What it's really like to be on TV with food media personality Kelsey Nixon - 68

This is Creative Counsel Episode 69: What It's Really Like to Be on TV with food and media personality Kelsey Nixon. Welcome to Creative Counsel with Brittany Ratel. I'm your host Brittany, an attorney for creatives who believes in solid contracts and cute office supplies, and who wants to empower you to be a more confident business owner. Whether you're a creative, influencer, maker, artist, shop owner, or content creator, you are not just a blank. You are a real bona fide business owner. So let's help you own your business and get you legally legit with Brit. Hey, welcome back to the podcast. So excited to have you here. So today's special guest is none other than Kelsey Nixon. So, um, Kelsey is a chef and food and media personality. She came in 4th place on the 4th season of the Food Network, um, and Food Network Star, and hosted the Cooking Channel series Kelsey's Essentials, which ran for 5 seasons, um, and one— and it was one of the first pieces of original programming on the Cooking Channel. Um, she also got a daytime Emmy nomination from that series. She has also hosted Kelsey's Homemade on the Cooking Channel, is the author of cookbooks, including Kitchen Confidence, and has appeared on Iron Chef Chop, Beat Bobby Flay, Guy's Grocery Games, Cutthroat Kitchen, along with Today's Show and the Rachael Ray Show. Kelsey has also designed a suite of kitchen tools and small appliances for the Home Shopping Network and has played the host and executive producer of the food game show Dinner Takes All. Above and beyond all of this, Kelsey is also mother of 4 children. One of them is sweet angel baby, and she's spoken extensively about her journey in motherhood, about infant loss and surrogacy. And the role that that has played in her mothering journey. We didn't have time and that wasn't the focus of our conversation today. However, if you are interested in that part of her story, please go ahead and search for where she spoke about that on other podcasts, because Kelsey is just, she's a wonderful person and she shared some really beautiful and tender feelings as part of that journey. And I've been able to really enjoy and dig into those episodes and appreciate the vulnerability she has in sharing that. So that others can help who maybe are going through or relating to some of these challenges. So I don't wanna take up too much of our time because we have such an amazing conversation to share with Kelsey. So let's get into it.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the podcast. I am so honored today to be talking from her amazingly beautiful studio kitchen, the wonderful Kelsey Nixon.

Hi Brittany, thanks for having me.

Of course. Well, Kelsey, I mean, I feel like you don't need any introduction, you know, But for those who maybe don't understand just how cool of a person you are and what your fun career has been like, I'd love to hear a little bit of your origin story and what you got started and how you got started to be basically be a food star.

Oh my gosh, Brittany, you are far too kind. If only people knew. Let me just tell you right now, I'm a hot mess just like every other working mom out there, right? First and foremost, that is what it should say on my business card, hot mess working mom. But no, I have been very, I had a really exciting kind of career path. I work in food television, and those two things are both passions for me. I went to college and wanted to pursue a degree in broadcast journalism. I always liked kind of— I always liked performing. I always liked thinking on my feet. That was something that was always really interesting to me. And then I loved food. I was raised in this food family. My great-grandparents owned a diner where my great-grandmother made pies every day. Like, food was this— my greatest and most cherished memories from childhood always centered around food. And so when I went to college pursuing this degree in broadcast journalism, it's right when the Food Network was popping off. Like, it was the early aughts, and it's when Iron Chef America was happening and Bobby Flay. And like, it was—

it was getting hot.

It was getting hot. And I literally thought to myself, if I could have any job in the world, why I want to work on Food Network. And everyone kind of thought I was crazy. It was kind of like, it's kind of like my 9-year-old son says now, I want to play for the Dodgers when I grow up. And I'm like, that's cute.

Okay.

Good luck.

Okay. Like, you know, I don't want to be a bubble popper, but like also there's a couple things about the field of dreams. I maybe feel like I should let you know. Yeah.

And look, I, I mean, I should probably, of all people, I should be the one saying you do it. You're going to totally make the team one day. But, um, It was kind of, as I would tell people about this, they'd kind of be like, huh, all right, good luck with that. But I was so committed to figuring this out. And, um, so I auditioned. There was a show on Food Network called Food Network Star where you could send in a tape and they would cast these people who would compete to win their own cooking show.

And basically just kind of like a sizzle reel, or really this small, just little promo.

Gotcha.

Exactly, exactly. It's right when Top Chef was happening as well. So it was kind of Food Network version of Top Chef. And I sent a tape in, I think when I was a freshman in college. No one called me back. But I, I decided I wanted to pursue this food thing. So I ended up getting an internship at Martha Stewart Living in New York working in the food television department. At the time, she had a show on PBS called Everyday Food. And I was assigned to be a production assistant on that show. And I went and actually spent 2 summers working on that show. And then a third summer working on Martha's daytime show for NBC, um, The Martha Stewart Show. And I learned so much about how you produce food for television. And I came back to my university and I started this, um, silly show called Kelsey's Kitchen that was fast, fun, and affordable meals for college students.

So much fun alliteration. So yeah, really leaning into all of that.

I still can't help myself from alliteration. Like I, I love it too much. But this, like, if, if you dig deep on YouTube, I think you can find some clips of this show and it was awful. Like I am telling you, it was awful, but I did it right. Like we filmed 100 episodes of this silly show and kids could, I say kids, cause they feel like kids now. But college students could take an elective credit to work on the show called Kelsey's Kitchen. And we just, we had the best time. Um, so I did this show, I graduated and I went to culinary school and moved to LA, went to culinary school. And while in culinary school, I auditioned in person for that same show again.

Okay. And you gloss over culinary school. You went to Le Cordon Bleu. Okay.

I went to culinary school.

That's like, hey, I went to college. No, you went to Harvard. Okay. Yeah. So like, it's hard. Yeah.

It was amazing and so wonderful and I loved it and it was, um, so grateful for the support of my parents and thinking that— I think they thought I was going to come out of school being like a, like, go get a job at a news station or something. But I was like, no, I am going to figure out this food thing. And I figured there's all sorts of people that want to grow up and be accountants or lawyers or doctors or whatever. And so you have millions of people trying to get those jobs. There's not that many people trying to get this other job. So I got to be able to figure this out. And I don't know if it was like my zest as a, you know, 21-year-old or whatever, but I really believed that I was going to do this. And anyways, I randomly got cast on this show. I went, I did the show, I did not win, but I did well enough. I got 4th place, and that kicked off my career in food television. And I'm so— it was so hard, but I'm so grateful for the experience. And, you know, that led to having my own show on Food Network and Cooking Channel, writing a cookbook, having a line of kitchen tools and small appliances on Home Shopping Network, hosting a game show. Like, it's been a wild ride, but basically working in food media.

Right, in all the different spaces.

But I love— I mean, I just love— I mean, and I think that speaks well to you of why this story went the way it did is you thought, well, why not me? I mean, what— why not go for it? And not to gloss over, I mean, you launched your own show at BYU. It didn't exist before. I mean, tell me, you know, how did you think, or what was the process of thinking like, oh, I'm gonna pitch it and I think that this could happen?

You know, I think I used being young and naive to my benefit in a way.

As a superpower?

Truly, truly, 'cause even now, you know, my career's morphed and it's changed, and as careers in media do, things are different.. And it is harder for me to take risks now than it was then. Especially being young, I felt like I kind of had nothing to lose. And I'm so grateful. I don't know if it was the way that my parents raised me or just kind of some inherent traits, but I really was fearless in college. And right, you know, every now and then I give advice to whether it's nieces and nephews or friends of friends in college. Like being in college is such an amazing time everyone is willing to help a student, right?

Like, or you're—

people are a lot more willing to help a student than they are someone who's 5 years into a career. And so take advantage of those years of being a student, internships and shadowing someone and taking someone out to lunch.

And because as soon as you're done, now you're like, oh, they want something from me. But when you're a student, you get like a magic hall pass.

It's amazing. Honestly, I would say that's kind of been one of my secrets to success was taking advantage of those college years and making the most most of them. And I still had fun. My gosh, I went to New York City for 3 summers. I had the time of my life. It's not like I was so serious. I was just pursuing something that seemed a little out there and it actually panned out for me. So anyways, it was, it was such a, I had a lot of gusto and I, I can only hope that as I'm raising my own kids now, that I can, you know, kind of groom them to have that same gusto during those college years.

Totally.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think that's such great advice. For you, what— because I'm sure there were even very benevolent kind of reality checkers or naysayers in your circle in terms of like, hey, this is going to be really hard. Or especially I feel like there's a lot of pressure as a woman of like, this might be a really difficult lifestyle to have a family, to have a marriage or whatnot. How did you kind of navigate maybe some of those inner discussions or thoughts about, What is this going to look like realistically to have a life, especially in media and entertainment?

That's a great question. And it definitely was a conversation I had in my head a lot. I felt like I've always kind of been— I don't know that I ever envisioned myself growing up and not pursuing a career. I saw myself as a career woman alongside motherhood, hopefully. That is something that I really wanted. If I am being honest, and I have nothing but all the love and respect for my own mother in the world, but my mom was a working mom growing up in a culture that did not celebrate working women. I kind of felt like, oh, that is too bad that my mom has to work. I don't even know if my mom did have to work. We were fine, but that was the story she told herself. And in turn, that was the story that was told to us as kids, that mom works so that we can have certain privileges, so that we can take the dance classes, so that we could take the piano lessons. And, um, I kind of viewed other friends as like, oh, their mom doesn't have to work. Right. And I really, that did not sit well with me ever. And as a result, I am very conscious in the way that I talk to my own kids about my work. Because if I'm being honest, I love my work. I love it so much. It is rooted in passion. It makes me feel empowered. It makes me a better mother. I, I value it so much. And I would never want my kids to think that it's something that I feel that I have to do. And so observing that in my, my own mom, and honestly, I think she was a product of her environment. I don't, I don't think anyone— there were very many people around her who were celebrating working mothers at the time in the '80s and the '90s.

Yeah, that wasn't modeled for her, especially maybe in a faith community and maybe of a more conservative gender role.

Exactly. And so in some ways, I'm really grateful that when I came to— or when I stated this thing that I wanted this big, crazy job, I got nothing but support from my parents. Really, my parents were not naysayers in any way, shape, or form. When I had to shoot a pilot pilot for Kelsey's Essential— or excuse me, Kelsey's Kitchen, which is the college show. Um, and I did it there in Salt Lake at Orson Gigi, which if you have Utah listeners, you know what an awesome store that is. Um, like kitchen extraordinaire. And I remember going to them and saying, well, I want to shoot this college cooking show. Can I use your kitchen to shoot these 6 episodes? And then if you want, you guys can have the footage. You can, you can loop it in your store. And that's how I got the, um, studio space for for free.

So smart of you, already hustling. It's going to be in the bank. Why not? Who else could use this content creation recycle, you know?

Exactly. And when we shot those first 6 episodes, my dad, my mom, my grandma, my aunt, everyone showed up to support me. So that was— I never felt any sort of hesitation. If anything, it was, it was maybe there was, gosh, I want to be careful how I say this, but I think that I assumed people were certain thinking certain things, but honestly not too many people really said, oh, you're crazy. I can't believe you're going to do that. I really did get quite a bit of support. And as a result from that, I think it's important for me as a working woman and myself to support people who are pursuing those big crazy dreams as well.

Right.

Who are coming alongside us and after us.

So, but I love your recognition. And just with, I mean, you could tell from your face, your body language, with which passion that this is absolutely something I enjoy. This did not happen on accident. And that's 100% okay. Absolutely.

