Mick Unplugged - Making It Happen: Lessons from Matt Price’s Kitchen and Career

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

Making It Happen: Lessons from Matt Price’s Kitchen and Career Matt Price, known to millions as Mr. Make It Happen, is a celebrated chef, content creator, and entrepreneur whose viral cooking videos have redefined home cooking for a new generation. From humble beginnings in Richmond, Virginia, Matt climbed the corporate ladder at Capital One, but his lifelong passion for food led him to trade a thriving sales career for building a culinary and media brand. Through YouTube, Instagram, and his renowned DC restaurant, Fraiche, Matt inspires audiences to get creative in the kitchen while staying true to their roots. His signature style—blending authentic recipes, accessible teaching, and steady innovation—has made him a trusted voice for foodies and home cooks everywhere. Takeaways: Consistency and authenticity are key to building a successful brand in content creation—Matt's journey from corporate sales to viral chef proves that mastery and staying true to your voice triumphs over trendy attempts to go viral. Leveraging today’s low barriers to entry, anyone can start building impactful video content with just a smartphone, but real success comes from intentionality, persistence, and a willingness to learn from failure. In both business and creativity, doubling down on your strengths and surrounding yourself with the right team is far more effective than trying to do it all—hire for your weaknesses, focus on your unique gifts, and always be ready to pivot. Sound Bytes: "If you’re going to do it, start now, because the barrier for entry today is as low as it’s ever been. All you need is an iPhone." "I’d rather have one or two people that say, 'it wasn’t for me,' but the rest absolutely love it and rave about it, than everyone just think it was cool." "I just take the time to really learn it. You can’t really teach something you’re not proficient at." Connect & Discover Matt: Instagram: @_mrmakeithappen_  Website: mrmakeithappen.com YouTube: @MrMakeItHappen X: @MrMake1tHappen Restuarant: Fraiche Cookbook: Meet Me in the Kitchen 🔥 Ready to Unleash Your Inner Game-Changer? 🔥   Mick Hunt’s BEST SELLING book, How to Be a Good Leader When You’ve Never Had One: The Blueprint for Modern Leadership, is here to light a fire under your ambition and arm you with the real-talk strategies that only Mick delivers.  👉 Grab your copy now and level up your life → Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million    FOLLOW MICK ON: Spotify: MickUnplugged Instagram: @mickunplugged  Facebook: @mickunplugged YouTube:  @MickUnpluggedPodcast  LinkedIn: @mickhunt  Website:  MickHuntOfficial.com Apple: MickUnplugged Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And this is going to be the first time that you all actually understand the depth of why I started this podcast in the first place. And it has to do with my guy the sitting right here, Matt Price. You're listening to Mick Unplugged, hosted by the one and only Mick Hunt. This is where purpose meets power and stories spark transformation. Mick takes you beyond the motivation and into meaning, helping you discover your because and becoming unstoppable.

I'm Rudy Rush, and trust me, you're in the right place. Let's get unplugged. Matt, how you doing today, brother? I'm good, man. Thank you for having me when. I appreciate it. No, thank you, man. So, you know, I talked to you and I told you I've got a moment where you don't really

understand the depth of what you mean to me, and this is it right here. Yeah. everything you need is in the caption now it's your turn to make it happen three years ago I started following you on YouTube okay and that's how you open every video and I was captured by your videos I was like yeah the food he's making is great but like his video like how he's setting this up the edit like I need that because we were in this transition like literally right post COVID where video became a thing for all business. I don't care what your business is, right?

Like video, if you're watching this, if you're listening, video is critically important to the survival of your business, the branding of your business. And I thought you did an amazing job. Thank you. And so I said, I need to do more YouTube content. And I spent literally 30 days trying to come up with a hook. I was like, I love everything you need is in the caption.

Now it's your turn to make a hat. I need something like that. This is how naive I was, though, Matt. I didn't have Instagram. So I didn't know what you meant by everything you need is in the caption. I'm on YouTube. Right. And I'm like, what is this?

And so my wife is like, baby, talking about Instagram. I'm like, oh, I don't want to do Instagram, but I want to do YouTube videos. So I studied you, bro. Like, I studied the hook, the length of time, how you edited everything, the voiceovers. And then I got into the food and the recipes. And I was like, this guy is freaking amazing. And then you had your own seasonings. Yeah.

And I was like, oh, this lemon bay is off the hook. And I don't even like lemon bay like that or lemon pepper like that. But I was like, okay. So I owe you the utmost gratitude because I didn't want to start a podcast. I just wanted to do video content. Sure. And one of my good friends and mentors said, nope, you need to do a podcast. Two of my best friends who have podcasts are like, nope, you need to do a podcast.

