Made By Challenge
Hosted by Alberto Sardinas. Made By Challenge is a podcast where high profile guests share how personal hardship shaped them and sparked businesses, lifelong missions and prosperity.
We focus on how they turned pain into purpose — and stories into career and business impact.
Made By Challenge
He Dropped Out of School. Then a 3AM Decision Changed His Life
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Chef Brad Delgado’s path to Hell’s Kitchen was anything but traditional. After dropping out of school and deciding to become a chef at 3AM, an unexpected Instagram DM eventually changed his career.
After dropping out of acting school and lasting just two weeks in business school, Brad had a late-night realization that changed everything: he was going to become a chef. He committed to culinary school, proved the doubters wrong, and eventually landed an opportunity to compete on Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen through an unexpected Instagram message.
In this episode of Made By Challenge, Brad sits down with Alberto Sardiñas to share the unconventional journey behind Chef Brad, from struggling to find his place in school and pursuing acting to discovering his calling in the kitchen and building an audience through food and social media. Brad also opens up about family, authenticity, embracing what makes you different, and the unexpected road that eventually took him to one of the biggest cooking competitions on television.
It’s a funny, honest conversation about what can happen when the path you’re “supposed” to follow turns out not to be yours.
In this episode:
Brad’s unconventional road to becoming a chef • leaving acting and business school • the 3AM moment that changed his direction • culinary school • getting discovered for Hell’s Kitchen through Instagram • building a community online • family and identity • turning setbacks into fuel
Subscribe to Made By Challenge for more conversations with people whose biggest challenges helped shape who they became.
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And I have to tell my lawyer of a dad that, hey, I don't know what to do with my life.
SPEAKER_00He dropped out of acting school in New York, spent only two weeks in business school, then a Kit Curry lyric hit him at 3 a.m. I need to become the best chef in the world. A kid with ADD who used it to his advantage. A DM on Instagram. Health Kitchen Food Network. Recognized at a restaurant in Paris. Because every breakthrough begins with a challenge. Chef Brad, made by challenge. We put very serious work into every guest, every question, every episode, and we give it all for free. Now one thing keeps this show alive and it's you subscribing. It takes two seconds, it costs you nothing, and it's the only reason we get to keep making it. Chef Brad Delgado, hundreds of thousands of followers. People follow you, people see you cook, people have seen you on reality shows, people have seen you on Food Network. But why should someone who's maybe in their early or mid-20s pay attention to what you have to say today?
SPEAKER_03They're gonna have to pay attention because I will teach you the way to be your authentic true self, bring true energy, your energy and your spark to any situation, not just in your content and in your work, but throughout your life. So better pay attention.
SPEAKER_00See, so third grade. Third grade. Your mom thinks that there's something wrong and they go to the doctor. Is that how it played out?
SPEAKER_03Mira, Mina, let me tell you what happened. Mira, I'll set the scene. It's third grade, probably 7 30, 8 o'clock. There used to be this restaurant in um Coral Gables. Believe it or not, we used to have one of those back then. Tremendo sitio. You know the little steak with the little green sauce that's style.
SPEAKER_00Yes, French style.
SPEAKER_03They only serve the steak and that's all they do. Salad. Una, if there's something, you don't say what else they serve, but they probably serve something I'm tremendous. My mom's eating there with like a party, a group of friends, friends, whatever. My third grade teacher, Miss Samandrella, gives her a call, right? She answers, hello, hi, how are you? Hey, what are you doing? So, whatever. I probably bet she was like, oh yeah, sit down, like you no sé qué. I don't know why they treated it like this, but it was this thing where Miss Samandrella told my mom, she goes, Oye, Brad's great student, good kid, y todo loy, some things like he's like when we're writing 10 paragraph essays, he writes five paragraphs, and then I look at what he writes, and it's like, oye, it's like, oh yeah, this is great, but I would just either write a thank you letter or I would just write a tu sabes que I don't know what I'm doing, but I want to play with everybody else, you know what I mean? So and go to recess. She calls her, he says all this, and then she goes, I think Brad has ADD. Back then it was ADD, now it's ADHD, ADHD, whatever. Pero I had the first one. Yeah, right? But anyways, the OGD is the OG ADD. You know what I mean? Before. Okay, so she gets a call, and she starts worrying. I bet you see the side. She's like, Oh my god, she didn't sleep that night. Next day, it's like nothing happened, right? She's like, oh. Then this is when I started catching on to things. She goes, Oh yeah, Brad, you know, um, we're gonna take you to um this lady, Dr. Dorsent, all the way, so it's gonna be great. And I'm like, why the hell do I need to see this lady? Like, bro, I'm in third grade. I just learned I got a computer for the first time. I was like, oh yeah, go there's there's the world's my oyster now. You know what I mean? And this was like 2000, maybe 2002, maybe 2004. You don't need to say I'm so bad with math, so I can't even do the math. But I was like, So you go to this third grade, whatever age you are in third grade. Right, right. So I go to this doctor, she's like, Oh, so do you feel this? Do you feel that? Do you feel that? I was like, no, go, bro. I I I feel absolutely fine. The only thing I don't want is a shot, right? Like, don't give me a shot. I don't want to come here. She goes, they put me in another room, and then she talks with my mom ahí. She goes, We're gonna tell him he has ADD. I'm assuming it's the other way. So they sit me in a room, they go, Brad, you have ADD. I go, if I have another one of those, thank you so much. But at least I get that pasando, bro. ADD. Okay, is that what is that? I just got a computer. I go, is that a virus on the computer? You only say, but it was this thing where I took it and I was like, okay, I don't care. You know, yes, where back then the ADD drugs y todo lo were like very like experimental. It wasn't like, okay, this will happen if esto, esto you'll feel a certain type of way todo eso. So my mom being a good mother, you know, like she is a great mother. She goes, like, okay, I I want to see him excel in school and try, and we're we're we're gonna try this out. So they put me on the gauntlet of okay, we're gonna try this, this didn't work, but it wouldn't work. Because I would come in and I'd tell my mom, I'm like, dude, you sent me to school and I'm like this. And then I come out and I'm like, what the hell just happened, bro? Like, I didn't learn anything. I sat there and I go, bro, not that trabajando, bro. You know what? I'm like, nothing is working. I'm like, what did you do?
