Case Study: Ella Gilbert
Ella traded isolation and self-doubt for a supportive community, a monthly CEO framework, and a calmer mindset through every Google & AI change!
Meet Ella
Ella is the baker behind Alpine Ella, where she shares indulgent baking recipes that are simple to make. Her whole goal is for readers to bring one of her bakes to a party, have someone ask “wait, did you make that?!”, and get to feel a little smug about it!
She first tried food blogging back in 2015, but was too shy to tell people what she was working on. By the time she came back to it in July 2020, there were so many more tutorials and courses out there to lean on, and this time it stuck.
She went full-time in 2022 (about 18 months in), right as she qualified for Mediavine and handed in her notice at her corporate job!
The Challenge
Going full-time was a huge win, but it came with something Ella didn’t expect to miss as an introvert: coworkers.
- Isolation: As a self-described introvert, Ella thought leaving her London office would be a relief. Instead, she realized she genuinely missed having people to talk to who understood what she was working on.
- Comparison & a negative headspace: Working alone left her comparing herself to other food bloggers and second-guessing her decisions. “Am I making the right moves? Am I making the right decisions? I felt like I didn’t have anyone to talk to about that.”
- Feeling stuck in the middle: Ella didn’t feel like a beginner, but she didn’t have as much traffic as she wanted either. The masterminds she saw online required a million pageviews to join, and the beginner content wasn’t for her. She felt caught in a “murky in-between stage”.
“I was feeling a bit like in a negative headspace and kind of like, oh, I’m maybe not as far along as I would like to be.”
Why Ella Joined Food Blog Coaching
Ella had considered our group coaching program a few times and even reached out before, but something always held her back. Mostly, she worried it was built for beginners.
She was in a murky in-between spot: past the beginner stage, but not at the traffic level of the masterminds she saw online that wanted a million pageviews to join.
Then, a few things lined up:
- Our Black Friday promotion where we donated $100 from every membership sale to a food bank (“this is aligned with my own beliefs”)
- Previous client, Cynthia of But First We Brunch, sang its praises
- Her husband, Will, told her to just try it!
Stuck in a bit of a funk with nothing to lose, Ella decided to give it a shot. When I asked if she was happy with her decision to join, she exclaimed, “SO happy!”.
The Solution
Ella found her footing through a mix of fast wins, frameworks, and community:
- Quick, satisfying implementation
- In her very first week, she followed a tutorial to create a holiday e-book, something she’d been putting off for years, and had it done in under an hour. “I feel like I’ve got my money’s worth for the month.”
- A CEO framework
- Our annual review and monthly CEO Day frameworks gave Ella structured ways to look at her metrics.
- Mindset work
- She caught up on past mindset calls and started internalizing a calmer, action-over-anxiety approach to running her business.
- A supportive community
- Weekly calls with people in the same boat, a searchable library of past tutorials and talks, and a group that actually followed each other on Instagram and cheered each other on.
The Results
Ella’s biggest transformation wasn’t a traffic number. It was how she felt about her business and how she made decisions.
From doom-scrolling to data:
- During the January yearly review, Ella realized that despite feeling like she was failing, she’d actually grown a lot compared to the year before.
- She still runs a CEO Day every single month, even after leaving the program, and it keeps her grounded.
A steadier mindset:
- Ella now stays noticeably calmer through Google and AI search changes, where she used to spiral.
- When a fellow food bloggers panic, Ella now thinks, “I don’t feel that worried, because that isn’t gonna help me.”
A bias toward action:
- She’s built consistent habits she’d been avoiding for ages, like planning a week of Facebook content every Friday, then checking what performed and doing more of it.
- One week she spent an hour planning Facebook content and thought, “this could have been like the e-book where I just never ever do it.” Instead, she just started.
“I see a lot of doom and gloom right now in the Facebook groups, but I don’t feel that nervous because I’m looking at that CEO sheet that I fill in every month. And I’m like, no, I’m doing great, so it’s fine, just keep going!”
Please note that individual results may vary. Case study details shared with client permission. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Ella’s Key Takeaways
- Community matters more than you think
- “Having an actual community of food bloggers was much more important than I thought… otherwise you will lose your mind.”
- Found people who get it, knew when something was a big deal, and offered fresh ideas and perspective
- Facts over feelings
- Used the CEO Day framework to reframe a “negative” stretch into proof she was actually growing
- Stays grounded through Google and AI changes by looking at her own numbers instead of the noise
- Take action right away
- “I’m like, well, if I want things to change, I actually have to do things.”
- Turned long-procrastinated ideas, like a holiday e-book, into quick wins and consistent habits
- A steadier mindset
- Stays calm instead of spiraling when the industry’s filled with doom and gloom
- Leans on past mindset talks when a rough day hits (like Facebook deleting her page over the word “free” 🙃)
“Literally every week, there’s something that you guys taught me or that we went through that I use in my business.”
Is Group Coaching Right For You?
Ella thinks the program is a great fit for advanced-beginner to intermediate food bloggers, especially anyone stuck in that middle, plateaued stage.
“For people like me who are more in this middle stage of growth, or maybe they’ve plateaued, it would be really great. Because you’re getting to talk to other people, so you don’t feel like you’re going insane.”
It might not be the right fit if you’re a complete beginner, since there’s a lot of information to take in and you’ll want to be sure you’re committed to food blogging first.
“If you are on the fence about joining this group, just do it. It’s fabulous. Everyone is so nice. I learned so much.”
Ella’s Advice for Food Bloggers
- Find your people, even if you work alone.
- Going full-time can be isolating, and isolation is where comparison and self-doubt creep in. Surrounding yourself with other bloggers who are growing too, whether that’s through a program like Food Blog Coaching or your own circle, keeps your mindset steady and your decisions sharper.
- Be a go-getter.
- The bloggers who grow aren’t necessarily the ones with the best ideas, they’re the ones who actually implement them. Ella spent years thinking “I should do this” about a holiday e-book; once she finally sat down, it took under an hour with our instructions & template. Don’t let a good idea sit on your to-do list for two years.
- Trust the data over your feelings.
- It’s easy to spiral when the food blogging industry is full of doom and gloom, or when a slow summer makes it feel like everything’s falling apart. Pull up your actual numbers instead of ruminating. More often than not, you’re doing better than your headspace is telling you!
Ella’s Group Coaching Testimonial
Watch Ella’s Full Interview
Ready to grow & connect like Ella did?
Join our group coaching program!