THERAPY IN MOTION | SPECIAL GUEST CHEF JAS

KING OJ SITS WITH INSPIRING AND MOTIVATING CHEF JAS. SHE TELLS HER STORY AND DIVES INTO HER JOURNEY TO FIND HERSELF, HER PASSION, HER TRAVELING LIFE AND HOW SHE BECAME A FOOD CREATIVE. THIS IS A INTERVIEW YOU CANT MISS AND YOU NEED TO HEAR IF YOUR TRYING TO FIND YOUR PLACE IN LIFE AND NEED A LITTLE MOTIVATION. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Today I got a very special guest. I got my cousin Jazz Yarbrough on here. How you feeling today?

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Good. How you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:13

I'm good. I'm good. Um so we're gonna jump on right on in here. Um, we're gonna start with your upbringing, life as a child.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Um, when I first saw this, I was really reluctant on how I would answer, only because I felt like it it was it was different like other upbringing. So um, for instance, I thought we were rich. I thought we were rich. Can you hear me? Okay, so listen, the reason why is because I was surrounded by so much love. Okay, so like obviously now that I'm older, you realize that is what rich is, right?

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

So I had both sets of grandparents, I had a great-grandmother, both my parents, like the only child. So to me, everybody had it, right? Like, because I'm the only one. Um, and so what I realized when I got older is everybody didn't have it that way. Um, I also learned we were not rich. I I was just the only one asking, you know, for things. But I think that really was the foundation for who I am, being around so much love. I have so much love to give. And it it definitely defined uh who I am now in life.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Okay, that's that's your stuff. So, like, what was a few of your interests coming up?

SPEAKER_00 1:45

I was in dance practically my whole life. I've always been a creative. Um, and then I've always been the one to bring people together. So whether that was inviting people over for a movie night, a party, like everybody knew. Like, if if jazz is doing it, it's gonna be right because she's gonna take care of you. At a young age, I mean, I would have hot dogs, hamburgers, and a sixth grade. Just have people come over, like, it's okay. My mama said you could come over, you know what I mean? But I've always been that person. I've always been about community.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

So okay, that's what's up. That's what's up. What about school? Did you like school or yeah?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

I was always involved in things in school, so I think that helped. My teachers always told me though, you're majoring or you're going to school for XYZ. The other things, they're not as important. So I was always in like performing arts, or um, I even tried out for like the PA guild because I went to CAS, you know. You said the the what? The PA Guild, the Performing Arts Guild. What is that? So in CAS, they have it's almost like Saturday Night Live, but it's for high school students.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Like improv and stuff like that. Oh, damn, that's dope. That's dope.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Uh tried out for that, I didn't make it. But I was still a performing arts student. Um, but I've always, like I said, been involved, even in college. Um, I've won several awards for most involved student, Malcolm Max Awards, Madam CJ Walker Awards, uh W W E B WE B Du Bois Awards. Okay. Um, just a lot of activity outside of the classroom. Um, so I always knew that I I was a creative because of that reason.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Okay, so what's the difference? You say it's called the PA guild.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Okay, what's the difference between that and the performing arts uh thing that you was doing?

SPEAKER_00 3:49

So I I so the performing arts major, it had me going through classes that would pertain to performing arts, i.e. Dan. I had speech classes, communication classes. Because I was I was never afraid to stand up and and speak in front of folks. I've always been that person. The performing arts guild was uh more of a group of improv folks that would go around and they would have like different uh maybe plays. They would do the uh remember, I don't know, if you were in high school, like Valentine's Day, they would go around and sing the little telegrams on Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

I don't remember that.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

You didn't have that? No, it's a little age gap.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

I just think maybe our school, because so we got like what it sounded like you had was something similar to what I had in high school was radio and TV. Oh, we had that was later though. That wasn't the early class, like I think I didn't get I didn't even know about that until maybe 12th grade.

SPEAKER_05 4:51

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

So it wasn't like something, I didn't even see that as an elective in the first couple of years that I was there. Okay, but uh yeah, that was dope. And you know what's so crazy? They said that they was phasing that class out. But that'd be so, you know what I'm saying? That's something that we really would be needing in today. Like I'm like, that could have helped me like starting pods years ago. Yeah, like with my talking and you know what I'm saying? So I just think that's something they should have never even tried to phase out. That's crazy, especially considering where we at in today.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

But yeah, um, it was a question I had wanted to. Oh, how do you think that that benefited you in today, or like through the evolution of your life, like going through those types of programs and classes?

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Um, it benefited me greatly because when I was in the 10th grade, my teacher asked, Who wanted to go to Japan? I raised my hand and I said, I'll go, just off the strength of me just saying, Yeah, sure. I didn't think anything past that part.

SPEAKER_04 6:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Okay. So I did the application and then they called me to come down to Michigan State to interview. But when I got there, it was just kids from all around Michigan, over 200 kids in a hall almost in Michigan State.

SPEAKER_05 6:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

And so I think what helped me is I I wasn't nervous or scared to talk to people. And so that's what they were judging me on, and I had no idea. They were looking to see who we were interacting with, who we were talking to, how open we are to or we were to talk to people who were different from us. And uh because I I you know I went to I went to Cast. It is majority black kids there, but but there are a lot of other ethnicities that go to CAS too.

SPEAKER_04 6:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Um So I was able to have conversations with people. Um anyway, I made it to like top 40. From there, we had to like go to a restaurant, we had to talk about you know the knowledge that we have, just vetting us out, really.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

And again, I kind of shine through that too. Yeah, and I was like in the top 20. And then from there, they took the 20, some of us, and we were the ones that went to Japan. So I say all that to say those opportunities like that, like speaking up and not being afraid to speak up.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Okay, that's what's up. So I got two questions. Um, you could answer them in any order you want to. Um, first off, I was gonna ask you initially how was your experience at CAS, but also what was the experience going to Japan?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Okay. Uh I'd say I'll answer the panel because when I went to Japan, I was very nervous because that was the first international trip that oh well. I was 15, I was by myself. Okay, I didn't have any family members there, so it taught me independence, number one. And then I had to learn how to live because I lived there for a summer, and I had to learn how to live with another family with no context, no influence. So it it developed my brain in a way where I was more accepting of cultures and food and experiences on my own.

SPEAKER_04 8:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Um, so it changed my life for the better, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

I still keep in contact with my whole family and my whole sister.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

So what did they speak uh English or like how did that work?

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Only my whole sister. Okay. Um, the family, they only spoke a little bit of English. And fun fact, um, her her brother actually made Dan Stands Revolution. Oh, for real? Yeah. So I was like, but but what's so crazy is like they don't talk about things like that. They don't talk about their professions, they don't talk about their successes, they just come together at home and it's about family.

SPEAKER_04 9:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

And it's about just asking, like, how are you?

SPEAKER_04 9:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Not how was your day?

SPEAKER_04 9:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

So that was different uh for me, especially because like they don't talk about, oh, I failed this class. It's just like you're home, you're here, and you're present.

SPEAKER_04 9:21

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

So like learning mindfulness at 15, what?

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Crazy.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Right, which is something we should all be learning. Yeah. Honestly, at an age like that or young for real, but that's good that you did get to learn that though. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Um, and then to your your other question about Cass, how was it going to Cast? I'd say a lifelong family unit, I'd say. Because anywhere in the world you go and you tell somebody, oh, I went to Cas. Well, I went to Cas. What year? Yeah. 1980. You know, and then typically like a white person. You know. Um, and that's cool, you know, that's dope. Yeah. But when we're in the city, even more, um, it's a big family, it's a it's a big hug because even with my my my businesses and the things that I do, the Cas Tech folks show up 100% of the time.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

That's what's up.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

So it's all love with us.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

That's what's up.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

I appreciate how even outside of you know graduating, we still take care of each other.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Right. So, did you always want to go to CAS? No.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

No, I it was a shock, honestly. That I tell you, I was so invested on doing things outside of the classroom, I keep telling you. Like, I was just like, okay, let's do the test. What? That's what I got. Oh, I wanted to go to Renaissance.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

Why?

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Because I just wanted, I thought I was that smart girl that, you know, could get in. And then I would be a Renaissance person because it was close to the house. Oh, yeah. You know, I was like one of them kids that didn't necessarily need to study. I I kind of just I knew what I knew.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

You know, um, but then I end up at cast. So here we are.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

So do you feel like what you learned throughout your years in school prepared you for adulthood, or like is it more so what you learned in general, like at home, or maybe within family values and whatnot? Or it could be a combination of both?

SPEAKER_00 11:39

I'd say it's a combination of everything that you mentioned, but I am happy I went to college because I didn't know a thing I thought I knew. So by me being like the only child and you know having that support system, I didn't really have to do much. And then having like my grandpa, my grandfather, this is why he was so important because he treated me exactly like I should have been treated. Like he gave me princess treatment. Yeah, okay, he cooked for me, he did everything for me. Yeah, and so when I got to college, I wasn't prepared for life. Okay. Because I was so used to that, yeah, and so I had to learn on my own. Right. Um, one story I really like to mention is one day I was broke and I called my mom and I'm like, hey mom, can you please just send me some money? She said no. I said, What? That's crazy. Like, what are you saying? No, right. I called my grandparents, nobody was getting back to me. I said, this is not happening right now.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Like maybe your phone broke.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Like, what? Nobody? And I remember going to my back to my apartment because I lived in my own apartment, and I remember like digging in a couch. I found like$2 and some change. Yeah. I went to the grocery store. They had some drummets on sale for like$1.99. And I went and I told the girls, like, look, this is all I got. She like, you good.

