Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Hauck.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
While my social media page only started about a year ago, my passion for food, drinks and hospitality started when I was young. I grew up in a house with a lot of homecooked meals and family get-togethers. My family are some of the best cooks I know.
Later on in life, I ended up going to college at Johnson and Wales for Culinary Arts and Food Service Entrepreneurship/Business Management. I have worked in the restaurant industry almost my entire career and knew that I wanted to run my own place one day.
Once COVID hit, it was a wake-up call for a lot of people industry-wide. While being laid off, I did a lot of recipe development and catering at home and shared my culinary adventures with my audience. From there, The Hungry Dollar was born. It started as a foodie page to share some good local eats, as well as fun recipes. Now, it has given me the opportunity to work with some really cool brands that align with my interests: food & drinks, travel/outdoors, and my dogs!
Having such a strong culinary and entrepreneurship background has helped a lot with producing good content and turning a fun project into the start of something more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. I went through the typical college and work struggles. I have gone through the entrepreneurship and “starting a business” struggles. But, that doesn’t mean it was negative. Success isn’t built overnight and it takes work, and struggles will only help you figure out the correct way for next time. COVID has presented the restaurant industry with a lot of struggles. It is sad to see how many places had to close. But at the same time, it is exciting to see new places open and flourish. Restauranteurs have had to get very creative in the last few years and are not given enough credit.
Scheduling has always been a struggle for me as well. I would miss out on a lot of food-related events because of my old work schedule and work-life balance. I cannot stress enough to you the importance of work-life balance. When I was first laid off due to COVID, starting my food page really helped. It kept me involved in the industry but also kept me working hard and being creative with things that I love. My current work schedule allows me to miss a lot less.
What started as a hobby transformed into a social platform that allows me to work with some amazing restaurants and brands that align with my interests in life. I also have gained some amazing friends in the foodie world. Those are a few reasons why the struggles are worth it in the end!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I manage the food & beverage department at a hotel here in Austin full-time. I am also the content creator for The Hungry Dollar, a food/culinary inspired brand that also showcases my travels and dogs.
I started my page last August to share my recipes, catering items and home-cooked meals with my friends and followers. I do a lot of BBQ and smoked items, so I think that was what drew in the most pull. My first partnership was with Bradley Smoker, the smoker company I grew up using, so I was very excited. They liked some of the recipes I did with my Bradley Smoker and wanted me to continue. I still love to experiment and smoke new things!
I started to document my dining out more and converted it into an all-around food-loving page. This gave me the opportunity to work with some amazing restaurants, both locally and while traveling. I also started working with companies and brands that shared my interests in food, traveling/outdoors and dogs! I love to spoil my dogs, so they have gotten a lot of new toys and treats over the last year. Does that make them influencers?…
What sets me apart is the ability to bring different businesses and people together. I love to think outside the box and put together an event or a dish that people haven’t had before. Putting together collaborations brings something new and unique to a community that loves to support locals. Not only are the food and drinks amazing, but it’s great to have these businesses working together. There are a few more fun things down the pipeline, so stay tuned!
Contact Info:
- Email: thehungrydollar@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehungrydollar/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehungrydollar/
Photo by @finddeliciousfoods
Photo by @atxmediagroup
