So You Want To Be A Food Stylist?
Tips on breaking into a tricky industry, with input from real people working in the creative field.
A common question I often get is how to break into food styling, recipe development, content creation, etc. While I’m not an award winning food stylist, I have worked with over 75 brands and clients and sustained myself as a culinary creative over the last 7 years. Some freelance, some full time gigs, and some in-betweens have helped me make ends meet, and I’ve learned a lot of things the hard way, but also had a great network to build upon and ask advice from. Knowing what rates to charge, how to set boundaries, and how to find clients are just a few of the tricky parts of the very interesting and niche field of food styling. After some brief explanation of what food styling is, what we do, and how we do it, I’ve asked some of my friends and colleagues in the creative field to provide some input for further guidance and advice. HUGE thanks to them for generously providing their knowledge and expertise!
What Do Food Stylists Do?
Food stylists come in handy pretty much any time a brand is working with food or recipes on a photo or video shoot. This could be for new product packaging, cookbooks, digital recipes, TV shows, commercials, music videos, and more. Lots of avenues to go down! Most of my work has been for digital content, social media, and cookbooks, with some light commercial work—my least favorite, but the highest paying.
On a typical shoot, I get a prep day or two depending on how much has to be done. On these days I can grocery shop and prepare anything that needs to be made in advance. On a shoot day, I arrive to set and usually set up my station on a prep table in the corner somewhere. It’s not often that stylists get fancy kitchens to work in, but it’s nice when it happens. A lot of the time I have to work with only a portable burner, a small air fryer, and similar appliances. It’s a real treat to work in a culinary studio with full-sized ovens, speed racks, and a stove.
Once I’m set up, I’ll consult a shot list or schedule and get rolling on whatever’s needed first. Some days, you’re shooting 10 recipes for a cookbook in 10 hours. That’s a lot of turnaround, so I will say that having a culinary background definitely helps when you need to multitask and work on multiple recipes at the same time. If it’s a video shoot, I usually have multiple batches of the recipe prepped out and I’m prepared for multiple takes of different scenes (like mixing batter, plating, bite shot, etc). Video days can be 12+ hours, so be don’t be surprised by really long days. This was the hardest part for me to adjust to as a person who really values work life balance. After 5 days of 12 hour shoots, I almost always get sick from being exhausted and not getting enough rest. Luckily, those weeks aren’t too common (for me), and you can always say no to something you don’t want to do… but sometimes it’s really hard to pass up on money, obviously.
What’s The Best Way To Break Into Food Styling?
I’m going to tell you exactly how it went for me, and one important thing I did to make it a reality. When I moved to Los Angeles in 2018 (a major creative production hub—very important to note), I was looking for literally any job that was not in a restaurant or bakery anymore. I was really desperate to break out of kitchen life and do something more creative, and hopefully not work every weekend and holiday of my life. I applied to so many jobs and got so few responses, which makes sense, because all of my resume said “baker, pastry cook, pastry chef” etc. I had started my baking Instagram, Alexander Bakes, maybe 1-2 years before this. I used it as a visual journal of things I baked at work, like croissants, macarons, or whatever else I was fascinated by at the time. I always took extra time to make food look “pretty” and was often contributing social media posts for the bakeries I worked at. I knew I liked “styling” but didn’t have a word for it yet. So when I found out food styling was a thing, I researched the crap out of it and was thirsty to break into it.
Having that Instagram account was my first, if very casual, version of a portfolio. A portfolio is your resume for styling: people don’t want to see a CV with no visual examples of your capabilities. In 7 years, I’ve never once been asked for a resume on a shoot. So, if you want to be a food stylist, it’s time to start assembling a portfolio. This can literally be iPhone photography collected on a website with your name attached. When you’re ready to take it further, reach out to some photographers and ask them about test shooting: a professionally approached “practice” shoot where you both can work on your portfolios. You need to have budget and time for ingredients and potentially split some costs with the photographer, but I have done tests at home that cost very little and still produced great images. Shoutout to Tatijana Bradvica, Yuya Parker, and Bud Bennett for being awesome photographers I’ve test shot with. Give their portfolios a look!