SPEAKER_04 13:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

I had some oil at home. Thank God. I fried that chicken. I ate on it for two days. Cause y'all not about to be telling me no like this. So I think that that was the short tell sign, like, okay, you you got to grow up.

SPEAKER_04 13:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

And my grandfather, that was his biggest message to me and to my mother, like, you gotta let her go. Right. You can't always be there. Right. And I had to learn the hard way, but it it built my character on who I am right now. Yeah. I'm resourceful than a mug now, you know?

SPEAKER_01 13:47

No, that's what's up.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

That's what's up. Yeah. So when it comes to college, um, did you always want to go to college?

SPEAKER_00 13:59

No. Um, I wanted to go to Specs Howard.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Okay, and what is that?

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Specs Howard Radio and Broadcasting.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

It's like a school.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Yes, it's a school. It's a radio and broadcasting school. And so they were going to teach, you know, me how to use the panels, the engineering, RR. Like, I really wanted to get into like radio. Yeah. Just be a I just was like, I want to be on the radio. Right. It.

SPEAKER_04 14:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

And my mentor, this is something that's funny that I'm talking about this because it's like building, right? So like at this time, I was I'm in Midnight Golf. And it's an after-school program. Shout out Midnight Golf. Shout out. Uh, after school program for kids to learn how to play the game of golf, learn, you know, life skills.

SPEAKER_04 14:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

So I have helly professional golf mentors.

SPEAKER_04 14:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

And so they're like, no, you're not doing specs. How are you too talented? Take your butt to college. So they literally made me go to the Northwest Activity Center, get picked up in the school bus, they took me to Northwestern and made me take my ACTs. What?

SPEAKER_01 15:11

They took wait Northwestern High School? Yeah. Shout out to and no. Hey. Class 09, 2010.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Okay. I see you. Uh so I'm in, and you know, I'm just I'm kind of BSing because I'm like, I already know what I want to do. I end up getting into Ferris. Uh, one of my PGA professionals, he graduated from Ferris, so he wrote the president of the university a letter about me. Okay. So things are starting lining. Yeah. Like, what? I said, I want to do this, you know? So I end up going to school uh originally for golf. Then I changed it to music industry management. Because I'm really trying to get into that broadcasting music field. Like that's really who I am, you know?

SPEAKER_04 15:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Um, and then I changed it to communication.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

So. So what made you change your mind?

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Well, I changed it from golf because I I realized that the the kids who were in that program had been golfing since probably three. Oh, right, right. You know? And I was just good at it because it was an after-school program. I started in 11th grade. And it wasn't something I mastered.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

So I felt like I didn't belong. Um and that that was younger me. Right. Like I I wouldn't feel that way now, I would just learn. Um, but then I changed it to music industry management, and when I got there, I realized nobody in there looked like me. Um, the way that they were going, it was like nothing to do with the music I like to listen to and the music I wanted to hear. Like it's great to hear about the Baroque period.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Great. It's a part of American, you know, history. Great. But what why not learn about hip-hop?

SPEAKER_04 17:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Why not learn about RB? Why do we have to always, when we put on music festivals, why is, you know, the person always a rock and roll band? Why is no one listening to my suggestions? Hell, I went to school with Big Sean.

SPEAKER_04 17:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Like he was in my graduating class. Like we could have got him there.

SPEAKER_04 17:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

You know what I mean? Right. Like things like that. Where it's just like no one listens. So I was like, ah, I don't want to do this either. But then all the people who could command a room, the people who could write papers, they were in communication. And that's me all day. That's what's up. So I found my way home. So I think it's okay to venture and find things that fit you when you first get there. I don't think you should be confined to one major. But then again, that's wasted money. So I feel like sometimes we aren't mature enough to go to college right out of high school. Right. I think it takes some time. It took me a while to figure that out. Like college prep, maybe beforehand. A college prep program. Shoot, go to a community college just to get your feet wet. Right, right. See how you do, get them GNA classes out the way. Okay. Because I was BSing around, you know? Yeah. Until I found like, oh yeah, this is what I like. Then I started doing good. Right. You know? When I'm wasting money, I could have paid that out of pocket at a community college. Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Yeah. So what was your experience like um throughout college?

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Uh wow. I was that girl on campus. Okay. I'm I'm I can't even hold you. I want to sound humble, but no, I don't say, you know, I was on billboards for Ferris. I worked in the Dean of Students' office. I was, you know, the the right hand for the VP of student affairs. I was at the president's house for dinner. I was an orientation leader for five years. I won so many awards. I was a president of organizations. I was a secretary and treasurer at student government. I ran for Homecoming Queen. College was lit. That's where I found myself. That's what's up. You know. Um, so it that that's just that's how it went. It it was a it was a good time.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Jazz for president. So, like, what was your greatest experience out of the whole time you were there?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

I I'd say my greatest experience was working for the dean of students because he also became my mentor. So, right, like we're still building on my story, and I don't think I'd be where I am today if I didn't have those mentors. So, like, I still keep in contact with my mentor from Midnight Gall, who kind of like uh stir me away from doing the things that they knew I I wouldn't need to be doing, and I think that's why mentors are important. So, like me working for the dean, he became another mentor of mine, and he's like, You gotta you gotta get out of here. Like, okay, this is not where you belong, you you gotta fly. Okay, and so like listening to him, okay. Well, I'm doing so well here, right? Like, you know, I love it. He's like, Yeah, but this is Big Rapids, Michigan. You belong in like Chicago. Go live.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Like, he saw my potential, like a bigger city, a bigger stage for you, and all of that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

He saw it and he knew that I would never rise to my full potential if I was to stay in a college town.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Right, right. Yeah, that makes sense though. And it's good that we get certain people like that in our life that even when we might be comfortable in a certain position, they like, nah, spread your wings and go over there. I ain't even, even if they be needing you, they like, I ain't even gonna hold you back. Like, you gotta go.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

So I I respect that and shout out to that person.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Shout out Libra, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:26

That's what's up. That's so um graduating college. Yeah, um, after you get up out of there, what do you get into?

SPEAKER_00 21:39

After I left Ferris, I really I see I realized I don't make the best decisions. Okay. Um so I should always share any changes or any um advancement opportunities with those around. Me right because I have a tendency sometimes to do things because it feels right. And that's what I did. I ended up landing this job. I thought it was, I I made it, okay? Yeah. You hear me? I was like, man, what? I'm about to be a six-figure earner. I'm gonna be this and that. And I learned about maybe three months in, yeah, this is definitely a Ponzi scheme. This is this is definitely some bull. I can't believe they prayed on me, P-R-E-Y. That' for me. That's crazy. You know? Um, they do that, they they take those excited college kids, they promise you things.

SPEAKER_04 22:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

And then I ended up doing door-to-door sales, making$20 a door from like eight in the morning, last knock at six at night. I'm in Rochester.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

Man.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Hi, would you like to change your energy source?

SPEAKER_04 22:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

But me being me, I thought I was doing good because I am who I am. I got that mantle on me, you know? So, like, people open their doors for me. Yeah, they invite me in.

SPEAKER_04 23:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Okay. Hey. But but I'm out there all day and I made$20.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

That's crazy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

So I didn't make good choice. It was hard.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

You know, if I'm being completely honest, I had to find my way again.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

So how did you get through that? Like, so you saying you made$20 per door, or are you saying at the end of the day, even though it was$20 per door, you only came back with one single$20?

SPEAKER_00 23:39

If I didn't get a sale, I didn't make any money. Oh. If I could have people change their energy from DTE to them, I would get$20.

SPEAKER_04 23:51

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

And I had to sit on the phone for verification. I mean, I felt bad. All these old people trusted me and my character. You know what I mean? Uh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Like they got the perfect person to sell this.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Bull.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

So what so transitioning from that, what did you do, or like how long did that last?

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Well, that didn't last too long. Um, I realized it. I owned up to it, and I kept moving on to bad things. So like then I started working at another place out here, doing the same kind of mess. Then I ended up um at Rocket. You know, that I don't know, that didn't go too well. I just did not have a good, it wasn't good. It was a lot of dead end.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

So what drove you, was it like the marketing, like basically that you wanted to do? Like what kept driving you to those type of jobs?

SPEAKER_00 24:56

I think it was me just trying to get into anywhere knowing I would be good at wherever I am.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

And instead of having like a niche that I was actually good at, I was just trying to be like taking on that whole, you know, college persona. Yeah. I'm great, I could do this. You know who, like, you know who I am?

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Oh, I I won an award. Like, you know. And I kept finding myself just in daddy and jobs until my husband was like, yo, um, you trying to move to Arizona? And I was like, I don't know, let me pray about it. My mama was like, Jasmine, you ain't gotta pray about nothing. You have an opportunity, go.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

No.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

I was like, oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Shout out to your mom's group.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Yeah, for speaking that that light, that truth. Because I still would have been here.

unknown 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Okay, we're not gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Oh, that's what's up.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

That's what's up, though.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Did you have more that you wanted to add to?

SPEAKER_00 26:00

No, that's just that's really is what catapulted my career.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Okay, so your career, uh, so wait, wait, right after that, do you then go to Arizona or like what's the time frame from that point to when you decide Arizona is the move?

SPEAKER_00 26:19

We had three months to get our stuff together, and we were living in Holland Park, shout-out HV, in horrible conditions. We were living in a 55 and up community. Well, see, I have a way to talk to people to convince them I'm a good person, right? Right. So I talked to the owner, like, we don't have kids, we don't make a lot of noise, yeah, we don't have nowhere to stay. Right. You think we can live here? She likes, okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_04 26:50

That's what's up.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

So we end up, you know, having a nice place, you know, but uh it we weren't getting anywhere. My husband wasn't liking where he was, I wasn't liking where I was. So the move was a no-brainer. Like something gotta be better than this.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Um, and I know I tell this story often, but I had my little Avenger, he sold his car, my husband sold his car, and whatever could be packed in the Avenger, that's what went to Arizona. If it couldn't fit in the Avenger, we left it right there in Highland Park. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

So three months later, y'all on your way?

