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What It's Like Running Padma Lakshmi's Social
Sam Speedy is the Director of Digital Media for Padma Lakshmi and Delicious Entertainment.
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I am completely fascinated by celebrities on social media. There are so many ways you can choose to show up. Do you go the highly-curated Beyoncé route? The relatable Jessica Chastain strategy? The mysterious Olsen twin vibe? The options are endless. But whichever route a celebrity takes, there’s likely someone—a social manager—behind the scenes making it all happen. The goal? Make it seem like they aren’t there.
For today’s newsletter, I am talking with the person who helps bring Padma Lakshmi’s funny, irreverent, and dynamic social presence to life. Sam Speedy is the Director of Digital Media for Padma Lakshmi and Delicious Entertainment. She helps create everything from recipe Reels to perfect Tweets.
We talk about the interview process for a job like this (“All in all, it took nearly two months”), the collaborative process her and Padma have (“She has lots of ideas and opinions, it’s just my job to translate them into social content”), and why a little mystery is good (“Padma has led a more interesting life than basically anyone could imagine. Let them imagine!”).
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Rachel Karten: First can you tell me about your current role and any other social (or not!) roles you've had?
Sam Speedy: Hi! I’m currently working as the Director of Digital Media for Padma Lakshmi and Delicious Entertainment, her production company. It’s an all-encompassing role that includes running her socials, concepting/filming/editing videos, creating branded content, ghostwriting, and more. Basically every day is different and I’m there to handle whatever those differences are.
RK: Do you mind sharing a bit about the process of landing a position like your current one? What was the interview process like?
SS: It’s still kind of unbelievable to me that I got this job the way I did—I literally applied off of Instagram. Padma posted the job to her own page, hoping to find someone that already followed her and was familiar with her socials, which I definitely was as someone who got really into Top Chef during the pandemic.
At the time, I was freelancing as a comedic ghostwriter, primarily writing creative treatments for directors (something I learned in my 5 years working for a commercial production company), and actively looking for full-time work in the food media space.
The listing immediately appealed to me: she wanted someone with experience in video production, comedy, writing, an interest in food, a passion for social justice. It was a really long list of requirements, but all things that genuinely matched my skillset and excited me. I applied with my reel, resume, writing samples, and a cover letter that aggressively stated how competent I was at all the things they wanted.
The interview process was extensive and pretty intense. In addition to several interviews, I test-edited videos, provided more writing samples in her voice and my own, and presented a social media plan to her team. All in all, it took nearly two months.
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RK: I'd love to hear what a typical day looks like for you! I'd imagine running social for a public figure is a bit different than for a brand.
SS: My days vary greatly depending on her schedule—if she has press appearances or events, everything revolves around that. But when that’s not in play, a typical day starts with an hour or two of profile maintenance on all her socials: replying to comments/DMs, reacting to the news, promoting any upcoming appearances, things like that. Lots of time goes to editing videos, either from footage I filmed or from her extensive archive.
I have a loose posting schedule that’s based off a mix of promotional obligations, evergreen content, and events that I know we’ll have content from. But running a celebrity account, you have to stay extremely flexible—the goal is for every post to feel timely, in conversation with whatever’s going on in the world, and organic. Even with a throwback post, I want there to be a narrative: why this particular picture on this particular day? What spurred her to find it, open the Instagram app, and post it? I don’t necessarily put all that (imagined or real) background in the caption, but it informs it.
On the day-to-day I’m also always brainstorming and pitching video ideas. In addition to any incidental content, the goal is to film at least once a week– typically one structured video (like a recipe) and a handful of more casual moments (like showing her Us Weekly cover). It’s an abundance of footage, so I post what’s timely ASAP and bank the rest to edit on a slow day or when she’s out of town.
RK: Can you talk to me about the collaboration between you and Padma? Her social feels so "her" so I'm curious how you're able to oversee it while still making it feel personal.
SS: I’m glad it feels like “her”! That’s definitely the goal always—to find the Padma angle, to run everything through the filter of her voice. Between her memoir, her shows, and a deep pool of past social posts, there’s plenty of reference material that helped me hone that filter. Padma is an incredibly multifaceted person—she’s a writer, a cook, a model, a mom, an activist, all these things. I try and bring in as many of those traits as I can to each post (within reason) to make them feel more whole.
