Right About Now with Ryan Alford - The Radcast vs Food: A Recipe for Success with the Best of Our Favorite Culinary Legends

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to The Radcast, a top 25 worldwide business podcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Ryan Alford here, host of The Radcast. Really excited for today's best of episode, The Radcast vs. Food. Really excited for today's best of episode, the Radcast versus food. That's right. Some of the best chefs, cooks, entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry, the food industry, talking about Casey Webb from Man versus Food.

Starting point is 00:00:36 We got Jonathan Cinto, one of the best chefs in America. Spike Mendelsohn, Plant Burger. You know who that is. Noah Sims, my brother from another. Great guy from MasterChef Season 10. And of course, last but absolutely not least, Cosmo from Cosmo's Q. Some of the best steak barbecue seasonings in America. And Cosmo's a hell of a cook himself.

Starting point is 00:01:02 Really pumped about this episode. Lots of business advice, tactical marketing advice in and out of the restaurant business. This is applicable to anyone running a business. Really excited to bring another best of the Radcast versus food. We'll see you soon. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast. I'm Ryan Offord, your host.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Today, we're bringing the heat. We're bringing all that barbecue heat with my friend Cosmo from Cosmo's Q. What's up, Cosmo? What's going on, Ryan, man? Thanks for having me, brother. Yeah, man. My pleasure. I'm a vinegar-based barbecue guy. I don't know if that was North Carolina, South Carolina, or somewhere in between, but I guess my mom was from Fayetteville, North Carolina, so maybe that, but I guess my mom was from Fayetteville, North Carolina, so maybe that's where I got it from. Yeah, I tell you what, I made that in my house probably 15 years ago. Straight vinegar base. I made it test batch, and I've never been able to make it in my

Starting point is 00:01:58 house again. My wife will not allow that. I'm here with Spike Mendelsohndleson ex top shelf contestant author badass dude what else can i call you spike all the acronyms the dishwasher dishwasher i know a true entrepreneur it's great to be here man great to be here so are you so wait are you are you plant-based are you are you oh no i like it but i eat everything brother i haven't figured out the perfect balance i'm sure there's a lot of people out there i'm gonna get dms now like hey you could totally be plant-based and get get all your protein and stuff but people are going to tell you to watch game changers i know man versus food i've got actor comedian host of man versus food case I've got actor, comedian, host of Man Versus Food, Casey Webb. What's up, Casey?

Starting point is 00:02:48 Woo! How we doing, brother? Great, man. I get depressed watching many things on TV, which is why I don't watch much TV, but I have like three go-tos, and Man Versus Food is like at the top of the list. Thank you for saying so. like at the top of the list so uh thank you for saying so i you know i i do appreciate hearing that because like i um in the beginning i had no idea who was watching i was i just figured it was just dudes like me that ate food all the time you know but i couldn't have been more wrong because

Starting point is 00:03:17 it's you know it's kids it's parents it's um it's dudes like me it's you know it's it's it. It's dudes like me. It's, you know, it's a vast group of people that watch a show. And that was really humbling. We're cooking hot today with Chef Jonathan Cinto. What's up, Jonathan? Welcome to the show. How's it going? Thanks. Pleasure to have you being on. You know, professional chef, content creator, host. You know, you got your hands in a lot, brother. Yeah, you got to stay busy.

Starting point is 00:03:48 You know, I got three girls right now. So if you're sitting back and relaxing and you're sleeping, you're in trouble. I know, man. I can relate. And I'm joined by, I'm just going to call you a brother from another. And it's Noah Sims. Hey, man, it is such a pleasure being here uh you said it uh so elegantly uh i i agree 100 every single person that i've met that is involved associated

Starting point is 00:04:13 with you is top tier professional great juju good energy it's really it's an honor to be up here and for why we're up here because i think people are fascinated you you know, like, you know, to kind of hear your journey a bit. We all think, mistakenly, that, oh, it just all, you know, comes perfect. Like, I'm sure it was just this easy path. Something tells me, and I don't even know your full story. It's never as easy as it seems to kind of get to, you know, where you are with a show like this. But let's talk about a little bit of that journey. So with acting, I started late in life i i wound up playing football uh i was playing football in high school went off to college and um i decided to stop playing which was the hardest