SPEAKER_00 27:29

We on our way. Um, we had just got married two years prior. That's right. So we're new in our marriage at that time. Um, but when we got there, it was even worse, right? Like, we the the apartment we had was great. Yeah. But I didn't have a job. My husband had his. The pro the the cost of living there is just exponentially more than Michigan. And they don't do the whole, okay, I don't have my rent on the first. By the third, they're sending you an eviction notice. Like it's no games. Yeah. So now I gotta grow up again. Right? Like I've already I thought I did that. I thought I grew up. Right. But now I'm like, oh, Arizona don't play. Yeah. Okay. And I want to stay here. We had we literally had uh, what's my Facebook memory for today, actually? We had two lawn chairs and our air mattress and our nice, very nice apartment.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

That's all we had. Um, so then I got put on, I started working at AeroTech, got my husband in, we started making our corporate money.

SPEAKER_03 28:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

I started doing really good there. From there, I moved to, you know, other things, higher positions, higher pay. And I think just by us learning how to move out there, you gotta learn how to move. Money, that's nothing in Arizona. Six figures, that's nothing. Yeah. You know, it's it's it's not it's the it's the status quo. Everybody's doing it. Yeah. So we had to learn, like, oh, okay, yeah, we at this uh waste management tour with 10 free uh 10 free drink tickets each, and we sitting here with with presidents and vice presidents, like, yeah, we belong here. Yeah, you know, we gotta move different. Yeah, so our vibration had to get higher. Yeah, so by us being in the mountains, um nice houses, you just you attract that. Right. So now I'm walking that and I believe it for myself. Delusional. Hey, whatever. Yeah, sometimes you gotta have to be. You gotta be, you do, you know what I'm saying? Exactly. You feel real aura, you know? That's right. So I feel that. So um, a lot of meeting the right people, a lot of walking into rooms that I may conform to me. That's one thing I'm really big on.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Because I I have been in corporate so long, I don't conform to it. Y'all gotta get used to me. Right. I'm not getting used to y'all. So I am walking in with my big earrings. Right. I am gonna have my Detroit accent. I don't coach switch. Right. I am me. Um, and I learn how to stand ten toes on who I am, yeah. Just based on being around powerful women. Yeah. That's like, no, we don't do that. So like I've had these people in my life that's guided me and has shown me, I don't care how great I think I am, it's people that have done it that can show me, no, we do it like this.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

You know, being around millionaires all the time. Now I'm now I'm the average of the people I'm around. Right. You know? You know, putting myself in these places, hey, what's up? Because I know I belong here. Right. So it gave me that confidence boost that I needed. Um, just to be successful and and to be what I needed to be.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

Okay, that's what's up. So when you are in these rooms, do you ever find that people underestimate you?

SPEAKER_00 31:13

I don't think I give people the chance because you can feel me when I walk in.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Um, or they've heard about me before I come in. And I think that's how I was able to move as fast as I did moving back home after 11 years. Uh, you know, I work for one of the top three, but I work in the executive suite. Right. How I got there, I don't know. I just no, that's what I you know. I I I take what I've learned.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

Yeah, you gotta give yourself a round of applause every time.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

It's so easy for people to just be basic nowadays.

SPEAKER_04 31:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

And for you to like, even though you didn't get discouraged, or I don't know, did you get discouraged throughout those first couple of um jobs and whatnot?

SPEAKER_00 32:08

I did. We were living in Novi and we had just gotten married. I think that was the lowest I had ever been mentally. Where I was like, whoa, that's that's a shock for me because I had done so well in college, and then I come home and I'm not making any money. Yeah, I just got married. Um, and that's not what I saw myself as. And so I think I was grieving who I thought I would be. Um, and I I really started journaling. I didn't mention that, but I look back now, and when the doctors told me, yo, you can't have kids, I was like, What? Hmm. So me and my husband we wrote our kids' names down in order. And we would just speak over their names every day. We would call them here every day. We calling you here, we calling, and then my husband, he would do stuff like living, you know, living in that delusion. Like he would get me Mother's Day cards and sign the kids' names. Just so I'm seeing it, you know, it's becoming real. And just like we call them, that's how they came. Yeah, they came in order, CJ, Isaac, Trinity, just how we put it on the paper in that apartment in Holland Park that we were staying at.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

Y'all sold that seat.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

That's what's up.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

So a lot of that is the reason um I was able to get out of that funk that I was in. Yeah. Journaling, looking back, like, dang, six months ago I was there.

SPEAKER_04 33:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

But I keep speaking, I keep learning, I keep, you know, trying to vibrate higher. And I think really being in a desert teaches you, you know, you you look at movies where, you know, what was that, 300? Where do he go out and he comes back a man? Is that 300? I think that it yeah. He yeah, he goes in the wilderness for X amount of days, you know, and then he came back a man with the beast on him, like, yeah. I did it, and that's how I feel about Arizona. You in that desert by yourself? Yeah, we we literally built our family by speaking it here. We we built our reality by speaking it here. You know, we lit we really listen to a lot of high vibrational music, yeah. You know, we don't really listen to uh a lot of the stuff. Yeah, that you know we we hey we on that frequency all the time. And if one not on there, then hey, that's I got us.

SPEAKER_04 34:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

You know what I mean? But we so determined to get to where we want to go, you gotta match your speech for where you want to go, you know?

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Facts. And that just speaks to the point I was making even more. So you did get discouraged, but you didn't let it knock you off of your path to success, though.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Nah.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

So you still had that mindset to just still keep on going in any event of adversity. I'm like, that's dope as hell, because it's so easy for people to get discouraged over anything. People will oversleep by two minutes and say, I'm not going to work.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Like, people will make any excuse to not make it to the next level.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

So I salute you for, you know what I'm saying? Just keep going. Because we definitely need more people in higher places and to just have a positive, you know, visual for people coming up to see, like, oh damn, she did it, I could do it.

SPEAKER_04 35:54

Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

You know what I'm saying? Like, instead of all these little girls watching twerk videos and all that, right, right. Like, we got somebody that they could really look at as a true role model and be like, damn, she right, she does got the big hoop earrings. Right, right, right. You know what I'm saying? She got the same brace my mama wears. Right, right. You know what I'm saying? So it's like it gives the younger people that motivation to see that I could reach that same status.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

See, I live in Highland Park right now. I can go there too.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

You know, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

I just salute every positive figure that I see. And I go for you and your husband because at the same time, it's like you have to have that unity. People don't even understand how turmoil between you and your mate can derail you from your true place in life.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

And y'all matching that energy is dope as hell because we got so many things we can see and people we could point at and be like, damn, that's another messed up case where domestic shit going on or they just barking at each other in public, or you know what I'm saying? Right, right, right. A bunch of nonsense going on. But every like throughout all of this that you've been saying since your you know adult stage, it's like the inclusion of your husband been a positive, you know what I'm saying? Excuse me with both of y'all together as one. Yeah. So I definitely salute both of y'all for that one. Much appreciated. Oh, yeah, no problem. No problem. No problem. Um, let me get to the next question. What is what is it that I wanted to ask you? Oh, right up the alley of what I was just saying about how I feel about the negative, you know, things I've been seeing from people. So, what is your point of view on the current state of where we at and as a community out here?

SPEAKER_00 38:02

Uh, I think people need to learn how to deprogram their minds and really get back to learning family. You know, you learn your family, you learn who you are. Right? Like you be around community, you understand bartering, you understand how to get things, you understand why it's important to grow your own. Um, and I I don't think people understand it's a lot of people who think that way. There's a lot of people who I because that's my reality, right? So, like to me, that's a that's a bunch of people who I follow on my social media. I don't follow celebrities. Like, if it's a celebrity, it's probably like a maybe a C or D list celebrity, one that don't have too much influence.

SPEAKER_03 38:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

But I don't follow a lot of them. I don't look at what's going on in the news. Um, I kind of live in the you know the life I want for myself, right? And so I think if the influence is there and you're not in the conversation to deprogram your brain, it's easier to go to that side. But the more of us that keep talking about it, I think a lot of people are waking up to that. Um, because I I I see trends, I see comments, yeah, and it's a lot of people who understand why it's important to sit down and have a conversation with your grandmother.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Yeah. So what what are some things that you might see out here that you think need to be changed for the better? In terms of just within our community, like stuff that's affecting our community directly.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

Well, I'd say number one is food source. Um, I noticed, and I don't know how if this is just a theory or if this is just an observation, but a lot of the kitchens in like Detroit, surrounding areas, they're not made for people to cook in every day. Like, okay, so look, back up to Arizona, I had a kitchen nook, very wide open kitchen, not for a lot of money, you know. But then I'm back here and I see how tight the kitchen is, yeah. And how less frequent it's used, maybe for a couple nights, maybe for holidays. But ain't nobody using their kitchen every night. And I notice when I go to people's refrigerator, but here people don't cook. So, like, let's start there. Like, let's let's start with nutrition. Okay. Let's start with understanding why, you know, if it doesn't, if it doesn't have to be extreme, don't make it extreme. But at least make it a whole food. Like if you if you want to, you know, have a steak or something, give your family life by doing it. Go go to the farm, get buy you a half a cow, right? Store it up if that's if that's what you like. If you if you you know, if you want a garden, go do that's what we that's what we had in Arizona. So, like that exposure to different experiences, I think that'll really help our community. Because now, you know, we're not influenced by what we see going, you know, to get fast food. We we bring that money back into our pockets. Yeah. We're not giving it to those around us that's not really for our community. And I think you know exactly who I'm talking about when I say that.

