Laney Schwartz is a food blogger and creator of Life is But a Dish. Before she ventured into the blogging world, she was an elementary school teacher. She has built a career harnessing her two favorite things, TEACHING and FOOD. Her goal is for you to have confidence in the kitchen and to create a place for you to find easy, approachable recipes to use in your everyday cooking. Behind every recipe, photo and blog post is her – just an everyday mom, home cook and girl who’s obsessed with food.
When and how did you start your blog?
She launched her blog in October 2014, however, she had been planning to start her blog long before that. Before starting her blog, she was an elementary teacher and taught kids in 1st and 2nd grade. One day while at work she came across a food blog and was impressed by the woman who was running the blog. Laney almost couldn’t believe that the blog owner was actually able to earn money by sharing pictures and recipes of her foods. She wanted to do the same for herself i.e. run a food blog. There are two things in life that Laney really loves doing. Those are cooking and teaching. She knew if she could start her own blog, she could do her two most favorite things in one and therefore started planning for her blog.
Did you always love cooking?
She has always loved eating and she has always loved food. She grew up in a family of great cooks. Her mother and grandmothers were cooks. In her childhood and school days, she never really got to cook because she was surrounded by cooks who always prepared the food for her. Laney didn’t cook until she got to high school because that is when there was no one around to cook for her. During this time, she discovered she really enjoyed and loved cooking.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Laney believes she gets most of her inspiration from people who are in the same business as her. She has met many food bloggers through Instagram and Facebook. She follows them on regular basis. Laney also credits her audience. She feels she has a very engaging audience and whenever someone from her audience shares a picture of food that was prepared by following Laney’s recipe, that is itself a source of inspiration for Laney.
How many followers do you have on Instagram?
She has about 27k followers on Instagram. It took her almost four years to build the audience.
How do you make money from your blog?
There are many different ways through which you can earn money from a blog. Laney’s main source of income in blogging is through brand partnerships. She works directly with brands. She uses products of certain brands in her food and shares the recipe on Facebook, Instagram and in return, she gets money from these brands. Initially, Laney was open to all sorts of offers from all brands at minimal returns. After four years in the food blogging and being able to establish herself as a successful blogger, she now has the independence to choose the brands she wants to work with.
Other ways to earn money from a blog are to put advertisements on your blog and that generates income based on how many people click on those ads through your website.
What are some of the best practical tips that can be applied in the kitchen?
When you are cooking, something that can be really overwhelming is when you are not comfortable to try something new and only feel comfortable in cooking by following a recipe. If you want to cook some food by following a recipe, always make sure to go through the entire recipe before going to the grocery store. This is because you will know beforehand what to do with all the items once they are bought from the grocery store. Many times you start following a recipe, you are halfway through the process of cooking and you see a recipe step where you were supposed to prepare a certain food item beforehand e.g. put something in the refrigerator overnight. You didn’t expect this to be on the list, you didn’t prepare for it and you start to freak out. Knowing what to expect before starting to cook can help avoid these problems and you can only know what to expect if you read the recipe from start to finish before you start cooking.
Always try to stay as organized as possible when you are cooking. Try to keep a big bowl right next to your cutting board so you can put the waste material in it. This will help you avoid creating a mess in the kitchen and make it comfortable for you to cook your food.
What is your most popular recipe?
Her most popular recipe is Turkey Meatloaf.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a food blog?
Just start. There is no perfect time for starting a business. You need to be consistent in your business as well. You also need to come up with a concrete and practical approach to generate concrete on your blog. Laney believes starting a blog can be a bit overwhelming especially if you set unrealistic targets. It is always fine to start with less; you can always add more later in your business. The most important thing is to stay authentic and you will always find the right audience for your blog who will like you for your work. If you try to follow other people, it may result in a burnout in long run.
What’s your ultimate goal?
Laney’s ultimate goal is to write a cookbook. Recently, Laney has been presented with an opportunity of writing a cookbook but she believes it is still too soon to dive in this venture. As of this moment, her main focus is to grow her business and attract a larger audience to her work.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
There are many ups and downs in the life of an entrepreneur which can sometimes be demotivating and heart wrenching. The best advice she has been given is to never quit regardless of the constant failure and dejection that an entrepreneur can come across. You need to believe in yourself and in the services that you provide as an entrepreneur.
How can we connect with you?
You can connect with her through her website. Her website’s URL is
You can also connect with Laney through the following social media platforms.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeisbutadish/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lifeisbutadish
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeisbutadish/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lifeisbutadish/