Interview with Chef Jennifer Sebasigari about pursuing celebrity chef dreams, leveraging social media, and the annual Live Fire Fest charity event.
Chef Jennifer Sebasigari once dreamed of becoming a celebrity chef, but now she’s dreaming about helping others make their own dreams come true.
From becoming a chef to championing immigrant and refugee causes with her SEBAS Foundation, Sebasigari's story is one of transformation and empowerment.
Chef Jennifer Sebasigari once dreamed of becoming a celebrity chef, but now she’s dreaming about helping others make their own dreams come true.
From becoming a chef to championing immigrant and refugee causes with her SEBAS Foundation, Sebasigari's story is one of transformation and empowerment.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Restaurant Influencers, presented by Entrepreneur.
00:09I am your host, Sean Walchef.
00:11This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life, in the restaurant business, and in the new
00:16creator economy.
00:18We learn through lessons and stories.
00:20Today we have Chef Jennifer Sebastigari.
00:25You can find her on Instagram at Jennifer Sebastigari.
00:28She has over 333,000 Instagram followers.
00:32She's a chef.
00:33She's a content creator.
00:34She's a TEDx speaker.
00:36She's going to be an upcoming movie.
00:38The reason why we put on this show is to teach not just the hospitality business, but any
00:42business owner that storytelling is important.
00:45And Chef Jennifer, thank you for agreeing to share your secrets with us.
00:51Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
00:55You are one of the first people that actually know how to pronounce my last name.
01:00So kudos to you.
01:02Thank you.
01:03Thank you so much.
01:04Well, let's start with our favorite random question, which is, where in the world is
01:08your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
01:13Oh, man, wait, so what an interesting question.
01:20So favorite stadium, I would say Toyota Center.
01:25I used to live right across the street from the Toyota Center in Houston.
01:29So that was fun.
01:31I've gone to my very first adult concert at the Toyota Center.
01:37So favorite venue, I've never been, but I would say this beautiful venue in Italy in
01:46Lake Como.
01:48I want to do like a dope barbecue cookout, live fire event there.
01:52They do a lot of weddings.
01:54I'm not sure what's the name, but it's in Lake Como.
01:57You see it all the time on social media.
02:00What was the third?
02:03Stadium, stage, or venue?
02:05Stage.
02:06Oh, I would say the TED stage.
02:10That's my favorite stage.
02:12That's awesome.
02:13Well, we're going to go to the Toyota Center, since that's right in your hometown, and we're
02:19going to rent out the Toyota Center.
02:20We're going to put on an event for entrepreneur, for Toast, who's the title sponsor of this
02:25show.
02:26Toast powers all of our technology and all of our barbecue restaurants, and they give
02:30us the opportunity to share stories like this.
02:32We'll get some other partners involved.
02:34But what we care about is people that listen to this show, people that watch.
02:38They are a different breed.
02:40We are not ordinary hospitality professionals.
02:43We are storytellers at heart, and we're going to go, and we're going to rent out the entire
02:48Toyota Center.
02:49I'm going to put you on center stage, and I'm going to say, Chef Jennifer, bring us
02:53back.
02:54Bring us back to your first cooking experience at the refugee camp when you fell in love
02:59with food, and tell us the story.
03:02Man, you just put me on the spot.
03:06That's how we do it.
03:07That's how we do it on this show.
03:08First, I would thank the crowd.
03:11You got to route them out.
03:13Make sure that you're in the building.
03:15They're there.
03:16You're connecting with them emotionally, physically.
03:19They're feeling your vibe.
03:21Then I would tell them the story, how my first experience in a refugee camp, Toyota Center,
03:27are you here?
03:29Where's all my refugees?
03:30Where's all my immigrants?
03:33Where's all of my fighters, my outsider, my barbecue cooker?
03:38The grill girl, where are you?
03:41Come on.
03:42Let's hear you.
03:43Let's hear you, right?
03:46My first love of cooking happened when I was just a shy little girl.
03:51I was about 11 years old, very sad, but cooking just gave me so much joy.
03:58I was in a refugee camp watching my parents struggle.
04:02They came from all the way at the top.
04:05My parents, we ended up in a refugee camp, but we didn't have anything.