SPEAKER_02 41:45

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

All these people that are not our nationalities, that are in our communities making money off of us, but then there's a caveat there, right? So, like the people that are are like us in our communities that do make food, I think there needs to be some type of there there is a disconnect with what you have and how far you can get if you're not willing to bring that attitude down, to learn how to talk to people or have that good customer service. Right. Something that makes people want to come back, right? Um, we gotta learn that too.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

So what I I agree with that too. Um, because I see I always think about this one situation when I went to McDonald's years ago. I haven't ate there in probably five years now, but before. But anyway, the point is, I went there a couple years ago, and it's just me and our cuz Rob. We get some apple pies. So the filling to the apple pie is on the outside of the box. So I I tap on the window, I'm like, hey, uh, can I get another one? I don't want this one because you know the feeling on she snatched the pie from me and said, what? It's the pie stuff. I was like, what? What the fuck is she talking about? Right, right. It's like the feeling supposed to be on the outside. It's supposed to be on the inside. Like, right. This shit was so crazy, but that's an experience within our, you know, yeah, culture a lot.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

It's especially, and then it's what killed me. It's not even with just like a franchise like a McDonald's. It's like the main ones be the what you want to call it, the black owned.

SPEAKER_00 43:48

The mom and pop shop. Black owned, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's just situations like that where it'll just be, I'm here to support, and you acting like you doing me. A favor, it's like we we really doing each other a favor, but come on now, don't make it seem as if I'm bothering you with some shit.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

Right.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

I'm just sometimes they don't even want you to ask for the prices on the menu or something. It's like, come on, you you not even being professional over here, but you want somebody to come support you, and then want to say in the same breath, I don't need you. I don't need how you don't need us. You do need us. How do you grow your bill your business if you don't need us?

SPEAKER_00 44:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

So what how do you what do you think they need to do? Have like an attitude class for businesses or something like what how do we change this? How do we get better with that?

SPEAKER_00 44:40

You know, I've often wondered that, um, because that's the reason why I started my business, because I was tired of getting food that didn't it wasn't good. So I started my plan, well, I'll make it. You know, I'll make the good food, right? I'll bring the good customer service. If you look at my reviews over and over again, you'll see that the professionalism, me being nice, me being attentive, and me having really good customer service is like the top of it because I want people to experience that from a black person.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

Right.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

And even if my customers are 99% black, I want y'all to experience that from another black, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 45:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:20

So it's like it starts with just them coalitions of people who understand that that's a problem. And so if we start by our own businesses, you know, and then shoot. If it is an option to have a consulting group, you know, to go around in the city if they're open to that, but you gotta think like people they they don't learn that way. That that's intimidating, that's making them go, what? I don't need that. You know, for instance, I'll give you an example. It's uh it's a little Caesars that I go to sometimes, and um, because my kids love high and ready, don't ask me why I think it's trash, but anyway, they are um, but they love it. So anyway, I go there and this girl, she always has this look on her face. She doesn't have an attitude, I think that's just how she looks, yeah, and I think that's how she talks.

SPEAKER_04 46:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 46:16

And every single time I go in there and it's backed up, people always say, Oh, it's her with the attitude right there. Yeah, it's how you perceive.

SPEAKER_04 46:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

So it's really learning, like, okay, some people are just that's just who they are. So you just need to learn how to maybe be in the back. Take what take what you do, you go in the back. Let that smiling person come in the front. Yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

You know, we don't need you to do that.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

You ain't gotta leave because she don't have I don't I don't perceive her as having an attitude.

SPEAKER_01 46:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

Um, so I think it's just like uh resetting expectations. But again, how how do you start that when people are set in their ways? When these general managers have been there for years and years and years. Um, but that's a really good question, and I think I'm gonna let some, you know, I'll let somebody else see for that opportunity because I can't take out I can't save everybody.

SPEAKER_05 47:13

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:14

But it will start with me. That's what I can do.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

Yeah. So I can vouch for you. The food that I had was definitely A1 steak sauce, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 47:25

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 47:27

I had catfish, what was it? I think it was greens, mac and cheese, and yams.

SPEAKER_00 47:33

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

And I had a double serving, so I ate one that night. Oh yeah. I woke up and ate the other one. It was just as good. Yeah. Definitely vouch. But how do it make you feel when you get the good reviews, excuse me, from your cooking?

SPEAKER_00 47:50

It makes me feel like I tapped in to my ancestors' wildest dreams. That's what it made me feel like because I come from a long family or a long line of people who have cooked. Yeah. Um, and I take pride in knowing that I picked up the gift where it was left off when they passed away. So that's it's probably deeper than most.

SPEAKER_04 48:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:13

But because I know my past and in what they wanted to do on this earth, yeah, and what they couldn't do, that's what matters to me. So it's like, even when I'm cooking, sometimes I'd be like, all right, I'm tapping in, great grandma, grandma, where y'all at? Grandpa, I need y'all. Like, so my great-grandmother on my dad's side, she was a fisher woman, I guess you'd say. And she would catch catfish. And this was like in like 20s, 30s.

SPEAKER_05 48:42

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 48:42

She would catch catfish and she would um clean them and cook them and sell them. But she had money at this time. And as a black woman down south with money, white men didn't like that. So they beat, raped, killed her.

unknown 48:57

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

That's a dream deferred. That that's a gift that died way too soon.

SPEAKER_04 49:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

You know, my my other grandmother, she was a mother of the church, so she made like the communion bread. She had over like 20-something foster children, so she was always cooking, always in community, always gathering.

SPEAKER_03 49:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Um, but she passed away way too soon. Right? Just the black, the black diet got got to her, right? So I'm like, okay. Then my grandfather lived a very, very long life. You know, um, shout out Frank. Uh and he's the one that was like, get in here, I'm gonna show you this, I'm gonna do this. This how you make gravy, this how you make an egg, just basic stuff. Yeah, this how you make a potato. You know, like nobody has ever thought about that. You know, like when you think about, oh, when was the first time you were in the kitchen? Oh, I just learned really how to boil water, how to make an egg, how to make a simple gravy. Right. Um, you know, and then I have a chef in in the family, my uncle. Uh everybody, you know, you we going down there to eat, yeah, yeah, because you know, that's the chef of the family.

SPEAKER_04 50:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:17

So I just felt like this was a baton toss, right? Because he's older.

SPEAKER_04 50:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:22

The generation, our I don't know, our parents' generation, I don't know. I think they sleep. I don't know what happened. I don't know. They ate the grand, they ate the grandparents I grew up with. No, I'm just kidding. But nobody picked up that baton, right? Like, that's why I be talking about like knowing your family. And and what was it? Because I think when you do pick up the baton and you know the gifts that were bestowed upon your family, it's easier for you to run a race because now you're walking in purpose. That's just me that right.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

No, I feel you. Um, so I had I talked about the fact that I had the catfish and whatnot from you, but now I'm at this point in life or this space in life right now where I'm going back to my vegan detox. So I want to know: do you make vegan meals?

SPEAKER_00 51:10

Absolutely. Living in Arizona, that's so close to California, people love avocado. Right. Okay. And so a lot of the diets are different out there, and I had to step my game up. So in 2020, people didn't want to cook because it was COVID.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 51:29

That's when I started doing meal prep. And I would do meal prep based off dietary restrictions.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

A lot of people were vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian. Some people needed high-protein meals, and so my husband, once again, it was me and him on Sundays, and we were research, research, research. Look, we don't look on the food network, look and see what you know the different things that we can do. And so the vegan gnocchi that we learn how to make is it's amazing. What is that though? So the gnocchi is like a potato-based, fluffy, pillowy, sort of like pasta, but it's not, it's potato-based, right? Flour potato. And then we use our um coconut milk, um, different type of vegetables that's cut up in there, and then um, it almost reminds you of an alfredo sauce once we're done with it, but it's so good because it doesn't even make you feel like I'm eating a vegan meal.

SPEAKER_03 52:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

And that is really what I wanted people to feel because a lot of the reason people were going vegan around that time in 2020, mental health, physical health, I gotta get right, you know, and so like this this was new to them. These aren't people who have been doing it for so long. So we wanted to take food, like, okay, you like Alfredo? Okay, you're gonna love this vegan yelke. Okay, you like this? Okay, we're gonna make some salad wraps. And you know, we're gonna just try it out and see. Tell us, give us your feedback. So, what's on the salad wraps? So, like, you know, at P.F. Chang's and you get the ground uh chicken wrap with terror. Oh, okay. So it's like a lettuce bowl, like almost like a romaine piece of lettuce. Um, and so instead of a ground chicken or a ground beef, I would do chopped-up water chestnuts for that crunch. Mix that with mushroom, a little garlic, onion, green onion, put that on top, make a teriyaki, or maybe even sweeter sauce, drizzle that on there, and now you got a you know, a good lettuce wrap. Because I would that's what I understood about being a vegan and being gluten-free. People miss that crunch factor. Yeah, I miss it, right? Like, I want to bite into something. So learning like using water chestnuts as a filler or walnuts as a filler to make people feel like, okay, I feel full.

SPEAKER_01 54:03

You know? How you running down what I'm about to order tomorrow. So what's the third? What's the what's the next best thing to pair with those two?

SPEAKER_00 54:14

Uh, probably my apple pecan salad. I know that sounds like simple, but the way that I make it, it it's really flavorful, and I I layer it to where you're getting a lot of that apple, that pecan, but I also grill pears on an actual grill.

