26: Felicia and Max Trujillo on Changing Careers, Entrepreneurship, and the NC Food Scene

Max Trujillo and Felicia Perry Trujillo are a power couple in the North Carolina Food Scene, even though they’ve only been in Raleigh for less than five years. When they moved from Los Angeles, Max became the general manager of Midtown Grille in North Hills, and Felicia had a 10-year wedding photography business. But Max was working 70-hour weeks that weren’t great for family life, and Felicia was starting to get burnout from weddings, so they both decided to make a change.

Felicia started Food Seen, a niche photography, videography, social media, and web design company for the Food and Linen industries. Go check them out, they do incredible work!

And later, Max (with his co-host Matthew Weiss) started the NC F&B Podcast (North Carolina Food & Beverage), where he gets to talk to local chefs, sommeliers, and other experts in the food and beverage industry. That show now has 111 episodes, which is an amazing accomplishment!

On the show, we talk about how they changed careers, crazy stories from their wedding, and being passionate about what you do in life.

Felicia and Max Trujillo at the James Beard Awards (image by Food Seen)

Max and Felicia on their wedding day

Max Trujillo, Co-Host and Producer of the NC F&B Podcast (image by Food Seen)

Felicia Perry Trujillo, Owner of Food Seen (image by Food Seen)

Food Seen on Social Media: Facebook: @foodseennc Instagram: @foodseennc twitter: @foodseennc   NC F&B Podcast on Social Media: Facebook: @NCFandBPodInstagram:@ncfbpod twitter: @ncfbpod Latest Episode:

Weddings for Real on Social Media: Instagram: @weddingsforreal Facebook: @weddingsforreal twitter: @weddingsforreal  

If you’re a vendor, go get Honeybook! At A Southern Soiree, we’ve been using Honeybook since February 2015. I think we were one of their very first clients, and it has truly been a life changer. They make proposals and contracts super easy to use on both our side and the client side. I think before Honeybook I would send proposals and contracts by email, and the client would have to mail the contract to us or fax it by efax. Proposals were in no way streamlined either, so this has made our lives so much better. As a consultant, whenever I sign up a vendor client, one of the very first recommendations I make is Honeybook. No need to complicate things – it works, it’s great…just get it. And if you follow this link, you get 50% off your first year of Honeybook, which is nice, but not nearly as nice as all the time you’re going to save. And if you have any questions about my experience, feel free to send me an email to megan@weddingsforreal.com.

Also, Megan mentioned an online marketing seminar. It’s at The Umstead Hotel in Cary NC on September 6th. Here are some of the details, and you can sign up at Eventbrite. We can’t wait to see you there!

What you can expect from this intimate seminar:   An Insider’s Guide to Social Media Strategy & Etiquette, SEO Tips and Tricks, and Generating More Legit Inquiries!   The Social Media Strategy: • Breaking down Instagram components and how to maximize use of them for your business • How to build the right following and continue a steady growth of followers/future clients • Social Media Vendor Etiquette and how this translates into real life referrals • Best use of Instagram stories, polls, etc • What to post, what not to post, and best times to post • Tools and tips to streamline your Instagram posting   Millennials: How are millennials finding their wedding vendors? What factors determine whether you get the job? Learn some easy best practices for attracting and communicating with the generation that is your biggest client base.   The SEO Component: • Setting up/Refining your Google business page • Online directory tips to improve your rankings • Getting reviews (the formula Megan uses!) • Titles, tags and descriptions and how these help or hurt your business rankings • Writing SEO friendly and user friendly content for your site • Image optimization tips

Sign up at Eventbrite. See you there!

Music for this episode by https://www.bensound.com.

The host of the show is Megan Gillikin, owner and lead consultant at A Southern Soiree Wedding and Event Planning.  She’s also available for wedding and hospitality business consulting and can be reached at megan@weddingsforreal.com.

Weddings for Real is edited and produced by Jason Gillikin for Happy Hippo Digital.