And I hope my own kids find something in life that they feel just as passionate about. And for my girls, I have two girls. If that happens to be stay-at-home motherhood, great, fantastic. I would celebrate it every bit as much as my daughter coming to me and saying, I want to be an attorney, you know what I mean? I, I, for me, what's important is, is the passion and really, um, taking those gifts you've been given and magnifying them in the way that feels most organic and authentic to who you are. Um, and I, I really did receive that support from my, from my parents, regardless of it not necessarily being modeled in my own mother doing that.

Absolutely. Oh, I love that. Um, tell me about What do you wish— because I mean, working in food and TV, I'm sure people think like, oh, that's— and it is, you know, it's such a glamorous job. And people, you know, don't, you know, understand all that goes behind the scenes. What do you wish people knew about working in TV and media?

Oh my gosh, you could probably write a whole book, I'm sure, on it. Another book. There are some really fun, glamorous parts. I've got some great stories from, you know, being at holiday Food Network parties, you know, shoulder to shoulder with Bobby Flay and Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis. And, and, um, like, I've definitely got those fun stories. I got to go to Italy once and shoot a cooking special in a castle. Like, I, I have had some incredible pinch-me moments, but this industry does not provide consistency and security. So it is feast or famine, and there are plenty of industries like that, but it is an industry that demands, um, I, I don't want to use the word hustle, but kind of constantly chasing after something. And so if that is not for you, this will be a very challenging career path. Um, like for example, just being really transparent, the way my career trajectory has gone is I was on this show Food Network Star, which I did not win, and I was devastated. I didn't I didn't win. And about 2 years later is when I got my, my show. So it took 2 years after establishing those initial relationships to get something on the air. And I was, not only did I work hard, I was so lucky that that happened. I was in the right place at the right time alongside that hard work. And that's why that happened. You know, I was 25 years old when that happened. It was really young, but I went on to have 6 seasons of this show, a couple seasons of another show. It was really like a, a decade-long run with Food Network before they were sold to Discovery Channel. And it was incredible. But coming out of that relationship, I kind of was starting over a little bit. And, you know, my, you know, we can talk about building exciting careers, but I was also trying to build a family at the same time. And my husband and I had some challenges that went with that, with, you know, IVF and losing babies. It just was such a— it was not a clear path. It was not something that we could casually do. We had to be very proactive, and that required a lot of effort on our part, a lot of mental, emotional, physical, financial sacrifice to build our family. And so I had to step back a little bit from building this career at this pace that just was not manageable for also prioritizing building a family as well. And then I've kind of, in some ways, I, I've kind of had to take those same habits that I had in college and reapply them in my late 30s as I build kind of this next chapter, the next show, whatever it is. And when you talk about the non-glamorous parts, I'll tell you the number one is the dishes. There's a lot of dishes in my life, Brittany, like so many dishes.

It's just, just, just, you just put in the seasonings and you just mix it up. Where are the house elves, Kelsey? Where are they? Afterwards, right?

Like the stress, because I test so many recipes, the stress of not wasting food. I, because I constantly, like every day I'm cooking something, right? Like last night, here, I'm showing you on the camera. This is a recipe I tested last night for my recipe club next month. And it's good, but I need to make it at least 2 or 3 more times. And so I have this and it's good, not great. And so I hesitate to take it to my neighbor because my neighbor thinks I'm the greatest cook in the world. And so if I'm passing off food that's not the greatest, then I feel like self-conscious in a way. Like, it's such a weird thing, but getting like distributing the food that I cannot physically consume with my family, that is stressful.

That's, that's a burden. Like, it has to be done. It has to be dealt with.

Yes. Anyways, but mostly the dishes and, and the, um, my, my agent He often reminds me that being in this business is like constantly having a bad boyfriend in high school. Meaning that, like, right now I'm pitching a show. I'm pitching a show I'm really excited about. And so the process of pitching a show is first you pitch to production companies, and then you hopefully find a production company that's a great fit. And then once you're paired with a production company, oftentimes you'll go to a network and you'll pitch to this network. And every single one of those meetings is please like me. Do you like my idea? Do you like how I look? Do you like what I said? Do you like how my food tastes? It's just seeking validation over and over and over.

So much vulnerability, so much putting yourself out there on an altar and please, Sarah, what's more, Oliver.

And 9 times out of 10, they are not interested. And it doesn't have to do with who you are. It has to do with the fact that it doesn't meet their needs at the time. They don't have the budget for it. They're, they're— you're not a good fit for their company, for their brand, for whatever it may be. And so it's constant rejection, constant rejection. Or like, I just came off of— I was just— I just spent 6 months auditioning for a nationally syndicated show, which is not yet out. And who knows if it will ever see the light of day. But it was this massive project, this incredible opportunity. When I say it would It would have changed my life. Believe me, I mean it. It would have been the most incredible opportunity. And I spent 6 months auditioning, chem testing, being in front of executives regularly for this show. And I literally made— in fact, we'll talk about a contract here. I made it so close to the extent that I had signed a contract that the network, a very large network, had given me and they just didn't countersign it because they ended up casting someone else at the last minute. And that will break your heart into a million pieces. You're like, I'm so close, I'm right there. Could not have been closer, could not have been closer. And since I've had a bit of time to, to cry and release it all and get through it, to process it with some food, obviously, right? And realized that it was such a gift to have all that time in front of those network executives and get to know all of these other people who are auditioning for the show. And those relationships will turn into opportunities. And like, I get that, but that's an example of some of the hard stuff of being in this industry is, um, the dishes and the bad boyfriend. That's the hard—

the bad boyfriend who's like, please like me, and then will drop you at a hat and And you have to be okay and keep on swiping right and getting back out there. And that's tough. Yeah. So, and like you said, mentioned the timeline, I think, you know, when I've had conversations with friends and clients who have done work in media, especially, you know, more traditional over the top, it's, you know, people don't appreciate how much work goes into filming a show and you do all this and then you hope it sees the light of day. But a lot of times it doesn't, it just, it's on someone's hard drive somewhere.

