Episode 142: PR tips from a food/travel journalist w/Kristie Hang
Do you love food, travel, or have a business in this niche? Today's fun episode is all about stories involving local food and travel stories. Whether you make a consumable product or have a travel related product or business, our guest shares all the ways you can pitch and get featured and tell your story to a wider audience. Kristie Hang is a food, travel, and Asian culture Host & Journalist seen on Eater LA, CNN, Food Network, Netflix, KTLA, and more! Tune in and be warned--you might get hungry after listening to this episode!
Here’s What We Cover and More:
The advantages of freelance writing, including the freedom to pitch stories to multiple editors and showcase diverse culinary cultures.
Seamless connection between food and travel journalism.
Challenges of creating seasonal and engaging content.
Current trends in the food industry.
Tips for crafting effective pitches, emphasizing clarity, personalization, and relevance.
Follow up etiquette and provide value to recipients.
Kristie’s favorite dining spots, including a unique home-based Malaysian food service in LA.
Unconventional stories such as the alleged boba shortage during COVID.
The worlds of food and travel journalism offer unique opportunities to explore diverse cultures through cuisine. By understanding the economic pressures on small businesses and the true costs behind dining experiences, consumers can make more informed choices and support local enterprises. Additionally, effective pitching and PR techniques are necessary for both journalists and small businesses to create meaningful connections and share compelling stories with the world.
Product Businesses! Download my free HOW TO GET INTO A GIFT GUIDE/PRODUCT ROUND UP roadmap for free HERE to get more sales and traffic to your site this season.
If you want to land your first feature for free without any connections, I want to invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought-after industry expert. Register now at www.gloriachoupr.com/masterclass.
Resources Mentioned:
Join the PR Secrets Masterclass
Join the Small Biz PR Pros Facebook Group
DM the word “PITCH” to us on Instagram to get a pitching freebie https://www.instagram.com/gloriachoupr
Connect with Gloria Chou on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaychou
Join Gloria Chou's PR Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/428633254951941
Additional Resources:
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Transcript
00:00:00 Gloria: What's up, small business heroes? Welcome back to another episode of Small Business PR, where we make marketing and PR super accessible for the everyday small business hero. I'm so excited for today's episode because, have you ever played those games where friends ask you, what is your dream job? And I always say, I wanna get paid to travel and taste the world.
00:00:18 Gloria: Well, today we have someone who actually does that as a real life. So we have an LA based food and travel journalist who gets to do all the fun things, go to restaurants, taste food, meet chefs, and she's gonna talk all about her work, what she's covering, and how the food journalism scene works. So welcome to the show, Kristie.
00:00:36 Kristie: Hi, thanks for having me.
00:00:38 Gloria: So we're both from LA and LA has so much good Asian food. And I love that you cover so many Asian flavors, but can you just tell people like, what exactly do you do as a food and travel journalist?
00:00:48 Kristie: Yeah. So I've been doing this professionally for about 15 years now. And so I get paid to, you know, go to the latest, greatest openings of all the restaurants, to rub elbows with chefs, to host TV shows or segments, to go on the news and to talk about what's the newest trend in travel, what's the newest trend in food and cultural experiences.
00:01:15 Gloria: Oh, I love that so much. And I love that you bring the diversity there too, because I think it's so important now to highlight, you know, different cultures and to give them a spotlight and you're doing that with what you're doing. So I know that you're a freelance writer. Can you tell us the different outlets or publications or shows that you have a worth in for?
00:01:31 Kristie: So many, Eater, CNN, Netflix, Mix TV, KTLA News, ABC, Food Network. The list goes on and on. It's just a… It's so great to be able to be freelance because you can really just jump from place to place and not stay in one place for too long and be able to have the freedom to do what you want.