SPEAKER_00We'd switch the thing, it'll so you're so so they're testing different medications. Yeah, yeah, testing attention deficit disorder. C C C you're like saying this is not working, nothing's really working.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no, no. And then it struck my mom where one day we tried, I think it was like Adderall, or if it was like uh concerta or something like that, right? Me, me right. I want to name my kids one of these. Yeah, you sound like anything. Yeah, no, man, thank you. Uh uh. She picks me up from school, right? So she picks me up and she goes, Brad, so how's your day? And I literally look at her like this, and I just go, I hated it. Today sucked. I just don't want to do my math. I'm gonna kill myself. I'm gonna do the math, and you go, Well, as a joke, you know what I mean? But as a kid saying that, you're like, oh my god, but these things would just keep you so down that like you're like, okay. So she obviously was like, Oh my god, this kid is gonna kill himself. Okay, oh my god, we gotta go to see another doctor, maybe a psychologist. We went to this guy, and I always joke, but I hope he sees one of these videos, but I made him my bitch. It was the funniest thing on the planet. I'm like this little kid. I come in there, right? Y después I go in and he's like, Hey Brad, nice to meet you, blah, blah, blah. He sits me down, we have this whole conversation, whatever. And I'm like, bro, it's been like an hour and a half, bro. Whatever. So in my head, I'm thinking all this. So I just blurt out and I go, Oi, are you not gonna ask me? And like he goes, Ask you what? I go, bro, I told my mom I was gonna kill myself over math homework. And you're not gonna ask me these things? He he goes, Were you gonna kill yourself? I go, no. So do you ever have time? No, I just didn't want to do math, bro. I just went nine hours to school. Now you want me to come home. He sent me a sea una mathematica, bro. Hell no, and then I'm walking around like this. I'm like, oh my god.
SPEAKER_00Right, right.
SPEAKER_03From that moment, I go, you know what I mean? Like, this is all like this is all in your head, you know? So so so I go, bro, if they're giving you stuff and it's changing how you are, so bro, stop taking them. So my mom would get the pills y todo lo que be like, oh thank you. And I got the pills, and I was like, I don't need them. And I would go to school, you're like, la la la la la. And then there were some days where I'd have a test and I go, maybe I'll take it, like, and then I'd take it and I'd be like, never again. From I I would say it lasted maybe a year or two of trying out these medications, and ever since then, never again. You don't need them. You don't like like some people, and look, I know I'm gonna get like heat, you're not so bro, I don't even think I could read. I'm gonna importa, pero your brain and your body is your temple. It is powerful, it is strong. If you tell yourself, tu sabes que today was the worst day of my life, and I'm never gonna get out of it, you're never gonna get out of it. You know what I mean? But if you tell yourself, tu sabes que today I was a little depressed, right? I didn't feel a certain way. Some people made me feel like this, the anxiety is creeping up the way. I implore you to just try and put the medications down and sit with who you are, right? And when you sit with who you are, you're gonna be like, that anxiety came from this moment, yes, oh my god, I should do this.
SPEAKER_00So, what you're saying is that you were telling me a story about third grade, where finally a year and a half later, you're like, you know, we're not doing this anymore. I guess your mom said, Okay, we're not gonna do this anymore on the medications. But what you're describing is that at this point you still have some days like that where you have to convince yourself that everything is going to be okay.
SPEAKER_03Oh, and and and that's what I tell everyone where where it's not like a life and death situation of like, oh my god, everything's gonna be okay. But it's these moments where we live in such a realm and all these kids, all you see from your phones, the computers, you think relaxing is sitting on your bed with a phone like this, with another giant phone up there, predicting it, and so and then some girls now and guys have these little clocks that have a loose. What the hell is the light for, bro? What is that light for? Oh, it helps you. If I wanted to sleep outside, you went after a solar, and I don't need a little light in my room. That's crazy. It's some wall-y stuff, you know what I mean? We don't want that in this epoch, you know? Right. But we're so overloaded with brah brah. And if fulanito is doing better than fulanita, okay, it's the talk of the town, you know? Y esto pasa, y esto pasa. Everyone is so focused, and you forget about focusing on yourself.
SPEAKER_00Right. And when when we talk about focusing on yourself, I know that at some point you played a little bit with drama, like you did some acting stuff. You kidding? Like you, you became a drama queen or a drama king.
SPEAKER_03Let me tell you, I'm a drama king. You soy rey. But you don't sound rey now, I'll tell you that right now. Um, but it's something great where in Gulliver, I went to school here in Miami, Gulliver Prep, amazing place. It honed me and it was great. But the one best thing that I've ever done was join the drama program. But we're there and they go, Oh, you know, advanced drama has auditions. And I'm like, bro, I'm not gonna say something. No, no, no, no, but now, mira esto. But it's that where back then I couldn't sing, I could like I was funny, but I didn't know it. You know, I was like, bro, I mean, because I'll tell you how it is, you know? Your friends hate you, but Chef Brad loves you. I'll sit you down, and if you go, Brad, I just made an amazing album y Tolo, so here listen to it. You'll be like, I'm sorry, that's not good. Here's an arroc compolio y cut the album, release one EP, yeah. Oh, five. Let me just feed you, yeah. Let me feed you a time, porque we're gonna work on this album and make it the best that it can be, because it's not good. But your friends that sometimes they want, they push you it all the way, so we'll be like, bro, that's the best song I've ever heard. And you're like, and you're sitting there with everyone else, and you're like, wait, are you not hearing what I'm hearing? Okay, I'm hearing scratches. So, what happened with drama and and the honesty of drama? The honesty of drama, if I'm being completely honest, I auditioned, I got in, I was like, Oh my god, tremendous, this is great. They put me in, they made me sing these songs. I was like, I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it. And then I realized that your spark comes from within you, right? And going back to the ADD thing, it's established where in this moment I let it flourish. One, you don't have to be you, you know, you could be a completely other person. Kind of like I love a good social experiment. When I moved schools from elementary to Gulliver, the first year for like eight months, I pretended to be British. Straight up, bro. No, straight up, and guess what? They believed me. No, they didn't. No one called my mom, no one said anything. Everyone thought I was from Reading, England. No, no, no. How long did you make people believe that you were? Eight months until Danny Vows. Love you, baby. Danny Vows calls me at four something in the morning. A friend from school, a great friend, one of my best friends. I she calls me and I go, hello. She goes, I knew it, and hung up. No. And I go, No. They got me. But how in the world can you pretend you're British for eight months in school, Brad? Oh yeah, because La Potencia, baby, it was amazing. Because it was just funny, because it's a new school, you don't have any new friends, and you're this ADD, we're running around and doing whatever. And I go, no one knows who the hell I am. Let's be a little fun and let's have a good time and let's do this, and maybe we'll cock me one day and then we're Scottish the next, you know, and it could be super fun. Tremendo, tremendo de ping is what I used to call it. But it was so much fun. We would go around and I would just be there, I eat whatever. But I'd hang out and I'd do stuff, and then I'd go into drama, and I'd be like, guys, you'll never believe it. Wow. So what happened? So you did good in drama, or you did horrible in drama? I did amazing. I I won Best Actor, the whole shopping. I was like, this is why you pursue being an actor in the future. It's funny because I did. So after all that, Gulliver happened. I went to college for acting. I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, right? It was a three-year program. I left after one. This is not what it is. This isn't what I wanted, right? Because when I think of acting, I think it's fun, comedic. I know that you have to get in touch with your emotions all the way, so that's fine. But when you write, you know, it's like every day I was like, okay, so now this scene requires you to take the socks out of the thing. How do the socks make you feel? I go, the socks, so I put them on, and if they're stinky, if I'm not wearing shoes, and I it's you, right? Like I'm not gonna cry over this, you know what I mean? And this woman is there, she's like, No, and then I I remember this. This is when I think that the the administration was like, it's just this isn't it for you. And I was like, bro, yo me voy. Like I I am leaving. It was hilarious when we were all there and we had this exercise where you bring like a sentimental object, right? That day, I always used to wear socks. That day I didn't wear socks. I go, my feet are gonna smell. There's women in this class, they're gonna take it, have us take off our shoes, it was right, whatever. She goes, Brad, you're up. I put the thing up, I put my uncle's picture, but he just passed away. I got my shoes up there, they're they're gearing me up to cry. Like gearing me up to cry. Right? I go, I'm there sitting and I'm holding this picture and I'm looking at it, right? Then she goes, Brad, what are you thinking of right now? I go, you shouldn't have fucking said that. You shouldn't have said that. Okay, guess what? I go, do my shoes smell? Okay, I took them off in the beginning of the scene, right? And she looks at me and she goes, sit down. I go, what the hell do you mean, sit down? You just made me walk around this fake ass room and then sit down. Oh, what do you what are you thinking? I literally told you the first thing on my mind, and that's when I realized humans are liars. It was great. She wanted a dramatic answer. She wanted a dramatic answer. She write. I had a little uh chino food, and now my tummy hurts.