About a month into my new life in LA, I got a job at Buzzfeed Tasty that was originally titled “grocery shopper and prep cook.” I found the job on Indeed, applied, and got interviewed.
was my manager, and she hired me after I did a recipe test of Chicken Cordon Bleu. She said mine was the best out of all of the applicants, and I still cherish that compliment very much. Within weeks of starting, I was doing more than grocery shopping and prep: I was being the hands that appeared on camera cooking the recipes, helping producers bring their creative concepts to life, and finally, beginning to style food professionally. This job started out pretty low paying at first ($18/hr), but I was eager to break into the field and I did climb rather quickly and get several good raises and more responsibility. Once someone realizes you can do something and they trust you, your potential is limitless. Thank you for hiring me there, Alexis! Finding a gig with a media company is one of the best ways to get started and build your portfolio, although it can be difficult—especially these days.From Tasty, I wanted to break out into more projects. I’ve always been the type of person who puts the cart before the horse, for better or for worse. This bites me in the ass sometimes, but other times, the risks allow me to make a huge leap in life and my career. I worked at Buzzfeed for a little over a year before I started getting offers for freelance projects. I was luckily able to transition from full time contractor to freelance food stylist with the branded side of Tasty, working on collaborations and ads with name brands! I also began reaching out to stylists in the LA area. This is the one important thing I did, even if it feels useless, and even if you don’t get responses for a while. My emails went a little like this: “Hi, my name is Alex and I’m a food styling assistant based in LA. I saw your portfolio and I really admire your work. I would love to chat about potentially assisting you any time you need, so please keep me in mind!” and then I would link to my portfolio so they could see my capabilities. Out of 100+ emails, I maybe got 5 responses. Out of those 5 responses, I maybe got to assist 2 stylists. But that helped me break in, and get more experience, and that experience almost always led to more networking, and more jobs through word of mouth. No responses? Keep working on that portfolio. Someone will take a shot on you eventually (big thanks to Brett Long for hiring me so much in my early career).
The Many Roles On Set of a Shoot
A big part of finding your footing in this field is first understanding it. There’s a hierarchy of people, starting from executive producers and director, all the way down to production coordinators, culinary producers, stylists, grips, and production assistants. Everyone has a role and they are all important. Learn these, and you will start to grasp the bigger picture of what’s happening on set. I’ve worked with crews of 3 people on set and larger ones of 50+ people (insane). Stay out of the way, and try to work in sync with everyone else rather than against the natural flow of a shoot. Study the shot list and schedule, and be prepared. Bring every tool you think you might need, and please, don’t forget a can opener like I love doing. If you’re lost, you can consult your producers, who usually are the most helpful people on a set with a high level understanding of the tasks and deliverables. Hopefully, once you’ve built strong connections with stylists you’ve assisted, they will be there for you to guide you from the scary leap of food styling assistant to lead stylist.
I’ve gotten some valuable input from a few people who I’ve met over the years who I’m now lucky to call friends! They’ve hired me, or we’ve worked together, and I admire their work and what they bring to the table. Networking is very important in this field, but remember that people are not just there to advance your career. If you can make friends while doing what you love, you’ve figured it out. Don’t forget that when you’re reaching out to stylists, producers, etc: everyone has a busy life, so be considerate of their time and be as kind and grateful as you can be when the opportunities start coming your way!
Advice From Real People In The Creative Field
Danielle Campbell, Food Stylist (Freelance)
Q: When did you start food styling? How’d you know you wanted to get into it?
A: I started food styling about 9 years ago. It started with a love for photography. I slowly started taking pictures of my food and posting it. Then I discovered it was actually a cool career to look into. It was a great way of combining my love for food and photography.
Q: What do you think the hardest part of food styling is?
A: The industry? The inconsistency. The actual job? Probably dealing with clients. Sometimes, trying to give them exactly what they want can be really challenging. Especially when they have a very specific vision for something and it doesn’t work out exactly that way.
Q: How have you managed to endure as a freelancer in an industry that is known to ebb and flow?
A: Its great to have multiple streams of income to you can keep money flowing when things are slow. Food styling, recipe development , content creation etc… It’s also important to stay productive outside of your job. I think it’s good for your mental health. I feel like if I am in a slow period and I am also not doing anything creative or productive it’s harder getting through the slow periods.
Q: How do you find most of your clients?
A: Most of my work is word of mouth and referrals. Photographers, producers and directors I have worked with. Surprisingly a lot of people find me online. Google, instagram and even pintrest. I also do some marketing for myself by sending out newsletters and personally reaching out to people and brands I am interested in working with. I wish there was a better more direct way to put your portfolio out there in front of the right people. I was represented by an agent in the past which made this process a bit easier.
Q: What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on?
A: I don’t know if I have one from my entire career, but lately, my favorite is a campaign I did with Issa Rae and her new champagne brand Viarae. Not only was she wonderful, but the entire production team was great. It was also one of the few times where the entire crew were predominately people of color. That’s very rare in my line of work. I can’t wait to see all of the assets when they are released. I will love to see those images in my portfolio!
Tracy Raetz, Prop Stylist (Freelance)
Q: Can you explain briefly what a prop stylist does?
A: A prop stylist is in charge of sourcing and styling all of the objects, backgrounds, and surfaces you see in a photo. A prop stylist will take direction from the client or creative and then find items that help develop the overall vibe of the ask. Sometimes, a prop doesn’t exist and you might need to fabricate it as well. In food photography, a prop stylist is in charge of finding all the plates, bowls, napkins, flatware, glasses and even the tabletops you shoot on. They’re always working closely with the food stylist on set to find the best props to complement the dishes being shot.
Q: How did you break into it?
A: I broke into prop styling in kind of a round about way. I worked as a creative director on the branded side of Tasty at BuzzFeed for years, and realized that what I enjoyed most was being on set and setting up all the shots to look beautiful. I would always spend extra time sourcing props for my shoots just because I enjoyed doing it. I eventually started doing some freelance styling, and now I’m a fully freelance prop stylist!
Q: What do you think it takes to be successful as a prop stylist?
A: That’s a tough question, because success is really subjective—but for me I always measure my success on a shoot-by-shoot basis. I feel like it was a successful shoot if it seemed like everyone, especially the client and the director, was happy with everything I sourced and how I worked within the team. For me, I think it’s important to be a good team player and be able to problem solve on set, and I always feel like I was successful if I wrap the shoot feeling great about how I worked with everyone.
Q: How do you find most of your clients?
A: Most of my clients I find from word of mouth! I also have some producers who I love working with and they bring me on when they get work, so it’s super important to foster those relationships. I have a couple clients that I’ve worked with for years and it’s so great working with people who you know well.
Q: What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on?
A: I’ve gotten to work on so many fun things! But I always have the most fun doing test shoots. They’re low pressure and all about collaborating and creating cool art. I had SO much fun on a recent test shoot I did with Alexander Roberts and Bud Bennett where we played around with scale and food that looks like rocks! Getting to just be creative with friends and not have to appease any clients is always the best day. (But, of course, shout out to my clients! Please hire me!)
Dylan Pretzer, Executive Creative Producer (First We Feast)
Q: In a nutshell, what does a creative producer do?
Creative producers touch every single step when making a piece of content. In my role, it all starts with the concept. I try to strike a balance of what the client wants with what makes sense for our channel's formats. Once there is alignment on a creative direction, I start to break it down into what the script looks like, how the product is going to show up, and how it can all happen in the most seamless way. Then, I get to direct the content and help guide the edit.
Q: How long have you been working as a producer?
I've been working in production for about 9 years. I started as an intern, coming straight out of college, with little to no production experience. It was tough at first, but I've learned from some amazing colleagues and mentors along the way.
Q: In the eyes of a producer, what makes a food stylist “good”?
The obvious answer is someone who is good at working with food. But to me, it's not just about the food. It's more important having someone who can problem solve—working with brands adds an extra layer of complication. Sometimes their guidelines are extremely specific, or issues arise that you really can't plan for. So, you want a food stylist who can think on their feet.
Q: What kind of content are you currently working on?
I'm currently leading the branded creative team at First We Feast. I produce branded content across our entire portfolio of shows: Hot Ones, Hot Ones Versus, Hot Kitchen, etc. It's a mix of food and pop culture content that has given me a whole new look on food media.
Q: What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on?
One of my favorite projects I've worked on recently was an episode of Hot Ones Versus with Asif Ali, Poorna Jagannathan and Saagar Shaikh, for Hulu's Deli Boys. It was a really fun experience from the writers room to the shoot day. Worth the watch!
If you liked this newsletter, please drop a comment below or re-stack and I will try to do a part 2 sometime soon! Thanks so much for reading!
Absolutely loved this, Alex. Your breakdown was honest, helpful, and inspiring. The behind the scenes look at food styling gave it so much depth. Thank you for pulling back the curtain.
Thank goodness for food stylists. As someone who simply wants to bake, write, and eat, I rely on the expertise of these skilled and visionary folks.