# Perseverance: Yo‑Yo’s evolution as an artist and entrepreneur, personal transformation and love for cooking.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 6 Jan 2026, 33 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/abe8c623-1af1-48dd-b263-b3d900fa30c2/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Whitaker. SUMMARY OF THE INTERVIEW In this interview on Money Making Conversations Master Class, host Rushion McDonald speaks with Dr. Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Whitaker—Grammy‑nominated rapper, actress, radio host, philanthropist, and now the star of Downright Delicious with Yo-Yo, a cooking series on AspireTV. The conversation moves through Yo‑Yo’s evolution as an artist and entrepreneur, her spiritual and personal transformation, her love for food and cooking, and the creation of her television cooking show. She reflects on surviving and thriving in an unpredictable entertainment industry, learning discipline, overcoming fear, and discovering new purpose later in life through cooking. Yo‑Yo also shares her philosophy on authenticity, family, and faith. She describes how the pandemic deepened her love for cooking, how her show blends food + family + culture, and offers practical cooking tips. PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW According to the interview content, the purpose is to: • Highlight Yo‑Yo’s transition from iconic hip‑hop entertainer to food‑focused TV personality. • Promote her Aspire TV series “Downright Delicious with Yo‑Yo.” • Share insights on career longevity, entrepreneurship, reinvention, and personal growth. • Inspire listeners with actionable advice on fearlessness, budgeting, confidence, and purpose‑driven living. • Celebrate cooking as an expression of love, culture, peace, and family connection. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Reinvention Requires Honesty & Letting Go Yo‑Yo stresses that overcoming fear came from “getting real” with herself, abandoning trying to look successful, and restructuring her finances and lifestyle. She had to “let the old me die so the money could grow.” 2. Entrepreneurship Is a Lifelong Reality for Artists She and McDonald emphasize that entertainers are entrepreneurs, without the stability of 40‑hour jobs, making resilience essential. 3. Purpose Matters More Than Fame She encourages people to seek purpose—not just fame or quick money—and do the work that builds confidence and personal foundation. 4. Cooking Became Her “Happy Place” and Divine Gift Yo‑Yo says cooking is a God‑given gift and a therapeutic practice that began thriving during the pandemic. It helped her through depression and opened new creative fulfillment. 5. Her Cooking Show Blends Food + Family + Culture The show features: • Her mother • Her partner • Her kids • Celebrity friends • Authentic cultural dishes with her unique twist It’s not guest‑driven; it’s family‑driven storytelling in the kitchen. 6. Technique & Tools Matter She emphasizes: • Good knives (sharpen weekly) • Quality pots • Measuring ingredients • Understanding seasonings • Building confidence by cooking regularly 7. Simplicity + Love = Great Food According to Yo‑Yo, love is the secret ingredient, and cooking is about joy, connection, and comfort, not rigid perfection. \[ NOTABLE QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW (All quotes drawn exactly or near‑exactly from the transcript. ) \[ On Fear and Growth • “I had to let the old me die so that the money could grow.” • “What I did to overcome my fear was to call myself fearless.” • “You have to get real with yourself. You really have to do the work.” On Purpose and Success • “If you don’t find your purpose, you’re just job hunting.” • “God told me, because of your obedience, I’m going to give you the…

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to my show.
[0:01] Speaker 2: I'm Rashon McDonald, a host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[0:04] Speaker 2: where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success
[0:07] Speaker 2: stories and start planning your own. Now, you don't want
[0:10] Speaker 2: to miss an episode, so please take a moment right
[0:12] Speaker 2: now to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[0:16] Speaker 1: It's free.
[0:17] Speaker 2: You can follow me on iHeartRadio, app, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
[0:21] Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your podcast. New Money Making
[0:24] Speaker 2: Conversations Masterclass episodes drop daily. I want to keep you
[0:28] Speaker 2: on alert because my guests provide tips on how you
[0:30] Speaker 2: can uplift your community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or
[0:34] Speaker 2: advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Now, let's
[0:38] Speaker 2: get this podcast started. My guest is a Grammy nominated artist,
[0:42] Speaker 2: an actress for Lanchepists and now the host of Aspire
[0:46] Speaker 2: TVs Dierit Delicious with Yoyo and her fun cooking series
[0:51] Speaker 2: Die Delicious with Yo Yo. Yoyo is whipping up some
[0:54] Speaker 2: of her favorite dishes, cocktails, desserts, and more. The show
[0:57] Speaker 2: features guest appearances from her family and even a boss
[1:00] Speaker 2: girl friends that are moguls and fashion, beauty and business.
[1:04] Speaker 1: Please Walk with.
[1:04] Speaker 2: The Money Making Conversation master Class, the one and only
[1:07] Speaker 2: Doctor yolamde Yo yo with a hey.
[1:10] Speaker 3: Dog girl, I am doing amazing. It is so good
[1:13] Speaker 3: to see you. Thank you so much for having me on.
[1:16] Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's really interesting because you know, we
[1:19] Speaker 2: really connected when I was with Steve Harvey on the
[1:21] Speaker 2: radio back then the ninty two point three to be
[1:23] Speaker 2: back in La and they walked in that door, those
[1:27] Speaker 2: beautiful eyes and she still got the beautiful eyes of
[1:29] Speaker 2: letting you know.
[1:30] Speaker 1: They ain't contacts, the main contacts.
[1:34] Speaker 2: But you know it's a career now because you know,
[1:36] Speaker 2: you look at when you're young, yo yo, you don't
[1:40] Speaker 2: see thirty, forty, fifty or sixty where I'm at.
[1:43] Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying.
[1:44] Speaker 2: You just living for that moment. Now when you look back,
[1:47] Speaker 2: you go, wow, I've not only survived, but I'm thriving.
[1:52] Speaker 1: Talk to us about that.
[1:53] Speaker 3: You know, like you said, when you're young, you really
[1:57] Speaker 3: you're just going you're just looking at us. You're just
[2:00] Speaker 3: waking up every day and working and trying to continue
[2:04] Speaker 3: something that you're hoping that will be there ten years
[2:07] Speaker 3: from now to go in ten years and you're just hoping.
