Meet The Sweetphi Team

Meet the SweetPhi Team! I am always so inspired by others and love working with talented individuals and teams. This online space would not be what it is without the help of others, so I wanted to introduce you to two remarkable women who help make this online community better and better as time goes on!

When I started this blog in 2011, it was as a place to document recipes for myself/friends and family (it still is, I’ve just expanded my definition of friends and family to include ALL OF YOU AMAZING READERS). I had no idea it would turn in to a business. In fact, I didn’t even know it could be a business or work towards improving my blog for a good 3 years after I started it.

The thing is, when you own a food and lifestyle blogging business (just as with any small business) you’re responsible for everything: content creation/editorial direction/recipe development/recipe creation/recipe testing/photography/photo shoots/styling/branding/outreach/social media/web design/brand collaborations/project development (in my case cookbooks)/audience engagement/community building/accounting/search engine optimization/communications…the list is literally endless (I spoke more about all of this last year when I called my blog my happy place, which it still is.)

When it got to the point I had over 300+ emails unread (not junk ones, but actually needing a response) and a bunch of projects I needed a second set of hands on, I looked for some help. If you’re not in the blogging world, maybe (or maybe not) you’d be surprised at how much goes into in behind the scenes to keep it going (I know I still am awed every day!)

Meet The Team:

Philia– aka “Phi” (pronounced like ‘fee’)- I’m the creator/author/photographer/content creator behind sweetphi.com. I do all the recipe creation and content direction and photography. I’m a 2x cookbook author and cookbook photographer. I started this blog as a hobby back in 2011 and have turned it into a business. I live in Milwaukee, WI with my husband and our 3 kids (Ben, a toddler and boy/girl twins Freddie/Frankie-they all share the same birthday). I’m all about sharing fast and easy recipes and lifestyle inspiration for busy people.

• Phi’s 5 things: I love gnomes (Nordic gnomes if we’re being exact), a good iced coffee (not cold brew), audiobooks/books (when I have time), farmers markets (I try to grow my own veggies/herbs but fail), and cookbooks (love going through them and reading them cover-to-cover and reading them/cooking from them with the kids)
• Phi’s style: I love natural/neutral and earth tones (think natural textures wood and linen) and love beautiful (not overly styled) photography, I also love a good mood board and am inspired by well crafted functional things for everyday busy life.
• Phi’s fave blog things: everything!! haha, for real I love everything posted so so much. An all-encompassing favorite is the Catching Up With The Kelnhofers series because it recaps everything new that’s been posted that week on the blog/family highlights/seasonal recipe ideas/links from around the web and so much more. And of course my cookbooks!

Whenever I get a cookbook, I immediately turn to the acknowledgements section and read that first. I don’t know why, I just love learning more about the author and their process and who they’re thanking. In my baby food cookbook, you’ll find me talk about how even though you pick up a cookbook and may think of it as a singular creation of the author, there’s so much that goes into it, you’ll also find me say:

I could not have done this book without your help Bridget. You carting endless neutral shirts to our photoshoot days and your perfect chopping skills, I will be forever grateful for your friendship! Thank you for being the best hand model and cheerleader helping get things done.

Bridget –Bridget is the brand manager at Sweetphi.com, she helps with editorial content and planning, is in constant communication with Phi about the ever-changing plans and helps with community engagement (she comes up with the clever Question of the Week on Facebook). She’s been sprucing up the SweetPhi YouTube page and helps Phi put together the 100s (literally) of weekly photos and ideas to turn them into more cohesive content and many many more behind the scenes projects. Also, her’s are the pretty hands you see in many of the photos, as she is in the kitchen with Phi on photoshoot days. Bridget lives nearby with her husband and two kids.  She has a four year old boy, Elliot and a 1 year old girl, Lucy.  It’s actually pretty funny that Bridget didn’t even really like cooking at all when she starting working with Phi.  But, she promises that she has learned a ton and is getting much busier in the kitchen nowadays.

• Bridget’s 5 things: I’m a twin (I am two minutes older than her and her name is Shannon.  We also have an older sister named Brittany), I lived in London for 4 months and it changed my life, I have run 7 half marathons (and have no intention of ever running a full marathon), I have an uncanny knack of being able to rap almost any late 90’s, early 2000’s hip hop song, and for my finest food-related factoid: I could legit go from black coffee to red wine and call it a day (but, don’t worry, I am constantly reminding myself to fit in plenty of water!).  Oh and I  absolutely love donuts and food trucks (we had 5 food trucks cater our wedding, before that was really a trend).  Ok, that was pretty much like 6 things, but now you know that I’m also terrible at making decisions!
• Bridget’s style: Thrifting is my absolute favorite thing to do.  My friends no longer ask me where I get my clothes, they just assume they came from a thrift store.  I have bulletin boards in my office with pictures of things that inspire me – I love putting a tack in them so I can see them everyday.  There is nothing better than the perfect color palette.  I love bold patterns and bright colors, so pretty much the opposite of Phi!  I think street art is amazing and have two great graffiti-style pieces in my house (think Banksy and Martin Martin Whatson).
• Bridget’s fave SweetPhi posts/things: I am very proud of the work we did on the 5 day family meal plan & shopping list post.  This was a real labor of love and I think is a tool that is so helpful to busy families (much like mine).  I also absolutely love being able to help style photos – it’s always been a dream of mine to be a photo stylist.

Alyssa- Alyssa is the newest member of the team helps with social media content creation and strategy, community engagement, creating graphics, double checking that recipes are correct and up to date, and too many other small projects to list! She lives close by in the city of Milwaukee, WI

• Alyssa’s 5 things: I LOVE to bake (mostly cupcakes like salted caramel, chocolate peanut butter cup, strawberry and turtle!), I have been a vegetarian for almost 4 years, I love learning about health and wellness and I also work as a Wellness Assistant at Chiropractic and Wellness on Pewaukee Lake,  I love to travel (my favorite places I’ve been able to visit so far are Italy and Spain!) my favorite food is waffles/pancakes!
• Alyssa’s Style: I am a very neutral person and love to stick with grays/white/black (you won’t see any bold and bright colors in house!) My favorite styles always seem to be farmhouse related and I’m obsessed with all things Target (for clothes and home decor!)
• Alyssa’s fave SweetPhi posts/things: I love seeing the Instagram stories every week of what Phi is making for the week ahead. I’m a big meal prepper and it’s always a fun way to get ideas for recipes! My favorite SweetPhi recipes have to be anything breakfast or dessert related (my two favorite food categories!)

They say “teamwork makes the dream work” and I couldn’t agree more. If you ever have any questions or just want to say hi, please comment below or email in, thank YOU for being a part of this online space.