Exactly. I— let me count the number of projects, the pilots, the sizzle reels I have filmed that have never seen the light of day. And it's funny, people will say to me, when are you getting a show again? Like so casually. And I'm like, trust me, Carol, I am working on it. I am working so hard. But getting a show does not happen in 6 months. Getting a show does not happen in 1 year. Getting a show takes years. Years of hard work of building a successful brand, of creating an engaging community and serving an audience, and actually being able to solve a problem for people, and then pitching a show, and then being the right fit for a production company and a network. It's just such an exhaustive process. So, um, I'm— like I said, I'm working on it, Carol. I really am working on it, but it takes a while.

But yeah, and which makes sense why You've done so well and I love that you paired it. I mean, you know, you put some luck in there, but obviously it takes such a tremendous amount of confidence and energy and persistence to keep on coming back and saying, no, I know that I can offer something here in value. I've proven myself and I'm going to keep showing up because I know we can make this work.

Yes, exactly. I have a whole folder of photos on my phone. I take pictures when I want to give up. This is not sound business advice. I don't know, but for some reason When I, because I feel down a lot, trust me, it has not been an easy path for me, even though I have maybe had some, some national success or, you know what I, like some outward facing success. I got a whole album of photos on this phone of me crying, lying on the ground, my hands on my head, running my fingers through my hair, being like, what am I doing? I should just go get a regular job. Why don't I just go get a regular job? And it's so important to push through those moments. So for anyone who's listening, listening that's an entrepreneur or trying to build a personal brand or whatever it may be, you know, chasing a passion, trying to launch a product, that is normal. It is normal to feel those moments of being like, I am completely crazy, or I don't have this in me anymore. We have been there. Like the mantra of keep going has saved me over and over again. And the things that I have done in my career that I am most proud of would not exist if I had given up when it got tough, because nothing has come easily. Everything has been, has been a fight, right?

At every step of the way.

I was at a girls' dinner last night and it was, she was, a girl next to me was like, I don't know, I thought of maybe starting a business. And anyway, me and another friend who also is this other small business owner, we started giving her a pep talk and she's like, there's a lot of energy. And I'm like, girl, you faced the wrong end of the table if you thought that we wouldn't convince convince you to start a business. But I, I was saying very similar advice of like, you would not believe how many people, even who've had tremendous outward-facing success, still struggle with imposter syndrome, with feelings of doubt, or they're gonna, they're gonna find out I don't have what it takes. Like, right, the lady from Princess Bride is gonna stand up and be like, you're a fraud, you know.

And especially now, and especially in my industry where the media landscape constantly changing. Just because you've had one massive outward-facing success does not mean you have guaranteed success forever. It's a blip. It really is. And, and so that's also normal. That's okay. I think that there are far more stories of people having these big successes and then having to come down and rebuild again than there are of, oh, you've got your one big success, life is going to be easy breezy now, you know, business is going to thrive forever. You know, whether you're launching a product and you've got shipping issues or manufacturing issues, there's just always going to be something. So that energy, that passion, that desire and belief in what you're doing, it has to be there to carry you, to carry you through. I lived in New York City for 10 years and I love New York so much. But one thing, every now and then people would reach out and say, oh, You know, I got a job offer to move to New York, but we've got 3 kids and I don't know if we're going to do it. We're not really sure. And I said, New York is the type of place that you have to want to be there in order to be there, or else you're going to hate it because it's hard. But if you want to be there, it's freaking awesome. Like it's the greatest city in the world. And I think that being a small business owner or building a personal brand is very similar. You have to want to be doing it. You have to feel some sort of call to it because it's going to be hard. No one casually builds a business or a brand. It, it takes grit and consistency and that pushing through, but it's awesome. It's also amazing. And it feels so good when you finally come out of— I talk about peaks and valleys and that's kind of how I visually see my career where Sometimes I'm at a peak and sometimes in a valley.

And right now it's not a straight line, you know, it's not. And don't expect it to, because then you'll be disappointed, you know. No.

And I actually feel like right now at this moment, I'm kind of in this place where I'm kind of coming out of a valley a little bit, and I'm just starting to feel the momentum. And boy, does it feel good. It feels so, so good. And I can see the peak now, where when I was in the depths of the valley, I couldn't see it. And anyways, I just oftentimes, even now, what, 20 years into my career, I find myself thinking, is this normal? Do other people feel this way? It is. I'm here to tell you it is.

It is. It's completely normal. I love that. And I can, I totally concur. And I've, I've heard that from so many friends and clients of, I mean, I would love to hear because, you know, working in food, especially in food entertainment, I'm sure there were moments in parts of your career where you thought, this is, this space, there's already too many people. It's saturated. What, you know, what advice would you give to yourself or to someone else who feels like there's, there's too many players here.

I'm too late to the game, you know, or how can I distinguish myself?

Yeah. My best advice, and this is rooted in mistakes I've made along the way, is that first of all, there's always room. There, there is always room for you, but It's important that you are you. So I don't care if there's 10 million, you know, baking accounts out there. If baking is your passion, if that is what lights your fire and gets you out of bed in the morning, then that's what you should be talking about. And you should not worry about the sea of other bakers out there because what's going to set you apart is that passion. So I myself in the past have tried too hard to think, oh, what's going to be my differentiating factor? What's going to be the thing that sets me apart? And then I end up trying to concoct something that really isn't as authentic or genuine as it should be. And then no one believes me, right? And it doesn't see the success. So you have to come back to what, what it is that you feel most passionate about. And that, I think that's really the, there's always room as long as you have the passion for what it is you're, you're offering up.

I love that. Are there anything specific tools or people or, you know, practices that helped you keep in touch with that and keep developing that and making sure that's in the forefront as you've developed a really successful, you know, personal brand?