SPEAKER_04 54:39

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_00 54:40

You know what I mean? And then I like sneak that in there. Uh-huh. Um, and sometimes I I do like little pinches of turmeric because I'm like, that'll make you healthy. Little ginger, you that'll make you feel good. You know what I mean? But I'm just sneaking it in. Um and so, like, you know, it really took a long time for me to perfect it.

SPEAKER_03 55:03

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 55:03

But 2020 is really what catapult catapulted us into doing it to where we could just vegan meals, what? Yeah. We in there.

SPEAKER_01 55:14

So, did you see other examples of this? Like, what made you choose these specific? I know you said like basically um people want pasta and stuff like that, so that's why you tried the vegan, what was it called? Vegan yogi. Okay. But what made you get to like the apple pecan salad and all of that? Like, and and to put what you saying, like the grilled pears and all that, what made you think of all of that though?

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Because I understand flavor profiles.

SPEAKER_01 55:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

And I got this thing called a flavor bible, where it it shows you and it teaches you different foods and how mixing them together creates a good bite.

SPEAKER_02 55:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 55:57

So if I can understand, you know, the imame flavor, sweet, tangy, you know, sour, savory, just to hit the tongue at all at once. If I can learn how to make that flavor come out in a vegan meal, we own the socket.

SPEAKER_02 56:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 56:18

You know, because that's what you would, that's why people enjoy going back to their favorite place. Oh, it tastes the same. Right. Consistency. Right. You know, always it's the same. Okay, it's good the same way. So I think that to answer your question, I think that was a lot of what it was. So it's trying it over and over and over again. Okay. Like, okay, that didn't work, do this this time. You know what I mean? And really taking the feedback. Right. I'm I'm really, you know, and changing it. And I know that's hard for a lot of chefs. It's hard for a lot of people who create things. As a creative, we are sensitive. Yeah, it's true. But to get better, you have to ask. You have to see what, okay, this is what they did. I'm not gonna do what they did, but I'm gonna take what I know, I'm gonna create it. Now I know. Okay, that's what I was missing, like my cauliflower bites. Yeah. I use rice crispy treats, or not treats, but rice crispies, the cereal, yeah. I use as a as the crunch factor on the cauliflower. So now it tastes like a little chicken nugget.

SPEAKER_01 57:26

That's crazy. So what other like okay, do you have like a whole, like a complete well, how many items would you say that would be on your vegan name?

SPEAKER_00 57:38

Um, it's only a few. Okay. I I don't have a lot. I'd say maybe about a good five to six that I've mastered. Others I am willing to go outside of the box and try. Um, but like I had someone who was fasting for church, so I made her a vegan chili. I had my husband try it. He like, yeah, you can't even tell.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

I need some, I was just looking for some cactus chili. They said it was a child. Oh man, okay. I never tried it, but my homeboy, he worked at uh U of D College. Okay. And he one of the chefs in there, and so he made the vegan chili. He kept telling me, hey bro, you should try it.

SPEAKER_00 58:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:23

So the one day that I was on my way to get it, I had got sidetracked and just lost track of time. So I was just like, bro, just kill it.

SPEAKER_04 58:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:31

Then I it it went out of season after that, so I never was able to get back to it. But I do want some vegan chili because I can't eat regular chili. And I really don't even want to go back to eating regular foods because mostly everything gave me real bad heartburn.

SPEAKER_04 58:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 58:52

Even just, so I one day I had went to Coney, I got some scalet potatoes. When I tell you the heartburn I had, damn near had me feeling like I was about to die. I'm like, it's just too much, so I just need healthier alternatives that ain't super greasy or it's just different things. Like pineapples even do that. I didn't even know. And I loved pineapples, but I couldn't do them no more because it was like I realized that they was like compromising my health for real.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:24

Like, I gotta move around.

SPEAKER_00 59:27

But I do think it's important that as you get older, and what I've seen in most adults when they get older is your body takes different foods in differently as you get older. So, like, it's really important to get an allergy test. Yeah, it's important to see what you're intolerant about. Like, I got this one coworker, she can't eat a lot of things like soy, legumes, um, just a lot of things that you wouldn't think about. So, like, she's very cognizant of like telling people, oh no, sorry, I can't, because people like to offer say, hey, here's some something, something, something. Oh no, I can't have that, you know. Um, and so it's because she went to Mexico, ate a regular taco, ended up in the hospital, like on her deathbed almost, not realizing that her body just cannot tolerate certain things. Right. So, like, that's even a message to myself, like going to the doctor to realize, like, okay, this is what my body cannot tolerate anymore, and then going from there.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

You know, instead of you know, jumping into something that I think, like I had did, like the whole um recall it, when it's no carb. Um, I forget what it's called, but it's you know, it's basically the the no carb. And I was literally so the acting, thank you. I was literally so just tired all the time. I couldn't figure out why. And it was like, I think my body needs a little bit of this. Like you just don't know, it's chemistry happening every day in your body, yeah, and you just don't know what something is doing, plugging everything, right? Exactly, arteries stopping your heart, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:19

Damn, everything's shutting down, liver failure. It's like, and people don't be understanding. Everybody be like, oh, let's go, let's go drink everything out the club, let's go gallon for gallon, then let's go to Coney and buy chili cheese fries, chicken wing, greasy ass, everything. It's like you killing yourself, and it's like nobody cares.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:42

Listen, you can find me taking a shot of sour sock bitters, drinking my kombucha and my my prebiotic drinks and my vitamins every day now. I don't play about that, and my water intake. Um, but I also think it's important to know things like the season.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:00

Like in the winter time, a lot of people suffer from strokes and heart attacks because they're dehydrated, because it's the winter, I'm not as thirsty, it's not the summertime.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:13

Not knowing, like, no, as women, especially keep some water on the side of your bed. If you feel like your throat is dry, drink it because that's what causes strokes. Like little things like that matter, especially in our community. Yeah, you know. Um, and I've been noticing, like, even when I was in Arizona, I was running off caffeine. Dutch Bros literally had me in a choco. Dutch Bros is like a coffee place, and the particular drink that I was getting, it was like a rebel, not a red bull, but a rebel. What you talking about? Yeah, with the Torini or the Torino syrups. Okay. And it's like 1,400 grams of sugar, not even milligrams. You're talking grams. You're talking a death sentence. Yeah. Every day?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:04

Because I'm trying to, I'm focused. I'm in. I'm locked in. The only way I can stay up is if I drink something that got caffeine in it.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:14

Oh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:16

Hurting myself.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:17

Yeah, I um I experienced something like that. Uh it was something called rippings. Oh, I remember I remember. I used to love those citrus ones. Okay. I'll be in there acting crazy as hell. Not on not on some shit, like it's, you know, changing me, but I'll be acting like it was.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:38

I'll drink one of them and then chase it with some orange juice. One day, so I was working doing the governor polls, you know, where you go door to door, try to get them.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:49

So I was like 18, and we had morning duties. So I'm not a morning person at that time. So I'm like, fuck it, I'm gonna get that. So we all we have our morning meeting, and then we all just get out there. I'm at the table, I'm like, I'm just chilling, listening. Somebody next to me, she like, hey, uh, you good? I'm like, what you talking about? She like, yo hand shaking.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:16

Ooh!

SPEAKER_01 1:04:20

Oh shit, I ain't know. I looked down, my hand was just gone. Oh wee. I know. So they like, yeah, you better stop drinking them because I was drinking them every day. And so I did stop at that point. Yeah. But fast forward years later, I was working at Walmart, and this one dude, he told me, like, yeah, I um I gotta get a monster. So I noticed he was drinking like eight of them a day. Woo! And I'm like, bro, I don't really want to drink one of these motherfuckers. Right. Eight, and I'm not exaggerating. He still said he drink them at home too after he leaves work. Uh-huh. He'll drink two in the morning, two on the next break, two on the lunch break, two on the next break. I'm like, bro, what is you doing? I'm like, bro, you're gonna stop your heart. He like, dude, I don't think it's that bad. I'm like, bro, it is that's worse than that bad. Right. So Pete, I'm only drinking, he he convinced me to even start trying those, right? Because he said they good. I said, so what's the best flavor? He like for somebody that don't really drink them, I I guess I'll tell you, try the grape one. I tried it, that shit was good as hell. So back then I used to smoke. So I smoke, I would smoke before work and then drink a monster. That's the worst combination ever. Oh man. The weed is kind of like calming me, but then that shit jump starting my heart. Right, right. It's like my body confused. Yeah, I get to work. Morning, remind you, I'm working from four to one. I get to work and just stopping my tracks as soon as I walk in the door. I couldn't move another step. I don't know what it did to my body, but it just sent me in shock though. And they like, yeah, you gotta sit down. So they called the ambulance and this and that. They like, did you smoke or something smart? I'm like, yeah. They like, what else did you do? I'm like, I drunk a monster. They like, oh yeah, that's what just so they knew exactly why my body was in shock or whatever. But I'm like, that shit crazy. That's why I can't mess with. Ever since then, I never drunk another uh energy drink.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:41

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:42

No Red Bull, no five-hour energy, none of that. Right. Like, I'm just like, it's crazy. And then you find out all this stuff be banned in the country that even producer.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:54

So I don't get how it's even legal for them to sell it to us. And we don't even care. You hear about people. I gotta have my ribs. Right. I gotta, no, you don't. Just like other people, I gotta have my pork chops.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:08

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:11

You ain't gotta have pork chops until I stop. Yeah, exactly. Bacon, I used to be on bacon tough as hell. Yeah. I had to I had to write a eulogy when I gave up bacon. I was like, I can't believe it because bacon makes everything, bacon damn near makes cereal bacon.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:28

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:30

I know. I'm like, I know man, but ham, all of that. Oh, yeah, that's just like not only when you said the intake of sugar is crazy, a lot of us have a heavy intake of salt.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:45

But don't want to drink water.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:46

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:47

So you don't want to dilute shit. You just want to add more sugar with like Kool-Aid and just alcohol. Right. You want to chase it with other, you know what I'm saying? Juices, and it's like, man, come on. We definitely need to do better. Because for me, it's just crazy how cancer is popular as hell now.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:10

When somebody dies from supposed natural causes nowadays, you automatically damn near assume it's gonna be cancer.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:19

Because it's just so rapid. And even I just saw something where they said lab grown meat is a thing where they just putting it in grocery stores now and don't have to label that it is lab-grown meat, but it ups the rate of uh super progressive cancer by 30 to 50 percent. Lord. So why the f how is that legal that you could even sell us that?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

Because they've been telling us though. Documentary's been out, people just don't care.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:51

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

You know, they they I thought it's the whole deep program. I think first I can see yourself and you like, okay, self, do you think KFC can get this many chickens in? Man do you think it's that many chickens around for every KFC around the world? I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:23

And I say that, and I'm just like, how is it possible that you could order a thousand wings all day in every city and country? Yeah, and the chicken never runs out.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:34

There's no way it's that's it's not no, it's impossible.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:39

A lot of them are in cages that it's basically a death sentence for them, and they get so fat because they keep feeding them, feeding them, feeding them. That's why they get so big, and then they they legs break so they not they're not mobile, so they can't move, and they're sitting in their own feces, and then they're dying because they can't move, and then it's chickens around them, so it's dead chickens, the live chickens, and they all put them together. Yep, yeah, it's a mess.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:07

Yeah, and that's why I'm more so on the let me try this healthier lifestyle for an extended period of time. Yeah. My thing was originally I was gonna go from March 1st to July 1st.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:23

But now I'm just like, I don't even want to go back, so I'm trying to find as many vegan alternatives that I can find because I'm just tired of feeling sluggish or like before when I was just eating regular, I would just go get something basic like a cheeseburger and fries.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:41

I sit back, I come back and sit down and eat before I go out and work, and then I just lose hella energy. Like I damn near feel like I lost 70% of my energy by just eating that.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:54

And I'm like, ain't no way because when I eat, when I go and get like my plant-based chicken wraps or something like that, I just have it's either I'm gonna have the same energy or more energy.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:06

I don't lose energy though when I eat clean. Right. So it's just crazy. And us being brought up to eat the dirty food, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:16

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:17

It's like, so a lot of people I feel it's just hard for them to unlearn the way that been passed down from generations, generations and generations, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:26

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:27

So I don't know what we're gonna do, but we definitely gotta do something.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:33

I agree. I know a lot of people are they're looking for that. Um, so I think the more you know we have those places available for people, yeah, and then the less we make more chicken and barbecue places that you know don't even do nothing for you for real.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:54

I think that's what I mean, I think that's the direction that Detroit is trying to go in.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:59

Um, if you look at it from just like a like just from a business standpoint, you you see a lot of that behind the scenes. It's just that it's not as popular.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:08

Yeah, and I tell people, I think the reason why I might not be as popular is because people haven't been taking time out over the years to even learn vegan recipes that taste good.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:20

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:21

Like people, a lot of people that try to be vegan the first time. I'm gonna tell you by my first experience when I was 18. I thought me being vegan was gonna be me eating rice every time I got hungry. So I would just keep ordering white rice and just eat that. And I'm like, yeah, I can't do this. This yeah, this ain't it. So the next time I just was like, okay, well, I gotta figure this out. I gotta plan ahead. I gotta go get some fruits and vegetables and some plant-based items and you know, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:56

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:57

And then this time, I'm like, okay, I could, I didn't expand my horizons by a billion.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:06

I didn't find out you cook vegan meals, I didn't find vegan restaurants, I didn't find vegan uh markets. Yep. Uh one place I went to, I went to the tiger market in Southfield, and they had a bunch of different stuff that I bought, like jalapenos, mint leaves, and just so much different stuff that they had available. Uh Inoki mushrooms and lion's main mushrooms. Where at first it's like you don't even know where to buy that stuff at for real.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:38

So I had to look around. I'm like, at this point, we got our cell phones and we could just Google something. Yeah, yeah. But I'm like, where do you find that at in the 90s?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:48

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:52

How do you even know where to look?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:54

So, or I mean, because you was what what year before was I born? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:01

88.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:02

Okay, so you have what three years only. So do you what was your experience back then with like the grocery shopping side of stuff? Like, did was it the same options that's out here now, or like how did you look for it?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:19

No, I I I will tell you this. I was in Arizona and this girl, um, we she came over. I was doing her hair. She came over and she was like, I'm hungry. We should get something to eat. Yeah. And I'm like, bet, let's get something to eat. We went to the grocery store. I was thinking, girl, this is not what I was thinking. I thought we were going to get some. It's like, yeah, we are getting something to eat. We're we're shopping for food. Right. I'm like, shoot, we are, you know, like it's just clicked in my head because as a child, going to get something to eat. I knew we were going to Mexican town, going to get Thai food. We was doing anything, old country buffet. That was the thing to do in the 90s was going out to eat. You know, especially, again, I'm the only child. I'm hungry. Come on, let's go. We want to go. And so it wasn't like home because meals were, it wasn't a thing for real. It was, it was, but it wasn't um like no that we we're gonna eat this way because of X, Y, and Z. Right. It was more so like, come on, let's go walk Primark Park after school. Right. It was more about exercise, not about what you took in. Yeah, you know, and then even around that time, that's where people were telling you to drink milk and then not knowing all that calcification was gonna stop their heart. Now heart disease is up.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:50

Because all the the milk drinkers was drinking the milk. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Then it was the cholesterol. So now your cholesterol is messed up. Now they're telling you, oh, you shouldn't do this. I can't believe it's not butter. Right? So now everybody is eating this, I can't believe it's not butter. Then them people got older. Now it's a significant amount of people with Alzheimer's. Like they're linking all of this stuff, and it's because if you ask my mother, she could, she's gonna tell you, it's because my mom did it. And if you ask her, she's gonna say, oh, because it's my mom did it. And nobody's questioning anything, and nobody questioned anything when I was growing up either. It's like me being home now, making my grandmother meals. So like I make her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Right, she didn't do that when I was growing up, but I know how important it is at her age that I'm not getting her the things that she would get me as a kid, right? So, like, I made her some food today, and I remember I gave her a sandwich, she eating salmon, she hates salmon, she can't stand it. But I made her a little salmon sandwich, and she said, Oh, this chicken is good, it sure is, girl.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:01

Man, yeah, no, that's what's up, yeah. That's what's up. So I'm gonna jump back into your cooking business. What do you want to be addressed as? Are you a chef?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:19

Yeah, I uh okay. So I I was actually gonna work this chef one time. I interviewed to work with her. She picked me out of all of the people who applied, I guess. And I asked her, I said, you know, what do I call myself? She said, You're a chef. And we're we're gonna call you as such. So she called, she started calling me. She's like, hey Chef Jazz. And I and I at the time I couldn't even believe it. I said, What? Like, I just be cooking. You know, like that's crazy that she would even call me that. And so she was like, No, you learn by experience. She said, You didn't go to culinary school, but you're you're learning, you're a student, and you're dedicated to the craft. Okay. And she said, you know, I understand that you think that you need to do this in order to be taught this, but this is this comes by experience. This comes by doing it over and over again. Okay. And so she said, you you learn what you need to learn. You respect those who are chefs, went to culinary school, but you also claim your right as one too. And from that conversation, I just was like, I ran with it. Like, well, I'm chef jazz then. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:34

Yeah. So um, you told me basically that basically you got to start cooking because of the food, the quality of the food out here, not being up to your liking. So just fill me in on like that journey, like outside of that, what was it like on the beginning of your cooking journey and like the evolution of that cooking journey?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:00

Well, I've always been around, you know, people who've cooked outside of my home. And so I'm like, oh man, like that seems like a lot of work, you know? So I was like, I don't know about that. Yeah. And it took for me to move to Arizona for me not to have the food that I like available for me to start cooking it. So in Arizona, you have your 24-hour Mexican places, you have a lot of American places, but you don't have a lot of soul food places. And I was like, okay, but I don't want to make it like sluggish soul food. I want to make it to where people can still eat and enjoy and then you know have a healthy meal. So, like I said, I may sprinkle some turmeric in it, and you'll never know. I'll sprinkle a little ginger in there just because of the health benefits.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:48

And it took for someone to say, hey, can you how you cook for your family? I don't know if you've ever seen any of my videos on how I cook for my family, but I cook for my family like they're at a restaurant.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:00

I take pride in that because I want them to know like you can always come here and get a you know, a good meal. And that's exactly how I started my business. You can always come to me. It's gonna feel like home, it's gonna be a vibe, and you're gonna have some good food because that's what I enjoy. And so I want to make sure you can experience it too. So somebody said, Hey, can you cook for me? Yeah, sure. Okay, we're coming from Florida, and we saw you on TikTok, and we gotta have that. I said, What? Okay, um, and that's what really started me cooking for people, yeah. And then my friend, he was like, I'm I'm gonna tell you straight up, I need to write this meal off. I'm here for for work for a work trip. So if you could just put get your LLC together, um, get your stuff, get your stuff in order, so I can write this off as for a real business, that'll be great. So I literally got my LLC so he can write my receipt off from a meal he bought for me on his expense report for work, and that's how I I officially started my business, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:14

That's what's up. So, how has it been as far as like tell me what's the pros and cons about cooking? Uh, because you know, sometimes the demand could be more than the supply.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:34

