Meet Francine Coles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Francine Coles.

Hi Francine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I began my food blog as an answer to restlessness. I was at a point in my life when I truly felt the need to do something more productive. I had been a businesswoman for all of my life until I had children and then spent the next 20 years raising them.

During that time, I became very involved in philanthropy and volunteered on many boards and with numerous organizations.  I also took up golf (my greatest passion and frustration)! But, after my kids left the house, I felt something was missing. I was looking for a new career.

As I have been cooking, baking, and entertaining since I was very young, I thought about a food blog, and The Fancy Pants Kitchen was born. I have been sharing recipes with my readers for the last 2 1/2 years and love what I do!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road! I didn’t know much about social media, so I had to learn about Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I had to hone my photography skills (I take all the photos you see on my blog). I also had to understand how to build a website and what to do (whom to call) when it crashes.

The biggest frustration has been the website… I have had to rely on experts to build it for me. My first site was wonderful but it wasn’t getting the traction I was looking for in regards to optimizing the search engines. The second one turned out to be a nightmare, and eventually got infected with a virus. I am currently on my third one, and because the last one got so damaged, I have to hand-input 450 recipes. I’m on number 75!

But, my readers are wonderful and patient and are waiting for me to finish so that they can enjoy new content.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create content for my website, The Fancy Pants Kitchen. That entails cooking, baking, recipe creation, photography, and writing the stories to go with the recipes and photos each week.

I don’t specialize in any one kind of food or baking. I am known for my photography, easy recipes (most of the time), and my fun stories. I am most proud of the enjoyment that people get from my blog. A few times I have thrown my hands up and thought about bagging it, but I am always talked back into it by my friends and readers who love what I do! I have the best readers EVER!

What sets me apart is that my blog is easy to ready, pleasing to look at, and has recipes that people will use over and over again. There is no cost to the reader and no advertising on my site!

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I have always been a risk-taker. I’ve always been up for a challenge, sometimes to my own detriment.

As I’ve gotten older, the relationship between risk and reward becomes more interesting. As a young person, I never thought about what would happen if I failed… I just went for it!

Now, I am clearer in my mind about what is important, what is not, and how much I’m willing to “lose” should things go wrong. I assess risk based on those parameters.

Contact Info:

• Email: francine@thefancypantskitchen.com
• Website: www.thefancypantskitchen.com
• Instagram: @thefancypantskitchen
• Facebook: @thefancypantskitchen

Image Credits
Jared Seger