We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bobby Hicks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bobby below.

Alright, Bobby thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

During the lockdown in NYC around March 2020, my girlfriend and I had a lot of time to think about ways to stay creative, while not leaving our place. I really struggled with the lockdown because I’ve always been a creative person in nature and finding the right location, so thinking differently was initially a challenge.
We came with the idea to make silly recipe videos, but I wanted to take it further and dress in vintage clothing and film the series to look/sound like it came from some 1950s tutorial video.
We couldn’t do anything in our tiny apartment in NYC but by the beginning of 2021, we had finally moved into our home in South Florida, where I was able to really execute the idea.
Since then, it’s just been a game of perfecting each episode by a few percent and having fun in the process.

Bobby, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been a digital creative for more than a decade in NYC, primarily focusing my content on Instagram and Youtube. I have spent that time working with brands like Audi, Bose, BMW, Philips and many more, where I would create advertisements using my skill in photography.
Early on, I saw the potential with video and taught myself how to shoot it and edit it properly and professionally, which always offered an advantage when pitching to a company.
Since 2021, I moved to South Florida and I have been mostly focused with food-based content and sponsorships and have been working hard to keep up with my Daily content that I share on TikTok and Instagram.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Creating content for social media is one of the most fickle and difficult things to do, in my opinion. You are at the mercy of an algorithm to share the work you care most about to your audience and on a good day, 1/3 might actually see what you’re making.
That is something that really can mess with your head, and has messed with mine for years.
It’s a difficult thing giving so much of yourself to a search engine because you are not only exposing your work and life to total strangers that might not care, but you sacrifice your money, time and energy to do it because you see something bigger than anyone else might.
But, the persistence is worth the stress because at a certain point, usually years later, your work is discovered, recognized and admired for the hardships you’ve endured.
The goal will never be reached, there is no “number” you will be satisfied with, so you have to learn to love the process and when you finally can create, without concern of things that don’t really matter, then you’ve found your journey.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think everyone, when they start creating art or something they’re passionate about, are concerned with how many people will find joy or value in your work. But there is a certain point, when you realize that when even one person truly finds value, it’s worth it.
I specialize in making dumb dishes from the mid-century period of time – it’s not art, it’s entertainment – but, more often than not, I will get a comment from someone, usually on a silly or random dish, and they’ll share how much it meant to them.
Often people write about how they recently lost a family member that had made this dish their entire life, and now they have the recipe to make it themselves.
Things like that make the content I create worth every hour I invest into it.

Contact Info:

• Website: Down for redesigning.
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thisfellow
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/bobbyhickscooks
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@retrorecipeskitchen