Heroes in Business - Matt Jordan, Food Network Chef, 8 time competition show veteran, National Executive Chef

Episode Date: August 28, 2022

Do what you do with passion. Matt Jordan, Food Network Chef, 8 time competition show veteran, National Executive Chef is interviewed by David Cogan famous host Heroes Show and founder Eliances Entrepreneur Community.  

welcome back to alliances heroes where heroes in business align to be part of our super community and find out more about alliances visit www.alliances.com that's right and welcome back too thank you so much for the feedback we continue to have on when I had and interviewed the co-founder of Zillow.com and also the founder of eNetwork. That's right, the eNetwork. So make sure that you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com because, as you know, it is the only, the only place where entrepreneurs align. Now, many of you listening and watching now may be getting hungry because I am definitely getting hungry now. Well, guess what?

You're going to be more hungry by the time this interview is over. That's right. Why? Because we have with us Matt Jordan. All right. He is not one, not five, eight-time competition show veteran, Food Network, guys, grocery games, Food Network star, favorites, and cutthroat kitchen, national chef, and if that wasn't enough, multimillion-dollar sales leader for the world's largest food and beverage company. You could reach him by going to mattjordantv.com, and again, you'll see the link. You can go to alliances.com and be able to be able to find it and click the link to reach him by going to mattjordantv.com. And again, you'll see the link. You can go to

alliances.com and be able to be able to find it and click the link to reach him directly. All right, Matt, boy, you've done so much. I got to get right into it and stuff. Talk to us about eight-time competition show veteran in the Food Network. Like, how do you even become one, let's alone eight? Yeah, thanks for having me, David. And hey, to everybody out there. So Food Network has been extremely generous to me over the years. And it really started when I was nine years old here locally in Arizona. I did all of the local TV segments at all of the local stations.

And fast forward to when I was in culinary school, you know, I acted as my own agent and would call up the Food Network, do my research, ask the assistants to transfer me to so-and-so executive. And I would leave and pitch voicemails where I would, you know, share who I was, potential show concepts. who I was, potential show concepts. In addition, at culinary school, I went to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. And up on the third floor level, we had a food safety teacher that used to be a food stylist at the network. So I would march up to her desk, uninvited, poor lady, here comes this 18-year-old kid just approaching her desk. poor lady, you know, here comes this 18 year old kid just approaching her desk. But I had a reel of all of my video segments and I was able to pitch myself to her and one other faculty member that knew people at the Food Network and they were able to connect me. You know, as one of my good friends says, to make a long story long, after culinary school,

the then GM of the Food Network called me and asked me to do Cutthroat Kitchen. And that was really my big break. I was probably 19 years old, 19, 20 years old. And from there, the Food Network just kept having me back over the years. Talk to us about what it's like, though, being on TV, like the pressure of that and the bright lights, like even the lights affecting food. I don't know. I'm certainly not a chef, but it just seems like everything and the pressure of that. How do you handle that internally of, okay, I've only got this period of time. We're going to be doing this, this, and this to make it happen and produce something that's going to taste phenomenal. Yeah, absolutely. And not to make a food pun,

but it really is a pressure cooker. And I had had intense training. I had my first restaurant job when I was 16. So I've been I've been working in really high intensity professional kitchens my entire life. I'm now 29. I'll be 30 this year. And in addition, you know, doing the live segments on, you know, Arizona Midday and, you know, 12 News and all the local stations here. It gave me good practice. But when you fly to Hollywood and you're on a studio lot and you're filming a show, it's another level of intense. But it was so exciting. I had had the training wheels to get there. And when you're thrown into the boiling water of a high intensity, really high dollar amount production, it's a sink or swim sort of situation.

The time clocks are real. You really have to trust your laurels. There's no preparing for it. You've done all the preparing in you know, in your professional career and working. And when you're in that moment, it's almost like your brain shuts off and you have to go by pure intuition. Does it get any easier by the time you're at your fifth one, you kind of get used to acclimated to what's going to happen? Absolutely. You really get used to the format of hearing what the challenge is and then just cooking. You know, what I really recommend, you know, to anybody that is, you know, competing is really develop your clear point of view style and trust yourself.

When you're in the moment making decisions, you have a clock that's running at either 25, 30 minutes. At the end of that 30 minutes, you're going to be serving food to the judges. You need to be cooking food immediately. You need to get stuff on the grill immediately. And so there's really no time for planning. Where I really shift to is what am I craving? And that is generally what I cook. To answer your question, though, yes, it absolutely does get easier. You know, by the time I did the fifth or sixth show with the Food Network, you get used to being on that big studio lot set, and it just begins to feel like home. How did you know that

you were good at what you were doing in regards to the cooking aspect of it? Because, you know, listen, there's a lot of people who think they're good chefs, but they're the only ones that eat the food that they make. You're like, this tastes good to me. I don't know. Yeah. You know what it comes down to? Does the food sell? I think that that's what it's about. And whether it's selling in a restaurant or in mass manufacturing or in being invited back to the Food Network, you know, if you're looking at it from a digital standpoint, are people in a restaurant or in mass manufacturing or in being invited back to the food network. You know, if you're looking at it from a digital standpoint, are people commenting on your posts, downloading your recipes?