Starting point is 00:04:59 thing for me to do you know went away to this division three school i thought it was going to be like six six you know my brother's pretty tall and big i thought I was going to be like 6'6". My brother's pretty tall and big. I thought I was going to be at least his height, but I wasn't. But I was good. I just, you know, I didn't make it. I wasn't, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I wound up doing theater like at 18

Starting point is 00:05:19 in a community college where I had friends going to and two really close buddies. One was going to conservatory in New York city. One was getting his undergrad at a school, but he was minoring in theater and like my three closest friends somehow wind up doing theater and acting. Right. So I, I wound up auditioning for this play. Uh, cold read is basically you read off a piece of paper.

Starting point is 00:05:38 You don't know really what it says. You don't have time to rehearse it in front of an audience of other actors and people. And, and I fail. I couldn't do it. I just was so poor at it. And I that's when I realized, like, this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Like in that moment, I was like, this is so this is such a challenge that I want to I want to take this thing on. So I stopped playing sports. I stopped running into people with my helmet and I started doing theater. And that was at 18. And that's kind of where it all started. Right. So, you know, cut to, you know, I've spent

Starting point is 00:06:11 a life pursuing it, but I've left it a lot. But what kept me busy in the pursuit of acting, I long before I was an actor or at least pursuing it, I started working in the restaurant business. So I think it was my father that first handed me the spatula at age 10 and taught me how to make eggs. And probably for two reasons, one, not to burn myself and two, because he was tired of me asking him to make eggs for him to make me eggs. There we go. So yeah, so that's kind of, you know, like being in the workforce at a young age gave me the work ethic, you know. Yeah, a thousand percent. I decided to at 39 years of age to shift gears and change career. I worked in admissions for many years, college admissions, for-profit education.

Starting point is 00:07:03 I worked for Career Education Corporation for a, for-profit education. I worked for a career education corporation for a long time and culinary school. I decided it was time for a change. I was unhappy with what I was doing. I felt like I wasn't being able to be creative and using my entrepreneurial mind. And my wife said to me one day, it's time to quit your job, flat out. I was like, what the hell are you talking about? Quit your job? You realize we live on Long Island, one of the most expensive places to live in the country? I'm just going to quit like that?

Starting point is 00:07:32 And she flat out supported it. She said, just do it. I don't want to hear you talking about this nonsense anymore. You know, every single day we hear you complaining about how you're not happy. So she saw an article the day she said that to me for MasterChef. They had an audition in New York City. And one thing led to another. And fast forward, it's been a hell of a ride since then.

Starting point is 00:07:56 Well, yeah, no. So, yeah, so let's talk about that. I mean, listen, I am cut from very deep roots in the restaurant industry. I'm from Montreal, raised in a big Greek family and Jewish family. All my family members, my Greek family members, in some way are involved in the restaurant business and still are in Montreal. You know, the connection runs deep over there. I don't know if you've ever been to Montreal. I have not been to Montreal.

Starting point is 00:08:26 I have not been to Montreal. What an amazing eating food city. You've got to go check it out. Well, my story started way back in 1971 when I was born. And I'll give you the brief version right now. I was burned as a child at 17 months old, and I spent the majority of my adolescence growing up in the Shriners Burn Institute in Galveston, Texas. I ended up leaving school. I think it was 11th grade. I think I showed up for my 12th grade year and stayed about 45 minutes and i was like nah i'm out of here um so i ended up just working you know working the factories and you know partying and hanging out and having a good time and and then uh and then i started paging the family and then i was like well

Starting point is 00:09:20 all this has got to end i remember i bought my very first smoker and i went down to walmart and and bought it and uh bought a chicken and i bought a beef chuck for some reason like i don't even know what i think you know beef chuck some eckerd sausage and i put all this stuff in there and i mowed the yo i just fought this thing all day long. We sat down to have dinner. My wife and I and our three kids. It was absolute garbage. It was unedible. It was bad.

