Check Out Stephanie Lindsay’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Lindsay.

Hi Stephanie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Zest all started with my love of food and beverages plus always wanting to find a good deal. Finding happy hour deals always required too much research. Back in 2013, I started a list of happy hour specials and weekly deals in a Word Doc that I continued to build on over the years. ​

Finally, in 2018, I decided that I should share this resource with others, and started a page on Instagram called Zest Cincy. With my background in Design, it was easy to develop branding and get things started.

I started with posting photos simply taken from my phone, or resharing content with photographer credit, of food from my favorite places, along with a corresponding “designed” post to easily highlight each happy hour deal for easy navigation. Story highlights were also recently introduced to the Gram, so I utilized those to keep track of deals for each day of the week.
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I found out that there’s a TON of other people that love happy hour deals as much as I do! Over the years, Zest has grown an amazing following, and I am grateful for my followers who share my love of all of the fantastic bars and restaurants we have in our city!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Instagram takes serious work! It takes a lot of time not only to curate the work, but also A LOT longer than you think to grow a following and gain traction.

And of course, when Zest began to take off, Covid happened. So there were no more happy hours, weekly specials, or even dining in. But I realized more than ever, that these bars and restaurants needed help spreading the word on how they were pivoting during this time.

So I created a few lists for each neighborhood and outlined which restaurants were doing carryout, delivery, online ordering, alcohol to go, who had outdoor seating, etc. I had a great response from the community, and it was truly rewarding to see that appreciation.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I went to school for Graphic Design, and worked for about 6 years in the field and got laid off in 2015. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I began freelancing, and decided I wanted to be my own boss. I ended up creating my own Design Business, Slay Design Studio, and have been on my own ever since.

My background has always been in Package Design and Branding for both large CPG companies and small startups. About 2 years ago, I started doing Social Media content creation, ads, and photography for a few of my clients, which really helped me expand my knowledge with Instagram.

After running a few photoshoots for my brand partners, I realized how important it is to have good photography, so I wanted to take things up a notch with Zest. I started partnering with one of the best food photographers in town, Catie Viox, who also shared a love for food and our community.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The most important thing that I learned was being adaptable.

When Covid hit, bars and restaurants had to completely change how they did business. Happy hours weren’t happening, so I changed my focus to where the industry was pivoting.

I wanted to play a small part to continue to promote them, and I found that Instagram can be such a powerful tool to connect your community and keep them up to date when things are constantly changing.

Contact Info:

• Email: zestcincy@gmail.com
• Website: www.zestcincy.com
• Instagram: zestcincy
• Facebook: zestcincy

Photo Credit : 
Catie Viox