Mick Unplugged - Justin Brown: I Do Not Have Followers, I Have My People

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

In this episode of Mick Unplugged, Justin, The Real Food Stalker, sits down with Mick Hunt and unpacks the unglamorous work behind a following that grew without a single negative review. He started Food Stalker in 2010 with nothing but photos and a habit of asking waiters what the next table ordered. He did not eat on camera until 2021, when his kids told him he made food look too good not to. He paid for every meal himself long before a brand ever called. Mick opens up about his own start, too. When he was still a LinkedIn-only guy two and a half years ago, Justin was the first account he followed on Instagram, and watching Justin be unapologetically himself is what convinced Mick he did not have to perform to show up online. The conversation runs from microwave burgers to a lost footrace to a sister who brought home teriyaki wings and accidentally created a food critic. But the through line is simple and it applies far past food: you do not have to be the most talented person in the room. You have to be the one who keeps showing up. IN THIS EPISODE Why Justin never posts food he does not like How Food Stalker started in 2010 and became a camera habit in 2021 Why consistency beats talent in every arena The phone-and-CapCut workflow behind every video The three thousand dollar camera he never used How the AJC writing opportunity changed the way he describes food Why honesty and negativity are not the same thing The sister whose leftovers built his palate What brands get wrong when they buy three videos instead of a partner Why he says he has people, not fans or followers CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:55 How Justin got Mick on Instagram 03:10 The Because 03:50 Why he only shows food he likes 05:20 From 2010 photos to eating on camera 06:49 The Unplugged Truth 07:21 Consistency is everything 09:48 Fans, followers, or your people 09:51 The gear: phones, CapCut and one take 13:07 Writing for the AJC 17:40 Hot Takes 17:57 The microwave burger debate 21:42 The race he lost to his nephew 27:02 The Room 27:26 The sister who changed his taste buds 29:55 Vegan mac and cheese 33:03 How Mick Unplugged started 36:48 The Unplugged Five 43:29 What Justin wants the world to know 46:36 Where to follow Justin 48:05 Closing Connect & Discover Justin Brown: Instagram: @therealfoodstalker Facebook: @The-Real-Food-Stalker TikTok: @therealfoodstalker YouTube: @therealfoodstalker LinkedIn: @justintherealfoodstalker FOLLOW MICK ON: Spotify: MickUnplugged Instagram: @mickunplugged  Facebook: @mickunpluggedYouTube:  @MickUnpluggedPodcast  LinkedIn: @mickhunt  Website:  MickHuntOfficial.com Website: howtobeagoodleader.com Website: Leadloudseries.com Apple: MickUnplugged

I had a goal, not a real goal, but I was just like, I'm just going to keep doing it. I didn't have a goal of, I'm going to get 500K followers. I'm going to make it so many. That wasn't my goal. My goal was to let people know the places that I like. And that was my only goal. And then it turned into what it is now where people have fans, people have followers. I have neither.

I have my people. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today we're here with a guy who doesn't know it, but he's actually the one that got me into content on Instagram. We're talking to none other than Justin, the real food stalker Brown. How you doing today, brother? Hey, man, I'm doing great, man. I'm just glad to be here, man. I appreciate you even giving me the opportunity to be here, man. Well, I had to give you a try, right? He got to get you folks a try. Yeah, hey, man, give me a try. Give me a try. Yes, sir. Man, so I'm going to be real. I'm going to be honest with you. When I started the podcast

like two and a half years ago, I was a LinkedIn guy, right? So for me, social media, like the business side of me, everything was linked in. And I looked at every other thing is like, I don't need to be there. Just a whole bunch of kids on Instagram or TikTok or whatever. But my business manager was like, hey, Mick, you at least got to go on Instagram. So I said, let me see what it's about. I followed you my very first day on Instagram and you changed my life to you because I loved how authentic you were. I loved how positive you were.

And it was just amazing to see the work. you were putting in. And I was like, all right, I can go on Instagram and I'm just going to be me. I'm not trying to please the whole world. I'm not trying to be silly or funny or anything like that. I can be me. And it was because of you, bro. Oh, man. See, and that's the power of the internet is that you can motivate somebody without even knowing that you're motivating. And I get, I got lucky that I got to just be me. And so it's not like when I'm done, I got to hit a switch and go back to I get to be me. So the own switch is on at all

time. So even when I'm not eating or I'm not doing nerd stuff, people know that's me. So it's like all my friends know it's me. And they're like, you got to stay true to yourself. And I did. I got to. So that's the fun part of it is that I don't have

to change. The hardest part of it is that I don't really care about pleasing people. So that's, so people are always like, hey man, you need to show us where you eat this bad. And I'm like, Why? Like, if you're asking for directions, if you say, how do I get to Linux mall and I give you the directions, do you want me to tell you the wrong directions? Also, like, why would you want that?