SPEAKER_02Pero tu sabes, the yearning of love and emotion is a medias that I didn't wear.
SPEAKER_03Remind me of my uncle. No, no, no, and that's the moment when you react. That was it. No, no, no. It was that and how tight the leotard was, we were wearing a Leo together. Oh yeah. So Leotard, bro, let me tell you, camels don't just walk in the desert. Let me tell you. Let me tell you, it is the craziest thing I've ever seen. A bunch of dudes, me, and leotards trying to cry. It was crazy. No. I stayed in New York for like three three years after that, right? Left in like 2017, like 1617 around there. Let me tell you, I think so, that whole New York experience was really great. But it helped you grow and it helped me kind of like understand acting is more than just what I thought it was, right? Like I thought it was like, okay, you're gonna audition, you're gonna go here. I stopped going to auditions, but bro, you would go to auditions, there were seven of you. Imagine you walked into this room right now, and there's seven of you doing the same movements, I say, What the hell do you say to that? And then you go, Oh, I have to read three lines, and the lines are the cat was brown. And I go, bro, if I'm saying it like this, he's gonna say it exactly the same. He had to run i and that one and that one and that one, and for some reason and they would pick you. And then no, no, no, no, no. And then they would never pick you. And then the ones that they would pick you, it'd be like, oh, it'll be great. You're gonna do this and you're gonna stay in the back and you're gonna, it's gotta be great. And I've been sitting there for like 14 hours, i.e., in Steiner studios, I'd be like, hey, hey, I haven't said a word, I haven't done a thing. I'm I'm getting paid less than I would if I was in a job. Like, this doesn't make any sense.
SPEAKER_00Back to Miami, I went. Wow, let me tell you how to transition into cooking and culinary school and all of that.
SPEAKER_03So it was funny. I moved back to Miami, and it was that moment where I was like, what am I doing? You know, because I saw my friends and they're like, oh, I'm going to this, I'm going to do it this, and I gotta go to college. I went to college, and I'm there. I'm like, bro, I kinda went to college, but the little college was a little bit. But maybe we're leotards, and now we're back in Miami, and I have to tell my lawyer of a dad that hey, I don't know what to do with my life. Right?
SPEAKER_04Oh my god.
SPEAKER_03So you talk whatever, and he goes, like a trial. Oh, oh no, no, no. It was a trial because I'm like, I go, listen, the only trial I know is legally blonde, baby. If you got a perm, you don't go into the shower, okay? I mean, I bueno. But where I go up to him and I go, what should I? He goes, go to Miami Dade, do the business thing. I go, yeah, sure. Come on. I go for two weeks, bro. I'm sitting in a class.
SPEAKER_00I sent that real business day in business school now. Business school. Okay, so we went from acting school in school to business school, okay. You know, which sounds like you're gonna do so much better there. Yeah, right. Yeah, right. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01It was just, you know, Amazon the 4% or the 9% of the 2%, and then the Netflix has 4% of the 1%, and I go, and that beam looks really strong right now.
SPEAKER_03You know what I mean? I'm like, I'm like, what is this, bro? Like, I'm not learning anything. I would just go because they would have like this like little like cafeteria thing. Sometimes they would have like little sandwiches. I go, coño, bro, a sandwich at 11:30, I'm fine. You know, I'm good. How long did that last? Two weeks. Two weeks, but business school lasted two weeks, two weeks, two weeks. But bro, what am I gonna what let me tell you? You're killing me, bro. Business school lasted two weeks, porque I was like, it's it's just not for me. It's like you know how people like have girlfriends and boyfriends, and then they break up and you go, you just weren't for me. Same thing, baby. I treat my schools and education, you know, kind of like that thing where it is for me, where I need the education, I need the schools eat all the way. So, but there's moments where I'm like, bro, it's a mathematica. I didn't think I would need it, but I do. You know what I mean? Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_00Hold on. So yeah, so you come back from New York to Miami because acting school was over, and then you have to face this trial in front of your lawyer dad and say, Well, I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life. Then, okay, business school in Miami A College lasts two weeks, so I guess that was trial number two in front of your dad when you quit business school.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no, and then I came up to him because, mira, it got even crazier because it was this one day, I mean, I'm being honest now, being honest, it was me and a couple of my friends, you know what I mean? We were just like, whoa, chief la here, whatever here, right? We were high as shit. We were there, I'm there, I'm listening to this song, and I go to Saiyaji, the song is great. And it said, if you can't stand the heat of my love, stay out of the kitchen. You can't stand the heat of my love, stay stay out of the kitchen. Yeah. Kid Cudi. Tremena cancion. I love you, Kid Cudi. Eso, I hear that, and something like it was like the Avengers assembling in my body. As weird as that sounds. Yes. Eso era, una cosita ahí, where let me tell you, I've never seen divine intervention, divine and like divine and intervene. I don't know what it was, but it was just a little, and I just go, I need to become the best chef in the world.
SPEAKER_00Like hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. You're hanging out with your friends, yeah, you are a little up there. We smoke a little chee cheechinch, and then you hear a song that says something to the effect of get out of my kitchen.
SPEAKER_03Because you can't stand the heat of my love.
