Today we’d like to introduce you to Mason Woodruff.
Hi Mason, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My career options after finishing a degree in food science were slim, which led to working as a personal trainer. I always loved reading blogs and articles from other top trainers and decided to start my own in 2014. Over time I started sharing more recipes and food-related content that really resonated with people. And in 2017, I took a leap of faith and quit everything to work on my blog full time. Two years later, I’d grown it to 500k monthly readers and more than 100k followers on Instagram. These days I reach well over 1M readers each month and run a second food blog for the not-so-healthy things I like to cook.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’d given myself a 6-month runway to make things work with blogging in 2017. At month 9, I started looking for a job. Growing a blog is a slow process, and it would be another six months before things started to snowball. Luckily I found a freelance gig working as a recipe developer for a popular nutrition coaching company, Stronger U. That extended the runway, gave me exposure to a new audience, and literally saved my bacon.
Flash forward to 2020, and my fiancé decided to leave her corporate job to help me in my business. It was a stressful time, especially with everything else going on in 2020 and planning our October wedding. We were grateful every step of the way, though, considering so many others had it much worse. It took at least a year to get my wife acclimated and up to speed as a food blogger in her own right. And these days, I like to think we’re becoming a well-oiled content machine.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My site, Kinda Healthy Recipes, is for home cooks in search of macro-friendly foods and recipes for flexible dieting. The recipes might look like high protein versions of their favorite baked goods or lower calorie spins on staples like tacos, pasta, pizza, and more. I like to think I’m known for keeping things simple and delivering big on flavor. Recipes that go on my sites are thoroughly tested, and I’m constantly trying to earn my wife’s highly coveted picky eater stamp of approval.
One thing that sets my recipes apart from others in the food for fitness space is that I’m willing to sacrifice my fitness to eat all the great food in Austin for inspiration. A small percentage of recipes are direct “Kinda Healthy” copies of our favorite dishes around town, and a large percentage are directly influenced by the things we eat and love. It’s tough work, but someone has to do it.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was a terrible student with a stellar short-term memory for test-taking. I hated school but loved basketball enough to walk the line. College was a different story, taking me six years and more changes to my major than I can count to graduate. My passion (or obsession) for basketball was channeled into fitness, then my career in fitness, and now my blogs and business. I’ve been fortunate to find ways to capitalize on my obsessive personality and work solo as an introvert.
Contact Info:
- Email: mason@masonfit.com
- Website: https://masonfit.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mason_woodruff
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/masonfit
- Other: https://withthewoodruffs.com/
