Kelly Samuel is a musician, a photographer, a professor, an author and an entrepreneur. She is also the founder of Let’s Snack Toronto. “It's a social media agency specializing in food and beverage. We play with food.” Kelly explained that the agency combines two of her “greatest passions” which are eating and photography.
Previously, Kelly was a Managing Director at another social media agency for five years. During this time, she realized that there was a need for professional social media content within the food and beverage industry. “…The money and demand is there, but it requires a lot more specialized training and care”, which is exactly what Kelly brings to the table.
As seen on the website and Instagram page for Let’s Snack Toronto, Kelly has curated a number of products and has posed them to fit within a vibrant grid. As a whole, the grid makes up an actual dining table. The items on the table will change every few weeks. However they will always represent the core values of the company. According to a blog post, “We opt to work with brands that embrace diversity, value sustainability, and care about their communities.”
One thing Kelly wanted people to know was that she doesn’t do it all on her own: “I work with a bigger team and there are a lot of moving parts!”
Outside of her online work, Kelly is also a former member of the indie folk-pop band, Olivia and the Creepy Crawlies. Although they stopped playing live music together in 2019, the Creepy Crawlies reunited virtually during quarantine to perform their song, “O Saskatoon”.
“Those people are still my best friends.” Kelly said. She is also engaged to her band-mate, Connor Grieve. Olivia and the Creepy Crawlies was formed in London, ON and they played together for over five years. Looking back on that chapter in her life, Kelly reflected that they had “a lot of laughs and growth. We had an absolute blast. We met so many people and got up to so much mischief. We played some really wicked shows. But mostly I really needed those years to grow into who I am now.”
The last 12 months have been a bit of a whirlwind for Kelly. In October 2019, she sustained a head injury which had a significant impact on her mobility. While not for long, she required the use of a wheelchair. “I relied really heavily on Connor to get groceries, get me out of the house and to get me to and from places,” she explained. Additionally, Kelly expressed, “I don't want to make it seem like I suffered more than I did.” However, this experience (along with various ankle sprains in the past) increased awareness that, “We need a far better infrastructure for wheelchair accessibility, period.”
On a more positive note, Kelly also began a teaching position as a professor for the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College: “Teaching is great. I mostly like the faculty and being a part of something that was so important to me (I met my fiancée and my best friend through the very program I now teach at!)”
This opportunity lead to another as Kelly is now the published author of Double Tap: Social Media Marketing 101 for Musicians. “It feels pretty darn good!” She continued. “I had this on my bucket list for some time now. It's also challenging to find up to date resources to provide my students, so I figured I may as well just write from the source.”
When asked what she is looking forward to next, Kelly replied, “Relaxing! I've crossed some big items off my bucket list this year. People have this perception that I can just power through things and never burn out, but I've earned some rest…. I drop the ball on many things, but I make sure that the things I drop the ball on are not going to be detrimental. I never want to miss an important family event or an important work milestone. I end up just not taking on a lot of the less important things…. I'm going to decorate my new house and plan my wedding and chill out for the rest of the year.”
Finally, Kelly Samuel encouraged others with a similar career path to reach out to her: “Talk to me! Get as much of a leg up from networking as you possibly can.”
You can do so by visiting the following links:
Send Kelly a message here.
Follow Kelly Samuel on Instagram.
Photos courtesy of Kelly Samuel.
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