Photo by Chris Connolly

Amy's story is a delightful mix of serendipity and smarts. We first met her at a small gathering for women entrepreneurs in New York City, and her sparkling eyes belied her sense of humor and social media energy. In addition to keeping up with her own blog and video creations, she works for Foodspotting, where that infectious energy is just part of doing her job.

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

I've always enjoyed writing (I wrote and illustrated a story about a vampire in the first grade!) and one my favorite food memories is of spending hours at the Boston University dining hall as an undergrad catching up with friends over a delicious and seemingly endless meal. This, combined with my innate curiosity for new things and experiences laid the groundwork for a wonderful relationship with food. It's one I've nurtured over the years and it continually changes in my personal and work life. When I started my blog, it served as a portfolio to share my freelance food writing clips. Now it's a home for my Stupidly Simple Snack videos and food recommendations (OK, and photos of my cats). I'm excited to see where the path will lead to next.

How did you get your current good food job?

My former college advisor Al Brust came across the job listing for a Community Director at Foodspotting and he forwarded the information to me. I did some intense Internet research to learn about Alexa, Ted and Soraya, the founders of the company, and that's when I realized they are incredibly intelligent and talented people I wanted to learn from and I wanted to be on their team.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

I worked on the editorial team at Zagat Survey before becoming a freelance food writer and starting Amy Blogs Chow and Stupidly Simple Snacks. My snack videos were inspired by a former boyfriend who teased me about writing about food even though I couldn't cook it, so I made a funny video series out of it.

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your good food dream job?

When you work in social media, sometimes the amount of input can be overwhelming. I am constantly trying to stay on top of conversations and inquiries coming through email, Twitter, Facebook, our blog, you name it. That said, it's a good problem to have because this means your community is being responsive and interacting with you and your company. You have to be mindful of nurturing these relationships and remind yourself it's about the food. As long as you continue to love the mission (in my case, the mission is to help people discover good food) then you will find ways to get through challenges and keep things in perspective.

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

The greatest opportunity in food is that anyone can be a part of the movement. Hell, you can even start your own. If you're passionate about cleaning up the food manufacturing system, you can. Want to learn how to cook? There are plenty of cooking classes that cater to those from expert level to first-timers. Also, while there are challenges to starting your own food company, there is more information and resources than there has ever been that help small food businesses start up, like Kickstarter and Good Food Jobs.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

I want to make food approachable and help people think about what they consume and how they can affect positive change in the food system. I'm not devoted to any one idea on how to achieve this; I'd love to inspire someone to pursue a food science degree in college or even if it's something as simple as not wasting ingredients. Above all, food is a pleasure and if I can brighten someone's day with my Stupidly Simple Snacks videos or ramblings on food then I win!