It’s an early morning at the Hail Fellow Well Met in Johnson, meeting the influencer behind a northwest Arkansas lifestyle Instagram account.
Maria Lanning:
"I'm Maria Lanning and I run The Good Life NWA on Instagram. My account is meant to influence people to get out there and explore. I use the hashtag 'regional citizen' to encourage people to be regional citizens. Meaning if you live in Fayetteville, I hope that you're up in Bella Vista, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale—exploring everything that the region has to offer."
Maria grew up in the area and says she had a pretty wholesome experience. She attended the University of Arkansas just before deciding to pack up her bags and live both nationally and internationally.
Maria:
"But as we traveled, we returned to northwest Arkansas and just saw all the different changes that were happening here that were very positive and exciting. And when we moved back, it was really fun to explore and document all the different things that had changed while we were gone. And that's partly why my account came to life—is documenting all those awesome changes."
As much as Maria's account will influence you to explore new things in northwest Arkansas, she doesn't like being called an influencer. She says an "inspirationalist" is a better label to describe what she does.
Maria:
"So inspiring folks to get out there and explore. Just giving people courage to get out there. Make new friends. Create community."
For some, that might mean going to events or concerts. For others, that might mean trying new local restaurants. And if you're looking for some help finding those, she has a suggestion.
Maria:
"You've got the Hangry Pedaler He's got a lot of followers. The Hangry Pedaler—yeah, he's just an influencer in the food industry. So he goes to a bunch of restaurants."
Joseph Nguyen:
"My name is Joseph Nguyen, and I run the Instagram account Hangry Pedaler NWA. So pretty much I try to support small businesses and I go take pictures and promote them and post on my Instagram account."
Joseph started his food account back in 2020, when COVID became the reason local restaurants needed that extra help. But his passion truly came from his parents.
Joseph:
"I'm very passionate because my family are all small business owners. You know, we're immigrants—from, my parents came from Vietnam—refugees. They came from nothing. They worked their butts off to be small business owners. They had no high school education, no college education. And back then it was really hard. You know, the son of an immigrant—they knew no English. And then now, you know, they're thriving. They didn't have social media to help them out back then. And then nowadays there is social media. And I do want to help all these small businesses because it is hard sometimes."
Like Maria’s hesitation with the term "influencer," Joseph may post about food and restaurants, but he doesn’t consider himself a food critic.
Joseph:
"I just post what I like. I don't want to bring down small businesses because everybody has a bad day, you know? So I don't want to be like, 'Oh, the food was horrible that day,' or 'the sandwich came out cold.' Like, you know, everybody has a bad day. I'm not—I'm not gonna put that bad image of them out there for all of my followers to see. You know, I just highlight all the positive, pretty much."
It’s actually funny that he says that because another foodie influencer we’ll be hearing from doesn’t consider herself a food critic either. And Joseph actually knows her.
Joseph:
"And then when I first started, I saw her at a food truck, and then I recognized—I was like, 'Hey, are you Munchin?' She's like, 'Oh my gosh, yes I am.' And then we connected like a long-ass time ago. Yeah. So now I see her all—yeah, we know each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell her—tell her she knows me."
Samantha Gregory:
"Oh, my name is Samantha Gregory. I have a food blog—or, you know, Instagram account—called Munchin with Mantha. My name is Samantha, but I go by Mantha. A lot of times people think that my name is like Amanda or Savannah. I get that a lot. But I create content of different restaurants that I try in the area and when I travel. And so I've done a lot of videos just about all different restaurants in, you know, Bentonville, Fayetteville—anywhere in northwest Arkansas."
Mantha has a different backstory. She started in 2018, her freshman year of college, as an excuse to try different food places outside of campus.
Mantha:
"And then it kind of just morphed into—I knew my friends go eat at a restaurant together, or my family or whoever. It's just so fun. Like the memories we make and like the giggles and laughs we have and just all of that. It's kind of turned into—and that just makes it so much more elevated when you're at a restaurant with good food or a good environment or good aesthetic or whatever."
So you may be thinking, how do they decide where to visit or what to post? Well, everyone has a slightly different routine for their content.
Maria:
"It's completely unscripted. There is actually zero planning. Generally it's whatever I'm up to that day, which generally involves some kind of adventure. I look at my Google Maps where I've saved a bunch of 'want-to-gos.' I decide where I want to go that day, and then I kind of put together, I guess, a game plan or a route of places that I might want to visit. And then I just pop into those places. Literally, when I say on Instagram, 'I popped in,' I literally popped in. So I just walk in and I start asking questions, I introduce myself, and then I take pictures—hopefully get that behind-the-scenes tour."
Joseph:
"In the beginning I was like, 'Every new spot—I have to be there. I have to be the first to post.' But that was in the beginning. But now I don’t really care. You know, I post whenever."
Mantha:
"Luckily I am invited to a lot of places, so whenever they're having their openings or whatever, that's very nice. But then I also have a long list of places that I want to try and that I just haven't been to. And so that's really nice because I feel like I, you know, just kind of try them on a whim or I'll try to get a friend to come with me and see what happens. But it's just usually places that I've seen other influencers post about—like Hangry Pedaler or NWA Transplants and whoever else."
Although these accounts may be considered a side hustle for all three influencers, Joseph stands his ground with creating rates and offers because content creation does cost money.
Joseph:
"Yeah, so whenever a restaurant reaches out to me, I tell them—you know, they want me to go visit—and then I say, 'Would you like me to create a video or take pictures and post it?' And then they'll be like, 'Yeah.' And then I'll be like, 'Okay, I'll give you my rate,' because it is a side business. You know, I do spend money on camera equipment, monthly memberships, subscriptions to like photo editing apps. Like, I spend money out of my pocket."
Other influencers don’t monetize their accounts. Maria says she does real estate, so her purpose has always been to show a truly curated selection of what she finds in northwest Arkansas.
Maria:
"Yeah, as a natural extension of my love for northwest Arkansas and my finance degree, I also have a real estate license. And I—through my channel—hope to inspire people to come to love northwest Arkansas. And maybe those that are curious about it and are thinking about moving here—naturally, I would love to help them find their perfect home here."
Many may think the content these influencers create is just for the views. But in reality, they help businesses and communities thrive. When Mantha was first getting recognition, she found it crazy that a business could blow up over a simple social media post.
Mantha:
"When I started to realize my impact—like whenever I posted about Pleasant Counter in Springdale—that very next week, they ran out of food on the third day of the week. And they were like, 'Guys, we have to shut down this afternoon because we've been so busy.' And they messaged me. They were like, 'We think this is because part of your video—you just got a lot of views.' And I was like, 'That's awesome if it is.' And it's just cool to see that people will go try something because I posted about it. Like, people are spending their money because I posted about a place. That's just crazy to think—people are like that. Trust me—like that."
Now, this is just a speck of the influencer world we are hearing from. You still have your fashion influencers, student influencers, and even mom influencers. But Maria says there are still many different things out there to capture. So don’t let that keep you from being influential.
Maria:
"I sure hope that there’s going to be a lot more of me. I hope that there's other folks that are going to bring their different lens. Because again, I want to highlight the fact that there’s so many amazing things in northwest Arkansas that are happening. So, you know, if somebody wants to start an account that’s highlighting book clubs—that would be an awesome account. I would love to follow something like that. Somebody who wants to highlight playing volleyball in northwest Arkansas—you know, there’s just so many different things that are still left out there that I’m not even able to capture. And I would love to see that kind of content. So yes—people, get out there. Explore and document."
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue.