SPEAKER_00If you can't stand the heat of my love, get out of the kitchen, and the next thing that happens is that this makes you decide that you're going to become a chef.
SPEAKER_03That's literally it. No, I didn't. I swear to God.
SPEAKER_00No, I didn't.
SPEAKER_03Swear, strike me down right now. Yo Tawagi, bro. Made a hand on air. Mira, give me a Bible. I swear. I swear. It literally happened.
SPEAKER_00Do you understand that your life is like a movie?
SPEAKER_03No, bro. I'm telling you, dude, I literally am there and I go up to my mom's room, and this is the best part. It's like 3 30 in the morning, bro. I go up to a room, I knock a pa! I go, You have the guns. I'm gonna be the best chef in the world. She goes, get the fuck out of my room, bro. It's 3 30 in the morning. I go, Tu sabes qué? No. Okay. Tremendo. You know? Tremendo. I applied to Uvia, all these things. Got in. Next day, my first shift was Mother's Day, bro. Bro, bro, you can't make this up. It was horrible. You applied to culinary school. No, no, no, no. Uh kitchen job. Yeah, yeah. Kitchen job job. Hell yeah. It used to be in Miami. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Used to be in Miami. It was amazing. Tremendo. First day there, I I had my orientation the day before, but you don't go into the kitchen. The first day of cooking was Mother's Day. The grill guy calls out. I go, This can't, this can't happen. Like, I'm there coming no mienda, bro. I'm like, I'm shitting my pants. I'm like, okay, whatever. Pero there was like this calm about it, too. You know what I mean? There was this true calm about it where I went there, I walked in, and I go, I'm gonna try to do the best we can. It was great service, super hard, hell on earth. But I've cooked a couple steaks before. So I'm like, okay, whatever. To the point where I was putting out the like skirt steaks, bro. You know, they like come in like royal house. I was sprawling them out. One, two, three, and someone goes, What's the next steak? Medium. I would cut this little thing. I cut this. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Oh my god. Two got sent back. I'm being honest. Two got sent back, but then I brand, this is a little undercooked. I was like, I think I'm putting that, bro. I said cruel. But but it was a great service, tremendous service, and it was a lot of fun. It built me into the character I, and then the main chef, chef Gill Zip, looked at me and was like, bro, you got something I you gotta do something, go to culinary school and get it done. I was posting a couple videos here and there just on like stories to be like, today I'm cooking a burger, whatever. And people were like, dude, but I would bring in the music, I would bring in these little breaks, these technical moments.
SPEAKER_00I mean, when you when you're in the zone, the personality comes in, and that's where the fun Chef Brad that we all know started like exactly, and and like what's funny is that like that Chef Brad that you see is me.
SPEAKER_03You know what I mean? It's like you won't go out here, right? Like this podcast will finish, it won't say a package, I'll be like here I see, bro, like ready and willing and able to do anything. But it's something where I feel like in esta epoca, you see a lot of people and they go, Oh my god, today we're making it today.
SPEAKER_02I'm then we're gonna analyze it.
SPEAKER_03Right, right, right. Camera turns off, and then you it's a different person, and you're like, dude, like one, be good to your community, because they made you who you are. Why are you being come and like saying certain things, doing certain things, and like whatever, you know, have that having an air about like okay, if kids come up to you, if people come up to you, always take pictures, always be there, always be able to be their conduit.
SPEAKER_00At what moment did you realize because I mean you're you're very well known in our community, like so you have a big following, but it's like a true following, like like people really like what you're doing and they love your videos, and and you came into the studio and somebody from the crew immediately recognized you say, Oh, I follow your stuff. But my question is at what point did you realize, man, I'm kind of famous? True my gosh.
SPEAKER_03It happened, yeah. It kind of happened a couple years ago, where it was este momento where I went to Paris. I had like probably like 300,000 followers, a couple hundred thousand on like TikTok and YouTube was like getting there all the way, so whatever. I get to Paris, I'm there, I have this exquisite meal, like tremendous. I was like, Coño, bro, the only thing that's gonna be hurting is in my thumb, it's gonna be the wallet. I go, this is gonna be insane. I sit there, whatever, I have the meal, I go to pay the check, and they go, uh uh, and obviously they did it in a French accent, they're like, uh senor, whatever. You see that table over there, and they paid your bill. Somebody paid your bill from the table. I go, okay, that's nuts, right? And then I look over and I'm like, and they're waving, I see, and I was like, oh my god, okay, great. So I'm like, Well, yeah, I'm gonna get up, okay. It's like an arm and a leg, like, let me go say hi, let me go give them a hug, like let me go do something. Literally, I get there and they go, Sacré bleu, chef bras, what are you doing in Paris? I was like, no way. I was like, how do you know me? And and she's like, My cousin is Cuban, and this and that and that, and you're Cuban Lebanese and this and that and that. And I was like, bro, what the hell is this? And that was just one here in Miami, it happens a lot, and I love it, you know, porque it lets me see my community and let me like hug them and be like, Thank you for supporting me and being there. You know, it's like I'm not that person that if you see, and like I tell this to everyone, if you see me out on the street, I'm gonna importa if I'm doing CPR eating, commanding, you're gonna tap me on the shoulder and be like, Oh yeah, I'm one of your followers. I'll go, mira, I'm stopping everyone, se muere, amiga me importa. You're all in so many time that you were saying, you know, because it's it's who made you? You you you know, like I I am proud of myself and I would not be me without me, my family, and everything else that I believe in todo eso, but the community plays a pivotal role. Without them, you walk out on the street and you're nobody, right?
SPEAKER_00And then how does it happen that a guy from Miami who started his career, you know, ended up going to culinary school and then started cooking on social media? How does that take you to one of the biggest reality shows in the world, Hell's Kitchen? Let me tell you. How did you end up there?
SPEAKER_03Let me tell you, I ended up in Hell's Kitchen in the strangest of ways. It wasn't like I thought that you would have to go through a process, you would do this crazy, like, oh, before you even get selected or before you even get asked to be on it, you would have to go through some type of like process. You know what I mean? I'm there sitting on my couch, chilling. It's probably like 1.30 in the morning. I I finished editing a video. I probably had like what, like 10. No, I think I had like, yeah, like maybe like 10,000, no 10,000 followers. I think I had like 10,000 followers. You were barely starting, barely starting, nothing. And I'm there chilling around C. I get a DM. There's only 43 people that this account follows. I go, okay. It's followed by 43 other people. I go, okay. They go, Chef Brad, hey, we love your content. Would you like to be on Hell's Kitchen? And I'm living in LA at the time, right? Working at this restaurant. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00You got into Hell's Kitchen through a DM. A DM on Instagram? Straight up.
