Tracking the progression of a growing city like Colorado Springs while spreading positivity in its businesses is no small feat for an influencer when many such reviewers might try to tear businesses down negatively. The key sometimes to longevity for such a pursuit is being “authentic” without compromising the identity or throughline of the blog or platform being created. Meagan Thomas of Springs Native understands Colorado Springs is in a state of change but also being true to itself while boosting business IP (Intellectual Property) and local pride is the name of the game.
Thomas says it’s hard sometimes when people say, “Well, Colorado Springs isn’t Denver.” “Well, no, it’s not. But you can’t sit and complain about not having restaurants in Colorado Springs and not having something to do in Colorado Springs if you’re not working to make it a better place. This informs how Thomas approaches her everyday life, including her influencer platform Springs Native.
“And not just with Colorado Springs, but just in general, a place is what you make it. So, when it comes to living here and being here, I want wonderful restaurants to eat at and I want cool things to do.” The trade-off is that it is important to support these ventures, tell people about these places, and then help business owners to create the best possible services.
Starting Anew Again in the Springs
Thomas started Springs Native in 2014 after she moved back from Kansas where she attended Baker University and then worked as a reporter at the Baldwin City Journal. “Especially, after being in news, I seek out new things. I know where to find information.”
When Thomas moved back to Colorado Springs, she would try new restaurants or places that were small and locally owned. ”I’d never heard of [some of] them before. And I would go, and it’d be really awesome. But they would be empty, and I really had to research to find them.” By the time Thomas would return, some of the restaurants would already be closed. At that time the only place she could find out about places was the Indy or the Gazette. “There were no other blogs yet.”
At the beginning, Thomas said Springs Native was all about “here are all these dishes and here are all the ingredients.” Her approach, which she says not everyone understands, is that she doesn’t post negative reviews. “So, if I go somewhere and I have a great experience, I’ll tell people about it. If I go somewhere and I have a bad experience, I’m not going to post. I’m not going to say that it was good, and I’m not going to post photos of it.”
If her followers ask her opinion, she will message them privately. “A restaurant doesn’t need me to tell people it’s awful for it to fail. It will do that on its own. I’m here to support businesses. I’m not here to tear them down.”
After returning from Kansas, Thomas has worked different gigs including managing writers for a nationally known travel blog: The Points Guy. Springs Native was an effective side gig/hobby to allow her to get her name out there and try new places optimizing her contacts and knowledge in news gathering.
The blog (later Instagram) was generating a limited amount of revenue, but she was starting to be approached by bigger companies for sponsored posts, which is how many influencers make money in addition to perks like dinner comps in exchange for review coverage.
Starting up with Springs Native Creative
Her followers kept growing but when she left that previous job, Thomas realized that she could help grow businesses even more by working directly with them as Springs Native Creative, a marketing company outlay separate from her blog. With SNC, she helps local businesses with marketing strategy and social media approach
“Anyone who works with me as a client obviously knows that just because they’re my client doesn’t mean they’re going to get more promotion on Springs Native. [But] it doesn’t mean I’m not going to promote their competitors. So, I always make it very clear when someone signs a contract with me [that it’s] like, ‘Just so you know, if this is going to be a problem, then we don’t have to work together.’ If you’re a pizza place and I think this other pizza place opened and they’re good, I’m going to tell people that this other pizza place is good. And if you’re not okay with that, then this is going to be an issue. And my clients all know me well enough to understand that I don’t compromise that.”
Thomas indicates that “everything is about perspective, and when it comes to food, it is so subjective.” She says, if a customer goes in with the right expectations, they will usually find something that they like. She uses Pizza Hut pizza as an example. “Pizza Hut is not the best pizza that ever existed, because it’s delivery. It’s not authentic. It’s not New York-style pizza. It’s not authentic Neapolitan. But when you’re at home and you don’t want to cook dinner and you want someone to deliver a large one-topping pizza for 9.99, you know that’s what you’re getting, and you know that you’re not expecting anything more.”
That, in her estimation, is the key to fair expectation. “As long as you set the expectations of what you’re getting, you’re going to enjoy whatever it is, as long as you know ahead of time what it is you’re getting into.”
How Restaurants Stand the Test of Time
An example of a restaurant that she believes has stood the test of time in the Springs, and is still really good is 503W. She didn’t think it was super busy when it first opened and wasn’t sure if it would survive because “it was different than anywhere else in Colorado Springs.” But she believes it is consistently the best overall restaurant in town. “It doesn’t try to be Colorado Springs great. It tries to be the best it can be every day. And I think that’s where we’re seeing changes in Colorado Springs.”
Thomas attributes this to the fact that there are a lot of businesses coming down from Denver. Springs restaurants, she explains, are having to stop being “Colorado Springs good” and are having to be the best they can be to compete with incoming restaurants. As a result, Thomas says some restaurants are completely readjusting how they do business. She’s seen a couple restaurant concepts hire corporate chefs and change how they handle things to accomplish this while others who don’t adjust “start to become irrelevant.”
Thomas says this perspective, which is reflected in her posts, is ever-changing because the Springs is a growing and moving. “I think the key in Colorado Springs is to make things approachable.” With some higher concept openings in the past, she says the city might not have been ready. She says that focus now is that you have to make it approachable so that people understand what the concept is.”
She cites Ambli, which started in Denver as a great example. “We probably have less than 10 restaurants in Colorado Springs that offer a chef’s tasting menu on a nightly basis. And Ambli is one of those restaurants that does that.”
Thomas says that the chef’s table concept is new for the Springs crowd because it’s “the main thing that you focus on when you go to that restaurant. They have outstanding service. Some of the best hospitality, I think, in the city.” But they made it approachable. Ambli has their staff educate the customer when they sit down, she explains “So you don’t feel stupid. People don’t like to feel dumb.”
Adjusting to a New Perspective
That said, Thomas says people in Colorado Springs still aren’t used to paying higher prices. “That’s a complaint you see a lot which is unfortunate. Realistically, restaurants that are having higher pricing now are actually smart because they’re trying to pay their employees well.” These prices also reflect local sourcing. She says that some restaurants are also offering alternatives such as happy hour to allow customers to test a concept at a more affordable price point.
“And again, that’s kind of where I come in with Springs Native. I set you up with an expectation so when you go in, you don’t feel intimidated.”
With any business, influencer or otherwise, comes a sense of evolution with time. Thomas recently started accepting some of the bigger company sponsored posts. “It was a little nerve-wracking because that’s not what I do. That’s not what I support. I was worried that my followers would be upset more than I was about the local businesses because business owners know business is business. But when I posted my sponsorship, the number of people who commented really made me look good. I just felt so overwhelmed with gratitude [because] I knew most of those people were just doing it to hype me up. And that was really, really cool.”
[…] And, many seem to think that it is harder for men to date than it is for women. But, others say that dating is hard no matter who you are. In fact, two women from Colorado Springs started a podcast called “Single in the Springs,” which talks about the dating struggles they have experienced. The podcast was started by Madeline Hoeppner and Megan Thomas who is also the founder of the local food blog Springs Native. […]