My first experience with taro milk tea was not a positive one. It tasted unlike anything I’ve ever had before and I nearly choked on tapioca. There’s no easy way to say this but I wasn’t a fan at first.

My first experience with Tara Milk Tea was the polar opposite. Curator behind one of those Instagram accounts which warrants an instant follow; she was nice, kind and even deemed my hand worthy of featuring in one of her photos.

Here’s the latest installment of Beyond the Food with Tara Milk Tea.

Isaac: Do you remember how you first heard about Instagram? What was your reaction?

Tara: Yep! My best friend Suzanne joined Instagram basically as soon as the app launched, which is why her username is so close to her name (@suzannee) and I had noticed her using it quite frequently. She then told me about it and ask me to join it. Like any new platform, I was skeptical … but I finally caved after a few months of her pestering me about it.

Isaac: Shout outs to Suzanne for being partially responsible for Tara Milk Tea! What’s something Instagram has enabled influencers such as yourself to do that wouldn’t have been possible 10 years ago?

Tara: Hmm, a lot. I’ve made so many friends on Instagram in my four years on the platform. It’s also become such a great tool for creatives and like minded people to network, find jobs, and create jobs. It gives people a voice and a platform to share creativity, humour, topics, and well everything. I’m constantly inspired by other users, and it pushes me to learn and create more. I’m definitely pro-Instagram. I’ve been lucky enough to create a full time job through Instagram, which is definitely something I wouldn’t have been able to do 10 years ago.

Isaac: I agree wholeheartedly. My food puns did not do nearly as well on MySpace and Bebo back in 2006.

Tara: Hahahha!

Isaac: You’ve been globetrotting a lot recently; tell me about some of your recent travels!

Tara: It’s been a big blur really! I’ve visited New York, LA, San Fran, Hawaii, Japan, the French Alps, London, & Paris this year, and I’m just about to do some domestic travel now. It’s made this year just fly by, I mean, are we really in May already!? I feel so lucky to be able to travel for work, but it’s a lot more work than one would think. I haven’t really treated any of these trips as a holiday, but I’ve loved each and every trip just as much as the last. My favourite was probably Japan, and I can’t wait to get back, hopefully before the year is up!

Isaac: Heh; fly by. I see what you did there, Tara.

Tara: LOL! Pun police.

Isaac: Something I don’t think a lot of folk understand is how much work goes into your content. Can you give a little insight into what goes on behind the scenes during a shoot?

Tara: Every day is different. I don’t really have planned shoots that often, but if I’m traveling, every day has a super packed itinerary, and I’m on the ground running between places to get content. It’s a battle against the sun as I don’t like to shoot in the evening. For example, I was only in Paris for one day, but I packed so much in that so many people have been surprised when I tell them this!

Isaac: Is there a shot you’re particularly proud of?

Tara: Hmm, one of my favourites is the shoot I did with Noah (@zeebachi) for when I hit 100k at the end of last year. We played with glitter and balloons, and those photos are still some of my favourites to date. Mostly because they required very little time and effort, and we got a lot more out than what we put in, I think. We also shot at sunset, and were able to watch the sun set over Sydney, which is truly spectacular. It made me so grateful to call Sydney home.

 

Isaac: Something we’ve seen a bit less of lately are your sketches; do you have plans to do more? Please say yes.

Tara: I’ve had this conversation with so many people, Haha! I’m so surprised people remember them! The last one I did was in October last year, so it’s been quite a while. To be honest, I feel like that stage was a former part of my Instagram life. Haha. I really would love to do them again, but I feel like they may evolve into a different style if I were to take it up again. I guess we’ll see!

Isaac: I’m going to quote the great modern poet T-Swift say your sketches will never go out of Style

Tara: Hahaha, wow I actually have Welcome to New York in my head right now…

Isaac: I just have a Blank Space where my head should be

Isaac: In my introduction, I deemed you an Insta-follow. Who do you deem an Insta-follow?

Tara: How many can I list? Top 3? Top 5? Top 10? I can list a lot.

Isaac: Haha, give me 5 (editor’s note: tara failed to high five our host at this point).

Tara: Oh my god, the struggle is real; I want to list 50. But here’s some of my super faves of right now:

• @gypsea_lust :so envious of all her travels.
• @lauraponts :food flatlay styling is on point.
• @amberfillerup :I’ve been following her family for sometime now, and I just love their little clan so much!).
• @tiaza :a recent find, and I’m constantly finding myself looking through her feed!
• @lily__rose :just all round beautiful curation and photography.

Isaac: Oh man, super solid recommendations. Are you ready for the speed round?

Tara: Let’s do it. Do I win something? Please.

***

Isaac: Heh. Which actress would you get to play you in a movie about your life? And who would play your love interest?

Tara: Sarah Hyland would be me. And oh my God, probably Logan Lerman.

Isaac: Guy Sebastian or Shannon Noll?

Tara: Guy Sebastian, just because I met him recently and he’s so down to earth and such an awesome dude.

Isaac: If you had to participate in a reality show, which one would it be?

Tara: Hahaha reality TV. Okay for reals my sister and I always joke about teaming up for MKR, but we can’t cook to save our lives. Give us 10 years to perfect our skills and you might find us on there.

Isaac: Complete this sentence: I want to *blank* but I *blank*

Tara: I want to join the gym and get a bikini body, but I love food to much. (story of all our lives, no?)

Isaac: There’s a reason I’m iFat and not iFit.

Tara: …okay, that was a good one.

Isaac: Ok, last question: on a scale of 1-10, how tara-ble was this interview?

Tara: 8.6? Some questions threw me, but all round … pretty good. Okay now where’s the lightning round cash? I did good right?

***

Follow Tara on Instagram (I can’t believe you’re not doing this already), Facebook and on her blog!