Talking to my audience, speaking to my audience and building a sincere community. Not only asking the questions, but listening to the answers. And it has taken me longer than I'd like to admit to really understand the value in that. And I think it's rooted in the fact that I entered this industry where I was hired by a network with producers, and the network got data that said, this is what our advertisers want. This is what our viewers want. Want. So we're going to do an episode about homemade candy bars because that's trending right now, or we're going to do an episode about food trucks because that's trending right now. And then I am given that information and then I, I make a show happen with that, right? Sometimes that's authentic to who I am and sometimes it's not. And because I spent a decade of being under the direction of a network I wasn't really asking my own personal brand audience what they wanted from me, because I was worried about satisfying a network, if that makes sense. When I came out of that exclusive Food Network relationship, it was really important for me to start talking to my audience directly and to hear from them what it was that they needed. And then I literally, I have a, I mean, I've got a wall of Post-it notes right here. And when people send me questions or when people provide feedback, in fact, I'm literally, I like, I'm, I did this this morning. Someone sent me a message. I'm pulling it up. I'm showing you on my phone and I screenshotted it and it says, hey, I'd love advice on how to handle kids who refuse to eat what you make. So that becomes an Instagram post, a blog post, whatever it is. I take that direct feedback. And create content around it. That I think has been the most critical thing to building a sincere, genuine, authentic brand that, that has momentum.

Mm-hmm.

Is, yeah, is really paying attention to that and, and coming back, like you had said earlier, of what is a problem that people would like to have solved and where do my strengths intersect with that? That's the spot in that little Venn diagram that I wanna be. Yeah.

Cuz this is hard. This takes a lot of time. There's a lot of hours I work that there's no income generated from. So if I'm going to put the work in, I might as well be answering someone's question or I might as well be solving a problem for someone. And I think that especially with platforms like Instagram and Facebook and TikTok and all of those, it's easy to get tied up in what it looks like on the outside to a mass audience and worrying about what your feed looks like and all of that. And trust me, I've been there. I still, I still struggle with those thoughts. But at the end of the day, what's most important is that I'm solving someone's problem. And I have to remind myself of that consistently. And I, it's most satisfying for me as a business owner, personal brand developer, when I work that way rather than trying to guess what people need.

Right.

Yeah. And it's using the tools in front of you, you know, because how lucky are we that media has changed so much that there is access in terms of the distribution and being able to have information and connection with people where you only, you had to have access to Nielsen ratings and big budgets and survey, you know, and that's how media used to be up until social media.

So yeah, and I've kind of had to unlearn because my first exposure, or my first professional exposure in this industry was with the best of the best, right? Like, those shows we shot were beautiful. We would stop down to wipe up a spill. Heaven forbid there was a chocolate smudge on the side of a bowl. And now that's not what people want to see. They want to see you get down and dirty. They want to see things just as they are. So I've had to unlearn some of those practices because it was so perfect. Does that make sense?

Like, get the glaze just right on the turkey. There's some poor little intern over there.

Like, we were— yeah, when we were shooting my show Kelsey's Essentials for Cooking Channel, I think that our crew was 60 people. And now more people are gonna see a recipe that I share on Instagram with just one person with me doing it than the 60 people that were working to create this beautiful show. And not to discount that, I mean, that was amazing, but I reach more people now when I am just myself and I am not worried about making it look perfect. But that's been a process to kind of unlearn some of that, right?

You know, and knowing just how media is changing and paying attention that The polished media, the editorial is, is not necessarily what all people are looking at, especially in all niches. Right. You know?

So, right. Exactly. And especially for my audience member, I am trying to speak to women or, and men, whoever's in charge of getting dinner on the table each night. That's who I'm speaking to. And when I—

General Mills, that's who's getting dinner on the table today.

Yeah.

Right.

And that's okay because you, and I honestly, Brittany, what I feel most passionate about is getting to the table. I don't care that much about what you eat when you get there. What drives me, what lights my fire right now is getting families to the table together. If that is a cold cereal night with 4 boxes of cereal in the center of the table, great. My message has been received. But do you think that that person cares if there is a chocolate smudge on the side of the bowl? No way. They want to see, they want to see just how messy it is for me to get dinner on the table for my family. So that I'm not giving off some, you know, impression that it's always pretty and portioned. And trust me, most nights I've got a toddler hanging on one leg and a 9-year-old complaining about his homework in the other room while I'm making dinner. So I feel your pain. Yeah.

The plating. What is that? Where do we even have plates today? Did anyone start the dishwasher? No, they didn't.

Everybody grab a spoon.

We're doing a giant, you know, communal cereal bowl. That's what we're doing. It's like paella. But with, with food, my kids would think that was amazing.

Amazing.

Oh my goodness. I mean, it's like you said, I mean, your reader who want to know, how do you get kids to eat food? I mean, isn't that the question? I mean, I'm sure you probably have those ironic moments of like, I'm glad I'm a world-class trained chef and you still won't eat it.

I say it all the time. Like I am, I would be deemed a family food expert. I have spent the past 15 years on national television, sharing recipes that work for families. But still at 5:30 on a Tuesday night, I feel the same panic that you do when I open my refrigerator and I think, oh my gosh, what am I going to make for dinner?

What am I going to make for dinner?

I have no plan.

I have no exit strategy here.

I feel that. Trust me. There is not like, I feel it so much. And I think that it's important for me to be vocal about that and to share that with my audience. In fact, I just did it earlier this week on stories. I was, I had gotten my booster shot and I was so tired. I did not have the mental bandwidth to come up with some meal plan. And so I opened my fridge and I showed people, I, I get a Costco delivery every week. And I said, okay, these are the Costco things I order every week. And this is what dinner's going to look like. It's going to be this salad kit and these chicken flautas and maybe this avocado. And oh boy, I've got some pickled onions. So we're really going to elevate this meal. And that was dinner. And by sharing that, I think that's just as helpful as sharing a recipe that I painstakingly developed for people and, you know, shot this beautiful reel for. It's just as important to share those things as well.

