I sit in the kitchen sometimes and I cook something

and I feel them on my shoulder.

I feel them stirring the pot with me.

I'll taste something and I'll feel like,

Okay, I did that.

Yeah, that was grandma right there.

Okay.

The same way as my godmother, Ina.

She passed and She never really got a chance to see what I did.

And then one year she came, my mother made sure it was coming.

I didn't know she was going to pass a couple of months after.

And she got to see me in action.

And she got to see, she came to my grand opening of our kitchen in Franklinson.

She got to see it and she told me she was proud of me.

And that, that's Hindsight, because she passed shortly after, was like, wow,

somebody said, Oh my God, you're black.

But the way they said it was like,

yes, oh wow.

They saw a model.

Yes.

They saw light and hope.

Change the Real, a podcast with Monique Velasquez.

And hyper kesler.

For over 20 years, we've run a video production business

that has achieved what only 3% of women entrepreneurs have done

exceed $250,000 in revenue.

We wanna see business owners that look like us succeed.

That's why we've started this podcast Change.

The Real Will drop twice a month.

We'll release two types of episodes.

One is with Piper and I kicking it and talking about using video in

business and the second features conversations with business owners using

media to drive diverse perspectives.

This is change the real

representation starts here.

Hey y'all, I'm Monique and I'm Piper and today we're going to talk about being

authentic and using your voice in media and changing the real on what it looks

like to be a professional Out in the world and having somebody that looks

like us talking about Amazing things in a different industry, you know in the gordon

ramsey and the just what is his bourdain?

What's his name?

Anthony bourdain, you know, so those sorts of places.

I want to talk today with queen.

Precious jules zabriskie Executive chef and you have just pivoted on some things

I did But before we get to that and we talk about that I'm going to have, uh,

Piper talk about, ask the first question.

The first question, if you could hand out your flowers today,

who would you honor for shaping your entrepreneurial journey?

Oh my

God.

And doesn't have to necessarily be somebody you actually met.

No, it, that's

a dope question.

Wow.

Cause I never get to do that.

I never get to tell people, thank you.

The easy answer is my mother.

And I say easy because I am a tinker.

And my mother is a. Well, do what makes you happy.

Are you being a good human?

Are you being happy?

That's the most important part.

And so she taught me really early on, listen to your

heart, listen to your spirit.

And if you, your spirit's not happy, your heart's not happy.

And people, places, and things, you need to move, period.

And that will create the, the money, the finances, the, all

the, cause money is tangible.

Money is just money.

It's, it's energy.

But the stuff that makes you happy will bring more of the, will provide for you.

It brings an atmosphere of bringing more happiness, right?

Yes,

yes, yes.

Tell me a little bit about your mama.

My mother, Beverly.

So my mother is a 5'2 pitfire of a Bronx chick that will let you know,

uh uh, don't do it, don't say it, uh uh, you better be right about it.

That's her energy.

But she is 5'2.

Did she grow up there?

She's, yeah, she's a Bronx born and raised.

I have tried to get her out the Bronx just because you can get more

square footage outside of the Bronx.

And she's like, No, I'll move to upstate Bronx and I'm like, okay,

whatever but that's who she is and she's always been like I so she grew up.

She grew up there co op city.

She is well educated So my mother I just it makes me smile when I

think about her So my mother did what it took to raise the children.

So what that means is We grew up not with much money, and so she ran Cup

Daycare, I believe that's what it was called, where she did a food co op,

and she ran the daycare center for us.

So she had the kids she wanted to educate as well.

So she was the first one I understood what a bushel of

carrots was, a bucket of honey.

Everybody now says, vegan, doesn't eat this.

Listen, it was one thing, you was vegetarian.

That means you was plant based.

And so she was the first one I did that I grew up vegan vegetarian for

the first seven years of my life.

She showed me what a tofu dog was, how to take tofu, scramble,

and make it look like eggs.

My brother hates tofu, but she would always try to trick him to make

him eat the scrambled eggs as tofu.

So how big is your family?

Three boys, three girls.

They're, we don't believe in steps and halves and all that good stuff.

No, your family.

So my family is that, and then we grew more.

So I have brothers and sisters who are, came in, out, adopted.

My mother's like, yeah, that's my child.

And then now you're her child.

That's it.

But growing up, there were, I have first three and then my, uh, two brothers came

in and then my little sister came in and we created this Brady bunch of a, of a

crew.