So people want me to be negative about certain stuff and they're like, no, you can, people always try to make it seem like you're not being negative when you are being negative. It's like, that's not negative. You're being honest. But sometimes honesty is negative. It's going to have a negative reflect regardless if you are being honest. So I'm not saying you shouldn't be honest, but I'm saying if you're, if you're, can go around it and not post what I dislike and just show you what I like. I mean, that's what I'm going to do. No, I love it, man. It's all positive vibes. And, you know, I always start my show by

asking my guest, what's there because, right? That thing that's deeper than your why. If I were to ask Justin, your why is probably your children and food, right? But if I were to say, why is that your why? Like, what's the deeper reason? That sentence usually starts with, well, because, and I care about that. So if I were to say, Justin, all the amazing things that you do, the impact that you're making, not just here in Atlanta, but all over the East Coast and flying out to Phoenix and California to do these reviews and inspire people, what's your because? I mean, my because it's simple. It's like, I love to eat. And since I've been younger, high school, people always ask me, like, where to go eat, where to go eat. Yeah. And really, I just enjoy it. So it's not really a

because it's not it's not like I'm doing it like to make, I'm giving people a journey of a foodie. Like, this is just what I enjoy. And if you go to a couple places that I like and you enjoy it, your taste buzz probably similar in their minds. And then I have people who don't go out to eat much and they just started going out to eat. And their taste buds are similar to mind. So it's making it easy for them to go on a date night. So for me, my because was just because I was looking at stuff and I didn't, not that I don't like. the way other people do their content,

I just always felt like I got to see people eat food. And that's really what made me eat on cameras because I couldn't tell a picture, if a picture's a thousand words, then a video got to be a million words. Because now you can see the texture. When I bite something, you can tell if it's tender

and like a picture. A picture could trick you. And so I'm not much for, I look at pictures. I can say it might be good. But if I see it, a video of it, breaking. I can tell. I can tell when you really enjoy something

because your eyes closed and it's taking you back to a spot. Like you get that smile, that warm feeling on your faces. Like, oh, he really likes that way. When did this journey start for you, man? Like, like, when did you say, I'm gonna do this? All right, so I had Foodstocker

where I was just taking pictures of food. And I wasn't, I wasn't doing, because I wanted to do a magazine myself. Like, I really, that's what I wanted to do when I was like in 2010. I was already had food stalker because and food stalker came about because I used to watch people like I'm sitting and the food would come by and I would always ask the waiter. I wait just, hey, what did they just get? And then my wife was like, man, you stalking people food.

And I'm like, yeah, I'm a food stock. I can't help it. So for me, what was the question? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. When did the journey begin for you? It really began 2010. Okay.

But I wasn't eating on camera. 2020 or 2021 is when I started eating around COVID. I started eating on camera. And then we couldn't go out. And my kids were like, you should eat on camera. You make food look good. Because funny thing is I have to get them sometimes

because sometimes I'll taste something that I hate. But I can hold it in long enough to make them want to taste it. And they was like, you need to eat on camera because you make stuff look good. Because anytime I got something that's super good, I can't hide that it was super. We're good and they always want to bite and I can't tell my girls, no, because I got all girls. So it's like, stop asking me for stuff. So that's why I get caught eating in my car. And that's why I don't mind eating in the car because I do it a lot.

So before I get home, I'm like, I got to eat. But it started 2021, 2020, 2020, 2021. Okay. First video may have been 2021. 2021. Yeah. And so I'm going to move us to what I call the unplugged truths with that statement right there. Because I think the key to what you do.

do and why I followed you was because you're very consistent, right? Like, there's been a lot of folks on social media, a lot of food reviewers that pop up. And then after six, seven little takes, they're done, right? You've been very consistent with what you do. Talk about the power consistency, man. This is everything. It don't matter what it is, you can win with just that. Yeah.

Like, I'm talking about, you can win in all parts of life, whether it's your job, whether it's social media, whether you're chasing some girl that you want. If you consistent, you might win her over. Like, I'm telling you, you can win the biggest battle with just consistency. That's for football players, basketball players. If you're consistent, you're going to work out every day. Yeah. It's going to make something positive is going to happen eventually.

So consistency is the biggest thing. You don't have to be, I'm not the most talented. I'm not, it's just not. I'm not the most handsome. So it's people out here that it's taking stuff for granted. Like you got something and if you were consistent, you would be even bigger than you are. Whatever you're doing, you could be bigger,

but you have people who got real talent and they're just not as consistent. So I think consistency is one thing. But I'll tell you this, like you said, you might have some people who start food blogging and six, seven videos and they're done. And they're done because I'm going to tell you, I spent a lot of money eating out, starting,

because nobody wanted to say, hey, come eat for free or let me pay you. They wasn't doing that. And if you look at the first videos from 2021, I was eating every day. And when people were like, you don't eat at home, I literally do eat at home because my wife was cooking. But my daughter's cooking.

So it's like I could get home-cooked meals every day, but that's not what I wanted to do because my kids and my wife not been to cook for y'all. So me doing a video for that is not going to help y'all at all. So I was spending every day. My wife was like, you're spending too much eating. I'm like, we could go on vacation. I'm like, we still going to go on vacation, chill.

Right, right. But it's funny that that's a reason why a lot of people probably stop, because when you start, you got to pay for your own food. And then maybe you won't get to go to some of the best restaurants because some of them are high. So that could stop somebody. But for me, I had a goal, not a real goal, but I was just like, I'm just going to keep doing it.

I didn't have a goal. I'm going to get 500K followers. I'm going to make it to me. That wasn't my goal. My goal was to let people, know the places that I like. And that was my only goal. And then it turned into what it is now where people see me.

And it's not people have fans, people have followers. I have neither. I have my people. So anytime I meet people and they're like, I'm a big fan, I'm like, no, you're my people. So they're my people. That's just what's going on. I love that, man. For the person that's watching or listening right now, talk to us about the world of content.

