Written by 50 Fun Things Alumna, Camille Sowle
50 Fun Things through Women In Networking (WIN) has definitely been a catalyst for me and my passion projects this year. After attending WIN events, I leave full of energy and ready to take action on my projects. I actually created a podcast after a WIN event too. Come to think of it, most of my blogs/vlogs/videos/podcasts were recorded just after a WIN event because my energy is so high!
My main passion project was posting weekly air fryer recipes on my social channels. I am a gym manager, personal trainer and professional bikini athlete. Needless to say, health and helping people are my life. I love the air fryer so much because it cooks food fast and without all the extra fat that deep fried foods have. I was expressing my love for this kitchen appliance to another member at a WIN Speed Networking event when she suggested, “You should create an Amazon Affiliate link for that.” After chatting with her about it for awhile I was inspired to do it. In fact, I went home and did it that day and sent her the link. I have sold over 25 air fryers since then!
My fun with air fryers didn’t stop there, and neither did the inspiration I got from WIN. I still have my name tag from the 50 Fun Things event where I wrote my name and something I wanted to accomplish this year, which was “Air Fryer Cookbook”. It stirred up a lot of curiosity around air fryers and I thought wow, this would actually be a hit! I had been posting weekly #AirFryerFriday posts for a while now with pictures of my food and the recipes how to make it, so I had most of the content already. I was just slowly working on it because I had no deadlines to hit. That was, until I got the most clear sign from the Universe that I’ve ever gotten...
I went back home to Wisconsin for the weekend at my boyfriend's parent's house. When we were there his mom mentioned, "Hey do either of you two have a use for this?" I turn around and I see a cookbook stand WITH MY FIRST, MIDDLE, AND LAST INITIALS ON IT! It turns out their aunt works for the company, CHS, and that is why they had it, but I literally got handed a cookbook stand with my name on it when I was in the middle of working on my very own cookbook that they had no idea about! I took that as a sign from the Universe to keep working on the cookbook and speed it up!
My next hurdle was finding out where to get it printed/published. I looked down at my 50 Fun Things Journal and happened to notice it was the perfect sized for a cookbook. It got even better... the publisher was also a fellow member of WIN that owned Fuzion Print! I reached out to her, got prices and a timeline and got to work putting together a macro-friendly, air fryer cookbook.
I am now proud to say I have published and am now selling my first cookbook, Cami's Cafe. Thanks to 50 Fun Things and my connections in WIN for helping this come to fruition!