Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Sturkey
Hi Marissa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up with having Chefs as parents so food has always been a huge part of my life. My parents, Chefs Paul and Pam Sturkey, had several successful restaurants in the Cincinnati, OH area along with creating our family’s Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing and Sturkey’s Spice recipes. I truly didn’t have a choice – food and cooking was in my blood! Once I was in my early twenties, I knew that I had a passion for cooking and a hobby of hosting dinner parties but wanted to use social media to my advantage to showcase my work since that’s the way of the world now. That’s when I started posting food videos and recipes to Instagram. I create content talking about new delicious products, healthier alternatives, “What I Eat in a Day” reels, travel content and more! It feels good to be able to share my life with the world and make a business out of it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I am new to the content creation space but one challenge I faced when getting started was just that: getting started! I had to get over the hump of “what will people think of me?” and “what if my ideas don’t stick with my audience?” and just do it. I used to film hours of content but never post it because I was nervous or my doubts overcame me. Now, I post whenever I’m feeling proud of my work or when I think a product or brand should be shared because I like it. By doing just that, I have landed so many jobs and opportunities with dream brands I thought I’d never get the chance to work with – and this is only my first year.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create content on Instagram/TikTok (@marissa_sturkey) or UGC for food, health & wellness and travel brands including Airbnb features. My specialty is food content but I do branch out and also showcase lifestyle content on my socials as well. I am most proud of finally getting started! I started content creation seriously in September of 2024 and I’ve already worked with 30+ brands, have received exclusive products from food and beverage brands and even got to be a part of a photoshoot for Good Culture Cottage Cheese.
What sets me apart from others is my aesthetic and unique way of filming and editing my videos to make any product or brand stand out. I taught myself how to edit using various apps on my iPhone and it has gotten me a long way. I share unique recipes that may seem common but put my own twist on them and add my own flavors – especially Sturkey’s Spice. My favorite part of all of this is when I get tagged in a post or receive a text from someone saying they tried making one of my recipes and they loved it. That never gets old which is something my parents agree with being accomplished chefs. Food is a love language!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of my favorite childhood memories was when my older brother and I would have to spend hours inside our parents’ restaurants. Growing up, we spent most of our week outside of school in the back office or kitchen of the restaurants and play around, eat chicken nuggets and fries and run around swapping the salt and pepper shakers on the table before the restaurant opened for the day – our parents weren’t too happy about that part…
It was great to see how the back of a kitchen works even before I was old enough to cook. Very fast paced environment, communication between the cooks and servers and how everyone played a part in making guests have the best experience possible before leaving the building. I think that’s where my love for hospitality and hosting came from that carried out from when I was younger until now.
Contact Info:
- Website: UGC Portfolio: https://marissasturkey.my.canva.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marissa_sturkey/