You know, a, a blended family that, that comes together.

How many of those were in this, uh, daycare and, like, Well, this is like the

first, maybe three years it was just me, my brother, my, me, my, me.

That is my sister, Queen Mecca Asia, Doctor Queen Mecca Asia, I better put

the doctor on there because I make her All rights, honors, and privileges?

Listen, she is a beast.

She's a beast.

She's so smart.

I'm raising a very smart, um, nephew, Muhammad, who you talk to him and he goes,

well actually what I feel like, auntie.

Excuse me.

Did, did you grow up with a, going to service and, um, religious observances?

Oh, so my family

So, my full name, Queen Precious Jewel Earth Zabriskie.

My family grew up 5% a, which is a religion in New York, it may be

elsewhere, but I know about it from New York, where they believe that it just

embodies a lot of different things.

So, we grew up that, and then my mother, when she got married, again,

about 13, I took my shahadat, which is my belief in Allah, in Islam.

So I took my shahadat then, and that's where I've been, so I'm Muslim,

and I have always maintained that.

Okay.

So, I mean, I'm just, I'm going off of Muhammad.

Yeah.

So,

Muhammad, so my, I have my brother, Hassan.

And then my sister, Mecca Asia, and myself are practicing Muslims.

And then my sister, Asma, she's spiritual.

But Asma means one who's thought of highly in the community.

So she deals with a lot of natural medicine.

She's researched our ancestry a lot.

So she's decided she's very spiritual.

And then I have my other brothers who are, I believe one

is Christian and one is Yeah.

They're family.

They're family.

I gotcha.

I gotcha.

Yes.

All right.

Well, I was just, you know, not to segue too hard.

No, you're fine.

But these are all the things, all the ingredients that create a story of

who you are and where you are today.

Yes.

Yes.

So tell us about your business.

You have just pivoted.

What's the heart of what you do and what keeps you motivated

to show up as executive chef?

Well, I want to just touch base real fast on the flowers thing because I

realized I did give my mother my flowers.

But my grandma Marion, my grandpa Larry, and my grandpa Blue, and my grandpa Leroy.

Those are all my grands, that they are ancestors.

But they give me, I sit in the kitchen sometimes and I cook something

and I feel them on my shoulder.

I feel them stir in the pot with me.

I'll taste something and I'll feel like,

Okay, I did that.

Yeah, that was

grandma right there.

Okay, the same way as my godmother Ina, she passed and she never really

got a chance to see what I did.

And then one year she came, my mother made sure it was coming.

I didn't know she was going to pass a couple of months after.

And she got to see me in action and she got to see, she came to my grand

opening of our kitchen in Franklinton.

She got to see it and she told me she was proud of me.

And that hindsight, because she passed shortly after, was like, wow.

But I have these dynamic men and females in my family who I

need to give them their flowers.

Those living, my coach Latonya, my wife, Jay, like these are people who

really have said to me, girl, go do it.

Just go, just, just stop playing and step out there, which also is why I did Pivot.

So being in business 10 years, having a catering company that's

a successful catering company, we built it to feed the masses.

So it was large scale events, a hundred to two hundred people.

And COVID came and shut that down.

And so the, the culture looked different and that stuff started coming back.

Business didn't start coming back in the same way as far as passion is concerned.

And then throw in that being on a food stars with Gordon Ramsey.

I found myself, was that in COVID?

That was, that was towards the end of Covid.

It surely was.

We filmed in la we had this covid protocol.

You, what year was

that?

2 20, 21 I think it was.

was right there because a whole year.

So we had to be sequestered.

So my time on this unscripted, scripted reality TV was

different than anybody else's.

Right?

Right.

'cause we were sequestered in rooms.

So you didn't have a chance to even be in a one group house where everybody

gets to learn everybody's dynamics.

No, you were in your hotel room.

You could not leave without a show runner taking you outside for even walks.

Like I'm a big one of being grounded and when my energy is too

high and I don't feel connected, I need to put my feet in grass.

I need to ground myself to nature.

I wanted to go outside and pray.

I remember I just wanted to go outside and pray and ground myself.

And the runner had to come and get me, take me outside and make

sure nobody else was out there.

But he was like, You want grass?

You're in the middle of LA, where you want to go to get grass at that

we got to still be able to see you.

And I was like, that corner over there, that patch over

there, let me get that patch.

But yeah, so my thing was a little bit different.

But all of that led to me needing to pivot because I found I was not in my passion.

