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Sohla El-Waylly went from dreaming of Michelin Stars to being a YouTube star.
The New York-based food creator never set out to be an internet personality. Her original dream was to become a Michelin-starred chef working in high-end restaurants. But after a failed attempt at opening a restaurant, Hail Mary, with her husband in Brooklyn, El-Waylly found herself unexpectedly pivoting to food media.
“It was accidental,” El-Waylly tells Shawn Walchef, host of Restaurant Influencers. “I didn’t know anything about media like I didn’t know what the New York Times was or Bon Appetit or any of this stuff. So none of it intimidated me.”
Related: This Chef’s Unfiltered Approach to Food Found Success Online. Now, Her Grocery Store Brings Her Brand to Life: ‘I Don’t Want to Live on the Internet.’
El-Waylly started writing recipes and articles for Serious Eats, where she experimented and found her voice without much pressure.
“It was kind of good because I got to figure a lot out while nobody was paying attention,” she says. “Because nobody read anything I wrote for years.”
Her unique perspective as a self-taught chef, rather than a traditionally trained food writer, eventually led to opportunities at higher-profile outlets like Bon Appetit, the History network, and the New York Times. Now, millions of people have watched her cooking online and on other large stages, like The Big Brunch on MAX.
El-Waylly found that her lack of formal training was actually an advantage, allowing her to take a fresh approach.
I kind of came out of nowhere with a totally different perspective, which I think helped me because everyone else has this very traditional Ivy League higher education,” she says. “I was a cook who just taught themselves how to write.”
El-Waylly’s cooking videos for the New York Times have become particularly popular. “We brainstorm a lot together before we even shoot to try and really think about how to stretch the content,” she says.
Related: Her Restaurant Business Is Worth $100 Million — Here’s Her Unconventional Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
YouTube is the new TV
Although El-Waylly has found great success in the streaming food media space, she admits that the pressure to create new content can be daunting. A media machine must constantly be fed fuel to keep running.
“YouTube’s the new TV,” she says. “Once you start on YouTube, you can’t stop. We all know where it’s gonna end. It’s gonna end with me eating like every single variety of mac-and-cheese known to man.”
To manage the constant content demands, El-Waylly relies on an entertainment lawyer to help navigate brand deals and other opportunities.
“They’re the only person you’ll be able to trust,” she advises aspiring creators. “They’ll defend you against the brands that are going to be predatory, as well as managers, agents, publicists.”
El-Waylly remains passionate about sharing her love of food and cooking with audiences across various platforms — and she’s excited to continue evolving her approach, especially now that she’s a new mom.
“My cooking has changed a lot because I just had a kid,” she says. “I’m realizing that it’s more about convenience. Like maybe you crowd your pan a little just to get dinner on the table a little faster.”
No matter what form her food journey takes her, the cooking superstar’s success is a testament to the power of adaptability and authenticity in the ever-changing media landscape.
By staying true to her unique perspective and embracing new opportunities, she has carved out a successful career that allows her to share her culinary passions with the world. Making media has also led her to become a paid partner of Häagen-Dazs, which ties in perfectly with her love of ice cream.
“I’ve gotten pretty good [at making food content],” she says. “It’s kind of second nature now.”
Related: After Co-Founding a Successful Restaurant Group, He Turned to Tech to Simplify the Checkout Experience
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