How Justin Ellen Went From Camera-Shy to 3 Million Social Media Followers

Self-publishing a cookbook and driving 13,000 pre-sales, growing to over 3 million followers on social media, and prioritizing learning as a creator with Justin Ellen from Everything Just Baked. \----- Welcome to episode 589 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Justin Ellen from Everything Just Baked. ## How Justin Ellen Went From Camera-Shy to 3 Million Social Media Followers Justin Ellen started decorating and selling cakes in high school, with the dream of one day opening his own bakery. At the encouragement of his sister, he hesitantly started posting photos of his cakes on Instagram, but didn't like being in front of the camera. He slowly but surely overcame his fear of being on camera, and now has 1.4 million followers on both Facebook and TikTok, and over 800,000 followers on Instagram. In this interview, Justin shares how he transitioned from selling cakes to building a business as a content creator, what his first few brand deals looked like, why he decided to launch his website last year (and how he has already grown to 400,000 monthly pageviews!), and dives into the process of self-publishing his first cookbook (out this month!). This is a really fun and inspiring interview for food creators at any level — we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did! ## Three episode takeaways: - **How to approach every social media post as a data point** — Justin explains how he has shifted his mindset around social media so that everything he posts is something he can learn and iterate from. He also shares how he remixes his short-form videos to stretch out his content and see what performs best, and why he views re-posting content like television re-runs. - **The process of self-publishing a cookbook** — Despite having the option to go the traditional publishing route, Justin chose to self-publish his cookbook to maintain creative control. He walks listeners through the process, including how he hired his team and made decisions about printing and promoting his cookbook, and how Facebook was the main driver for 13,000+ book pre-sales. - **Why you need to always be open to learning** — Justin is candid about his learning process as a creator — how he observes successful creators, notes what they have in common, adds his creative twist, and iterates until he finds something that works for him. **Resources:** - Everything Just Baked - Jessica Secrest - The Diary of a CEO Interview with Seth Godin - Mediavine - Better Than Grandma's Cookbook - Follow Justin on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook - Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ## Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [podcast@foodbloggerpro.com](mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpro.com). Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.