So I said, great. If I do a podcast, it is going to be like, my guy Matt Price and we're going to make it happen. And so I understood the hook. I just do my hook at the end now, right? Yeah. Because it's your superpower. Go unleash it. But I have to thank you for giving me a blueprint of why video is important. And then how to garner and gain attention. Because to me, that's the hardest part of video. It's not just, hey, go talk, go do whatever. Like, you have mastered that, bro. So it's getting harder every day. So I tell a lot of my friends that are kind of on the fence like i come from the corporate a corporate background right and i have some friends

who are successful in corporate america you know six-figure salaries are doing really well we'll have conversations where they're like man i'm just ready to get out of here and get out of the the rat race or whatever and you know i want to do this or that but i'm not really a social media guy i'm like i get that part i understand that fully i personally i'm not a person that walks into a room and just loves attention. I'd rather not be the face of this thing, but this is what you got to do. Yeah. And I try to tell them that. And it's just, you know, some people take the initiative and actually go after their dreams and their goals and, you know, get out of their comfort zone and do it. And then other people are reluctant to try. But what I try to tell them is,

if you're going to do it, start now, because there's more people, the barrier for entry today is as low as it's ever been yeah all you need is an iPhone beautiful and almost everybody has a iPhone yeah you walk past somebody on the street they got iPhone you know what I mean like it's not there's not a big barrier for entry you know 20 years ago you had to have real equipment or real budget or real team or all of these things that take tons of money today you can do it for for whatever it costs you to have an iPhone yeah and the internet which is virtually nothing you know Dude, it's wild. And I want to, again, pay you the respects, give you the flowers.

Because I can genuinely look in this camera right here and say there would not be a make-un-plut podcast if I didn't have this guy as this is what I'm going to follow. I had no idea about that. That's amazing. Dude, I'm telling you, your style. And we're going to get into the cooking mat in a moment. but this entrepreneur, this video viral sensation that you became, I was captivated. And again, I didn't start my podcast until like last year. So I studied you, bro, for literally a year.

Well, that's impressive because you're, you're killing it. And I mean, hey, it's taking me a lot longer than a year to get it figured out. So you're killing it. Luckily, you made the mistakes that I don't know that you made because all I saw was the end result. Right. But that end result was so critical. And again, I want to talk to the listeners, to the viewers about, from your viewpoint, the setup that's needed. So, again, people today try to go viral.

And I think that's a mistake. You were not trying to go viral. You just had a formula. Right. And your formula was consistent and it was a brand. Like, I knew when I'm watching a Mr. Make It Happen video. Right. Like, it's the same every time.

Talk to us about that structure of the consistent. consistency, the formula that's needed for people to build that brand socially. Sure. I think one, just as a consumer, you tend to, a lot of this stuff is like binge watching. So you want to, you want things to kind of flow into the next, the next. Like if you're watching five of my videos in a row, I don't want there to be an abrupt break in the action. You know, if you're watching five of my Instagram videos, they're all going to feel similar. Like time's going to pass quickly without you really thinking, oh, let me go to the next thing. So that's kind of part of it. But also, for me, it's about rhythm. Like, I want to be in a rhythm so that

things happen easier. Like, when you're doing a voiceovers are hard to do. Like, people don't realize that a 60 second voiceover, it's not easy to execute in a way that comes across as like you're not, like, agonizing over it or reading a script or something like that. You wanted to feel natural. Almost like music, like if you're a rapper and you're freestyle and you don't want it to sound crazy. You want it to flow and have some rhythm to it. So it's kind of the same thing. That takes a lot of practice to be able to execute those well and then have the right audio equipment and the editing to make it sound good. A lot of that stuff is easier today than it was when I first started.

Like a lot of these apps and stuff weren't out when we were, you know, I had basically like a studio setup, like a mixed board and all that. that five years ago where you'd have to really kind of know a little something about it. Now it's getting easier. But for me, it was more about just getting in a rhythm. And, like, you get into a rhythm from the voiceover side of things. You get into a rhythm with your videographer and your editor. So, like, I'm doing something. He knows what I'm doing already. So he knows to get this angle because I'm about to do, like, a lift shot and show you the Sierra and the Sam. He already knows. It's all about, like, choreographed, almost. And that, to me, is what kind of got me into a good groove.

And I've had the same team since day one. So my videographer has been with me since the first video that I put on YouTube. How important is it to have a concept or a theme, whatever you want to call it, for your video output? So for the entrepreneur, the business person, the everyday person that's watching or listening to this,

that is getting into video, content now that's getting into social content. How important is it to have that structure? It's important but I wouldn't say I would say don't overthink it because that is what people tend to do. People like well I'm going to start when I get this or I got to wait for this thing to happen or I'm still working on the concept I'm still waiting on to get my kitchen remodeled or whatever it is. People will find a reason to stall and procrastinate. It's human nature like you don't want to people are afraid to fail, right?

It's normal. It's a scary thing. But once you realize that failing is kind of part of the process and you just throw caution to the wind in that regard, it's going to set you up to, for success, it may not come like immediate, but if you keep swinging and you keep trying and you're really genuinely passionate about a thing, chances are you're going to come out on top. Man, that's the truth right there. So I'm going to complete the circle now. So I followed you one because I think I'm a foodie, but like I was more of a, you put me on a smoker, you put me on a grill.

I got that all day and I can make mac and cheese. Like my, that's, that's it, right? That's a good bag to have right there. Hey, and it's a good one. Yeah. But then you taught me some other things. So it went from watching his content, looking at what he does with food to like, now let me go make some of this stuff. Yeah.

And I was like, oh, like Matt is actually teaching me how to cook. like, hey, babe, like, I'm about to make this little deal. And she's like, where's that from? I'm like, Mr. Make it happen. And so now she's her favorite fan because when it comes to cooking, she was doing a lot of the cooking. Yeah. But now I could do some of that. And then it goes from that to your restaurant.

