Side Hustle School Ep. 3189 - STORY: College Grad Shares “More than Mac & Cheese” Student Recipes
Sep 24, 2025
A college grad shares her culinary journey, turning simple student recipes into a thriving blog. Discover how she shifted from aspiring teacher to food blogger, targeting her classmates with easy meals. Learn about her transition to a marketing role and the blog's growth that now generates over $1,000 a month. Advice includes the importance of niche focus and shortcut recipes. She hints at a future cookbook, showcasing blogs as fulfilling passion projects.
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From Student Hobby To Food Blog
- Chelsea Cole started a food blog, A Duck's Oven, while at University of Oregon to document her cooking experiments.
- The blog began as a hobby and became her way to explore alternatives to traditional teaching work.
Restaurant Dream Meets Reality
- Chelsea moved to Portland to work in restaurants and learn the business before attempting to open one herself.
- She discovered she liked restaurant work but that running a restaurant was far harder than she expected.
Blogging As A Marketing Lab
- Blogging provided Chelsea with reusable content for social and marketing, boosting her skills and visibility.
- The blog doubled as a learning lab that fed her career in marketing and recipe work.