04:10My mom had to go to the grocery store to get some vegetable to the farm.
04:17She was like, Jen, I need you to cook.
04:19I was like, man.
04:21I've watched her cook.
04:22I was her little marketer.
04:24I've been a marketer sales girl since I was almost 10 years old, marketing chapatis.
04:29Anybody in here eat chapati?
04:32Where's my Indians?
04:35Where's my West Africans?
04:38But anyways, so I literally just, she had all of the ingredients there, tomato paste,
04:46tomato sauce.
04:48She had the onion, the garlic, the nutmeg.
04:53She had the ginger and I just chopped those vegetables, baby.
04:59I was just a little girl chopping the vegetable.
05:01Probably my hand was dirty.
05:03Probably didn't know what I was doing, but it's OK, right?
05:05Sometimes you're going to cook with a little dirt.
05:08It's all good.
05:08It's outside.
05:09It's open fire.
05:11And I started by just making the fire.
05:14My neighbor was with me.
05:16She was our next door neighbor.
05:18She was a single woman and she just helped me make the fire.
05:23We turned out the fire.
05:25I learned how to make the fire the old school way.
05:28I'm sure a lot of people in here make it the new school way where we had to take charcoal
05:34and something like this, either paper or plastic.
05:38You put it on top and then you just let that fire go until it's just going to work.
05:46You're going to add as many charcoal as you can, as many paper as you can.
05:51And that's really what happened.
05:53The fire started.
05:55Then I started chopping my vegetables.
05:56After chopping my vegetables, I was like, man, what do I do next?
06:00I remember the night before she was making a red sauce.
06:03So I put onions, let them sear for about a couple of minutes.
06:09After I let them sear, I added my garlic.
06:12And it was so crazy that I knew this technique when I was a kid, but I didn't even know that
06:17these were techniques.
06:18Right. And I just added my garlic.
06:21Make sure it's sweat.
06:22Then I added all my my seasoning and then I made a sauce.
06:27But then on another clay pot, I was just searing that meat with salt and pepper.
06:32Add it all together.
06:33Took some water, add it all in and let it braise for about an hour.
06:40Make sure there was sauce.
06:42I'm not sure if it was very buttery, but we use Goya oil.
06:49That was one thing that was given to us.
06:51And there we have my very first cooking experience in a refugee camp.
06:58And it was delicious.
07:00Until today, I remember that flavor and it's always in my it's like the staple of my
07:06cooking. Garlic, nutmeg.
07:10Salt and pepper.
07:13And fresh ginger, that combination is magic.
07:18Can you bring us back to the struggle of the refugee camp, the hardship that you went
07:24went through to and how old were you when you first came over to America?
07:29Man, the refugee camp was such, you know, I don't like to use it as a struggle anymore
07:35because it really shaped who I am as a woman today.
07:39So it was actually a blessing.
07:42So a little bit, we're just going to go back a little further down.
07:47My father was a diplomat for the Congolese government in Burundi.
07:51So we lived such an amazing life while we were there.
07:56And when the war happened, the civil war in Rwanda, which is known as the genocide of
08:03Rwanda happened, it really affected all of the countries, all of the surrounding
08:09countries. So Congo was one of them.
08:11So we went back to Congo and that's really when the struggle started.
08:17The struggle started by, you know, my father getting kidnapped almost three times.
08:24I feel like the first time we actually had like a funeral for him and because we didn't
08:31know that he was going to come back.
08:32But God is so good.
08:35My dad is still here today.
08:37And he, you know, he was a very powerful man.
08:41So we didn't really live in that area much because he was working a lot in Burundi.
08:48So a lot of people didn't know who he was when we came back.
08:51You know, a lot of people were talking.
08:53So they try to kidnap him.
08:55I've watched my mom.
08:57She's such a resilient woman.
08:58I think I get a lot of her strength, my strength through her.
09:04I've seen her really just almost going to just a deep, deep depression.
09:10There were times that the soldiers would come in, the rebels would come in and they would
09:15just put all of us down and and just ask my parents for money.
09:21And my mom would have to go to the safe, give them money and they would leave.
09:26So I've watched so much of that happening.
09:29And then thank God for the United Nations, when all of this commotion was happening and
09:35we didn't know where to go.