Starting point is 00:09:57 I'll never forget that. What really stuck with me is I had to throw it away. I'll never forget the look in my wife's eyes like this is I said this is funny but I like this rocked my soul as she lifted the dumpster open and I was throwing it away and I just I just felt like I can't even like I can't provide for my family. Right. Like, I will never in my life experience that feeling again. And that's when it all started. What did you do in the restaurants? You say, you know, I always, what were your, were you in the kitchen a lot?

Starting point is 00:10:37 Or were you bartending? Or like, what were your positions like? Well, the first kitchen was the home kitchen and that spatula that my dad handed me and the bacon fat in a campbell soup can um you know that's what that's what new yorkers did that's what my parents did i didn't know what that was for the longest time i was like this is gross why is there bacon fat in the freezer and little did i know it's like the greatest thing ever if you don't keep bacon fat in your freezer in a soup can then you're missing out um but uh i started washing dishes at 14 in a pizza place that was in my hometown you know 14 is a little young to be

Starting point is 00:11:13 on the work in the workforce uh not in my opinion but you know legally but i still got to wash dishes um so it was washing dishes and then that led to you know um being a um, being a bus boy, you know, being then eventually a food runner and then eventually, you know, back to be a dishwasher because you get demoted pretty quickly. And then, you know, uh, in the kitchen, like prepping, so cutting all the veggies, right. Prepping. And then that led to line cook. Um, so I was able to learn along the way and like, that's, you know, and a lot of businesses that's gone away. Like my father was able to do that in his business. He learned from starting from A and then he went up into management in his career. And so like the restaurant world, if you want it, it's there for you.

Starting point is 00:11:54 But, you know, and, you know, I always spent my life in and around restaurants, basically. You know, I always make a joke. I'm just a dishwasher that knows some things because I wash so many dishes in my life at multiple restaurants. So, you know what? I have to say that I got to stop you right there because my first job, I worked at a meat and three restaurant.

Starting point is 00:12:17 I was 15 years old and I washed dishes for eight months. I think it made me who I am today. Like until you scrub macaroni trays and meat in three dishes with gravy you you haven't you haven't worked you have not worked you know what there should be a program for young adults that requires them to go work in the restaurant industry like literally requires them whether i don't care if it's dishwashing cooking or waitressing or whatever but there's some grit

Starting point is 00:12:50 that it ingrains in you there's some humility that it puts on you that i think you can't teach that you can't ball up and teach that in any school and i i i highly agree i mean i i love that i have to say it made me who I am For me like going to culinary school The definition used to be Of a chef was someone that was formally educated That was you know got their stripes In multiple different ways

Starting point is 00:13:16 And then you'd get paperwork Executive chefs you know Chefs with cuisine all these things Your levels your tiers or whatever But now in the way that we're living, every person just throws the term chef around. So how this is such an epic answer is, can you tell me another profession where you're just like, oh, look, it's it's radio dude, Ryan. Oh, look, it's cameraman Larry.

Starting point is 00:13:38 Oh, look, it's it's it's Mike, the bartender. Like it's like, oh, look, it's basketball player Michael Jordan. It's like, what is it that I need to throw the chef term out? And, you know, I have thousands of chefs and each is their own. I'm just telling you my perspective on it. For me, it's like, well, I am so much better at a lot of other things than chef. Why do you want to call me? Like, I'm much better at conversation.

Starting point is 00:14:03 So it could be conversationist Noah, you know, wordsmith Sims over here, you know, like whatever it is. So for me, I consider myself level of professionalism, upper echelon chef. I try. Do I have the skill? No. But do I act? Do I represent myself? Do I carry myself as the best I possibly can?

Starting point is 00:14:23 Absolutely. Am I humble enough to know what I know, what I don't know, and try to learn every day? Yes. So for me, the chef term is like, you can call me a chef and I do it back and forth because I know you're just like, God, just let's say that. But for a lot of people, they just want to like box me in as like, oh, that's a chef. Noah, what is your style? I mean, what is your approach to cooking?

Starting point is 00:14:43 I like to keep it simple. I don't like to overdo it. I like to highlight the ingredients so people can actually taste what's in the food. I like to be able to build many layers of flavor so you can enjoy yourself. It's more about putting you like in nirvana, right? We want you to go out into a different place and not have something that you've normally tasted. I might take like a classic chicken palm dish and just flip it upside down and maybe add some hoisin sauce to the marinara just to give you that smoky, sweet flavor. And that's what I do with Itasian.

