Speakers

Abbey Rodriguez is the founder of Tastemaker Conference, and The Butter Half, a food blog that combines gluten-free recipes, herbal cooking, and holistic nutrition and wellness education for the whole family. After three years of growing her community online, she was inspired to create a real-life community where other creators could come together. Tastemaker Conference was born in 2017 out of this mission to empower bloggers and influencers to build sustainable businesses and relationships through food.

Abbey has worked with hundreds of brands and organizations, providing recipe development, food photography, and influencer marketing consulting. Abbey is also a certified herbalist and holistic nutritionist, and is the co-author of the cookbook, Root & Nourish: An Herbal Cookbook for Women’s Wellness.

In an effort to educate and empower the creator industry, Abbey is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Sociology at George Mason University, where she is studying Digital Sociology, and using her background in the influencer marketing industry to inform her thesis, “The Politics of the Creator Economy.”

Abbey resides in the D.C. metropolitan area, with her children and their ever-growing pet family.

Ben Jabbawy is the founder of Grocers List, working with 1K+ of the top food creators to drive more traffic, list growth and affiliate revenue. He previously was the founder of Privy.com, a leading marketing automation platform used by 100K shopify stores. He lives in Boston with his wife and two daughters, and loves supporting entrepreneurs through new technology.

Chandice Probst is the bubbly personality behind both This Vivacious Life and Holiday Food and Fun. She is a food and entertaining blogger and the co-author of Gluten-Free on a Budget with her mom. Chandice’s work has been featured in print and online industry publications, as well as on television. As someone with Celiac Disease and a degree in exercise and health wellness, she has led the charge in hosting Celiac awareness nights with MLB and NBA teams around the nation as well as working with the Celiac Disease Foundation to raise money for research.

Chandice has been with Abbey since the first Tastemaker Conference in Salt Lake City and has loved getting to know the community at each subsequent event. Working with sponsors to help them achieve their marketing goals and planning fun experiences for guests is where she thrives. From conceptualizing booths and brand activations, to creating menus and organizing all excursions for Tastemaker Conference, Chandice loves creating moments that everyone will remember for many years to come. The best part? She gets to do it with the greatest team ever!

While Chandice loves to cook, entertain, travel and plan for Tastemaker Conference, she loves being a wife and mother most.

Based in Los Angeles, Chef Dara Yu is a culinary powerhouse whose vibrant career spans multiple facets of the food industry. Her rich cultural heritage is a tapestry of Chinese, New Zealander, Californian, and New England coastal influences, all of which shape her distinct culinary style—a blend of classical training and a fusion-focused, modern twist.

Inspired by transformative family trips to Italy and Japan, Chef Dara’s passion for the culinary arts was ignited by the rich traditions and innovative techniques she encountered abroad. Her prowess in the kitchen gained national attention when she debuted as runner-up on Masterchef Junior at age 12. Following nearly 10 years of experience including prestigious restaurants across LA and NYC, she graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) with high honors in baking and pastry, and made her victorious return to Masterchef as its youngest winner ever in Season 12. In 2024, she launched the “Food For Yu” scholarship at the Culinary Institute of America. Her mission is to guide students who aspire to be industry leaders and innovators through mentorship and real-life experiences.

Chef Dara has honed her craft in innovative and industry-leading establishments, including A.O.C., The Tasting Kitchen, and Bouchon Bakery, and Dominique Ansel Bakery. Driven by her life’s goal to build community and accessible education around food, she continues to relentlessly expand her career through creative and personal pop-ups like Congee and Crullers, collaboration dinners (most recently with Chef David Vianna of Lita), and event leadership (including LA Chef Con and A Taste of Culver City). She also works with brands like Coca-Cola, Uniqlo, and Stanley to create engaging content and connect with her global audience of over 58,000+ followers, sharing her culinary knowledge, recipes, travel adventures, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of her life as a private chef. She has made appearances on The Kelly Clarkson Show and Buzzfeed, and has been featured in People Magazine, Girls’ Life Magazine, and the LA Times.

Dora Ramirez is a Mexican-born chef, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, and the creator behind dorastable.com and Mi Mero Mole. After adopting a plant-based diet to take control of her health, she set out to veganize the Mexican recipes she grew up with, proving that you don’t have to give up your culture when you go vegan. She is the author of Comida Casera, a love letter to nostalgic Mexican home cooking, and is passionate about sharing accessible recipes that celebrate heritage, storytelling, and the power of a plant-based kitchen.

Jenné Claiborne is a vegan chef, cookbook author, content creator, and NYT Cooking contributor known for her colorful, innovative Southern-inspired vegan recipes. She shares her recipes with a global audience through her blog Sweet Potato Soul and her social platforms, where hundreds of thousands follow her approach to joyful plant-based cooking. When she’s not developing recipes, Jenné enjoys being a mother, practicing yoga, and playing tennis.

Jocelyn Delk Adams is the founder, author, national television personality and brand ambassador behind the award winning cookbook Grandbaby Cakes and the food website Grandbaby-Cakes.com, where she gives her family’s (particularly her grandmother’s) cherished generational recipes her modern spin while preserving their original charm and spirit.
Jocelyn is the co-host of the Cooking Channel and Discovery Plus game show, “Stab That Cake.” She’s also a judge on “Disney’s Magic Bake Off”, Food Network’s popular series “Santa’s Baking Blizzard” and “Beat Bobby Flay”, and a cast member of several other renowned cooking shows.

Discovered in 2018 by renowned comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, Kalen first made a name for himself through his hilarious “Kalen Reacts” videos, giving colorful and witty commentary on culinary concoctions found on the internet. One of these videos caught Ellen’s attention, and after inviting Kalen to appear on her talk show, she knew she had found something special, and offered him an opportunity to collaborate and produce content for her digital platforms. At just 29 years old, Kalen Allen has catapulted into the mainstream media, reaching millions of people worldwide across his social media platforms and through his online content as well as becoming an award-winning actor, producer, singer, and television personality.

Matt Molen is the CEO of Email Crush. He is the creator of Email on Autopilot, the premiere course for content creators that want to transform their email newsletter into their most powerful marketing tools. In addition to the course, Matt provides one-on-one consulting & personal coaching to some of the world’s top bloggers. Personally, Matt enjoys quiet walks on the beach, has a deep rooted fear of frogs, and secretly dreams of one day stealing Pat Sajak’s job.

Michelle Tam is the co-creator of the award winning food blog, Nom Nom Paleo. Together with her husband, Henry Fong, they’ve also produced a two-time Webby award winning cooking app, authored three New York Times bestselling cookbooks, have been nominated for a James Beard Award, and created a best-selling line of paleo spice blends.

Dubbed “the Martha Stewart of Paleo” by The New York Times and CBS News, Michelle is the gleefully food-obsessed umami evangelist behind Nom Nom Paleo’s recipes. Although she has a degree in nutrition and food science from the University of California at Berkeley, and a doctorate in pharmacy from UCSF, her life’s mission is to teach folks shortcuts to deliciousness—that also happen to be healthy and fuss-free. Michelle and her family currently split their time between Palo Alto, California and Portland, Oregon.

Natasha is the host of the Shine Online Podcast and a Video Marketing Coach for small businesses. Through her signature group programs and educational content, Natasha helps you build your brand with a confident video marketing strategy that ultimately grows your business, community, and impact simultaneously.

Susie Bulloch is the creator of the BBQ food blog Hey Grill Hey. She has appeared on Food Network, and is a true leader and influencer in the BBQ industry. Along with running a successful full-time blog, Susie and her husband, Todd, own the BBQ product line, Patio Provisions