Abby Wiseman: Food Photographer and Storyteller

Following the Pen

“Well, I couldn't do math. I couldn't do math or science very well in school, but I could always kind of write… and I just kind of had to follow that because I wasn't getting into most of the programs with my math marks. So I ended up going into journalism school for a bachelor's in journalism, and I worked in the industry for CBC radio, and I went to Ghana to work with Journalists for Human Rights.”

Food has always played a part in her life even since starting at 15 working in restaurants. Even before then, Abby was interested in what could be made in the kitchen. 

“I've always loved food. I've always cooked, you know. My mom would be afraid of me burning myself, and I'd wait for her to go upstairs and bake biscuits and I was 8.”

Bringing Food + Journalism Together

Over the next few years after Abby was back from Ghana, she took on various writing contracts and worked as a server in a Vancouver restaurant. This connection to the restaurant scene would come back into Abby’s story long after she hung up her server’s uniform.  

An editor reached out and asked Abby if she wanted to write a weekly column featuring condos in Vancouver for a local daily print paper. 

“I was 30. So broke and living in an incredibly expensive city, so no, I couldn’t imagine writing a condo column.” 

That conversation had another angle to it as the food column writer at the time was headed on a leave, and that connection was made.

Abby began writing a weekly column about the food scene around Vancouver. 

“ I wandered around the city searching for new mom and pop shops– independent and affordable. I sent in a photo with it every week for the column and those started to get attention.”

“So I started taking photos for restaurants and then doing their social media.”

Abby decided to go all in on restaurants around Vancouver, helping highlight their food and beverage offerings through photography, social media posts, and write-ups. She spent a year working for a PR agency that focused on food and hospitality, but was laid off due to Covid and went back out on her own to launch as an entrepreneur, focusing on food products over restaurants.

“Someone once said that people will always need bread, butter and beer, and that stuck with me,” said Abby. 

Keeping Focus by Always Moving

Although Abby’s offerings have changed many times through her almost 20 years in the food industry she continuously grows and adjusts to the trends and changes in the industry. Abby’s openness to the “what’s next’ and “what’s new” has served her well in both business and personally. 

“I've never liked things to be super easy, I guess, because then when things are easy, I get bored, you know…. I'm creating some of my own challenges, …keeping me a little bit hungry… keeps me kind of focused in a way”

When we talk about the future, Abby thinks about her Nana and the adventurous way she lived her life. She was a jazz piano player who married three times and lit up every room she walked in with her infectious energy and captivating stories.

“I remember telling her on her 80th birthday that was going out too much and she just swirled her crown royal, and ‘Oh, it never ends.’”

“I like stories. I like a good table chat. I don't think of life so much as I got to get to this one goal, but what story are you going to tell.

For Abby that meant realizing that goals, projects, deadlines, come and go and at the end of the day it’s the story that matters. 

 “I hope when I'm old, I have a good stories to tell people.”

Things we can learn from Abby’s journey

• Be open to the evolution (you and your work)

• Take the opportunities that come your way

• Know what motivates and challenges you

• Think about what you want your story to be when you are 80

Connect with Abby