HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Although she doesn’t stand very tall, Corina Quach is one of Hawaii’s biggest restaurant reviewers.
Best known as FiveFtFoodie, the 27-year-old from Kaimuki has amassed more than 83,000 Instagram followers.
The Kalani High grad says her love for food began with her mom’s cooking, but it wasn’t until she was nearly 20 that she started expanding her palette.
“I didn’t eat raw fish for so long because I was like ‘Oh that’s gross.’ After I ate raw fish for the first time, I was like, ‘This is so good… what else have I been missing?’” she said.
While becoming more adventurous in her dining choices, Quach began attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business.
That’s where she created her now famous Instagram handle while also working for the school’s online food review publication Spoon Hawaii.
“I would like take photos before Instagram even had like reels. And since I was already getting invited to things from that publication, I figured might as well just start something,” she said.
Quach graduated in 2020, but COVID’s global outbreak forced her to change career paths.
“I originally wanted to be a pastry chef, so I was supposed to go to Japan for pastry school, but because of the pandemic, I couldn’t leave the island. So I was like, ‘You know what? I have this Instagram, I might as well just like do something with it for now in the meantime.’ So it was really just like a passion project that I was gonna kind of do as a hobby until I found a full-time job,” she said.
Six years later, Quach has honed her editing and writing skills, now taking about an hour to produce a 60-second clip.
“I sit in front of my computer for about 20 minutes, just finding one hook. The first ever voiceover I ever did back in like 2021, I took 50 minutes to make a 40-second voiceover because I had to keep redoing it… that’s how awkward I was,” she said.
And as far as her signature speed reading goes, Quach says it just comes natural.
“So many people are like, ‘Oh, do you speed up your audio? There’s no way you talk that fast.’ If I’m talking about something I’m passionate about, you will need subtitles even when we’re talking face to face… my mouth can’t keep up with my brain basically,” she said.
“But it kind of is a strategy, not in the sense that I want to retain the audience, but more because like you only have a minute really to tell your point, and I don’t want my audience my followers sitting there for four minutes listening to me review something,” she added.
Now, Quach is taking her fast talking to a new place. As of Jan. 17, her posts will come from down under.
“My partner is originally from Australia. He’s here on a work visa, but his time here is up, so we have to move back. So we’re going to be starting our new life together in Australia,” she said.
From more than 5,000 miles away, Quach says she plans to keep working with Hawaii businesses through her social media management company, Sumika LLC.
But as far as her own content goes, her followers can expect a shift.
“So I think I want to do more like, ‘Come with me as I prepare for my move. We’re looking for a house. This is what it’s like to find a new job in the city because I’m going to be unemployed… come navigate my life with me,’” she said.
Although Quach has goals outside of social media, like opening her own matcha shop, she says she’s already got her dream job.
“I love what I do so much because of the community that I’ve built,” she said. “They’re so supportive of me. I don’t think I could ever imagine myself doing anything else besides like content.”
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