SPEAKER_03No, you didn't. Swear to God. The person had 43 followers, and they go, Brad, do you want to be on Hell's Kitchen? And I'm like, there, and I ask my like friend, I'm like, guys, this can't be real. You know what I mean? Pero what a lot of people don't know about this whole like casting stuff and the way it works, it's it's the casting producers reach out, you know, whether it's from their personal account or from another side account that they might have it all away. So they reached out and I go, Mira, there's two options. Either I'm gonna say yes, I'll tell them I'm here and whatever, and me jodí la vida, and they're gonna kill me. Or I say yes, right again, and we go and it's actually Hell's Kitchen and not in like Bangladesh or somewhere, and we're like, it's our thinking. I mean, it could be Bangladesh, Pakistan. No, no, it could be anywhere. They did an account saying, Do you want to be City? Do you want to be on Hell's Kit? It could be anywhere, you know. So I was like, wait, but then it started with, okay, we're gonna send you an email. So I get the email and I'm like, okay, so now I have an email, and I'm looking at all this stuff. Then there's all the evaluations that you have to do. And I'm like, oh my God, this is like kind of like legit. But I didn't think about it. You know, I'm like, okay, like this is legit, but I have to go to one of these to just see if it's legit. The first evaluation was a psych evaluation, right? And you did it from home. It was like a four-hour test. Tony psychiatric. No, no, yeah. You get a no, okay. Think about it. Do you think you want to be laying down next to some serial killer? Hell no. You know what I mean? So you're in an enclosed, like, like here, like what Hell's Kitchen is, you don't leave set. You know what I mean? Like you're there all day. So you just go to the back to like the dorms and you're still in the building. It's it's crazy. Fatal. So the point of that is that you get a psych evaluation poke. The people that you put in there, right? Like us chefs and other just people for like safety, you know what I mean? It's they just want to make sure everyone is safe and no one goes crazy while this thing is happening. Um, so we do the psych evaluation, crazy questions, like, oh, if you killed a dog, would you would you do something? And I go, bro, I wouldn't even kill an ant, dude. Uh-huh. I'm a lover. You know what I mean? I'm a lover. Let's see it. Um, but it's algo say that where I go, okay. I did the psych evaluation. I was like, that's kind of weird. But they're like, oh yeah, I was kidding. We do a lot of psychology. I was like, okay, whatever. Next one was the blood test, and like just making sure that no one's like crazy, todo lo que another one. And I go, okay, this is the real test of like, if we actually go to some place and it's not crazy, sketchy, todo lo que so this might be real. I go and they're like, Yeah, sign this paperwork, it'll look bro. I send that shit to my dad. I go, look at this, but you know, like you have a lawyer's lab. And then, yeah, I know, right? And he reads it, he's like, No, no, no, it's like a legitimate, like this. This was like before AI had its boom, you know what I mean? Where like you could make uh whatever out of anything. Like, even on another show, we told away. So I go, screw it. If it's hell's kitchen, it's hell's kitchen. I sign away. Next day I get a call, they're like, You're on Hell's Kitchen, we're gonna pick you up this day, just get into the Uber. I go, Okay, this is esto es cuando me mata, this is when they kill me, right? Like, I thought that this is was this was that's it. If this is it, wake up one day, i.e., it's the day of hell's kitchen. I'm like, oh my god, I can I go downstairs, the Uber's there, but it's like a Lincoln like continental, dude. Like, I've never seen an Uber like this in my life. Like, it was amazing. It was it was like old school pickup, and I'm getting picked up. Team star pickup TV star, TV star pickup, right? Like TV star. I go, go no, this Russian dude gets out of the front seat. He goes, Are you Esteban? And I go, no Esteban. I go, oh my god, this guy doesn't speak English. I was like, this is where I die. This is where I die. All of a sudden, it was like a movie. I text the people, I was like, hey, the dude saying Esteban, uh, you know, they give him a call, we get into the car, he's like, no, no, no, you must be Brad and I was like, Yeah, oh shit. Oh my god, rushing, oh my god, thank god. We we get in there and we drive all the way to Glendale, right? Or Burbank, or I don't know where the hell it was. It was one on one of the two. We get off, and it's this old IKEA, but outside you just see Hell's Kitchen. I go, holy shit, we're here. But before we even got there, we were quarantined for two weeks because it was peak COVID. Crazy. So two weeks, ahí sent out, just doing nothing, ordering the same cyborg every other hour. I'd be like, when you roll a cyborg, another cyborg. You know, and every time you had a walk, they would escort you. So you felt like the president, if I'm being honest, you would walk and they'd be like, Chef Brad's making a right. I'm like, okay, dude, it's a block. Of course, we're gonna make a right, we're gonna make three more of those. We're gonna make a few. So we can go on the block. Yeah, but we we we couldn't go far, so it was crazy. Pero I mean me enganta.
SPEAKER_00It was wow. So, you know, I I really want to talk to you about something because you know, you you're living the life of an influencer, of a celebrity, of someone that has a very public life, but I've always believed that there's always a tax to pay in everything that you do. So, are you ready to tell us a little bit about the influencer tax? Are you ready? I'm ready. Give me your hand. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_03Come with me. Okay, no, mira, mira, escucha.
SPEAKER_00This is a very good thing. 20-something that's trying to figure things out. Mira, it sounds like being an influencer is the career everybody wants to have.
SPEAKER_03See, but then yes, a lot of people want to be an influencer, and I encourage everyone, oye, if you could make a living, I'm gonna rephrase this. It doesn't start with being an influencer, right? You like if you just want to be an influencer, you're gonna get nowhere, right? You want to be someone that makes an impact, you want to be someone that makes someone think a little bit like, okay, I do it like this, but you're doing it like this. Let me try it your way, and maybe it comes out better and it's easier. Yeto, eto, eto. You want to teach, you want to be able to give knowledge to people. Being an influencer now, it's not just going to a restaurant y comiendo comida, bro. You know what I mean? Because that's where I feel like a lot of people, you have your designated people that already do that, you know, where they go and they eat the food, yeah. But you gotta remember restaurant culture, you know. Like, don't expect a free meal, you know, like don't walk in haciendo eso.
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SPEAKER_03And it's it's for me, it's it's algo where right now everyone wants to be an influencer, and that is amazing. But I think what you should do is be passionate about something, right? And film that being passionate about it. You know what I mean? Like that is the influence, not the oh my God, this is an amazing restaurant, you know, or or this is the amazing new shoe. There are the influencers for that. Be the next person that makes me be like, you know what? He's so passionate about fishing, he's so passionate about carpentry, he makes pottery. I need a plate. Be that person for me. And when you're that person, i.e., you know, you could be that person for anybody. So you'll be that person for me, he'll be that person for you, and you'll start being like, okay, este fulanito, he's doing great, he's doing this, but you know, his dishes are kind of a little wonky, just started out it all the way. So, but look at the passion that's behind those eyes, just wanting to teach people something good.