And I come in and I try, I tell people all the time, my favorite restaurant in D.C. is fresh, right? Like, it is without a doubt. I have no issue saying it on film publicly on social media. Thank you, man. It is my spot. So now I want to bring it full circle You left corporate sales Doing really well

Yeah Were you always cooking at home Like what was the thing that said I'm going to Believe in myself Invest in myself And go be this person That's it was tough

I always was cooking though Like I'm the type of person When I get into this I got to be careful About the things that I do Or like the hobbies that I pick up Because I will get upset You go all in. That's why I don't play golf.

If I play golf, I'm going to be golfing. You know what I mean? I don't like to not be good at something. So if I'm going to tell people that this is what I do, I want to, I'm going to take it seriously, regardless of whatever it is. I mean, you could say, hey, we're going to start a bookstore, and I'm going to figure out what's the best bookstore in the world, and I'm going to study it, I'm going to learn about it. You know what I mean?

That's just who I am for better or worse. Sometimes it's not the best side of me. Yeah. But that's how I am. Cooking was the best thing for me with that because you can always get better. Like no matter... Get you and your crew to the big shows with Go Transit.

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Matter how good you are at cooking, even Gordon Ramsey, there's something he could be better at. The best chef in the world, there's a cuisine that he doesn't know. Maybe he doesn't know how to make Indian food or Ethiopian food or, you know, Korean food. There's so many different cultures and so many different techniques

is you'll never be able to perfect everything. And that is what turns me on so much about cooking. It's like there's a constant improvement. And there's just a beauty in that to me that I was obsessed with. So I was always cooking. Like I used to, I was from Richmond, Virginia, originally. Corporate America started as entry-level sales associate, making like 28 grand a year. It was tough, man.

I didn't have the best childhood upbringing. And I was kind of at a crossroads in my life. working two jobs, barely, barely making rent, 18, 19 years old. One of my coworkers at BJ's wholesale club, she was like, you're really good, you know, talking to people. I just got fired from Capital One, but they're hiring. You should go to this job fair. And one, I was like, they just fired you and you're still promoting the company, so that

means you must have liked it. Yeah. And then two, I don't think they're going to hire me, but what do I got to lose? You know, what the hell? Let's try it. Went, got the job. I worked my way up, you know, 10, 11 year career with Capital One. And then that came from, you know, that conversation with her.

So that, I ended up making, you know, really good salary, six-figure job to walk away from that was scary. Because in my mind, I'm like, I probably didn't even deserve to be here because I don't have a degree. I don't have anything. Like, if I walk away from this, what's going to happen? Very scary moment. built up a savings, a little nest egg to where if I fail or things don't work out, I can at least

sustain living for X amount of months. And then I had a really good rapport with my job. I felt like I could go back if I had to. So those were the things that kind of I played in my mind, like the scenarios. Actually, the year I quit Caput 1-on-1 sales. I was salesperson of the year that year. So it's like winning the Super Bowl and they're retiring. So I was like, they'll hire me back. if I don't make it right so yeah that gave me like that confidence a safety net but I would talk to some of my older co-workers they're like you're gonna go do what like this is 20 20 I'm like hey yeah yeah I'm gonna go do this YouTube thing this social media thing yeah build this this media company and

they're like you're gonna quit this job to go do that they just didn't get it so you didn't have like one foot doing YouTube one foot doing sales you just made the clean break of well I did I was still with Cal, I started YouTube in 2019 going into 2020. So right before the pandemic, we had built some traction, not nearly enough to quit. But by the time I quit, I was making enough money from it to make it make sense. I got you. I got you. So for those that are watching, what Matt didn't do was just say, you know what, I'm out.

He didn't have like this grand exit, right? You didn't burn bridges. did it very strategically yeah that's good stuff man that's good but i was transparent with them too like hey i was talking to my manager and some of my the people that i respected you know higher up than me like hey i'm considering this i'm just wanted to let you know it's i'm going to still do my job obviously you guys think i'm doing it you know well considering the accolades right i'm not just going to mail it in until i'm ready to quit but i'm letting you know that i am considering this because At that time, people would start to notice me.

Like, they would see me. Like, I'll be at a, we'll be at a conference and like, oh, I saw you on a video. And they're like, huh? So I didn't want them to think that I was just like, because we were working remote. Basically, I was like a district or regional sales manager. So I had a territory that I was responsible for. I didn't want them to think that they're paying me this salary and I'm just at home making cooking videos. Yeah.

Because that wasn't the case. I was doing it. We'll shoot, you know, four or five videos in a weekend and I worked my nine to five. Yeah. But I was a transparent. It wasn't like a surprise when it happened, basically, is what I'm trying to say. Yeah. So when did you know that you wanted to do cooking videos?

And I'm going to ask it a different way, selfishly for me. When did you know it's like, all right, I can really make these dishes? And I want to show other people how to make these dishes. Again, it goes back to the obsession thing. Because I'm not the type of person that's going to put out a video if I don't feel confident that I know what I'm talking about. And not to be shady, but not all creators are like that. I know a lot of creators are putting out videos, and I can know that's probably the first or second time you've ever made that thing.

You can't really teach something that you're not proficient. And I'm not going to say you have to be an expert to teach, but you should be proficient, right? Yeah. You shouldn't, like, make very, very entry-level simple mistakes. If you're coming from a teaching perspective, now it's pure entertainment, that's different. Yeah.

But if I'm, if I'm giving you an instructional video on how to build a car, I should know what I'm talking about. Yeah. If I'm teaching you how to make, you know, pasta, I should, and you're going to feed your family, your kids, your, your wife, or whatever, you're going to spend money at the grocery store. Like, I take, take all of that into account. So, I just take the time to really learn it. Yeah. And so here's what I'm going to say, because I can only say this about you and my best friend Robert Irvine. Here's when you know you've got a really great chef with the great recipe, you don't

see variations of it, meaning, you know, people put recipes online and then in the comments it's like, yeah, but if you add this or if you do this or if you take this away, then it's really good. Everything that Matt puts out, you don't have to have a variation. Yeah. Right? Like you don't have to say, oh, well, instead of a cup of milk, you should do a cup and a half or, you know, a set of salt and pepper, just do this.

Like, your stuff is very authentic, which is why I appreciate it, because I don't have to go in and adjust a recipe. And that's very rare. Right. And to me, that's always the tell, to your point, when you've got that creator that it's not what they do, when it's like you look at it and it's like, nah, they ain't even eaten that before.

Yeah. Because that doesn't even go together or that doesn't sound good. I don't care what your palate is, right? That just doesn't go together. I mean, there's people out there that just grab a recipe off the internet and just you, they didn't test it. They didn't, you know. Yeah. And again, the barrier for entry is very low. And that's the, honestly, that's the scary part for me. And that's what pushed me into considering doing a restaurant because I see that this room is getting more and more crowded. And you could still be at the top of your game. And for example, from the product side of things, which is, which is really what made me make the decision. I'm not, I wasn't first, right? I'm not going to pretend like I'm the godfather of what we're doing. I was early, though, and somebody that built the content piece of it from the media side of things and then launched products.

And, you know, seasoning, chef knives, skillets, cookbooks, people saw that and saw that it was doing well for me. And they have five years of game tape to study and replicate. So even if they don't sell more seasoning than I sell, if 10,000 chefs are selling seasoning, the pie is starting to dwindle a little bit. So like you, you know, you just got to figure out, all right, so what's next? What can I do that's going to separate me from the pack? Not all of these creators are going to be capable of launching a restaurant and, you know, doing that.

And it's a super tough business, very challenging. I've lost a lot of money on some stuff and we've done well with other things. It's a scary place to be. It's deep waters. It's rough. Yeah. But that's just, you know, how I view it. It's like, all right, I got to pivot.

I'm going to still do these things at a high level, but what's the next thing? Because I don't want to just do this forever and never try to grow. And then eventually, you know, I'm just going to be kind of pushed out. Not necessarily pushed out, but the pie starts to shrink. And then it's like, you know, you got this overhead. You got these employees that are, you know, looking to you to lead the way. Yeah. got to figure out the next move.

Yeah. And what I'm about to say, because I'm going to double down on something Matt said, I promise you I'm not coming after creator, so don't be hitting me up like that. Like, I support creators. It's a great community of all creators. Yeah. But it's something that my guy, Airy Spear says, too, like the creators in the comedy world, there's a difference of being funny for YouTube and doing the clips and all that,

which people should do, right? Be Instagram funny. But when you got to get on stage. That's the real game. That's the difference when you got to make people laugh that maybe they don't want to laugh, right? Like, they're coming to see if you're the real deal or not. And it's like, they're not there for you. I would say it's the same thing with you in the restaurant game, right?

It's like, you can do it here. Yeah. But then to really say this is who I am, open the restaurant. Yeah. Get the people to come in. And you know this being in the business. It's not about them coming one time. Right.

That's cool. But I need you to want to. to come back every week. I want you to go tell other people to be here. Talk to us about taking that step and that difference in particular. I think that applies to the content space too. Like it's anybody, I'm going to say anybody, but most people can shoot a 60-second clip of them making Alfredo. Can you make a 10-minute video on YouTube? Because you'll notice a lot of these creators only do short-form content. It's harder to do that long-form stuff. And that same thing applies to even more when it comes to, you know, opening a restaurant.

And you're putting, I mean, everything's on the line. My name, my reputation, my money, like everything. You're really betting the house on, I think I can do this thing. That's scary. And then it's also just, and food is so like, one person may love a dish and another person may not like it. It's so, you know, personal. You know, you might like your risotto one way and somebody might like that. their risotto another way or some people love spicy food and this person doesn't it's just trying to find that happy balance that um makes people happy and my my take on it is I want to push that line of flavor as close to the edge where it's like this might be too much like my thing I tell my chefs is if if 20 or 10 people come in here and two of them say oh it was a little too salty or it was a little too whatever to umami forward or whatever yeah but eight of them said it's the best meal they ever had in their life i'm i would rather that scenario than 10 people come in here and be like it was cool yeah yeah yeah so i'd rather have one or two people that's like oh it wasn't

for me but the other bunch of them absolutely love it and rave about it then everybody come in nobody complained but nobody loved it yeah yeah so So, again, I've been to your restaurant. I'll follow you forever. So for those that don't know, like, talk us a little bit about your inspiration because my wife will tell you, bro, like, she loves New Orleans cuisine, even though she's not from there. Yeah. Like, you've got some really great New Orleans inspired menu items. You've got, and just recipes in general.

True. You've got what I call the true South, the real South, because I'm from the South, right? You've got some Southern-inspired dishes. You've got some Asian inspired it. You got some West Coast inspired. Like, what's your, what's your inspiration when it comes to the kitchen and the recipes that you put up there? So I think it goes back to what you feel like you can do well. When you're designing a menu, you want to have your, like, if you're going to a concert for Rolling Stones or whoever, let's say some vintage band or musician, you want to hear the hits.

Like, I don't want to hear your new stuff. I want to hear the absolute. best thing that you got yeah so part of it is that and then from the inspiration side of things really it's just how I grew up I didn't like I said I don't want to get to I mean we can but I don't want to make it all about that but I had a relatively rough childhood I would spend a lot of time spending the night at other people's houses and I grew up in a neighborhood that was very very culturally diverse we had you know this I grew up in a time like Sierra Leone had the Civil War. So my neighborhood had a bunch of people that had moved from that. Bosnia,

same thing. I had a lot of Bosnian people in my neighborhood. It's just very, very culturally diverse. So my best friends were from all over the world. So I got exposed to so many different types of food. I didn't always have food to eat at my house. So I spent a lot of time eating in other people's houses. So people might look at me like, who's this white guy cooking X, Y, and Z? But it's really because I just was exposed to a million different types of food from eight, nine years old until I'm, you know, 20-something. Yeah. Yeah. And I think there's a leadership lesson in that, too, and an entrepreneur lesson. At Capital One, we're more than just a credit card company. We're people just like you who believe in the power of yes. Yes to new opportunities. Yes to second chances. Yes to a fresh start.

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family origins like never before, with even more precise regions and new and exclusive features. Their best gift, our lowest price, 50% off Ancestry DNA, only until December 2nd. Visit Ancestry.ca for more details. Terms apply. One, be who you are, but two, find out what you do really well and continue to do that. I think a lot of times in the business side of things, you hear people talking about making their weaknesses better or, you know, I'm weak here. this up. And I tell people from a sports perspective, from a business perspective, the greatest people that you know, when you put the EST at the end, they did one or two things really, really,

really, really well. Better than most people. And I think a lot of times we get misinformation that you need to be well-rounded and you need to do a little bit of everything. I'm like, no, do what you do well. Tell us about that and how some of that's your mentality, too. I know you, right? Yeah. You don't try to do everything, but what you do, you dominate. I think that I learned a lot of that from corporate America, too. Like running teams and managing, it's like, you know, hire your weaknesses.

It's like if I'm not good at accounting, I need to hire an accountant. If I'm not good at sales and marketing, I need to hire an expert. If there's people out there that all they know how to do is cook. You should be the chef at that restaurant. You should probably let somebody else do the P&Ls and the- the labor cost and all of that good stuff, you know. So I learned a whole lot about, really it was, I didn't go to college. So my time in corporate America was my college.

I learned everything about sales, marketing, how to just be a professional adult, be on time, be responsible. I didn't get that as a kid. If you would have met me when I was 17, you would probably look at me a whole lot different than you look at me today. But I grew up a lot early. because I had to, but then corporate America really just taught me how to be more professional and just look at things differently than I would have otherwise.

Got it. Got it. All right, bro. So we're going to go to the book, meet me in the kitchen. Talk about why you wanted to do a cookbook, right? Like, you're social famous, right? You could have just left it there, but you were like, nah, I want to put it out on paper. Talk to us about this.

So I had done some collaborative cookbooks prior to doing this one. And then during the pandemic, I was doing e-books, like rappers drop mixtapes, like once a month. We were just cranking them out. Yeah. My philosophy during the time of the pandemic was like, I want to do everything very affordably. We were doing weekly cooking classes for $5. We were doing e-books for $5. And just putting out as much stuff as possible and kind of try to build that community.

which I think I tell creators all the time you want to and I need to do a better job of that now because I'm stretched so thin I talk about that in my meeting sometimes too is like just build that that community and that's one good way to do it but as far as doing the cookbook I just wanted to do a solo effort I had never done one I felt like I just you know it just was on my mind there's a lot of really good recipes in there there's quotes from chefs that kind of inspired me as like page breaks in there It just was something that I've always wanted to do. I'm actually in the process of considering doing my second one. This one's been out for about a year now. But yeah, it's just kind of what you do, right?

If you're a musician, you put out a record. If you're a chef, you put out a cookbook. And it's kind of felt like it was just a natural progression for me. And, you know, it's fun, too. What are some of the recipes we're going to get out of here? You got a lot, some of the stuff, the garlic noodle recipe is in there that's on my, in my restaurant, some of the most popular things that I've done are in this book. So you got stuff that's not on YouTube, but you also got some of the biggest, most

viral recipes I've got from different seafood boil recipes that have done really well. It's a little bit of everything. You got everything from breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers. You got the social media, you know, viral stuff. And then you got the more intricate, like if you want to be more on the chefy side of things or you just want to make a delicious meal for your family. It's something in there for everybody. And I can promise you that. There is something for everyone. When you follow Matt on social, like he does have the, oh, I got to be a chef to do this one, but he breaks it down so that it doesn't matter who you are, you can truly do it. But then he's got like my favorites, which are I'm watching the game and I got folks coming over. And we're going

have some chicken bacon pepperoni wrench flat bread yeah bro that changed my life right there that was the first thing that i ever made because i felt like i could yeah right matt also and you don't know this you taught me that sliders i just need hawaiian rolls and just cut them in half yeah i was like how do people do this yeah and then you you taught me how easy it was like don't laugh at me don't hit me up like again i was on the grill and made mac and cheese that's what i did really well Some people can't do much of anything, so it would be, the grill's tough to master, so it's good that you got that under your belt. Yeah, man, but the sliders, the flatbreads, my wife loves anything with Alfredo and shrimp, so I know you've got some really good stuff there, man. So, Mr. Make It Happen. Talk to us about the moniker. Where did that come from?