Starting point is 00:15:18 It's really more giving different flavors than just saying, here you go, it's a whole new cuisine. I didn't recreate or create a cuisine i just made a fusion that most people weren't used to eating and trying to give them something that they can say wow this is different i like it i enjoy it so that's really what i focus on is that rusticness comfort food i've always been a guy to preach balance in our food system to be honest honest with you, and not only our food system, but in our own diets. It just felt like that's always the healthiest option. You know, too much of anything can't be great for you, I feel.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Yep. So to me, it's always been about like, just figure out the right balance for yourself because we, our body all reacts differently. We all need different things. Right. So we can't control that. Well, the great Abe Lincoln said, everything in moderation, including moderation. Everything in moderation, 100%.

Starting point is 00:16:12 So I started making my own. As I started competing a little bit more, I started toying around with grubs because I realized that the grub, it makes the meat. The sauce is like the whipped cream on top but the rubs i was getting in the store were just they just weren't good and i wouldn't be like i if i wanted ribs to taste a little bit sweet i wanted to add some brown sugar to my rub i couldn't get that in the store it was it was salt and, and that was pretty much all that was in it was salt.

Starting point is 00:16:47 But then I wanted like a smoked paprika with a cumin or something like that. So I started making my own, and I started competing. And I would win here and there. And people would ask me, hey, man, your brisket really tastes good. What was that rub? I was like, oh, it's this rub I made. You mind if I get some? I said, well, yeah.

Starting point is 00:17:13 I'll sell you a pound or two pounds or five pounds. Sure. So I would just sell them rub and ship it out on PayPal or just have them pay me. It's like I tell people about unifying through food. One of my favorite things about food is I can unify people. And it's like you could get two warlords that hate each other and give me them and some guards and we literally could have a meal and just talk about things and settle things down. So many people, so many people just get over one. Like they just get over the smallest little thing and everything gets blown out of proportion. It goes back to like the focusing of things.

Starting point is 00:17:54 I believe food focuses things. You're right here. Like this is it at right here. Great food. There's no talking. People are just freaking going to town because they're focused on it. And it's like having having communication with you, having communication with your team. There's no talking. People are just freaking going to town because they're focused on it. And it's like having having communication with you, having communication with your team.

Starting point is 00:18:12 There's something that's a very similar thing. Everyone's real here. You got great people around you. And it's like, well, if we got great people around here, real people, do you think we're going to be able to kick a real good product out? Very simple. What's been the you know, talking about the business and marketing side of what you do? What's been your channel of monetization? How has this been a business for you? How have you made it a business since the show in a matter of seconds, right? Power of Wix. Went on there, have a background in design, was able to build something that would get me a blueprint, right? When people start searching for you, it's not about social media. At that time, it wasn't as powerful as it is now. We're going back six years ago now, right? So things have really picked up speed on social media since then. So I built a website. I started doing shows and events and just getting out there, not relying on television because that's 15 seconds, right? They're going to forget about you very quickly.

Starting point is 00:19:18 So you have to really monetize that first and build yourself and get the awareness and the credibility for people to see who you are. And also be searchable, right? When people start hearing your name, they're going to go on Google and they're going to start looking you up and saying, oh, well. So I had to try to get press. I never paid for press. You had to get out there and start getting local newspapers is where you start. Contact a journalist. Give them a pitch.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Give them an article that is worthy for them to put in there. And they'll put it to their publishers. They'll push it. So I started doing that right away. I started crafting up stories and ideas and getting rejected on a lot of them. But some of them went through. And that's what you needed. You had to be searchable on that.

Starting point is 00:20:04 Started doing that. started building that, getting the groundwork in there, which was really, really important. And that first year, it was tough. You know, there was no money coming in. I was scraping by, making sure that we were building it. I had a great support system. My wife saw what I was trying to do.

