Taste testing with Carly Shapiro
Sistersnacking's Carly Shapiro and I chat restaurant rankings, her date with Joe Jonas, Instagram Reels, and what it's really like to run a business with your three sisters.
When Carly Shapiro and her sisters started posting food photos on Instagram back in 2015, they weren’t trying to build a media brand. They just really liked pizza, burgers, and diners from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Fast forward ten years, and
is a full-blown food content machine: viral Reels, restaurant collabs, merch, a consulting arm, and a very chaotic pizza crawl with Blake Lively.
What started as a passion project became a pandemic-era phenomenon. Now, the Sistersnacking accounts rack up over 20 million impressions a month, with revenue streams spanning brand partnerships (Dunkin, Meta, McDonald’s), food collabs (Pop-Up Bagels, The Hive), and even legal advising, thanks to Carly’s background in entertainment law. The company is projected to bring in $1 million this year—and yes, they’ve landed a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30.
In this interview, Fan Mail spoke with Carly—one-fourth of the Sistersnacking crew—about the moment they realized they could quit their day jobs, what it’s really like to work with your siblings, the science of a good burger roundup, and how to survive a date with Joe Jonas without blacking out. We also talked about the future of content creation, her go-to hangover order, and the one man she’d do an Italian food crawl with tomorrow (hi, Stanley Tucci).
Fan Mail: Hi Carly! Thank you so much for speaking with me today.
Carly Shapiro: No, thank you! I’m so excited.
Okay, first things first—I have two younger sisters, so I have to say, I’m deeply envious that you get to eat, laugh, and build a business with yours all day. What’s it like being one of four girls?
Love that you're also from a family of sisters! It’s so crazy being one of four girls. It’s a very rare boat and a unique family upbringing that’s really fun!
You started your Instagram way back in 2015, before Reels and video really took over. At what point did you all look at each other and go, wait a second, this might be more than just a fun side thing… we could actually do something with this?
So we started our Instagram in 2015, and that was just born out of a love of food. Back then, Instagram was totally different: just static posts with sepia filters. There were no Reels or video content.
It really started because we loved food and were always trying new restaurants. My older sister Madison is kind of our spearhead—our CEO. She loved Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, so when we were doing college tours together—we're a year apart—we’d find spots from the show in random Upstate New York towns and visit them in between school visits.
That’s such a fun sister bonding activity. So the name Sistersnacking came early?
Yeah! It was during college. Madison came up with the name—“We’re sisters and it’s a cute little alliteration”—and I was like, love that.
We all went on to have separate careers after graduating, but during COVID we were all back home in Connecticut with our parents. That’s when we started posting on TikTok. Reels launched soon after, maybe in early 2021, and that really marked the shift into video content.
Obviously, we couldn’t do restaurant reviews during the pandemic, so we pivoted to takeout. In our small Connecticut town, those videos did really well. Some restaurants even told us we helped them stay open during quarantine. It was so rewarding, especially since these were places we’d eaten at since we were kids. We’d say something simple like, “Their margarita slice is actually amazing,” and that would bring them a ton of visibility. Everyone was bored, cooking the same things, sick of the same takeout spots—it hit at the right time.
That became a big propeller for our account. In 2021, we were back in the city and had a video go viral about Skirt Steak—this spot offering unlimited steak frites for $35. I think it hit 9 million views on TikTok or Instagram. That moment gave us a ton of traction. Forbes covered us, along with other outlets, because the restaurant itself was already going viral and our video boosted it even more.
Was that the turning point when you realized it could actually pay the bills?
Definitely. We started realizing this could be a real business in late 2022. That’s when my two oldest sisters quit their jobs to do Sistersnacking full-time. We’d crunched the numbers and figured that even one solid partnership a month could pay a decent salary—on par with a typical marketing job in the city.
At the time, I was in law school. I graduated in 2023 and joined full-time. There were so many moments leading up to that: fans recognizing us at dinner, media features like Forbes—but the biggest moment was realizing we could all make a living from it. That was the “oh shit” moment. Like, okay, we actually built something that supports us.
People always say Chapel Roan is a ten-year overnight success. I feel like that applies to us too. It’s officially been ten years—a slow, steady build of trust, engagement, and growth. And then suddenly you look back and go, wait… how did we get here?
I love that. So how many of the sisters are now working on the project full-time?
Three of us are full-time employees, founders, CEOs. And then my youngest sister is working in music. But she helps out on weekends and at dinners, especially when a brand specifically wants all four of us. So technically, she’s a freelancer or part-time for us.
That’s funny. Okay freelancer.
She literally is. It’s so funny.
What’s it like to work with your sisters in a professional setting? Obviously, I understand the dynamics. First, can you tell me a bit more about your age differences? And what the dynamic was like growing up—were you always this close? And how has that evolved now that you're all working together?
I’ll go in age order. Sara is 33, Madison is 30, I’m about to turn 29, and Julia is 21. So, a few gaps. But we’ve always been close. Julia was a baby until she wasn’t—and suddenly she was an adult, and we were like, “Oh, we can actually be friends now.” Before that, we were all kind of mothering her. But now it’s more of a friendship, even though we still definitely parent her sometimes. She’s still the baby.
Anyone who works with family will probably say the same thing: it’s exactly what you’d expect. There are really high highs because you’re building something with your family, which is so rare and so special. And I’d like to think we’re really successful—we’ve built a full company. But it’s also a double-edged sword. There are real, raw emotions that come out when you’re trying to be black and white about a piece of work—like a video that just isn’t very good. And you can’t layer in that soft coworker professionalism.
Right, you don’t have that “let me gently give you feedback” buffer.
Exactly. With a coworker, you might say, “Hey, here are a few edits—why don’t we take another stab at this?” But with sisters, it’s personal. It sucks that it’s personal, but that’s just how it is. That said, most of the time it’s fun, exciting, and really fulfilling. But yeah, you can definitely be unfiltered with your sisters.
Do you guys each have your own roles? Like, is one sister more focused on editing videos, another on brand outreach? Or have things just naturally fallen into place?
Yeah, we definitely have roles, but we all wear a lot of hats. Just by nature of how much content we need, we all film and post regularly. There’s no way one person could handle all of it alone, so we each create our own videos, and we cover different angles.
Funny enough, my oldest sister lives in New Hampshire, so people in New York often assume it’s just Madison and me, because we’re the ones in most of the city content. But we’re all involved—it’s just that location-wise, you don’t always see all of us together unless we’re shooting something bigger.
In terms of titles, Madison is very much our CEO. She has the strongest visual eye and oversees the big-picture creative direction. She’s amazing at identifying what’s trending, analyzing metrics, and saying, “Here’s where the brand needs to go.” She has a very executive mindset when it comes to content.
I’m technically our Chief Legal Officer since I passed the New York bar, but I also act as our Chief Communications and Marketing lead. I manage a lot of our restaurant relationships, brand visuals, and I spearhead our merch. Pretty much everything that falls under marketing is in my lane.
Sara is our Chief Financial Officer. She does content, but she also handles all of our backend—finances, taxes, all of that.
Good for her. That is not a hand I would want.
Yeah. No thank you! She’s a champ for handling it.
Do you guys have your own things you’re not great at—like, “This isn’t my strong suit, so I need you to take it”? Do you find yourselves naturally filling in each other’s gaps?
Totally. That happens all the time, even if it’s not officially written down. For example, Madison is a video guru. I’ll always text her like, “Does this hook work for the beginning of the video?” She just knows what’s going to grab people. She’s also really great at editing. She’ll be like, “Move this clip to the front—it’s the eye-catcher,” and she’s always right. I try to channel her mindset when I’m working on my own videos.
As for me, I definitely take the lead on the social and networking side—especially with brands and other creators. If there’s an event our manager thinks would be a good opportunity, I’m usually the one who goes. I also handle a lot of the creator-to-creator communication.
If you’ve seen our Snacking With the Sisters series—where we’ve done food crawls and interviews with Joe Jonas, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, and the Another Simple Favor cast—that’s all me. I coordinate those, keep in touch with talent, and handle the logistics. It’s become a really fun part of what I do.
What was it like to eat with Joe Jonas?
Oh, he was as cool as a cucumber. Just very chill Jersey boy energy. Sweet, low-key—not quite sad-boy, but definitely Brooklyn boy vibes. We grabbed coffee and a pastry. He’s super casual, like, “Oh yeah, sure,” you know?
Totally. What about Blake Lively? What was that like?
Now that was chaos. I’m talking people screaming on the streets. It was wild. It was through Amazon to promote the new Simple Favor movie, and they clearly wanted a big viral moment—and they got it.
We did a pizza crawl that started in the West Village and ended in Times Square. There were so many moving pieces, and the video itself is just pure chaos. We literally finished filming and looked at each other like, “What the hell just happened?” I don’t think we were prepared for how intense it would be—fans, paparazzi, all of it.
Yeah, that’s a whole different level of celebrity.
Totally. And usually we’re in environments where we can close off a restaurant or keep it low-key. Even with someone like Bobby Flay—who I’d say is A-list—people aren’t mobbing him on the street. But with Blake, it was a full-on scene. We were just like, “Whoa.” Total whirlwind.
Was there ever a food take that completely backfired, or just blew up in a way you didn’t expect? Not necessarily in a bad way, just something that really surprised you?
Oh, definitely. A fun one is our yearly burger roundup. People are so opinionated about burgers, especially in New York. We usually do a top 10 list, but last year I think we stretched it to 15 or 20.
Whenever we rank things—pizza, burgers, anything we call “emoji foods”—people go nuts. They care so deeply about their local favorites. Like, “How could you forget PJ Clarke’s?” People are really passionate. But we love that. That’s the fan base we want—people who are just as obsessed with food as we are. If they’re that fired up in the comments, we know we’re doing something right.
What do you think is the biggest difference between creating content on TikTok versus Instagram?
Honestly, it depends on the day. It’s so fickle and frustrating as a creator to rely on platforms that are constantly changing. You’ll think you’ve figured out the algorithm—maybe Instagram’s favoring informational content—and then suddenly a silly, off-the-cuff video goes viral instead of the perfectly edited voiceover one you spent hours on.
It used to be that TikTok wanted casual, fun stuff, and Instagram was more polished and informative. But now it feels like they’ve swapped—or neither is consistent. So now, we just post the same video across all platforms each day and cross our fingers.
That’s such a common answer. Everyone I’ve talked to says it’s just constant guessing. So much throwing sh*t at the wall.
Exactly. And if your Substack audience includes up-and-coming creators, I really feel for them. There’s no clear playbook. You just have to post authentic, engaging content. That’s the best advice I can give.
I always say—because Bobby Flay told me this, and I think he’s the most brilliant man ever—“Good content always wins.” And I really believe that. If you follow that golden rule, you’ll keep moving forward, no matter how frustrating the algorithm is.
I love that. So, what’s something about being a content creator that you wish more people understood? Especially since you’ve been doing this for almost a decade—how have you seen the industry change?
I think the best evolution has been with brands. Brands finally recognize the power of creators. They get that if someone’s favorite person in New York is using a product—someone they follow daily, someone whose bathroom they’ve seen on Instagram—they’re a thousand times more likely to buy it than if they saw it in a magazine or on a billboard.
So the shift away from traditional marketing toward influencer marketing has been really exciting. It allows creators like us to make money, and then we can invest that back into better content for our audience. That ecosystem works.
The downside has been how the platforms themselves have evolved. It feels like they’ve caught on to how profitable this space is, and instead of supporting creators, they’ve made it harder to build a career—even when the content is good. But again, I always go back to that content-first rule. If you're consistently creating great work, it will eventually catch attention. That’s the one thing I still believe in completely.
How do you usually find inspiration for where to go? Do you guys keep a shared list or have a system?
We don’t have a massive shared list, but we do a few things. First, we troll Eater—it’s a great resource. They’re constantly tracking new openings, leases, and what’s coming soon.
Also, I have to shout out this Instagram account—I don’t even know who runs it—but it’s called NYC New Openings or New Openings NYC. They just walk around, take photos of storefronts going up, and post once there’s signage. It’s so helpful for keeping tabs on what’s coming.
And then of course, we get recs from other creators and friends. We share a lot of info between each other. If I see something cool, I’ll save it to my map. And once it opens, we’ll bug them on Instagram and say, “When’s opening day?” Then we’ll try to go right away.
Okay, I need to get into some food-specific questions. What are a few of the most memorable restaurants or dishes you’ve discovered through Sistersnacking?
Well, technically everything we eat now is because of Sistersnacking, so it’s hard to separate it out. But I’ll name a few standouts.
The fish collar from Theodora—unreal. The burger from Lion’s Bar in the East Village is another favorite. And I have to shamelessly plug our cinnamon roll from The Hive in Hoboken. It’s not even available right now, but still—it’s that good.
Also, Pop Up Bagels. We had them way back in 2020, before the hype, when they only had one location in Connecticut. They invited us in to film and we baked bagels in their warehouse in Greenwich. We met Adam, and now they’re on every corner. That’s exactly the kind of discovery that feels really special to us.
OMG I love Pop Up Bagels. And you actually got to bake them?
Yep. That was our first Pop Up Bagels video that really blew up.
Amazing. And isn’t your schmear—your cacio e pepe butter—coming back this week?
I think so! I should text them. I think it’s available again now.
Okay, what’s the most overrated restaurant in New York City?
The overrated one? The Corner Store. Don’t get me wrong—if I could have a standing reservation there, I’d totally go on a Thursday night with my girlfriends. The vibes are great. But in terms of hype? It’s just… fine. It’s okay.
What about your go-to takeout spot in the city?
Ooh, definitely Ippudo Ramen. Or Raika—it’s udon and it’s so good. Like, truly amazing.
What’s one of your go-to guilty pleasure snacks—something super indulgent that you love?
Oh, we’re actually about to post one later this week because they just opened a new location on 33rd and Madison. It’s called Fluffy’s—it’s a fried chicken spot. They started in Jersey, then opened in the Lower East Side, and now they’ve got this new Midtown/Murray Hill location.
They make this bowl that’s my girlfriend’s go-to hangover meal—even though she barely drinks. It’s insane. Half mac and cheese, half French fries, drenched in their sweet house sauce, and topped with chicken tenders. It’s the most gluttonous, cheat-day, comfort food bowl ever.
Oh. My. God.
I know. It’s disgusting in the best way. And so good.
Okay, last question: Who would you send fan mail to?
Oh god. I’ll go the food route and say Stanley Tucci. I just think he’s doing such amazing things. That show Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy? It’s beautiful—blending food and culture so effortlessly. I think he’s just brilliant. If he responded and we got to film with him? That would be unreal.
Then you could do an Italian tour of New York. I can already see it.
Thank you so much Carly! I really loved this conversation—and as a fellow family of three sisters, it’s so rare to see.
Wait, I never asked, what number are you?
I’m the oldest.
Oof. I’m the third.
Mine are 23 and 20. Still babies to me. One moved to New York this year and we’re together all the time. I can’t wait for the other to join. That said, if we ran a business together, we’d kill each other. So major props to you.
*Laughs*
It definitely has its ups and downs.
I’m sure. But no one gets you like a sister.
No one gets you like a sister.