The Beauty of Food (feat. Blair Crosby)

In this episode of Allison’s Corner, Allison is pulling up a chair at the table with a special guest: Blair Crosby, a culinary creative whose work is reshaping the way we think about food, culture, and community. Together, they’re diving into something both nourishing and nuanced: the way food tells our stories, carries our histories, and reflects our values. Beyond what’s on the plate, food is memory, resistance, joy, and sometimes even survival. This episode is part storytelling, part culture talk, and part reminder that what—and how—we eat is never just about appetite. We’re unpacking:

• How food connects us to our roots, families, and traditions
• The challenges and joys of navigating the modern food industry
• Why the food scene isn’t just about trendiness, but about equity, access, and representation
• What it means to create food experiences that are communal, soulful, and sustainable

If you’ve ever wondered how food shapes identity, questioned the politics of what ends up on your table, or are curious about the future of dining and storytelling through food—this episode is for you. So grab a plate, pour yourself a drink, and join us for this flavorful conversation.


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Be blessed!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hey, and welcome to Alison's Corner. This is my little
corner of the Internet where we dive into wellness, personal growth, relationships,
and just other topics best suited for you. I'm your host, Alison,
bringing you fresh perspectives, inspiring conversations, and a little something

(00:29):
to spark your day. Be sure to follow along with
Allison's Corner on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, and watch
us on YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Here you'll find
more insights and community updates of what we have going
on on Allison's Corner. Now, without further ado, here is

(00:50):
today's episode. Hello everyone, and welcome or welcome back to
another episode of Alison's Corner with me. I have a
very special guest joining us today. Guest, can you go
ahead and introduce yourself to the people, please.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Sure, I'd love to Hi Alison. Hi everyone. My name
is Blair Crosby. You might also know me as b Swink.
I am a content creator, a recipe developer, and a
beverage content creator. More specifically, I talk a lot about
defining elevated living for yourself and I have always been

(01:35):
in some sort of level of the hospitality industry. I
actually still have a full time role outside of content
as well as another role. So I work part time
at a wine shop, but I also work in member
services during the day for C suite and executive level leaders.
So very busy, but it's always centered around hospitality and service.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Awesome, Awesome, I love that. And I know we were
talking a little bit before we started recording, just you know,
about little things here or there. I follow you on
TikTok and on Instagram, and as somebody who's like trying
to figure out what to do, I can't cook for
the life of me, so I follow the people that
know what they're doing and also where to find the
good food. And I just love your content how it's

(02:20):
like everybody can be inspired through it. So I just
really wanted to let.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
You know that.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, and thank you for joining again on today's podcast.
I really do appreciate it. So yeah, happy to be here,
Thanks for having them. We're just gonna go ahead and
get into our first couple of questions. We're gonna go
into what first drew you to food and into the
hospitality world.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, I think it's just been something that's been a
part of me since my inception. So food wise. When
I was a kid, I would cook a lot. I
would I had an easy bake oven. So food has
always been something that I've had an interest in, and
hospitality and service was just kind of natural for me.

(03:05):
So I've always had a job in that realm, and
even like my first job in high school, I worked
at a sandwich shop, I worked for hotel chains for
a while, and I just really enjoyed like the service aspect.
So hospitality and service has always kind of been a

(03:26):
part for me. But what's kind of driven me to
it is it's kind of been unavoidable. So although I've
worked in so many different industries, it always felt like
that underlying level of foundation was always about providing service
and creating more importantly, I think, a space for people
to be and so that's always been something that's important

(03:47):
for me, and I think through food and drinks you
can really build a sense of community. So for me,
outside of enjoying cooking, I also really enjoy eating. For me,
it helps me learn about other people. I think it's
a way to build relationships, to build family community. So
since the beginning of time, I've always had an interest

(04:08):
in those things, but I think now as an adult,
it means and has way more weight to me than
just a hobby or an interest. To me, it's a
representation I think, more of purpose.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
Now, Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
And when you were talking, I was thinking about Anthony
Bourdain and his ability to take food and not use
food as a vehicle into a culture, and I think,
like the way you described that is exactly that, like
food is a gathering of people, a gathering of a culture,
gathering of community. So I think that's really dope, you know,

(04:43):
you doing that and really building on that as well.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
So yeah, yes, thank you for the great comparison, Yes,
and what he was able to do and the impact
that he's left, and yeah, thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Was there a particular moment growing up or maybe there
was a certain person that inspired you with your path
in this industry.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
I honestly would say that, So I'll start on the
particular moments. I definitely have moments as a kid where
food was kind of a part of what I equated
to like family time. So when I was younger, I'm
not super super super close to my grandmother, unfortunately my
grandmother that's still living, but as a kid I remember

(05:29):
that for holidays, she would come and make spiced apples
and fried oysters, and we would just do a lot
of things that were centered around food. And so as
a young kid, those are kinds of the memories that
I have. But I would say that really the people
who inspired me are my mother and my father. So
my mother has always she's a broadcaster. She now works

(05:53):
at the FDA, but she started in broadcasts for CNN
and ABC, and I think that that experience. She was
actually a health reporter. So a lot of the food
that I ate as a child was a wide range
of food that I think sometimes people don't necessarily experience.
Like my mom was very much we're going to have squash,
We're going to have greens, We're going to taste and

(06:14):
try new things. So I think at a young age
she just inspired me to have a wide palette. But
on the other hand, my father is a very like
social mixy person. He has a large group of diverse friends,
and so as a kid, a lot of the things

(06:35):
that we would do would be centered around food and community.
And even now when I go back home I'm from
the DC, Maryland area, my dad and I will go
get dim sum. As a kid, we would eat like
chicken feet, you know, and that sort of thing. I
just ate a wide range of things at a young age.
And I think my parents, I don't think they even

(06:55):
realized the seed that they planted. They just were themselves
very curious people with wide palettes and ranges, but also
just an interest as well and having a good experience
around food. And so for me, they were the ones
that really planted that initial seed in my life. And
I really do oh. I think my curiosity and my

(07:18):
passion around food and even around service to my parents.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Yeah, I have a question.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
Growing up was like your house, like the hangout house
when there are any parties or like holidays and stuff
was going on.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's funny. So my parents were actually divorced when I
was very young, so I had two houses essentially. And
my parents are kind of kind of opposite. So my
mom is kind of black and white, pretty like straight
and narrow. We did not have a lot of gatherings
at our home, but when we did, she's very good
at hosting and she's very big on the hosting experience.

