758: How To Rebuild Your Blog After Hacks, Hijacks, and Heartbreak With Laura Ashley Johnson

Laura Ashley Johnson teaches us what it takes to push through massive setbacks and rebuild a thriving food blog with grit, faith, and community. Dinner in 321 is a place for food and nutrition inspiration for cooks of all levels, busy families and food lovers! It’s Laura Ashley’s mission to make cooking fun, share delicious and nutritious recipes (comfort food, crockpot meals, casseroles, southern cooking, and nostalgic recipes), and spread joy! She’s a Kentucky girl now Texan, married, with two kids (one graduate from A&M now a chemical engineer and the other graduating in May in Computer Science from Texas Tech), and a dog named Butter and cat named Newman. She LOVES cooking, trying new restaurants, traveling to NYC, camping in their Airstream, everything Fall and Christmas, and simply spending time at home with her family. Laura Ashley Johnson faced every blogger’s nightmare twice: her website was hijacked for illegal activity and her Facebook audience of nearly half a million was stolen by hackers. Instead of quitting, she rebuilt, monetized, and grew stronger than ever. In this conversation, you’ll hear what kept her going, how she rebuilt from scratch, and why connection and faith are the foundations of her success. Key points discussed include: Vet everything: Protect yourself by carefully verifying every opportunity and brand approach. Ask for help: Trusted peers and mentors can open doors and provide the right contacts when you need them most. Lean on community: Strong relationships inside the blogging world can turn obstacles into growth opportunities. Protect your platforms: Use strong passwords, verification tools, and be wary of fake collaborations. Handle trolls wisely: Don’t feed negativity, focus on loyal supporters instead. Turn off notifications: Boundaries around social media help you protect mental health and joy in your work. Hire with discernment: Build your team from trusted recommendations, not random portals. Connect with Laura Ashley Johnson Website | Instagram Subscribe to Megan's Substack - Discover more about her first non-cookbook book!

If your voice has grown faint under the noise of everyone else’s needs, this episode shows you how to tune back in and hear yourself again. There was a season when my voice felt almost gone. Muted by all the demands around me. I didn’t even realize how quiet it had gotten until it was taken away in a painful way. But that loss sparked something powerful and eventually led to creating Eat Blog Talk. If you’ve ever wondered “Where am I in all of this?” then this episode is for you. Action Steps: Ask gentle questions: Pause daily and ask “What do I need right now?” Listen for whispers: Your true voice usually returns as nudges, not shouts. Try journaling: Let your thoughts spill onto paper without editing. Take quiet walks: Go tech-free and notice what surfaces in silence. Release performance mode: Shift from living for others to partnering with your own truth. Join the email list for Take The Exit - Be the first to step inside the story! More from Megan YouTube | Website |  Instagram

Megan chats with Emma Dunham about weaving emotion, story, and simple styling into your food photography so your images connect deeply with your audience and inspire action. Emma Dunham is an award-winning food photographer, author, and founder of The Food Photography Academy. She helps bloggers, photographers, content creators, and food professionals shoot, style, and curate scroll-stopping images that elevate their brand and support their business goals. Through commercial work, creative retreats, and training thousands online, she has built a business around bridging the gap between brilliant storytelling and the visuals to match.  Photography is one of the most powerful tools in a food blogger’s business. In this episode, you’ll learn why your camera gear matters less than you think and how to create images that spark emotion and stop the scroll. Emma shares pitfalls to avoid, the three essential angles to use, and the must-have items to keep in your kit bag. Key points discussed include: Lead with emotion: Decide the scene and feeling you want your photo to evoke before you pick up the camera. Find your golden thread: Create consistent style cues across seasons so your brand is instantly recognizable. Avoid yellow food tones: Cool down your white balance for fresh, appetizing images. Light simply: A window and foil are often all you need for professional lighting. Know your hero: Make your main dish bigger, brighter, bolder, and clearer than anything else in the frame. Practice relentlessly: Building sets and compositions gets faster and easier with repetition. Build a kit bag: Stock up on paintbrushes, tweezers, cotton swabs, and fake ice for quick fixes. Use color harmony: A simple color wheel can unlock bold pairings that elevate your brand. Connect with Emma Dunham Website | Instagram

Nicole Kelley teaches us how to use simple, smart ads to amplify what’s already working in your blogging business without wasting time or money. She is a marketing strategist who helps creative entrepreneurs turn their BEST content into consistent traffic, leads, and sales using Facebook and Instagram ads. With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, Nicole specializes in building simple, high-converting ad funnels that work behind the scenes, so her clients can spend less time posting and more time creating. She’s worked with bloggers, coaches, and small business owners to grow their audiences, launch digital products, and create sustainable revenue streams without relying on the social media grind. Nicole explains how to stop fearing ads and start using them to grow traffic, email lists, and product sales. She shows us why ads aren’t a sign of failure but a lever for scale, and how even $5 a day can create momentum. Key points discussed include: - Mindset shift: Ads aren’t a sign of failure, they’re a sign you’re ready to scale. It’s a tool for amplifying what’s already working in your business rather than a last resort. - Start with your best work: You don’t have to advertise everything - choose a highlight reel of recipes or blog posts that showcase your brand at its best, so you make a strong first impression with new audiences. - Lead magnets win: Freebies, checklists, or roundups aren’t just busywork. They’re powerful tools for building your email list. - $5 a day is enough: Learn how to re-engage past visitors and test content with as little as one dollar per ad set. - Keep it organic-looking: The best ads don’t look like ads. Natural-looking videos or photos blend better into social feeds and outperform polished, overly-branded content. - Track results separately: Don’t lump everything together. Use unique landing pages and forms for ad-driven traffic so you can see exactly what’s working. - Don’t boost posts: Nicole cautions against the “Boost Post” button that tempts so many bloggers and shows why running campaigns through Meta Business Manager gives you the control and results you actually need. Connect with Nicole Kelley Website | Instagram

Carrying around endless “shoulds” can feel like a crushing backpack of pebbles. This episode helps you set them down and trade them for truth and freedom. For years I lived under the weight of “shoulds”. I should stay in this job, I should be more grateful, I should run my business like they do. It left me exhausted, resentful, and depleted. When I started questioning those shoulds, everything changed. In this conversation, I’ll walk you through how to swap shoulds for wants and lighten your load. Action Steps: -Notice your shoulds: Pay attention to how often they creep into your thoughts. -Question the rules: Ask whether a should truly belongs to you or if it’s borrowed. -Swap language: Replace “I should” with “I want” or “I choose” and feel the difference. -Write them down: Identify three shoulds and rewrite them into aligned wants or no’s. -Seek truth, not perfection: Remember that freedom comes from living your own definition of success. Join the email list for Take The Exit - Be the first to step inside the story! More from Megan YouTube | Website |  Instagram

Megan chats to Elena Davis about how to weather algorithm storms, refresh content with intention, and lean into authentic connection to keep growth alive. Cucina by Elena is a food blog for simple, high-quality, and flavorful Italian, American, Mexican-inspired, and Mediterranean recipes. Whether you’re looking for an easy weeknight meal, a nostalgic family dish, or a stunning dessert, my recipes are made to be approachable, delicious, packed with real ingredients, and full of love. If you believe in the power of simple recipes that connect, comfort, and inspire, you’re in the right place!  Elena shares her story of perseverance after multiple algorithm hits. She reveals the strategies that helped her revive traffic, from updating posts to leaning into community and experimenting with video and AI. Key points discussed include: - Community is the safety net: When algorithms shift and traffic tanks, it’s your readers who will carry you through. - Update old content: Refreshing posts is often more powerful than creating new ones (and can bring key recipes back to life even after major drops). - Lean into SEO structure: Interlinking, pruning outdated posts, and cleaning up technical clutter. - Experiment with AI: Instead of fearing AI overviews, how can you use them to your advantage? Think writing simple summaries and recipe overviews that make your content AI-friendly, while still keeping it human. - Video is non-negotiable: Reels, YouTube, and TikTok aren’t optional anymore. - Be memorable: Intentional branding can make your site unforgettable in a sea of recipe blogs. - Keep telling your story: Your background, culture, and experiences aren’t boring. Readers need to hear them again and again to deepen connection and build brand trust. - Pinterest and email still work: Despite changing platforms, these steady drivers continue to bring results. Connect with Elena Davis Website | Instagram