Starting point is 00:20:21 Year two, we did over 100 paid parties. We built that foundation. We built that framework. We started getting out there. We didn't post any flyers because we were trying to build more of a niche, a luxury type of dinner experience. At the time, no one was doing it here on Long Island.

Starting point is 00:20:39 I was one of the first to do in-home dinner parties. And it just took off. And then we started doing them in other parts of the country so i had to build a plan and then year three we said you know we can't continue to do dinner parties anymore we have to do something else we started doing paid ticketed events themed pop-ups so we would do different pop-up experiences, tastings, and people would buy tickets right through my website. And we would sell tickets. We'd do 75 to 100, keep it down, intimate, and we'd make it entertaining. We had people who had radio shows come on, and they'd do the radio shows inside the pop-up. We had a really cool thing it's a long island cuban and bourbon

Starting point is 00:21:26 experience and it's a trailer that he has those silver streams and he came and people would leave the pop-up and they'd go have a cigar and bourbon in the trailer it was a red carpet so we made it an experience it wasn't just food right so doing those. And we did probably about 35 of those, 40 of those events that were paid. And we just started building a reputation of just having these amazing themed dinner experiences. And just moved along. And each year I tried to do something completely different. So now we're in year six since I've done MasterChef. That's the game, man.

Starting point is 00:22:03 And you start slow, and you know you grow from there once you build the customer base i mean what were what's been the marketing and business growth practices i mean you know like i imagine going it's a very i don't want to say niche audience but you know going to the shows and winning the awards imagine that amplifies you know within that that core audience and then it kind of the word of mouth goes from there i would think the crazy thing was is i did it for years years and years uh ended up winning the world championship ended up uh between myself and the teams we sponsor, we have eight or nine world champions. So, I mean, I've been to the Jack Daniels, American Rule, Memphis in May, Houston, San Antonio.

Starting point is 00:22:55 Like, we've been everywhere. But for me, I remember sitting there at a competition, and this is really before marketing as we know it was marketing as we know it. Facebook said, we're going to let you run ads. And it was like they told us that week, and then I was sitting at a competition that weekend. And back then, it was about $1,000 a weekend to go to a competition that weekend and it's it's back then it was about a thousand dollars a weekend to go to a competition uh after you buy your meat fuel all the things it's about a thousand dollars and i was sitting there and i was just i ain't gonna lie i get angry and shit changes in my life that's when usually for the worst but this one for the good. I sit there and I was like, I'm sitting here by myself.

Starting point is 00:23:46 My family's not even with me, so I'm not happy. And I'm paying $1,000 to be unhappy. What would happen if I took that money and I started running ads to my website, just promoting my website? And back then it was like, it was, you know, I'm sure you remember it, right? It's back then, it's like, hey, look at me, go here.

Starting point is 00:24:11 There was no funnel. There was none of that. No, you didn't need a funnel because it was ripe for the taking. You had organic reach on Facebook. You ran ads and boom, like a bonfire. I mean, how recognized are you now like i mean

Starting point is 00:24:29 your face is very recognizable you've got the expressions and everything else the show's pretty i mean it's your seven seasons in coming into seven seasons or you know like how uh is that good bad you know like you enjoy it i uh so I was in a parking lot of a convenience store with a buddy of mine and across the street in another parking lot, some dude yelled out, kitty litter, yeah! I love that commercial. I was in an Arm & Hammer kitty litter commercial.

Starting point is 00:25:02 That was like four seasons since the Man Vs. Food. And I had a hat on, so I was sunglasses like how did this dude even see me like on earth did he even see me in this you know and he like he loved the kitty litter commercial so uh for me i i think it's the greatest part of my gig and like truthfully like i the fact that someone wants to come up and spend time and talk and ask about the show, like, you know, it's part of the gig a, and like, I'm usually the one, they're the ones that usually walk away first. Like, yeah, we got to go.