09:38My mom knew someone that worked for the United Nations.
09:42This is why I always tell people relationship building is so important, because I
09:46learned how relationship building really helped my parents to get here.
09:51My parents always had great relationship with people, made sure that they kept those
09:58relationship and they nurtured those relationship is really important.
10:02So that guy actually told my mom, hey, the United Nations is giving 1500 visa to
10:08Congolese victim to come to America.
10:11And at first my dad was like, oh, hell no, I'm not going.
10:14I'm not leaving my property, my farm, my great life that I have to go live in a refugee
10:20camp. My mom at that point, she was just so done.
10:23She was like, I'm going to take my kids.
10:27There's six of us.
10:28I'm going to pack and take my kids.
10:30You want to stay here for houses and real estate?
10:33Don't care. So he packed all of us up.
10:38And the night before we were packing for like three days, the night before my dad decided
10:44to come with us. At first he was like, no, I'm not I'm not going.
10:47I'm staying. I have so much assets here.
10:51Right. But I'm so glad that he chose us.
10:54So then we went to a refugee camp in Congo.
10:57So after three weeks of being there, getting screened, then we relocated to Cameroon
11:04in Longhi.
11:05It was really like a desert tornado zone.
11:09It was a great place for me.
11:12It was kind of like I remember going into that flight.
11:17I was just looking around like, thank God we don't have to see the soldiers.
11:22We don't have to think about people dying.
11:24We don't have to run away from, you know, the war, actually
11:30witness dead people.
11:33Like it was just such a horrific memory that I have.
11:37So I was just really, really excited to get on that plane.
11:40So when we got on the plane, we got to the refugee camp, which is Longhi.
11:46We were living in tents.
11:48First time I've ever lived in a tent outside.
11:53I call it kind of like tent jail.
11:55But it was like those super tiny like mattress.
12:04But I'm so thankful because all of the experiences really taught me also how to be
12:09humble, how to be so appreciative of the good times and the bad times.
12:14So, you know, we were there for a year and a half getting screened.
12:19My sister actually came before us a year before us because she was an adult.
12:23And then we followed her after.
12:25And then we moved.
12:26We were relocated in Austin, Texas.
12:30Do you remember Austin, Texas, when you first got there?
12:34Oh, yes.
12:36That's my home, Austin.
12:38Like I love Austin.
12:41Like that's Austin is like my home.
12:44It's literally like my home.
12:46Like I I have so much memories in Austin.
12:51Austin was great.
12:52I remember, you know what I really remember?
12:54I remember getting to JFK.
12:58Because it was my very first time being in a big airport like that, so I remember
13:05coming into JFK, I was super, super excited, I saw so many lights like I was
13:12like, oh, my God, the lights, there were so many people.
13:16I remember I saw a lot of Jews in JFK.
13:19That was my very first time seeing Jews.
13:22And then they had the the I think it's called the Yamaka, if I'm not correct.
13:27Sorry, guys.
13:30So I saw so many people and I was just like a shy little girl.
13:35I didn't know like how to fit in.
13:37I didn't speak any English.
13:39And I knew at that point that we looked different because of just like the way
13:44people were looking at us.
13:46But that really didn't bother me because I was just excited that we were there and
13:52we had somebody to greet us from the nonprofit organization that we worked
13:57with. So that was really cool.
14:01Do you remember when you first applied to go to culinary school?
14:06Oh, yes.
14:08Tell us, give us a story about that decision.
14:11Oh, so when I moved to Austin after high school, I was very confused and I had a lot
14:22of trauma. I really didn't know who I was as a person or what was my purpose in
14:29life. I was just going through so much emotional, just emotional roller coaster.
14:39So that took me to a really, really dark spot where I was just partying a lot, really
14:46not caring about school.
14:49All of my family members was highly educated.
14:52So education was super important for my family.
14:55And I was like, I don't want to go to school.
14:56I just want to party.
14:57I don't want to look like this because I have so much trauma.
15:01And my parents also, they really didn't know how to help me.
15:06And it's not because they didn't want to help me.
15:08They just had no idea how to help me.
15:11So I had an epic 25th birthday.
15:16I had like a two weeks party.
15:19I hosted party.