Jamie I.F. talks about what it was like losing $80K a month in affiliate revenue, rebuilding from the ground up, and what keyword research really looks like in the age of AI. He is a former affiliate SEO who once scaled to $80,000 per month before the HCU update brought that down to nearly zero. Now, Jamie focuses on building software for SEOs and other niches. One of his tools, Answer Socrates, helps bloggers generate thousands of topic ideas and cluster them into organized groups so they can focus on the fun part: writing. By leveraging SEO, Jamie has grown the tool to over 100K monthly users and has also found creative ways to drive traffic through platforms like Reddit. Jamie shares the wild ride from skyrocketing affiliate earnings to starting over after Google’s updates. He teaches us how to approach keyword research differently in the AI era, how Reddit is reshaping SEO, and why feelings, not just facts, win traffic today. Key points discussed include: Affiliate highs and lows: One decision brought in $80K a month, but it all disappeared overnight, showing how fragile affiliate-heavy models have become in today’s SEO world. Products over pure info: Relying only on informational content is riskier than ever, but turning expertise into products can safeguard your business from AI scrapers and shifting algorithms. Keyword depth wins: Ranking for just one keyword is no longer enough, and covering a range of related subtopics builds the topical authority needed to compete. Clustering made simple: Grouping hundreds of keywords into meaningful clusters makes it easier to plan content strategically without drowning in data. AI overviews explained: Google and ChatGPT pull from multiple sources, and structuring content clearly increases the chances of being featured in those summaries. Reddit power: Reddit now dominates search results, and thoughtful participation can drive traffic, spark PR coverage, and strengthen brand visibility. Make people feel: Optimization helps, but content that stirs emotion keeps readers engaged and loyal even when AI-generated summaries crowd the search results. Connect with Jamie I.F. Website

Sometimes life looks abundant from the outside, but inside you may feel numb or empty. This episode explores why that happens and how to rediscover sparks of aliveness. I’ve been in that place where everything looked good on paper - my calendar was full, my family cared for, my fridge stocked - yet inside I felt hollow. It’s confusing and even scary to admit that emptiness when you think you should feel grateful. But that ache isn’t a flaw, it’s an invitation. In this episode, I share stories and practices that helped me follow sparks of joy back to a life that feels alive again. Action Steps: - Pause and breathe: Notice that emptiness isn’t a sign you’re broken, but a signal to pay attention. - Reframe fulfillment: Recognize that abundance outside doesn’t guarantee fullness inside. - Notice sparks: Watch for small moments that stir joy, then let yourself follow them. - Try simple practices: Step barefoot in the grass, sing in your car, or sip tea without distractions. - Say no when needed: Protect your energy by releasing what doesn’t feel aligned. Join the email list for Take The Exit - Be the first to step inside the story! More from Megan YouTube | Website |  Instagram

Molly Madigan Pisula teaches us how to plan vacations as a blogger so you can unplug, recharge, and come back stronger without the stress of reentry. Molly is a food blogger and food photographer. After beginning her career in the corporate world of high-tech marketing, she decided to forge a new path in the food industry. She received her certificate in French pastry, then opened a small business as a personal chef. For over 12 years as a chef, Molly cooked weekly meals for busy families, taught cooking classes, and catered small events. Now Molly runs the recipe blog, Vanilla Bean Cuisine, featuring French-inspired seasonal recipes for both everyday and entertaining. Time away from your business is essential, but most of us dread the chaos that comes before and after. This episode is a roadmap for prepping your blog, managing your mindset, and creating smooth reentry so vacations actually feel restful. Key points discussed include: - Prep ahead with purpose: Why doing more than just one week of work pays off. - Clean and clear before leaving: How decluttering and handling life tasks sets you up for peace. - Meal planning matters: The secret to easing back into daily life without overwhelm. - Batching works: How creating content in advance makes your break more enjoyable. - Communicate with your team: The importance of setting boundaries and expectations. - Set realistic reentry goals: Focus on small wins instead of big projects right away. - Protect your mindset: Why giving yourself grace post-vacation keeps you motivated. - Build in personal buffers: A simple strategy for smoother transitions at home and work. Guest Details Connect with Molly Madigan Pisula Website | Instagram

Kim Cauti talks about how chronic illness reshaped her perspective on business, hustle culture, and why prioritizing health can actually fuel growth in unexpected ways. Kim is a food blogger, photographer, and content creator focused on gluten free, high protein "better for you" recipes for people who have chronic illness or are simply looking to treat their bodies better while still eating deliciously! When burnout or illness strikes, it’s tempting to push harder, but slowing down may be the secret to building a stronger, more sustainable business. This episode reveals how honoring your body, creating boundaries, and embracing rest can unlock creativity, clarity, and even bigger results. Key points discussed include: - Rest fuels growth: Why stepping back can increase traffic and revenue. - Boundaries protect energy: How saying no creates space for creativity and healing. - Nervous system care: Simple practices that calm burnout and reduce anxiety. - Food and health connections: Why what you eat directly impacts your business. - Sleep matters more than hustle: How quality rest beats 5 a.m. alarms every time. - Listen to your body: The powerful business shift that comes from tuning into symptoms. - Slow living boosts creativity: Why less screen time and more fresh air brings new ideas. - Mindset over grind: How shifting from control to trust changes everything. Connect with Kim Cauti Website | Instagram