We recently had the chance to connect with LeeAnn Barnes and have shared our conversation below.
Hi LeeAnn , thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
Most people think I’m a photographer who posts on social media for restaurants. That’s not what I do.
I’m a hospitality brand strategist. The name says it—Fourth Gen Media Co.—because I’m fourth-generation in the restaurant business. My family opened Florida’s oldest continuously operating steakhouse in 1947. I didn’t learn this industry from the outside. I grew up in it.
Here’s the key difference: Anyone can post content. I build brands.
When restaurants hire someone to “handle social media,” they usually get scheduled posts and pretty pictures. What they don’t get is someone who understands menu psychology, guest behavior, competitive positioning, operational realities, and what actually drives revenue beyond vanity metrics.
I’m not a social media manager. I’m a strategic partner who uses photography, video, and digital presence as tools to solve business problems.
When restaurants hire Fourth Gen Media Co, they’re getting:
– Strategic visual storytelling rooted in generational hospitality expertise
– Brand positioning that supports premium pricing
– A partner who thinks like an operator because I’ve built multiple successful businesses
– Content designed to fill tables and build loyalty, not just feeds
I only work with 3-5 clients at a time because I embed myself in your brand as an extension of your leadership team.
Pretty pictures and consistent posting? That’s baseline. Strategic storytelling that transforms your brand and drives real revenue? That’s Fourth Gen Media Co.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m LeeAnn Barnes, founder of Fourth Gen Media Co.
The name tells the story: I’m fourth-generation in Florida’s restaurant industry. My great-grandparents opened the state’s oldest continuously operating steakhouse in 1947, and I grew up surrounded by hospitality—learning what makes guests choose one restaurant over another, what builds loyalty, and what separates legacy brands from forgettable ones.
But my path wasn’t managing dining rooms. Over the past 12 years, I’ve built multiple successful businesses—including a high-end luxury charcuterie catering company—using photography and social media strategy as my primary growth engines. Every venture I’ve launched has been scaled through digital storytelling and strategic content.
Fourth Gen Media Co. was born from that unique combination: someone who understands restaurants from the inside and knows how to build brands in the digital age.
I work exclusively with fine dining and hospitality brands, creating strategic visual content that does more than fill feeds—it fills tables. My approach is rooted in understanding the business side of restaurants: guest psychology, operational pressures, competitive positioning, and what actually drives revenue.
For years, I’ve worked with my family’s portfolio of concepts—from fine dining steakhouses to casual grills, retail meat markets, BBQ operations, and catering—which taught me how to craft distinct visual identities across different formats while maintaining cohesive brand storytelling.
What sets Fourth Gen apart is simple: I don’t approach restaurants as an outsider with a camera. I speak the language because I’ve lived it. I think like an operator because I am one.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
My dad, without question.
He’s someone who doesn’t just work IN the business—he works FOR the industry. Beyond managing our family’s restaurant operations, he’s spent years serving in hospitality leadership roles, helping shape policy and standards that elevate the entire sector.
What I learned from him wasn’t just about restaurants—it was about responsibility beyond yourself.
He taught me that if you’re going to do something, you do it at the highest level. You show up with integrity. You understand that your reputation is built over decades but can be lost in moments. And you never stop learning, even when you’ve been in the business for 40+ years.
I watched him balance the day-to-day pressures of running multiple restaurant concepts while also thinking strategically about the industry’s future. He never treated hospitality as “just a job”—it was a craft, a legacy, and a responsibility to the people who depend on you: your team, your guests, your community.
That work ethic is generational in our family. My great-grandparents opened Florida’s oldest steakhouse in 1947 and built something that’s lasted nearly 80 years—not because they took shortcuts, but because they understood that excellence compounds over time.
That’s what I carry into Fourth Gen Media Co.: the understanding that great work isn’t about doing the bare minimum or chasing quick wins. It’s about showing up with intention, honoring the craft, and building something that lasts.
My dad showed me what that looks like in practice—every single day.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Trust yourself. Everything you touch turns to gold.
For most of my life, I second-guessed my instincts. I’d have an idea—a business concept, a creative direction, a strategy—and I’d either talk myself out of it or wait for someone else to validate it first.
But looking back, every time I actually trusted my vision and moved forward with confidence, it worked. Every business I’ve built. Every pivot I’ve made. Every creative risk I’ve taken.
I wish I could tell my younger self: “You are so much more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. Your ideas are golden. Stop waiting for permission.”
I come from four generations of people who built something from nothing and made it last. That same instinct, that same vision—it’s in me too. I just spent too many years not believing it.
Now I know: when I trust my gut and move with confidence, things don’t just work—they thrive.
I wish I’d learned that lesson earlier. But I’m living it now, and that’s what matters.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
“Anyone can do restaurant marketing if they know social media.”
No. You can’t.
The industry has convinced itself that understanding Instagram is the same as understanding hospitality. It’s not even close.
Knowing how to edit a Reel, follow trends, or schedule posts doesn’t mean you understand guest psychology, menu positioning, competitive differentiation, or what actually makes someone choose your restaurant over the one down the street.
Restaurant marketing has been commoditized into “content creation”—when what restaurants actually need is strategic brand building from people who understand the business, not just the platform.
I see it constantly: beautiful content that gets engagement but doesn’t fill tables. Viral posts that don’t translate to revenue. Agencies charging thousands of dollars a month to post pretty pictures without understanding P&Ls, operational pressures, or what drives guest behavior.
Here’s the reality: It’s easier to teach a hospitality expert how to use Instagram than it is to teach an Instagram expert how to understand hospitality.
That gap—between people who know the tools and people who understand the business—is costing restaurants a fortune in wasted marketing spend.
At Fourth Gen, we start from the opposite place: deep hospitality knowledge first, digital execution second. Because pretty content means nothing if it’s not built on a foundation of actual strategic understanding.
The industry needs to stop pretending they’re the same thing.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
That it was handed to me.
When people hear “fourth-generation” and “family business,” they often assume everything was given—that I had an easy path, that doors opened automatically, that success was inherited rather than earned.
The truth is more complex.
Yes, I had access. I grew up surrounded by hospitality excellence. I learned from people who’d spent decades mastering their craft. That’s an undeniable advantage.
But here’s what people won’t see: the pressure of carrying a legacy that’s nearly 100 years old. The weight of a family name that means something in this industry. The responsibility of honoring what generations before you built while also proving you can stand on your own.
I didn’t want to just manage what was handed down. I needed to build something myself —to prove I had the instincts, the work ethic, and the vision independent of the family name.
That’s why I started building businesses 19 years ago when I was 23—long before Instagram existed. Multiple ventures over the years, all built from scratch, all scaled through hustle and strategic marketing.
That’s why Fourth Gen Media Co. exists—not as an extension of my family’s restaurants, but as my own legacy, built on my own terms.
The misunderstanding will be that I had it easy because of where I came from.
The reality is that coming from a legacy this strong meant I had to work twice as hard to prove I belonged—not just to others, but to myself.
My legacy won’t be that I inherited something great. It’ll be that I honored what came before me while building something entirely my own.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fourthgenmediaco.com/
- Instagram: @fourthgenmediaco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17e1RqxEEM/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
Fourth Gen Media Co
