Foodie to Food Network
Published on October 22, 2018, at 5:39 p.m.
by Savanna Guitard.
From her first day of college, Gabriela Rodiles’ goal was getting an internship with Food Network. As a freshman at Arizona State University studying broadcast journalism, Rodiles decided to tie her love for food and journalism together by starting her own blog, Gourmet Gab.
“I have been cooking since I was 5 years old,” Rodiles said. “Blogging was just becoming a big thing, and I wanted to jump in.”
To achieve her goal of interning at Food Network, Rodiles knew she would have to build her résumé and define her personal brand. Along with blogging consistently, she worked on her social media presence, practiced her digital media and video skills, and had internships at “Arizona Highways TV” and “Right This Minute.”
Rodiles’ hard work paid off, and she served as the online editorial intern for three months for Foodnetwork.com. During her time as an intern she built photo recipe galleries, wrote blog posts, created captions and got to learn from the editorial team.
Now she is 26, living in New York City and holds the title of social media specialist for Food Network. However, her path to her current job wasn’t easy.
After graduating, Rodiles got a job as a leadership consultant for her sorority, Sigma Kappa, and went on to work at the national headquarters for two years.
“I gained incredible experience helping start a new chapter of the sorority,” Rodiles explained. “I was able to build marketing, PR and social initiatives from the ground up, which turned out to be valuable for the future.”
Keeping up with her food blog, Rodiles began to create freelance videos for Food Network Snapchat Discover to maintain relationships and help her get a full-time role with the company. Over the course of a year, she applied for dozens of jobs within the food and lifestyle media space. Working toward her dream job, Rodiles networked by reaching out to friends, family and peers to make recommendations for introductions.
“Patience and perseverance paid off,” Rodiles said. “Once I saw the Food Network listing of this position, I knew it was going to be the one, and it made all those months of work and waiting worth it. Luckily because I had maintained relationships with co-workers from my internship over the years, it made getting in touch about the position much more natural and authentic.”
Now Rodiles’ day-to-day consists of managing and creating content for Food Networks social media accounts, brainstorming ideas for new ways to promote shows and producing highly engaging videos.
“One minute I may be in a meeting, and the next I’m in Food Network Kitchen filming a Facebook live with one of our talent,” Rodiles explained. “I love that every day is different.”
As a foodie, Rodiles loves learning about food and trying new recipes from chefs the channel features. Her favorite memory from her time so far is getting to meet The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, a popular blogger who now has her own show on Food Network. Rodiles was even able to film a Facebook live with her on the set.
Rodiles’ job allows her to adapt new skills in journalism and broadcast, as well as gain experience working in a large company.
“I have learned so much about teamwork and collaboration. We work on a large digital team, so communication across groups is huge. I also constantly learn from our culinary team,” Rodiles said. “It seems like every week I have a new tip for a recipe.”
As Rodiles looks to the future, she is setting new goals for professional life as well as for her blog, Gourmet Gab.
“I’ve always loved being on camera, so I look forward to hosting more videos in the future. For my blog and personal social, I am big about meal prep, so I look forward to sharing more recipes and growing my community,” Rodiles said.