Originally, it just came as a joke, like, but amongst friends, we were on a vacation. One of my friends was supposed to, It was like a bachelor party, you know, the best man supposed to plan everything and do everything. And it kind of fell through on him. And long story short, he dropped the ball a little bit. And then I kind of put everything together and made the salvage the weekend, basically. So that whole week I was just giving them shit like, you know, when you refer to me, call me missed and make it happen. So I went as far as to change my social media handle to it. Like just, I just was really leaning into the joke.

I'm like 18, 19 at the time. And then it just stuck. And then I was like, well, it applies to food too. And I like the idea that I'm giving myself something to live up to, right? Like, if you're going to be the guy that's making it happen, that's a huge responsibility. You got to step into those shoes. If you're going to call yourself that, you got to execute. So I just stuck with it.

I love it. I love it. What are some of the other products that you? you have aside from cooking. I know we talked about the knives. We talked about our about the seasonings. Like, let the viewers and listeners know the whole portfolio of what you have. Sure. I got a website that has all of free recipes, Mr. Make It Happen.com. You can find pretty much every single recipe I've ever posted online for free right there, detailed descriptions, pictures, all that good stuff. I have a media company, Make It Happen Media. We have a podcast.

We have a second YouTube channel where we're more dedicated to like more entertainment. style content, food reviews. You're judging your friends. Yeah, they cookoffs with people that can't really cook that good. It's fun. It's entertaining. It's great. That's doing really well.

We just started that not too long ago. The podcast is starting to pick up a little bit. I've got, as far as a product perspective, we got chef knives, skillets, season flour is performing really well. The season ends. I got digital food thermometer, which is, in my opinion, one of the things that everybody should own. If I could pick one thing that the home cook should have that most people don't is a digital food thermometer. Because you'll never over or undercook any protein,

which is the most expensive thing you're going to buy. You can get this thing for $12 and it's going to turn that $60 steak. You're going to make sure you do it right. Done. And how about we do this? No promo codes or anything like that. But let's figure out a way that for the first 10 people that message me make it happen, I will make sure that I buy a digital thermometer for you. How about that? I love that. That's great. Like I said, I think that turns a not so great cook into at least an adequate cook if you, because what's the chief complaint about food? It's dry or it's this or that. Yeah. Because he overcooked it. But if you had a thermometer, does it work on a grill and smoker? Mm-hmm. Oh. Yeah. Then done deal. Because that

That is the big, that's why I started grilling and smoking my own stuff because it's like, eh, like, it's either too dry here. I'm really picky about red meat too. Like, if it's too under, I'm never going to touch it. I know some people, medium rare is their deal, but like I have to cook for me in my house. So that's what we do. You brought up some things that the home chef could do wrong. Give the home chef some tips. Like, what are some things that we could do to simplify cooking?

What's some strategies or insights that we need? You got to have the right tools for the job. So not that you need to go invest in a thousand dollars worth of cookware and stuff, but something like a digital food, the moment that's $12 that'll last you for years, you know. Little simple things like that, like just making sure you have the right tools for the job. A sharp knife. A lot of people, when I go to friends' houses and they ask me to cook something, their knives are terrible.

Like, you're more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife. because it'll slip, you know, because it's not capable of cutting through the thing you're trying to cut, and it slips and cut you. That's 90% of how people get cut. So a sharp knife, it's kind of counterintuitive, but a sharp knife is you're less likely to cut yourself with a sharp knife because it's doing what you're intending it to do. Okay. So I would say for thermometer, a sharp knife, a good quality cutting board, preferably something that if you could get two cutting boards, if you can afford it, have one for your proteins and one for your non-proteins, that way that you don't risk to cross-contamination.

That's, you really don't need much else other than the simple bakeware and skillets. If you can get a nice non-stick skillet and then one either stainless steel cast iron or a hybrid pan. Okay. So all you really neat. Okay. All right. That and some heat.

Heat. Yeah. That's important, too. Talk to us really quickly, man, about. I don't want to say it. I don't want people coming at me in my DMs and all this stuff. They're going to do that anyway. They are going to do that.

That's my other advice. Exactly. Talk to us about how you went viral when others couldn't. Yeah. Because, again, I wouldn't have known you if I didn't see you. Right. If that makes sense. Sure.