(07:53):
On the other hand, my dad, he's very fiery. He parties.
He enjoys a good party when we were younger, it
would be this thing where my dad would have a
birthday party where you know, all of our family would
come down, you know, they would send us next door,
like it was like a full almost ritual really of
Ernest's birthday. So on one hand, my dad had family

(08:18):
over often. I remember I used to wake up to
the smell of like coffee. And my dad has a
large family, has nine brothers and sisters, so yeah, and
he's from Selma, Alabama, so there's a lot of Southern
roots when it comes to how they interact and mingle
with one another. And my mother is from the Midwest.

(08:39):
But I think both of those spaces of where they're
from kind of have that tone of hospitality and are
known for that, and so in their different ways, they
are known in a sense for being that house. My
father obviously more frequently because he's probably having people over more,
but I think my mom's was more intentional hosts. So

(09:00):
it was a good talents to be honest.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, yeah, And I know you spoke briefly just about
you know, what it was like growing up, and you know,
just when you were little, did you always envision yourself
in this line of work? Specifically, or did you think
this is just a hobby. I just like food. Maybe
we'll get there.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
We don't know. Was that it with you?

Speaker 2 (09:25):
I honestly, I've always struggled with the idea of what
my purpose has been. It's something that I still kind
of struggle with, just because I have a wide range
of passions and interests. A theater kid. I really love
specifically musical theater. I grew up in theater, but also
I love food, I love hosting, I love traveling, I

(09:49):
love I've worked for a while in like internal and
external programming and culture and engagement, and so when I
was younger, it was kind of hard to pinpoint what
I wanted to do to the point where it would
be honestly like a triggering question for me when people
would ask. And I think when you're younger, people do
it just as a part of communication, like it's kind

(10:10):
of just what you ask little kids. Yeah, I think
that for me, it's always held weight because it represents
something so big, like what do I want to do
for the one life that I have? And for me,
I've always known, not necessarily what I was going to do,
but I knew that I wanted to have impact. That's

(10:31):
always been something that I've been very clear about is
that I wanted to change or enhance lives at a
large scale, and large scale can be five hundred people,
right like, it doesn't have to be millions of people.
But I knew that that sort of purpose an impact
was important for me, but I didn't necessarily know how

(10:54):
that was going to show up. So I went through
a few different stages. At one point, I was interested
in exploring a degree in musical theater, and I kind
of actually chickened out when I got to Howard University,
and I think it just was It's okay, because everything

(11:15):
happened for a reason. But I think that it was
just at that time I went from going to a
school that was primarily white to being immersed in a
space where there's a lot of amazing, excellent, really driven,
talented black people, and I think that I got really

(11:35):
almost intimidated about what it would require because I never
had like classical dance training or anything like that. And
so the other thing that I knew I could figure
out was communications. My mom was a journalism major, so
I went into journalism, specifically advertising, and for a while
I was like I'm going to be a creative director.

(11:56):
Like that was my general blanket. I didn't necessarily know
the layers of what a creative director does, especially like
working at an agency, but I knew. I was like,
I want to be able to curate and put things
together that are in a creative way. I knew that's
that's how far I got by college. I was like,
I know that, and so I immediately went into advertising.

(12:18):
Out of college. I worked at BBDO and Buckhead, which
is an agency on AT and T, and I kind
of felt not really moved. I didn't really feel inspired.
And I have to say I haven't necessarily worked in
too many full time like corporate roles that have made
me feel inspired. And I think it's because my spirit

(12:43):
requires more fluidity and flexibility and more autonomy. But I
just knew, and I've known that. I've always wanted it
to be impactful. And now as I've gotten older, I've
seen that some of the odd jobs or jobs where
I was like, why am I at this movie theater?
Why am I working at the sandwich shop? Why am
I you know? Why am I working and recruiting? Why

(13:06):
am I? You know? All of those things kind of
have now come together to shape me to the person
that I am and the perspective and the knowledge that
I have, and I honestly know that it's, you know,
a gift and something special, and so I still don't
necessarily have full clarity of what I'd like to do,
but I know that one of those things. And even
since I was a kid, I've always been kind of

(13:28):
a performer in a sense of I've struggled with that
idea of having a desire to be seen but dealing
with societal constructs and standards around how black women are seen,
and so that to me has always been this weird

(13:49):
kind of internal battle. But I know that one of
the things that I would love to have or do
is a food and travel show like that is something
that's always been in the back of my mind. I
just didn't necessarily know how I was going to get
there and what I was going to do, And so
when it came to content creation, it was kind of

(14:10):
natural for me. I was already sharing stuff. People were
already coming to me and asking me, like, girl, I
know you know where it's at, Where do I go?
That sort of thing. Already that person to my friends,
I was already that person to the people around me.
I was already a curator. I was already an innovator.
I was already those things. And so when I really

(14:32):
leaned into content, it was because I felt like, you know,
I deserve space and a point of view. And more specifically,
when I moved to Atlanta in twenty sixteen, I really
fell in love with how rich and diverse Atlanta was.
But Atlanta also is like super segregated in a lot

(14:52):
of spaces, and for me personally, I feel like a
lot of the food, like the food seene here can
be very segregated. But if you go to a lot
of these places, the music that you hear is black.
Some of the food and the cookery and influence is black.
And so it's that idea where they want our stuff

(15:16):
but not us. And I just kind of got tired
of feeling like that, and I was like, you know what,
I'm going to create a space and even if it's
just three people that saved my stuff and follow it.
Like I never in a million years could expect to
even have the platform that I have now, or I've
done some of the things that I've done now. I
really just wanted to share, and I wanted to see

