Sweet Success

Southern Living’s lifestyle brand has been a familiar household name for generations. From the treasured family recipe your grandmother taught you to the holiday decorations you pass on to your children, the magazine touches lives in far-reaching ways.

The same is true for Ivy Odom BS ’15, AB’ 15, senior lifestyle editor at Southern Living. She may not necessarily be a household name, but she is a familiar face on The Today Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and Good Morning America. Her social media videos for recipes, etiquette, home decor, and style and gardening tips have changed the face of Southern Living.

“Videos are a really great way to expand on the magazine, and they’re more accessible for a wider audience,” says Odom. “It’s a modern way to bring the magazine to life and encourage newer audiences to fall in love with the brand.”

Odom’s first video for Southern Living thrust her into social media stardom. 

As an intern in 2017, she was developing recipes in the test kitchens. One day, with no recipe on the schedule, Odom whipped up a Southern favorite called the Little Layer Chocolate Cake. The 18-layer dessert had mouths watering from Georgia to California. Southern Living editors knew they had found something special and demand for Odom’s videos skyrocketed after that day.

“At the time, there were no other videos in the company like the ones we started making, which was almost a mini cooking show where you could take two or three minutes to explain an in-depth recipe,” says Odom. “We created that style of video for the brand, and it was the most successful one in the company for the entire year because no one had ever done that before.”

What started as a simple baking video grew into a career that is custom-made for Odom. If there’s one thing she knows how to do, it’s how to take advantage of an opportunity, a skill she developed as a student at the University of Georgia.

Odom double-majored in consumer journalism and Spanish language and literature. When she wasn’t in class, she was actively involved with programs like Shop with a Bulldawg, a student-led non-profit that provides funding and mentorship to children during the holidays. She was also a member of the Blue Key Honor Society and Palladia Women’s Society, studied abroad in Spain, and worked almost every event hosted by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

After the original chocolate cake sensation, Odom continued her baking videos. This launched a video series, television show, and TikTok channel. In her most famous video, Odom suggested a pinch of baking soda in sweet tea would cut the bitterness. 

Southerners had a lot to say about that.

“It was very controversial. For the longest time, people called me the Southern Living Sweet Tea Girl,” she says about the video, which premiered in 2020. “Strangers would ask me, ‘Are you the baking soda girl?’ Even today, people will walk up to me on the street and call me the Sweet Tea Girl.”

Odom still has a lot she wants to do at Southern Living and is working on new ventures, including an upcoming cookbook.

“I would have never in a million years, when I was a student at UGA, thought this is what I would be doing now, but I feel like I am living my dream job,” she says. “I just want to keep working toward these unpredictable moments. And whatever is going to keep me on my toes, whatever life throws at me, I want it to be an exciting adventure.”

This story originally appeared here: https://stories.uga.edu/sweet-success/