Really, it comes down to sales. You know, television is still a business. Talent on TV, you know, it is there to make the business money. And so it's really a measurable thing. Are people seeking you for your food? And man, I think you nailed it because it is, you're right. The cooking aspect is one part of it, but then it's keeping people engaged to not, right? Just not like, you know, like Guy, right?

For example, I mean, you know, right. Bringing that and like you have, you know, bringing that out. But, you know, while you're cooking, how do you have both minds on both things of that? Like, I got to keep people engaged. I got to make sure that I'm cooking. I make sure it's the right temperature, ingredients and everything happening in a short period of time and all these people and cameras on me. But I think it's just one of those things where some people are really good at being a doctor. Some people are really good at, you know, spreadsheets and working in supply chain. And I think this is just one of those things that you have a natural tendency for. I'm really able to sort of shut off my brain, listen to what producers are saying, think about the challenge, but then also be going through the minutia of, you know, practical skill when it comes to cooking. And where I think a lot of that derives from is working in high intensity kitchens and working on the hotline. You know, you come in at, you know, two o'clock, let's say you're working dinner service. It's a Friday or Saturday night.

You've got 300 on the books. You know, I would work in rest. I worked in restaurants where they were like 50, 60, $70 plates, really high, high-end food with elite staff and a lot of pressure and extremely intense. And so I think that that is the training that is necessary in order to thrive in the camera film part of it, because you're right. It's also entertainment. TV is entertainment first and then it's the food. No one's going to end up tasting your food because it's on TV. They're going to make it in their home. So I think being able to rest on your skill and your laurels of I know my food, I'm competent in my food, and then just being able to be yourself, I know my food, I'm competent in my food.

And then just being able to be yourself, that's really the recipe for success. Excellent. Again, and this show is successful because I have the opportunity to meet incredible people like you, Matt, on the Alliances Hero Show. So make sure that you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com.

Why? The only place where entrepreneurs align because we have with us Matt Jordan, eight-time competition show veteran, Food Network. You can reach him at mattjordantv.com, mattjordantv.com. Matt, what are they going to find when they go to your website, mattjordantv.com? Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, David, for plugging that. You're going to see a quick bio about myself, some representation of the food that I like

to cook, and then a contact form. You know, I'm always open to opportunities. My goals and ambitions are still to, you know, have a cookbook, have a television show, you know, the whole shebang, a restaurant chain in my name, a restaurant group. And so my website is really a professional profile where other professionals and or fans can reach me. Absolutely. That's incredible. And again, Matt, just do you ever like, what goes through your mind when you have watched yourself on TV? Like, you know, is it where it's a critique or it's like, what goes through your mind when someone sees you, when you see yourself on TV?

Yeah, David, I'm extremely critical of myself. I really use it to study, you know, whether that be changing mannerisms or things I say, recipes I cook. It's almost like a football player watching themselves play. I really use it to study. That being said, I'm not like, you know, watching them all the time. It's usually when they're first airing, but I am the critical type when I see myself on TV. Matt, if you had one goal of also what you want to do now one goal what would that be talk show i would love to be a talk show host excellent excellent well you have the personality for it you have a looks for it

thanks i appreciate it you do so we got time for uh you know one more question i think this is important because you mentioned at the age of 16 how you really got involved in the food industry. Yes. What kind of secrets can you share for others that, you know, maybe beyond the age of 16, but they don't know what they want to do? Like, how do you find it? You know, what is it? And how did you know at the point, hey, this is really what I want to do. This is my passion.

Matt, help us share the secrets of how others can find their passion for that. Yeah, absolutely. I think there's a lot of things that go into it. But I think that being able to stick with what you love through the hard times and when you're not making a ton of money, you know, being able to see past the horizon of that, knowing that bigger things are coming are really essential to becoming successful. You know, straight out of school, especially culinary school, if you're not right off the bat making 100K plus, that's OK. You know, cut your teeth on a hotline, make 12 to 15 dollars an hour, work at really great places, it's going to be extremely challenging.

From age 16 to 24, I was making barely above minimum wage, knowing that greater things were coming for me. And this was all in tandem with everything with Food Network, The List TV show, Young Hollywood. And then I really got a big break in the corporate world, working as a national executive chef in a really heavy chef operations marketing sales role. And so being able to lay the foundation to build your skill is critical. And even if it is, you know, painful, it's necessary. Excellent. Well, that's right. Stick with what you love. That's what we're doing here. And that's what Matt's doing.

Matt Jordan, eight-time competition show veteran, Food Network, Diet, Post-Review, Food Network, Star, Food Network, This goes on. Make sure you reach out to him, mattj tv.com this has been david cogan

with the alliances hero show but matt you got to dance with me now too there you go there you go i love it i love it you're hired i love it