Like, what equipment does Justin use? Like, how do you do the editing? Because, again, even that part is consistency. And I tell people, it's not as expensive as you think it is, but you still need the right stuff every once in a while. I'm going to tell you, I'm not like, when I say this, people are going to say, man, I can do it because this is all I got. Phones.

These are all phones that I probably use the camera at some point on. And that's it. That's all I ever had. And me. And my wife, she was editing. And then she got tired of it. And she showed me how to edit. So one of my phones, I got too many phones, I promise you.

One of them is doing. We're going to talk about Justin's side business, what I mean? Listen. You said Pagers, if you follow up. Hey, I was in that. I'm in that era. I had Pagers, flip phones, all that. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. But what were we saying? because my phone just threw me off. You were talking about the editing and your wife. Okay, so my wife was editing. And she'll still do it here and there to help me out because I work a lot. She works a lot and she'll still do it.

But she showed me how to edit. Like, we was using just Capcutt. And we didn't even pay for Capcut. We was just using the free stuff. So that's all I ever use. And that's the good thing about me, not, like you have some people I see why they overlook me because I don't do the filming

where it's just a steady. pleasing. I do the, I'm about to let you know if I like the food. Right. And then there's some restaurants that I don't been to and I ain't found nothing on a restaurant that I like. So I couldn't even post them. And then there's how look, if you got 30 items on there, maybe I can find two or three items that I like that I can be good with showing. But that is what helped me, like, is that it's not hard for me because I don't do all that. I just eat the food. I do one

tape. I don't go back and try to redo it. If a food, drop, it's going to be on film. And so that made it easy for us to edit. Like, I got friends who edit and they say, man, it takes me six hours to edit. I said, what? I said, if I had to do something for six hours, it's not going to be editing.

I'm going to work. Right. I'm not doing that. Right, right. Yeah, so I just used phones, man. I got, I bought a, thinking, I bought a $3,000 black camera, black magic pocket camera. That's what I bought.

Never used it. Never used it because somebody came by. My cousin husband, he shoots a lot of videos. And he's like, all right, you got to change the shutter. You got to change. I said, man, I'm not going to remember that. Right. On the phone, I can just press record.

Yeah. So he put it on a stable. He, like, put everything and he said, well, just shoot at this all the time. Then I realize when I shoot on that, I have to export it. I have to do this. Then it comes in a big file. And I say, okay, this is not for me. So I'm sitting on a $3,000 camera then.

It's just sitting around, man. sitting around. I just use them phones, man. You could get away with the phones. Just get whatever the newest Samsung or iPhone that's out and the camera's going to be good enough to go. That's all you need. Absolutely. Absolutely. So you also, aside from doing the food blogging video style, right, you also do some writing too, man. Talked us about that a little bit. Yeah, this just started this year. I was lucky enough to where people like me. Like, like, it's just, my mom always said, people like you and I don't understand why. But I guess because she around me all day.

There it is. Monty, she gave me an opportunity that nobody's ever gave me. She reached out, say, I might have something for you. She told me like three months early. And I thought, and I thought she meant like we were going to collaborate because she's big on, she sells books and stuff of cooking. So I'm thinking, oh, we're going to do a video. She's going to cook something.

I'm going to eat it. Cool. Three months go by and she called me back. And she's like, you think. you can write. I say, right. I'm not going to never turn nothing down. I'm going to try it. Right. You tell me, oh, you ain't good at it. Yeah. So it was with the AJC. And then put together some articles, some of the restaurants I like. And I put together the article. Of course, you can't make everybody happy. So you got people putting it in their favorite restaurants saying that it should be

this restaurant, but not for me. Right. You know, this is my list. Right. You could create a list. And I tell people that every day, don't get mad at me. But she gave me that opportunity and I wrote and people like it. You got some people that don't. And then I try to tell people this while I'm writing, which is very fun. It's fun than I thought it would be. And people are, if you put down another business to pick up another one, I'll never go eat there. I'll never, I will never go eat there.

If it takes you telling me that a spot. that I like, I shouldn't, or this spot is so much better, I'm not going to go try it. Right. I'm just going to be like, that's not how I am. So I'm not going to do that. And that's what I appreciate you and why I started really just loving your content, resharing, and like now all my boys, my family, like, they all love everything you do. Because you are being honest in a positive,

way. And what I mean by that is this. When it comes to food, everybody's taste buds are different. Yeah. You might say something is horrible and I love it. Well, now you're out there giving a perception just because our taste buds are different. And I love the fact that you were just like, hey, this is good, right? Like you ain't talking about, oh, when I taste it, I taste paprika and garlic powder. You're just like, no, the food is good. Yeah, it's just, it's good. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, And people get so mad. You didn't say this. You didn't.

But when I write, I have to say what the season is. Right. Because when you're writing, now you have to make someone want to go. And it's going to take that. It's not just, you can't just say good. And that's something I had to learn. Because I'm just a teller of, man, if the food was good, if I believe that it's worth the money. Yeah.

And that's another thing. So I'll tell you if I think it's worth, like, the amount. Like, and everything that I've been eating that I post, I feel like you're not wasting your money. Yeah. And but you have people who are very picky eaters. I got a friend that always sends food back. Like, I never like to go out to eat with him because I know he's going to send something back. Yeah.

