We had the good fortune of connecting with Vianney Rodriguez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vianney, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born and raised in South Texas. My parents are from Matamoros, Mexico. Growing up my parents shared with us the culture, food and traditions of Mexico, while enjoying the beauty of South Texas. I enjoyed local Texas shrimp in the summer while we baked dozen after dozen of pumpkin empanadas at the holidays. All my favorite memoires are in the kitchen and around the dining table. This really inspired me my in my journey into comida.Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I share the plates of my childhood on my blog – sweetlifebake.com From Mexican, Texas and Tex-Mex food is what I enjoy sharing, along with small snippets of my life, my familia and my heritage. I started Sweet Life as a hobby, a place I could create, share the flavors I loved. I soon joined social media and began connecting with my readers via social media. I would test/cook the recipe feed my family, then when everyone went to sleep I would shoot the plated dish in my bathroom with a tabletop light. I did this for a year, shooting waking up early to cook, shoot at night when everyone was asleep. Sharing my comida made me so happy that no amount of lost sleep was going to stop me. One day I received an email from a brand to develop a recipe. I was excited, they actually wanted to pay me to share a recipe. Once I submitted my recipe with photos I felt amazing. This is when I decided to make a plan, dedicate an allotted time in the day to create recipes and give myself a year to see the possibility of taking Sweet Life from hobby to a source of income. Was it easy? No, but I knew I had to take a chance on myself. I began pitching myself to a list of dream clients – they all replied with no thank you, have a wonderful day. I was so upset and began to doubt myself. Then I received a wonderful email from a woman who shared how my recipe made her feel like she back in her hometown. The following day I replied to all the no thank emails with creative ways we could collaborate. More no thank you replies came back except one client who responded with “let’s hop on a call,” We chatted the next day and soon I was developing recipes for them. I knew I was terca, “stubborn, ” my parents often called me this growing up, but being terca has taught me to have confidence and to keep working for what I believe in.If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
EAT: Hoegemeyer’s Barbeque for brisket & sausage House of Rock for pizza SHOPPING: Wildflowers Made in Corpus Christi FUN: Art Museum of South Texas K Space Contemporary COCKTAILS: BUS The Post
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am grateful to be surrounded by a great online community of fellow creatives. Women who create daily, share their passions online and support each other as we continue to create, share and grow our online businesses.

Website: https://sweetlifebake.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetlifebake/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sweetlifebake/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweetLifeBake/

Other: NEW COOKING SHOW – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWu2Tyzdtag&t=6s

Image Credits
Jason David Page Miguel Diaz

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