(15:39):
more people in spaces that I feel like they deserve
to be in that look like me. So I haven't
necessarily nailed out, and I didn't have a clear purpose,
but I do know that that journey that I've been
on has been part of that process of kind of
honing in and figuring it out. But I've also kind

(16:01):
of realized one of the reasons why it was such
a struggle for me as a kid to kind of
figure out what I wanted to do was because we
raise and socialize children to feel like they have to
stick to one thing or be in one lane. A
multi hyphenet creative or anything like that is not necessarily
something that's nurtured in this society, and so it just

(16:26):
wasn't something that I really It was almost like my
brain was struggling to try to conform to something that
my spirit was not at all interested in. Yeah, So
now I feel a bit more clear about that process.
And honestly, sometimes when I create content, I'm like, what
is the point? What's the goal here? And sometimes I

(16:47):
really do have to kind of check myself. But I
know that I'm on that path to figure out purpose,
and I don't necessarily think anymore about career, more like
what makes me happy and how can I align what
makes me happy and what brings me joy with me
being able to share that with others but also be

(17:11):
in a place where I can take care of myself
and thrive because I deserve that. So that's kind of
where I am now. I think that was a long
winded answer.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
But no, I love it.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
I feel like right now you and I are probably
on the same page because I was like, man, your thirties,
I'm having a midlife crisis, and I didn't I thought
I would have it all together and figure it out
by now. But I really love your story just about
like even you doing those odd jobs. I always tell people,

(17:41):
when we look back on our lives, the God gives
us small snapshots of what it is that we're meant
to do, even though at the moment we can't figure
out the full picture. I feel like we have those
little moments in life where they're helping us and guiding
us along the way. We just don't know it yet
until we up at the destination. And I feel like

(18:02):
your story is definitely a representation of that, of you
doing this and that, but ultimately it's led you to
your career now, which I think is so amazing and
even ultimately what you want to even do more of
in the future. So for sure, for sure, I know
you said you don't have much corporate experience, which is fine,

(18:22):
but if you speak a little bit more about your
career journey and what it's looked like so far from
that first job you've had until now, can you talk
a little bit more about like what those experiences of
you being in those odd jobs and how those skill
sets have helped you Now, Okay.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
And I misspoke. I actually have like a decade corporate
experience and at this point and like a director level
and a sense of experience. Wise, I would say that
there were parts of that corporate journey where I was
in roles that I just didn't feel inspired by, and

(19:06):
so it was kind of balancing that I would say.
There's always been like a level of odd jobs. They've
either been corporate or in hospitality, But in the last
few years I've really leaned in. After leaving BBDO, I
worked at a recruiting agency for about three years, and
I kind of worked on the opposite side, so I

(19:28):
staffed people who worked at agencies and it was very interesting.
It was I didn't really feel inspired at all. I
didn't really feel super motivated by it. But it was
one of those snapshots, as you said, where I got
to get a lot of experience and perspective of even
just running what we call like our own desk, so

(19:51):
a lot of the monetary decisions or negotiations and things
like that I was doing at this point at twenty five,
I felt like it gave me a lot of color
and perspective of how to navigate the creative world and
the content creation and social media world with a little
bit more knowledge on my shoulders. And so my journey

(20:14):
corporate wise has been extensive, and I'm sorry for miss speaking,
but I think for me it's never felt There's been
glimpses and moments of like, Okay, this feels good. But
because I don't have my own autonomy and I'm spending
the majority of my week leaning into someone else's dreams

(20:36):
and goals, it usually just feels unfulfilling in comparison to
collaborating on a drink recipe, working with a tourism board
and going to visit a space and give my perspective
and point of view about a new city or an
old city. And so that's the thing for me is

(20:59):
although I have been in corporate for a while, when
I was younger, my goal was kind of to move
up the corporate ranks. That's just kind of all I knew.
It was like you're in a role, and then you
become a VP, and then you become this, and you
become that. And I just think at every turn I've
had kind of holes or like almost like a pop

(21:23):
the balloon effect in type of that type of mindset,
because I don't think that mindset is going to get
me where I personally want to go. I mentioned that
I work every day with like executive level leaders and
c suite level leaders of like Fortune five hundred companies,
so really large names. Some people are very into that.

(21:44):
Some people want to move up to that track and
want to become this or that and work for this brand.
But I think for me, my heart has always yearned
for entrepreneurship and autonomy and being able to wake up
and because I have such a wide range of interest
and passions, being able to wake up and set the
tone for what I want to do. And I think

(22:08):
with corporate i've struggled with it because it's so time consuming.
You spend a lot of time leaning into other people's things,
You spend a lot of time kind of working with
some people that you like and some people that you
don't talk about it, and you spend a lot of
time doing a lot and chasing status, and then at

(22:33):
the end of the day, it's like, Okay, it's cool
that you built this for that person, but what did
you do for yourself? And I think that's where I struggle,
because time, to me is worth way more than money,
and I want to make the most of the time
that I have here. And I think over the years
in corporate, it just feels like Monday through Friday goes

(22:56):
by so fast, and then I have two days to recover,
do things for myself, enjoy life, rest maybe not, and
then I'm right back to being that sort of cog
in the wheel of someone else's design, in someone else's plan.
And I think spiritually that just doesn't align for me

(23:18):
and what I want and what my spirit craves, and
so as much as long as I've been in corporate,
it's also kind of been this double edged sword for me.
So I've gotten a lot of exposure. I've learned a lot,
even how I negotiate rates with brands. I review my
own contracts like I do a lot of things, and

(23:38):
I have that sort of knowledge and background because of
the experiences that I've had in corporate. But when I
look back on the ten years that I've had, I
can say I've built things and implemented things in spaces.
I've impacted those spaces, But I've never given as much
to myself as I've given to other people's dreams. So

(24:01):
I think for me, it's just always been kind of, yeah,
a double edged sword in a sense of my my
corporate trek. And now I'm in a space where I
do freelance a lot, like I do a lot of
recipe development and mainly UGC. I don't do a ton
of influencer work because of just the size of my platform,

(24:21):
but I do a lot of UGC and whitelisting for
beverage brands, and that to me, sitting there and ID
eating and sourcing and setting up props and even just
collaborating with these brands. Learning about these brands, to me
is so filling and honestly more filling than sometimes what

(24:45):
I do day to day.