Starting point is 00:25:32 And like, I'm still talking, like, I'm excited to talk to them, you know, they're like, all right, like you're nice enough, but you got to catch a flight or, um, you know, man, like, like I said, the fact that someone would take a moment out of their day and like say a nice thing, like there's not enough of that in the world. Or maybe there is. And I just, I, you know, I, I appreciate that so much and I would never not want someone to come up, you know, cause I'm a, I could, I totally fan out too. You know, like I remember I was in a restaurant in LA and Bill Murray is like two tables next to us. And my buddy and I were just talking louder so he could hear us you know you know like he's just eating his food he could care less but you know like i i appreciate it and i think honestly like i i got the show later in life and i was working as a production assistant i was acting i was

Starting point is 00:26:18 bartending working restaurants and i had to choose acting or working production. I chose acting and, and, um, it just, I had, or I just learned by doing, you know, and it gave me the wherewithal, at least the knowledge to know it's like, this is very fleeting, you know, like take it for what it is, enjoy every moment, you know? And, and it's really as simple as that. And I do, I do my best. And like, sometimes you're, I'm walking through, I'm like, you know, I just shot two episodes. I'm on my way home. And I'm like just rugged and somebody comes up to you and wants to talk. And like, you know, in that moment they get me out of my head and they're like, Hey, I'm like, Hey. And it's a lot of times it's TSA.

Starting point is 00:26:55 TSA folks are like, they love the chat. I'm like, I'm there, you know, put my shoes back on BS and with them. And, um, I love it, man. You know, like I, I, I, I encourage people, you know, um, don't go stalking anybody, but say hi, at least say hi, you know, let's talk about what you're doing and how you're leveraging, you know, social media connections and, and all of those things. Absolutely. Well, um, I love, I love, uh, I love what you said about like leveraging. It's it is that it's understanding, again, where you're at. Am I big enough to be able to put this bar on here and lift this thing up? If you don't have the confidence, if you don't think you're big enough, you're just going to fall flat.

Starting point is 00:27:39 Like you've got to be able to understand where you're at. And if you're not big enough, that's fine. Again, you have the self-awareness to know maybe I should do this and try that. What was the biggest thing, like your biggest learning, your biggest takeaway? And like, where did that kind of, you know, take you from a trajectory standpoint with where you went after the show? Well, I saw it was an opportunity. I told my wife when I went there, no matter what happens on this show, even if I get kicked off the first time I got there, we're going to turn this into an opportunity that's just going to go for years to come and it into a bigger audience uh so that was one thing i took away from it was the opportunity to have a lot of people see what i can do on a big platform which was

Starting point is 00:28:34 you don't get that all the time it's very hard to get that especially if you don't pay for it right that was one thing the other takeaway was watching how production is done on these shows. And it was in the back of my mind, well, you know what? Why don't I start my own production company? I could make shows very similar to this on a smaller scale. We don't have to have the $10, $15 million budgets like these shows have. But we can definitely do something very similar. And that was something that was in the back of my mind i started creating concepts in my in my head for the time i was even down there i have a whole notebook when i was down there from master chef i even predicted the winner on the show when i was down there

Starting point is 00:29:16 before the show even happened i have that in one of the spiral notebooks that i have. So that's where I started really learning and taking stuff away from that. Well, my my big learning in the business is and it serves me right. You know, I'd say I'm a pretty successful guy. I'm not, you know, you know, in retirement mode or like banking. But I've always been able to remain authentically myself throughout the process for the most part, you know, on who I am. And people always say, hey, Spike, you have a fantastic brand. Who works on it with you? Or Spike, you, this, that.

Starting point is 00:30:01 And I've always really giggled about it. And now that my wife, you know, always really giggled about it and and uh and and now that my my wife you know she always like she sees it too and she's like it's so funny you're so right she's like I've never worked or had like a session where I sat at a table and said what is my brand you know like I've never you know and that was just me you know I'm not saying that's wrong like people if you want to do that go ahead do that but I've never sat and been like, what's the Spike brand? What are we representing? What does it define?

