Meet Abby Gaskins | Food Stylist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abby Gaskins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abby, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’ve been self employed so long that it’s hard to remember a time before! I know inherently that a balance is super important for anyone, especially for me. What I have learned to trust over the past 17 years is that work will come in ebbs and flows; some days I’ll barely see my wife and my bed; other days I’ll be at home so much I’m bouncing off the walls. Something about my personality allows me to integrate all those highs and lows together and feel the average of it all. That is to say, I calculate the balance over longer spans of time (weeks and months), because if I looked at it more granularly, the balance would be non-existent.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Food styling is a career that most people don’t even realize exists. Most often, people on this path just fell into it – either they worked in the restaurant or catering industry, or they worked in another part of the marketing/production world. I, on the other hand, have wanted to do this since I was young. I read an article about the “magic” of food styling for commercials, and it just sounded like THE COOLEST THING EVER. Turns out…it is!

I’d like to think that my attitude and background sets me apart from others. I am pretty easy-going by nature, and I try to let that influence how I work with my clients (and the food). Making sure that the client feels taken care of and confident in my work is very important, but I also try to convey that we’re not solving major world problems here; if we’re not able to have an enjoyable day then we’re taking things a tad too seriously. My background (I have a Bachelor’s of Science in biology) motivates me to problem-solve when things aren’t “behaving” on set; my job is to make the food look how the client wants it to, sometimes with total disregard to the laws of chemistry and physics! Those gigs are the ones that really make me the happiest.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m pretty introverted so I don’t have a ton of recommendations. A lot of the things I like about the Atlanta area stem from growing up here; I know it’s corny but the laser show at Stone Mountain and the Varsity are baked into my system! I also love to explore on foot. I don’t do it as much as I would like to, but going to a new small city or town center and just walking around, trying their food, discovering the shops is such a nice way to spend a day.

If I am going to go out, I’m definitely going to trivia at Felix’s on Monday nights. Candace is the host and she has the wackiest trivia themes. Felix’s is a small queer bar and it reminds me so much of the little gay bar that I went to every Wednesday in my little Indiana college town.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Atlanta Freedom Bands of course! The AFB is a group of performing ensembles primarily made up of people in the queer and queer-allied community. We started in 1993 as a marching band and have grown to include a color guard, a stage band, and a 90-member concert band! Being able to play music in a safe space with people from my community has been so comforting, and a huge part of my self-care routine since I joined in 2006. It’s my version of meditation, those 2 hours every Sunday night.

Website: https://abbygaskins.com

Instagram: gaskins27