Speaker 1 (24:46):
So, yeah, with your journey so far, what's been the
biggest risk that you take in that's paid off.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
I would say I'm not. I'm risk adverse. IM a
big risk taker. I'm not. I'm not proud of it.
I just am not very risky. So I would say
one of the biggest risks I had to take in
my career was by force, and it was when I
was laid off about two three years ago at this point.

(25:22):
And I've talked about it on my my sub stack before,
but I was laid off from a job that I hated,
and on one hand, it really sucked, and it really
opened my eyes to how this country is not set
up for people to thrive. It's set up for people

(25:43):
to work and die. And it's unfortunate, but it is
the reality. But I was forced at that time while
I was looking for work, and as someone who's had
a recruiting background, I literally was like a director of
recruiting for an agency here in Atlanta. I know how
to find a job, but for that year I could

(26:04):
not find a job. I was interviewing, I was getting
all the way to the end. I was doing proposals
right and doing everything and I it took me a
very long time to find a job, and during that
year I really took a risk and leaned into my content.
And in that year I was able to collaborate with

(26:25):
multiple hotels nationally, but also I went to Wahaka and
collaborated and solo traveled all the way to Mexico by
myself to collaborate with a bed and breakfast. There, I
got my first partnership with a tourism board and went

(26:48):
to New Orleans for a week and ate and drink
on you know, visit New Orleans dime and got to
talk about it. I landed some of my first real brand.
You know. Before that layoff time, I wasn't I didn't
have the time to really lean in as much to
my content. And so I think spirit kind of forced

(27:10):
me to get a taste of what's out there. And
now that I know and see the comparison of how
happy I was being broke as hell, bro like back home,
living in my mama basement like broke, but I had
so much fun. I enjoyed waking up every day and creating.

(27:33):
I mean, it just was a blast. It was stressful,
but in that year, this is when I honestly started
on TikTok. In that year, I got ten thousand followers
on TikTok. In that year, I started my sub stack.
In that year, I went from being very stagnant on

(27:53):
Instagram at like twelve hundred followers to now almost ten thousand.
And I just was exposed to so much and it
was so different than what I had spent my life
doing since I got out of college. And I think
I was forced to take that risk, but I had
to every day wake up and bet on myself. I

(28:15):
was pitching every day, I was having meetings with different
brands every day. I was hearing know a lot. And
I think, on one hand, after that year or so,
getting back into a stable work environment was okay, because
it's like I need the stability. I need to pay

(28:36):
my bills and I need to have health insurance. But
it's like, man, I miss that when I'm working on
a series and trying to do something at six o'clock
and get it out by eight and still working and
still doing this or that, and I'm like, man, I
miss having all day to just do me. And I

(28:58):
saw how the opportunity unities having no job outside of
content creation we're just way more in abundance and more
robust than right now. It's kind of like, even though
I look at my full time job, I joke that
it's my side hustle, as it is forty hours a week,

(29:19):
it takes me so far away from my content. And
so there's a part for me where I'm kind of like, man,
I am tired of the corporate ladder, of job hopping,
of finding a new job, meeting new people, figuring out
if they're weird or not realizing the job sucks. Everywhere

(29:41):
is the same, Like there's after a while, it's kind
of like for me, I've like, you know, I'm not
aspiring to be a senior VP off anywhere. I would
like to save enough work in a role where I
make enough so that eventually I can leave and do
my own thing and create content every day. And so literally,

(30:04):
the biggest risk that I think that I've taken in
my career I was forced to take. But I was
so lucky that I was laid off and so lucky
that I was able to show up for myself and
really get just more perspective on my mental strength, and

(30:28):
that for me, I felt like was like a trajectory
that changed my whole mindset before I got laid off.
There is a small example. I never did voiceovers. I
never really showed my face and my content. It was
almost like constant point of view content without the inspect

(30:49):
of that. But as an estat I know what looks
good and I'm attracted to things that look good, and
so my focus was a lot on through my camera.
And I think that year that I was forced to
really develop and grow. I was forced to take more
risks where it was like, your mom is an Emmy

(31:12):
awarding broadcaster. Although I've always been teased on my voice
and how I sound, and you know, you sound like
a white girl, you sound like a dude, whatever people
could throw at me, I realized that one, my voice
is absolutely beautiful, but it is it resonates, and it's
not necessarily a voice that you get confused with anybody else.

(31:34):
And so leaning into that and taking that risk in
that year of just showing my personality more was a
risk for me because it felt like being really vulnerable
with strangers. And that's weird, and even to this day
it is still kind of weird. When people like, oh,
I like your content, it does kind of throw me
off because it's like, oh, okay, cool, But it was

(31:58):
just a great seaton where I did things that I
didn't consider doing. And although that's very small the idea
of voiceover, it's not for some people who are super shy.
It's not for some people who are like myself, introverted extroverts,
where it's like I do spend a lot of time
in my own thoughts and alone, and so sharing those

(32:20):
thoughts felt very new. Being on camera versus being behind
camera felt very new and very vulnerable. But it really,
really really just changed the trajectory of my content. And
I think it also too, I hope impacted more and

(32:42):
resonated is the better word more with my audience. And
I think my risk in my bravery even encourage because
I was scary about it for a while. To be honest,
I was scary even if saying like, oh, I'm a
content creator. Know it's still weird for me. I never
say influencer, but I do influence people, and I don't

(33:07):
know why that word is so weird to me. I
try to stick to content creator, but I felt like
my risks actually directly impacted other people. And also I
hope inspire other people. I really do. I think that's
probably the biggest thing for me. I don't know, I'm

(33:30):
getting emotional, but I I know what it feels like
to feel almost invisible and not like you're the gifted
or talented one. But in reality, everyone you know has
purpose and everyone deserves to take up space. And that

(33:52):
year for me of taking that risk was just solidifying
for me that I deserve to take up space and
deserve to be and I just was really really grateful
for that risk that I was forced to take.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
It's crazy because you know, your risk was being laid
off and you were hesitant to even leave the job,
and God was like.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
Well, we're pushing you out, no choice. Yeah, I just
do it.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
And I think sometimes those of the moments where like
we succeed, you know the Lord, it's too scared to
do it, and God is like, go ahead, I got you.
Just do it, and you end up blowing your own
mind and doing stuff you've never even thought you would
have done, or even more than you thought you were
capable of. So I think that's so awesome because sometimes
we need that push, even though we don't. We don't

(34:41):
think we do, but we need it, and I think
that ends up being what we really really need to
get out of it. I do want to talk a
little bit about, you know, the hospitality industry, in how
food and hospitality intersect. One aspect of hospitality that people

(35:02):
often overlook, but in your opinion, you think is super essential.

Speaker 2 (35:09):
I honestly, I would say intention and care. I think unfortunately,
a lot of people get in the hospitality industry for
the wrong reasons. And I think that a lot of
the time people forget, whether they are the consumer or

(35:33):
the provider, that there is intention behind care. And I think, honestly,
there's way too many people in the hospitality industry who
do not care. And I think that it's a common
misconception that it's kind of like almost like a gateway job,

(35:58):
where it's like, oh, I'm bartending until I can really
do this, or I'm doing you know what I mean.
And I think that sometimes because of how people see
hospitality and even value people who work in hospitality, they
don't they kind of just see them as almost like servants.

(36:19):
It creates this very unhealthy relationship between consumers and providers.
And I think one of the big misconceptions is that
people think that you don't have to care in hospitality.
You kind of just have to execute. And one of
the things that my mom still says but used to

(36:40):
say when I was younger, is my money is green too.
And for me that was such a impactful just note
to remember, because as a young server or as a
young host, I would see how some people would interact
with guests and have about them or take their feelings

(37:06):
out and not be able to separate their personal from work.
But I think for me, the big thing about hospitality
is that if you really do it right, all you're
doing is treating other people how you want to be treated.
And if you don't have a clear idea of how
you like to be treated and you don't have clear

(37:28):
boundaries around that, it's hard for you to be able
to offer those to other people. And so I think
one of the biggest misconceptions in hospitality is that it's
kind of for anyone, and you know, it's for people
who just need to make a little extra cash, or
it's for people who can't find a role, and it's like, no,

(37:50):
there are a lot of people who are in hospitality
because they love to serve and they love to create
a moment for people or for someone that changes maybe
just the trajectory of their day, or maybe it impacts
them forever. And I think that's just something that people
need to remember in hospitality, is that there's a lot

(38:14):
of care and intention behind it, and that we should
interact with one another as if we're interacting with ourselves,
and think about, you know, how would I want to
be treated in this way. Am I personally upset because
this person asks for more sour cream? Like? Am I
really personally upset, you know what I mean? Or am

(38:37):
I focused or fixated on creating a service and experience
where this person who probably worked hard for their money
that they're spending, feels like they're getting reciprocity. And I
think that's probably one of the big things for me
is I think sometimes people forget about the reciprocity aspect
in hospitality. And I think this for even business owners,

(39:01):
and I think it's more specifically for business owners who
try to align themselves with like a very specific consumer
or customer, and I think sometimes they get caught up
in the idea of generalizing people versus you never know
who you're interacting with, So when don't you want to

(39:22):
create an impactful service experience for every person who walks
through that door versus just the people who look like you.
So that's probably I think one of the common misconceptions
is that you need to care, you need to be intentional,
but you also need to have you know, humility, I
think is probably one of the big things, and not

(39:44):
the idea of being about head or a servant or
anything like that, but the idea of being okay with
learning and experiencing, whether it just be about new people
or new things.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah, you talked a little bit about the guest experience,
and I kind of want to dive a little deeper
into that. How do you ensure that the guest experience
is just as memorable as the food itself.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
That's a great question, I think For me, I think
it's about being personable and kind. For me, my goal
is to always provide. Those things go hand in hand.
Like you don't think that the guest experience is separate
from the food experience, and I don't think that the

(40:38):
food is separate from the guest experience. I think a
guest experience has both because you can go somewhere and
you can have a meal that tastes good, but you're
not going to go back if the service was poor.
You're not going to go back. If you felt like
from the day the moment you walked in the door,
you weren't wanted, I'm not going back.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, yeah, you know.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
And so I think sometimes people think that it's separate,
but I think the guest experience is all about from
literally from start to finish, as soon as you lay
eyes on this person to as soon as you see
them leave the door. Are you making sure that you're
anticipating their needs? Are you being proactive? Are you paying

(41:22):
attention to not only what they say, but what they
don't say? And I think the people who do the
best in hospitality or who are able to provide a
great level of guest service, have empathy. And I think
as the world continues to turn and burn, there's just

(41:43):
a lack of empathy overall, and for so many reasons,
and so many understandable reasons, like even thinking about COVID
and the pandemic, that was a societal and cultural shift
that I think people don't appreciate, literally change the trajectory
of how we all interact with one another. And I
think in the midst of loss and the mist of

(42:05):
madness and the midst of all of those compounded things.
More and more empathy went out the door because people
were dealing with extremely traumatic experiences, not even just in
the hospitality industry but everywhere, and then kind of being
forced to go back to business as usual. And so
I think one of the things about guest experience is empathy.

(42:28):
That's for me, the big thing where I don't need
to know you to care for you. I don't need
to know your name to care about what's happening to you.
And I think sometimes people miss the mark on that.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
Yeah, yeah, I like that.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
And I want to talk a little bit more about
your personal philosophy as it goes hand in hand with
the guest experience. So what is your personal service philosophy
overall when you're thinking of service and hospitality and creating
your content. What is something that blairs like this is

(43:09):
my personal every day? This is what I stand on.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
I would say it's two things, and it's kind of
already what I have mentioned too. So I think service wise,
if it's me providing a service and a sense of
like a physical service, I think for me, my mindset
is everyone's money is green in a sense of people
open businesses of course because they have a passion or

(43:36):
they care, but people open a business to see a
return of investment. Right, we're interacting with our guests and
our customers like their money is green, and not basing
it off of what they wear, what they have on
their accent, their hair, their skin color, and just on
the idea of everybody has the same base to offer money,

(44:01):
then you should be able to provide a level of
service there. I think for me content wise, because I'm
not a big as a content creator, I'm not a
big like, oh I got fifty e books, download my ebooks,
Like I'm not always slinging and selling. That's right, saying
it doesn't feel authentic to me. That doesn't mean I
don't like brand deals or a partnership. You know, girl

(44:23):
pay me. But I think you know, my big thing
is the intention, and I think that when you're saying
everyone's money is green, I want to be clear, doesn't
mean that you're only interacting with people to get the tip.
But I think that it's the idea of step outside
yourself and your own bias and your own thoughts and assumptions.

(44:47):
And just interact with this person as they are, which
is they are coming in here to benefit you. And
so that's how I view that. But I would say
for content, for me, I guess of like like my
mantras or my mindset around it is, everyone deserves to
take up space, everyone deserves to be seen, but I

(45:09):
think more importantly, everyone deserves the opportunity to define for
themselves what elevated living is. I think oftentimes we get
really I guess, caught up in kind of just following trends,
even more and more now, especially with social media and
it's impact I think on society. It's so easy to

(45:29):
fall into a trend or call something an aesthetic and
people lean into it like oh girl dinner, my girl
din or my girl and or my girl. Oh I'm
bused on that, and I think those things are awesome,
and I think, you know, that's fine, but have you
really taken the time to actually define what you like?
Because if we do that, we soon realize from my experience,

(45:51):
that it's much harder than what it looks like, and
our foundations might be the same, like, oh, I like
me music, but that doesn't mean that I want to
go to a rock concert. That doesn't even mean I
want to go to a music festival. Maybe I like jazz,
maybe I like music and I want to DJ at home,

(46:12):
you know. But I think that for myself, my goal
with content is influencing others to just take the chance
to define it for themselves. And that's why in my
content often I do share the fullness of like good, bad,
what I liked, what I didn't because I could be like, oh,
I didn't feel like this was really the greatest dish

(46:36):
because it was super bitter, and I don't really really
love bitter food. That is not saying the food isn't good,
that wasn't for me. You might watch it and say,
oh my god, I love better food. I gotta go
check this place out. And so for me, I think
it's just important as a black person, but as a
black woman, to create space for black people more specifically,

(46:59):
because that's why I created content. It was for black people,
but the idea that black people should be able to
be curious, to try new things and to define for
themselves what elevated living and what enjoyment and what joy
looks like for them. And that's probably my big thing

(47:19):
in content.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
I want to talk about a little bit more about
your content and everything like that. How do you and
you spoke about this a little bit earlier, but how
do you honor your heritage in your work or your foundation,
your family, all of that in your work.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
That's a great question. I honestly think I could do
more of that, to be honest with you, But I
think the way that I do it now is that
I just kind of show up as myself and I
share the full range of my experiences. And I think
that because black people are not a monolith, but are

(48:02):
often still perceived as one, it's hard to be a
person who can speak eloquently but also can talk trash
and could also jump. I can also, you know what
I mean. Like, there's just so many layers to black people,
and I think the way that I showcase and represent

(48:26):
my heritage is I show those layers, like my content.
I've always been told like, oh my god, you need
a niche, you need a niche, Like there was one
me too. I just think it's I think you do
what you want, you know what I mean. I think
it can be a little limiting, and I understand that
growth does happen when people just kind of talk about

(48:47):
the same thing in different ways all the time. But
for me, in reality, I do cook at home, but
I also eat out a lot. In reality, I do
love to go to a good cock hill bar. I
love to travel. I love to create travel plans around
food and drinks, but believe that at home I'm able

(49:08):
to do a lot of those things that I'm enjoying outside.
And so for me, I think one of the other
ways that I showcase and lean into my heritage is
that I don't stay in a box, or I try
not to. I definitely think I could stand to talk
less about food, but I like it. But I think

(49:33):
that I honor my heritage by showing like my duality
and my fluidity and my range of what I can
speak about and what I can share and what I
do share. And I think one of the other ways
that I kind of showcase my heritage, and for me,
my heritage comes like from my parents. They're very both

(49:56):
very independent, both very dynamic and pacts full, really brilliant people.
And I think both my mother and father are not
cookie cutter type of people and never have been. And
I know that stems from a long line of ancestors
who are like that too, So I think that I

(50:16):
honor my ancestors every day by showing up to be honest.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
I love that. I love that. I do want to
get a little bit more.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
Into your personal advice, if you.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
Don't mind me going there.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
What advice would you give to somebody who is entering
the food or hospitality world?

Speaker 2 (50:37):
Altogether, there's a few things, and they're actually things too
that are suggestions and advice that I try and know
that I need to take more of. But one of
the things that I would say is like, surround yourself
with people who have this is a similar interest to you,
but also who are passionate and working in those interests.

(51:00):
It's much harder to grow in this space when you
don't know other people who are in the space as well.
And I've struggled with that where I think in Atlanta,
I mentioned it could be kind of segregated, but I
personally don't know a creator off the top of my
head where I'm like, man, I feel like our content
is very similar, yeah, and so I think there's a

(51:26):
lack of community in the creator space in Atlanta, to
be honest with you, and sometimes I'm like, man, I've
been here for going on ten years, almost next year,
but like, maybe it's time to go. Maybe my dreams
are not going to be fulfilled in and excuse me
in Atlanta. Maybe it's a New York, maybe it's back home,

(51:46):
maybe it's internationally. So I would say, get around some
people who have the same interest that you do. Remove
the people who are negative, who question or don't think
what you do is serious. Get those people away from you, immediately.
Get the people away from you who don't think you

(52:08):
should ask for money or want you to play small.
Those types of people, whether they're long term friends, family,
set a boundary and remove yourself from them, because those
people cannot be your sounding board because all they're going
to do is try to convince you to play small
and play stupid, and nobody has time for that. So
surround yourself with people who value what you do, see

(52:31):
the worth in it. And even if they're not a
content creator, but they work in a different field. Sometimes
you just need that affirmation. Sometimes you just need that
community and that support. So that's something that I would
definitely recommend. I think when it comes to honing your craft,
and this is a big pet peeve of mine. I
think people jump into content creation for cloud and that

(52:52):
to me is kind of gross, where it's this idea
of you don't even like food, but now you go
and review food places because you want to eat for free.
That to me doesn't feel like purpose or passion. And
I'm not knocking people who do it, but I think
get clear of like what do you like to do,

(53:13):
what are you good at? You don't have to go
into fashion and beauty, you don't have to go into food.
Like the beautiful thing about content is it's just storytelling
and everybody has a story to tell. So maybe your
story isn't aligned with what you generally see online. You know,
maybe that's not your story, but there is something that

(53:33):
you can talk about that feels authentic. That's probably one
of my bigger recommendations is make sure that you have
a clear idea of what you like to do or
the things that you at least enjoy. You don't have
to know everything, because I think that's part of the journey.
But I think if you're not big on restaurants and
eating out, don't do that because it's also quite limiting

(53:58):
for yourself. But it's all so disingenuous to the people
who are interacting with your content, Like, if you don't
sit down and watch food shows all day and understand
the components of fat and acid and salt or what
have you, and you don't understand all those things or

(54:18):
even have an interest, why are you talking about food?
And why do you have enough audacity to go into
a restaurant where someone obviously has some sort of understanding
of food, not all the time, but to open a
restaurant someone does, and you're critiquing and saying it's nasty,
but you don't have a palette, you know, So it's

(54:41):
and I'm just using food specifically, but I think that
for a wide range people just jump into content because
they want money and they want fame and they want acknowledgment.
But for me, it's like I respect, and I think
the creators that go farther and maybe not necessarily have
the biggest following, but maybe have a more loyal following

(55:03):
and a more trusting following are the people who really
lean into the things that they enjoy. I love. Yeah,
that's probably my biggest thing. I would also say too, though,
before you feel like you need to go spend money,
think about what you can do with what you have.

(55:25):
That would probably be my biggest, biggest, biggest thing is
I think sometimes it's intimidating because people are like, oh
my god, I need fifty cameras, I need this, I
need that, I need the sony this, I need that,
and then you kind of spend time wasting time. One
of my first content gigs was for a butter brand
in Atlanta here called Banner Butter, and it was to

(55:47):
make cookies. And I did not have like a content
setup really. I ordered like a fifteen dollars backdrop on
Amazon and I shot that cond to on my floor
of my studio apartment, literally on my floor, like that
was the best lighting that I had, Like I lived

(56:08):
in an apartment that was covered with trees and the
lighting would only show on the ground. So you best
believe I'm putting that damn thing on the ground and
I'm recording that content. And I think sometimes people don't
want to do the work to get to the place.
They just kind of want the quick. Now I'm famous,
now I'm viral, and I have to be honest. Sometimes

(56:28):
I'm like, dang, why when am I gonna have that
moment where I get a million view? Video and finally
someone sees me, Who's going to take me out of
this place and save me? What if that doesn't ever happen?
Are you still going to create? Do you still want
to do this? Do you still care? And so I
think work with what you have and don't see that

(56:51):
as a weakness, but see that asn't a strength. If
I'm resourceful, I'm putting together you know something that's worth
looking at or consuming, even if you don't have a
huge content space or a content studio or this machine
or that machine, or you know, a lot of people
are like, oh my god, I want to be a

(57:12):
travel creator. You might not necessarily the money to travel
right now? What does it look like to travel in
your city? What it like to do that sort of thing?
And so I think being flexible and being hungry is
really important and working with what you have until you
can get to more. And I would also say to
the last thing is to be humble and like learn,

(57:33):
glean information. Listen if you are interested in food but
you don't know where to start, watch some cooking shows,
get on YouTube, watch a documentary, look up knife skills,
like invest time. That would probably be one of my
things is content is time consuming and if you're really

(57:54):
interested in it, it's going to be a time suck.
And then I know, I said that was my last thing,
but this is my last thing. Do not pay attention
or fixate on how people view you, because a lot
of people don't get the places that they want content

(58:14):
or not because they are fixated and thinking about how
they will be viewed or perceived or seen. But the
most important thing is how you perceive and view yourself.
So if your view is aligned with how other people
view you, then that's probably going to be unhealthy. It's
going to be volatile, it's going to be based on

(58:35):
how somebody feel about you. They might not like the
way you choose. Yeah, and now what you know? And
so I think the biggest thing is you really have
to lean in and think more and be unshamed. And
I'm trying this thing. I'm going out on a limb.
I might look crazy, especially on platforms where you know

(58:56):
people have had them for a long time, like an Instagram.
You know, get as much engagement on Instagram because some
of those people I've known from fourth grade, and I
know some of those people look at my content, hate
on me and still follow and engage or save it.
It doesn't matter. And so that's a hard pillar swallow.
I still struggle with it every day. I still get
in my own head. I still get self conscious. I

(59:18):
still am like, ooh, what the you know? I still
do all of those things. But I still keep going.
And I think that's the biggest thing is that you
just have to keep going and you have to really
have some mental toughness about who you are and why
you're here and why you deserve to take up space.

Speaker 3 (59:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
I love everything you said, especially about people who are disingenuous,
because I feel like they think that they can play
it off. But now people can spot when people are
doing it just for cloud or when they really do
have a passion for it, and you they people can
easily tell the difference. I mean, some people may be

(59:58):
able to play it off, but I feel like their
energy just always tells regardless. And you're so right about that.
So many people are going into content creation or in
any field and they're doing it for money, and I mean,
maybe this is just something I've learned along the way.
Whenever money is my very first thing, I already know
it's not going to work out in the way that

(01:00:19):
I think, like if money is the only thing I
want out of it were my main thing, it's not.
We're not aligned, so.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
For sure that Yeah, Yeah, I think passion over profit
is something I used to say to my dad all
the time because he would saying, like, wherever they're going
to pay you to get a job, get a job,
even you've got to move to Iowa. Like I'm never
going to move to Iowa. I'm never going to do
that because that would I don't see myself being happy
in Iowa. M h. And so for me, passion pays off.