Yeah. I think that's really, really sound advice, you know, is to make sure you have a mixture. And again, you're paying attention to what's connecting with your audience, you know, and, and coming back to serving them. And when you can put that focus it helps with so many things, including those doubts and worries, because you're not making it about you. It doesn't have to be about you.

No, absolutely not.

Absolutely not. I love that so much. Tell me a little bit about, you know, because I get questions from people who are moving into, in the entertainment space, about working with representation and what that looks like. And, you know, do I need a manager? Do I need an agent? Should I be pitching and doing all this stuff on my own? Tell me a little bit about your experience there.

My experience there has been, and the advice that I, I tend to give, um, is I think it's rare for people to seek out representation and have success. I think it's more important to take your time and energy and focus on building a brand or a company that needs representation. So it's not going to be the press kit you put together or the random, you know, waiting outside the agent's office and trying to get their attention. Typically, if you need an agent, an agent will find you. That has been my experience. Now I'm also here preaching being proactive, right? Look, if you— secret sauce, baby— if you know someone that knows someone that's willing to make an introduction, great. Great. I'm just saying don't spend all your time worrying about, well, if only I had an agent, I would have success. Because I've had an agent for 15 years. And I can tell you one thing, agents don't necessarily equal success. Agents are great at navigating contracts, advising on contracts. Agents are great at filtering opportunities that come in and offering up their opinion about whether or not it's worth something that you should pursue. Occasionally agents are great about proactively getting you work, but most of the opportunities I've had, I, I've generated myself.

Yeah, you hunted and killed them yourself like the lioness that you are.

Yeah, absolutely. So now on the flip side, I also want to say this is where representation is really important, is in protecting yourself, right? So that this is in reference to agents and managers who you think are going to get you work, or maybe a publicist who might get you press. But when it comes to an attorney and having someone review contracts when you're working with brands or networks or production companies, that's a non-negotiable. Absolutely. Like no question. So should you have an opportunity that's been presented to you where a contract is required or something along those lines? Yes. Worry about getting an attorney to look at it. Someone like yourself, as opposed to Well, I think I need an agent. Does that make sense? I, I hope I'm making sense here. It's just agents are great, and I really like my agent, but they're not as magical as I think a lot of people think they are, right?

And I think they're becoming less because the industry, like, like you said, is changing. And so their access to their Rolodex is becoming less and less important in terms of that's the most important skill that they're bringing to the table.

Absolutely. And just, and speaking frankly, The, the best or the greatest asset an agent has been to me is I've been represented by— I've been represented by big agencies like a William Morris and a CAA. And I've been— I'm currently represented by like kind of a more mid-level agency. Is the legal— there's a lot— lots of times there's legal built in, right? In-house legal. And that has been helpful to me, or like in the past when I have had multiple projects going on with different brands or networks, the agent and the in-house legal make sure that everything is kosher there and that I am not— that's how it's been most beneficial to me. But the most recent show I got on the air was a show called Dinner Takes All. It was a family food game show. I sought out the network. I brought the deal to my agent. Literally, I called my agent and said, I had this conversation. I think there's something here. Will you have have a conversation with them.

Like, I—

so anyways, I— it's just same thing with the publicist. I, I have paid a publicist on retainer once for a 6-month period, and I have never done it again because nothing trumps a relationship, a genuine relationship. So I still regularly book the Today Show and Rachael Ray, and I'm on Access Hollywood a lot right now.. And there's no publicist doing that. That is me nurturing genuine relationships with producers there. And that, in my opinion, that's, that's been the best way for that to happen for me.

Right. And staying top of mind and thinking about from their perspective, what would help make their job easier.

Like, you took the words right out of my mouth. I, in fact, I just pitched a segment to the Rachel Ray Show. I sent the email yesterday saying, I've got an idea for a January segment. I don't know if it'll work, but let me know. And she will probably say no. But what if that solves a problem for her? That would be amazing, right? That would be amazing. So, um, yes, nurture those relationships. If you get a chance to go on, whether it's a local television spot or a national television spot, or give a blurb in a national magazine or on a really successful blog or, you know, publishing site, don't forget that email address. Do not forget that person. Now, don't be annoying. Like, have some tact, but nurture that relationship. Send a holiday card, you know, check in every quarter. Hey, is there anything I can help you with? This is what I'm working on. Like, that, that's secret sauce right there.

And that's gold, especially recognizing people in the industry tend to move around. And so even if they're there now, they may go somewhere else and they'll— you can still have that relationship and you could still help them solve their problem, make them look good to their boss and their team. Absolutely.

Right now I'm doing— I'm on Access Hollywood every other week.

So I'm—

I have a regular stint on a nationally syndicated show. And the producer I'm working with there used to work on the Rachael Ray Show. And she was a PA. Okay, so she—

which is a production assistant, which is the lowest That's where you start on the low end of the totem pole in the entertainment industry.

Yeah, that's the job you get when you get out of college. She was a PA at the Rachel Ray Show, then she went to the Kelly Pickler— Ben and Kelly Pickler Show in Nashville, which I was a guest on there. Now she's at Access and she's a senior producer. And because I knew her when she was a PA, we've just followed each other around. And, and I wouldn't have this opportunity if I didn't have that relationship with her. So don't spend too much time worrying about an agent, a publicist, a manager. They're nice to haves, but not a need to have, especially when you're starting out.

Especially when you started out.

Such, such great advice. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned having, you know, people in your corner who can help you with some of the stuff that maybe doesn't come as naturally. You know, where else have you kind of sought business advice or mentorship in terms of legal help, accounting, you know, looking at some of that maybe non-sec sexy stuff part of your business. Um, what's been helpful to you in navigating that?

