Have you ever tried to follow a recipe and it didn’t turn out well? You’ve completed all of the steps and are wondering what’s missing. In this episode, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself, tell you a story about a beloved loved one, and educate you a little bit about marketing.
Quote:
“It takes some practice. You have to have experience making them. Keep trying and then pay attention to your taste and you’ll be able to perfect the recipe in your way because it’s not going to taste exactly like mine when I make it. I make it my way, you’re going to make it your way.”
Topics and Timestamps:
- Nana-chef & great-grandmother (00:49.9-01:46.0)
- White potato recipe (02:03.5-02:18.4)
- Perfecting a recipe through experience (02:49.9-03:11.1)
- Recipe is like a marketing strategy (03:13.3-04:04.3)
- Chef as a marketing strategist (04:16.4-04:55.7)
Thank you for coming along for the ride, and I hope to see you again soon. Wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe to the podcast, and I’ll see you in the next episode!
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Transcription
Episode 1I The Story of the Chef: Digital Marketing Explained
Are you ready to take your digital marketing to the next level, using tried and true methods and emerging trends?
On today’s episode, I wanted to take the opportunity to share a bit about myself, a story about a dear loved one, and also teach you a little something about marketing. Today I would like to tell you a bit about my Nana.
My Nana was my great-grandmother, and we visited her, my sister, and I. We’d go there every single weekend. We’d fight over who got to sit next to her in her recliner chair. And it was always fun all the time. It was free for all. When you go to Grandma’s house, it always is. One thing I especially loved was her cooking. My favorite thing she made was her white potatoes. And it was basically just stewed potatoes with bacon. It was the most delicious thing. And I always had her make it for me. Even when I was well into college, I’d go back to visit her. And when she knew I was coming, she’d make a pot of white potatoes. And when I had my daughter, later on, we’d go visit Nana and we’d have white potatoes. It was just a part of spending time with Nana.
And one day I just said, you know what? I want to know this recipe. I want to be able to make this myself. I think I’m competent enough to make this because I pride myself on my ability to cook. So I said, Nan, can you give me a white potato recipe? I want to try to make it at home, and she says, okay, sure. And of course, she doesn’t measure. So she’s like, you put a little bit of this seasoning and a little bit of that. And you cut up some onion and you saute the onion in a little oil and so she tells me the recipe, and I say, okay, great. I’m going to make this. I get everything I need. And I followed her recipe, and it just didn’t taste right. Something about it did not taste right. It didn’t have the right texture. The flavor just wasn’t on point. And I used the same ingredients. So it really just didn’t make sense. And I went to her and I said, Nan, I tried to make your white potatoes, and they just didn’t taste right. It’s like you have this special gift to make them. And I’m just not good at making them. And she says, oh, well, it takes some practice. It takes some time. You have to have experience making them. It’s only the first time you’ve made them. Keep trying and then pay attention to your taste and you’ll be able to perfect the recipe in your way because it’s not going to taste exactly like mine when I make it. I make it my way, you’re going to make it your way. And that really stuck with me.
I’m sharing this story because it ties directly into a marketing strategy. Essentially, a marketing strategy is like a recipe. It’s like when you’re trying to recreate Nana’s white potato recipe or your best friend’s peach cobbler, it’s something that certain people will have an innate sort of intuitive way of accomplishing. But then there are also people who can follow a recipe like baking. For example, you could use this many cups of flour, this much baking powder, and be able to come up with a cake or whatever it is that you’re baking. But then there’s this other side of this intuitive sort of cooking and seasoning to taste. That is the art side of the whole marketing strategy. And that word gets thrown around a lot. And I think it’s become a buzzword that either makes people feel like they’re super smart or they know something you don’t know or, on the other hand, it can be a turn-off. I know that some people, when I speak to different clients, they’ll say, oh, if somebody says that they’re a strategist and they don’t really do anything, and that’s not entirely true. If you think about marketing strategy and the person who’s creating it, think of that person as the chef that’s making the recipe. They’ve created that recipe. They’ve made it 1000 times and they have perfected it so that when they make it for you, it’s going to taste delicious. They have it all perfectly laid out on the plate when they serve it to you. And it’s going to be a success because they have all these years of experience in creating that recipe.
I shared the story of my Nana because I think of her as she was the chef in that story. And when you tie it back to me or somebody in my field, it’s like I’m the chef. I’m making that recipe and you can definitely do it in time. You’ll learn how to perfect it and get it exactly where you want it. But because I’ve had the experience and made the mistakes and had to do things over and over and over again and iterate and refine and all these things, it’s just easier for you to work with the chef than to try to start the recipe from scratch. I’m so happy that I was able to share a story about my Nana and connect with you on that and also talk a little bit about marketing because essentially, that’s what this podcast will be about.
I enjoy storytelling, and we’ll hope that you will come along for the ride. Subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye!
The Digitally Grounded podcast is written and produced by me, Ashleigh Lindsay, our editor is Jessica Marshall, and our music is ‘Summer Hip Hop Upbeat’ by Lightbeats. Thanks for listening!