00:01:57 Gloria: Oh, I love that. Now, usually on this show, we've interviewed the entrepreneur, editor-in-chief. We've interviewed a lot of the publications that when you think of traditional media and I love what you're doing is kind of different. Can you tell us about the day in the life of what you do and maybe why it's different than someone who works at a Vogue or Allure, for example?
00:02:14 Kristie: Yeah, so I'm able to pitch my own stories because I have so many editors and I don't really need to respond to one person. So if I think one outlet, this story doesn't really match their vibe, I can go to someone else. So what I really do, that I'm really proud of this if I see a story, I meet someone, something that's really interesting, I'm going to go and do the story and then I'm going to find out and think about who I should pitch for that story. And so I have a lot more freedom than someone, let's say that has a nine to five, that sits at a desk and works for, you know, outlet A, B or C. And so I'm just really grateful to be able to do that, to be able to do that locally and to be able to be on a plane and do that anywhere from around the world and learn more about different places of different people at the same time.
00:02:58 Gloria: Now, I love that you said, food and travel. And I think that, you know, as the time of recording, it's really kind of blending into one thing. So can you be more specific? I know that you do like restaurants, like, you know, food items, but does a travel component have to have a food component or you're also doing travel stories of, like resorts and wellness retreats?
00:03:16 Kristie: Yeah. So I get invited by many tourism departments to go to their, let's say like the island of Hawaii or Canada or Asia, and they will kind of curate this whole experience for me. So it's true. I do get to stay at some very nice hotels, all inclusive, but at the same time, you do the fancy things and then you go out. And you really find those hidden gems, you talk to the locals. And I really like doing stories like that. And just because in the moment, maybe you can't see where you can place a story, doesn't mean that a couple months down the line, you can't think of something else that this place or the story would work well with.
00:03:56 Kristie: And so when I go on podcasts, when I go on shows, people ask me about certain things and that just comes to mind. And I'm like, you have to try so and so and so when you're here. And I think it's just a… It was a well-rounded experience being able to go to these different things and talk about food and travel. But of course, I think food is the best way to learn more about a new culture, a new people, and just to better educate yourselves. I just think they go hand in hand with each other.
00:04:23 Gloria: Oh my goodness. Your words are like music to my ears. One foodie to another. I totally agree. I love that you have the freedom and flexibility, but I know that there's also editorial calendars and seasonal stories. So can you give us kind of just like, you know, 20,000 foot view. Like, of course you have different flexibilities, but what are some of the stories that you do cover like every season of, or every quarter of the year?
00:04:46 Kristie: Yeah, I think I, in LA, I am really known for doing like the best boba list for LA and OC, which is kind of fun to do, but you would think, I mean, I used to do hard news. So car crashes, murders, you name it. And I thought going more into food and travel, things would be more fluffy and happy, but wow, it's the death threats and the hate you get for telling people your top 10 boba list is insane. You would have never guessed it. It's something so innocent, but you know, sometimes you do stories that you don't necessarily care about as much or not as passionate about. It's just part of the beast. And some of the things are like SEO search engines. And so certain things are like, Top 10 best of, I hate those words and those titles, but that's what people click on. And that's what gets people talking, unfortunately.
00:05:39 Kristie: So from my perspective, I think there is no such thing as the most authentic, the best, the top, whatever. Because who am I to tell you that these are the definite, definitive best of whatever, right? Because who cares if a restaurant is really good? Your idea of what a restaurant or a product is the best is your opinion. And there's no one to tell you whether that's right or wrong because you might go to, let's say an establishment because it's nostalgic. It's not necessarily “the best,” right? But to you, it brings up some feeling of emotion. And I think that's just so different.
00:06:16 Kristie: But unfortunately, when you are doing these season stories, they like to do things with holidays. So for example, these like, you know, holidays they come up with like National boba day, national cheesecake day, things like that. And I do think that's kind of click-baity, but it's kind of like a fun story to run, but not my favorite thing to do, definitely.
