Ep. 299: Food Allergy Summit Sneak Peak

FAACT’s Allergy Summit is almost here! This year brings new speakers and fresh topics—from creating social media graphics and editing videos to using advocacy to drive change and connecting directly with medical experts.

Healthcare influencer, marketing expert, and Summit moderator, Missy Voronyak, joins us for a sneak peek at what’s ahead and shares how you can strengthen your voice, expand your reach, and use social media responsibly.

Resources to keep you in the know:

• Voronyx Agency
• FAACT's Allergy Summit 
• FAACT's Allergy Summit Registration and Agenda
• Missy Voronyack on LinkedIn

You can find FAACT's Roundtable Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, Podbay, iHeart Radio, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, Threads, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.

Sponsored by: Genentech

Thanks for listening! FAACT invites you to discover more exciting food allergy resources at FoodAllergyAwareness.org!

Transcript

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Caroline: Welcome to FAACT's Roundtable, a podcast dedicated to navigating life with food allergies across the lifespan. Presented in a welcoming format with interviews and open discussions,

each episode will explore a specific topic, leaving you with the FAACTS to know or use.

Information presented via this podcast is educational and not intended to provide individual medical advice.

Please consult with your personal board certified allergist or healthcare providers for advice specific to your situation.

Hi everyone, I'm Caroline Moassessi and I am your host for the FAACT Roundtable Podcast. I am a food allergy parent and advocate and the founder of the Grateful Foodie Blog.

And I am AFACT's Vice President of Community Relations.

Before we start today's podcast, we would like to take a moment to thank Genentech for being a kind sponsor of FAACT's roundtable podcast.

Also, please note that today's guest was not paid by or sponsored by Genentech to participate in this specific podcast.

FAACT's 2026 Food Allergy Summit is almost here and after last year's record breaking attendance, the energy is building.

This year's summit welcomes new speakers and fresh, much desired topics. From creating eye catching graphics and editing engaging videos to exploring how advocacy can drive real change to a Ask the Medical Expert Panel.

Today, healthcare influencer, marketing expert and summit moderator Missy Voronyak gives us an inside look at what's ahead. Whether you're a creator, advocate, or simply want to make a bigger impact online,

learn some more, get ready for practical ideas to strengthen your voice, expand your reach, and use social media more responsibly.

Welcome back Missy to FAACT's Roundtable Podcast. We're just delighted to have you back with us and we're even more excited to talk about the Food Allergy Summit because you are such a key element of that.

So welcome.

MIssy: Thanks Caroline. I'm very excited about the upcoming summit and to be able to chat about

Caroline: it with you today,

I can't agree anymore.

Before we dive into the summit, we'd love for our listeners to get to know you. Can you share your connection with the food allergy community,

how that journey influenced your career, and then tell us just a little bit about the work you do in healthcare influencer marketing?

MIssy: Sure.

Okay. Well, it all started about 17 years ago when my youngest child was diagnosed with multiple severe food allergies.

And at the time,

of course, like all parents who are new to this, I had no idea what was happening or how to deal with it on the side.

One of my hobbies was I was a blogger. I was a parenting blogger. So I talked about, you know, fun Things to do, not about health topics,

but as I started to figure things how to manage food allergies, I would share what I learned on my blog and I started to make friends with other food allergy parents,

and people would find me when they were researching, you know, should my child wear a Medic Alert Bracelet? What about EpiPens? Like, all of that kind of stuff. And so I became more involved in the food allergy community and really enjoyed being an advocate and doing what I could to help other people from a career standpoint.

In addition to being a blogger and active in social media,

I was a healthcare communications professional. So I worked within hospitals and clinics, helping with all of their comms. And then I went to an agency.

And when I went to the agency,

all of a sudden clients were asking about influencers and they wanted to know, how do we work with influencers and how do we work with bloggers?

And everyone I worked with was like, talk to Missy. She's an influencer. She knows all about that.

So I started building an offering at that agency all about how companies could work with influencers. And that became my new career path.

And I really would say, you know, the blessing, there's always like, look for the blessings within the challenges. The blessing of food allergies for me was because I became so passionate about it and talked so much about it.

It gave me a whole new career path if you look at how that chain of events happened.

So now today I have my own agency, a boutique agency called Voronyx, and we work with healthcare companies, mostly pharmaceutical companies,

med device companies, and some hospital clinics and elder care to help them with their social media, their influencer marketing,

and, you know, some general marketing communications. So I'm not sure if I answered all your question,

but I think I followed the chain there.

