Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Lichtenstein.
Kara, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It all started with a food blog. Yawn, I know… everyone has a food blog, right? Well, I had mine before it was cool, I swear! With that came all the necessary social media — mainly twitter cause it was before Instagram’s time, believe it or not. I became rather enthralled by Twitter and created the handle @HungryInChicago (I thought about the name for approximately two seconds but it just stuck). Then, yada, yada, yada, Instagram was born and so was my social media company, Hungry Social… long yada, yada, short, I tweeted that a bartender was an asshat one day, and the owner approached me two minutes later — scaring the **** out of me, mind you — asking if the bartender was nice to me yet. I was so stunned, I spit out my wine (I NEVER do that). Turns out, it pays to speak your mind. A month later, he called and hired me to run the social media for his restaurant group. I did that for years, taking on more and more clients over time, and then was like hey… this is silly. Just work for your damn self! So, I did. Hungry Social was created and she’s my biggest, most favorite food baby yet.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
To be honest, I feel weird saying “yeah, it’s been pretty smooth,” but it has. I was one of the first people managing social media for the hospitality industry in Chicago, so finding clients was not hard. EVERY restaurant and bar needed it after a certain point in time, and that happened to be my shtick.
One thing I do think set me apart was not fitting into the mold of what social media was supposed to look like. I am a big fan of speaking my mind, getting creative, and pushing the envelope. If you’re looking for boring, keep looking. After all, Hungry Social’s motto is “Not Your Cookie Cutter Social Media.” So find your thing, and do that. And do it your way. Even though some people don’t like it.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Hungry Social – what should we know?
In layman’s terms, Hungry Social manages social media for mainly restaurants, bars, & chefs. Hungry Social is the voice of those businesses, and gets their message across via social media platforms like Instagram, twitter, and facebook. We develop marketing strategies, content — all of the above.
I am proud to be an OG in this field. Especially now that there are approximately 14.7 gazillion social media “influencers,” consultants, managers, content creators, etc., out there, it feels good to be an original. Before followers were bought, before bots existed, it was just me, putting out awesome, unique content, and making clients happy. Those were the days.
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
Be true. Be organic. Don’t cheat. As hard as it is to not succumb to cutting corners because everyone else is, don’t. It’s not worth it. Just push a little harder. Be a little better. And remain 100% true. You’ll sleep better at night (and sleep is very important!).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hungry-social.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hungryinchicago
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/hungrysocial
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/hungryinchicago
Image Credit:
Eric Kleinberg (the photos of the Bandol wine & cheese), The Chicago Sun Times (photo with Linda Yu)
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago 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.