SPEAKER_00Because one of the things that you can tell immediately when I see any of your videos is that you're having so much freaking fun. It is fun. It's like, yes, let me grab the butter. It's so much fun to grab the butter, and I want life in this way, and it's like right, it's like this energy.
SPEAKER_03It is fun, and everyone thinks it's like, okay, so I go, no, baby, this is pure ADD and passion. It's like using the ADD to your advantage. Yes, it's like having a superpower, man. And like that's what I tell everyone that, you know, back then when you were diagnosed with ADD, like I don't know how certain people felt it all, but whatever. For me, I treated P people say, Oh, yeah, you know, you have a disability, it all bro, a disability. You don't need disability.
SPEAKER_00Yo tengo a superpower. So you're trying to communicate to everybody watching that may have been diagnosed with something that supposedly prevents them from having a life. Yes, that this can turn into it. This the something that somebody can call a disability can actually become a superpower.
SPEAKER_03An ability. You know what I mean? I see where where people tell you how you're feeling sometimes. You know what I mean? Where you go to the doctor and like, oh yeah, if it's like, oh yeah, you know, doctor, I'm feeling a little depressed because of esto, esto, esto, esto, the anxiety is creeping up, whatever, he'll tell you, you must have this, this, this, this, this, and this, and this, and this, and this, right? But you're there, all numb, and then when you're finished, you you get all sad again and cry again. I'm making me bota, right? But una cosita where what if you used whatever disability someone is telling you you have to your ability, right? You know, and where I took it and I ran with it, where I go, I don't care. If I don't like something, Mina, I'll tell you to your face. Call it whatever you want to call it, call it lo que sea. But where I feel people and the ADD and just in the realm of the world, everyone is fighting their own struggles, going through their own hardships and doing their own thing. But if you could just find one thing, like even like a speck of sand that you're passionate about, people, the world could be your oyster and you could have so much fun with it. If you want to be the influencer, record everything, you know, everything and everything, and let people out there, quality over quantity, you know, and teach someone something good, you know, and don't don't don't fall into the same thing of, oh yeah, vamos a ser esto, and then you're in a supermarket making a mess, but make it fun.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but here's here's something that I could understand somebody watching or listening right now that they may be like in disagreement with, where they could say, you know what? This guy has found the ability to take his ADD and turn it into a way to have fun, to be passionate, and to divide his attention here and there, make it fun and interesting. But there may be someone out there, and I'm sure you have the right words for people like that, that may be saying, Oh my god, I haven't been able to function with what I have. And I feel like I'm in this dark cloud that I don't know how to get out of. See, I just feel that I go to a doctor, I go to a psychologist, and they give me this and they give me that, and everybody wants to diagnose me, but I don't know how to get out of the dark cloud. What could you tell someone that hasn't maybe able to capitalize on that the way you have?
SPEAKER_03No, you barely read me. You know what I mean? And for me, it's when I started realizing that, right? Where I started realizing that weights, right, like like words have tremendous weight with what you say. Yeah, tremendous weight. You know, um, Bruce Lee had an amazing video that I saw where um he said that um words are like spells, you know, that's why it's called spelling. You know what I mean? Um, where whatever you cast out of your mouth, you you believe and you interact with it absorbs you, it consumes you. If you said right now, I'm gonna have the worst night ever, you will have the worst night ever, right? If I said right now, I hate this, I hate me, oh, I feel so bad. Look, even right now, my my like body just felt like it changes. What do you mean? You did so good today. Where if you're in that darkness, man, and I say this and I hope I don't cry, porque yo lloro con todo, but if you're in that darkness, man, you gotta remember that corny, but you are that light, right? You are your own guide to get to where you want to go. It might not happen today, it might not happen tomorrow. Everyone has their own set of oye, daily occurrences, things that get in the way of your dream and your passion, y todo lo. But I guarantee you, everybody is passionate about something, even if it's not the norm of, mira, I love wrestling, dude. Like, you know how hard it is telling that to like when I was in the like dating scene, telling women, hey, I like wrestling. They probably thought I had a leash and I had to go home to my mom, and then they'd have to get paid. Like, like, I don't want to go cosita ahí. But the passion that exudes when once you see this next wrestling video, you're gonna be like, bro, it's gonna cabrona. What I tell people, and I implore you. The thing that I always say is sin miedo, right? Without fear. You gotta be passionate without fear. You gotta love without fear. You gotta be encouraging and teach someone without fear.
SPEAKER_02Don't bring the fear to yourself by sitting there and being like, oh my God, Jesse's doing this, and Johnny is over there doing this. And I'm just sitting here, Jodith, the car, right?
SPEAKER_03No, that's not what we're doing. We want you to listen, blinders on, right? Look forward, and you'll start seeing like a little light. And I know that some people are like, oh, yeah, but the anxiety, but this, and it's all that music, right? That is one of my saving graces. Where when I was like 12, 11, and like normally you wouldn't even send music back then, like I don't know how, but the ASIE poca where you could text and send music to people, you would have boys out there being like, oh, listen to this little Wayne song, it sounds like esto, right? And like you could send it to your girl, and it's like I had a lot of cooks, that is. I was like, bro, I would send these girls, I'd be like, oye, here's a little Barry White, here's a little Ario Speedwagon, here's a little Steely Dan, you know. Old school guy. Okay, tú sabes. It's not just the old school, pero it's this they told a story, right? Music now, it's hard to find people that tell stories, right? Everybody recollects and remembers bedtime stories. Where have they gone? You know, I feel like I haven't seen things about bedtime stories in Todo Weso.
SPEAKER_00So I want to get into the influencer business from it because let's say that we've found what we're passionate about and we're willing to put ourselves on camera, record ourselves, and say, okay, I'm so good at pottery, I'm so good at fishing, I'm so good in the kitchen. See, and then I start posting videos, right? And I'm like, okay, at some point, this is gonna make me some money. I don't know where, I don't know when, I don't know how. How do you deal with the uncertainty? And how do you start looking for ways and opportunities to monetize your past?