Starting point is 00:30:30 I've just always been able to get involved in projects that felt right for me at that given time. And it was a stepping stone or a pathway to my next project. But I always remained authentically myself. I never really felt like I – I mean that's kind of what I said. That was my biggest learnings. But the other important one is surrounding yourself with good people and not being afraid to surround yourself with people that may be better in certain know in certain things uh in your business right like know when to know know when you're not the smartest person in that room on that subject

Starting point is 00:31:13 right and and don't let your ego chefs can tend to have an ego because we're we're food and we're in kitchens and we're badass and we're rocks but we're the rock stars and like all of a sudden now we're fucking doctors and lawyers and politicians. But the truth is, is like, you know, I found that I'm you know, my approach has been really great because I love propping others up in that that support our you know, what we do here like it's it's uh there's a great team behind me that i that um and i have like two three guys that have been with me for 15 16 years and i think it's really telling because um you know we've all had such a good time in our lives for the last 15 years we've gotten to travel around the world we've got to eat delicious food we've all gotten to come up with really great concepts yes i'm the face. I get

Starting point is 00:32:05 that, but I pay, you know, there's a lot of work that goes into being the face. And, but there's also a lot of work that goes into setting up the kitchen and the recipes and the training and all that kind of stuff that I don't do, you know? Uh, so there's a great balance and I feel very fortunate. I was able to surround myself by some, some key members as well as my family at a certain point to, to help me do what we do you know like that's that's what it is so it's always don't take it all on yourself or think you're you know it's it's doesn't exist without you know without you because it it sure can yeah i you know and that kind of leans into um you know being recognized because i haven't like the brand itself man versus food is it is it's

Starting point is 00:32:46 just i just happen to host a show so there's no ownership over that sure and i'm totally okay with that i mean i think what i've been doing just naturally and organically is just kind of letting the dust settle a little bit and figuring out what that is you know what casey webb's brand is um and you know i was lucky enough to have some endorsement stuff right out of the gate you know i spent two years with twisted tea traveling around to nascar races as their you know the grilling pro and that was unbelievable right and then prior to that i had my first national commercial which was a mobile one commercial which like we had a nascar driver kevin harvick was in a commercial with me and it's so like I became the NASCAR guy

Starting point is 00:33:25 like and like you know a lot of people watch the food show and like man versus food so it was like I was kind of thrown into this universe and it was like wow this is so incredible and I think now you know letting the dust settle a year or so has passed by and it's like where do I want to be with Casey Webb and that brand and you know I'm humbled by the whole thing so i haven't rushed it at all yeah uh so i'm really at the you would think that i would be way ahead of it but i'm not it's really at the kind of the beginning of developing what that is because now i've had some time off you know like we all had some time off and i'm thinking a lot more clear and like you know the show could it has a shelf life you know it's only going to go so far. For myself personally too,

Starting point is 00:34:08 one day I'm going to decide whether I can do it or not anymore, or if I want to, and I'm not, I don't want to disappoint anybody, but like the reality is, and like, what's the next thing? And so, I mean, as long as like, I'm helping people keep people's lights on and bringing smile to people's faces, I'll do forever, you know? But as far as my personal brand, yeah, I think that's TBD because we're working on some stuff, which is really exciting. And, I mean, I'd love to come back and talk to you about it later on

Starting point is 00:34:34 when that stuff has come to fruition. And, you know, I know we mentioned talking to you offline about that stuff because you're the man, or I guess I am. I'll make you more the man um or i guess i am and you're the i'll make you more the man but yeah i'm excited about the future of things uh because yeah i you know i i i don't like sitting still and i like working so um you hear that everybody i condense things like clients come to me that's not made and literally no, but it's less about verbal and how many words I can say. But clients come to me all the time.

Starting point is 00:35:11 They pay me to unpack a problem and to condense it. But it's one word. Authenticity is exactly what you just described. It's the missing component in business, influencers, marketing in general, because like you said, everything's transactional. Everything is short term. We live in the modern world of short termism. It's a term that I preach about a lot. I love that.