Or, you know, vice versa. Sometimes you got a lot of food, but you may not have, maybe you prepared a lot of food, but didn't get a lot of orders that day. So I just want to know what's the pros and cons to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:47

So, like, um a lot of what I like to do is my private chef and catering. So where there is a demand there, I'm I'm fulfilling that demand, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:21:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:00

I just started doing, okay, I made XYZ, y'all can come pick it up. I just started doing that here because I have community here.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:09

In Arizona, it was a straight business because I didn't have anybody to come over and try anything.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:17

So a lot of what I did was, you know, private chef. The the pros of that is making sure, okay, when they come to me, they're gonna tell their people.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:31

So I would go through my checklist over and over and over again, unloading my car, going grocery shopping, cooking for them, giving myself this window. Okay, it takes me three hours to do this for this amount of many people. My menu is strategic because I know exactly how much time this meal or this dish is going to take. Then the cons would be um the stove not working when I get to the Airbnb. Yeah, uh, the lights are out, the the electricity is out because it's a storm, it's 115 degrees outside, and I gotta unload my car by myself.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:12

That's the like the the like the uncertainty um and and really learning that you gotta maneuver and push through that and still execute.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:25

So do you ever have moments where it's like overwhelming when it comes to that? Like just fulfilling orders and whatnot.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:35

Yes, it was this one particular time I had this group and they were from Chicago. I was cooking for them. This other group was coming from, I forget where they were coming from, another state. Everybody was coming to Arizona, and I told them, I said, hey, I'm busy this weekend, I can't do it. They said, oh, but we really, really want to try your food. I'm like, okay, I'll make it work. Remember, I said that I'll make it work. So I go, I get everything, I prep it for my husband. I'm like, this is what you gotta do here. He's like, okay. But he also had the kids. I'm away on another job doing another private chef gig. He's gonna deliver the food that I prepped for him. He just had to finish it off. But it didn't come out the way that I wanted it to. I wasn't overseeing anything, and I cannot blame him because he did what I asked him to do.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:27

But it wasn't what needed to be done in that moment, right? And so he had to pack up the kids in the car, pack the food in the car and deliver this food. No, take the kids to the babysitter, deliver food, and then, you know, he's overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed because I keep getting calls, you know. Anyway, long story short, they were not happy with how things came out. Um, I get, I think I gave them like a$75 refund on like coffee on me for the morning. She waited maybe two to three days to tell me, hey, this didn't turn out right, and I saw the pictures. I I knew as soon as I saw the pictures, I'm like, ah, that's not how I would have done that. Um so she said, can I have a refund on this, this, this, and this? I said, absolutely. And she ended up writing me a raving review.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:22

Which is crazy.

unknown 1:25:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:24

Because that professionalism, that accountability was there, apologizing. Up front, I'm offering you 75 off the strength of I know that wasn't, that was some bullshit. Right. But I told you I was busy, told you I couldn't do it. Right. So my point is, if ever I have to say, I'll make it work, don't do it. Right. No, don't even, don't even try. Because now you're trying to make something shape. You're not in alignment, you're not focused. So I'll never do that. But that was a really big lesson for me. I lost out on a lot of money too.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:58

Yeah. So one thing that I did, because when I first started my cooking journey, I would uh fulfill orders when I was working at Chrysler. But the thing that I didn't think about is the fact of time versus sleep and production.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:19

So I would fulfill, I would try to fulfill every order. So I wouldn't cut people off. I would just keep taking every order and not knowing, well, you don't have the energy to do all of these orders for real.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:33

So I'll be losing sleep, pushing it, being late for work, just to fulfill these orders. I'm getting one hour just one hour of sleep to three hours of sleep. And it's just like, damn, I need to figure this shit out. It hit different when you don't have a team. Right. And it's just you cooking, you're preparing it, you going out and buying the supplies, you know what I'm saying, the ingredients or whatever. And I'm just like, damn, I needed to rethink this. Right. So I got burnt out like three different occasions, and that's why I haven't really got back into it just yet.

SPEAKER_05 1:27:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:10

Because that was so exhausting. I know. You know what I'm saying? You just trying to fulfill everybody so they not like, but damn, I gave you the money. Right. It's like, yeah. I ain't playing with you. I didn't tell, it was times where I didn't tell some people, like, yeah, I got uh, I do these salmon salads and whatnot. So they looking for their order, and I I fucked around and fell asleep. I ain't gonna even lie. So I didn't even get to do it. And they just looked at it as if I was playing, and I'm like, it ain't even that. They just don't understand. Yeah. I mean, knowing I'm supposed to fulfill the order, but I'm like, they not understand. I'm really doing everything.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:52

My hand in every pot right now. So I'm trying to, you know what I'm saying? But that was just one of the things for me. So that's why I had asked you because I'm like, maybe you had a similar experience or even other stuff that I might not have experienced due to the fact you've been doing it way longer than me. Especially on a professional level. So it's like maybe it's something you done ran into that I could look forward to when I do get back into it. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:21

Yeah, I mean I often I vet people out. That's a that's one thing. Like I don't take everybody's order. Um I'm not even order, I mean like um like an event.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:34

I vet people. Sometimes people people are energy sucks. Like they will take my energy. I can just tell by the interact.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:41

So I don't do business with everybody. Um, I can tell by the first initial conversation if I want to do business with you. That's the first thing. Um, the second thing, like I said, I don't try to make things work. I'm always like, okay, can I do this? And if I can't do it, then that's it. I don't I don't question it. I if I can't do it, I can't do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:06

Um the third thing I would say, I will stick to what I know at that time. Like, save my creativeness for the creative time.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:18

When people ask me to do things outside of, oh, you can do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:23

I know you can do it. You got it?

SPEAKER_04 1:29:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:25

And I'm like, no, I can't actually. Somebody asked me to cater for 200 people. No, it's just me. I don't have a team. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:37

So those are the things I would say.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:41

Okay, so what would you say is your greatest experience when it came to cooking? It could either be on a personal level with family, or it could be on a higher level when it came to like a catering gig you had.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:57

I think it was meeting people that I never, just regular people, honestly, that I never would have come in contact with had it not been for cooking.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:08

So like Arizona is a destination spot for vacations.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:11

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:12

So if people are, you know, coming there, they see me on TikTok, they making me bigger than what I am. Like, real talk has somebody say, wait a minute, are you Chef Jazz? And I said, Yeah. Oh my God. Like, like a normal person, like me normal. You know? I've been looking at you. Oh my goodness, I've been wanting to book you for so long. That was a crazy experience because I'm regular danger like a mug.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:46

You know? But but because I am on social media and because people don't see you as just a person, they kind of build this persona on who they think you are. Yeah. Especially the houses that I was in in Arizona. People are, oh my god, this has got to be a celebrity show.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:06

No. I just had to be a B.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:12

No, I feel you. You know, so I feel you. So we uh running up towards the end of it. Um, I want to ask you basically what so this is gonna be the second wellness check of the day. How you feeling? You know, how you feel about the pod, how it's been flowing so far.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:35

Yeah, um, for myself, I'm feeling, I would say I'm in a weird position mentally because I was doing so well in Arizona. I came back home, I was down bad to me, maybe not to others, but because I wasn't doing the things I was doing there, and I had to relearn how to move here. So wherever you are geographically, you need to learn how to move where you are. Can't move the same way. I was moving to Arizona, I had to slow down. Michigan is a lot slower. Right. Arizona's tech, heaven. It's it's baby Silicon Valley. Yeah, we moving out there, you making money. Out here, it's slower. Yeah, the weather, there's things to consider. So I have to learn how to like go slower with my momentum.

unknown 1:32:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:26

And that's crazy for me.

SPEAKER_04 1:32:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:28

Because I had to find somewhere to put it.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:32

So then I ended up where I am, made it up to where I am on my my big girl job, but that's still like not fulfilling me because I'm like, y'all, but y'all don't even see like the things I've done. Yeah, it's just almost like a pat on the back. It's like, okay, but put that let the work match.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:53

You know? So that I'm just in a weird transitional phase, but I'm getting through it if I'm being honest.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:00

I'm just trying to stay grateful and just see how everything unfolds for me. Right. The podcast really, it really had me just happy to have that same mindset, just being grateful because by telling my story, I can rethink on the times I wasn't even here. Right. You know, where I didn't even have a dang on quarter to get anything. Literally looking at two cents, like, hmm. Ha! You know what I'm saying? Um, and now I know how to, I know how to get bread.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:43

Arizona taught me that.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:45

And I just want to keep teaching and and showing people like when you walk in purpose and the demand is there, you will make money. Right. And so like even people ask me for money. You can't get money from you, but you can help me make some money. I can show you how to make some money. Right. Because that's what somebody did for me in Arizona. Right. They showed me how to make money. Right. So I'm just trying to navigate my way through that. Thankful to be here, thankful to chop it up with you, and just kind of going through my life again, you know, making sure I'm staying grateful for every chapter.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:24

You know, that led me here.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:26

So, where do you feel you got your hustler's ambition from?

SPEAKER_00 1:34:30

Oh, man. My dad, okay, you know, I know I'm kind of like an alpha female. I get it. It is what it is. But my dad treated me like I was, like we was on pop. I don't know. Like my dad, he would be like, hey, look, you need something? Yeah. All right, me up here. He had the auto zone. He gave me a rubber band stack. Here you go. That was my life. Like, I got the new outfits, the new, you know, gym shoes. My daddy didn't dress me like or he dressed me like a boy, you know? So like he was always like, get that paper. So like I intimidate a lot of men because I move, like, I don't know. Like, I be moving like one, you know, it is because that's how my dad, my dad was he big time, like they call him, you know, big money Dave.