And my passion is cooking and not just cooking for the masses.

Like, don't get me wrong, I love putting on these large scale events.

But after a while, you're more tasked with feeding people

versus giving them an experience.

You It's interesting.

Yeah.

It

is a very different experience.

It's a

very different experience when it's just chafing dishes and you're

feeding a hundred people raspberry barbecue chicken, green, I know this

menu by heart, raspberry barbecue chicken, green beans and carrots,

rice or potatoes, rolls and a salad.

Sweet tea and strawberry lemonade.

That's it.

And I'm like, but I cook so much more than just that.

I'm so much more than that.

I can

do more than that.

And they're like, yeah, that's nice, but that's what we want.

That's

what we

want.

And that's the price point we want.

Can you do

it?

Yes, I can.

But also on the Gordon Ramsay show, my business had to still

survive while I was sequestered away and nobody knew I was gone.

So we took me out of the kitchen.

Right.

We talked about this a little bit.

Yeah, when you, when you step away.

Yeah, and when you're building and have these foundations for a

business, you have to be prepared to not have the major force.

And you and Jay work together at this time, but what was the dynamic between you

and Jay?

I am the artist, I am the visionary, and she's the make it happen, period.

And there's, if we had an event, I made the menu cards, she contacted

the customer, they agreed to it, so I would be the one in Avery

printing menu cards, you know?

But when the show called, I had to teach people all of that, I had to

make SOPs, which is, you know, Standard operating procedures for anybody

who doesn't know what that means.

So it's the booklet that you go by.

And so we had to take everything that was in my head as the entrepreneur, put it

on paper, and then teach it to people.

And it's a scary step.

Very scary.

It's a scary step.

And they gave me three months to do it.

They said, okay, so you may or may not leave on this date.

And you may or may not be gone for this amount of time.

And I was like, listen, like this is cute.

How long did it take you and did you have help with that?

Did Jay step in?

Oh yeah, I,

my business coach stepped in.

We have another young lady.

Her name is Amy out of California.

She does, this is what she does.

Processes.

And she does processes and I don't.

So she

said, I will help you.

I believe in you.

I will help you.

And so she helped us do it.

And our staff was dope as far as.

Just, just write down what you do and give it to her.

I don't want any input in because I, you're the one doing it.

That's right.

So, I'm not doing it.

So, it would make no sense for me to explain to her what you do when you do it.

Right.

So, tell her what you're doing.

And she wrote our SOPs so we could.

I could step away and no one would know.

One of those

things that brings us to where you are today as an executive chef,

because you're not totally fulfilled in what you're offering back then.

I mean, you've stepped away, you've got the, you know, feeding the masses,

and now you're really longing for I'm

longing to be in front of a stove.

Like, that sounds so like But that's my thing.

Like I cook, you know, I cook, that's it.

I create magical moments.

I do flavor, I do flavor profiles.

I do all of that stuff in front of a stove and I feed people.

I want to invoke memory, so I wanna bring flavor back to you.

So that's where I realize in sitting with Jay, we had this conversation.

One other thing that people have to realize in business

is that if you have a person.

And your person is your sounding board.

You have to be willing to listen to not just what they say, but

also what you say and vice versa.

So you have to have this boomerang effect.

So we sat down and I said, are you happy?

And she said, no.

And I was like, wait, hold on.

Let me take this in.

You didn't expect the conversation to stop there.

Cause I was like, wait, now we're still married.

So now are you unhappy in business or are you unhappy in marriage?

Because that's two different conversations.

That is two different.

I'm unhappy in business.

Okay.

Well then we can talk, let's have a better conversation.

Um, and then we found out that she wasn't happy cause she's not living her passion.

This is my passion.

So for 10 years, she's been my supporter.

But that also means that you lose a bit of yourself and what you want to do.

And I realized I wasn't happy because I wasn't cooking.

So when we took me out of the business so that I can go film the Gordon

Ramsay show, we never put me back

in.

You

don't have a re entry plan.

So then I'm losing my passion.

So we both decided, well, let's think about it.

So we prayed upon it.

We decided, okay.

Let's go find your passion.

And so she is working in her passion now.

She completely retired from the business.

Okay.

And then I decided I still want to cook, maybe not for a hundred people.

Right.

So I want to be a private chef.

So now I'm a personal chef.

I'm still able to provide healthy, flavorful options, but on a upscale level.

So I create this.

It's called Elevated Palate Personal Chef Services.

