The Steps I’m Taking Towards Starting My Own Supper Club

As you grow up, one of the greatest blessings is getting to know yourself better. Knowing what you like and don’t like, setting boundaries, saying yes to the things that bring you joy, and living a life built on your values. A part of growing up is also learning how to be confident enough in your passions to show them to the world despite the constant fear of judgment. There is truly nothing more beautiful than becoming yourself.

When it comes to sharing your passions with others, the question “what will they think?” is inevitably always there. In this article I’m going to talk about how I confronted this fear and what I’m doing looking at what’s next.

I reached a point where my love for food was becoming so evident in my everyday that I was forced to think about if I wanted to do anything about it and consider sharing it with others. Anyone who knows me knows that my love for food is a huge part of who I am. Conversations with me will always somehow veer in that direction, I always take pictures of food, I put time and effort into figuring out what my meals are, and I always express that I like the food I’m eating with exaggerated sounds or a “this is so good!” (so much so that my brothers always get annoyed with me at the dinner table, hehe).

When I started Buono Insieme, I had gotten to the point where I just couldn’t keep it to myself anymore. I had to take the risk of sharing this love with the world. Not doing it meant risking NOT sharing it with the world. Never knowing what people would think. Never knowing where being vulnerable with the world would take me. Did I really want to miss out on that? Would I really let fear decide? The answer was no.

Sharing nowadays is extremely overwhelming and scary. When you put something out there, literally anyone from any corner of the world can see it, have a thought about it, and interact with it. What the heck?!

I was scared to start talking - couldn’t I just whisper?

But they say go big or go home, so I started to be loud about my love for food.

I started my Substack almost 2 years ago with no concrete idea about what I would write. I had an idea for dinners with strangers, but didn’t know how to connect the dots… I just knew I had to do SOMETHING. Each time I sat down in front of my laptop, I became more familiar with the feeling of clicking “share”. I know this is said all the time, but it is truly the key: you just have to start. What to do to improve, logistics, and actionable steps towards success, will become clearer as you go, I promise!

You have no idea how relieving it was to publish my first post. It broke a huge barrier. And ever since then, I feel a perpetual desire to share as much as I can and just. keep. going.

And now here I am. Finally ready to do what I’ve been wanting to do from the start. I’m starting my own supper club. Wait, let me rephrase that, I’M STARTING MY OWN SUPPER CLUB!!!

Of course, the fear is always there. The fear of failure. The fear of being judged. I’m still getting comfortable with telling people I have a Substack, let alone that I’m starting a supper club. But the more you do something you’re uncomfortable with, the quieter that fear becomes.

Bit by bit, it’s changing something in me. Bit by bit, this dream of mine will become reality.

I’ve had a problem with Instagram for years. Even when I had my personal account, I didn’t like that people had access to me without even knowing me personally. I started to show my face less, post less frequently, and eventually just deleted the account altogether.

The truth, though, if you want to have your own business, you HAVE to put yourself out there. At an Instagram strategy workshop I attended this week, the host, Genevieve from Genevieve and Co., said: “People are not buying the product anymore, they are buying the person behind the brand”. When you put yourself out there on social media, you are giving people a chance to trust you. When people trust you, they want to hear more from you, interact with you, and eventually become loyal to you and what you are offering.

Now that I’ve been sharing on Substack for a while, I feel ready to turn this passion into something more real, more tangible. And the fact of the matter is, only publishing articles on Substack is not gonna cut it. I need to get out there on Instagram and show people my vision and what it will look like to have a seat at my table.

1. Telling people.

   This might sound dumb. But after telling the first person who wasn’t a direct family member or one of my close friends, it broke another huge barrier. Saying your dream out loud is an extremely powerful tool. I’ve only said it a handful of times, but each time it gets more REAL.

2. 30 Day Instagram Challenge

   This idea was given to me by Genevieve. I asked, “What advice would you give to someone just starting their business?” and she replied with this. I’ll be posting on my stories every day and posting twice a week. Wish me luck!

3. Hosting 2-3 Test-Run Supper Clubs

   I’m currently working out the logistics, but the idea is to get comfortable hosting dinners and sharing content about them. Spreading the word and getting people excited for the first official event.

There’s a lot to do and a lot going on in my head. I want to be as transparent as possible about the process because I wish I had someone to follow to help me work out all these nooks and crannies. I’ll try to keep you guys updated, and I’m so excited about what’s to come!

If you want to see more, follow me on Instagram (buonoinsieme) ;)

Grazie mille and wishing you the best food adventures.

until the next meal,

Nadà

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