JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For most people, opening a new restaurant is an exciting milestone. But for Ashley Aguilar and her family, the excitement of buying a pizzeria in Baymeadows quickly turned into fear and uncertainty when the COVID-19 lockdown began just a month later.
“Whenever that happened, it was kind of like, ‘We don’t know what to do,’ because it was just getting really slow,” Aguilar said.
About three months into the pandemic, the excitement came back when Aguilar and her sister came up with an idea — an idea that not only helped save her family’s restaurant but also changed her life and career.
Aguilar is now the owner and face behind Social Feeds, an Instagram account where she spotlights local restaurants.
More than two years later, her Instagram account has grown from zero to more than 79,000 followers.
Here’s how she did it.
How it all began
Aguilar was born in New York but is proud to call herself a Jacksonville native since she and her family moved to the Sunshine State when she was 3 years old.
“New York is a little crazy, so they just kind of wanted to settle down,” she said.
Aguilar said her dad used to work in a pizza franchise in New York, and when they moved, he transferred his job to Jacksonville where he ended up supervising several pizza stores in the area.
However, after many years of working for corporate, her dad said he wanted a change. That’s when he decided to venture out and try something new.
“My dad was like, ‘I’m never going back to pizza. I’m never going back to pizza,’” she said.
And guess what happened? He went back to pizza.
Back in the pizza business... with a challenging twist
Aguilar’s dad got a job at Mama’s Pizza and Grill on Baymeadows Road, and became good friends with the owner.
“Then, the owner was like, ‘I’m just kind of not feeling the restaurant business anymore,’” Aguilar said.
That’s when the owner offered to sell the restaurant to Aguilar’s dad, and he accepted.
Mama’s Pizza and Grill began operating under the Aguilar family in February 2020. Yes, one month before the COVID-19 lockdown began.
“I don’t think there is one restaurant owner that could tell you that they knew what to do during COVID. It was more just surviving,” Aguilar said.
At that time, Aguilar was pursuing her bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. But when the lockdown began, she moved back to Jacksonville with her family and started helping out at the restaurant.
“My sister was a senior in high school, and we were working every day trying to help out because we didn’t have enough to pay for labor,” Aguilar said. “It was crazy.”
A couple of months later, Aguilar said her sister came up with an idea.
“She was like, ‘Why don’t we make an Instagram account for the restaurant? Just for funsies,’” Aguilar said. “Then we were like, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ So honestly, it was really just like a pastime.”
Little did Aguilar know that pastime would eventually lead to her dream job.
Social media to the rescue
After creating an Instagram account for the restaurant, Aguilar and her sister started posting pictures of their menu items.
It didn’t take long for their very visually appealing deep-dish pizzas to start attracting the eyes of hungry customers.
“That’s when we were like, ‘Oh, shoot. This kind of works,’” Aguilar said.
The business took an unexpected turn as customers started pouring into the restaurant. Once Aguilar saw the positive impact those social media posts had on her family’s business, she just kept them coming.
“I was just working and I was also going to school, so I wasn’t really thinking. But then, the crazier it got the more I started seeing how much impact social media had,” Aguilar said.
That’s when a new idea was planted in Aguilar’s head.
“I feel like so many restaurants in Jacksonville have so much potential. They have so much to offer, and nobody knows about it,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar thought it would be a good idea to replicate what she did for her family’s restaurant. But this time, she would do it for any restaurant that needed a little sales boost, and she would help them under a new Instagram page called “Social Feeds.”
There was just a little problem.
“I know how to make a pasta look good. I know how to make a pizza look good, but I don’t know how to make tacos look good. I’ve never filmed it before,” Aguilar said.
But as the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect,” and that’s exactly what Aguilar did.
Social Feeds is officially born
Determined to follow her newly-found passion in content creation, Aguilar offered to create content for several restaurants across Jacksonville for free as she worked on polishing her skills.
“I’m just trying to practice. And then that kind of started blowing up,” Aguilar said. “That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ I did not realize that people were really waiting for somebody to kind of post about restaurants in Jacksonville like this.”
Social Feeds became a registered business on March 14, 2022 — Pi Day.
While that day celebrates the mathematical constant, if you ask Aguilar, a foodie at heart, she will think of it more as Pi(e) Day. So, while it wasn’t intentional, she now realizes that date turned out to be very fitting with her business.
