The love and recognition I get from people is what made it amazing for me, says Jaipur Food Blogger, The Food Devi: Radhika Agarwal

Dr. Radhika Agarwal is a dentist by education and a full-time food blogger by profession. She loves trying out new dishes and cuisines. Her favorite food is PIZZA and can eat it anytime and anywhere.

What is your definition of a Food Blogger? How did you stumble upon Food Blogging as a career option?

The term ‘Food Blogger’ is widely used by a number of people these days. According to me, a blogger is someone who records, writes and posts about their experiences on a public platform, and hence a food blogger is someone who shares their experiences with food.
I started food blogging in my city when there was no blogging culture whatsoever. There were two more bloggers apart from me. I started it as a hobby in my final year of college and during my internship period, I realized that I’m extremely passionate about blogging and decided to pursue it as a career.

Take us through the thought behind the name

It’s a funny story. On 9th June 2016, I created my Instagram page and I changed my Instagram name at least 5-6 times because I couldn’t find the right one. As I was discussing the same with my friends, one of them suggested ‘Foodie Devi’ as a joke but I felt like it was just the right name for my blog as it was both quirky and desi. I decided to keep the name of my blog ‘The Foodie Devi’.

You have been in the Food Blogging space for quite some time, tell us more about your milestones in this journey and how have things changed over the years

Yes, I have been in the Food Blogging space for more than 3 years now, and I have seen a lot of ups and downs. The two of my biggest milestones in this journey was first, when I was nominated for the ‘Best Restaurant Reviewer’ category by Food Bloggers Association India (Mumbai) in 2018 and second, I won the ‘Best Food Blogger’ award in Rajasthan by Jaipur Mag in 2018.

Things have changed for good after hitting such milestones yet I keep thinking of new things to bring on the table for my audience.

What constitutes a day in your life as a Food Blogger?

The first thing I do after waking up in the morning is to hit the gym. After I started Food Blogging, I gained a lot of weight. I make sure I work out at least 5 days a week. Later in the day, I edit some pictures to post on my social media with a well-written caption. In the evening, I charge my camera and phone and head out to a restaurant for reviewing it or I go and explore the street food of the city.

Do you still find it difficult to tell people that Blogging is a legit profession? Weirdest reactions from people around you?

Yes, it’s still difficult to make people understand that blogging is a legit career option these days. I get a lot of mixed reactions from people, especially when they know that I’m a dentist too. Some of them are like “That’s so great, you’re pursuing your passion” while others are like, “Why would you leave such a noble profession to pursue blogging”.

What is the one thing you love and hate about this profession?

I love so many things about this profession but if I have to choose only one, I’d say that because of this profession, I get to visit and try so many different dishes. Sometimes I think about if I was not a food blogger, maybe I’d never be able to experience so many different things.

The one thing I dislike about this profession is that I cannot lose weight. :P

The Whackiest Client Brief or request received 

Not whacky, but it happens so many times that the restaurants themselves don’t understand that what I’m doing is something professional. They tell me they’re giving me free food already so why should they pay me!

If given a chance to go back in time and fix, what is that one mistake you would like to undo?

There was a phase when I was in 2017 where I started feeling a bit stagnant and monotonous, so I stopped posting on my page for a while and that impacted my overall reach to the audience.

Looking back at the journey, what made it worth your while?

The love and recognition I get from people is what made it amazing for me.

How often did you post when you started off as opposed to now.

I used to post once in 2-3 days or so, and now I make sure to post at least once every day.

What according to you is the best way to increase traffic to your food blog?

The best way to increase traffic is to post quality content regularly.

Quick Five 

Favorite Food / Cuisine  - PIZZA / Italian

Favorite Café / Restaurant  - Curious Life Coffee Roasters / Peshawri

Order of preference Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Niche Platform - Instagram > Facebook > Youtube > Snapchat

Static Images, Stories, Long Form Videos - Stories > Static Images > Long-form videos

Pet Peeve against Brands, Agencies and Fellow Bloggers

Brands & Agencies: Some of them don’t understand that we put in a lot of effort to create content and that it’s our full-time profession. How do they expect us to pay our bills if all they want to do is a barter collaboration?

Fellow Bloggers: I hate the fact that there’s no professionalism and unity among the bloggers in my city.

Five Tips for Budding Food Bloggers out there

1. Post only quality content
2. Post regularly
3. Use proper hashtags
4. Be interactive with your followers
5. Give honest reviews

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