Food Stylist Travels

Being a food stylist is a really fun job with many challenges. It is always different and exciting and sometimes just plain scary. Imagine knowing that everyone is depending on you to make sure the pizza cheese melts in exactly the right place and then once it is melted, anywhere from 3 to 7 people come to discuss if you got it or not. Just re-living that gave me stress memories. All joking aside, I could not be happier with my job and I can’t imagine doing anything else. When I sit back and think that I have been doing this now for over 13 years, I sometimes have to pinch myself. I remember when I started, some of my first jobs, when I actually got them, were emptying pudding cups, cleaning them, and then re-piping the pudding back in to be perfect. Ahhh the good ol days! Nowadays I am styling very big National campaigns, with lots of pressure to get everything right. I have a team of 5 assistants who rotate depending on the job I am working on. I have had a few jobs where they were all needed at once if you can imagine that. One time we had to cook and style traditional Thanksgiving type dinners (or equivalent holiday dinners depending on ethnicity) for 6 different families. This was all for one thirty second television commercial and each table had 6-8 freshly cooked ethnically diverse authentic dishes. There were turkeys, samosas, crown roasts, tamales, and fresh bread to name a few. It was quite an undertaking, but again so much fun.

In the last few years I have been super lucky to have gotten to get to travel for work. This is a completely new part of food styling for me and it has been quite the adventure so far. I have been going to some amazing places around the world and around Canada. The best part of these trips is getting to work with local crews and local food stylists and building connections across the globe. So far in Canada, my job has taken me to PEI, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Outside of Canada, I have gotten to go to Portugal in Europe and Uruguay, South America, most recently. I have met great people and thanks to social media, it is so easy to stay in touch.

Traveling for work brings its own sets of challenges. For one, you need to plan and make sure you will have all the tools and logistics you will need for the job like you do at home. You will get many many emails asking for detailed descriptions of what you need to make the job work. This is super challenging as each job is different, and you have no idea what is available in the foreign country or where you will be shooting. In Toronto, I am spoiled and get to work on an amazing fully equipped food styling truck. Abroad we need to recreate this, which can sometimes prove difficult.

Another challenge when traveling abroad for food clients, is the waiting on the food to show up. We have to use what we sell at home so it is always a nail biter waiting to see if the food will arrive on time. So far, thank goodness, it always comes in just before I need it. Talk about stress!

I can’t say enough how awesome everyone has been when I have traveled. It is always a bit of a concern when your team is put together with local stylists as languages can get in the way, but this has yet to be an issue. My whole team in Uruguay was beyond amazing and Portugal was just as good. This can really make or break a shoot. I always try and travel with one assistant from home as this really makes things so much more efficient. My assistant can then lead the work in the truck while I am on set, taking care of everything without me needing to oversee every detail.

One thing that was so surprising and amazing, was when myself and the local stylists compared our kits. We work thousands of miles apart and our kits have the same tools, products, pretty much everything! I was blown away and loved it. So cool to see how similar we are, especially for such a small industry.

If you every get to travel for work, savor every minute. It goes fast, but if you can get some time to explore and enjoy the cities you visit, they are memories that will last forever. So looking forward to my next trip and as I write this blog I am on the train heading to Ottawa to style some bagels for 5 days!

Making Drinks on a lake in Lisbon.

Day off in Lisbon led us on an amazing walkabout around one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. Was lucky to share this experience with my colleague Carol Brown (working with me in the truck in the image below)

On the beach in Montevideo outside my hotel in South America.

My amazing team that I was so lucky to work with in Montevideo, Uruguay.

One of my amazing Toronto assistants, Jenny, shooting with me in Halifax, Canada.

Peggy’s Cove, Canada.

On a cattle farm in Alberta, Canada.

Alberta, Canada

Having fun at the Calgary Stampede before they let the crowds in!

Back at the Calgary Stampede a few years later!