SPEAKER_03Yes, I always say you chase the bag, right? But don't chase it to the bane of your existence. You know what I mean? Where you'll have people being like, I need to get this deal because it's gonna be 40 grand. Oh my God, I need this deal because it's gonna be 150 grand. And then they never get that deal. Why? Porque all your thought goes into this one thing and everything around you starts crumbling. What I say with the money, the money will always come, the money will always go, right? You're never behind on that. A lot of people think, oh, just because esto, esto, esto. I will never forget the one time, the first time that this happened with these giant brand deals, y todo lo eso, bro, it was like a normal day. I had the worst day ever, bro. I had the worst day ever. And I'm there, I'm laying in my tub. I love to take baths, bro. Like, I don't care what anyone says, pero I sorry, planet. I love you, the planet. I take a bath and then I shower after that, baby. I love you, go green. It's gonna come again, bro. Get a peanut, whatever. I'm gonna be putting it in a water bill. Let me tell you, so you're taking a bath. So I'm taking a bath having the worst day ever, bro. And I'm there and I get a little you just made and I'm sitting there in the tub, and I'm like, bro, I'm ass naked in some water, and I just made money. How the hell is this even happening? And then it's like a snowball effect. Once that one brand sees another one going, Wait, who is this guy bringing the energy doll away? So what? I don't have this. Uh we need this, then there's another one, then there's another one, then there's another one, then there's another one, and then you're like, oh my gosh. Then you have to balance, right? The brand deals from yourself. You do the brand deals and you give them a cinematic masterpiece. You give them everything they wanted and more, you give them you, you give them everything. What the brand deals are gonna do, they're gonna make sure no copyright laws, no anything. They strip it down to it's like bare bones, right? So now you're sitting with a product that you were like super iffy about. That is when you have to really calm yourself down and say, Mira, this is what they wanted. You sent them something, loved it, but it's not what they wanted, great, fix it. And brand deals work like that left and right. But when it comes to the monetizing of it, you gotta keep going. A lot of people do it, right? They start and they go, Oh, yeah, bueno. Three weeks have gone by, no one cares, no one does it. A word of advice to everyone, and I tell this to everyone, meaning I heard the moment you post something great, your friends hate you. From for like three seconds. For like three seconds, maybe three, two seconds, you don't say. What do you mean your friends hate you when you post something great? If you post it today, oh my god, I just won the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm gonna sit there and I'm gonna go, I wish I won the Nobel Peace Prize. Whatever, whatever, whatever. Well, you're saying that you're gonna get like envy from your friends. Oh, you get envy from everybody. Friends, family, everybody, everybody. Okay, but how do you think that, bro? Oh yeah, let me tell you, it's your biggest stoker of the fire. You know what I mean? When you have either a lawyer father being like, Oh yeah, chefs only make this much if you're at the peak of your career, and you walk up to that lawyer father and you go, Oh yeah, I made more than that in a day, right? And you do esto, esto, esto, esto, esto, you prove them wrong in the nicest of ways, because you have to honor your parents, you have to honor your abuelitos, and you gotta make sure that everybody is true to their selves and you know, your parents and stuff, never disobey and be mean to your parents. But getting them to believe is a hard thing, and that is what I try to tell everyone where you have parents that support, but you gotta have parents that support and believe, right? And once you find that, and once you have that with not just friends, family, it loes, it's all set in stone because you have to have a support system that on the days that you don't want to do anything, get your ass up and do it. You know what I mean? Like today I filmed three videos. I was exhausted the last night I went to bed, probably 4 30 in the morning. Every day I probably get like four and a half to maybe like six hours of sleep if I'm lucky, right? Because every day, you gotta think ahead. You gotta be ahead. You gotta know politics, even though I'm not political para nada when it comes to my content. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? Where it's like, say if you're in the middle of like eggs or something and you post this beautiful egg thing and there was like a terrorist attack or something, right? And you're like, ah, well, wah, wah, you gotta be aware of that. Okay, then other people catch on, they're like, bro, this guy's so out of touch, out of tune, palacalle, bro. I am very rooted in my community. That is another thing. It's not just about posting videos and making money from it. If you want to post videos to make money, you will never make money.
SPEAKER_00You know what I mean? But how do you deal with with the that self-consciousness? Because when you you want to be yourself, right? Like the whole point is about being yourself, see, but then you're also you're recording and you're like, okay, let me be careful because I don't want to say huevos because I may get in trouble with the huevo lovers or the vegans? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. Suddenly you're thinking about brands, and you're thinking, okay, oh my god, are they gonna like be careful because the milk people don't want me to talk about meat, and the beef people don't want me to talk about milk because they're their friends, right? Because their friends are the exact means I want to go. So, how in the world do you deal with that with a family that may judge you because of what you're doing, and the cousin that's gonna be embarrassed because she doesn't want anybody to know that she's related to you because you do stuff that embarrasses her. How do you deal with that in your head?
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, it it never stops, and that's the thing that everyone thinks where it's like as like a creative, and I realize this, where I say this now, and I'll say it on this podcast. I think in five years I will have a production company that won't just do movies, but will do TV shows and stuff like that. Porque what I found through the passion of cooking and the acting and blending all of it together and making it, and truly it's proving people wrong. That that is what it is. That was my go-to fire that stoked me was when my dad looked at me and he said, You're not gonna, you, you're, you're not gonna be able to make it, you're not gonna be able to live the life you live con esto, esto, esto. I looked him dead in the face and I go, Mira, I got accepted into the best culinary school on the planet, the CIA. Same one Anthony Bourdain, all these people went to it. So I chose the Napa location because I gotta get away from all this and I gotta focus. You wait all the way to Napa. All the way to Napa, baby. Oh, yeah, no, slummed it, right? No, it was amazing. It was beautiful, gorgeous, whatever. I told him, I go, I guarantee you, next time you see me, I'll be graduated. Okay, that's like another thing with Brad, and I don't know if you've caught on everybody watching también. I didn't finish stuff before Chef Brad, and before this cooking mixed with acting it all the way. So I would do acting school, go for a year, wouldn't finish. I would go to business school two weeks, didn't finish. I tell my dad I'm gonna go to culinary school. He goes, bro, you ain't finishing this. I go, next time you see me, I'm gonna be graduated. Three years went by, right? I didn't see him once. Didn't see my parents, I didn't see no one wanted to come out to California, right? All of a sudden, there's two weeks till graduation. Oh yeah. And he goes, Oh yeah, tu sabes, we got our plane tickets, we want super proud, he's a whatever, and then super proud of you, so we pull up, it was COVID, so our graduation was una mierda, bro. I was like, But you graduated and you were able to call it time and wait. He was there, he enjoyed it, it was amazing.
SPEAKER_00And then just to kind of like prove them wrong.