And as a creative, I am— boy, oh boy, do I need that support, Brittany. It is so, um, yes, definitely with accounting. Um, and most recently, actually, I had just— I came to you because I— you are so good at what you're— what you do in serving people who are building personal brands and these small businesses, especially rooted in online.. And to have your expertise that really speaks to the uniqueness of building a brand online, I think is so valuable. And so I just launched a new part of my business called Recipe Club. It's a, it's a monthly recipe club where I develop 5 new recipes that are fast and easy and family friendly and voted on by Recipe Club members. And to launch this product, I wanted to do a really big giveaway. So it's, December and you've got all sorts of people doing the 12 days of this or giving this or whatever. And I thought, you know what, I'm just gonna do one giveaway and I'm actually gonna take a little bit of my marketing budget for 2022 and pool it into this giveaway. But it's gonna be big. I was, I'm gonna give away free groceries for a year. So nearly just under, because I learned in your legal promotions kit, $5,000, because once it goes over $5,000, you have to do some special things.

In some states.

Yes. Yeah. Yes. I want to, and it's the biggest thing I've ever given away. And it's, it's essentially cashing away, right? And I, there's special things you, I can't say you're going to give Visa gift card because Visa is not part of that. I learned all of this thing in Brittany's legal promotions kit. And I didn't know how to do it. And I don't want to mess anything up, right? Like I don't want to get in trouble with the IRS. And I certainly don't want my followers or audience to think that I'm misleading them in any way. I want to be completely completely transparent. I wanna maintain that trust. So because it was such a big giveaway, I sought out some support and I was so happy to find that you had, it was $50 on your website, this legal promotions kit. I was able to get it. I've got a virtual assistant that I work with and I said, okay, you read it, I'm gonna read it, then we're gonna come together and we're gonna build this out. And we totally used that as a guide and that was really, really helpful for us. And yeah, I learned all sorts of things about different states' rules and make sure that you're not running up, you know, illegal lottery, you know, like, yeah.

So you're not like the woman in a speakeasy in the '20s, like with an underground gambling den, you know, not, not your scene.

Yeah. I'm, I'm almost a little embarrassed to admit it, but Recipe Club is super affordable. It's a dollar recipe, $5 a month or $50 for the year. And so I thought, oh, I'll just say you have to sign up in order to enter the giveaway. And I learned very quickly. That's illegal.

You can't do it. You want a no purchase necessary. It's a really important part. And yeah, and it's like all the stuff you've heard on car commercials. And you're like, right. Oh, that's why they say that.

That's why they say that. And the difference between a giveaway and a sweepstakes. And anyways, I, and I was just so grateful that I could go to an actual attorney, someone as opposed to a blog post, right? As opposed to someone who has just written a random blog post about this. And no, this is sound legal advice. And I was able, it was written in a way that I could understand. It was just enough information without being too much information. And then I also didn't feel the stress of like going to and having to hire an attorney with a, you know, really high hourly rate and that feeling intimidating as well. So anyways, that's just an example recently of how I've sought out support from a business perspective where I did not have the expertise and had success.

Awesome.

Well, thanks. And I'm glad you had a good experience because that's exactly it. I mean, sometimes there are things you need that are done for you. And there's a lot of other things that come up in your business and questions and whether it's hiring a new freelancer or a VA to help you or, you know, getting your website legit that you just need some solid advice that didn't come from, you know, a Facebook groupie, you know, yes, a person who who thinks they went to the law school of Google, that's actually not leading you in the right direction.

Yeah. Or like a YouTube tutorial where it's this handsome guy who's Australian and you're like, yeah, he probably knows what he's talking about.

But don't let the Australian accent, you know, fool you. I mean, it may be Chris Hemsworth reading something and I've got no problems with it. Honestly, I don't. But, but in terms of advice, make sure it's someone who understands what you're actually doing in your business.

Yes, exactly, exactly. But yes, I just launched Recipe Club. I'm so excited about it and I'm so excited to be doing this great giveaway. Um, you know, really my passion has been rooted in making mealtime feel more manageable for people. And I thought, what is going to make mealtime feel more manageable than picking up someone's grocery tab for an entire year? I just thought that would be the ultimate gift to a home cook.

So I'm excited. That's such a generous opportunity. And that's just, that's so kind of you to think about, you know, what would actually really help a family. So that's so, that's so wonderful. Well, tell us where else can people find you? You know, it's Recipe Club. Where can they connect if they want and probably need more Kelsey in their life?

Yes. So you can find me on Instagram as Kelsey Nixon. My website's kelseynixon.com. I've got Recipe Club where I also share plenty of free content on Instagram. So I really try and balance it so that people get a lot of value there. I'm in stories and I'm, you know, doing my best with the reels and the, you know, just trying to keep up with how all the things We're doing all the things Anna is the worst is telling us to do.

Yeah.

So yeah.

Yes.

And then on my website, I've got a shop and services tab where you can check out. I have recipe club. I have something called, um, family meal makeover, which is a guide to organizing, outfitting, and optimizing your kitchen for easy cooking. And then, um, something I'm launching in January actually is very exciting. It's called kitchen prescription and it is one-on-one kitchen consulting. So, um, whether virtually or in person, If you just find roadblock after roadblock in the kitchen and you want me to come in, open your cupboards and say, let's get this in tip-top shape, I'm gonna do that for people. And I'm, I'm really looking forward to it.

That sounds such a tremendous, uh, opportunity. And yeah, and so great just to have and realize there's such a balance of like having an aesthetic, but this needs to be a work— this is a workshop. This is not a museum.

Absolutely. I love, trust me, I, I eat up all of the professional organizing content as much as anybody else. But look, our kitchens are the heart of our homes. They are the, they are the rooms that are used more than any other room. We come back to them 3 times a day to sustain ourselves, to eat. I love a Lucite bin, a clear bin, as much as anybody, but unless that's serving a purpose, we got to get that out of there. Like, I just think there's so much value in organizing and then outfitting your kitchen with the right tools You may think you're a terrible cook, but you're using a sauté pan that you got when you got married 17 years ago and it's no longer nonstick and you are not a bad cook. You just need a new sauté pan.

You're just, you, you are stretching the limits of Teflon. It can only do so much for you.

So I'm excited to kind of walk people through that. I had a client recently where they just, she raised 4 boys and now they're empty nesters.