[2:10] Speaker 3: You know, you get to a place where you're just
[2:12] Speaker 3: trying to transition in your career. I know, for me,
[2:15] Speaker 3: once I was in it and kissing thirty, I started
[2:18] Speaker 3: thinking like, Wow, can I do this for the rest
[2:20] Speaker 3: of my life? And what else should I be doing
[2:23] Speaker 3: for the rest of my life? And I think, you know,
[2:27] Speaker 3: for me, it was really just wanting to move on
[2:30] Speaker 3: and how do I move on? Was my big challenge.
[2:34] Speaker 1: And that's a challenge.
[2:35] Speaker 2: And the fear because when you're making changes, you don't
[2:40] Speaker 2: know because you in the business where it's not a
[2:43] Speaker 2: forty hour week job. Okay, you're an entrepreneur, that's what
[2:47] Speaker 2: you are. You're a small business owner. So that means
[2:50] Speaker 2: that the great moments are great and die moments can
[2:53] Speaker 2: scare you to death because you don't know if you
[2:55] Speaker 2: can come up out of them. As you, as my
[2:57] Speaker 2: listeners are listening to the show or watching this moment,
[3:00] Speaker 2: then talk to them about how can they overcome fear
[3:03] Speaker 2: and what did you do to sustain yourself in them
[3:06] Speaker 2: down moments?
[3:07] Speaker 1: Oh God, great question.
[3:09] Speaker 3: You know what I did to out overcome my fear
[3:13] Speaker 3: was to call myself fearless. I mean, if you have
[3:15] Speaker 3: my social media site I called myself Yo Yo, fearless. Really,
[3:20] Speaker 3: I had to get real with myself. I had to
[3:22] Speaker 3: stop lying on myself, living a pretentious lifestyle, wanting to
[3:25] Speaker 3: just be famous. I had to really focus on my
[3:30] Speaker 3: financial goals and really create a budget for myself, treat
[3:35] Speaker 3: my money like it was work. And that took work.
[3:39] Speaker 3: I really had to set aside some time for myself.
[3:42] Speaker 3: I had to let the old me die so that
[3:44] Speaker 3: the new me could grow. Going back trying to chase
[3:47] Speaker 3: old money, going after old debt, and really just trying
[3:50] Speaker 3: to chase an old dream. I had to create something
[3:54] Speaker 3: new and that took me pausing in my life, and
[3:56] Speaker 3: in that pause, I was getting myself together.
[3:58] Speaker 2: You know, it's really important people hear that, because there
[4:02] Speaker 2: are no rules in any of our lives, you know,
[4:04] Speaker 2: especially when you're an entrepreneur and a small business owner.
[4:07] Speaker 1: Because that's what you are. That's all you've been all
[4:09] Speaker 1: your life. You've been an entrepreneur.
[4:11] Speaker 2: You know, you might be called They might call you
[4:12] Speaker 2: an artist, they may call your entertainer, they may call
[4:15] Speaker 2: you an athlete. If you don't have a regular job
[4:18] Speaker 2: and and and help plan and tied to you're an entrepreneur. Yes,
[4:23] Speaker 2: And then in that process of doing that, do you
[4:25] Speaker 2: really understand how do you give advice to people who
[4:30] Speaker 2: not just want to be an entrepreneur, but want to
[4:32] Speaker 2: be an artist.
[4:34] Speaker 3: Well, you know, when I talk to anybody just about life,
[4:36] Speaker 3: I say, first of all, the first step you have
[4:38] Speaker 3: to do is get real with yourself. You really have
[4:41] Speaker 3: to do the work. A lot of people want to
[4:43] Speaker 3: be famous, a lot of people want overnight success. A
[4:46] Speaker 3: lot of people are looking just to get rich, and
[4:50] Speaker 3: I tell them to go to longevity is you have
[4:54] Speaker 3: to find your purpose in life. I mean, right, if not,
[4:58] Speaker 3: you just you just you're just going from one place
[5:02] Speaker 3: to another place. But how do you create that foundation?
[5:04] Speaker 3: For me, I had to. I had to build my confidence,
[5:09] Speaker 3: and that was doing some outside work. I was me
[5:11] Speaker 3: going back to school working on my associates degree. I
[5:14] Speaker 3: was thinking that was gonna build my confidence. What it
[5:17] Speaker 3: did was it showed me just how to move forward.
[5:20] Speaker 3: I went to acter school thinking I was tired of
[5:22] Speaker 3: playing the home roles and how do I get the
[5:25] Speaker 3: lawyer role. I went and learned out how fake I
[5:28] Speaker 3: really was, and so that helped me become my real self.
[5:31] Speaker 3: Knowing that I have to do the work. So a
[5:33] Speaker 3: lot of the things I went to do to advance
[5:36] Speaker 3: me in different careers really helped me align myself as
[5:40] Speaker 3: a great person. And so I would tell anybody who's
[5:43] Speaker 3: trying to do anything in life, first of all, you
[5:47] Speaker 3: have to surrender to God. I mean, you know, you're
[5:50] Speaker 3: taking yourself as far as you can take yourself. The
[5:52] Speaker 3: next level is you have to go to God. And
[5:55] Speaker 3: you know, don't be too big. It's not just me, man,
[5:58] Speaker 3: It's not I did it. I mean, you know, God
[6:00] Speaker 3: has placed greake people along my path and I recognize them.
[6:04] Speaker 1: Now. Yo, yo, let's you know.
[6:07] Speaker 2: I don't want to get away from why I brought
[6:09] Speaker 2: you on the show, because downright delicious is why I
[6:13] Speaker 2: brought you on the show.
[6:14] Speaker 3: All of this prep led me to downright delicihips life prep.
[6:19] Speaker 1: But this is we're talking about kitchen prep now, you know.
[6:22] Speaker 1: And whenever you get.
