Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Kastner
Hi Erica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At this point I’ve been blogging for almost half of my life – I started my first food blog when I was 18 years old. It brought me so much joy to create recipes, photograph them, and share them with the world. But I wasn’t confident enough to treat my website like a business.
That is until I had the opportunity to write for the Pioneer Woman on her sister site, and eventually for a section of her main website. I am so grateful for everything I learned about writing and food photography from the decade I worked with Ree and her team.
These days I work for myself, creating recipes for my own website, Buttered Side Up.
A few years ago I started sharing tutorials of my recipes on YouTube. I’ve loved filming and editing videos since I was kid, so it’s been a great creative outlet.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest struggles when it comes to being self-employed is knowing what to work on next. Since you’re your own boss, there’s no one but yourself to plan your day and prioritize what will be best for your business. And when you’re in a creative field, burnout is a real problem. I’ve had to learn to allow myself to create for fun and not just for search engines and algorithms.
As I mentioned, at first I had a hard time seeing my work as more than just a hobby. I’m sure this was partly because of my personality. But I grew up in a faith community that didn’t encourage women to pursue a career. Over the years I have unlearned that mentality, though I still sometimes feel guilty for devoting time to my business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
On Buttered Side Up, I love sharing scrumptious, from-scratch recipes. Sourdough is one of my biggest passions – it’s so satisfying to craft a loaf of bread that’s risen with only wild yeast! I also enjoy recreating coffee shop drinks at home for a fraction of the cost.
Over on YouTube I also enjoy testing vintage recipes and meal plans!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Some of my happiest moments were spent riding around on ATVs. I grew up in a large family (I have 5 siblings), and sometimes we would all hop on our 4-wheelers (we owned 4 so we could ride 2 each) and roam around the ditches and back roads. We would sometimes build a fire and roast sandwiches and warm up a can of baked beans. I kind of wish I could go back and experience a day like that again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/butteredsideup
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butteredsideupblog/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butteredsideupblog
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ButteredSideUp
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/ericalea/