And I'm like, bro. You mess up for the whole table. Right. You mess up for the whole table. I don't even want to order dessert when I go out to eat with him because I'm like, oh, they're going to get me on this dessert. And I always tell him, man, you order last. Like, you order your food. Let me get mine.

Because if I don't like something, I'm not fin to tell you, I'm not sending it back for you to redo it. Don't want to risk it. So like, hey, cool. I'm going to try you again another time. I give everybody two tries because I do feel like you can have a bad day. Because you're not, you may have a different chef in that day. You may have a different waiter or waitress.

And each one of these people play a major role in the food part. Like, it's not just the chef. It's not just if the food's good because if my waiter or waitress disrespects me, I'm not going to like your food. Well, I'm not even, I'm out of the mood. Yeah. My taste buds out of the mood. Right.

They work with me. My taste buzz is with me. Yes, they have never crossed me so they know if we get some bad service, hey, we ain't liking the food. We out. So, yeah. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right, I'm going to move us to what I call the hot takes.

And I got this hot take right here because I love you on so many levels. but I saw you do something the other day and I was like, I don't know if I could do that. Okay, what was it? What is it? The quick and eat? The quick and eats. So for all you that are watching and listening,

I'm going to have a clip to this Instagram post right here. And don't take it from me. Justin loved it. But it is, they're burgers that are already flame broiled. Yep. And you heat them in the microwave. Right. Wait, wait, time out now.

Time out now. Time out now. All right. You can, they have directions on to do them in the oven. are on the stove. Okay. The only reason I did it in the microwave was to show the part of if you're a parent that doesn't have time to cook and you want to give something good to your child that you don't trust them enough to be around that oven or that stove while you're gone. They can microwave it. Even though I know a lot of people don't want a microwave, but I just wanted to show that you can

if you needed to, if you wasn't there and they were hungry and they're like, can I make some eggs? And you're like, do I want to risk my house burning down? No, just take the burgers. Not that bad. It's only four ingredients in that. And that's the beef and the seasonings. So it's only four ingredients. It's not like you're getting something that got all this crazy stuff in it.

No, and I was messing around. Okay. But quick and ease, though. It was, so I was just like, oh, that's red meat. We're just going to throw it in the microwave. But it looked as if you just got it out of, Burger King or whatever when it came out of the microwave. And you gave some tips, right?

Like, it's a minute and a half, but we're going to do it for $1.15 and we're going to throw the cheese on at the end. Yeah, you got to melt that cheese on that. Absolutely. You don't want cold cheese on the burger. But I'm going to tell you something. That burger was actually good. I'm not saying that burger is better than like an NFA burger or over here in Plant City Market,

H&F. Nah, no, we're not saying that. I'm saying it's good where your kids are not going to say, I'm not going to eat this. They're going to say, hey, I like, and they'll repeat it. Yeah. And if you got that in there,

you got a quick meal for them that you don't have to prepare that can give them the independence to start and maybe you working them to get into the stove or the oven. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good choice. Quick and eats.

Costco, quick and eats. It's quick and eats. It's some good eats. So it was it. I know a lot of people are like, man, you put it in the microwave. I say you can put it in the store. I know everybody tried to get,

wow, I don't microwave, nothing. But I grew up with the microwave, so guess what? hey, the microwave is still part of my life. I'm going to tell you no lie. Oh, it's still a part of my too. But like red meat, though, like I can't do, so I'm going to let you all in on a little secret.

I can't do protein reheat it. Like, if it's the next day or whatever, like, I just can't do it. So, okay, so, so then that means you never went to a steakhouse, had your favorite steak, ate half of it, brought it home and just put it back on the stuff. And I don't take an egg and next day? Nope.

Yeah, you don't do that? No. Oh, man. You know what I say something. If you go to the right steakhouse, that steak is better the next day. Something about protein, especially red meat and grilled chicken, tastes so different the next day to me.

Man, me and you got to go to Frankie Steakhouse. Okay. We're going to get a steak. You're going to do it for one time for me. That's only one time. You're going to lead half that steak. And you're going to warm it up and you're going to eat your favorite way, whether it's a fried egg or scrambled egg.

And you're going to try that. And I promise you, Frankie State tastes. Sometimes I just want to go get your steak. And just bring it home and let it sit on my night and then do it in the morning. But I got to take you there, man. We're going to go there and we're going to do that, man. I promise you. Frankie's steakhouse.

Yeah. Sugar loaf. There it is. So here's another hot take, too, man. Like you eat, you said you love food. You eat all the time. I don't eat a lot and you're in much better shape than me. I, hey, not much better shape, man.

I just look small. I just small. I'm just small. I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to tell you one thing I do. Because everybody asks how you stay small. My mama was 4-11, 90 pounds. My dad was taller and skinny.

Skinny. So I just can't. Even if I ate all the time, I couldn't gain a weight. I'm out of shape. I just raced my wife's nephew. I saw. I had on these head. We're going to say this.

I had on some heavy, heavy crocs. Stop. He got beat. I got beat. By his six-year-old nephew. No, not six years. No, no, no, no, no, he's 26. He is his prime.

So for those that don't know, Justin told me he used to run a 4-3-540 back of the day. And so if you go, I want you to go look at a lot of his clips because you'll see him. Like, he, you know, especially holidays, he's out there running in the neighborhood sprint trying to compete. But just a couple of weeks ago, he took an L. I took a big L, capital L. Not lower case, it was capital. It was Burr City because I. I'm going to be honest, I'm a 1983 cutlass with a small block.