[6:24] Speaker 2: Shows like this, because there have been a series of
[6:27] Speaker 2: celebrities doing cooking shows or baking shows and things like that,
[6:33] Speaker 2: and it's been very successful, very successful. So what got
[6:38] Speaker 2: you into this lane? Because again, let me read the
[6:41] Speaker 2: credits again. Okay, Grammy nominated Access you know, graminated artists,
[6:47] Speaker 2: an access philanthropists. Okay, you know syndicated radios because you
[6:53] Speaker 2: interviewed me up many a day.
[6:54] Speaker 1: On Kathy Mochup. Okay, so let's not forget that now.
[6:59] Speaker 1: Cooking though, talk to us.
[7:03] Speaker 3: Cooking is my happy place, I mean, you know, and
[7:06] Speaker 3: to be totally honest, Raseean, it's a gift from God.
[7:10] Speaker 3: Only God knew I love cooking. And after you know,
[7:13] Speaker 3: God told me one day said, because of your obedience,
[7:15] Speaker 3: I'm gonna give you the desires of your heart. And
[7:17] Speaker 3: I'm thinking, now I can go fix up my house.
[7:20] Speaker 3: Now I can buy the car that I want. Now,
[7:22] Speaker 3: I can do this. But God gave me a cooking show,
[7:24] Speaker 3: and no one knew I love to cook, and it's
[7:29] Speaker 3: really my happy place, you know, It's what I do
[7:31] Speaker 3: all the time. My friends know I love to cook,
[7:33] Speaker 3: I mean, but the world didn't. So it was just
[7:35] Speaker 3: really another form of my artistry. I'm giving you know,
[7:39] Speaker 3: I'm feeding food. I'm feeding people with food. I'm definitely
[7:42] Speaker 3: entertaining them. You come to my house and beat your
[7:44] Speaker 3: ass and dominoes fades. We're gonna play some great music,
[7:48] Speaker 3: We're gonna have some great cottails and were gonna We're
[7:50] Speaker 3: gonna make some great food, and it's better when we
[7:52] Speaker 3: make it together. Like you said, you love to cook.
[7:54] Speaker 3: I would love for you to come over and cook
[7:56] Speaker 3: in my kitchen.
[7:57] Speaker 2: But there's an interesting thing about it because and I
[8:00] Speaker 2: thank you. I'm gonna take care for that offer, because
[8:03] Speaker 2: you know I love you know I you know, I
[8:07] Speaker 2: got my little platform, Rashan's Kitchen.
[8:09] Speaker 1: That's my little thing.
[8:10] Speaker 3: You know.
[8:10] Speaker 2: I'm not I'm not die right delicious now, but I'm
[8:13] Speaker 2: Rashan's Kitchen. Now, let's talk about because black people get
[8:17] Speaker 2: stereotyped on the type of meals that they can present.
[8:24] Speaker 2: You know, we always you see us black, they automatically.
[8:27] Speaker 1: Go soul food on Yeah.
[8:29] Speaker 2: Okay you does that annoy you?
[8:33] Speaker 3: You know, because I've been because I've been in the
[8:36] Speaker 3: industry since i was seventeen, I mean it doesn't. I
[8:40] Speaker 3: love soul food. I've been around the world, so I've
[8:42] Speaker 3: been able to eat different foods and try different things.
[8:45] Speaker 3: But when it comes to cooking, because I'm out so much,
[8:48] Speaker 3: when I get back home to Los Angeles, i want
[8:50] Speaker 3: my mother to make me some soul food. It's about water,
[8:53] Speaker 3: corn bread. I want to eat the greens, the way
[8:55] Speaker 3: she make it, you know what I mean. I want
[8:57] Speaker 3: to get some some ox tails and you know, all
[9:00] Speaker 3: of that good stuff, but on downright delicious. I take
[9:05] Speaker 3: some of these recipes that I use, and it's really
[9:09] Speaker 3: it's accent in the travel that I've been on my
[9:13] Speaker 3: entire career. So when I make my rearby oystered steak,
[9:17] Speaker 3: I mean I've gotten that in restaurants and pages.
[9:21] Speaker 2: What you said, rebbi Oster steak, Now, okay break it
[9:26] Speaker 2: down to us, because I definitely don't know, but it
[9:29] Speaker 2: sounds fantastic.
[9:31] Speaker 3: Really, you know, when you've had steak so many different ways,
[9:35] Speaker 3: it's just a what do you call a chef steakhouse
[9:40] Speaker 3: way of creating a different taste for your steak. So
[9:45] Speaker 3: the Rabbi steak is really, you know, the juice of
[9:49] Speaker 3: a juicy steak, and you're just adding some oyster, a
[9:54] Speaker 3: little sesame seed oil with some water and you're just
[9:58] Speaker 3: glazing it over your steak. I broil my steak, I
[10:02] Speaker 3: put me some rosemary on for some time, but throw
[10:07] Speaker 3: that girl up in there and the oyster gives it
[10:13] Speaker 3: that little glistening bubble with the glaze on top, and
[10:16] Speaker 3: it's just delicious and however, you like your steak, and
[10:19] Speaker 3: it's just giving it a different flavor, like it came
[10:22] Speaker 3: out of Yoyo's Steakhouse.
[10:24] Speaker 1: Right, the Yoyo's flavor. And that's what we get. We
[10:26] Speaker 1: get your uniqueness.
[10:27] Speaker 2: And I think because like I said, I've never had
[10:30] Speaker 2: that type of meal. Now I want that type of meal,
[10:32] Speaker 2: which means I want to watch your show and learn.
[10:35] Speaker 2: Now the big takeaway your show? Will you watch the show?
[10:39] Speaker 1: And because I watch what I do, and I go,
[10:41] Speaker 1: I can do that better. I can do that better.
[10:43] Speaker 2: The beauty of being in a position where you're actually
[10:46] Speaker 2: making people feel good, aren't you, Yoyo?