00:06:37 Gloria: I love what you said about the listicles because we, you know, I teach a lot about that, especially for our product owners, how to get into a gift guide. And it is click-baity and the news wants people to click on it. So I mean, that's really what it is. And those stories will always work. So there's never a shortage of those. What are you finding now at the time of recording? What are some of the trends that you're looking for in terms of food? Is it, slow food culture? Is it farm to table? Or maybe that's kind of outdated. What are you seeing?
00:07:07 Kristie: You know what? I think it's a little bit off topic, but what I'm seeing is small businesses really struggling, whether it's something like fast food, whether it's something, sit down. I think all Mom and Pop businesses, no matter food or not, are struggling right now because of the current environment, the economy right now. And for me, from a food perspective, I kind of think like, wow, going to McDonald's is about like $15 a person these days. And then going to a Mom and Pop, it's like, well, would I rather pay more money for that? Or do I want to go through a drive-through experience?
00:07:44 Kristie: But then you have to factor in, I get a lot of hate posts about, like, that's so expensive. I could lie to Thailand for that amount of money. Like they're just joking around. But I'm like, well, if you can get a $100 ticket, including your meal, with a flight to Thailand, then good on you. But here, you have to understand that people who are going to eat don't see the hidden cost of things, of running a business. You don't see the insurance that these owners have to pay. You don't see all the hidden fees that using Uber Eats and all these other third parties that you have to pay. So I think it's really difficult for a consumer or a diner to really see it from the restaurant's perspective.
00:08:25 Kristie: People are getting mad at tipping so much and tipping culture. People are just getting mad because everything is piling up on them and it just seems like everything is getting more and more expensive. And I think it's hard to see it from the other perspective. But because I work with both sides, I really see that it's just the cost of living and how much things are these days. And so I really feel for any business owner, that's not this big conglomerate, that is able to stay afloat, which is another reason why I will never say this food or this business was awful.
00:08:56 Kristie: If I didn't like something, I'm just gonna keep to myself. If on the down low, you wanna approach me like, hey, what'd you think of this place? Just wondering, then I'll tell you. But I don't feel the need to go out of my way and write an awful review or trash something. If you don't like it, then move on. That's just my opinion.
00:09:12 Gloria: Yeah, I love that you do present things from all sides because I know from the consumer perspective, my husband's Italian and he just thinks that tipping culture is out of control in the US. And I think that the New Yorker or something wrote an article about how for everything, they kind of, like flip the screen, you know, and that awkward moment. So I love what you said about that. So that's so topical and seasonal. I have a question. When I think about food and reviews, I think of a lot of people trying to be on your good graces and persuade you for writing into a good review.
00:09:43 Gloria: Maybe they talk about the celebrity chef they have or the fact that somebody went to their restaurant. How much does that matter? Like how objective is your review of like the food or do you take into account like their story? Like how do you come up with that final product that you're delivering, which is the review?
00:09:58 Kristie: Right, so for the most part, I like to go in, undetected to any food establishments. I go in, I pay on my own. I don't wanna get something skewed. I don't want an experience that has been curated too much unless like on my own private social media, if someone wants to do an ad with me or something like that. Of course, that's a different experience. But with that as well, I have never taken an ad from a place that I did not personally enjoy myself. Because all these years, I've been working up to this kind of authentic voice where people that follow me really enjoy where I go and they take my opinion seriously.
00:10:37 Kristie: So even if that means not getting paid, even if that means me coming out of my own pocket, I would rather do that. So as much as possible, unless I'm on assignment and they know I'm coming in to interview the chef, like it's this whole big thing. For the most part, day to day, I go on my own, I pay on my own, and it all comes out of my own pocket. I really think that helps with the general opinion of what I think of a restaurant or a dish.
00:10:59 Gloria: Oh, I love that. But what about, so for example, let's say I'm opening a restaurant, you have a lot of restaurants vying for your attention. What's the best way to get on your radar? Do I need to name drop and say, celebrities have been here? Or do you care more about the story of the founders and the chefs?