Yeah, you know what I mean? And he was a 2000-something with fuel injection, all that. He was moving. And his turbo kicked in and mines didn't kick in. I didn't pat that gas. I wasn't ready. Yeah. And, yeah, he blew the doors off.

I ain't going to tell you no lie. When I could see the back of his shoulder blades, I knew it was over with it. And I was like, all right. But we're going to run it back where I got on proper clothes because I felt like I had on some skinny jeans shorts so I couldn't get it all out. Then I had them heavy crocs on. But he won.

Peanut. If you watch this, we're going to race again. And it's going to be soon. We was going to race on the beach. But he said he was heavier than me. And he said, you're like running on the sand on top of the sand. And he's like, if I run on the sand, I go in. So he didn't want to race me on the sand.

see the difference, he knew the setup. He was like, no, you could have easily said no. You could have easily said no, but you could have on film and you saw shoulder blades. Yeah, I saw shoulder blades, but it's all good. But I'm telling you, I'm going to beat him the next time we run because I am about to get in shape how people are like, man, you look like you're in shape. It ain't going to be no more. I look like I'm in shape.

I'm going to be in shape. When are we doing this? Man, I really want to beat him on Christmas. I really want to beat him on Christmas day because we go over there. every Christmas we swap our gifts. I want to race him on Christmas and that be a gift to myself and him. Oh, he's getting the gift too.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to buy like a big old L because I know I'm going to win. And I'm going to put it in a box and I'm going to put it in four boxes. So when he opens it, he's going to think he getting something good. It's going to be a big old L. Peanut, man. Like, we're going to make sure I'm available Instagram live on Christmas

morning. Yeah. Because I'm going to have the W for you. I'm going to have it ready for you, Pudlow. You're not going to have it ready for you. I'm going to have it ready for you. I'm going to tell you I'm not going to lose again. Okay.

I can't take the stress of that loss. My kids saw me lose. All right. So here's what we're going to do. If you win, if you beat Peanut, Peanut, I got my money on you just so you know. But if for whatever reason you pull your hamstring peanut and he steps on your toes or something, the final. Yeah. I'm going to host it at my crib, Greenville, South Carolina.

We're going to go get a track at Clemson University. And y'all gonna run the 100. Nah, we're gonna run. Nah, we ain't running a hundred. See, Peanut? We ain't running. I'm gonna tell you that right now. Because I'm gonna tell you, the age I'm at now, I reach my top speed at 15 yards.

And 15 yards. And then, because I'll tell you, I'm not even racing him on 40. Because I'm gonna tell you what I know. A top speed. I'm top speed quick. So what's y'all run, a 25? We're running 30. We're running a 30.

No, no. I can keep my, when I meet his top speed, I can hold it to 30. The extra 10, he's going to blow by me, I'm going to tell you. 30, he ain't beat me in the 30. We at least got to go 35. No, I can't give him that much. I'm telling him, when he opened up, he opened up because he was like, oh, it felt good. He was just getting it.

And I was hurting. I was sore. I didn't, man, when I tell you my legs, I felt it. It was so tight when I was done. I said, and he's talking about, I'm just getting ready. This feels good. We need to make it longer. I said, in my head, I was like, well, I'm not.

not doing that. I'm going to eat a burger. Peanut, I got something for you. I'm hiring you a coach. Good friend of mine. Multi-Olympian, Sonia Richards-Ross will train you. Aaron Ross will train you for my NFL. I ain't going to get him a train. Because you said, he already trained.

30 was it. I got to get him to blow past you at 15 then. If you're, if you hit it at 15, I got to help Peanut get there. I don't like the thought of that. I don't like, I used told me, you just told me you love. When somebody tell me they love me and then they go against me like that, I don't know if the love real. Hey, money is money, bro. I put my money on peanut.

I'm not saying I'm going to bet no money. I might bet some push-ups because I ain't guaranteeing nothing. I might bet some push-ups. No, man. So this next segment, I call The Room. And I know that food blogging isn't all that you do, but it's a true passion of yours. Was there a room? Was there a moment?

Was there a dinner? that changed your life that motivated you to do this? I think I just started enjoying different foods because of my sister. She probably don't even know this. So if she ever see this, she going to be like, oh, I knew this all the time. But so we didn't grow up like where we just had money. We weren't going out to eat. My mom was cooking.

And my mom learned how to cook because she said, I ain't know how to cook. She just learned so she would be able to feed us. And she got really good at it. And then she got older. She got bad at it. Like, I don't know what happened. After I moved out, she's just like, I don't want cooking. I did that for y'all.

I'm like, what? Yeah. But, all right. So, so growing up, my sister, she ended up, she was dating someone, and they would go out to eat. And I'll be at home. Yeah. And the first time she brought home some wings one time. And this was when wings was just hot lemon pepper.

That was it. That's all you was eating. She came back with some terriaki wings. It's the first time. What? Taste buzz went crazy. I said, so then she might come home with something else. She wouldn't never eat all her food.

So she always come home with something. And she always put me on to something new. So it was, she gave me my first peach crush, the soda. And all we was drinking was Coca-Cola. And that peach crust, I'm like, what's this? Right. Then what else did she brought me a Canadian Clear. I don't know if you ever had one of those.