Overall, the process of running her socials is extremely collaborative. She has lots of ideas and opinions, it’s just my job to translate them into social content. This job is in person, five days a week—so there’s a constant dialogue about what’s going on in the world and her life that I can then break down into topical, timely posts. I’m always stealing little things she says and working them into captions or tweets later on. When it comes to some of her more personal captions, I’ll condense an informal conversation into some writing, and she’ll edit anything that doesn’t feel true to her.
RK: Tell me about a post that you're proud of! What was the process of putting it together?
SS: The posts I’m most proud of are the ones that make my friends text me “ok this one is really good.” It’s nice to hear, but it also means that I successfully tapped into something that reached beyond her usual fan base—and that’s the true goal of this job, to expand her reach without betraying her voice.
This wikifeet tweet got great, fun engagement even though it was effectively a promotion for the new season of her show. I’d been trying to get her to do this “extremely Padma Lakshmi voice” Reel basically since I started the job—I thought it was funny as a fan but also an opportunity to own this silly little micro trend. And then lastly: the first TikTok I ever made for her did incredibly well and it touched on so many Padma things—funny, food, feminism, and sex appeal. It’s been my north star ever since.
RK: Padma's Reels are soooo good. Can you talk to me a bit about the strategy behind those?
SS: At first, we were focusing on high quality, longer form content—typically recipe videos. But we’re really pushing for growth through Reels right now, so those need to be supplemented with shorter, less labor-intensive content like glam videos or quick kitchen tips, taste tests, and general IG-friendly food shots. I try and hit a variety of lengths and content subjects, so her Reels get pushed to many different audiences and corners of Instagram (in theory).
RK: Okay, and also her TikToks! There are some really funny trends she has participated in. Are you pitching ideas? What's that process like?
SS: She’s usually very willing to have fun and try new trends but her schedule doesn’t often allow for the kind of quick turnaround needed. So, for the most part, I look for creative ways to use banked footage to participate. It allows me to post quickly instead of waiting for her schedule to clear up, and hopefully get in while the trend is still hot (or at least not ice cold). And maybe I shouldn’t put it in writing but…I sometimes operate from a place of “ask forgiveness, not permission” when it comes to TikTok. I’m sure any social media manager can relate, trying to pitch a trend is excruciating. By the time you translate all the layers of internet that led to the trend’s creation, it’s hard to remember why it was even funny in the first place. So I use my judgment and let the numbers speak for themselves. Brand people: I’m so sorry!!
RK: As someone who runs social for a public figure, are there any other celebrity accounts that you love or think are nailing it?
SS: I think Jonathan Van Ness has an amazing TikTok that transcends “celebrity videos” and is just good content. They really speak the language of the app in a way that most celebrities just can’t. I also admire Busy Phillips’ Instagram—she clearly genuinely enjoys using the platform and strikes a compelling balance of being deeply personal but still cool and aspirational. Not many celebs have pages like that. And, of course: AOC. She’s a goated poster.
RK: If you were to give three tips for running social for a public figure, what would those be?
SS:
They’re a person, not a product. They shouldn’t sound like they’re selling something (unless they actually have to sell something).
A celebrity is not inherently a content creator. Whatever they’re famous for, whatever they’re good at: just have them do that. Stanley Tucci is a good example—his reels are lo-fi, infrequent, and often long but they get crazy engagement because he gives the people exactly what they want and what he enjoys doing.
It can be a structureless job but structure is your friend. Set goals and develop plans to reach them.
RK: Any final thoughts?
SS: Before I had this job, I would lament about how 20 years ago, all public figures seemed a lot cooler just because we knew less about them. Now that I’m responsible for feeding the public a daily peek into a celebrity life, I do keep that in mind—I make it a goal to leave a little mystery. Padma has led a more interesting life than basically anyone could imagine. Let them imagine!
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Lastly, I want to remind everyone that one of the best perks of becoming a Link in Bio paid subscriber is access to the Discord! Here’s a nice note from someone who is in the community:
“A big part of our jobs as SMMs is to keep up with trends, platform updates, etc. and incorporate the relevant ones back into our own strategies. Because social media moves at the speed of light, I sometimes miss those changes. The link in bio discord is essentially a hive mind of SMMs who are sharing these changes as they see them. Every time I log on and catch up, I learn something new.
Separately, I've found the link in bio discord a fantastic resource for advice on everything from salary negotiation to "how do I do X." Many SMMs are a team of 1 and don't get to learn from a mentor in our niche, so having this community has been invaluable to professional growth. It also helps that there are folks at every level (from directors to newbies), so the advice comes from an incredible range of perspectives/experiences.”
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