Serving Authenticity with Ciji Castro

In this episode, host Lena Gosik-Wolfe chats with Ciji Castro, the trailblazing entrepreneur behind Domestic Gourmet. From covering the New York Food and Wine Festival to launching her own products, Ciji is a woman who epitomizes passion-driven entrepreneurship.

"I've always been confident, but when you are in a business where you are asking people to give you full access, it takes a willingness to be told no."  - Ciji Castro

Dive into a conversation that touches on:

• Authenticity in Business: Why being true to yourself is non-negotiable for success.
• Confidence and Tenacity: Building resilience and authority in a crowded online market.
• Emotional Engagement: Ciji's journey in connecting with her audience through the universal language of food.
• Thought Leadership: What it takes to establish yourself as an authority in your industry, even if it's male-dominated.

Connect With Ciji

Ciji's Website

Connect with Ciji on Instagram


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Transcript

Lena: 0:00

I am super excited today to be able to introduce you to the incredible Ciji Castro, the force behind domestic gourmet. She's not just a culinary genius. She is a global sensation who has captivated the world by unapologetically showing up as her authentic self. Hey ladies, welcome to Conversations from the Little Pink Book. I'm your host, Lena Gosik-Wolfe. Picture this: you're sitting with a group of amazing friends, sipping your favorite beverage and having heart-to-heart conversations about life and business. Well, that's exactly what this podcast is all about. In each episode, I'm diving into conversations with other incredible female entrepreneurs. We'll laugh, share stories and ideas, and also explore the real stuff, like breaking free from societal norms, conquering self-doubt, and celebrating our unique journeys in business as women. So get comfy, pour your favorite drink, and listen in as I chat with all my best gals in my conversations from the Little Pink Book. Hey, Ciji, how are you doing? What's new?

Ciji: 1:35

Hi Lena, thanks for having me. I have a lot of exciting things coming down the pipeline. Next month I'm covering the New York Food and Wine Festival. There'll be a lot of great behind-the-scenes footage, awesome chef interviews with some of the greats like Chef Morimoto, marcus Samuelson, chef Manit Chauhan, iron Chef Jeffrey Zicarian A lot of fun stuff, and I hope to cover a lot of great content while I'm in town. What else I am developing products that will hopefully be launched on the marketplace. I'm hoping for November. I'm trying to beat the holidays, so I'm a busy lady constantly hustling and grinding right.

Lena: 2:20

Oh my god. Yes, girl, all of that is so crazy exciting and I cannot wait to see what you're coming up with, because I have said it before, but I am genuinely inspired by how you're just completely trailblazing your own path and you've really created a business that is truly built on your interests and how you wanted to do business, and I think that's really important. So I know there's a lot of talk online about authenticity in business, but, knowing you and your story, I would just love your perspective on how you define authenticity and why you think that's been so essential for your success, but also why it's so important in entrepreneurship in general.

Ciji: 3:10

That's a great question and one that really causes me to pause and think, because there are so many answers to this. I think the authenticity comes in because I absolutely love what I do and I am just having a blast at it. I'm not gonna lie and I think that comes through right. I love to cook. I love to feed people. I think that's just being a Spanish woman. A lot of happy memories and celebrations are done around a meal and I carry that on and I love to just feed people and that draws people in, because it doesn't matter where you, from around the globe, food can bring us together.

Ciji: 3:54

But then how do you turn that into a business? I did really good building a brand for myself, building a name for myself, building a following for myself. But then what? How do I make money on this? How do I turn this into a business? Because I don't have a corporate background. So that's where I started continuing my education For me.

Ciji: 4:16

I am a forever student. I love to study, I love to learn. That's actually my first like. My biggest attribute is being inquisitive and learning. And then I started asking other people who were already been there done that. Hey, can you mentor me? Take a look at my business when can I grow from here? And, honestly, listening to that constructive criticism, listening to when you fail, where did you fail? Where did you go wrong? Where can you improve the next time? And constantly be open to change and pivoting, because that's business. There have been some hiccups in this career. I welcome them. I'm like okay, that's it works. So that means that when you've negated one option and that leaves a whole sea of other options in front of you. So I feel like you just have to be open to feedback, willing to learn, admit that you don't know everything, seek out the education, seek out the resources and follow your passion, because it's possible to do both follow your passion and have a successful business in the end.

Lena: 5:26

I love that so much, Ciji. Going back to what you were saying about your interest in learning being one of your greatest strengths, what other strengths have you found in yourself through running your business?

Ciji: 5:41

To be completely honest, it's confidence. I would like to say that I've always been confident, but when you are in a business where you are asking people to give you full access without even knowing who you are or knowing what you do, especially in a sea of influencers and and foodies, it takes willingness to be told. Now, and there is a lot of hesitancy and approaching a complete stranger Making some of the bold requests I've made. But it got to the point where I was like you know what I asked and they say no but there's a possibility that they'll say yes or I don't ask, and it's no anyway.

Ciji: 6:33

I just got to a point where I'm like fuck it, I'm just gonna ask. The worst they can do is say no and I don't give a shit. But I just get all glam done, drive all the way across town or fly across the country To not even try, and after about a year and a half of doing that, you stop giving any fucks about anything. There's just no fear. You're there to do a job and I feel like I have confidence in the way that I present myself as the domestic gourmet and know that if they just give me that opportunity, I will deliver, and I think that it's that tenacity and confidence that has really helped me build up my portfolio in such a short period of time.

Lena: 7:23

I relate to that so much because I often talk about how I've gained so much confidence through my business over the years. I was a very self conscious person before my business and I agree it takes so much grit To be able to stand up somewhere and ask for something right, and I think that's really powerful. But I think the most empowering part of that really is when you finally understand your own value right and understand that what you're doing really is giving them something incredible and not so much asking for something in return. That, I think, is where my confidence, at least, has really been able to rise from. When do you feel most confident? Is it when you're in the kitchen and recording? Is it when you're speaking to people? When do you feel most confident as a woman and as a business owner?

Ciji: 8:23

As a woman, I feel most confident when I'm out with my husband. There is just something about that man that just makes me glow. I know it's corny, but I always say he's the best thing I found online 15 years and I still fall more and more in love with him every single day, even on the days where we disagree. But when we go out and I get all glammed up and like to the nines, I just I feel really confident next to him, just strutting my stuff and knowing he is just admiring me and mentally worshiping me and I just love that until we get home and then he can actually worship me. We're very much in love. So that's where I feel most confident and also, I think, the most safe, because I can sway and I can throw my hips and I know that I'm with my husband. I feel safe and really just being who I am.

Ciji: 9:28

As a business woman, I feel most confident when I'm out and about as the domestic gourmet or in my kitchen. It's home, I'm with food, I'm cooking. It's very relaxing to me, it's my outlet. It's incredibly cathartic for me to cook and create and then when I'm doing speaking engagements, I feel like I'm there for a purpose, to give a gift of whatever it is that I know that people are there to listen to because they're ready to receive. And in that audience, that arena, I feel like I'm amongst friends and, again, I feel very comfortable and full of love.

Ciji: 10:12

But where I feel like I have to be powerful and where I feel the most confident is when I'm representing myself and selling my services.

Ciji: 10:24

It's walking into a restaurant and having done my research on whoever I'm speaking with, honoring the work that they've done and also letting them know just give me a chance and I can honor your work through my photography, through my videography. And that's where I feel most powerful and definitely most confident, because I have built a name for myself and I have my work to show for it. And it took me a really long time to realize how good my work is. And it wasn't until recently when someone pointed out all of my large partnerships with Five Diamond Resorts, the Michelin Guide, michelin Star Restaurants that I was like, wait a minute, if my work is good enough for the best, then my work is some of the best and I don't need to have that fear of inadequacy. And after coming to that realization, that I have these big dogs calling that. I'm worthy of whatever work I take on and I will do it justice. Yeah, maybe a little TMI with my husband, but you did ask.

Lena: 11:47

I get you, but you have so much to be proud of and that's amazing. And I do know how empowering that feeling is when you know that you're good at your work, understanding that you are desirable because you are bringing so much value, and I truly believe that is just a one of a kind experience as entrepreneurs that it might be really hard to understand if you're not putting yourself out there in this way. But on the flip side, have you ever felt like you've needed to hide parts of yourself for the sake of business or to be taken seriously in your field? I think we have spoken about this before, but, being a woman in a male-dominated industry, I'd love to hear how that's felt and how you've navigated that as well.

Ciji: 12:41

Absolutely. It's not always easy, and it wasn't easy getting to this point. I feel gaining that confidence was a process, and it was a process by first having to figure out what exactly is it that I want to deliver right. Once you figure that out, then it's how do I do that? For me, the how took a lot of educating. I had to learn better photography, better styling. I'm still working on it. That part will always be a work in progress. But where did I struggle and where did I find roadblocks?

Ciji: 13:25

In not only a male-dominated field, but also in the age of social media. I am in between being a millennial. I'm in between Gen Z and Gen X. I'm a mom as well, so I have three little kids, and then I am not. I don't know how to say this without.

Ciji: 13:53

I don't mean to put myself or anyone down, but when someone has this very sexy restaurant where they want it to be a male-dominated industry, they want it to be a desirable place for not only the delicious, expertly curated dishes that are leaving the kitchen, but also for the ambiance. Right, beautiful people, beautiful food. I'm a voluptuous woman and I'm not middle-aged, but I'm also not 20. And I'm a mom and I'm married and I'm not selling anything other than food. Right, I will sell my voice. I do voiceovers too, but and so I did in the beginning kind of struggle with any work that had my face on it being rejected, and so I realized I had to pivot and really focus on the food, and I do.

Ciji: 14:50

However, I now I have a global audience, so I'm showing more of my face because it's getting the likes. My followers love it. People want to see people taste the food. Is it crunchy? Is it gross? What's going to be your first like facial expression, I also know what questions to ask.

Ciji: 15:07

What are your goals? Do you want to use me as essentially like I wouldn't say a model, because that's not what I consider myself, but it's almost like a food personality Do you want me to engage with my followers about your food? And if not, that's fine. Do you want me just to showcase your food? I can do that. So in the beginning there were some hurdles, but I feel like since then I've figured them out. But there's always going to be more to come, especially in this day and age with technology and everything changing so quickly. Also, the restaurant scene is booming and everybody wants something different. There's always going to be a hurdle. I think, as business owners, it's important to be flexible, be able to pivot and continue the education so that you can continue to deliver not only what your past clients want that maybe you want something new that they've seen but also to gain new clients that are wanting what's trending.

Lena: 16:11

Ciji, thank you so much for just being so open about this and willing to talk about things that aren't always at the forefront of our businesses because I just feel so strongly about the power of shared experiences between us and that validation that we can get from just hearing someone else's story is really so powerful in understanding ourselves better. So I really appreciate that, and I'm so proud to know so many amazing women who are just on the rise in their industries and then doing really incredible stuff. So please keep in touch. I can't wait to see what's coming next.

Ciji: 16:53

Oh, you know we're going to stay in touch. We're friends now, but yeah, no, thank you to you for giving a platform in this way to help other women. Thank you so much for having me.

Lena: 17:05

Yeah, 100%, we'll talk soon, Thank you.