15:20That's whenever hosting party was like the thing.
15:23I host a party at like seven clubs in Houston.
15:31Nice. And I was just like partying every day, like every time I see this
15:38influencer, Alex, Alex Earl, it really reminds me of me when I was a kid because
15:43she's just so loud and all her story resonates to me because I'm like, oh, my
15:48God, that was me. That was definitely me.
15:51But anyways, so like happy party going out during all this stuff, getting
15:57published and like, you know, modeling magazines and things like that.
16:02And I just woke up.
16:03And after that, I woke up, I was in my bed by myself and I just felt so low.
16:12I was like, I'm not really feeling this anymore.
16:16And then my family, we weren't just we weren't really getting along, so they
16:21didn't really like my choices.
16:24And I realized I was like, dude, I have all this influence.
16:28I've grown so many followers.
16:30I've partied in Miami, Vegas, Super Bowl, All-Star Weekend, you name it.
16:37Right. And I was like, I need to do something.
16:39What am I going to do?
16:40Like, what is something that I love?
16:42So I was like, I remember when we came to America, my mom, she always cooked.
16:48So she went to actually go to La Cordon Bleu to visit.
16:52And I went with her and she never went through.
16:58So I was like, maybe I should go to culinary school.
17:02So then I went online.
17:04I was like, well, I need to figure out like like what type of chef am I going to
17:09be like? What does the chef work look like?
17:12Because I had no idea.
17:14So I go online.
17:15I found Giada.
17:17I'm like Googling hot chef.
17:21Sexy chef, that's what I was Googling, hot, sexy chef.
17:26And it's like Giada de la Trentes, Martha Stewart.
17:30I'm like, Rachael Ray.
17:33When she did FM magazine, I was like, oh, OK, so they exist.
17:38OK, so they're hot, they cook, they have restaurants.
17:41I have no idea.
17:43So I'm thinking right after culinary school, this is going to be my life.
17:49So I go, I at this time I live in Austin, Houston, so I call my best friend.
17:55I'm like, girl, I'm going back to school.
17:56I'm going to be a chef.
17:57I'm going to do this.
17:58And she's like, oh, OK, good for you.
18:01I call my mom. I was like, yeah, I'm going to be a chef of the culinary school.
18:05I'm going to go work for Giada and I'm going to be this big celebrity chef
18:10and I'm going to get on magazines.
18:12I'm going to have my own TV show.
18:14Oh, baby.
18:17And then I go with that energy.
18:20Yeah. To go tour culinary school, right?
18:24OK, so I'm looking up with the administration guy.
18:29His name was Sean.
18:31And he was like, yeah, and he's giving me a tour.
18:34I'm telling him all my goals and he's just feeding me all these goals like,
18:39yes, you're going to be a celebrity chef.
18:42You have this.
18:44Oh, have you ever heard of like Michelin star chefs?
18:48I'm like, what is that?
18:49Oh, they're these big time chef.
18:52I was like, oh, my God.
18:53So after culinary school, after I graduate, this is like the life.
18:57Yes. He's totally feeding into my ego.
19:02So I signed the paper,
19:07start school, and I realized that,
19:10oh, no, this is not what's going to happen.
19:16And that was the journey, but I'm so glad that I went through.
19:19I graduated with honors because, you know, when I first went to culinary school,
19:24I thought that going to culinary school, as soon as you
19:27you graduate, you become this big time chef.
19:30So I was like, I need to go to school every day.
19:32I need to get on. I need to be on on honors.
19:35I need to really get a big internship
19:39because I knew that all of those athletes will help me become this big time chef.
19:45But no idea that I have to go be a prep cook.
19:49Right.
19:51So that was pretty funny.
19:56Bring us in. Tell us about being a prep cook.
19:59I mean, I think I think a lot of people in the hospitality space,
20:04restaurant owners, we we we want to open up a restaurant
20:07and then we open up the restaurant and then we're doing everything
20:10that we thought we would never do.
20:11But that's the reality of the hospitality businesses,
20:15that you have to do the jobs that no one else wants to do
20:18until you can figure out how to get someone else to do those jobs.
20:22Oh, my God, what a great question.
20:24Yeah. I mean, being a prep cook was a culture shock.
20:28I walked in the kitchen.
