From a background in communication and nutrition at Cornell, to a culinary epiphany in Spain, Marisel Salazar (@breadbutternyc) now runs the food photography and writing game across the Internet.
Everything on her Instagram feed is both personal and client-related: a showcase of the many culinary events she attends with restaurants and chefs, and places she visits while freelancing in food writing. It is so clean and consistently beautiful, you feel like you can almost taste the creations she’s captured.
Originally from Panama, and with detours to Hawaii, Marisel naturally gravitates toward a green and tropical vibe. “It could change, but this is what I’m digging right now.”
“I studied in Madrid for almost a year, and that’s where I had my culinary epiphany, as I’m sure many students do.” she says. “I knew I didn’t necessarily want to work in nutrition anymore. Instead I would like to work directly with food and restaurants.” This passion shows clearly in her work. You can see the love for food, as well as the attention to detail in photos of the restaurants. With someone who enjoys her work so much, it makes sense that she likes to mix business with pleasure.
“Since I do a ton of work with food and restaurants and travel, one of my [Qapital] goals – and this is something I’ve always wanted to do – is to visit a food region. There are so many great food destinations and regions, not just in the United States, but all across the world. The Basque region of Spain, that whole northern region, is one of the top culinary destinations in the world. And I’ve always wanted to do a culinary food trip across it. It’s not just a summer vacation, or just a trip to Spain. There’s a little bit more of what I love to do in my work tied into that.”
When Qapital came along, it seemed like the perfect fit for Marisel, who admits she has always enjoyed being in control of her finances.
“I’m creative. [I’m] Working for myself. Having a handle on my finances is extremely important. I do a financial review with myself every week, going over my spending. Where have I been spending the most? Is it food and restaurant, is it grocery, is it supplies for my business, for doing photography? I do keep emergency funds that I contribute to on an automatic basis.”
She also started her Goals-game well before she found Qapital. “I have very informally set up monetary Goals I’d like to reach for myself.” she says. “So, when I heard of Qapital, I was like, ‘This is so great. Someone is doing what I’ve been informally doing in my own head, but in a very tangible way.’ I save up for Goals, but I don’t track them dollar for dollar, which is something that Qapital provides in the app. The whole concept is really cool – it’s obvious that someone was creative about it. You can get really granular when setting up your Rules.”
Now that she’s all set up, where else should she plan to go? With so many food destinations – from the Basque Region, to uncharted food territory in Cuba – the world is definitely her oyster. If you’ve got some ideas for her, make sure to follow her page. We’re looking forward to see what creations she finds once she makes it there!
Put money in its place
Master your money with the app that makes it easy to divvy up every dollar so you can balance what you want with what you need.
