In this episode, the host sits down with Maria Koutsogiannis, founder of @foodbymaria, to explore how she built a global food brand from personal struggle to multi-million follower platform.

Maria shares her journey from accounting to content creation, detailing how a health diagnosis led her to rediscover food, and ultimately launch Food by Maria. She discusses the evolution of Instagram, the importance of audience alignment, and how she scaled from 1,000 followers to over 2.5 million.

The conversation also dives into her transition into products, including the launch of her premium olive oil brand and expansion into Greek honey, all without outside investment.

Key topics include:

• Building a food brand from personal experience
• Scaling an audience in a changing social media landscape
• Transitioning from creator to product entrepreneur
• Launching CPG products without external funding
• Storytelling and brand authenticity in food
• Monetization through partnerships and owned products

@Foodbymaria

In this episode, Ben Jabbawy sits down with Sarah Bond, founder of Live Eat Learn, to explore how she built a food media brand reaching over 1 million monthly visitors.

Starting as an SEO driven blog, Sarah scaled her business through keyword strategy before transitioning to a social-first approach driven by short-form video and high volume content systems.

They discuss how to build and scale a recipe brand in today’s algorithm-driven landscape, including content production, repurposing strategies, and monetization through traffic and email.

Key topics include:

• SEO growth strategies for food blogs
• Social media and short-form video
• Content systems and consistency
• Repurposing content at scale
• Monetization through traffic and email

Sarah Bond is the founder of Live Eat Learn, a vegetarian recipe platform reaching millions through blog and social channels.

@liveeatlearn

https://www.liveeatlearn.com/

In this episode, Ben sits down with Lexi Harrison, co-founder of Crowded Kitchen, to break down how she and her mom built one of the most recognizable food creator brands online.

Lexi shares how Crowded Kitchen evolved from a college-era Instagram account into a multi-platform business with millions of followers, and how her time at The Feedfeed shaped her understanding of the creator economy.

The conversation dives into what it really takes to scale a food media company—from producing high volumes of content and repurposing top-performing posts to balancing Instagram growth with Facebook monetization and leveraging storytelling, seasonality, and experimentation to stand out.

Lexi Harrison is the co-founder of Crowded Kitchen, a food media brand known for vibrant seasonal recipes, viral short-form content, and a highly engaged audience across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and beyond.

@crowded_kitchen

https://www.crowdedkitchen.com/about/

If you’re building a recipe brand, creator business, or food media company, this episode is packed with practical lessons on growth, content strategy, monetization, and scaling with a small team.

https://grocerslist.com

In this episode of Food Empire, I sit down with MacKenzie Smith, the creator behind Grilled Cheese Social, to break down how she turned a simple grilled cheese blog into a full-fledged food creator business.

McKenzie shares the story behind starting her blog while studying counseling psychology at Columbia, when she realized the career path she was on didn’t feel right. What began as a creative outlet built around grilled cheese recipes eventually evolved into a thriving brand powered by SEO, social media, brand partnerships, ad revenue, and Food Network appearances.

We also dive into the pivotal moments that shaped her journey — from losing her uncle, who first inspired her love for cooking, to unexpectedly landing on Guy’s Grocery Games and beating Michelin-trained chefs in a competition that completely changed how she saw herself as a chef.

Today, Grilled Cheese Social has grown into a multi-platform food brand with thousands of recipes, major brand collaborations, cookbooks, and a highly engaged audience across social media and her website.

In this episode, we break down:

How McKenzie turned a niche grilled cheese blog into a real business

What winning Guy’s Grocery Games did for her confidence as a creator

How food bloggers actually monetize their audience

McKenzie Smith is a cookbook author, Food Network champion, food stylist, and the founder of Grilled Cheese Social, a platform dedicated to approachable comfort food and creative recipes that anyone can cook at home.

If you're building a food brand, recipe platform, or creator business, this episode is packed with lessons on turning content into a sustainable career.

McKenzie Smith

https://www.instagram.com/grilledcheesesocial/?hl=en https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenzie-smith-38285832/

In this episode, Ben Jabbawy sits down with Erica Eckman, founder and CEO of Ecko, one of the leading creator marketing agencies in food and CPG, and co-founder of FlavCity, the fast-growing wellness brand now sold nationwide at Target.

Erica shares how she went from food creator to agency founder to CPG operator, and breaks down what actually makes creator marketing work today. From story-view benchmarks and pricing frameworks to retail awareness and DTC performance, this episode is a masterclass in how modern food brands can use creators to drive measurable growth.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why story views matter more than follower count when evaluating creator influence
2. The benchmark Erica uses for creators, and why 10% story reach is her minimum threshold
3. How brands should think about ROAS, CPM, CAC, and LTV across DTC and retail campaigns
4. A practical way creators can price partnerships based on performance
5. How Flavor City launched from creator demand and scaled into national retail at Target
6. Why the most effective creators are often the most raw, real, and impossible to replicate
7. How Echo balances brand KPIs with securing top rates for creator talent

Guest:

Erica Eckman — Founder & CEO of Echo, Co-Founder of Flavor City

Instagram: @everythingerica

LinkedIn: Erica Eckman

If you’re building a food brand, scaling a creator business, or trying to understand how influencer marketing really converts, this episode offers a clear framework for creator-led growth in modern CPG.

In Episode 2 of Food Empire, Ben Jabbawy sits down with chef and creator Josh to explore how he transitioned from award-winning restaurants and celebrity private chef work (including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt) into a full-time content business.

Josh shares what it takes to win online in food content: consistency, speed, and making recipes feel familiar, plus how he built a real business model behind the views.

In this episode, they discuss:

1. The reality of cooking for celebrities (high volume, high demand, zero “no”)
2. The 90-day content commitment that led to back-to-back viral videos
3. How simple, familiar ingredients can outperform “complex chef food” online
4. Monetization strategy: brand partnerships, Substack memberships, and platform payouts

Josh Gale https://www.thechefoutwest.com/

Connect with us:

Ben Jabbawy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminjabbawy/

https://benjabbawy.com/about

In the debut episode of Food Empire, Ben sits down with Gaby Dalkin, founder of What’s Gaby Cooking, to explore the entrepreneurial journey behind her multi-platform food brand.

From private-chef work to New York Times bestselling cookbooks, CPG expansion, and restaurant ownership, Gaby shares how she scaled strategically while maintaining deep audience connection.

In this episode, they discuss:

1. Leveraging unconventional early opportunities
2. Building brand equity through content and community
3. Launching and scaling Dalkin & Co. in retail and DTC
4. Entering the restaurant industry with experienced partners

Gaby Dalkin is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of What’s Gaby Cooking, Dalkin & Co., and Gaby’s restaurant.

Gaby Dalkin

https://www.youtube.com/@WhatsGabyCooking

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