00:11:14 Kristie: I love the story. I think that's really what makes your restaurant. I love when people put their family history in it, how hard it was to open. I want to hear all the nitty gritty details. I think honestly, the food is definitely part of it. But when it comes down to it, I think people want an experience. People want to feel like they're at home, they know you, that they have a stake in your business. And I think that matters most.
00:11:41 Kristie: Of course, there's the restaurants that you love their food so much, you wouldn't care if they threw it and they chucked it in your face and you would still say, thank you, please, may I have some more. But I think for the most part, there's just so much competition these days. It's so expensive to eat out. It's quite the luxury. And so where you spend your money really is a part of that and whether or not you want to help out that establishment and spend your money in that place. And I think it's just a lot of like thought that goes behind it.
00:12:15 Gloria: Yeah. I love that you advocate for their story because I mean, anyone can just pay for an influencer, I guess, to come to the restaurant and buy followers, honestly. So do you care about the restaurants, like branding and social media and how cool their website is?
00:12:28 Kristie: So I'm honestly turned off by any restaurants that are done where their social media has done too well. I think it looks too curated and looks too artificial. I think it's almost like when you watch, like a 60 minute interview, you have the perfect lighting, the perfect cut, the perfect edit versus even on the news now, which you see people taking their cell phone footage. It's like, shaky and everything, but you feel like that's authentic. You feel like that's not bought with followers and that's not bought with ad money.
00:12:58 Kristie: And to me, that kind of rawness speaks to me more than someone who clearly had the budget to pay for a social media manager, or influencers to come in and take these gorgeous pictures. And I think that stuff works. And it works very briefly, maybe to get someone in the door. But that doesn't get returned customers. When you buy Yelp reviews, when you buy any of this stuff. So ultimately, you need to have the service, the experience and the food speak for itself. And I'm very into these small businesses that don't know any of this stuff. Actually, I love working with ones like that.
00:13:36 Kristie: And it warms my heart because it really is, you know, they're giving you their blood, sweat and tears and they don't even understand any of this stuff. And it's just so much more of a community experience when you go to places like that versus these places that hire a whole team of people. And that's kind of how people feel, like about the whole Michelin Star thing. Cause like, do they deserve something more than another restaurant or is it maybe they have PR trained chefs and PR trained people to put this on a map and a budget to make sure that these places get noticed.
00:14:09 Gloria: That's actually a really good perspective. I do think that we're getting out of that whole like, you know, the old boys club where it's very exclusionary and all of these guides and people are actually, like you said, like that anyone can get a branding person and especially as restaurant get conglomerate into groups, right, it just becomes a corporation. So I do think it is losing. It is losing that.
00:14:29 Gloria: I know you talked about pitching. I want to talk a little bit more about that because we're all about pitching here and this is kind of what I teach. Obviously, for most of what I teach, it's either getting into gift guides or getting on a podcast. We haven't yet pitched for a restaurant, but what are some just high level do's and don'ts of pitching a journalist?
00:14:47 Kristie: Right. I write gift guides as well and we pitch the editors and they also have gift guides, stuff like that. I think it comes down to, do you have a good pitch? I receive endless pitches every single day. Whether it's come to my restaurant or please include me in your next guide. And honestly, the pitch is not well written. I want an elevator pitch. Tell me who you are. Tell me why I should go there, why I should care. Half of these pitches are just like, hey, we wanna give you free food, come by. How can I get into your publication?
00:15:19 Kristie: And they don't even bother to sign their name. Like, who am I talking to? Like very basic things that I think are common sense are, well, I mean, common sense isn't common, right? So I really think that you have to be clear. You have to be concise. And you have to know who your audience is. I think people can tell when you have a mass produced email that you are just sending off to anyone and anyone at any company and just hoping you're able to reel them in. And I think you really need to take the time to personalize it a bit more.