Yeah. So it's the first time ever. This is like when Canadian Clear first was in Georgia or whatever. She brought one at them home. She just used to always bring food. I used to always love when she went out. I felt like I was going on a date. There you go.

So I'm like, you ain't going on no date. You ain't run out with your, what you're going to go out? So, but whenever she went out, she brought food back. And like, it was just always good. She had never brought nothing back that wasn't good. Okay. So, and it kind of, to me, it kind of feels like she was food blogging then. without knowing it because she wouldn't bring me nothing back that was nasty.

So if it was nasty, I'm assuming she didn't tell me it was nasty, but she didn't put it on the plate when she brought it back. And I was eating seconds. So I was eating my sister leftovers and, man. And then that just, I guess that just grew my taste was. My taste was just like, sometimes she'll go out. Mama would be cooking them like, so man, yeah. Right.

Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. But yeah, that's what really probably kickstarted that whole thing. My mom's cooking and her bringing home just different stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. And I also love the fact that, again, you're much bolder than me where you'll try almost anything. But here's where you got me and I started doing it at home, vegan mac and cheese, bro. Like, you've done several of them now, but I remember the first one I saw and I was like, I don't want to like. But that looks amazing and I trust Justin. So I went and made some vegan macadines and I almost can't go back. Man, listen, you got to try Mr. Vegan 9. He was the first vegan chef that I, the second vegan chef,

but that's the first vegan chef that I tried that a viral video came about it. Like the video did maybe like 10 million on Instagram or something or something crazy on TikTok. It went crazy everywhere. And I was just, he was like, man, it's just, he was like, man. changed his life, but the food changed my life to know that you can get mac and cheese without it being actual cheese. And I was like, I'm like, dang, the vegan chefs have come a long way because it was like, vegan food, you just hear it and you're like, I'm not trying that.

Right. But now it's like, if I want some, I'll try it. Like my kids like vegan food, maybe they may later in life go vegan. Who knows? My wife, she loves it. So, you know. But me, he always tells me like, man, anytime you want someone, just call me

because you did something for me than nobody else's ever done. And I'm like, wow. And I don't think about it like that because I'm old school, so a video to me is just a video. Yeah. Like, a lot of people treat the videos

like it's gold, which it can be gold because you can make a lot of money, but I'm still nonchalant to it because I guess I just grew up in the time when we didn't have social media. So I'm not, I'm figuring it out a little bit now. Money can be made.

I just got to figure out how to connect the dots and make it where that's all I do. No, you got it. You're on the path, man. Like, one, you're in Atlanta. Two, you're just great at what you do. So I'm going to talk to Coca-Cola right there. Hey, man. Coca-Cola.

Hey, talk to Coke, man. Talk to them. Talk to them, talk to them. Talk to them. Because another thing I see, I'm not. It might be a little off topic, but I see brands, you hear things. You hear like, man, they paid $400,000 for three videos. I'm like, man, you give me $500,000, $400,000.

You got me all year. I'm talking about three, four videos on month. Come and get somebody who's going to be loyalty. Forget the three videos for $400, man. You can't get that every month. And can't nobody talk bad about you. You're my brother. Now, now I got to fight for you.

Right. Y'all are talking bad about what? No, y'all can't talk bad about them. Like, yeah, you're getting somebody that's on your team. Yeah. But it's, I mean, you know how life is, man. Stuff happens when it's supposed to happen, like. Nah.

So when did you start? Now, you asked me, when did this start for you to hold podcast? No, I'm getting interviews. Yeah, you got interviews just a tad. Just a tan. So it was March of 24, man. And here's what's crazy. I didn't want to start a podcast.

I just wanted to do YouTube content. Like, at the end of the day, I wanted to do YouTube content. on why you should focus on your because and not your why. And so then I've got mentors. So like Les Brown, who lives here in Atlanta now, Damon John, Robert Irvine. You say Les Brown? Les Brown. He might be my cousin, my last name, Brown.

Anytime I hear of Brown, I'm like, hey, he might be family. You might be. But all of them were like, Mick, you should do a podcast and we'll be guests. And I was like, okay, I can come out of the gate with some names. And then it just spawned into its own. world, man. It's just crazy because all of my episodes are about my guests. Like, I love hearing stories. I love hearing the things people are doing to, to inspire others and to make impact. And the world needs that. And so that's what the show is about. So started in 24 and just been

rolling ever since. When I first started, I did no clips. I didn't put anything on Instagram, and now it's like three, four, five clips a day. I do some talking head stuff and it's just going good. When did you get your first, like, video that was like viral where, because I'm going to tell you mine, but when did you get your first viral video that made you be like, people like to watch? So the one that went viral the most was I was talking about the 10-year-old me making a promise to my mom to change her life. And it was actually just a clip out of a 10-minute segment, but they took 45 seconds of it. And that is like, you know, over two million views now.

Wow. I'm not big-time like Justin where I can get... Two million. Two million for me was like, oh, okay. I'm not beat time like that either. I don't know because Instagram,

TikTok, all they play with your views. But mine's came, we did this one where I had a pan... It was two different ones. I had a pancake stat like this. And my daughter, I was, you know, I was doing a neuralizer from the men in black. And I was getting ready to eat it

And she was like, what you're doing with all them pancakes? Because they had 10 pancakes, a pound of bacon, and a pound of potatoes. And she was like, you're not the rock. You're eating like that. You're the pebble. And so when that happened, that went crazy. Yeah. Because I am small.