(01:00:51):
I think that's the biggest thing, is like passion leads
to profit. Profit doesn't always lead to passion, And so
if you're in doing what you're doing and you're consistent,
I think that you'll be blessed. And I think sometimes
profit to people is only a representation financially, but you

(01:01:12):
can profit off of something mentally emotionally as well, and
so not just looking at being financially fed, but holistically
fed as well.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
Yeah, yeah, I one hundred percent agree with that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:29):
Yeah, I do want to talk a little bit more
about the future. If you don't mind, where do you
see your work like evolving in the next few years.
Where do you see that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
On one hand, I would love to have more communal
conversations around content creation and rate transparency and equity in
the black community. So I would love to do more hosting.
I would love to do more common for like food festivals,

(01:02:02):
like for example, my short term but long term dream
is like I would love to host something at the
family reunion.

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
Oh yeah, yeah, that's like Virginia.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Yes, that's why it's also to me, like as a
DMV kid, it's like that to me is very close
to home, like I know the Salamander Hotel and kind
of what that represents. But I would say also long term,
I would love to have a food and travel show.
I would love to go around and not coming as
an expert, because I'm not by any means, but I

(01:02:36):
think a lot of shows are like this expert and
we're following this expert around, but not a lot of
content is about the learning portion and you're kind of
learning with the creator. And so I would love to
have a show in the future where I just travel,
learn about food, learn more about the cultural connections of
food and kind of how mapp and communities and cities

(01:03:03):
and states and countries were kind of built off of
these food and drink maps and kind of where things
were grown, why it was important to trade, Like, I
think there's so much history there too, So I think history, food, travel,
a show around that would be amazing. Short term goal
for myself is I'd love to develop more on long

(01:03:23):
term content because I think that sometimes that doesn't coincide
with what people engage with on certain platforms. But I
would love to have more long form content that opens
the door to more storytelling. I would love to develop
my skills personally, and I would love to learn how

(01:03:46):
to direct and have more technical experience in videography, like
I've always wanted to create a documentary and I think
around culture, but not necessarily knowing like exactly what, So
I would love to do that. And honestly, I think
one of the biggest things is I'd like to wake
up every day and set the tone for the rest

(01:04:07):
of my life of what I'm doing. That to me
is like a big, big goal. I don't want to
wake up and be subjected to working for someone else's
stuff that just doesn't feel good to me. And so
I think for me long term, I think it's about
building a community that has more interactions in person, has

(01:04:31):
more interactions with local businesses, and more communal interactions, but
also really developing my virtual presence as well. So those
are kinds of things that I have in the future.
I recently was lucky enough to just add some quotes
to like a New York Times article about drinks. But
I would love to Yeah, it was really awesome. I

(01:04:52):
would love to do more of that. I would love
to just share my perspective and point of view, and
I think that's what I'm already doing, but on a
larger scale.

Speaker 3 (01:05:02):
Yeah, Oh that's so dope. I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:05):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
And for the people who don't know what the Family
Reunion Festival is, can you just let them know really quickly?

Speaker 2 (01:05:11):
Yeah. Yeah, So it's usually in August by Chef Quame
was the starter of it. But essentially it's the Family
Reunion is basically like a food and drink festival centered
around the black culinary world. So there's a lot of music,
there's a lot of food, black chefs panels. But it's

(01:05:33):
actually at the Salamander Hotel, which is a Black owned
hotel I think one of the largest in the country.
In Virginia, and so it's really that space that we're
constantly not necessarily invited in. It's the space that we
created for ourselves, and so I think it's just a
good old black time. I will say I have tried

(01:05:57):
to do the media press tickets because as at this point,
my budget can't afford it. But if I did have
the money for those tickets, I would definitely invest. I've
had friends that have gone, and if people don't know,
you buy tickets. But a lot of the food and
drinks are included. There's musical acts, there's all types of

(01:06:18):
you know, different happenings, and so the amount of exposure
that you have to really like black jogger nots in
the culinary space, you know, is worth that and more
like it is definitely an investment. But I think that
it's impactful and if you really love food and drinks

(01:06:40):
and community, I think that's something that you should set
your sights on for saving for or going if you
if you have the money to do. So. Yeah, yeah,
they need to invite me because I don't plug.

Speaker 3 (01:06:53):
You need to get that media passed, girl.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
I'm about to send them this, but thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
It's so so much Blair. I loved our conversation today.
I feel like it was super insightful, not just for myself,
but I know for our listeners as well. And before
you go go ahead, tell the people where they can
find you online.

Speaker 3 (01:07:15):
Plug plug it all in, Go ahead.

Speaker 2 (01:07:17):
Awesome. I'm on YouTube, I'm on Instagram, and I'm on TikTok.
B swank spelled in different ways, but if you type
in b swank it'll show up. I also have a
substack a newsletter called part of Me while I elevate,
and you can check out some of my recipes there.
I share more travel GUIDs. I try to share like
a monthly sort of newsletter where I'm just being a

(01:07:41):
little bit more vocal about what I'm experiencing and dealing
with and hoping it resonates. But also if you see
me in the streets too, you can say what's up.
I am in Atlanta. I'm often in DC. But I
love when people DM me. I love when people well
DMA and their nice. Sometimes people d me and they

(01:08:02):
like cussing me out. I don't know why. But you
can always find me on Instagram at b swank Underscore.
You can find me on TikTok, b Swank with two k's,
and then YouTube it's just b Swank underscore again, So
I'm on all of those platforms. If you are looking
for me.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
Awesome, And for everyone else listening, God bless have an
amazing day and thanks for listening to our ask Corner.

Speaker 2 (01:08:27):
Thank you so much, Alison, I appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (01:08:29):
Welcome, thanks for tuning in to Allison's Corner. If you
enjoy today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review,
and share it with a friend who'd love to join
the conversation. For more context and updates, follow us on
Instagram and YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Until next time,

(01:08:52):
be blessed.