OUR BETTY OF THE WEEK IS ADDIE BROYLES
Our Betty of the Week is Addie Broyles @broylesa is my main handle and my tarot account is @dontfearthedeathcard. You can call me an Austin-based writer behind TheFeministKitchen.com and founder of the Tarot Company, Don’t Fear the Death Card. It’s OK to say former Austin American-Statesman food writer because that’s how most people might know me.
✨You are a leader in your industry. Share your background.
I spent the first 20 years of my career in the newspaper industry, 15 of which were with the Austin American-Statesman, where I had the best job as a food writer covering grocery stores, recipes, farmers markets, and food culture at large. This was from 2008-2021, so I started during the salad days of social media and food blogging. That’s how I met the most amazing people in Austin, including Chelle, who was part of the OG Austin Twitter crew. In 2011, my fellow food bloggers and I started the first association of food bloggers called the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance, and in 2013, I published a community cookbook with them. By 2016, I was co-hosting a podcast called “I Love You So Much” for Austin360 and started expanding beyond food. By 2021, between the loss of my dad and the pandemic, I was ready for a change, so I set out on my own to start a freelancing career that now includes a tarot company called Don’t Fear the Death Card and a weekly Substack newsletter called The Feminist Kitchen. That’s where I write about what I call the invisible thread, the things that connect us that we cannot see. So, I might write a travel story, but it’s going to touch on ancestry and grief and history and social issues. I was a product of the Great Resignation, but I call it the Great Integration because it launched not only a new chapter for myself but a whole new book. Life is too short to do anything but live every day to the fullest.
✨What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a marine biologist then an astronaut and then a writer. I got my first newspaper job the same week I turned 16, so I’ve never not been under a deadline, at least as an adult. It’s clear that I wanted to get paid to explore the world, and I’m forever grateful I figured out a way to do just that.
✨Where are you from? I’m a fourth-generation Missourian. My mom still lives in the house where she grew up in a small town with about 7,000 people. I still get the newspaper sent to me so I can keep up with what’s going on there. I love having roots in Missouri, but I needed to stretch my wings in a place where I could be myself, and that ended up being Austin. My relationship with my hometown is one of the most complicated relationships I have. In 2021, I did a podcast called “Class Reunion” where I interviewed my classmates about how growing up in a small town affected the rest of our lives. Because it certainly affected mine.
✨What do you like to do outside of work? After my dad died at 65, I started rethinking the idea of work and retirement and “free time.” I’m obsessed with this book called “Emergent Strategy” by adrienne maree brown that encourages us to think beyond the binary of work/not work. I realized I wanted to shift from work (aka a 9 to 5) to Work (aka my bigger purpose), so now I try not to do anything that isn’t aligned with my whole being. All of our time is so valuable. Even the smallest interactions can have the biggest impact. I’m a mom to two teenage boys, and so that keeps me on my toes as much as when they were toddlers and feels like the most important “job” I have. I got remarried this year to a wonderful man named Frank, and it’s been so wonderful to treasure our second chance at love like it’s my job. (And do the requisite therapy so I can always be the love of my own life.) I am always learning and integrating that knowledge into a project, no matter if it’s quilting our backyard garden genealogy or travel. I’m not sure if my wanderlust will ever go away.
✨ Feel free to share anything else fun that makes you unique. 😘 I love the idea of being a Betty because it feels like shorthand for saying, “You do you, boo.” I’m so glad we live in a world where we can encourage each other to find the truest expression of themselves. We really are living our ancestors’ wildest dreams. The Betty in me sees, honors, and acknowledges the Betty in each of you.