And then you have, then after that, the next video was, I want to say it was steamhouse lounge. And then they had all these oysters right here in Atlanta. And then that video went crazy. And I was like, no, this is, this is. This is all right. Like, because we, I remember sitting around and my kids were like, people still liking your video because they're just looking and they're like, they're coming crazy.

I'm like, what you're talking about? And then my phone was on ringing. I just keep hearing, ding, ding, ding, ding. I'm like, I just had to turn it off. I was like, I look up in the morning. It's still going. I say, oh, hey, they liked the video. And that was crazy.

And then years later, it blew up. And I'm so mad because me and my mom used to go out to eat so much. Like, we used to go out to eat so much. It's like some restaurants that I go to now, they remember my mom, and she passed away. And I'm mad that she didn't never get to go out to eat with me and somebody say, hey, man, your bills taken care of. Because that would have been the wildest thing in the world to her because she didn't like to take pictures. She wasn't on social media. Like, that would have been wild for her.

So I hate that it happened after her, but my youngest daughter looks just like my mom. So she asked like her. So it's kind of. gives me that. All right, you still. You still here. Yeah. Yeah, I love that, brother. I love that, man.

I'm going to get you out of here on my unplug fire. Rapid Fire five questions. All right. You ready? Best cook in the household is? The oldest daughter. Oh, okay. She's stealing people recipes.

My wife might cook something and it'd be super good. It'd be the best. She might can't recreate it because she don't know what she used in it. Uh-huh. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I dig that. I dig that. What's been one of the top three

memorable bites you've ever had? Kingston Caribbean's beef pat, cocoa bread, beef patty, mac and cheese oxtail sandwich. That was amazing. Okay. Mr. Vegans, sole food, vegan plate.

Mm-hmm. And, It's going to be weird. I'm going to say this. The only reason I'm going to say this is one of my biggest bites was because it was a side that I didn't think I was going to like. And now every time I go there, I have to have it. Onion bug from Frankie Steakhouse.

Okay. And they were so good, like, an onion can be this good. Like, but I like onions, but I've never had an onion like that. And that changed my life as far as onions. Like, now I just, like, people are probably like, man, an ant. Yeah, that aim was good. Okay. Yeah.

I dig that. I dig that. So people that aren't from Atlanta don't understand. Atlanta's a whole bunch of different communities and sections that make up Atlanta. You turn me on to McDonough, man. I didn't know McDonald had a big food scene like that. Like, what do you think is one of the best food areas of Atlanta? Underrated.

Let me say that way. One of the most underrated ones. It's all so different because, you know, You have an Asian scene like in Duluth and all that, and I love that area. And then you have Caribbean food. This is what I love about it, Georgia. It's stuff that's so good. So I don't think there's a particular scene.

McDonough, the only reason, because I stay in McDonough, so I had to find places that we could eat because years ago, I wouldn't even ride through McDonough. It was a rural area. It was just like, it just wasn't somewhere we were riding through that night. trying to find food. But now there's so many restaurants that's popping up out there.

They have Pandora on the Square, which is cool. You don't get fine dining like that anywhere else on the south side. You get Enzo, that's in Fayetteville, though. It's fine dining. Curiosity, fine dining. So we got, like, I feel like three really good

fine dining spots on the south side. But I can't name one area Because every, because what I do every weekend, we'll pick an area to go to for particular food. So it's so many different places that. So just go anywhere in Atlanta. You can't do that out. Yeah, you can find something. People come down here and say Atlanta's not like the best of food.

But in reality, we are because we have like every type of food. And it's not like it's somebody who's not from there making the food. Like every one of these cultures got a really good restaurant somewhere in the city. And that's what I love about us is that you're not stuck just eating one type of food. Yeah. And but the thing is you might have to travel for it. You might have to go here. You're going to get in that Atlanta traffic.

I was going to say it might take you two and a half hours. Yeah, you're going to get in that Atlanta traffic. I don't like that Atlanta traffic. And that's why my kids get mad with me because I'm up. I'm like, man, we're going to beat this traffic. Y'all want to go eat. We're going to go in this area. We can go to the mall in this area.

We can go through something. But we need to get out here before that traffic. But then me and my taste buds start being like, you know what, I just want something fast. Like, I was just telling you how my mind thinks. If I get caught in traffic, I don't want to eat no more. I'm not. I get frustrated. And I'm out because I got frustrated in New York like that.

I thought my navigation was messing up. He said, one mile, 30 minutes. And we was in an Uber. And I said, no, that can't be right. Oh, yeah, he could have walked. Eight minutes went by. We had moved the inch. Yeah.

I said, let's get out. this and walk. I told her, go ahead, Charlie, what you go? Charlie, but we're getting out. We walking. And sure enough, we got down in that mile before that car got to where we were at. So I was like, okay. So I don't like traffic like that. We're the same right there. We're the same right there. We might be the same right here. Who's your favorite NFL team? I got love for two teams. And I'll do them evenly, but I was born in Jacksonville. So Jacksonville and Atlanta. Now, I said football. Football. Yeah, yeah. Jacksonville.

