Meet Trailblazer Dionne Roberts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dionne Roberts.

Dionne, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been writing since I was a child and it’s absolutely my way of “getting my art out.” Whether it was creating short stories or my transition towards more journalistic sensibilities as I pursued my professional writing career, it is such a special format that allows me to fully express myself and share my experiences with others. In high school and into college, I gravitated towards broadcast journalism and served as an intern for E! Entertainment in London at age 19, helping to launch their brand internationally before continuing to explore sports and political journalism. After graduating from Texas State, I moved to Jersey and began writing reviews of independent films in New York before having my daughter, Ciara. Shortly after Cici was born we moved to Northern California where I took my official writing hat off temporarily to fully immerse myself in the wine culture working at Del Dotto Vineyards in Napa & St. Helena. I had always harbored a deep appreciation for good food and drink through traveling extensively and my family’s emphasis on dining and my time in Cali yielded that much more exposure to the culture of craft. After having my son, Xavier, I moved to Colorado in 2014, finally arriving in my version of the promised land and eager to put down roots with my family. I quickly transitioned into the craft beer world working in numerous breweries and diving into every component of the industry I could. Yet, I did miss the tap-tap of my keyboard and felt a fire burning under my ass spurring me to return to my true passion. I began to freelance for a local newspaper in Colorado Springs and soon after met the then editors of Rocky Mountain Food Report, Bryce & Edie Crawford. We worked diligently as a thriving trio covering the F&B beat via our independent new site and within a year’s time the couple’s jobs took them in a different direction and they generously decided to bequeath the site to me. I chose to broaden the scope of Rocky Mountain Food Report, continuing to cover the Front Range but also incorporating what I deem is all things rad and delicious in the F&B scenery all across Colorado, as well as continuing to contribute to other publications such as Thirst Magazine and launching the RMFR podcast in December of 2018. Cliches exist for legitimate reasons and I don’t feel like my role with RMFR is “work” when I’m writing. I live out loud on paper and I love what I do, speaking to subject matters that are near and dear to my heart and sharing that palpable excitement with whomever cares to read/listen because I am very fond of eating (and drinking) damn good food.

Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think anyone travels a “smooth” road and if they say otherwise, they’re either very lucky or quite frankly they’re probably lying. Life ebbs and flows for all of us and I have experienced some challenging seasons along the way oftentimes noticing that as my professional life has welcomed high highs, my personal life has had some low lows. As a working mother of two, with multiple jobs (I’m also the event coordinator/social media manager for A Grazing Life; sales rep for Station 26 Brewing Company; founder/yoga teacher: Soul Food Yoga), I am constantly trying to balance and manage my time wisely while still leaving room in there for the necessary me time sans guilt. I do have to remind myself to take my own advice but creating room in your life for self-care is wildly important so that we can present the absolute best version of ourselves to the world. I am admittedly an impatient person that wants to make things happen right the hell now but, I try to remind myself daily to be present and to take things bite by bite.

We’d love to hear more about Rocky Mountain Food Report.
Rocky Mountain Food Report is an independently run, online news publication (and podcast) that covers the craft food & beverage scene in Colorado. Since we are our own unencumbered entity, I have the freedom to create fresh and uncensored content that highlights restaurants, breweries, distilleries, locally made products and awesome foodie focused events that I feel deserve proper shoutouts. I believe RMFR represents something unique & different because I strive to tell stories & hope to relay deeper layers in my articles that touch on what inspires chefs, brewers, distillers, restaurateurs to do what they do, and do it well. I am fascinated by what drives people to pursue their dreams and I stand in admiration of their courage to do so and if that results in a plate of orgasmic food or a magnificent beer or whiskey that I can’t stop thinking about, they have made an impact and I appreciate their efforts wholeheartedly. As my role with RMFR has progressed from being a contributor to the editor, I have been able to establish trust with my readers/followers & with that have been able to find and share more of my own voice and personality in my posts/shows. I think being a great writer/host is about being able to make connections, with your readers/listeners, and the subjects in my articles and to translate those genuine interviews and conversations into an organized & published piece of content. To know that my work is received well, entertaining and informative is the best feeling because I created something worthwhile that fills up my cup and offers something in return. To know that these talented folks that’re cooking, baking, brewing & distilling are approaching me to tell their tales, and believing I can do it well, and then to have other people want to read my words/listen? That is what I’m truly most proud of.

Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
I’ve always felt I am here in this time & space to write and relay words and my entire family has always encouraged me to do just that acknowledging that it was something I NEED to do. I think most creatives require consistent (and possibly never-ending) affirmations from their support system so I am grateful to have had so many people in my life who believe in my gifts and lift me up. My family is very diverse and traveling and eating and drinking together are distinct memories I can recall vividly so the exposure I had to different types of food and varying cultural influences definitely shaped my open-mindedness, a sense of adventure with food and overall interest in gastronomy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rockymountainfoodreport.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: rockyfoodreport
• Facebook: Rocky Mountain Food Report
• Twitter: rockyfoodreport

Image Credit:
RMFR Podcast: REN Creativ & CollabFest 2019 (group shot): Explore with Media

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