Conversations with Sydney Mancini

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydney Mancini.

Hi Sydney, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
In 2017, I started my career in the corporate world and I was always asked – “What’s your hobby?” “What do you enjoy doing outside of work?” I would always say, well I enjoy running and hanging out with my family and friends.

But I always had in the back of my mind that I needed a HOBBY. I need something that I enjoy that’s my own. So, from there, I began cooking dinner for my roommates after work. Super simple recipes, I was literally learning as I went.

If you knew me in college I got jersey mikes almost every night of the week. I specifically remember my fiancé asking me when we first met in college – so what do you eat for dinners. My response: “jersey mikes.” I didn’t know how to cook.

But I learned. I started getting better and creating recipes, collaborating with other food bloggers, and there it finally was – I had a HOBBY. I looked forward to coming home every night to cook dinner and come up with new recipes. Fast forward 5 years and I tell coworkers, new friends, literally anyone I love to cook – that’s my thing!

Every Sunday I sit down and plan meals or new recipes and grocery shop. It’s not a chore – it’s something I look forward to, a hobby.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No. I’ve gotten burnt out. It’s hard to come up with new ideas. I took over a year break from food blogging, but I was still cooking – just not feeling as creative. Covid hit and it was HARD to find ingredients at the store.

I just went to the store grabbed whatever I could find and made random meals. It felt more like a chore than something I enjoyed.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In the corporate world, I work in a site start-up at PPD. On the side, I cook and create meals for my followers to make. I try to come up with simple recipes that are easy – I love to encourage others that don’t cook to try!

Creating meals with minimal ingredients and steps is key – I find a lot of my followers don’t “enjoy” cooking but when they see how easy it is on my step-by-step tutorials on Instagram they realize “Ok, I can do this.”

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Ok 10 years from now, I would LOVE to create some sort of cookbook. Focus on food photography and recipe creation.

Contact Info:

• Email: sydbeaneats@gmail.com
• Instagram: @sydbean_eats
• Facebook: @sydbean_eats