SPEAKER_05 1:35:24

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:25

Because he had the bread, you know? And that's what he was really teaching me. And I think like as I got older, I became more and more like him. Um, to where I got that hustler's mindset. My dad, like, he always like gets that bread. He's like, I don't want to hear it. Get it. You know? Um, so you you tell me you 12 years old, mama, my daddy said he got some money for me and he gave me rubber bands of money.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:52

You know, we listening to songs I'm not even supposed to be listening to at that age. You know, he got me thinking, I'm I'm the plug, you know what I mean? But my dad had that streak background. Yeah. You know, I ain't gonna get into it too much, but but you know, he was just always on me about that. And so that's why I just I'm I I really turned into a little baby him. Um his side of the whole family. It was just into it. Yeah, like that's in our DNA.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:24

Um, so it really took a strong man to marry me. Yeah. Because I ain't about the fool. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:34

Nah, that's what's up though. Yeah. We need more people out here like you though, for sure. I appreciate you. I appreciate your appreciation. I gotta use that. Man, so I got another question. Uh may or may not be the last, but you was talking about knowing your family.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:57

What are some things, what are some key things you think when it comes to knowing your family is important?

SPEAKER_00 1:37:05

I think it's important you know um where that where that ceiling, where like where the ceiling stops. So, like, for instance, for for me, a lot of my family members never went past high school.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:23

They may have gone to a few community college classes, but education was not something that they were really big on. So, like, I'm like, okay, I have to do this, I have to facilitate this for myself.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:35

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:35

Because I'm not gonna have, I don't have any examples of what higher education looks like. Right. I'm the first to do it. Put a fast platform in front of my mama, she's like, I don't know what that is. You know what I'm saying? I had to learn these things on myself for myself. So it's like, okay, I have to get that. So I'm like, okay, put that in my bag. Education on me. Right? Then it's like understanding her high energy, her light. I possess that. Don't want to fumble it. How do I cultivate it? How do I make sure I'm nurturing that light?

SPEAKER_03 1:38:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:09

You know, um, vibrating high, understanding what I'm putting in into, you know, my eyes and what I'm ingesting. And then understanding my grandmother, her modesty, her classiness, while she was uh a North grandmother, not a South grandmother, working for white people, understanding the language, understanding what it meant to be a white or be a black person in a white room, how to work the room. She taught me that. She worked at high-end retail stores.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:42

Understanding how to connect with just anybody off the street, that's Grandpa Frank right there.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:49

He's gonna, he's gonna always give me the real, you know. So I tap in, even though he's not here no more. I tap in him a little bit, you know. Um, and just understanding like with each person, who they were, who they are still, yeah, what they have taught me and what they possess, and how I, as the next in line, I mean, they do it for kings and queens, right? Princes and princesses, you next in line.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:18

So you need to learn what crown you need to pick up, what burdens you don't need to bear, and understanding, like we talked about the food, how that wasn't something that was brought up. So now it's me teaching them about things like that. So it's like understanding your family, knowing where you came from so you can be successful.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:39

Right. I got you, and I definitely agree with that. Yeah. So I got one last question. What would you get, or what advice would you give somebody that's struggling with their sense of direction? They don't know which way to go in life, they don't know if it's college, they don't know if it's go get a job. They just overthinking it right now. Like, what's something that you would tell them to just to give them a sense of peace?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:11

I would say spend time in your environment outside of the people you're with. So literally, if you're outside, you see, okay, I know this sounds crazy, but like, for real, right now, but is it kind of rainy, right? So, like, your atmosphere is what is it doing outside of you right now? You gotta start from source.

SPEAKER_05 1:40:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:37

Like, right now where we are, it's not go outside weather. It's the the atmosphere, the the universe is saying come in, right? It's raining, it's replenishing the earth. So now I need to be cognizant of like, okay, I don't need to be out here, I need to be focused and listening. I need to I need to meditate. And I think people struggle with direction because they don't understand, like, we looked to the sun for direction before we had clocks.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:03

We knew what to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:05

Because we go on the clock of how the environment around us is, right? The new year is coming up in April. That's the real new year. Yeah. If we think about it, you know, and we align ourselves with how we're supposed to be aligned. I think it starts there, but you can't get there if you're not deprogrammed. Because if what I'm saying to you, you don't understand, you're not gonna tap in and you might find yourself in cycles. I've grown several times. I've revamped who I was several times. That's why people who've seen me or who haven't seen me since I moved, they don't even know how to talk to me.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:42

They're not even on a level. I'm not even trying to boast about that. I'm just saying it, you have to learn where you are and go with that motion.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:53

You know, so like it was winter time. Winter time, you get up, you you read, you study, you learn, you listen in the winter. You're quiet in the winter. If you go outside in the summer, you you now, okay, the sun is out. Black people, we're deficient in vitamin D. So I think it's really understanding where you are on earth, taking that knowledge, putting that in, but we got chat people. I mean, I'm not a fan of a lot of the AI tools, yeah, but really learning your genealogy tools, of where you're supposed to be, who you are, and then looking inward to say, okay, now where do I fit there? My husband, he's really kind of struggling with that, as far as like, you know, where he should be, but he was on my journey with me, so he's seen it.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:42

And I think he can take more appreciation because he can learn from me on what on what I did, and he he he's doing it now. You know, he's like, no, you know, I don't necessarily want to do what I've done before. So what am I good at? So now we're listening, we're looking at signs, we're looking at things that happen in threes. But I mean, you know what I'm saying? You really gotta tap in that deep sometimes to find your direction because that's how deep purpose and direction is.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:15

Right. And it's a lot of stuff that helped me find purpose in life. It started for me with finding different podcasts where I would be struggling with just overthinking, um, not having a sense. When I got out of high school, I had zero sense of direction. I didn't know, I just knew I wanted to be successful, but at what I wasn't a hundred percent sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:42

So I would just be like, well, maybe I'm gonna keep sell, I was selling candy and stuff in school. So I'm like, maybe that's gonna be my thing. Right. You know, some type of retail, or then I start working at Walmart. I'm like, I'm gonna use this as a tool to help me figure out this retail side of stuff. Right. Figure out customer service and all of that. Um, I would just try different stuff. So some people they'll be judging and laughing. I'm like, guess what? Y'all don't even know what I'm doing this for. Like, I'm doing, I'm using every job that I ever had as a stepping stone. Like, okay, I learned this from here. I got my holo license from there. I didn't, you know what I'm saying? So let's say if I get a little mom and pop shop, I could rock, you know, drive my own hollow and load my own, you know, merchandise. So it's just different uh elements that help me out throughout this, you know, situation.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:37

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:38

Um, I don't know, as I got older, it was just more and more I was just pulling from different people. Whether they was doing right or wrong, though. So if they was doing wrong, I was like, well, I'm definitely not listening to you. Right. Then it was like at times where you just get stuck. That's that could be the toughest time when you just get stuck and you just like, I'm trying to move forward, but I really don't know which way is up for real.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:09

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:10

That's where it's just okay, let me try something else. Let me twist and turn this way, let me, you know what I'm saying? Right. Eventually something wind up clicking, and it's like I just felt that level of elevation. And at one point for me, I just used to think the worst outcome. So I couldn't really enjoy, I would always think ahead because I was in survival mode.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:36

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:37

And my greatest fear was dying and not completing something. Something meaningful, not just like going to high school and past grad uh graduating high school, but like really making my mark to where it's like I can be fulfilled and I can be proud of what I've been doing. And as of late, I can say that I really been moving in my purpose. So even when it comes to this pie, it's like this is the greatest feeling I done had in life because of my consistency with it. Yeah. And not only is it, it it's it's different elements within here that help me out as far as just the growth and maturity side. Um, doing my research on people, doing research in day-to-day life, um, learning the people that I'm interviewing. You know what I'm saying? We're going back and forth because even though we family, it's like you still you could grow up in the same house with somebody and not know who they is.

SPEAKER_02 1:46:37

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:37

So it's with this, it's just a tool that I use to help me understand what your life is like or what life is like through your lens.

SPEAKER_05 1:46:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:48

Cause I know we don't all have the same exact experience.

SPEAKER_05 1:46:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:46:53

But yeah, it's just been something great for me. And I'm gonna say this intentionally, I didn't ask you everything that I wanted to, just so we could get apart too.

SPEAKER_00 1:47:06

I love that, I love that so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:08

We didn't get into like other therapeutic questions or you know, look, you know, the size of marriage, yeah, you know, losses here and there, whether it's family or financial, whatever it could be. Yeah, so it's a lot that I want to bring to the table, but I definitely enjoy the back and forth. Yeah, it's um is this some you want do you want to plug your business or whatever you could say, your social media, you can put it on?

SPEAKER_00 1:47:37

Um well, yeah. I will say though, I am transitioning out of my private chef and catering company because I want to focus more on my my cafe. That's long term for me. So, like, love and play LLC, shout out me. It's Chef Jazz, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok. But just know that I my my like direction that I'm trying to go in as of like for real, a couple days ago. Um, it started my cafe. And so I'm trying to transition out, trying to slow down my business. Tell me, 2025, I took 54 new clients on top of my already existing client. I can't have to hire people now. I gotta work smarter, I'm getting older. So that's what I'm working. So coming soon, you're gonna see Yarbos Cafe.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:32

Shout out Yarbos Cafe, that's what we're doing. Shout out. We we gonna create the vibe, we're gonna bring people to us, and we're gonna try to, you know, put some some healthier food options out here in the city.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:46

Okay, that's what's up. That's what's up. Okay, I appreciate having you.

SPEAKER_00 1:48:51

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:52

This has been another episode of Dead Peter Murphy and the data Zen Master, and we out.