Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Treat
Hi Lauren, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started my “stlouisfoodie” instagram account back in 2014 when my daughter was born. I was on maternity leave and had some extra time to kill. Photography has always been an interest of mine – I spent some time a freelance wedding, engagement and portrait photographer in my 20s. Over the following years on Instagram, I would feature local stl restaurants or meals I had cooked as well as various photos related to my life.. I used to eat at restaurants for work meetings and so that gave me an opportunity to share the dishes I ordered and tag the restaurants. At the time my role at work was related to supporting small businesses so it became a mini passion project of mine to see how I could help the community. I connected with a lot of foodies via Instagram around the country and local in St. Louis as well.
Fast forward to 2020 and a lot of the STL businesses we know and love were really struggling. I was really interested to see what I could do to support my community so I tried to highlight small restaurants and participate in some group efforts to support. It’s important to me that our community continues to thrive since this is basically my hometown – I moved here from Milwaukee when I was 5. I was also so inspired by the other St. Louis foodies I met to continue to support where I can.
The era of Reels propelled my Instagram forward and I owe it to some other foodies like @bradenstl who were there for me when I had questions and issues adjusting from all photos to mostly reels. I can really see the impact of how the positive content we share can boost our local community and make a lasting impact. I’m a huge proponent of advocating for working with influencers to drive traffic to your business and hope that small business owners can increasingly see the value in that in our city.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One struggle for me was learning how to shoot and edit videos. Instagram seems to show reels to users more than static posts. I was inspired by other area creatives to challenge myself and learn a new skill. It has been a bumpy road but when I compare the reels of today on my account vs when reels was introduced, it’s like night and day. For me, editing a reel can take hours, since I always shoot so much footage and record voiceovers in most of my reels. I’ve learned to become more efficient and accept imperfection.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I actually work in the banking industry, in operations from my home. I’ve worked from home in the financial sector since 2020 and before that in mostly bank branches since I graduated college in 2011. It’s interesting that I’m such a creative but have a super practical, analytical job. I think that’s why I gravitate towards creating on instagram since it gives me an outlet for that creative energy.
What does success mean to you?
Success is measured by your quality of life/happiness and the impact you make on others. Little wins are still successes to be celebrated.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @stlouisfoodie