20:29I'm this really cute girl full of makeup on.
20:33I have women chef.
20:35They're like, oh, this is not a fashion show.
20:39There are just like and I don't like to call them haters.
20:43There was just like not friendly.
20:47So it was so tough.
20:50I had to learn.
20:51Mind you, I was 25 years old, so my ego was just getting shot
20:57everywhere, but I had to also learn how to check my ego because now
21:01I have to move up the ladder.
21:04So. I just went in there, I was very quiet.
21:10Because I really, really didn't want anybody to know what I did
21:13outside of work, which was like my modeling and things like that.
21:18All of the brand deals that I had.
21:20So I was very quiet, very shy.
21:25I asked question, but they thought it was annoying.
21:29So I was pretty much like the annoying girl that always ask question
21:33and doesn't know anything.
21:35That's how I was labeled.
21:36Oh, she's so annoying.
21:38Oh, she never knows anything.
21:40Oh, she is.
21:44For you, when when when did you first find your voice online?
21:49Which platform was it? Instagram?
21:51Instagram. Yeah.
21:53What what year were you starting to actually, you know,
21:56start to create content, start to build community?
22:00I started to build a community since the first time I got on Instagram.
22:05That's amazing. Which it was in 2012.
22:08I was going to Miami for spring break and I had an Android phone.
22:14And I remember me and one of my best friend, she had Instagram,
22:18but she would use Instagram as remember.
22:20I don't know if you remember.
22:21Instagram just used to be the app that will go and edit our photos
22:25to post it on Twitter.
22:27So it was just a filter app.
22:31So she will always have these beautiful pictures of her outside.
22:36I was like, girl, what filter that she's like, I use my mom's phone
22:39because it has Instagram.
22:41And I remember first time I got on Instagram,
22:44we were literally on our way to Miami.
22:47I was online checking one Instagram is going to get on Android
22:52and I put and the first time
22:56I posted and I started posting every single day
23:00and I was just post photos of me.
23:02And that's when I learned that personal branding is it's bigger
23:07than your restaurant, your
23:11I mean, your products, it's you are the brand.
23:14So what was your first brand deal on Instagram?
23:19My first brand deal was Fashion Nova.
23:22OK, and how did that come to be?
23:25What did what did they want?
23:27What was the outcome?
23:28So they wanted to do some posts.
23:33They will send me every every three months.
23:36I actually saw a lot of the girls that was just doing like,
23:40I guess, Instagram modeling that was doing.
23:42Instagram modeling that was that's what it's called now
23:46getting Fashion Nova.
23:47And I was like, dude, I'm just going to DM them.
23:50I slid in the DM, I was like, hey, I think at that time
23:54I had like 50000 followers or something.
23:57And I was like, I would love to start working with you guys.
24:00So they start selling me like boxes of clothes, boxes of clothes.
24:04But Fashion Nova, the reason why Fashion Nova is such a huge brand
24:09and it's such a huge community because they control what you post.
24:15They control your content, they control what you post,
24:18what what you actually pick out.
24:21They will never have you pick out outfits that are
24:25conservative or office where it's always sexy.
24:30They like he has mastered brand identity.
24:35And so I started working with them.
24:38I worked with them for almost five years.
24:41And when I decided to rebrand, that's when that deal fell apart
24:46because I was just not going to take pictures like that anymore.
24:50For you, learning what you did in the modeling space
24:54and bringing it over to culinary, what what did you learn?
24:58I learned that
25:01social media is one of the most powerful tools that we have.
25:05Social media gets you access to things that you will never dream of.
25:11I remember when we went to the All-Star Game, we met French Montana.
25:17It was me and one of my really good friends in French Montana
25:20is who gave us tickets and we were right there front row
25:23at the All-Star Game.
25:25And we would have never met French Montana
25:29if we were not Instagram famous or whatever you want to call it.
25:34Or we were an Instagram girls out.
25:37There's so many things that social media does for you.
25:41So for me, every time that I'm rebranding or I'm launching something,
25:45I always try to connect with the players in that industry,
25:50bring them value and also bring myself value as well.
25:56That's great. Can you share a little bit about the movie?
26:00You got. Yeah, I can share.
26:02Yes. So Tables of Nation is coming out.
26:05I so I started my nonprofit about.
26:09So I met the producers and the director through
26:15one of my colleagues that has helped me also
26:20as a mentor to my nonprofit.
26:23So they are looking for incredible stories of immigrants or refugees
26:28that are chefs that are caterers that have restaurant.
26:32So I was casted for that movie.
26:34The premiere, it's it's a documentary docuseries.
26:38The premiere is February twenty twenty first.
26:41And we're streaming it online.
26:43So I'm super, super excited.
26:45We'll put a link in the show notes for anybody that wants to see or find
26:49find the the movie. That's awesome.
26:52Congratulations. That's a big deal.
26:54Thank you. I'm super excited to just share my story
26:58and to connect with more people
27:01and to just, you know, share the story of resilience.
27:05I feel like a lot of people, you know, they see us online
27:07and they think it's all peaches and cream.
27:10But there's so much to unpack and to unveil and to,
27:14you know, to learn from others as well.
27:17Can you share anything about the live fire feast that you're going to be hosting?
27:22Yes, I'm so excited.
27:25So live fire is happening.
27:28This is the third year.
27:29Every time I talk about live fire,
27:32I get so nervous because it's so stressful.
27:37We we did we did a charity event in front of our restaurant for 10 years
27:42where we shut down the entire street and it was this big, huge production.
27:45And it is a lot of work.
27:48It's a lot of work.
27:50Is that Dine en Blanc?
27:52What's that?
27:53Is that the one that you're talking about, Dine en Blanc?
27:56No, it's it was the Spring Valley Tailgate and Barbecue Festival.
27:59But we we've organized, you know, large, large events and charity events.
28:04And it's a lot of work.
28:06And I understand the the worries that go in the sleepless nights of
28:10is it going to work or people going to show up or people going to donate money?
28:14Are we going to get enough sponsors?
28:15Are we going to sell enough tickets?
28:16It just it's never ending.
28:18The anxiety is coming.
28:20I'm sorry.
28:22Last year, I gained 30 pounds of stress.
28:26Yeah, I was like, so this year, I'm glad that I'm in West Texas.
28:30Just relaxing before I go back to Houston to start planning.
28:35But Life Fire is great.
28:36You know, it's something that I'm super passionate about.
28:39I got the idea when I when I I saw I was standing in the field
28:45on Instagram, and I was just so in wow
28:50about how they put their event together.
28:53And I've always wanted to be part of it.
28:55But I don't think I'm a big enough chef to be part of it yet.
29:00But I was like, you know what?
29:02I'm going to create my own outstanding in the field.
29:06But the difference is.
29:08We're just going to cook on these huge open fire grills
29:12and really put a fun event for millennials together,
29:18a fundraiser where we raise money for immigrants and refugees.
29:22About 60 percent of actually all of our sponsors
29:27and all of our staff that we hire is immigrant and refugee based businesses.
29:33So it's not just that we're raising money for these programs,
29:37but we're also hiring
29:41those minority companies through this event.
29:45So it's going to be June 20th in Houston.
29:48This year, we're doing a wine.
29:51We want to do it at a winery.
29:53So it's going to be kind of like a wine dinner.
29:55I'm trying to figure out how we can cure a huge pig
30:01so that everybody can just come and like, you know,
30:05slice a piece themselves, kind of how the Ethiopian do their their big meat.
30:12So we try to do different things every year.
30:15Last year was Taco Tuesday.
30:17It was amazing.
30:20And all of the auction part of our events is always like live arts.
30:25So we always just like party and have fun.
30:30We have a very young demographic, a demographic of mostly 25, no, 27 to 40.
30:36And that is really what we want to keep it
30:39because we want to grow with our donor as well.
30:42So this year is just going to be a different event.
30:45They're going to come in.
30:47They're going to do a wine tour.
30:49We're trying to find some activities, less talking, more,
30:55more fundraising.
30:56We're going to have a longer auction hour.
30:59So the one hour we'll do an hour and a half more artists
31:02and just very fun food and wine.
31:08Any type of ideas that you have for me, Sean, send them my way.
31:12You got it.
31:14I know you do a lot of work with with restaurant owners and business owners,
31:17with social media and with branding.
31:20We have an amazing audience of people from all over the world
31:23that tune into the show.
31:25Can you share a little bit, a couple, a couple of secrets of things
31:28that you've learned about the power of social media, of where to start?
31:32If you're a restaurant owner that's listening to this,
31:34where should they start with social media?
31:38Man, you know, in twenty twenty four, I would say
31:42with restaurant owner to start posting.
31:45Start posting, go back to your brand guideline,
31:49you know, and just stay on brand.
31:52Start posting. Tell us stories about your food.
31:56We want to be connected to your food.
31:58There's nothing better than you're eating something
32:01that has meaning behind it.
32:04You know, we don't want to just hear how great the chef is
32:07and how many James Beer award he won.
32:11Don't care. We want to know the real story about the ingredient,
32:16where they're from, how are they cultivated?
32:20Who is cultivating them?
32:23How are you impacting the environment?
32:26How are you impacting people's life?
32:29What are you doing for your staff?
32:31You know, we we we crave for that as consumer.
32:34I go to restaurants that I have like a relationship with.
32:38If I look and I love going to like great Michelin star restaurant,
32:41don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel like I'm not really connected.
32:45You know, I'm not connecting to the chef.
32:47I'm not connecting to the waiter.
32:49It's very robotic.
32:51We just want more stories, you know, tell more stories,
32:56you know, go out, meet people.
33:00There's so many tools.
33:03In twenty twenty four to help restaurant owners online,
33:08put a stamp for your restaurant online, you know, grow a community,
33:13be the boss that everybody wants to work for.
33:18I'm still. And, you know, and
33:22I feel like I'm still in the beginning of my culinary industry,
33:25but I get so many volunteers that want to work with me,
33:27it's not because I'm this incredible chef,
33:30because they want to be part of what I'm building.
33:34So everyone everyone wants to be part of a community.
33:38So building a community is very, very important.
33:41And a real community, a community that will last.
33:47See what happened in the pandemic, so many restaurants just when.
33:53Just vanished away, and I feel like most of those restaurants
33:56is because they didn't build that community.
33:59How do you build a community?
34:00Email, text message, show up, do event, do fun,
34:04fun gathering for for your staff.
34:07Get on LinkedIn.
34:08There's so many ways.
34:09And this is really what I do.
34:11I help restaurants curate all of those the those
34:16those needs, especially online.
34:19That's awesome.
34:20And anybody that's listening to this show, you know that we are weirdly available.
34:24My grandfather, he always taught us to stay curious, to get involved
34:28and to ask for help.
34:29So if you're listening to this, if you're watching this,
34:32send me a DM at Sean P.
34:34Waltreff, S-H-A-W-N-P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
34:38We host two live shows on LinkedIn every single week.
34:43If you send me a message on LinkedIn, I will send you an invite
34:47and bring you on stage and introduce you to our digital hospitality community.
34:52I am so grateful.
34:53Jennifer, can you share with us a shout out?
34:56This is on entrepreneur dot com.
34:58Give me a shout out to one person in your culinary journey,
35:02your storytelling journey that we'll be excited to hear
35:05hear their name mentioned on the show.
35:09You put me on the spot.
35:10That's right. I know you can't give me my whole team.
35:13I don't want the whole team.
35:15This is I need one person, a human, one human.
35:19I want to give a shout out to Justin.
35:22OK, so.
35:24I want to give a shout out to him because working at his restaurant.
35:30Open my heart and my eyes to many other things.
35:36All of the little.
35:39Like the little things that I learned from there,
35:41or although my story at Oxheart is not peaches and cream, but.
35:48It's been such a pivotal moment in my career,
35:53and I just want to give him a shout out, you know, no hate, always love.
35:59I think he's an incredible chef and I just want him to do
36:05to continue to do well and to continue to grow.
36:08It's awesome.
36:09So before I let you go, I want we believe that every single person
36:14that's listening, every brand that's listening,
36:16you can become your own media company.
36:17If a barbecue restaurant can become their own media company,
36:20you can become your own media company.
36:22We believe in smartphone storytelling.
36:23But I need to find out.
36:25Are you an Android user or are you an iPhone user?
36:28Oh, come on, Sean.
36:30I don't know. You told me you had an Android.
36:32Are you still an Android?
36:34I don't know. Did you convert?
36:36Absolutely not. Steve Jobs is amazing.
36:40And you're an iPhone user.
36:42Huh? You're an iPhone user.
36:44Oh, absolutely.
36:46OK, which version?
36:48I think this one is the 13.
36:52I don't know, to be honest.
36:53Do you update your do you update your software?
36:56Yes. My my fiance actually just got me an iPad yesterday.
37:02So the brand new iPad.
37:05There you go.
37:07Now, do you prefer emails or text messages?
37:11It depends.
37:12If I'm closing a deal email,
37:15you're closing a deal email.
37:17Do you prefer phone calls or text messages?
37:19Phone calls.
37:21How many emails do you get a day?
37:24Um, from brands, I would say about seven or eight.
37:30But I'm also I'm out there, you know, like I'm very, very like if I like
37:35what what I see, I'm going to slide in your DM.
37:39Yeah. Any advice on reaching out to brands?
37:44Just be authentic.
37:46I'm always really authentic.
37:48I tell them what I do.
37:49I have my little media kit
37:52that I send to all the brands.
37:56I'm very authentic.
37:57I, you know, my.
38:00So I always also try to see where can I bring value?
38:05Where is the pain point?
38:08And if I can help, you know, it's just not always about the money,
38:12which the money is great and we all want that ultimately. Right.
38:17But also just see their point, their pain point.
38:21Like she really tried to help most of the brands
38:24that I've built long term relationship with.
38:28When we started, they weren't paying me a lot of money,
38:32but now we've grown and and we've become like family.
38:36So there it's a long term investment.
38:39Think about it as a long term investment.
38:43Don't think about it.
38:43You're just, you know, short term and your content is your product.
38:50How many times can you utilize that same product to get your return?
38:56A lot of content creators are so quick to create, create, create,
39:01but to not repurpose those content.
39:06Some of the content that I've created for social fees,
39:09I still use them four years later for live fire,
39:13because I understand that those content are going to make me money
39:18for the next five years.
39:20So having these things in mind is really important
39:23when you're reaching out to brand and be authentic and really help
39:26and give them your honest opinion.
39:30Don't just say things are great and just be authentic.
39:35If you don't like their product, just be really authentic.
39:37Maybe I just didn't think this was, you know, for me.
39:41But maybe if you add salt or if you package it differently,
39:48just those little tips really take you really far.
39:52And we say do it for the B-roll.
39:54If you if you don't document it now, you might need it in four years from now.
39:58And if you want to repurpose it, you got to show the journey.
40:01You got to show where you started, where you've been.
40:04And that makes the story that much more powerful.
40:06One thousand percent.
40:09What is your least favorite app?
40:13Oh, I would say Twitter.
40:17Twitter. Twitter.
40:19What's your most favorite app?
40:21Instagram.
40:24I knew that one.
40:26And where do you music?
40:28Do you listen to Apple music or Spotify?
40:31Apple music.
40:32Spotify is cool, but Apple music.
40:35We're Apple babies.
40:37And do you prefer videos or photos?
40:41Photos, but I love videos now.
40:44Yeah. Awesome.
40:46Jennifer, we truly appreciate you taking the time sharing your story.
40:51We hope you keep radiating the energy and sharing the truth.
40:55We know you're going to go on to do some amazing things,
40:58and we hope that you keep in touch as always.
41:02As always, let us know if there's anything that we can do.
41:05There's anything this community can do. We appreciate it.
41:07Please share the episode with a friend.
41:09Please subscribe, write a review.
41:12And we are so grateful for you guys for listening to the show,
41:15supporting the show wherever we are in the world.
41:18We hope to meet in real life.
41:20And thank you so much, Chef Jennifer.
41:23We appreciate you.
41:25Thank you so, so much.
41:27I appreciate you, too.
41:28I hope nothing but the best for you.
41:30And congratulation on all your success.
41:32You're doing it, man.
41:34We're doing it, we're trying.
41:36You're like out there.
41:38We're doing it.
41:39We're doing so excited.
41:41And I want to come to one of your restaurant, eat.
41:43And I want to come and we can do another episode live.
41:48By fire. There it is.