Right? Because I wasn't specifically looking for you. it was you popped up on my YouTube feed then when I a year later got Instagram because I had to figure out what these captions things were you're talking about I followed you there and then I was like you're showing up there too yeah how how did you do it when others couldn't you know what's funny I get that question probably the most common question other than what's your favorite thing to cook and I this may sound crazy to people that are trying to try to get where I'm at but I don't feel like I've ever been that

viral like i've had a few videos i call my i joke with my friends like i'm a blue collar content creator because i just been chipping away at it since 2017 like i've never had a streak where i'm doing 20 30 million views like some of these people like there are people and hats off to them like that are they'll post they'll just get started and post a couple videos 20 million views 15 million views and you look up and they got 600 000 followers in three months that wasn't my story I had to grind it out for a long time to get here. And I still don't, like even on YouTube,

my highest viewed video long form content is only two and a half million views, which is a lot of views, right? That's a damn lot of views. But there's people out there that's got 30 million, 20 million. And I just, I feel like I've had to put together a body of work versus just chasing a viral video. And I also intentionally tried to build myself on every platform. So if you find me on Twitter or X, I got a, you know, foundation there, Facebook, Instagram,

TikTok, website. Because what happens, I used to say, I had friends that I talked to in the content space that they only were doing TikTok. And I'm like, well, what happens if TikTok goes away? What are you going to do? Or Instagram, if they demite. Like at one point, not too long ago, probably a few years ago now, TikTok, I mean, on Instagram, was paying crazy money for real.

So you could earn up to $30,000 if you hit certain bonus structures. And I knew people were quitting their jobs because they're making a lot of money. I'm like, listen, guys, it's not going to last. The only thing that's going to last is ad revenue, long form content where they can place ads in between because they can sell that space. You can't sell many ads on a 60-second clip. Nope. And if they do start doing that, people are going to stop watching.

So I was like, you know, you got to build yourself up. up on multiple platforms and if you're trying to get paid, you need to be doing longer form content. That's my advice. That's what I believed in and that that's kind of helped me out. And that's why I have a podcast. It's full circle, bro. When I was telling you, you had no idea and I wanted to tell you when we were in this moment together, that's the truth. That's awesome, man. I mean, I would have never guessed that, looking at how successful you are. When we first met, I was super busy that day, and then I seen you came back another day. And I was like, this, then I started to really like pay closer attention.

I was like, wow, this guy's got a huge thing going on. I didn't even realize that. It wasn't that. I kept coming back because, one, I'm a huge fan of you. And whenever I'm in D.C., I always, even if I'm in D.C. for a short period like now, I go see you yesterday, right? Because the food is great. The environment, we'll talk about the environment later, but the environment, boy, like, I don't want to get myself in trouble.

I need to shoot content over there, too. Please. Anytime. Let me know. The vibe is, like, amazing. The food is great. And it's something you said at the beginning. You wouldn't know that Matt owned the restaurant or was the head chef because he's not out

at the front of the house. Like, oh, it's about me. Yeah. Like, you make sure your staff has their lanes and you give them the freedom to do what they do really well. Your job is to make sure the food comes out amazing. And the experience that everyone has is amazing. So kudos for you because I think from a business perspective, that's where people go wrong.

And like, I made this mistake 20 years ago when I started in leadership that I thought leadership was about me. So, like, my name was everywhere. Every decision had to be mine. Like, you had to know I was there. Right. And then I realized really quickly when, like, a third of my staff quit. Oh, no, leadership is. about me. It's about the people. But you do a great job of making what you do about your

teams. Yeah. I mean, because I have to, I can't do it by myself. And I've tried. It doesn't work. Same. And if it does work, it's miserable. Right. You don't want to, like, even if you gain everything and become everything you ever imagined to be and then you're alone, what's the point, you know? You want to share it with your friends. You want to share it with your wife, your significant other year, whatever. That's why I love the, I have a huge YouTube channel, right? Million, 1.4 million or whatever it's at now. I have much more fun on my second channel that's only got 35,000 subscribers because I'm doing it with my childhood best friends. And I'm giving them a platform for them to grow and hopefully change their lives for the better and

be able to go and chase their dreams. I'm lucky to be here, man. I appreciate that, brother. So I'm going to get you out of here with our Rapid Five. This Rapid Five is sponsored by my wife's business, My Remote Accountants, because she wanted to ask these questions. So shout-out to Marcy Hunt. My Remote Accountant's Rapid Fire with Matt Price, Mr. Make It Happen. Her first question was, when can we have a couple's relationship show featuring Matt Price?

My wife does not like being on the camera. I would love to. I actually had a concept. I don't want to say the name of it. I guess I could say because I sent her, I had a name and everything drawn up because me and another couple, we're best friends, we hang out all the time.

And I was like, we should do a podcast. Me and her, you and her, be great. Had a name. A year past, I see that name, podcast, same exact idea. And they're doing pretty good. I was like, damn, that could have been us. Maybe one day, though, I would love to do something with my wife

and get her more involved. All right, my wife's next question, when is Matt going to do a virtual cooking class for spouses? I did it during the pandemic, and it's, like I said, I've been kind of stretching myself a little thin, and I feel like I've gotten away from the core of, like, building that community, and it's something that I've been talking with the team, like, let's get back to doing the classes, so very soon. Okay. She selfishly just wanted to pay for her and I. Let's do it.

That's all. That's all. All right. Which one of the homies is literally the worst cook? Rino by a landslide. Damn, right. He's bad. Awful.

He's really bad. Awful. He's getting better, though. But that, I mean, that's not saying much. Right. Do you want your kids to follow in daddy's footsteps? I want my son to do whatever he loves. Like, that's, man, having him has changed my life in ways that I would have never, never

guest. He wears his he's got like a little kitchen set. He looks like he's interested in it. Maybe it's just my ego like, oh, he's trying to be like daddy. But I want him to do whatever makes him happy, man. Whatever that is. Okay. All right. If it ends up being cooking, I would love that, of course.

