food grade, scissors, and you always
have gloves if you're going to evertry to sell as much in front of people.
You wanna wear gloves,especially if you know that your
talent is going to be eating.
But you also have to ask yourproduction, your AD or your client.

(30:15):
Is the talent ever gonnabe eating anything?
If they say no, be mindfulof it, but also be prepared.
They might eat it on camera as a backupshot, or at the end of the day they
did all of their shots and they wannatry this shot that wasn't discussed.
So you're gonna have to just be flexible.
So yeah, I put everything inclear bins for myself as I can.

(30:39):
I have everything properly labeledand that helps me find things quickly.
Or if I hire assistant that I'mnot completely familiar with
and they don't know my kit, thateverything is properly labeled.
So I would say that's veryhelpful of solving any problem.
You know where it is, youknow how to describe it to
your assistant, to your team.
If you need help with anythingmentally, to stay alert and

(31:04):
to problem solve quickly.
It is by experience, but it's also aby sense of urgency, paying attention.
Looking around listening, makingsure you know everyone's at least
first name, what they do and howcan they help you solve the problem.
As much as how can you don't alwaystry to do everything yourself.

(31:25):
If you need assistance, speak.
If you are worried about somethingsafety wise, speak like don't hold it in.
Don't be mean about it.
Just being like, Hey, you pulledthe AD aside, the assistant
director, and be like, Hey, I justwant you to be mindful of this.
Just suggesting if the food mightbe too hot or you know, there will

(31:47):
be a flame exposed when it comes toone of my torches, torching, some
of the food, things of that nature.
There are things that you do need tobe mindful of and that you communicate
thoroughly so everyone around youknows, and they're not stunned when
they see you solving a problem.
And sometimes you justhave to think on your feet.

(32:08):
I would say the reason why I cansolve problems quite quickly is just
by experience and also keeping trackof what works, writing it down and
at the end of the shoot, analyze anddebrief for yourself how it went.
Understand like, oh, Idid do this really well.
Or maybe at the end of the jobyou can also ask like, hey, you

(32:29):
know, like what was the day like?
I'm sure it was wild and crazy.
And if you hear other people saying,you did a great job, or on X, Y,
and Z, be mindful of it and tryto bring it onto the next job.
Oh man.
Never take criticism badly.
Like if someone's criticizing youpositive or negative, take it in

(32:51):
and seeing what can you do to be thebest version of you professionally.
Ah.
I love, love that so much.
Have there ever been moments whereyou reflected on a shoot or anything
that happened and went, I couldhave done that a little bit better.
How did you push past that?

(33:12):
I mean, I'm always very hard onmyself, so I'm always going to
be like, oh, I need to do better.
Whether the shoot went well or not, Ialways put myself up here and I'm be like,
I want to be that best version of me.
And I know I could sometimescould have done better.
Maybe I needed to be more organized.
Maybe I needed to be more outspoken.

(33:34):
Maybe I should have sent out an emailof more of a breakdown of the shots.
Sometimes when you get a breakdown ofthe shot list from the director, the
DP, or even the photographers, theydon't always stick to it, and then it's
kind of like, oh, are we winging it nowand we're not sticking to a structure.

(33:55):
I like structure, it does help, butthat's not always gonna be the case.
There are more than 90% of my job.
They don't always stick to the structurethat was already created because of
time, because of talent, because oflocation, or because of sunlight or rain.
Anything could happen thatcould interfere with the shoot.

(34:17):
I would say in general, some ofthe jobs I've done are really
hard, especially now when I'mdealing with more high-end clients.
More high end the client and the morestressful it will be with more people
involved that you have to delegate to.
Like I just did an ISO peer joband that brand hasn't worked

(34:39):
with a lot of agencies yet.
The agency itself was great, but Iwould say overall it was challenging
because I think maybe the client wasn'tfully familiar of how everything works.
So that was a little bit of a challenge.
But also I would say our location wasa little bit challenging on my end.
Maybe my styling wasn't thatclose to the main shooting area.

(35:02):
That was another challenge.
Also, meeting everyone first time,and I was completely unfamiliar
with all the team and I've neverworked with any of these people.
But granted there were a lotof jobs that are still new,
but I wasn't in any meetings.
I only had one point of contactand that was also unusual for me.

(35:26):
Because like I felt need to ask morequestions and I felt like my one appointed
in contact wasn't really answering them.
And I would say that was the mostchallenging part because I was between
my agency who got the job for meand then their agency on top of the
production company, on top of the brand.

(35:48):
There was just moving parts to this.
And I didn't wanna go over my agencyby trying to reach out to these people.
So I didn't.
But when I got onlocation, it was chaotic.
It was very chaotic.
It was, they did not getevery shot that they wanted.
I sometimes felt stuck not beingable to solve the problem properly.

(36:09):
And then my agency debriefed me at the endof the shoot asking how can they improve?
And I gave them a whole list of thingsthat I would be like, well, next time
when someone approaches you, these arethe questions that need to be asked.
And if they can't answer them, likewe have to keep that in mind that
it's going to be chaos if they can'tanswer even these first 10 questions.

(36:31):
And that means they don'thave a clear vision.
And then we also know that they're gonnabe also very difficult to work with.
Oh man.
Something you said earlier that needshighlighting is you said speak up, speak
up, speak up respectfully, but speak up.
What are questions that a foodstylist, prop stylist should ask their

(36:55):
photographer or their agent beforewalking into a shoot to help them
be better prepared for something?
Like three questions that they should ask.
Oh, three questions.
Oh man.
Yeah, 'cause I knowthere's a lot of questions.
So let's Ooh to three.
I think three would be agood, good starting point.
So if you are any sort of stylist,whether hair, makeup, props, food,

(37:20):
our direction, you want to askright away what is your day rate?
Is it a 10 hour day oris it a 12 hour day?
You need to know.
'Cause generallycommercially it's 10 hours.
And for film andtelevision it's more so 12.
But there are also with contracts,like for my agency that represents
me, anything over 10 is now OT andmost shoots usually go past 10.

(37:45):
On average, I would say the mostcommon number is 12 to 13, including
the wrap out at the end of the shoot.
So what is your dayrate and do you get OT?
That's a good thing that you need to know.
The other thing is, has the locationsbeen secure and is there anything
I need to be mindful of when Iarrive and where will I be placed?

(38:09):
Sometimes you won't always knowwhere you'll be placed and you'll
know on the day of, and that's okay.
But for a couple of my jobs,I knew I needed six tables.
I'm styling the whole day.
I need a station where I'mgonna put my food and equipment.
I need a table to where I'm gonnaput all the produce at least two
to three tables of the produce ontop of I'm handling the product.

(38:31):
So that's at least two more tables onjust the client's product alone laid out.
So when they come over,they can look at everything.
You always wanna consider,where will I be placed?
Will there be tables provided?
I need to know these things.
I mean, those are, thatseems legitimate to me.
Is there overtime?
What's the day rate gonna be?

(38:52):
How long is the day gonna be?
Where are you gonna put me?
Put me in a dark dungeon in acorner where I have to run three
miles to get to set, or am I gonnabe like right there, you know?
Yeah.
And I try to opt for being as close aspossible to our main area where we're
shooting, and I heavily pushed for it.
You mentioned that your photographybackground gave you a deep understanding

(39:17):
of texture and color and composition.
How does that knowledge showup when you're styling food?
Walk us through how you see aplate before it gets to set.
So on bigger shoots, specifically, likebig campaign shoots for multi-brand
national or international, I'mworking with various departments.

(39:40):
If I'm working with a prop stylistand I'm the food stylist, I first ask
them what is our hero plate gonna be?
How many people will bepresent in this composition?
And then I'm dressing for.
The hero side.
If there's a hero side onthe plate, I consider it.
But I also try to be mindfulthat I dress one 20 of an angle.

(40:03):
Occasionally the director will tell methat it will be 360, and when I know it's
360, I have to allocate how long it'sgonna take me to style this plate of food.
And that usually sometimes doublesthe amount of time, depending on
how many plates I need to dressfor an entire spread of food.

(40:24):
For the composition, for a beauty shot,singular plate, it's not gonna be as bad.
But it also depends on the type of food.
Burgers and sandwiches do take longer.
Pasta, maybe not as longsalads, the quickest one.
Salads are probably ones for me.
Any sort of bite sized snacksthat's super quick, I think I

(40:45):
can style it pretty quickly.
Much more than like a burger or sandwichthat has a lot more textures and layers.
I've done Gordon Seafood for two yearsnow with a company local to Atlanta.
And so when you go to Costco orTarget all of the Gordon Seafood,
like I styled every single one.

(41:07):
So in five days, that was 192 shots.
Oh my gosh.
Oh, believe me, my brain hurtbecause I had to do between
14, 12 to 14 products in a day.
Tabletop.
Wow.
In 12 hours, two prep days was helpfulto see the product, see how it's

(41:29):
supposed to look, but luckily withthis product, with court and seafood
for example, they wanted it to feellike families can buy their product.
Their main clientele is family.
So with this product in particular.
I had to do more recipedevelopment and I was so thrilled
because I love creating recipes.

(41:51):
They gave me some inspirations on photosthey would like to create, but for my
styling, I essentially just was like,all right, let's see what's at the store.
Let's see what's in season.
'cause we were styling in thewinter, and I had to consider that
this is going to be year round.
This is gonna be shown year round.
So I have to really like, allright, what will kids eat?

(42:13):
And I had to ask them that.
All right, what's your most popularvegetable styled with your fish sticks?
What do you like in your composition?
Let's not just go for basicbroccoli or like peas and carrots.
What other vegetables should weconsider depending on where it shot?
The last thing I did is they justgot a contract with Sam's Club.

(42:35):
Their Sam's Club audience is entirelydifferent from Costco or Target.
So I have to consider arewhere are you gonna be placed?
Do you partner with other brands?
What food should we considersince it's frozen food?
'cause Gordon's is all frozen, howdo we make this the best it can be?
And the hardest thing about that productwas each item for all the seafood is I

(43:01):
had to make it the flakes of the fish.
All the packaging, there's flakesthat you see of the fish and I had
to take all these fish sticks apartand find the perfect flakes and
insert them into the fish sticks.
And I did that to every singleproduct and making it like beautiful.

(43:22):
So yes, that was probably pretty hard.
So there's a lot to dowith different clients.
Each client is gonna be differentwith a different type of challenge.
How long does it take?
It just varies depending on the food.
And you also have to considerwho you're working with.
Are you working with prop stylists, anart director, a production designer?

(43:42):
How close can you get to the director?
Will they know the answer?
If they don't know the answer,then you will go to the client.
But I have to respect the hierarchy.
I don't always go to the clientand I always go to the director
or the photographer first tosee if they know the answer.
And sometimes they'll pull meover with them and we all have

(44:03):
a conversation together of howcertain things will be presented.
Compositionally lighting their textureof what they prefer or don't prefer,
and of also color, making sure thecolor balances considering My favorite
class in college was color theory.
Really knowing your balance ofcolor, knowing those hues and what

(44:28):
is natural, what are colors thatwe don't wanna associate with food,
and what colors will really help.
Pop reds are always a great one.
Those bright greens for vegetables thathave been blanched is really nice texture.
With gorton, there was alwaysbreading different kinds of breading.
There's actually four types of breadingwith gorton, so we have to really

(44:49):
show texture in the food, and youalso want it to feel mouthwatering.
That is the most common thing withall the compositions I work with
is, do you wanna drink this product?
Do you wanna eat this product?
If that's yes to both, you did a greatjob and you're asking to keep working
on like, would you want to have this?
Does it feel like you wanna grabthat drink and drink it immediately?

(45:12):
Does it look so appetizing thatyou know people will love it?
You keep styling and styling and workingwith it, but also being mindful on time.
So I always carry my watch with meand also a backup charger just in
case anything happens and alwayswatching the clock very closely.
So if I tell the assistant directorthat I'm gonna style this in 10

(45:34):
minutes, try to style it right under10 minutes and that would be great.
And then they can take the shotand move on to the next thing.
Mm. I love that so much.
And something you said earlierthat I felt like was really good
to point out is just really payingattention to the small details.

(45:54):
And that has taught me to like bereally mindful about when I'm creating
photos, when I'm working with a stylist,what ingredients are they using when
I'm working with a prop stylist,what colors are they incorporating?
So I love that you highlighted that.
I have two more questionsthat I wanna ask you.
I feel like this next question you'll,you'll really like in the beginning when

(46:16):
I first started out, I had one camera.
I had one 50 millimeter.
I thought years from now I wouldhave all of this equipment, all
of this crap, all this stuff.
And in reality I have two lenses andthen anything else I need, I rent out.
I've spent my money onshit that I did not need.
My question for you is if you had $150to start a brand new styling kit from

(46:41):
scratch, what would you buy first?
What essentials arelike worth the splurge?
What can you DIY and find on the cheap?
If you had $150 and you're starting out,
woo.
That is hard one.
I have been there.
Okay, so this is my approach.
You create a spreadsheet ofwhat is more important for you.

(47:06):
And then you ask your friends andfamily for your birthdays and your
Christmas presents, what you reallywant that you can't get on your own.
I'm all for used equipment.
Sometimes I'll raid goodwill andother thrift stores of tools.
Those are great places to findsome really amazing tools for
my dinky little small hands.

(47:27):
I love small tools.
I love small tools.
They are fun.
They are very useful.
The first thing I would say forfood styling is having a good set of
food tweezers that you exclusivelyonly use for food and nothing else.
Take care of it, makesure it's good quality.

(47:48):
Mine came off of Amazon and I had anarray of different types of tools.
You can get the metallic kind.
I would prefer just stainless steel.
Don't try to get things thathave too much pattern on them.
Stainless steel is great and then maybe.
Create something at the topthat's a signature to your kit.

(48:08):
Maybe have something pink or bluelike a tape at the back of it.
You can start with something very simplebefore you try to brand your whole
kit and make sure nothing walks awayall of a sudden when you're working.
But yeah, tweezers, create alist of things that you want.
Always create our wishlist and seeif you really need it and maybe
see how someone else is using it.

(48:28):
The other thing is if you don't havetime to get stainless steel pins or craft
pins, that will help hold up structure.
Just use toothpicks for now.
Toothpicks is affordable and cheap.
It's very helpful.
The other thing is always havesomething that holds structure.
If you can't use pins or maybealso toothpicks might not

(48:52):
always work for every food.
So the next thing is instant potatoor masa the Masa powder that makes
tortillas either one of those work.
Add a little bit of water,bring a plastic bowl with you.
Dollar Store is great.
Dollar Store is great for a lot of things.
I always opt for bowls andplates that are not breakable.

(49:13):
So either it's enamel, stainlesssteel, or plastic, and that's okay.
You can start off with that.
Another goodwill find, if you wannago through goodwill and get a couple
things that might work for you.
Of course plastic does wear down andtear, but you have to build up how
you're gonna treat your equipment beforeyou wanna go into anything expensive.