[10:49] Speaker 3: You know what the beauty of it is is? You know,
[10:54] Speaker 3: I love to say I'm not a chef. I just
[10:56] Speaker 3: love to cook, and that's pretty much my slogan because
[10:59] Speaker 3: I love to find new recipes and recreate. I started
[11:03] Speaker 3: cooking and really really cooking, during the pandemic. I've always cooked,
[11:08] Speaker 3: but during the pandemic I cooked a lot because everyone
[11:11] Speaker 3: was at home. I wasn't husband wrestling and running after
[11:14] Speaker 3: a show or a gig, so I got a chance
[11:17] Speaker 3: to really try some new recipes and it took me
[11:20] Speaker 3: out of my depression. Going to the grocery market, to
[11:23] Speaker 3: different markets. You know, when you really start going into
[11:26] Speaker 3: these recipes and figuring out that you want to make
[11:30] Speaker 3: a dish from a different town or a different country,
[11:33] Speaker 3: you have to go to a different restaurant. This is
[11:35] Speaker 3: not you know, this is not a mom and pop store.
[11:39] Speaker 3: You have to go where you can find these ingredients.
[11:41] Speaker 3: And finding these different ingredients really just broaden my love
[11:46] Speaker 3: for cooking different dishes. So my mom now loves to
[11:50] Speaker 3: have me cook. She oh, come make that dish you make,
[11:52] Speaker 3: Come make that fish at Bay because, like you said,
[11:55] Speaker 3: she's so used to making Southern dishes. She want to
[11:58] Speaker 3: taste something different now. She she now she got to
[12:01] Speaker 3: the place where she when she make her tacos, she said,
[12:03] Speaker 3: I want you to season my tacos tacos.
[12:07] Speaker 1: You know.
[12:08] Speaker 3: So it's just the basic stuff now, and really that's
[12:10] Speaker 3: what cooking is. I mean, how many ways can you
[12:13] Speaker 3: get fried? Chicken fried?
[12:14] Speaker 2: You know? The beauty of this interview with you is that,
[12:17] Speaker 2: you know, because you mentioned COVID, and I remember doing
[12:21] Speaker 2: my time at COVID is when I started my gardening,
[12:24] Speaker 2: you know, not my office. I got a plot of
[12:27] Speaker 2: land behind my office where I have my every spring.
[12:31] Speaker 2: I'm planning my cabbages, my collar greens, my tomatoes, my
[12:35] Speaker 2: my cucumbers. I do all the peppers, jalapeno, I do
[12:40] Speaker 2: the bell peppers, I do the banana peppers.
[12:44] Speaker 1: I do all.
[12:46] Speaker 2: I do all, you know, all all versions from Roma
[12:48] Speaker 2: tomatoes to the steakhouse tomatoes. So it really helped me
[12:53] Speaker 2: calm me down. That's what the cod. It calmed me
[12:57] Speaker 2: down and gave me substance because I didn't know what
[12:59] Speaker 2: to do and now, and pointed.
[13:01] Speaker 1: Me in the right direction.
[13:02] Speaker 2: And it made me a better person because I'm getting
[13:05] Speaker 2: food from my garden and I'm fresh.
[13:08] Speaker 1: Now.
[13:09] Speaker 2: I've watched some interviews on your other shows that you've done.
[13:15] Speaker 2: Mexican Food said that's your favorite style of cooking.
[13:21] Speaker 1: Is that correct?
[13:22] Speaker 3: Well, you know what, if I had a choice, I
[13:25] Speaker 3: can eat tacos and burritos all day.
[13:27] Speaker 1: I don't come on, come on that.
[13:30] Speaker 3: And I love I love a tomali, come on that.
[13:34] Speaker 3: I like Spanish rice. I mean I love glatas. You know,
[13:39] Speaker 3: different style. I love some beans. I love rice, I
[13:42] Speaker 3: love sausa, I love spices.
[13:45] Speaker 1: So now you say, now you said refried beans, You're.
[13:47] Speaker 3: The best baby let me tell you something.
[13:50] Speaker 2: Come on the back that truck up now say I'm
[13:53] Speaker 2: a charro guy. I'm a chiro bean guy. Now talk
[13:56] Speaker 2: to me. How you do your refried beans?
[13:58] Speaker 3: Well, listen, after I just smash my beans all the way.
[14:01] Speaker 3: Right after that smashed my beans, what I do to
[14:04] Speaker 3: my beans is I add some saucer. You know. I
[14:07] Speaker 3: take a little bit of saucer, you know, because of
[14:10] Speaker 3: sauce already a little you know, and it already has
[14:14] Speaker 3: this little little Mexican mix in there. So a little
[14:18] Speaker 3: bit of that up in there.
[14:20] Speaker 1: Wow. And all of the bell.
[14:21] Speaker 3: Peppers you tasting the onions, you got a little bit
[14:23] Speaker 3: of sauce in there. I throw a little bit of
[14:25] Speaker 3: cheese in mine, because you know, everything's better with a
[14:28] Speaker 3: little bit of cheese. A little little cheese in mine,
[14:31] Speaker 3: and it just makes it just a little bit spicy.
[14:33] Speaker 3: So what you're really tasting is just a spicy style.
[14:36] Speaker 1: Please don't go anywhere.
[14:37] Speaker 2: We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations masterclass. No,
[14:41] Speaker 2: I need for you to do me a favor right
[14:44] Speaker 2: now to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversation. It's
[14:47] Speaker 2: free and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
[14:52] Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please do
[14:56] Speaker 2: me that favor, follow or subscribe. Money Making Conversation Welcome
[15:03] Speaker 2: back to Money Making Conversations master Class hosted by me
[15:06] Speaker 2: Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversation master Class continues online at
[15:11] Speaker 2: Moneymaking Conversations dot com and follow money Making Conversations master
[15:15] Speaker 2: Class on Facebook, X and Instagram. Wow, that sounds so good,
[15:19] Speaker 2: you know, Yoyo, Because the thing about it is that
[15:21] Speaker 2: you know I'm speaking.
[15:22] Speaker 1: Let everybody know I'm speaking to a new.
[15:24] Speaker 2: Show downright Delicious with Yo, the one and only Yoyo Whittaker.
[15:29] Speaker 2: You know, gramming down that at artists. You know an actress,
[15:32] Speaker 2: You've seen all these different movies, but now she has
[15:34] Speaker 2: her own cookie show. She's still out there being a
[15:36] Speaker 2: self entrepreneur. She's still doing her things, still performing, still entertaining,
[15:40] Speaker 2: but she's entertaining us in the kitchen now in the kitchen.