Starting point is 00:35:35 Everyone is living in the short term. Like, what can I get for this today? Because they think they think that the dollars or success, the destination is where they're going, but the journey is everything. And if you don't take the journey through a lens of authenticity, whether you're an influencer, a brand, a person, it all falls flat. And it all becomes very short-term indeed because you fall right on your fucking face. You nailed it. That's 100%. I've told people multiple times. That's so true on your fucking face. You nailed it. That's a hundred percent. Like I've

Starting point is 00:36:05 told people multiple times, that's so true on so many points. Um, I tell people my life is like the movie slumdog millionaire. I said, I've done all of these ridiculous things in my life, the things, and God has blessed me with a memory that I is one of my greatest blessings that he ever gave me was being able to retain information that I care about and the thought of a zero mind of like remembering the most ridiculous thing, but then it comes back because everything has purpose. So the thought of a zero mind, it's got to have purpose. Like you might've thought of this stupid thing that chain reaction into another thing. So it's like, that's some deep, that's another podcast. That's a whole nother thing. But the fact of the matter is, is that you having that authentic mindset is like that

Starting point is 00:36:48 movie is of that guy's just living his life and things are happening. Then at that moment, he is sitting in that chair. And because he was so authentic, I can't even talk. He was he had so much on this authenticity and every motion, every movement that he did doing everything, not of greed, not just being real in the moment, knowing his location, knowing that all that added up to right at the moment of everything when he needed it. And being able to stick to his guns and his gut instinct, having that Jiminy Cricket inside telling him what he needs to do not looking at the mirror not believing like that movie is one of the greatest movies that has ever been made because of just the giant humongous i mean just the sistine chapel of holy moment of just being

Starting point is 00:37:39 real that that's what he was yeah well it sounds like you're going down the right paths for sure um what um where is it all headed man i mean it sounds like that's the future uh but you know where do you where you want all this to go and what what are your uh i don't know what do you want to be when you grow up man i've been trying to figure that out now for a long time. Long time. I launched JS Entertainment in 2019. Should have launched it sooner, but we launched it right after we put Family Kitchen Revival out there. We wanted to see

Starting point is 00:38:15 how that would do. It's been a great ride from that. I'm a creative person. I don't like to be tied down to just doing one thing so to say where i am 10 years from now the goal is to be what i'm doing right now hopefully everything falls back into place and nothing happens to me during that period of time and predict the future but there's a couple of other shows that i'm working on, concepts. One's going to be a cooking competition show, which is going to be a lot, a lot of fun.

Starting point is 00:38:47 I can't say the name right now, but you will definitely see this show on TV in the foreseen future. And it's going to be where it's going to be flipping competition upside down on what you see in all those cooking shows on TV. That's going to be something I'm working on. And I'm working on a couple of reality based TV shows that would be kind of like keeping up with the Kardashians and stuff like that, right? I'll be in that format. So I just like producing stuff right now creating being both back of the camera and front. There you go. I love it. Where do you want to take all this, man?

Starting point is 00:39:33 I mean, you know, you're right at crossing over $50 million total in sales, growing new accessories. What's the vision? The vision for me is I want Cosmos Q to be widely sought after by every barbecue fanatic worldwide. And it's not that I need you to buy the product. Sure. It's the knowledge behind it. I want to empower people to make great barbecue.

Starting point is 00:40:01 Because I will say this. Mostly men. It's shocking how many men go oh no i can't do that i'm like what the hell why can't you i don't know how to do that well i didn't either you know but if you could watch a couple videos you know and i could show you would you do it well yeah but i don't know if i can still do it. Well, this is, so I need to break down that wall. You can do this. Even if it's a hot dog, start there. Well, really smart for you,

Starting point is 00:40:35 from the self-production standpoint, especially like you said, if you know what you're doing, from a control perspective, from, there's no, I mean, there's so many opportunities, like, you know, with sponsors and content and everything else. So kudos to you for taking that route. I know it takes some courage to kind of go that route and carve your own space, but kudos, man. Look, you know what, you have to take the punches in the face, right? There's going to be a lot of, a lot of the people that you reach out to sponsors whatever it's gonna be that's gonna just say no

Starting point is 00:41:09 you know it's not on our budget you just got to keep moving forward you know if you get the rejection of something that is gonna be a major issue for you the entertainment world is not the right place for it at all no way you're, people see the success and they think it's easy, right? Ryan, you know that for a fact. Oh yeah. To listen or watch full episodes, visit us on the web at theradcast.com or follow us on social media at our Instagram account, the.rad.cast or at Ryan Alford. Stay radical.

Right About Now with Ryan Alford - The Radcast vs Food: A Recipe for Success with the Best of Our Favorite Culinary Legends

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