(49:36):
I haven't talked about knives.
Knives are a little tricky.
If you are going to buy knives,what I would recommend is get a
knife sharpener, a cheap knife.
If you go to someone tosharpen it, you can sharpen a
cheap knife and make it work.
Absolutely.
If you're having a hard time gettingexpensive Knives and knives are great for

(49:58):
food stylists, but of course not everyonecan invest in knives right off the bat.
Not even chefs can do that whenthey are first coming out of school
because it's usually generally a gift.
So I would say find some cheap knivesand get them sharpened and try to sharpen
them weekly if you're using it that often.
And that keeps your knives sharp.

(50:18):
Always have gloves.
I don't like the powder in mygloves, so I just do vinyl gloves.
I order those off of Amazon.
Or you can also find them inchef stores around where you are.
Amazon's best because usuallyI just do the overnight gloves
if I need it right away.
Little eye eyedropper,plastic eyedrops, four sauces.

(50:39):
That's also very inexpensive.
And let's see, one other thing.
Oh, an apron.
You want an apron?
You don't want food all over your clothes.
I would say that's right out the max.
You probably have a little bit more room.
Honestly, if you're going throughDollar Store and Goodwill.
Oh, I love the Dollar Store.
The Dollar Tree, dollar Store Store.

(50:59):
That's like, that's my haunts.
Yeah, the Dollar Store can gethalf of your kit right there.
You can get there.
You can get a lot of hand tools, just likekitchen tools there and work with what you
have before you upgrade to something else.
'cause you wanna know how you'regonna treat your equipment before
you get something expensive.
Mm-hmm.
I know that's right.

(51:21):
I use, I mean, honestly, I use theDollar Tree to buy candy before I go
to a movie theater because I ain'tpaying $6 for a bag of m and ms I
could give for a dollar A Dollar Tree.
Exactly.
Is there a tool in your kit?
Maybe it's not in the kit anymore,but is there a tool that you've ever

(51:41):
bought that you thought would beuseful and that it turned out to be
the most useless thing you ever bought?
Hmm.
May.
Not for my kit, but more personal use.
Most things I buy for my kit.
I have grown my kit because of thementors I had and how they use it.
So now in my kit, thereisn't much that I don't use.

(52:04):
There are things I use more often, buteverything that's in my kit now from
fishing line, I definitely use that.
All the different powders, I keepassorted, aspired, seasonings.
Technically they're not reallyexpired, like salt and pepper don't
really expire, so I always havethat hanging out in my kid too.
Also banquet to darken our seasoned meat.

(52:28):
It's similar to soy sauce, but youcan paint it and make it darker,
you know, in areas of the meat thatyou want it to look more seasoned.
I always have a spray oil Pam.
I just use classic Pam thatmakes all of your food glisten.
Um, Pam's also an expensive,but you can also do off brand.

(52:48):
You don't have to use Pam.
I use Pam 'cause I like it, but there issome difference with the cheaper oils.
You don't want it to have a cast, likeyou just want it to have a sheen where
lighting is gonna capture some of thefood and make it feel like it just came
out of the oven even though it didn't.
And a spray bottle, I forgot mygood old various spray bottle.

(53:11):
I have four.
The most common one is a mistingspray, the one that you use in your
hair for like curls and stuff thatyou can get on Amazon and you missed.
You missed your fruit,you missed your salad.
You miss glassware.
You miss.
Your product when it comes to Coca-Colaproduct or anything that's a drink

(53:32):
that's refreshing or any cold juicethat I've used, I've always missed the
bottles or the glasses that they'rein to make it feel, oh, it just came.
It's like beautiful condensation withtexture and you have to consider that.
The items that I had at home thatI feel I didn't love is I don't
really use the avocado like Ibought it, like this avocado tool.

(53:55):
I didn't use it.
I still use a knife, a classicbutter knife, and then I use a
sharper knife to get the pit out.
Other than that, I don't use any ofthe avocado tools that are out there.
Everyone says it makesyour life easier here.
That is not true for me.
There are a bunch of liars.
Any tool that gets rid ofpits, I've bought them.

