Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Eng and Maddie Gatto.
Rachel and Maddie, please share your story with us.
Our friendship began in high school and we were both excited when we realized we were going to colleges in the same city. Maddie attends Boston College and studies Communication and Rachel goes to Northeastern University and studies Health Science. We’ve bonded over food ever since we met, sending each other screenshots of restaurants we wanted to go to together once we started college. However, it wasn’t until May of our freshman year that we finally decided to start our foodstagram, and @twotastebuddiez was born. At first, it was just an account that was for fun that we shared with our friends, but then, our following began to grow and we realized it could become something more — it could be an account where we could share our love of the Boston food scene with our fellow college students throughout the city.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest obstacle we have faced has probably been unwanted critiques of our work. Everyone we meet has their own opinion on how they think we should run our account, and in the early days, it was difficult to resist the temptation to try to please everyone. It definitely helped that there were two of us to support each other throughout the process because we were able to reassure each other that we were on the right paths and remaining loyal to our original intentions for the account.
Learning from these challenges helped us to grow individually and together. It was definitely a learning process and we know that we are getting better with each picture we take and “foodventure” we go on.
For any other women looking to develop a social media presence, we recommend staying true to your passions and not letting the opinions of other people sway your direction. In the end, all that matters is that you are proud of the work that you publish.
We’d love to hear more about @twotastebuddiez.
We strive to offer recommendations, keep our followers up to date on new restaurant openings, and collaborate on giveaways with our favorite restaurants to increase the accessibility of the restaurant experience for students. We are both passionate about many different types of food and we want our followers to broaden their horizons and be open to trying new foods.
Although likes and followers are definitely part of what defines success for our industry, we do our best to not get caught up in worrying about it. Through it all we want to make sure we choose to feature foods that the everyday college student would eat.
The more pictures we took, the easier it was to translate our visions for the pictures from idea to reality.
Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
Be confident and try to make as many connections as you can. Don’t underestimate how valuable industry relationships can be. Be genuine and make sure to follow through with your commitments so that people trust and respect you.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 201-790-7670
- Email: twotastebuddiez@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twotastebuddiez/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twotastebuddiez/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/twotastebuddiez
Image Credit:
Rachel Eng, Maddie Gatto
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