Yeah.

And she's like trying to learn how to cook for 2 after cooking for 6. And that's a whole different thing. So anyways, I'm excited for, for Kitchen Prescription to launch and to help people in that way.

Awesome.

Well, we'll put all those links in the show notes, but, um, but yeah, that sounds so, so great. So, well, thank you so much, Kelsey, for being on and just joining me. And I just loved our conversation today and just appreciate you and your just bright, generous, uh, heart and all the things that you continue to give and solve and the things that you've overcome in your, in your life. To be able to land at the spot that you're at.

So, oh, thank you, Brittany. I really appreciate it. And I appreciate how helpful you've been to me. You really, as a small business owner and someone who's building a brand, you've been really helpful to me multiple times. And I just encourage everyone who's listening to check out your resources as well.

Well, thanks. Isn't Kelsey just amazing? I hope if you haven't had a chance to see her in action, eat some of her yummy food, and just avail yourself of her amazing energy, that you go dig into her stuff, into her resources, into all the amazing media that she's put out. She's, like she said, she is not new to this game. And so she's got so much amazing content from, you know, traditional media, and you can watch past episodes of her show, or some of her new work are doing. And I want to direct you, I have the links in the show notes to her amazing recipe club and also also the giveaway that she's doing. That is still live. Um, I think there's still 8 or 9 days left in that for a year's worth of groceries for one lucky family. And so if that sounds awesome to you— and who, who wouldn't want that, right? Raise your hand if you're not interested in free food. Um, uh, check out the show note links where you can go and sign up for that. So, um, otherwise, thanks so much for being here. I think it's listening over this, this episode and preparing these notes I really thought of the 3 Ps that Kelsey talks about in terms of her journey, especially with the changing and very tough and hustle culture of traditional entertainment. And certainly, even though things have changed and they change quickly, especially in over-the-top media, the 3 Ps that I took away from listening to her story were persistence, pitching, and patience. And of course, those are all involve peas, and I'm trying to do this with my microphone. My husband lovingly has updated all of my audio equipment, and I have not figured out how to use it quite yet. And so I apologize for the audio quality on this interview isn't the best because I thought I was using my brand new microphone, and I wasn't. I was using my old boring desktop input, which is not as great. So please lay any of those faults at my feet and not on my husband, who's an amazing amazing AV guy and takes his sound quality much more seriously, um, than I should. So, but I am trying, guys. Um, but yeah, persistence. I mean, you heard Kelsey talk about how she had to come back again and again, and you have to keep on being relevant, and you have to keep on thinking about how can I connect with people, how can I bring them value, how can I keep solving problems. No one gets a deal overnight. No one builds a successful personal brand or a brand with somebody else and gets brought into a larger organization where you can, you know, use their platform without a lot of persistence. Same thing with pitching. I love and wholeheartedly agree with her advice about having representation. And this is not to knock other professionals because there's a time and a place where it's so great to have an agent and to have a manager and people helping you and helping disperse the workload. But that does not replace and should not never replace, um, you pitching yourself and thinking about how, like Kelsey said, how can you solve someone's problem? What are you creating that can help someone else with their job? And when you flip the script like that and think about it from some production assistant or some agency rep or producer or whoever it is that's got that, whoever that curator is, that gatekeeper who's got control, who they're the one responsible for finding good stuff and making sure they have good content out and good people to do it or good products on, you know, the morning lineup, whatever. Those people, if you can make them look good and make their job easier, then you'll have a buddy and you can draw on that relationship again and again. But you need to put yourself in their shoes and what will help them and not just serve yourself. And then patience and know that, like she says, you don't build something great overnight and it's coming back and having— and you you've, you know, in fact, let's add another P to the mix. Like, like, let's go full alliteration, Brittany. Passion. Um, and making sure that you have chosen something and you've, um, been involved in a space or a product or an idea where you can and have the energy to come back to it again because, and you can be authentic to that because people can smell out a fake. Um, and they can feel the difference when you are, when you're just selling out and it's not something that you believe in or care about. About and that you've moved on. And so make sure that you're drawing from that well liberally and staying close to your people. Take advantage of the amazing tools that we have, you know, guys, you know, for better or for worse, and, you know, social media is free, you know, all it costs is your time, which certainly that's valuable, but you have the power to directly contact and get in touch with your audience and find out what they need and how you can solve their problems. And that just hasn't been a reality for business owners, especially small business owners, throughout history. So it's just a lot to be grateful for, and with that comes a lot of responsibility and opportunity. But I know y'all are up for the challenge, so— because you— yeah, my listeners here are amazing people and they're go-getters. So, um, so I want to just, uh, thank you for being here and for listening. This is probably going to be the last one of the year. I do have some backlogged interviews that I've been sitting on, and they're amazing and still great. They're just— I recorded them a while ago, like an embarrassing amount of time. So I will be recording, um, and updating those and releasing those fresh in the new year. And just thank you for giving me the grace to, um, release those. And thank you for people who interviewed with me a while ago and are probably like, yeah, where's that interview, Britt?

I'm so sorry.

I really, I truly am. Um, but they're great stuff. And just because time has passed doesn't mean their nuggets of wisdom are any less awesome. So we're gonna get it out there and we're just gonna move forward, and like we all do, guys. So thanks for letting me be in your headphones, in your corner. And if you have any questions about how you can get legally legit, especially with starting the new year— sometimes there's a lot of kind of new, okay, this year I really want to dig into this and help and update things— and if some of that energy can maybe motivate you to tackle some of your legal stuff if you can channel that, that would be awesome. Make sure you download my free Legally Legit Workbook. That's always my freebie here for you, and that can be an awesome resource to help you kind of get started and move forward with some of those questions about where can you get started on building a business that can last and that can serve you and that can, you know, support the scaffolding for your amazing mission that you want to achieve. Okay, have a fantastic and happy New Year, everybody. See you on the flip side.