(54:19):
I don't use them.
Those tools are souseless, that pit thing.
I just watched a TikTok video ofsomeone chop putting the knife.
They did the little in the pit and thentook it out and I was like, oh, wow.
I don't need a tool for that.
I got a knife for that.
Oh, I just thought ofsomething else that's very

(54:39):
important for food styling kit.
Oh, please share.
So citric acid powder, the ones that youuse for pickling to help prevent bananas
from browning or apples from browningwhen they're sliced, even avocados.
Put that powder, the, themixture of powder and water.

(55:01):
And I also dunk all of the berries.
All berries go in this citric acidpowder for at least a few minutes,
and you take it out, you dry it, andthen it already, for the shoot, and
it doesn't brown, it doesn't wilt.
It's fine.
Oh my God.
That is life changing.
Yeah.
Secretary Aspen powder isdefinitely something that I use

(55:22):
very, very often and it's usedvery often in all shoes that I do.
Oh man.
Where do you get that?
I mean, you can get itoff of Amazon, right?
Or is it sold in grocery stores?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You can get it at any grocery store,usually where the mason jars are.
It's very helpful for anything that youdon't want to brown too quickly, and

(55:45):
that's how you can also keep your guacquite vibrant as well, is to add a little
bit of the citric acid powder with the,with it helps keep it from browning
because it's really preventing oxidation.
Oh man.
Dang.
We talking about thesoul and education today.
I freaking love this.
So I know I said I had twoquestions that I asked it to, but I

(56:07):
actually have one more these days.
With the creative outlets that youhave, the careers that you have.
What's calling to you the loudest?
What are you excited aboutworking on these days?
Hmm.
Well, I always love commercials becauseI think my brain from college has wired
me for advertisement and marketing,which also will never die in our world.

(56:32):
There's always something to sell.
There's always a product to sell.
There's always food to sell.
No one wants to see fake food.
We already seen fake food inthe eighties and nineties.
People want more natural ingredients.
People don't want this fake stuffthat we're seeing out there.
Like people ask me allthe time, is a food fake?

(56:52):
To a degree, yes.
I wouldn't eat it if it's been sittingout for eight hours on a camera
and like a thousand Hands havetouched it, and you're like.
Don't touch it.
You don't want that.
My favorite thing to create on-camerasmoothies is also, once again,
instant potato with like matchapowder in a blender and you make this

(57:14):
beautiful looking icy smoothie andthen you spray the glass with your
spritzer and it looks beautiful.
Or you know, I also uselike the bubble tea powders.
Like you can do those instant bubble teakits that you can find in the store, and
I use the powder and I add it to my mashedpotatoes to create vibrant smoothies.

(57:35):
I did that for the Bimbo commercialwith the famous soccer players is
primarily for the Hispanic market,but I created all these beautiful
drinks for this commercial.
But what I'm excited for, I've alwaysbeen excited about commercials, but I
mean, of course I would like to do moremovies of food styling for more movies.

(57:56):
I've done a few and I love them.
It's a different beast, but alsoworking on my own shoots with
photographers, creating morelifestyle shoots, challenging myself
on creating food that I haven'tgotten a chance to play with enough.
Like I wanna learn more about fakeice cream and making that stunning,

(58:17):
oh my God, that sounds like so much fun.
Yeah.
Looking at the CarVal shoots andtheir social media, I really love it.
I think it's beautiful.
I'm friends with one of theleading stylists for that
brand, and I love her design.
I'm like, okay.
She has spent a whilelearning fake ice cream.
That is something that Ifeel like I can learn, learn.

(58:37):
I've done fake cakes.
I've done a lot of fake cakes with Shaq.
I created three fake cakes, but thenthere was one section, which it was
all real, but the whole thing wasreal icing, so it was like styrofoam.
Covered with real icingand then decorated.
And then I had these three plates of cakethat he was trying on camera, the eye.

