Emma Ezzell is KC Restaurant Association’s Influencer of the year

With 65,500 Instagram followers and almost 53,000 TikTok Followers, Emma Ezzell became the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association’s first influencer of the year.

The new honor is one that the restaurant association plans to make an annual tradition.

Since 2020, Ezzell @kansascityplaces.em has been showcasing KC’s hidden gems, local favorites and new spots throughout the greater Kansas City area with videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Heavily focused on food, Ezzell interacts with her followers through different styles of posts, including top ten lists. “I like to do the lists, like my top ten burgers, barbeque or summertime patios, to give people options visually that they might want to try out,” Ezzel says. 

Before her time as an influencer, Ezzell would research cities on social media and Google when traveling to find the not-so-famous spots and local favorites. “I was always a big foodie when traveling,” Ezzel says.”I thought it would be cool to have a page designated for that in Kansas City where people in town or visiting for a Chiefs game could find things to do and places to eat.”

Ezzell loves the connections she has made by working as an influencer. Meeting different people, whether it’s creators or business and restaurant owners, Ezzell has made many friends along the way, she says. “I’m hearing their stories of how they started and their struggles and the positive impact some of our videos in the Kansas City community have had [on their businesses]—it’s just really cool to hear,” she says.

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