[15:44] Speaker 2: A lot of people don't realize how hard it is
[15:46] Speaker 2: to do these shows. There's a lot of work. You know,
[15:49] Speaker 2: First of all, perfection is to follow. You have to
[15:53] Speaker 2: be perfect in the sense that when you deliver that
[15:56] Speaker 2: follow dish, it has to look great, talk about the
[15:59] Speaker 2: process during an episode and how you have to get
[16:03] Speaker 2: it right for the camera.
[16:04] Speaker 3: You know what I first got in a powerhouse production
[16:07] Speaker 3: has a wonderful leader that has been leading me in
[16:11] Speaker 3: the kitchen. His name is Cheffelan and Chuffalon really just
[16:14] Speaker 3: teaches me the difference of the different lettuces and you know,
[16:18] Speaker 3: let me know which knife you're supposed to use, because
[16:20] Speaker 3: when you're in your kitchen just normally cooking from cooking
[16:25] Speaker 3: on television and saying, oh, she didn't wash her hands.
[16:27] Speaker 3: Oh she's using that knife. Its not a that's not
[16:29] Speaker 3: a state knife. That's not a knife. You can shave
[16:33] Speaker 3: it with this, Why she save it with that? You know,
[16:35] Speaker 3: I can cut mine up with some siss but I know,
[16:39] Speaker 3: poor people, you have to make sure you have it right.
[16:41] Speaker 3: So we have a great coach. I have a great coach.
[16:45] Speaker 3: His name is Chefflon. Cheffalon moves shuffle stuff out and
[16:48] Speaker 3: in the process, I'm learning the chef way of doing things.
[16:54] Speaker 3: But really the beauty is I really cook. So Cheffalon
[16:57] Speaker 3: will come in and say, oh no, you know, he's
[17:00] Speaker 3: set out the ingredients and I'm like, where's my fellow cheese.
[17:04] Speaker 3: Oh no this this no no, no, no, no no no.
[17:06] Speaker 3: I need my fellow cheese paper. So you know, I'm
[17:10] Speaker 3: teaching them my way of doing things, and he's showing
[17:14] Speaker 3: me the proper way to place things. I always said
[17:18] Speaker 3: I wanted to take a knife cutting class, but of course,
[17:20] Speaker 3: with anything you continuously do, you get better at it.
[17:24] Speaker 3: I want to learn how to plate my dishes. You know,
[17:27] Speaker 3: we have someone to plate my dishes for me. I
[17:29] Speaker 3: get home and my man, I'm trying to play this stuff.
[17:32] Speaker 3: He say, why just make my food.
[17:34] Speaker 1: Just make it. Don't try to do all of that.
[17:36] Speaker 3: To my plate. Just put my food on the plate.
[17:39] Speaker 1: I'm hungry, you know.
[17:41] Speaker 2: You know, but people understand is that you know in
[17:43] Speaker 2: that kitchen, you know that first meal is always a journey.
[17:48] Speaker 1: And then the second time you go that's how you
[17:51] Speaker 1: do it, huh.
[17:52] Speaker 2: And that third and fourth thing you really every time
[17:55] Speaker 2: it gets better and becomes doing natural walking through that
[17:59] Speaker 2: step of you know, because people out there who may
[18:01] Speaker 2: have never cooked before, and that's who watching your show,
[18:05] Speaker 2: they want to learn, and you make it look.
[18:07] Speaker 1: So easy, yo, yo, because it really is easy because
[18:10] Speaker 1: you love what you do.
[18:11] Speaker 2: But the process of that journey of doing it one
[18:15] Speaker 2: time and going through to each step.
[18:17] Speaker 1: Talk about it because it's a love that happens each time.
[18:20] Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely right, It's definitely a love. And I think
[18:23] Speaker 3: the trick is you have to get in the kitchen.
[18:26] Speaker 3: You have to build the confidence, build the confidence to say, hey,
[18:30] Speaker 3: listen today I'm going to make breakfast. I mean, if
[18:32] Speaker 3: it's just a breakfast dish and you might mess up,
[18:35] Speaker 3: you might put too much cheese and the cheese eggs
[18:38] Speaker 3: or you know you've chopped up, you know. But the
[18:41] Speaker 3: more you do it, the more you get into it.
[18:43] Speaker 3: If you've overseason your food, the love of cooking is
[18:46] Speaker 3: the overseason and of the food, then you know how
[18:48] Speaker 3: much you need. My process is I like to measure
[18:52] Speaker 3: my food. I like to get it right all the time.
[18:55] Speaker 3: You definitely use measuring cups. I definitely know what spices
[18:59] Speaker 3: I'm going to use, and then I try different things
[19:03] Speaker 3: and if it doesn't work, I'll scratching. But the key
[19:06] Speaker 3: to cooking is you have to get in the kitchen.
[19:10] Speaker 2: It's beautiful now now people, everybody's listening and watching every
[19:14] Speaker 2: episode Downright Delicious with Yo Yo Thursdays every Thursday is
[19:19] Speaker 2: a new episode at eight pm Eastern Standard time, and
[19:23] Speaker 2: the beauty of watching the show because see, I had
[19:26] Speaker 2: never seen a show that interview came up. I started
[19:28] Speaker 2: going back, you know, on the YouTube because you know,
[19:32] Speaker 2: I want.
[19:32] Speaker 1: To sit down here, because you know she's telling you true.
[19:34] Speaker 2: Because I on social media, you could after people be
[19:37] Speaker 2: criticized you or your apron that.
[19:40] Speaker 1: She don't get dirty. You know what I'm saying.
[19:42] Speaker 2: You know, they may be hit you for all the
[19:44] Speaker 2: wrong reasons, but in the end, they like you.
[19:48] Speaker 3: And you know, for Shina, everything you do is just
[19:51] Speaker 3: about love. I think if you can get people to
[19:54] Speaker 3: eat your food, if you can get people to be
[19:57] Speaker 3: a part of whatever you're a part about, it really
[19:59] Speaker 3: starts with you. And more than I more than serving
[20:03] Speaker 3: up a meal, what I'm really doing is serving up family.
[20:06] Speaker 3: I'm reminding us that I know we are busy. We
[20:09] Speaker 3: are all out here hustling.
[20:10] Speaker 1: Now.
[20:10] Speaker 3: We have women having more jobs than men nowadays. And uh,
[20:15] Speaker 3: and we're mothers, we're nurtures. I mean, you know, I can't.
[20:18] Speaker 3: I can't respect us more when when they know Mama's
[20:21] Speaker 3: in the house and they can smell food cooking. I mean,
[20:23] Speaker 3: you know, just that Yale you know upstairs that it's done,
[20:27] Speaker 3: you know, just bring something down here them, you know,
[20:31] Speaker 3: jogging down the stairs to come grab And it really
[20:34] Speaker 3: just reminds me and I'm so happy that God had
[20:36] Speaker 3: given me that pause in my life so that I
[20:39] Speaker 3: can be the mother that I always love to be
[20:42] Speaker 3: and not only just give things. You know, I was
[20:44] Speaker 3: in the industry where gift giving was just the norm.
[20:48] Speaker 3: Now I can give people a nice plate, I can
[20:50] Speaker 3: feed them, and then I can share this journey with
[20:54] Speaker 3: I've always loved to do that.
[20:56] Speaker 2: Inspire TV is giving you this option every Thursday night
[20:59] Speaker 2: on a Pastern standards and alright delicious with yo yo. Look,
[21:03] Speaker 2: before we go, I want to just talk about because
[21:05] Speaker 2: you know, there's the cooking and there's the baking, and
[21:07] Speaker 2: there's a difference.
[21:08] Speaker 1: A lot of people don't understand.
[21:09] Speaker 2: That you kind of make a mistake a little bit
[21:12] Speaker 2: and when you when you cook it, you know, if
[21:14] Speaker 2: you got the beans too salt, just keep adding water.
[21:17] Speaker 1: You vent to get that saut out of you know
[21:18] Speaker 1: what I'm saying that you keep adding water. You know, well,
[21:21] Speaker 1: when you bacon though, were you bacon though? You better
[21:26] Speaker 1: get it right.
[21:27] Speaker 2: You better get right baking bout of that bad book
[21:29] Speaker 2: Home Flat too much baked? So whoa so talk to's
[21:33] Speaker 2: the difference between? Because I would tell people you can
[21:36] Speaker 2: kind of watch sports when you're cooking, but you better
[21:38] Speaker 2: not watch sports when you're bacon talk to us.
[21:41] Speaker 3: Let me tell you, Sean, I my family will never
[21:44] Speaker 3: give me my grandmother's poundcake recipe. Okay, I mean I
[21:48] Speaker 3: had to get it from somebody else. So really it's
[21:51] Speaker 3: just me.
[21:51] Speaker 2: You know.
[21:52] Speaker 3: Like you said, gardening for you really calms your energy
[21:56] Speaker 3: and gives you a place of comfort. Same thing with cooking.
[22:01] Speaker 3: So for me, like I said, I use measuring. I
[22:04] Speaker 3: measure everything out. I make sure I have it right.
[22:07] Speaker 3: I do it right the first time and so and
[22:10] Speaker 3: then from there it's only up. I just take my time.
[22:13] Speaker 3: It really is a place I can focus when I'm
[22:17] Speaker 3: in the kitchen. So whether I'm baking, which I don't
[22:19] Speaker 3: bake a lot because of the things you said, I
[22:23] Speaker 3: don't really bake a lot. I'm really just a foodie.
[22:26] Speaker 3: I'm not really a sweet person. The only thing I
[22:28] Speaker 3: like to make is is pound cake and peach cobbler
[22:32] Speaker 3: and those two and wait, here's the key. I don't
[22:36] Speaker 3: cook nothing. I can't cook. How about that away from
[22:40] Speaker 3: things that I can't cook.
[22:42] Speaker 2: So if I am a blessed with opportunity to come
[22:45] Speaker 2: on the show, I'm gonna come on the show and
[22:47] Speaker 2: do some baking.
[22:47] Speaker 1: I'm gonna use that's.
[22:49] Speaker 2: My skill set. I can I can bake. I can bake.
[22:52] Speaker 2: I can bake.
[22:53] Speaker 1: But the beauty of you, you know, stand your life.
[22:56] Speaker 1: That's what I said, stay in your life.
[23:00] Speaker 2: The thing about it is that you know on the
[23:02] Speaker 2: show Thursday, eight pm as by our TV that's the
[23:05] Speaker 2: network that it air zone. What do we expect? How
[23:08] Speaker 2: does the show start or is it broken down in
[23:10] Speaker 2: different segments? How does the show?
[23:13] Speaker 3: Uh?
[23:13] Speaker 1: How does it present it to us as a viewer?
[23:15] Speaker 3: You know what the show this Thursday, what you can
[23:19] Speaker 3: expect is really, first of all, you get a chance
[23:22] Speaker 3: to see doctor Yolanda Yoyo Whittaker for the first time.
[23:26] Speaker 3: I'm yo yo to a lot of you, my whole life.
[23:28] Speaker 3: So you get a chance to see me in my kitchen.
[23:30] Speaker 3: You see my mother, I mean Mama Mia with a
[23:32] Speaker 3: spicy meat ball. She don't hold her tongue raw regularly,
[23:37] Speaker 3: and this is just a beauty in that because she's like, hey, listen,
[23:40] Speaker 3: it's my kitchen when I'm cooking, and it's her way
[23:42] Speaker 3: or the highway. You see some of my celebrity friends.
[23:44] Speaker 3: You see my man, you see my sisters. It's family.
[23:47] Speaker 3: My kids come in there and cook. So you get
[23:50] Speaker 3: a you know, from from celebrities to actors, actresses, and
[23:54] Speaker 3: it's just it's not a one thing I love about
[23:56] Speaker 3: the show is it's not it's not uh uh uh
[24:01] Speaker 3: guest driven. It really is organic. And so you what
[24:06] Speaker 3: you get is that you get you get up, you.
[24:08] Speaker 1: Get us a star.
[24:09] Speaker 2: The food is the the what you make is a
[24:11] Speaker 2: star because it looks so good. The thing about it,
[24:14] Speaker 2: I'm just gonna let everybody know. But like I said,
[24:16] Speaker 2: I did my research and I look like and uh,
[24:20] Speaker 2: I'm just just my favorite all time TV chef is
[24:23] Speaker 2: Pioneer Woman.
[24:24] Speaker 1: That's my girl. Pioneer Woman. Oh I love me Pioneer Woman,
[24:28] Speaker 1: Pioneer Woman.
[24:28] Speaker 2: So and then and so when I so I started
[24:31] Speaker 2: watching that show, I said, okay, yo, yo got that
[24:33] Speaker 2: pioneer woman skilled. Okay, because you know the thing about
[24:37] Speaker 2: it is you can talk and cook and it looks normal.
[24:40] Speaker 2: See a lot of people can't do that. They'll just
[24:42] Speaker 2: be cooking and in silence, so you be talking and
[24:45] Speaker 2: cooking and moving around in the kitchen looking very calm
[24:48] Speaker 2: and exciting.
[24:49] Speaker 1: That's really a skill.
[24:51] Speaker 2: But it also comes to the fact that you are entertainer,
[24:54] Speaker 2: so you understand multitasking.
[24:56] Speaker 1: Yeah, beauty of it. I feel I'm watching, yo yo.
[24:59] Speaker 2: I don't feel I'm watching somebody say make this dish,
[25:02] Speaker 2: Make this dish. You only doing stuff that you are
[25:04] Speaker 2: comfortable with doing on that right, delicious for yo yo.
[25:08] Speaker 3: Correct, that's right, that's right. I'm only doing things I'm
[25:11] Speaker 3: comfortable with. I know how to stay in my lane.
[25:13] Speaker 3: Like I said, this is a gift that God gave me.
[25:15] Speaker 3: I really understand. We have such a connection with women,
[25:19] Speaker 3: and there's a lot of women out there who've watched
[25:22] Speaker 3: me come from young girl to a grown woman with
[25:25] Speaker 3: kids and now a grandson. So it just really is
[25:29] Speaker 3: it really motivates me to inspire those to really be authentic,
[25:33] Speaker 3: to really tell my truth. And like you said, cook
[25:36] Speaker 3: only dishes that I love and share other dishes. And
[25:39] Speaker 3: I'm not talking to you like I'm just some big
[25:41] Speaker 3: willy up in there in the kitchen, right right, right,
[25:45] Speaker 3: right right, How I like it? And you can do
[25:48] Speaker 3: it too. And once you do it, what you do
[25:50] Speaker 3: is you put your spin on it.
[25:52] Speaker 1: Right.
[25:53] Speaker 2: But I just want everybody to respect the process. Yes,
[25:56] Speaker 2: well you're seeing her, do you ever think is easy?
[25:59] Speaker 2: And when I say that is that it could be
[26:01] Speaker 2: easy for you. But she got camera, she got makeup,
[26:05] Speaker 2: she got you know, they gotta they gotta be perfect.
[26:07] Speaker 2: No meal has to be perfect. No meal when you're
[26:10] Speaker 2: at your house, you not playing the meal a restaurant.
[26:14] Speaker 2: You put that meal on this so it looks good.
[26:17] Speaker 2: That's really the whole purpose. Now before I go, can
[26:20] Speaker 2: you give us some tips, some cooking tips for for
[26:24] Speaker 2: us to do correctly or consistently in our kitchen to
[26:28] Speaker 2: create a winning meal.
[26:30] Speaker 3: Oh god, some tips I would give you. First of all,
[26:33] Speaker 3: you need to find your your fame, your family butcher
[26:36] Speaker 3: or your neighborhood butcher. I mean, having your meat cut
[26:39] Speaker 3: the way you like it, and to get the right
[26:42] Speaker 3: quality and quantity is really important. Having the best knives.
[26:46] Speaker 3: Knives really save your lives. I mean, a sharp, good
[26:49] Speaker 3: knife helps you manage your kitchen better than anything. I mean,
[26:55] Speaker 3: and the pots that you cook in really matters. I mean,
[26:57] Speaker 3: you know, if you can get you a nice good
[26:59] Speaker 3: set of pots with tops on it. It just it
[27:03] Speaker 3: just preserves what you know, It just helps create the
[27:08] Speaker 3: the the what am I looking for? Create, helps create
[27:13] Speaker 3: the not the aroma, the temperature of the what wants
[27:17] Speaker 3: your food cooked. I mean, you know you sometimes if
[27:20] Speaker 3: you don't have the right band, you can't get that
[27:21] Speaker 3: seer the way you you understand, you know, so grete
[27:26] Speaker 3: pots are really good. What else could you seasoning? I mean,
[27:29] Speaker 3: you know, you got to know which kind of season
[27:31] Speaker 3: go with what I mean. And that's really the best part.
[27:35] Speaker 3: I mean, we've started out with seasonings salt and garlic,
[27:40] Speaker 3: salt with pepper, you know, pepper rika, That's when we
[27:44] Speaker 3: first started out. Now, you know, the expansion of having
[27:47] Speaker 3: people really set your food aside from someone else is
[27:50] Speaker 3: really fine. In those seasons that go well with the
[27:53] Speaker 3: dishes and just creating you start off small. So yeah,
[27:58] Speaker 3: those are the tips that I can give you. A
[27:59] Speaker 3: great knife is gonna help you. Your utensils matter, the pots,
[28:06] Speaker 3: the seasoning, and the love. Don't forget the love. If
[28:10] Speaker 3: you don't love what you cook, we don't want to
[28:12] Speaker 3: taste it.
[28:13] Speaker 2: You know, this is so cool listening to you break
[28:15] Speaker 2: this down like that because knife. I have the biggest
[28:20] Speaker 2: issue with knives. You know, I go out there bodies
[28:23] Speaker 2: expensive knives and next thing you know, I'm trying to
[28:26] Speaker 2: cut Like I see on TV.