(59:00):
I made eight cakes the night before theshoot for the client carnival cruise.
Wow.
That is so cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And Shaq actually ate my cakes andloved it, and I was like, yes, he
enjoyed the cakes and I passed outall the cakes at the end of the

(59:21):
shoot because like cake is fine.
It can sit out a littlelonger than other foods.
And like, who doesn't like cake?
I think that's so coolthat Shaq ate the cakes.
And what did he think?
Did he liked them?
Right?
I'm assuming he liked them.
Yeah, you will see if you go to theInstagram and I think Facebook and
Twitter, they're all shown on there.

(59:42):
'cause he was an officiant, so you couldget married by the shack at CarVal Cruise.
'cause he's an officiantand it's very interesting.
So if you ever come across thatonline, I, I did those takes on there.
Oh my gosh.
All right.
Gonna tell my husband, we'regonna renew our vows and Shaq is
gonna be the one to officiate it.

(01:00:03):
My very, very, very, very, very, verylast question for you is, when you look
at all the past that you've walked sofar with photography, with styling,
directing all of the parts that you'vepoured yourself into them, what do
you want people to feel, remember, ortake with them after working with you

(01:00:28):
or simply just experiencing your work?
I want them to always take that.
I love collaborating.
I love creative projects and I'malways down for trying something new.
Maybe creating a spec commercial that wepitch to a brand I am down for creating.
I enjoy this so much.

(01:00:49):
I feel like this is what I love doing.
I love styling.
I love creating something out,nothing and just figuring it out.
The best shoe sometimes comes withfriends that are trying to get a client
and we create something so beautiful.
Even if the client didn't like it, westill created something very beautiful
that we can put on our portfolio.

(01:01:11):
So that's why I say stay creative.
If you wanna do something,go and learn it.
Go and do it.
And even if it doesn'twork out, that's okay.
You still learned it, you still figuredit out, and you're gonna keep moving
forward and building your portfolio.
And I want people to know thatyou can reach out to me anytime.
I love answering questions and Ilove sharing my knowledge because my

(01:01:35):
mentors shared their knowledge with me.
There's nothing that I know thatyou can't discover on your own.
There is nothing crazy out there.
It's just more about doing itrepetitively and see what works for you.
Um, like I said, there's always morethan one solution to a problem, so yeah.
Mm. I mean, you're a hundred percentright that this industry continues

(01:01:59):
because of the people who are workingit are passing down what they've
learned and onto the next generation,the next incoming group of people.
Thank you so very much forbeing a guest on this show.
Where can the listeners connect with youand get their soul filled through you?

(01:02:20):
Where can they find you?
Oh, thank you so muchfor having me as well.
You can reach out to me on my website at.
Food by naomi.com or you canjust DM me on Instagram too.
It's at food stylingby Naomi on Instagram.
Yeah, I'm always happy to answerquestions and I love helping out stylists

(01:02:40):
figure out their way in this world.
Keep pushing on.
Sometimes you're going to bestuck in a moment where creativity
isn't quite there and that's okay.
Like go do something else for a minuteand then come back to what you're trying
to figure out and then you'll see it.
You'll see, I promise you, sometimesyour brain just needs to take a
break and then you can come backto what you need to figure out.

(01:03:04):
Create.
Being creative is exhausting to adegree, but it's also very fulfilling
when people love what you do.
And so I say to all the creatives,never give up on yourself 'cause
you are your own cheerleader.
You gotta keep pushing yourself.
Try something new, keep learning,and please like contact me anytime.
Yeah.

(01:03:24):
Thank you.
This episode is written and producedby me, your host, Mica McCook.
Like this episode, give us afive star review on Apple Podcast
and subscribe to the Savory Shotwherever you get your podcast.
Or follow me your host, Mica McCook,on Instagram at Mica dot McCook.

(01:03:47):
Or you can follow the podcast onInstagram at a Savory Shot podcast.
If you have any questions, comments, orwould like to be featured on the show,
email us at [e-mail].