Hey, he's got the genetics. Yeah. He's got the genetics. Last question. I'm going to ask it in a different way, because I know you get asked this a lot, but I'm going to ask it differently. You're cooking a meal for your favorite athlete, Michael Jordan. He's a tariff hill like me. Your favorite athlete is Michael Jordan?

Yes. Of course. And Mike says, Matt, you can cook whatever you want. Where do you make it Michael Jordan? Man. Mike, this for you, by the way, because he's watching. I would have to... I would need to know about his palate a little bit

because some people that you would imagine want something fancy, they just want something. Because I can do the fancier stuff, and I might get in my head and try to impress him too much. But I feel like he would probably appreciate just like a good meat and potatoes. He's a cigar guy. He's a bourbon guy. He probably wants a really good red meat and potato dish. We'll probably maybe I'll go like a tomahawk steak, something Michael Jordan-esque, special sauce.

surf and turf maybe something like that I think that would be a Michael Jordan esk meal if I started to get too cute with like you know caviar truffles and stuff I might lose them

Mike that's for you so I asked you the five but I'm going to ask you one personally for me for the guy like me or the gal like me that likes their steak medium well convince me that medium or somewhat medium rare is where I need to go

he just got to try it Just wean yourself down slowly. You don't go from well done to rare. You want to go from well done to not quite well done, then to medium well, then work your way down to medium. The thing about it for me is, one, I think that there's a, people think that the pink tent or red tent is blood, and it's not, it's myoglobin.

It's like a protein that makes the, it has that color, right? You just use a big word on me. It's what? Myoglobin. Okay. I learned something new today. It's a protein in the, in, uh, that has that color. So it's not blood.

Like when they slaughter the animal, the blood is gone. Right. For a long time, you know, by the time you get that steak on your table, they ain't been no blood in that animal. No chance. No chance. Probably weeks. Um, so yeah, I think that one, one, one,

Once you, like, if people, if you think it's bloody, I get why I wouldn't want to eat something bloody. I totally understand that. Once you understand that that's not the case, might free you up a little bit to consider the color not being as much of issue. Because to me, it's never people say, oh, I hate the texture or the flavor of it. It's always, I don't like the way that looks. True. So once you bypass the appearance thing and realize that, oh, that's not what I think I'm eating, it's actually this, then we can talk about, well, don't you agree that this steak is more tender

at this temperature than at that temperature? Wouldn't you agree that if it's more tender, it's easier to chew, and I can get a good crust on it and get all the things that people love about a well-done steak, like the exterior of it being really charred, but I can also give you a more tender product as an end result at this temperature. It's like, oh, I still get the thing that I like about a well-done steak, but I also get something I'm not used to if I'm eating well-done steak and the fact that it's more tender, it's more juicy, not all the fat is rendered out of it. And then you start to, you can find

things that you like and then eventually it becomes your deal. All right. Let me cook you one. Done. I'll cook them all different dundices and we'll just give you a little bite. You tell me which blindfold taste test. You tell me which one you like the most. You're into this blindfold food food pay. You're going to talk about your home life. Because I think that my idea is that most people don't like stake a certain way strictly off of appearance.

So if you remove that from it, just tell me which one you think it takes the best. I almost bet that it'll never be well done. Okay. All right. Deal. Shaking on it. All right. I'll fly down and do it. That'll be great content.

We'll come up here and do it. Even better. Yeah. That way you ain't got to have the expense of going down. It'll be on me to come up. Wifi, we're coming up, and we'll have Wifee's company sponsor it. Please, that'll be great. That way everything's there and official.

That'd be fun, man. That's a good piece of content, too. Yes, sir. All right, Matt, so where can people find and follow you? I know you've got millions of followers, but for those... I need millions more. Let's go. Mr. Make It Happen.com is where you can find my website,

all of my recipes. Mr. Make It Happen. Dot shop is where all my products are. You can find me on YouTube, basically any social media platform, Mr. Make It Happen happen, you type it in it'll pop up um make it happen media is my my second channel where the more fun if like instructional cooking videos aren't your thing you're just looking for entertainment

make it happen media we got a lot of food related stuff there competition based content my podcast is house there as well we got all the products all that good stuff if you're ever in the dm v dc area fresh spelled f r a i c h is the french spelling for fresh we're located in 14th street in washington dc i'd love to have you come by for a meal I love it. I'll make sure I have all the links there. For sure, if you are in the DMV area fresh, you got to check it out. It is my favorite spot in all of D.C.

It is one of my top three restaurants in the United States. That's how much I love this spot. This book, Meet Me in the Kitchen, all the recipes that you want. Again, the first 10 people that message me make it happen, I will make sure I get you a thermometer. And I will double down the next 10 people. or the first 10 people that message me, meet me in the kitchen. I will buy a book

and make sure it gets shipped to you as well, too. Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. I appreciate you. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Thank you, bro.

Bro. You're the dude. Thank you, man. That's another powerful conversation on Mick Unplugged. If this episode moved you, and I'm sure it did, follow the show wherever you listen. Share it with someone who needs that

Spark and leave a review so more people can find there because I'm Rudy Rush and until next time stay driven, stay focused and stay unplugged.