00:15:50 Kristie: It's like when you have your intern asking for someone higher up, like, can I take you to coffee? I just want five minutes of your time. And it’s like, why do I want to get coffee with you? Like, tell me something. Like, we want to help you. We want to be the first to try something new. So we really do want to help you, but you need to make it easier for us because the competition is so fierce and the least you can do is to answer all the bullet point questions and make it easier for me.
00:16:20 Gloria: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think, you know, for what we teach in our program, it's really about specificity and relevance. So like, I think it's, you know, if I'm just speaking off the cuff here, if I were to pitch, if I was a restaurant, it would be like, not just pitching like our whole restaurant, but like what is the one dish that ties together everything, right? So it really just going in on that specificity. How do you feel about following up an etiquette with, like follow-ups and whether it's in the DMs or, you know, sliding into your comments?
00:16:49 Kristie: You do what you gotta do, right? I'm sure by the time you get so many of them, you're sick of getting them. But I think what's the worst that can happen. They find you annoying. I just think you really just got to shoot your shot and continue to be persistent and wear them down, but not to the point where you're annoying them. Offer something. Like, hey, there's a new place to open. I think you would really enjoy it. Give something to that person, a little something, not necessarily something physical, but give them something useful. Don't just expect something back because that's what you're doing.
00:17:27 Kristie: This person's time and effort is worth X amount of money. And you just, being like, hey, for example, I can give you free food, come to my restaurant and then be like, why did they wanna come? It's because nothing is actually free. So you, for example, if you're like, oh, I don't understand why these influencers or these food writers don't wanna come to my brand new restaurant. Well for LA, you have to drive like an hour or more there. You have to find parking. You have to pay, tip on top of that. Nothing's ever free. So why do I wanna take my time to go check out something new when I don't have to, or it doesn't even semi, you know, it doesn't even make me want to go. So why should I?
00:18:17 Gloria: I mean, you can get food at Subway. I mean, you know, or like Baja Fresh, there's a lot of free food. So I'm from LA. I live in New York now. I can't let you get off this, you know, podcast without telling us, what are your favorite spots, whether it's LA, New York, or maybe a new city.
00:18:37 Kristie: I love supporting Mom and Pops, but I can do you one better. I love eating at people's houses that make their own food and they sell it online or they are in a truck in the middle of a random parking lot. And you just got to know to go and make an order with them and pick it up. So I'll say off the top of my head, I love this place. I think the Instagram handle is Malaysian Food Lovers LA. And it's just a stay at home mom at home. And she has a new menu every two weeks or so. And I think, like the pickup date is like Sundays, every Sunday, every other Sunday or something.
00:19:18 Kristie: So that week she'll have the list, like the menu of what she's creating. And then you will go to her house and pick up the food and you'll pay her through the Zelle or you know, bring her cash. And the menu is never the same. It is very delicious. And so I love supporting places like that.
00:19:35 Gloria: Oh my God, that is, pro tip. That's incredible. I'm going to follow that. Do you ever come to New York? Cause I'm in New York, so I'm open to all the recommendations.
00:19:43 Kristie: I am in Boston a lot. New York, not so much, not as much, but I'm definitely in Boston a lot. So I need to go to New York more often. I'm not as familiar with New York. It's been a little bit since I've been there, but I would love to be there.
00:19:57 Gloria: Come on over. I would love to take you around and see if my recommendations make the cut. This has been so awesome. This is probably one of the most fun, fun things. But you know what, I actually had one more question before, other than just restaurant reviews, what are some weird, obscure or really interesting stories you have written that people normally wouldn't expect you to write?
00:20:20 Kristie: Oh my God, obscure stories. I mean, a few years ago, there was this whole controversy about whether or not there was a boba shortage during COVID. And it ended up turning into, like a news story because there are, half of these people who were saying, yes, there's a boba shortage. And other people were saying there wasn't a boba shortage. And then I actually went out and talked to a lot of boba store owners. And then because a very popular brand ended up saying that there was, it blew up in all the news stories. So then that ended up creating a shortage. And so people started hoarding boba and I was like, oh, okay.
