Meet Shoshana Leon of Foodie Fo Sho

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shoshana Leon.

Shoshana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
For nearly 20 years I have worked in the field of corporate communications at large global organizations, which involves writing and editing a variety of corporate materials. Because I love sharing my dining experiences and learning about the dishes and the chefs who create them, I decided to channel my writing skills into a more creative outlet and share my passion.

In 2014 I attended a workshop about food writing but wasn’t quite sure how to start. That is, until 2017 when I attended two events that ignited my desire to start writing about food, restaurants and chefs: the Nirvana Food and Wine Festival at the Sanctuary Resort in Paradise Valley, and the New York City Wine and Food Festival.

With its fourth annual event taking place on April 2020, Nirvana is a series of fun and lively events that highlight the best of the Valley’s culinary talent with libations, music and celebrity chefs from around the country.

As we are both big fans of Food Network, my mom and I attended the New York City Wine and Food Festival on October 2017. This annual event attracts thousands of foodies from around the world and features Food Network personalities doing cooking demonstrations, a huge food hall and several events.

I thought my experience at the New York City Wine and Food Festival would be an interesting story to share, so I reached out to several local media and food blogs offering to write a free article. I received a response from Phoenix Bites, who posted my article about the New York City Wine and Food Festival in October 2017. I then wrote several articles for Phoenix Bites about restaurants, events, chefs and happy hours across the Valley.

This opened the door to meeting some of the talented people in the local culinary community and the dedicated public relations professionals who support them. I started getting invited to restaurants and culinary events and meeting some of the passionate writers who cover the local food and wine scene. I started writing for other publications, including AZ Food and Wine, Iconic Life and Images Arizona magazine.

The reason I created Foodie Fo Sho (for anyone who is curious about the name, I am the Sho in Foodie Fo Sho) is that I want to share information and news about the great people and events in our culinary community. I want Foodie Fo Sho to be a resource for restaurant deals and culinary news so people are in the know on the events, people and places in the Phoenix area’s thriving culinary scene.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s a crowded space because there are a lot of talented food bloggers and writers in the Phoenix area but they all have been very supportive and helpful. It’s a great community.

It has been challenging to balance my full-time job with managing my website, writing articles and attending culinary events but I make time because I truly love it.

Tell us more about your work.
Foodie Fo Sho is a resource for restaurant deals, culinary news and events. My website has a calendar of culinary events, restaurant deals and articles. I post information about news, events and my culinary experiences in my social channels.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I wish I started down this path earlier but I’m really enjoying the process of building my site, growing my social channels and learning more about our amazing culinary community. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.foodiefosho.com
• Instagram: @foodie_fosho
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/foodiefosho
• Twitter: @foodiefosho

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