Caroline: You hit it perfectly. And listeners, you need to know, Missy really is one of the OGs in the food allergy community way, way back in the day,

advocating and getting information out. And so this is just really exciting for me personally to watch and see this progression and see how you started off as a parent with this wonderful career, and then it grew and your work helps all of us.

So I just personally want to say thank you. I appreciate,

and I just love being able to have watched that.

MIssy: Thank you. Well, it's been fun because through the years there have been different types of events and conferences for the food allergy community.

And before FAACT started this one, which is my favorite and I love so much, there were others that you and I had gone to and I would frequently be speaking about.

There was one on Snapchat, there was one on blogging, there's one on LinkedIn, all these different social media topics. And so I would teach everyone who felt overwhelmed about them how to use those tools for advocacy, food allergy advocacy.

And I always got such great feedback and it really warmed my heart to be able to help people that way.

So now with the FAACT Conference, I'm able to do that through helping the team plan what sessions to have. What are those hot topics?

I know we're going to talk more about those today.

Caroline: I remember sitting in that session, pulling out my phone and going, okay,

Snapchat, I'm gonna do this. I love this.

We're going so full circle. I just absolutely adore this.

MIssy: Too funny.

Caroline: It really is.

And now turning to the summit, some of the most popular sessions are in the social media tract. Why do you think it's so important for today's food allergy community?

MIssy: Well,

social media is really how most of us communicate today. Like, I literally cannot remember the last time I turned on the news or read an actual newspaper. We all see things as they come through our feed.

And everyone can be a journalist these days. Everyone can put out content that can help other people.

And when it comes to food allergies or, you know, food related diseases,

there's so much confusion out there, so much misinformation that we want to empower people. I want to empower people to be able to use social media to educate others.

So whether it's Facebook or Instagram or even some people are still on Snapchat, you know,

X or Threads, or take the pick of your favorite, there is so much opportunity for us all to make a difference.

And even if you think about it, even if your one post can touch one life and make a difference in that life, it's worth it. And we all can write many posts all the time and be able to impact a lot of people at scale.

So it's really important for people, if they feel like they want to make a difference, to just get started and try using social to help with that.

Caroline: Thank you. Okay, so now going just a little bit deeper, who do you think will benefit the most from attending those types of sessions? Because we'll have a disease track and we have this track.

And a lot of our attendees are food allergy patients, parents, caregivers, doctors, nurses. It's a huge variety.

MIssy: Yes.

I would like to say that they're beneficial for everyone who's interested in social media.

Some of them are going to be more geared towards the basics. And some of them are going to be more towards influencers,

people who maybe already have a following and they want to know how to work with brands or how to deal with negative comments.

So there's going to be a range of. Of that. But I do think that the,

the people who like social media and like being on it are probably going to really enjoy it. And the people who are nervous and scared to be on social media will benefit.

But I think they get a little bit more confidence. They're still a little nervous, but they feel more confident, like they can try it.

Caroline: I definitely saw that over the last two years where I saw some attendees come in feeling a little shaky about it. And now they are stunning on social media. Just amazing.

Blown up in a good way.

MIssy: Let's see. We have four sessions this year that are dedicated to, well, three that are very specific to social media.

And if it's okay, I can tell you a little bit about them. The first one is about community management.

So sometimes people feel confident putting out content, like, here's, here's what I eat in a day with my food allergies. But then they might get some negative comments and they're like, oh my gosh, how do I handle this?

This is so weird.

So what we're doing is putting together,

we'll have a panel of people who are very active on social media and ask them how did they handle that? Responding to comments,

engaging with followers, and managing their online community.

So we have a handful of folks. Sarah Danna,

Jenna Gessner,

Angela Shiavon,

Mia Silverman. And then I'll be moderating it. So that should be a really fun session because it does take a little bit of savviness to figure out when is it worth my time and energy to respond to people.

Sometimes it can feel like our online communities want so much of us and it can feel overwhelming and we can burn out.

And part of that also is about setting boundaries and how to take.

How do you focus your time so that you're not just living and breathing social media 24. 7.

So that's one.

Another one that we have is creating graphics and video with confidence.

So it's interesting that even though things have moved a lot from still images, static images to video,

there is kind of a resurgence happening of people using graphics on social media. So, like on Instagram, you'll see people having slides that you can click through that are all graphics and text.

And a lot of people don't know how to do that. And so we're going to have Gabby Hemand and Kayla King walk us through how to create graphics using Canva,

which is a very common and easy and free to use tool.

And then also video editing software. How do you edit video?

That's something that I really struggle with. It feels overwhelming.

And Kayla is amazing at doing video. So she's going to walk us through some demos on how she does that, which I think will help those of us that feel like those are foreign.

And then another one that I'm moderating is a panel with Erica Dermer, Lauren Less and Jenny Safransky about pitching and working with brands.

And you may recognize the names Erica Dermer and Lauren Less. They're like big popular influencers in this space.

Jenny is going to be new to our event and Jenny is an influencer talent manager.

And so she represents influencers and helps them navigate when they get pitched by brands,

go through the contracting process, how much should they charge,

help them read all the fine print. So she'll be bringing a very different perspective than we've ever had at the conference before.

We've had brands before and we've had influencers, but not talent managers. So I'm really looking forward to hearing her perspective. I think she'll. And she doesn't just specialize in, in the food space, she's across lots of different areas.

So she'll bring some really interesting perspectives there.

And then finally in the social media track, but a little bit different than usual for us is we're going to be talking about turning advocacy into action.

I felt like, you know, it's interesting fact is all about advocacy and helping other people. And we have the disease track and the social media track, but there's kind of this gap about like, what other types of advocacy are there in addition to social media.

And so we've invited Georgina Cronago, Zoe Slaughter and Jennifer Togel to talk about what they do for advocacy.

For example, one of them is really into legislation and trying to get an idea made into a law.

One person is very involved in creating local support groups and associations.

And so we were to hear from them, like, how are they out there making a difference in their community with or without social media to hopefully inspire more people?

And that session will be moderated by Jennifer Jovrak.

Caroline: Thank you for giving us that sneak peek. I mean, I'm super biased and I'm always excited about this summit,

but this is a rock star. I mean, these are some really interesting people and interesting angles that are just so practical and exciting as, I mean I'm a parent and so as a parent, I'm just excited.

I mean, even though my kids are in their 20s,

it's so wonderful seeing the community grow in different ways. And this is a very unique angle.

MIssy: Thanks. Well, we want it to feel hands on.

We want everything,

you know, each session to have takeaways that people can walk away and be able to use right away. And we don't want to repeat what we did last year. So we have different speakers and different sessions, different topics that I think will be really meaningful for attendees.

And I hope lots of people come because the, you know, the, the balance between the social media topics and also all of the disease education track sessions is so powerful.

Like, it can sometimes be hard because you want to be in two places at once and you can't. This will be really neat. And there's also another thing I wanted to mention about social media.

Not in that specific track for Friday afternoon, but in a different session.

There is going to on the next day on Saturday,

some really well known influencers who happen to be physicians doing a session on how to share evidence based content.

Basically, when you're on social media and you're talking about, let's say, introducing food,

new foods to a child, or you're talking about like new studies that just came out, how do you do that in a way that is correct and leans into the science so that we're not adding to the misinformation.

Caroline: So now looking back on last year, was there anything that stood out to you? Like was there a particular session or conversation or moment that just really stood out to you?

MIssy: You know, it's interesting,

of course, all the sessions are great,

but I think a lot happens between the sessions and. But for me, I find getting out of my comfort zone and talking to strangers to be the most meaningful.

And there were actually two different times during the session last year where I talked with strangers where I just kind of like held my breath a little bit and walked over and sat down next to someone I didn't know, introduced myself and had a conversation.

And one of them was during a break, someone was sitting off to the side and I needed to take a load off and sit down. I sat next to her and we struck up a great conversation and have stayed in touch since then.

And then during lunch, I saw a table full of people I knew and a table full of people, I had no idea who they were. And I went to the stranger table and had a great lunch with these people and have stayed in touch with them as well.

And it just, you know, I constantly challenging myself because I know so many people in the food allergy community, but there's still so many new relationships to make. And so I hope that gives confidence to people who are thinking about coming for the first time that you, you don't need to know people.

You can sit down with anyone and make friends and get to know people.

And even I push myself to do that, even though I already know a bunch of folks. And if you see me there, you can come up to me and we can sit together.

There's always going to be people that are happy to welcome you to their table and get to know you. So that's what really stands out to me, is just how friendly and kind everyone is and the real desire to know each other and help support each other.

Caroline: And I'm glad you brought that up. I had the same exact experience last year and the year before, but I think even more so last year where I met all these new people who I just admire.

And you think you learn a lot, but you're always learning. And so I was learning so much from these different people at these different stages.

And we've made beautiful friendships. I have been staying in touch with people who I never met until last October. And now we're texting each other or just checking in or learning and sharing things.

And so I'm just so glad you brought that up because I think that's really special. And I hate to use the word magical, but it feels that way to me.

MIssy: It is. And, you know, also a shout out to the sponsors. There's a bunch of sponsors who have tables that you can walk around and talk to,

and they work so hard to just show up and be there and bring all their materials. And every single person that I talk to is so passionate. These sponsors at the table, they're so passionate.

They're excited to support our community.

They want to know about everyone and how they can help help them. And I always learn about new products, new medications, new services out there. And it's so impressive because we kind of get in our silos of kind of doing things the same way.

And it really helps to open up and look at what else is out there and what, what could I be missing? So I really am so grateful that we have that opportunity to spend time with these different companies and, and learn from them as well.

Caroline: Again, I can't agree with you anymore. I always learn about new products and new things, and it's just fantastic.

Just for people, again, who haven't attended yet what's the vibe like? Like what's the energy like? I mean, you pretty much explained that friendliness, but is there anything else?

MIssy: Okay, so the vibe to me is like everyone just had a venti triple coffee latte.

They're all buzzed on caffeine and they're buzzing around like little bees wanting to chat with each other. That's what it feels like to me. Like the energy is super high vibration.

Everybody's smiling and people who know each other are hugging each other.

And then there's moments when everybody kind of settles in, like at a dinner and somebody might share something really personal and somebody tears up a little bit. Then you get all for clumped and there's that intense bonding that can happen because we have the shared experience of all the different food related issues and diseases that we're coming together for.

But then somebody starts, shares a great story and everyone's clapping and laughing again.

So the energy is just like really beautiful and very unlike other types of events that I go to that are just like, you know, continuing education conferences that are all clinical or social media conferences that are all about learning.

When you merge those topics together and have such a personal topic for people,

it just creates that like really beautiful bond, so to speak. I don't know, I feel like I'm rambling a little bit, but it's hard to explain.

So that's, you know, caffeine,

tears, hugs, support.

It's just a beautiful type experience for people.

Caroline: Oh, I think you encapsulated it perfectly. I think that's great.

MIssy: Okay, great.

Caroline: So our time has come to an end. That went so fast. But before we say goodbye today, is there anything else you want listeners to hear from you?

MIssy: Okay, well,

a lot of times people ask me like what my best social media advice is for people who want to be influencers or are growing their influencer advocacy. And right now, what is kind of my biggest theme that I've been talking to people about is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is becoming so important for advocates for,

for physicians and for influencers because there's a different audience there than who is following you on Instagram or TikTok.

And I'm finding this big wave of physicians that are getting really comfortable with posting on LinkedIn for thought leadership, for disease education.

And then I'm finding influencers who are, or advocates who are posting because, you know, it's a little bit more of what we say, a B2B audience, business to business, business.

But think about the fact that brands, companies are out there on LinkedIn their employees are there and they're listening and learning and want to hear what the food allergy community has to say.

There are also journalists who calm LinkedIn looking for experts on different topics.

And I want our people to show up there. They're not looking on TikTok for people to interview, they're looking on LinkedIn.

So I encourage everyone who's listening to this podcast. If you're not on LinkedIn,

please go set up your profile. If you have a profile, make sure it's at least up to date and that your email is set to public so people can reach out to you.

And then think about starting to post just a little bit, maybe once a month.

And if you want ideas or what to talk about, feel free to reach out to me or you can get connected with me on LinkedIn, send me a message. But that's where things are moving right now.

They're not leaving those more traditional channels,

but they're starting to evolve into this other,

other place of LinkedIn. So that's my charge to everyone today, is to think about LinkedIn and how that could fit into your mix.

Caroline: Thank you. Excellent. And again listeners, I will have all the links so you can join us and follow and do all the good stuff. And Missy, we really appreciate you spending time with us today to inspire us, let us know what's coming ahead and sharing that great information about all the new things that is coming at the summit.

But most of all, we just appreciate you and your passion and desire to uplift our community.

Thank you.

MIssy: Thanks for having me. Have a great day.

Caroline: Thank you and we'll see you soon.

Before we say goodbye today, I just want to take one more moment to say thank you to Genentech for their kind sponsorship of FAACT's Roundtable podcast.

Also, I want to note that today's guest was not paid by or sponsored by Genentech to participate in this specific podcast.

Thank you for listening to FAACT's Roundtable Podcast.

Stay tuned for future episodes coming soon.

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Have a great day and always be kind to one another.