Ever since then, Aguilar has been helping other restaurants boost their clientele, sometimes for free and other times through paid partnerships.
While that’s her job, Aguilar said it is very important to her to be genuine and authentic with her content, as she knows the community will rely on it when making a decision to visit a restaurant.
“Everyone’s experience is going to be different, and also everyone’s taste buds are different. So, I can’t guarantee taste buds for people, because I can only do the best that I can by sharing what I thought about it in my experience,” Aguilar said. “Whenever I’m making content. It just truly comes from the heart.”
Understanding the need to be as transparent as possible with consumers, Aguilar also includes in every video a list of the menu items she tried at that specific restaurant and adds a rating out of 10 next to each item.
“If I really didn’t like something, I’ll still say it in the video, but I feel like there’s a big difference between saying it respectfully and disrespectfully,” she said.
Aguilar said there’s also an application for potential restaurant owners to fill out if they’re interested in working with her, to ensure she is a good fit for them and vice versa. If that’s not the case, she refers restaurant owners to other creators who may be more suitable for their needs.
The key to success in the social media world
The number of content creators has grown exponentially over the last decade and is expected to keep increasing. But in an industry that often looks glamorous, there’s more than meets the eye.
While Aguilar acknowledges this is a fun and rewarding job, she also wants to make sure aspiring creators know that it requires true commitment, as things sometimes do not quite work out.
“Be consistent,” Aguilar said. “If it’s something that you love to do, it shouldn’t matter if there’s a check behind it or not."
Aguilar said there are times when restaurants go through rough periods and struggle to stay afloat. But even during those periods when restaurants may not be able to afford the services of content creators, it is important to keep on going. This is why it is essential for creators to truly love what they do.
“If people can’t pay you, what are you gonna do? You still gotta go out there,” Aguilar said.
Consistency also helps content creators improve the quality of their content over time, according to Aguilar.
“Whenever your videos aren’t doing good and you feel like they should have done better, just keep going. Just keep being consistent,” she said. “I feel like the more consistent you are, the better your formula is going to get.”
At the end of the day, for Aguilar, consistency and passion are key to success in a highly competitive industry.
A proud Latina helping other Latinos thrive
Aguilar is proud to come from a Hispanic family. Her dad is Mexican and her mom is Chilean.
“My parents have always been huge foodies. I know that especially whenever you’re from a different ethnicity, a lot of times you kind of stick to your own foods, and that’s what you eat a lot. My parents are the complete opposite,” Aguilar said. “They’ve always been big about trying different stuff.”
Growing up in the restaurant industry, Aguilar is no stranger to the challenges that restaurant owners face. But as the daughter of immigrants, she said she also understands the added hardships that immigrants face when starting a business — especially when there is a language barrier.
For that reason, Aguilar said, she loves being able to communicate in Spanish with Hispanic owners because it allows her to better connect with them and ultimately, serve them better.
“Other people that aren’t Hispanic, aren’t Latinos, they probably don’t know about some restaurants that deserve the coverage, that are probably really good, but since I’m Latina I feel like it’s kind of my responsibility, my due diligence to put people onto these places," Aguilar said.
She said sometimes Hispanic restaurant owners don’t quite understand social media and the important role it plays in drawing customers. Therefore, she makes sure to guide them in the process of navigating not only social media but also how the restaurant industry works in this country.
Aguilar creates content for all types of restaurants in the Jacksonville area. However, she said Hispanic restaurants have a special place in her heart.
“I’m very proud to be able to be that medium platform to bring more awareness to our culture here in Jax,” she said.
The impact beyond the numbers
Social Feeds’ following continues to grow. But at the end of the day, Aguilar’s focus is not on the number of followers but on the positive impact her work has on local businesses.
She said being a foodie at heart and knowing firsthand how the restaurant industry works are what set her apart from other food content creators who do similar content.
“I feel like whenever a restaurant works with me, it’s a lot more than just like making a video on my page. It’s building a relationship,” she said.
Aguilar’s work doesn’t end with posting a video. She said she tries to follow up with the restaurant owners, give them feedback from the Instagram community, and pretty much help them in any way she can to boost their sales.
Unlike other content creators, Aguilar doesn’t have a big production team to help her out. In fact, it is just her, her lights and her phone doing all the magic.
And while there is no magic formula, Aguilar said there are three things that make her brand unique and different from other food content creators.
“Make everything personal, intentional and just, surrounded with love,” she said.