Today we’d like to introduce you to Beatriz Gras.
Beatriz, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am currently Boston College student majoring in Business and minoring in International Studies and Chinese. I am the first generation of my family to be born in the United States as both sides of my family are from Spain. I was born in Houston, Texas and from a young age I was constantly surrounded by the diversity and vibracity that come from its variety of cultures. Whether it was through the multinational friends I made at my international school, travels, or right at home with my very loud Spanish family, my childhood was filled with experiences that sparked my love for languages, cultures, and most importantly: food. Food is what brings us all together at the end of the day. I love experimenting with recipes at home, catching up with friends over our favorite foods, and trying all the different restaurants that Houston and Boston have to offer.
I started my food Instagram (@ikneadfood) about three summers ago when I realized how many pictures of food I had saved on my phone. My friends thought it would be a fun idea for me to make an Instagram account solely dedicated to food and it soon become a fun hobby where I got to share my pictures as well as those that my friends sent me. Soon enough I was connecting with other similar food bloggers and became a part of influencer communities such as BestFoodFeed and Zipkick. When I came to Boston College I soon joined its Spoon University chapter where I have made friends who love food just as much as me, write articles about the culture and trends surrounding food, and where I continue to share my love of food photography as I run the Instagram account (@spoon_bc) as the Head of Photography.
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?
As I keep my foodstagram-related activities as a hobby, I feel that the obstacles I’ve faced cannot truly be considered struggles. I am my biggest critic and constantly catch myself second-guessing my decisions- whether it’s when I’m about to make a post or when I’m going to reach out to a new brand. I also second guess myself in other daily tasks, especially in my classes. I am surrounded by many talented students whose intelligence often intimidates me.
Additionally, women in my business school are outnumbered by the amount of men. The lack of women in fields such as business, medicine, and engineering was always something I heard about but it was such a shock when I actually experienced it in person. My biggest piece of advice for other women is to not let that stop you from speaking up during group settings and taking on the role as leader.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Ikneadfood story. Tell us more about the business.
Although my following may be slightly larger now, the purpose of my account has not changed much since the beginning (although my photography skills have thankfully improved a lot more). I still aim to show my followers not only the best foods in Houston and Boston but all over the world through the lens of my travels as well as my friends’.
As I scroll through my feed I usually see pictures of cheesy pizza pulls, gooey chocolate chip cookies, ginormous hamburgers, and other similar, trendy foods to photograph. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all amazing pictures but I’d rather use my account to also show foods that people may not know about or that are rarely photographed. I love it when people message me saying that they tried a new place or food because they saw it on one of my posts!
Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
I can’t strongly speak from experience as I am still a college student and my influencer “career” is a hobby. All I can say is to remember who the important women in your life are and why they inspire you. My mom is the strongest woman I know (you should hear her during her conference calls it’s a bit intimidating) and I was also surrounded by inspiring counselors and co-counselors at the all-girls summer camp I grew up going to and now work at. All of them taught me that you are only as strong as you believe you are. You need to be strong, independent, proud, and always striving towards your maximum potential.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 832-212-1922
- Email: grasb@bc.edu
- Instagram: instagram.com/ikneadfood
- Other: https://spoonuniversity.com/author/beatrizgras
Image Credit:
All food image credits go to @ikneadfood. Personal photo credit goes to @chancharx
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