The Dream and the Pain! On the Road to Being The Poor Chef…

I want to let you in on what it has been like making a cooking show: The ups and downs and some ways to go about getting on TV.

This is not an easy journey but can be done with a lot of hard work and effort. You also need to have a good product and find ways to go around the road blocks and also not make bad choices.

Today is May 6th and it has been a great few months with The Poor Chef.  We have seen a lot of success with the segment on NBC and our seasoning line that is now on shelves, our new cookbook deal and The Poor Chef magazine in the works, with all the national attention and press we have gotten, it would be a piece of cake, LOL!

We currently write for Soul Food Magazine as well as do a weekly radio segment, www.blogtalkradio.com. I wanted to write this so people looking to get into the business has a chance to understand the process, as well as see the ups and downs. We pride ourselves on being very creative and thought many people get to see a show complete and being aired on their favorite network, the glitz and the glamour but done see much of the hard work or rejection that comes with the journey.

We started with a simple idea that came from my son, I wanted to be able to feed him on limited funds (and I’m not saying I’m broke) LOL, what I mean is that being a single father is tough and feeding someone healthy is also a task, so I figured a great way to learn and show how to do such a thing could come from seeing real people do it. Long story short: I took some money and shot a decent pilot, we made due with what I had, and I realized very fast that we had a great concept.

I had just moved to Florida from California and this small town was no Sunset Blvd or Hollywood studio. I made a few calls and set up meetings with some networks out here. The first network was ABC. I met with the general manager and he told me that they did not want to do anymore cooking shows but thought after meeting me and seeing what we were doing that he would love to get me on possibly once a week. After about a week he had me on the news section of the show and it went great!  We were trying to figure out what we would do and in the mean time I did a few other shows like CBS, and also NBC’s Daytime. I knew we needed to get on TV, to one day get on TV, so we spoke to NBC about doing a once-a-week segment and they said yes. We knew we had something very special on our hands.

We were able to do a weekly show on Daytime in Tampa that was syndicated in six markets; it was great working with so many people of all races and making fun dishes. We quickly became a name in our local area. I had some great people working but also got to see a lot about people as well.  I’m not saying I’m perfect in any way but the dream I have is to help the ones around me do well, and I have been the horse to ride off into the sunset what needs to be done, a lot of people don’t see that and a lot of people have their own selfish gains.

The ride like any ride is bumpy at times but the joys and where we area at now is what makes you smile at the end of a long day. I wanted to share this and many other stories as well as what keeps me going and brings me joy, it’s not all about a show. I, being the nephew of Bob Marley, have allowed me to want to express my voice in many ways and i have some causes I want to bring to the light. Not just a TV show The Poor Chef is a way of life and a movement to educate on wellness and on health.

“EAT CHEAP BUT EAT WELL“