Yeah, Jacksonville. And Atlanta Falcons. And I said football. The Falcons play football? Oh, man. They play football. Oh, man. We almost, almost threw this coat.

Man, we almost threw this coat, man. You just threw me for a loop, man. Man, listen. I got Jacksonville. I used to live down there, too. Listen, Atlanta, we, hey, hey. I'm a patriot fan, so I appreciate you. I appreciate you not running the ball.

But guess what? Guess what? That was the last time I ever bet it with my heart. That was the last time I gambled with my heart. I told you before the show. I never do. My teams never see my money. Yeah.

I never, I never, I haven't been on the Falcons since. Yeah, smart because they don't play football. Man, they play football, we got, we got, NFL football. Hey, man, you can stop that. You're going to stop that. You're going to stop. Hey, y'all, hey, y'all, I'll tell you all right now. Uh-oh.

Falcons, we're going to have a good season this year. We don't have a good season. Six games is a great season for a lot. No, no, no, no, no. Six wins. We're going to have a real good season, man. Six wins. We're going to be above 500.

So you got them winning nine games? I got us winning nine games. Hey, we're recording this live. Nine games is what he said. I will take the under of nine for the Falcons. All right. I'll bet you with Coca-Cola. So look, so look, we win nine games.

You wear a Falcons jersey. We don't I wear a Patriot's jersey of your choice. Perfect. I got you covered. Cool. I got you covered. Yeah. That's what's up.

Last question for you, Jay. as the story of Justin, the real food stalker Brown is being told. What's something you want to make sure the world knows about you? I just love my people. When I say my people, I just mean people who are positive, people who push for others. Because like anybody who knows me knows, even if I'm losing, I'm still rooting for other people. Like, I'm going to always root for people. So it doesn't bother me when people make nasty comments.

You can't bother. me on the internet because I come from where you don't when people say something bad about you they used to have to just say it to you in your face and that was so saying it to me on the internet is nothing like yeah that's why I kind of like talking to my kids like there's no way you should let somebody get under your skin talking to you over the internet like because there's nothing but words really and I just want people to know I don't care about that but I do hope that that same energy negative energy that y'all use on me I hope that you do something positive and support somebody that same energy. As long as you do that, I don't care about you being negative to me.

As long as you're supporting someone, like you're showing someone that you want them to make it. But don't be just trolling everybody and not trying to put somebody to be great. Because you trolling me don't matter. Like, I don't care. I got to be great. I got to try my best to be great. Whether I become great or I don't. I got to try so I can at least look back and say, hey, at this point in my life, I really try to be great.

Mm-hmm. So I just want people to know I don't care about that. And anybody who's pushing to do something, I'm with you on it. I'm with you. Like, I see food bloggers pop up every day. Mm-hmm. And I like their content. I don't scroll by it and don't like it.

I like it. I don't care. Like, I do a lot of collaboration with people, other food bloggers, because I want y'all to succeed, too. Everybody wants. The more people that can succeed, maybe you're better at it. me. And if you should see, maybe you, a big company picks you up and realize that like, okay, these food reviewers are needed. And because we are the new commercials. So you don't got to pay $30,000 for a commercial no more and be on TV. People watch Instagram, TikTok, Facebook more

and they watch TV. Absolutely. Like, so you're getting a commercial out of people. I just want people to win. Because the more people to win, the less hate it is. Like, and that's just the way. goes, people who are winning don't have time to hate. Even when I'm losing, I'm not fin of hate. Because I want you to make it. I just want people to know, I love y'all. Like, honestly, like, I see people out. And when I see other good people, I love that.

Like, I don't know what it is, but that's why all my friendships are tight. Like, because they know I really care about the winning. I don't care if you're winning. My best friends are winning. I don't want nothing from you. I'm happy that you're winning. I'm happy that you're happy. And most people don't understand.

that aspect of it. That's why my friends are still my friends from like years and years and they still joke on me no matter how big I can be a billion that they're still going to roast me about my height, whatever it's going to be, but they know I love them so they're going to always do that. So just always know it's always love.

Nothing but love for me. There it is. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been The Real Foodstock. Justin, where can people find and follow you now? Man, everything the Real Foodstock on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, hey y'all subscribe to that YouTube so I can start trying to

make some money so I can give back. It's hard for me to give back y'all without no money. Let's help me get the money. And matter of fact, this shirt right here, we're going to have this shirt. This is going to be for sale soon. And we're going to figure out some stuff, man. I'm telling y'all, I'm going to give back.

When I get to that point to do the give-backs, I'm going to give back in a different way. A lot of people give back on camera. I'm not going to do that. Y'all not even know. The only people don't know I gave back is the people who got gave to. And it's just going to be fun.

I promise you. It's going to be fun. That's what's up. Everybody, make sure you're following. We'll have links to the show notes in the descriptions to everything. The Real Food Stalker. Support my guy.

He's an amazing follow. Nothing but positivity. And you're going to learn some things about food that you didn't know before. Hey, man, y'all follow him. Oh, boy. He's giving me the opportunity. Mick, unplug.

Y'all got to follow him because he's giving people an opportunity. to tell their story. And a lot of people don't ever get to tell their story. And people don't, so people don't understand that person. And they don't understand why they dislike them or they like them. You know, so you're doing something really good for the community and for socials. Like, this gives people just that opportunity.

I appreciate you, brother. Appreciate you. To all the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleason.