So good to have you on board Katie!!
I have been a fan of What’s Katie Doing for a few years now. Her style of writing is warm and full of passion. Katie is a cornerstone of the gin community, always supportive and full of fun. I am delighted to be able to bring a sneak peak at what goes on behind the blog and share with you an absolute gem.
Behind the Blogger series.
What’s your page all about?
My blog is all about gin, travel and food, my main passions in life! Specifically I like to showcase where all three intersect, but without travel, currently that’s a little difficult. In normal times I want to showcase gin experiences, like the Silent Pool & Albury vineyard tasting day, rather than being a gin review blog.
Do you have a blog or do you mainly use social media to share your thoughts?
The blog is where the detailed coverage goes on, however I also use my social media platforms to showcase brands and do ‘mini reviews’ of gins.
What was the turning point that made you decide to get involved in the drink blogging world?
I started out with a travel blog when I took a year off and went travelling in 2013. When I came back to London, I continued with the discipline of blogging and changed to more of a lifestyle blog. It took a while to focus on gin and re-brand with that in mind, but it definitely came from being more involved in the industry (I worked at a gin bar when I first got back from travelling).
Did you set out with any goals? (did you want to write reviews for distilleries,make recipes or just want to write about something you were interested in?)
Originally it was just to write about things I was interested in. I’ve since tried to focus on the gin experience side – where can you visit a distillery, do a gin tasting, make your own gin etc. Gin tourism is something that I’ve been involved in unknowingly for a while, so I’m now sharing my experiences with others.
Do you have any drink industry experience and do you think that makes a difference to how people perceive your opinion?
My only experience is working at the Oliver Conquest briefly when Sarah Jane Davis owned it. I also volunteered at London Cocktail Week in 2014.
Since then I’ve attended a lot of gin events and tastings and even gotten involved in judging for gin award events. I helped the Gin Foundry host a gin blogger/influencer event last summer in London, to share and support new bloggers and influencers. I hope that my continued interest and relationship building with the industry shows through in my work and gains me respect.
What do you hope people take away from your writing?
I hope that I inspire people to visit distilleries and to try gins that they might not have otherwise heard of.
Who are you when you are away from the gin and drinks pages? Tell us more about the person behind the name? By the way, where did you get the name for your page?
By day I work in finance for a media company head quarters, so I’m usually looking at foreign exchange, which is not very creative! By night you’ll find me in a cocktail bar (currently my kitchen) or restaurants (currently take away) and I try to fit the blog in around that. I also liked to travel lots when not working, however I think life is going to be very different in that regard post COVID 19 – so I’ll be focusing more on UK based travel and less on flying.
The name for my page was inspired by the book ‘What Katie Did Next’ by Susan Coolidge in 1886, which I read as a child (given my name). That blog name was already taken, so hence What’s Katie Doing? instead.
Has there been anyone who’s inspired your blogging journey?
There have been so many people. A few of the big lifestyle blogs at the start, such as The Londoner, and then more travel and food blogs. I learnt a lot of my blogging skills from Travel blogger groups on Facebook.
Future goals?
To continue to write about gin events and create resources that people find useful in this increasingly saturated market.
Thanks again to Katie for agreeing to be part of my Behind The Blogger series. I absolutely loved getting to know a bit about what inspires her and how she came to be where she is today!
To check out Katie’s work head to:
https://whatskatiedoing.com/category/gin/
https://twitter.com/katiebhughes
Stay tuned for the next installment of Behind The Blogger!!
Pam
Sipping and Styling 