At 7:00 AM, she was Chef Elena , her hands dusted with flour, her voice a soothing whisper as she showed 1.2 million followers how to make nonna’s ciambellone. The comments were a waterfall of heart emojis. “You are so real, Elena,” they wrote.

She picked up her phone. No script. No softbox. Just the grainy, blue light of her living room window.

“I feel that.” “Same, Elena. Same.” “You don’t have to be everything for everyone.”