Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Zhao & Annie Zhang.
Michael & Annie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Food is near and dear to us because it’s very much cultural. In Chinese culture, food is connection. We literally ask, “Have you eaten?” instead of saying “Hello.” Our food blog Hungry Mind, Hungry Stomach (or we like to call HMHS) began on a cold, wintry night in 2018. We, at the time two UT students, were enjoying the beautiful landscape and crisp, chilly air over at Mueller and were dazzled by this quaint little Italian restaurant called L’Oca d’Oro. It had such a lovely contemporary vibe and lively flare, and the rest of the night was filled with heartening memories and of course delicious food.
Among the dishes was arguably our favorite dish in Austin — Beet Risotto, with a dollop of mascarpone and topped with short ribs that will melt in your mouth. It was that Beet Risotto, poorly lit but delicious, that marked our entrance on Instagram. From there, several hundreds of photos of amazing food–from the home kitchen to food trucks to world-class restaurants–have made it onto our account.
Since then, we’ve launched our actual website to feature more high-quality pictures and in-depth reviews. We’ve started dabbling into publishing our recipes, like tasty Chinese pork belly to overnight oats to blueberry scones. Today, what began initially as our hobby has almost become a part-time of sorts. Companies have begun to reach out to us so we could share some of their products to our amazing audience. From local Austin companies to even Hershey, we put the spotlight on products we enjoyed. HMHS is about creating good memories and eating good food with friends, family, and everyone who’s joined us on this journey. Food is a medium for our understanding of happiness, and we hope we can help everyone who joins us to feel this very way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our food reviewing journey has been great! But social media definitely has its ups and downs. One moment you’re getting nearly 500 likes out of nowhere and the next you’re getting maybe a fifth of that for something you’ve put a lot of creative effort into. Weathering the storm of ebbs and flows has been one of its own challenges, but it’s been a good learning experience. On one hand, it’s taught us to think outside of the box to achieve better exposure as well as see what our audience likes. But perhaps the better lesson is a personal one. Although it might be easy to get lost in the sea of likes, views and metrics, this challenge reinforced to us what we were really doing — to share our overwhelming love and appreciation of food. With that in mind, we feel happy posting and sharing our food photos and reviews, and the response from our audience has always been positive, too! It just goes to show that keeping your eyes on what’s truly significant goes a long way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We’re currently both students–one in medical school and the other in graduate school–so of course, that’s been our main focus. But we’d definitely also consider ourselves content creators for HMHS. We do everything ourselves, from designing our website to maintaining all of our social medias to creating content for each of these platforms. That’s probably what we’re most proud of, being able to maintain HMHS as a place for people to come to and see our food pictures and reviews while still studying. We created a fun review on our website of over 165 restaurants that we’ve gone to over the course of our time at UT and called it our “2-liner guide to Austin food and coffee.” We like to think of it as a little gift to all the subsequent students (and anyone else) who’ll pass by, so they can see the best that Austin has to offer. And I think that’s what sets us apart, just a general sense of having fun in what we’re doing and really transforming a hobby into something both personal yet transcends the larger public.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Confidence builds by doing! For HMHS, it’s about putting ourselves out there and just trying to be ourselves. Most people probably feel some kind of social anxiety at networking events or meeting individuals in the same or more senior positions. But the more you talk and interact with everyone, the more comfortable you will feel and the more you’ll get out of these experiences. Of course, there’s going to be awkward moments and silences or gaffs in general, but that’s okay! They’re natural, and while they may sting, they’ll teach you more than you could imagine. Not every single interaction is going to pan out into some life-changing experience out of a movie. Yet, it’s those few, special people you meet who will make the biggest difference. Through HMHS, we’ve created our own community and network, and it’s there that we get to rely on our closest friends and mentors to make it better for everyone. So just go out there and spark conversations that show your potential, and most of all, enjoy every step of the way!
Contact Info:
- Email: hungrymindhungrystomach@gmail.com
- Website: https://hungrymindhungrystomach.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hungrymindhungrystomach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hmhsblog/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=LatzN6Juzm_e2DjvFJlH6Q
