NJCS 05: Philly Entrepreneurs Share Their Journey from the Streets to Successful Businesses (While Paying It Forward!)

PJ Johnson knows a little something about good food, smart collaborations and great content! Founder of the wildly popular Traveling Tastebuds, PJ joins us on this episode of The Creators Show to talk about how a love of good eats and a desire to help support his favorite local restaurants during COVID turned into a massively successful social media brand. Is this the best interview in South Jersey?? Of course it is! With hosts John Bertino and Steven Picanza, and special guests PJ Johnson and Shannon McStravock! Want more content? Subscribe to us on YouTube and follow us on Instagram and TikTok ! Want more of PJ and The Traveling Tastebuds? Check them out on Instagam , TikTok and YouTube ! Want to check out our studio and start making your own viral content? Head over to our website and get started!

When we sat down with Jacob Fink, the creator behind Jacob Does Philly , we weren’t just talking about cheesesteaks and brunch spots. We were talking about systems. About geo-specificity. About turning a hobby into a business without losing the love for it. Because Jacob didn’t start with a master plan, he started because he was bored and new to the city. He kept hearing, “You’ve gotta check this out. You’ve gotta try that.” So he picked up a camera. Two birds. One stone. Explore the city. Record it. Here’s what creators can learn from how he turned that into something real. Local Is a Strategy, Not a Limitation A lot of creators think “local” means small, but Jacob treats it like leverage. Geo-specificity is HUGE for him. He’s not trying to go viral with a generic “Top 10 Burgers reel.” He’s posting: New openings in Philly Neighborhood-specific recs Restaurants people can actually walk into tonight That specificity creates intent, and intent converts. If you’re building in: A city A niche industry A specific audience segment Stop apologizing for it. Local doesn’t cap you, it compounds you. Short-Form Is a System Jacob’s not winging it. For a typical 3-minute piece, he’ll spend: 30–45 minutes planning 60 minutes recording 15–20 minutes editing That’s structure. But he keeps the location flexible. The food drives the opportunity. This is a huge distinction: Spontaneous energy mixed with structured execution. If you’re posting 5–6 times per week as he does, you can’t rely on vibes; you need a repeatable format. Native Tools > Fancy Tools Jacob records natively in TikTok and actually prefers TikTok’s editing timeline over CapCut. That’s important. Creators obsess over: Cameras Lenses Plugins Meanwhile, he’s proving that native tools are often enough. Distribution > production value. If the platform wants the content, it doesn’t care how expensive your software is. Brand Deals Are a Discipline Jacob limits paid ads to 3–4 per month because he refuses to let paid content crowd out organic content. That’s long-term thinking. He also, and take notes creators... Upsells one-off videos into 3-piece packages Actively reaches out to brands he likes Sends pre-canned scripts to initiate partnerships That’s not influencer behavior. That’s operator behavior. And here’s a big one... He never did paid amplification. For him, organic traction is a signal. Bots and forced reach are noise. Your Page Is Your Media Kit Jacob had a media kit. Once. He doesn’t really use it anymore. Why? Because engagement metrics change constantly and his page does the selling for him. If your profile doesn’t clearly communicate: Your niche Your consistency Your quality Your audience No PDF deck is going to save you. But all that said, I still think media kits are important. Switch It Up, On Purpose One of the smartest insights from the episode is that he intentionally mixes things up about 15% of the time. Familiarity builds trust. Deviation builds intrigue. His “Boner Forever” building video massively outperformed his usual content. It wasn’t food. It wasn’t typical. It was strategic deviation. Creators burn out when they repeat without variation. Creators plateau when they experiment without structure. The sweet spot is both. Movement Is a Hook Watch Jacob’s videos carefully. He’s always moving... Head tilts. Finger gestures. Camera movement on location. It’s subtle, but it holds attention. He also deliberately says: “Follow for more Philly food content” early. That’s not accidental. It’s conditioning. Hooks aren’t just what you say. They’re how you move. The Bigger Lesson Jacob isn’t the stereotypical Philly guy. First off, he's from Long Island. He had imposter syndrome early on, but he powered through. He didn’t wait to feel like an authority. He let consistency build authority for him. If you zoom out, his growth comes down to five things: Pick a lane. Build a repeatable format. Post consistently. Protect the ratio of organic to paid. Turn audience into assets, not just views. Food reels are easy. Building a local-first, ops-driven, event-backed, consulting-ready media brand is not. That’s the difference. If you’re a local creator trying to grow, this episode is mandatory. And if you’re a business thinking you need to “become a creator,” maybe the better question is: Do you need to be the face? Or do you need someone who already owns the feed? Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel .