In this week’s episode of Not Alone, Valeria sits down with lifestyle photographer, cookbook author, and content creator Chloé Crane-Leroux for an inspiring conversation about art, food, and finding balance in a world that never stops moving.
In this week’s episode of Not Alone, Valeria sits down with lifestyle photographer, cookbook author, and content creator Chloé Crane-Leroux for an inspiring conversation about art, food, and finding balance in a world that never stops moving.
Chloé opens up about her early years growing up in Montreal, always driven by a “five-year plan,” and a desire to create beauty. She shares her journey from the highs and challenges of the fashion industry to discovering a more soulful creative outlet in food photography and storytelling. Together, she and Valeria dive into burnout, creative ruts, and the pressures of the internet, while also exploring the rituals and meditations, like cooking, that ground her in joy.
Chloé reflects on the vulnerability of sharing her life online, the profound loss that shifted her perspective, and why she no longer clings to rigid plans for the future. At its heart, this episode is a reminder that your life is your art and your canvas, and that creativity thrives not just in output, but in presence, connection, and growth.
Follow Chloe on Social Media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloecleroux/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chloecleroux?lang=en
Website: https://www.chloecraneleroux.com/
Get Chloe’s Recipes: https://www.chloecraneleroux.com/recipes
Shop Chloe’s Essentials: https://www.chloecraneleroux.com/chloes-essentials
Chloe’s Book Recommendation: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Shop my look from this episode: https://shopmy.us/shop/collections/2357926
Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/valerialipovetsky/
What we talked about:
0:34 - Valeria sets up episode
1:03 - Introducing Chloe Crane-Leroux
2:19 - Start of interview
5:27 - Growing up in Montreal surrounded by art
7:35 - “I’ve had a 5-year-plan since I was 5-years-old”
8:01 - Wanting to create beauty and share it
9:10 - The toxicity of the fashion industry
11:29 - Switching to food photography
13:03 - Going in front of the camera
15:10 - Creating cookbooks with her mom
16:20 - Teaching herself to cook
20:06 - Reaching burnout
22:39 - Creative Ruts
23:18 - Getting caught up in the likes and followers
24:41 - AI making Valeria optimistic
26:24 - Creativity being down right now
29:29 - Rituals that help her slow down
31:00 - Her love of Pinterest
32:50 - “For me, cooking is meditation”
35:13 - Touching different aspects of her job, and growing within that
37:40 - The balance of being vulnerable online
39:08 - Her year of loss and how it changed her
41:20 - Thoughts on the “30 under 30” Forbes List
44:33 - Not having a 5-year-plan anymore
46:52 - “Your life is your art” / “Your life is your canvas”
47:39 - Rapid Fire Round
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Chloé Crane-Leroux is a visual storyteller, cookbook author, photographer known for her poetic lens on food, travel, and slow living. Based in New York, with deep roots in Provence, she weaves together her passion for aesthetics, plant-based cooking, and storytelling into evocative imagery and thoughtful narratives. Her latest cookbook, The Artful Way to Plant-Based Cooking, reflects her love for Mediterranean flavors and meaningful moments around the table. Whether she's behind the camera, curating a dinner party, or sharing glimpses of her life between France and New York, Chloé invites her community to find beauty in the everyday—and to savor it.
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