00:21:04 Kristie: So I mean, that was interesting. And then also just like the actual, how serious it can be covering food. There's a bunch of stories with big companies bullying these small Mom and Pop shops, sending them cease and desist letters and whatnot. And this is something that happens every single day that you don't see. Something more serious would be during COVID, my job was to drive up and down, like the whole Valley Boulevard throughout the whole San Diego Valley. And it was a really scary time because people didn't know what was going on.
00:21:36 Kristie: And I literally would go to every single restaurant and see if they're open and mark it down. Are they open? Were there hours? Are they closed? What happened? Are they permanently closed? And so I created this whole spreadsheet. And we were doing, keeping track of restaurants for eater during that time. So there are serious times, like really serious times for working on food that you don't really think about. And there was actually a bunch of very serious food stories in addition to, like, oh, Top 10 build up places. So it's a little bit of everything and you wouldn't think so, but yeah.
00:22:09 Gloria: That is, wow. That's very interesting. Wow. That's definitely started a whole movement. Okay. I said I was done, but I'm not done. I also have to ask you, last meal on earth. What would you eat? What would you drink and what would the dessert be?
00:22:20 Kristie: Oh my God. That is probably the hardest question. What would I eat? Oh my gosh.
00:22:31 Gloria: Mine is Japanese. I would, my last, I call it like, last prison meal, let's say if I was on death row.
00:22:35 Kristie: Yeah.
00:22:36 Gloria: It would be the dish that we had, me and my husband, we went recently, went to Japan and at the train station, like we just had the best, like two different types of choro, chirashi, little pickle, like that would be my ideal meal.
00:22:51 Kristie: No, I think I agree. I think a really good sashimi or chirashi bowl, that Japanese rice is always starchy. Last drink, definitely some sort of really good boba. And dessert, some sort of like pandan or like black sesame dessert with lots of carbs. Like maybe that and a vanilla ice cream, like falling on top of like brick toast or something, I think that would be really good.
00:23:20 Gloria: Ooh, now I'm hungry. I'm going to eat after this. Thank you so much, Kristie. This was awesome. I want to say hi to you when I'm in LA and maybe we can, you know, go eat somewhere. How can people find you and kind of track where you're going next and keep tabs on all the deliciousness that you're up to?
00:23:34 Kristie: Yeah, feel free to follow me at Kristie Hang, K-R-I-S-T-I-E H-A-N-G, on Instagram, on TikTok, or my website. I think I am most active on Instagram though, so I definitely am always posting every single day.
00:23:47 Gloria: Thank you so much. And Small Business Heroes, this was such a fun episode. We usually don't do these, but I feel like we just want to cover all that the writers are writing about. And so hopefully today gave you some inspiration and gave you some delight. It reminded you of the power of Mom and Pop stores. And next time you are going to eat at a restaurant, just think about this episode. And if you know anyone who's a small business hero, who could benefit from this story, send them this episode and rate and review. And thank you so much for listening.
00:24:15 Kristie: Bye.
00:24:18 Gloria: Hey, small business hero, did you know that you can get featured for free on outlets like Forbes, the New York Times, Marie Claire, PopSugar, and so many more, even if you're not yet launched or if you don't have any connections? That's right. That's why I invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert.
00:24:46 Gloria: Now, if you want to land your first press feature, get on a podcast, secure a VIP speaking gig, or just reach out to that very intimidating editor, this class will show you exactly how to do it. Register now at GloriaChouPR.com/Masterclass. That's Gloria Chou, C-H-O-U-P-R.com/Masterclass. So you can get featured in 30 days without spending a penny on ads or agencies. Best of all, this is completely free. So get in there and let's get you featured.