Railroad Worker Quit Job to Share Time-Saving Recipes

40-year-old Tatyana Kovalchuk from a village in Altai Krai went from a railroad station attendant to a blogger with an audience of 550,000 people. After quitting her job, she opened five order pickup points, a store on online marketplaces, and continues to film recipes that save time and money.

Tatyana told our colleagues at NGS22.RU about how not to burn out, where to find ideas for dishes, and what helps keep subscribers« attention.

A Year Without Sleep

The path to creating the blog was long. Before that, Tatyana worked for 12 years at RZhD (Russian Railways). After the birth of her children (she has three in total), she quit and completely changed her field of activity.

— When my second child was born, I realized I wasn«t ready to live at that pace. I didn»t have enough time for my family, — she recalls.

After that, the villager worked for another year at a fish processing plant, and then the family moved to Moscow in search of a better life. Even then, Tatyana thought about her own blog, but she kept putting off launching the project.

— Even before Moscow, I wanted to start a blog because you can run it from anywhere. It«s a flexible schedule. That was important to me. I wanted to spend more time with my children and family. With the railroad job, it was hardly possible. But starting was not easy, — the blogger shared.

According to her, she took a long time to muster the courage and fight her doubts.

— I thought: who would need this. It seemed to me there was nothing to show in the village. I was afraid the video quality from my old phone would be terrible and no one would watch. But now I realize: if I had started earlier, I would be even more successful, — Tatyana notes.

In the end, she started the blog after three years of doubt, only after moving to the capital.

— It seemed to me that if I moved away, I wouldn«t hear judgment, that gave me moral freedom. In Moscow, I also realized that people are much more interested in simple life, and that life is usually in villages. Because the majority of the population, after all, lives with gardens, simple jobs, and in small settlements, — she noted.

The first year Tatyana was in non-stop mode: daytime — paid job, at night — filming recipes, editing, and buying ads. The blogger admits she slept only four hours.

— All the money these night side jobs in the blog brought in immediately went to its promotion. But I understood: if you can attract subscribers with money, you can only keep them with useful content, — she said.

After a year, Tatyana received her first advertising offer — for just 300 rubles (about $3). But gradually the amounts began to grow. Six months later, she quit because the income from the blog matched her salary at the Moscow transport company.

The family did not manage to stay long in the capital; after two years, they returned to Altai Krai.

— When we were leaving the capital, there was an option to return anywhere, but I didn«t want to go to a city. I feel great in the village, — she added.

It was in her homeland, as Tatyana tells, that her blog took off:

— I opened up in my native environment — and the audience felt it. The blog gained much more momentum.

«You Can»t Wear a Mask Forever«

But Tatyana had no doubts about the blog format. She went down the path of what she loved most.

— If you grew up in a village and love to cook, you won«t be able to constantly show something else. You can»t wear a mask for long, — she emphasized.

The first video the blogger published on her page was a recipe for baked mackerel.

— Now I rewatch it and shudder at the filming, how badly the shots were cut. But that«s how it seems to me now. Of course, I»m grateful to myself for even posting it, because it became the starting point. But for about two months, I filmed everyone except myself. I was still overweight then and had certain complexes because of it, — the blogger noted.

After returning home, Tatyana also tried herself in another niche. At that time, she was actively building a business with order pickup points and covered it in detail on social media. But over time, the villager still returned to cooking, to which she later added the garden theme.

— I tried to move away from the kitchen, but when the camera turned off, I still went to cook. This is mine, — she declares.

Now Tatyana focuses on home meal prep: cutlets, meatballs, and soup base mixtures.

— I have four men at home, all athletes. You need to cook a lot, varied, and healthy. You can spend a few hours once, and then not stand at the stove for three weeks, — she emphasized.

According to her, meal prep significantly saves both time in the kitchen and the family budget.

— If you«re making cutlets, make 20 instead of 10. It will still take about the same time. But next time you won»t have to dirty dishes and waste precious minutes. Just take them out of the freezer — and that«s it. Same with soup base. Fry more vegetables in a pan and freeze some, — Tatyana advises.

That«s how, starting small, as the blogger emphasizes, you can lighten your workload.

— Yes, once you really make a mess in the kitchen. I sometimes start cooking in the morning and finish around five in the evening. But then I might not go into the kitchen for weeks. Just make a side dish — and that«s it, — she noted.

«The Blog Divided My Life Into Before and After»

Five years have passed since returning home. The mother of many children runs accounts on several social networks, with a total audience exceeding 550,000 people.

— When people are with you for a long time, they inevitably integrate into your life, raise children with you, send the youngest out of kindergarten and to school. They are already in love with your family, and you don«t need to constantly hold their attention. New audiences, as a rule, come only for useful content for a while, — the blogger noted.

As popularity grew, the number of ill-wishers also increased.

— There are haters even in a cooking blog: they laugh at recipes, criticize the children. Even the dog gets it. But I«m lucky, the audience is mostly kind and sticks up for me, — she shared.

In the first year of blogging, as Tatyana recalls, her mother worried more than anyone.

— She panicked: how could you quit your job, how could you show your life on camera and so on. But now she supports me a lot. The audience adores her. One of the videos with her participation hit a million views, — she says.

And although a promoted blog no longer requires as much attention and daily content, Tatyana still works hard. Her schedule is 10 hours a day, seven days a week, but as the blogger admits, the difference from regular paid employment is huge:

— I plan my own day, trips, and vacations. I can put away the phone at any moment and take care of my family. I don«t need to ask anyone, swap shifts. But the difficulty is that work and life are intertwined. I often have to film content even on vacation.

She admits: a reboot is necessary even in a beloved activity as a prevention of burnout. The blogger recalls a period in her life when she left the project for a month and thought she would never return to filming. The state was affected by a divorce and the simultaneous launch of order pickup points.

— Sometimes I go on vacation and don«t film anything at all. It»s important for me to reboot. I never believed in balancing all spheres; I know perfectly well that it«s impossible to be everywhere at once. You need to set priorities: if you»re focused on your career, your family definitely gets less attention; if you«re completely immersed in family, you have to understand that your career will suffer, — Tatyana added.

Now she has learned to rest. According to her, the only thing that helps is nature.

— Go to a body of water, light a fire, ground yourself. And if you get to Gorny Altai (Altai Mountains) — you completely reset. Besides, we try to go to the sea with the children once a year, — the blogger said.

The blog has radically changed Tatyana«s life. She became an entrepreneur in three completely different fields: she develops social media, manages a network of order pickup points, and promotes a store of Altai products on marketplaces.

— My life has divided into before and after. You get feedback from subscribers, it gives you self-confidence, an understanding that you are developing as a person. You see that people need you. And of course, financially, the income doesn«t compare to what I got as an employee, — she admitted.

Now Tatyana is again working in emergency mode — developing her channel on the Max messenger. The blogger does not set grandiose plans: the priority is to continue growing and benefit subscribers.

— I want stability in new social networks. And to have more good people around, — she concluded.