SPEAKER_03Okay, no, no, no, but but it wasn't just proving them wrong, it's it's about being true to yourself. Because why you gotta love you, baby? You gotta love you, Mira. Yo no soy mariposa, pero I know a lot about RuPaul, and let me tell you, she says, he G says, you only say, pero mira, escucha, whatever they say, you gotta love yourself before you can love anybody else, no, right? So for me, you gotta love you, baby. And in my life, I've been thrown the oh yeah, bro, you move a little certain way, you must like a little. I go, Mira, I love me, my ladies, right? I got an amazing woman, Jess. Love you, baby. She's amazing, supportive, keeps me sane, right? Con todo eso, and it's this thing where oh yeah, a lot of people do a lot of things, but you gotta love you, man. You gotta love you, and you don't let all the critics and all the people that don't move like you, and they're vanilla, and the only thing hitting them is their wife. You know what I mean? So for me, I just want to make sure everyone's having a good time. They love themselves for their crazy, their gnarliness, their oye, tu sabes que every time I sit and I listen to this music, I see these things, and I want to do this and that and that. Those are the people that you should be friends with. Yeah, you know, and and it's something I where just prove everyone wrong and truly be you and and don't let anyone shift it, you know, because they'll say a million things, right? And they'll tell you, oh, yeah, you know, you move like this, you do this, you do eto, eto, eto, you must be like this. Papa, you're just jealous, you're envious, but you mean those knees can't do shit. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00So you know why I can relate to you so much? Because I I was heavily bullied when I was 11, 12, 13. Like it was really bad. Me too, bro. Really bad. And you know what? They actually we they changed me from one school to the other, yeah, seventh grade, and it got worse. Oh, I can't even we thought we were gonna fix it. My parents were five, it didn't do until now. But it's interesting because after that I decided to study communications and I go through college, and then when I was 17, I started doing radio, and then for 20 plus years, I became a radio personality. Then in Miami, I did radio, I did ED, and I did syndicated radio. And there's one day in which I'm talking literally to my therapist because I was born through a really hard. I'm telling you, it's the best stand-up practice is therapy. Yeah, so I'm sitting there and she says, Who do you think you did this for of choosing a media career? And then suddenly I had this eye-opening moment when I realized that the only reason why I got into media was to prove the bullies wrong. That's it. Was to prove the bullies that I was significant, and they were just telling me that I was a nobody, that they were the one that they could mess with. And I decided to become somebody not just successful, but successful and well known. And then suddenly I had to turn around. I could say, I'm a TV, I'm a radio host, I do syndicated radio, I have 2.7 million followers on social media.
SPEAKER_03There you go. So that's why I can relate so much to what you're saying, and that's what I mean, where you just have to like be true to you and prove people wrong. That that is for for me, it started the moment I learned who The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels was, right? I was like, oh my god, these two amazing wrestlers, but they would captivate an audience, right? And that's what I always tell everyone, where they all laugh, where where they go, Brad, why do you watch wrestling? I go, Mira, escucha. When's the last time you've seen a person that's not at like a concert, right? You have two people you have a good guy and a bad guy. But what impresses me is how you could command the attention of over 17,000, 20,000 people sitting in a room, also millions watching at home, right? That you're the bad guy, he's the good guy, but then you poke at us, right? And you tell a story when we're trying to look at all these little details y todo way. So wrestling is just like this open book where you could watch it and you go, bro, it's all a big stage play. You know, it's a dance, it's a beautiful dance with between either two women, two dudes. I've never said that in my life. A beautiful dance between two dudes, but it is June. Hey, it's all okay, pero mira, escucha. It was this thing where you watch this and you're like, This is crazy because they're commanding attention. They say words that make you understand and know like esto, you know, like you could be a good guy, you could be a bad guy, just with how you say. And with wrestling, there's also come like bullies, right? You have the bad guys that are the bullies. So when you watch this wrestling, you're like, oh, no, bro, the good guy has to beat the bad guy. You have to. But then sometimes the bad guy wins, and then you feel a certain way. What wrestling taught me is how to capture emotion, right? And I could capture an emotion where if you tell me, listen, I want to cry, make me a video where you'll solo yodo, pero it'll be the happiest video you've ever seen. But you will be sitting down crying your eyes out. One of my favorite ones that I have was the Santa one, where I meet Santa Claus, right? And I go, Santa, I get let me get you some cookies. He gives you some advice, you know, you told the way so whatever. I go to give him cookies, right? And he disappears. I go, Santa, where are you? I go, but as I'm walking up way with the cookies, I go, there's no such thing as this magic it all the way. So, bro, magic is snow in Miami, right? So I go and Santa's gone. I go, Cunha, where's Santa? I don't know. I walk out and I just make a left, and then the next shot is just snow falling, i.e., whatever, all dark, the Christmas tree lit, it all the way. So the emotion that you can possess, and the emotion that everyone else possesses that, oh yeah, we're all storytellers, we just need a pen and a paper, and or a little digital thing or agua si. Sit in a park without your phone, sit, go and watch theater where you could see magic come to life in front of you, practical stunts, practical events, practical things that happen. You know what I mean? Where all that teaches you something, but it all stemmed from those kids that would pick at you and do it with all. And I go, bro, I just have to prove everybody wrong. Porque you had the kids going, oh, I'm gonna be in all these multi-million dollars, I look back and I go, Bibo, why are you so far away? Ah, porque you're not here, right? Everyone's a booster, baby. You just so and then you yaw, you know, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00So it's amazing. We always wrap it up on this podcast with this question. So we're going to visualize, we're going to think about the future for a moment, and we're going to pretend like we are at a hundred years from now. Oh, we're going to pretend like Google still exists, and that somebody googles chef Brad. What would you like those top search results to say about you?
SPEAKER_03Truly, the first one I would love for it to say the world's most energetic chef. Because without the energy, without my ADD, without the passion, oy, there is no pegale conet or mira, eh? So every time you do something, you know. Another thing, uh, I want people to see and for it to be there. I would love a kid's like trilogy or like chronicle of all these books of like Chef Brad and Paco, my little puppet, are adventures of this is how you go to college, this is how you go to middle school, this is what happens when esto esto. And I also wanted to say a person that motivated me to be true to myself, to my culture, and to the people that got me to where I am. Porque without them, oye, there is no you, without the ancestors, without the community, without your home, there's no one but you. But the last thing I'd love for it to say, and he led his life.
SPEAKER_00No fears, no fears, listen, you have taught us so many things from honoring your Cuban roots to honoring your family. And and what I love about this conversation is that honor is the basis of everything that you do because as you honor your parents, as you honor your grandparents, as you honor your culture, you start by honoring yourself. See, and the fact that you have honored yourself by saying, This is who I am, it doesn't matter if they call it diagnosis, it doesn't matter if they call it who you are, I will decide what I do with it. Sure. And I will decide to leave a legacy of authenticity and not being afraid of who you are, and just seeing that light at the end of the tunnel for those that at this time may have a difficult moment. And man, thank you so much for being here. Of course, appreciate your honesty.
SPEAKER_03I appreciate what you do every day, and and just thank you for making everybody laugh every day, but having so much meaning behind it that most people don't notice, but you are the best, thank you so much, and we're gonna continue to bring joy, love, peace, but Cuban Sassong everywhere we go. Cuban sash on everywhere you go.
SPEAKER_00I love you. Tremendous great. Most people watch this, get the value, and disappear. The ones who subscribe, they're the ones building something. So hit subscribe, turn on notifications, because you never know, you never know which guest drops the next exact framework, the one that you need, the one that rewires how you think about your career and your life.