[28:28] Speaker 1: What are you doing yo? Your on your show to
[28:31] Speaker 1: keep these knives sharp. I'm trying to figure out what's
[28:33] Speaker 1: going on.
[28:34] Speaker 3: I have a great knife set. Okay, I have a
[28:37] Speaker 3: great I have a great knife set.
[28:39] Speaker 2: I find a great knife set. I got a wall
[28:42] Speaker 2: full of knives, and I go to you know, the little.
[28:47] Speaker 3: You're supposed you're supposed to sharpen your knives every week.
[28:50] Speaker 1: Oh I'm lazy. I don't do it.
[28:53] Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, Ninja has a great knife set. You know,
[28:56] Speaker 3: my daughter just brought me a nice Ninja set.
[28:58] Speaker 1: Those I have a nick just said, I got I
[29:01] Speaker 1: gotta so I gotta sharp.
[29:02] Speaker 3: Every every week. Every week. If you use your knives
[29:06] Speaker 3: a lot, and I do every week, you have to
[29:08] Speaker 3: drop your knives and that just that just keeps it. Yeah.
[29:11] Speaker 2: Now before we go, Now, I know I've said before
[29:14] Speaker 2: we go a couple of times.
[29:15] Speaker 1: Here.
[29:17] Speaker 2: You got a easy seafood gumbo that I saw online? Yeah,
[29:24] Speaker 2: can you share that with my audience? Just let her
[29:26] Speaker 2: know how how how you how you break it down
[29:29] Speaker 2: so quick at ease because people complicate gumbo so much.
[29:32] Speaker 2: Come originally from Houston, Texas, and I saw that recipe,
[29:35] Speaker 2: I said, I got to ask because I say that
[29:37] Speaker 2: on my show.
[29:38] Speaker 3: You know what the trick The trick is. The trick
[29:40] Speaker 3: is for that seafood gumbo really having the stock. It's
[29:45] Speaker 3: really setting aside the stock, you know. And what I
[29:48] Speaker 3: did is after you, I didn't throw away my stock water,
[29:52] Speaker 3: you know. And that's really the secret. You can make
[29:55] Speaker 3: it the way you want. I mean, it's the sausages
[29:57] Speaker 3: that goes with it. Yes, it definitely is the but
[30:00] Speaker 3: really it's the stock. It's the stock that creates that seafood,
[30:05] Speaker 3: you know, to make it quick and simple.
[30:07] Speaker 1: Right, And that's what I do.
[30:08] Speaker 2: And I really appreciate you, you know, just to talk
[30:12] Speaker 2: about I know, earlier on we just talked about longevity,
[30:15] Speaker 2: we talked about the career. But the fact that you're
[30:17] Speaker 2: doing something now that you were doing as a team
[30:21] Speaker 2: and now you're doing it, you know, making money, but
[30:24] Speaker 2: you still having fun and just love that you want
[30:26] Speaker 2: to do.
[30:26] Speaker 1: You contribute it.
[30:27] Speaker 2: But you're making me feel good because I would tell
[30:30] Speaker 2: you so when I watch the show.
[30:31] Speaker 1: You make me smile. I'm not gonna lie. Do you
[30:33] Speaker 1: make me smile? And then when you when you.
[30:35] Speaker 2: Got that pan, you got those vegetables in there, and
[30:38] Speaker 2: you saw tearing them and you over there and sometimes
[30:40] Speaker 2: you whip out in that little dance and girl and.
[30:45] Speaker 1: All, like I said, thank you, thank.
[30:47] Speaker 2: You for creating this show. Thank you for putting this
[30:49] Speaker 2: show on every thirty. Thank you Aspired TV for bringing
[30:53] Speaker 2: this wonderful talent from behind the microphone in the kitchen
[30:57] Speaker 2: where she belonged.
[30:58] Speaker 1: She belonged, Yo, yo, you belong in the kitchen. Girl.
[31:01] Speaker 3: You I do, I do, I do, and I can't
[31:03] Speaker 3: I'm so happy. I can't wait to have you cook
[31:05] Speaker 3: in the kitchen with me, and for all of the
[31:08] Speaker 3: listeners come in and join me, grow with me. Like
[31:10] Speaker 3: I said, my VIP list gonna get it's gonna be
[31:13] Speaker 3: too full in a minute. So jumping there early while
[31:16] Speaker 3: it's still early for me, because God is doing some
[31:18] Speaker 3: amazing things in my life. We're doing some amazing things
[31:21] Speaker 3: in the kitchen, and I just can see myself growing
[31:25] Speaker 3: more into this love for food and love for cooking
[31:29] Speaker 3: and love for being able to air it on Aspire TV.
[31:32] Speaker 3: So Complease every Thursday, Delicious, we are premiering some new episodes.
[31:38] Speaker 3: You're gonna love them. I think you're gonna love my
[31:42] Speaker 3: go just to see my.
[31:43] Speaker 1: Man, me cooking for the man in the kitchen.
[31:45] Speaker 3: Something that no one has ever did in there, you know,
[31:49] Speaker 3: blushing in, cooking in and calling, looking at him hoping
[31:53] Speaker 3: he said the right words to me. So try answer
[31:57] Speaker 3: the questions right so you get a chance to see
[31:59] Speaker 3: it all. January twenty second, eight pm only on Aspire TV.
[32:05] Speaker 2: My friend doctor Yolanda Yoyo Whittaker. She's the host, producer
[32:10] Speaker 2: and die right outstanding cook of Downright Delicious. For yo Yo,
[32:15] Speaker 2: thank you, my friend, and I appreciate you coming on
[32:17] Speaker 2: my show, Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
[32:19] Speaker 3: Thank you so much for Sean, I really appreciate it.
[32:21] Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode.
[32:23] Speaker 2: No, I need for you to do me a favor
[32:26] Speaker 2: right now to follow our subscribe to Money Making Conversation.
[32:29] Speaker 2: It's free and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
[32:34] Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please do
[32:38] Speaker 2: me that favor. Follow a subscribe Money Making Conversations. Keep
[32:43] Speaker 2: winning

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