Joanie Simon teaches her members food photography “from scratch.” Inspired by her own non-linear path into her craft, Simon created courses for her community that cover both the fundamentals and advanced techniques she’s gathered along the way. Although her classes give members practical knowledge they can implement instantly, from lighting to gear to video production, Simon’s big-picture goal is to help people become visual storytellers.
Joanie Simon didn’t find her way to food photography at a magazine internship or art school; she booked her first gigs while she sold restaurant point-of-sale systems for her dad’s company. After a decade working in higher education as a student affairs counselor, Joanie (an art history major) knew she wanted to move ahead in a more creative direction, but she couldn’t see what was on the horizon. What may have seemed like a detour — that stint working for the family business — put her on the road to her next career and true calling.
“I was connecting with local restaurants and chefs who became my first clients,” Joanie says. “Suddenly I realized, ‘Oh, taking pictures of food is actually a business, and I could make a living from this.”
That meandering journey has become the secret sauce for Simon’s community, The Bite Shot: a community of food photographers, many of whom have little prior experience. With the attitude of an enthusiast instead of an expert, Joanie built a following for her video channel by throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck with her followers. Her video library grew to encompass everything from composition to shutter speed, even how to make DIY backdrops.
“When I first started my YouTube channel, I was only 10 steps ahead of the people who I was teaching. I knew more than they did, but I was by no means an expert,” she says. “I think that was helpful. It’s like ‘I can't relate to this dude in his big old studio with these giant lights. I can relate to the girl at her house working at her kitchen table.’”
Joanie managed a Facebook group alongside her YouTube channel to foster her following, but it felt siloed off from her work’s primary home. Eventually, she hired a consultant to help her monetize and strategize for the future. That consultant suggested she produce an end-all-be-all course — a project that drained every last drop of Joanie’s energy. Still, after all that effort, the plan didn’t feel true to the vision she had for her community.
“They were like, ‘Let's run all the ads. Let's do all the things. Let's scale it.’ And I was the most miserable I've ever been,” she says. “I decided I want to do this in a way that I can sustain because, honestly, I have a lot of fun doing what I'm doing.”
In the meantime, Joanie, herself, had joined another Mighty Networks community and saw exactly what she wanted to build for her own followers in action. Impressed, she decided to transition one of her signature courses onto the platform.
“That process is always tricky, but it ended up being great because more and more people who joined our courses didn't have Facebook,” Joanie says. “It was great to say, ‘Guess what? You don't have to worry about posting on Facebook, and you don't have to worry about ads. We have our own community. This is our own dedicated space.”
Joanie knew that if she continued with Mighty Networks as her platform, she didn’t want to overpromise what she could deliver or overspend her own time and effort; she also wanted The Bite Shot to feel just as welcoming as her own kitchen. So she decided to use her e-mail list to create, what she called, an advisory board, which would not only give her feedback on what courses she should create, but also keep her accountable.
“I sent out the ask to my e-mail list, which has around 20,000 subscribers. I said, ‘Okay, if 10 people say they'll want in, I’ll do it,’” she says. “Well, 500 people signed up. And when it came time to release that course, 40 percent of that list converted to purchase because they had been part of making it.”
Joanie has added more courses since then, and she has plans to update existing ones, but the people magic within her community is the one thing she doesn’t want to change. Contrary to what it might seem like, food photography isn’t all frosting swirls and cheese pulls. Often, it can be a lonely pursuit working out of a studio or a personal kitchen. The Bite Shot gives people across the country a table to sit at together virtually, but also sometimes literally.
“On Mighty Networks, it's so wonderful having the activity feed to see, in real-time, how people are asking questions and helping each other,” she says. “There are little groups that get together here and there and friendships that form. They send me pictures and selfies when they’re hanging out together. That's the best. That's literally the best.”