And I'm allowed to be myself in the kitchen.

And create meals that, like I'm doing a mofongo de polio.

Oh, nice.

So,

growing up I couldn't have mofongo because it had pork in it, chicharrones.

But as a chef, you realize that chicharrones is just, It's fried skin.

Mm hmm.

Well, you can have that with chicken, and it'll be just beautiful.

Mm hmm.

So, and also, I realized that mofongo is related to the African dish, fufu.

Ah,

okay.

So, all of that stuff that I find as a chef, I'm able to share with people.

And so, I'm able to do it on a more intimate level.

So now, my guest count is 15.

That's nice.

Yeah.

That,

that is very intimate.

Now, let's talk a little bit about your cooking.

experience with food, right?

You've grown up and you've been taught what the vegetarian is.

Yes.

How that looks, you know, in a family setting and an everyday setting.

Yeah.

And where your passion, how did that translate to cooking for people?

I'm like, I'm missing this gap

here.

For me, I just like, my background is engineering.

So my background is sciences and engineering, so I

remember this.

Yes.

So,

and everybody goes, what?

What is that?

Well, I just like putting stuff together.

Okay.

And so, also a little cheeky about it is, uh, I don't like chores.

So my house was divided into chores.

But I liked cooking, so I can switch off with my siblings.

They got trash and sweeping, I got dinner.

And then I can also make crazy stuff.

So I would always make like these glazed chicken wings, and I would do tofu, and

I would do lasagna, or I would make So you were experimenting on your family.

Yes, and they loved it.

They loved it.

They'd be like, when's she gonna make that thing again?

I don't even know what I made, but okay.

And like my mother would always be like, try it, try it.

So we would have sushi hand rolls.

That, but it would be different because it would be whatever she had.

So we would fill it with like rice and tofu or rice and tuna fish

when we started eating like meat.

We would eat cereal with chopsticks.

Like my family was like, let's just, we were doing stuff.

You got feedback.

I

got feedback.

They loved it.

That's why it became a passion.

Yes.

And so it really feels like family.

It feels like you're connected.

Oh, very much

so.

I, all of my clients, I would love for them to become my family.

And I want them to have that story.

So, one of the things at Elevated Palate, yes, because it is a business

and I still want to be your chef.

So what I offer is a six course meal.

So it's a tasting meal because I still want it to be healthy.

So you're not getting this big old plate of food.

But what you're getting in each simple course is a tasting.

And it's a healthy tasting.

And I do meal prep because I am a bariatric patient.

So one of the other cool things about food is that I have a very unhealthy,

healthy relationship with food.

I love food.

Food doesn't love my hips back sometimes.

And I have successfully kept off 150 pounds.

And both with diet and exercise.

And so I want to teach people that meal prep doesn't have to be this boring

thing that you can't have flavor in.

It's about the way you flavor your food.

It's about how, the pairings you put together to make you stick with it.

Because that's the most important part.

Health and your food is a lifestyle.

People don't realize that, you know, what you're doing to your body isn't

just nourishment for the cells and energy.

But at some level, and there's some people that just don't get that spiritual

thing and that connection, right?

So for me, you know, Mexican descent, I love Mexican food.

And somebody told me that I was predictable when I was out at a

restaurant because I was going to order whatever's Mexican on there

because I'm going to try their version.

Yes, yes.

And so I get that there's this connection with food for this idea that, you know,

we are just nourishing the cells, but we really are nourishing something else.

And again, the healthy unhealthy relationship with food, I do understand

because there are some things like.

Sometimes I notice that Mexican food does not have a lot of vegetables.

Mm hmm.

Mm hmm.

So, that is something that I am aware of, that I have to make an effort to try.

You have to make an

effort.

Right.

But it's, it's, the seasoning is what draws you to it.

That's it.

The smell, and the memories that is invoked is what draws you to it.

So then my concept is, take that same feeling and that same memory, And

figure out the spice that goes with it and put that spice on the vegetable.

Put that spice on the dish so that you can have that and you can make

it a more healthier atmosphere.

Because people go, I remember my grandma used to make this.

Well, let's be real, in this climate, in this day and age, you're not

really having to go in a grandma's house and eating this food.

But you can still remember that thing, because we're so busy, and

we don't sit at the table and eat.

We go, oh, let's go to the drive thru, let's go to this.

We need to take a moment, and we need to understand that food evokes memory.

You disclose stuff without even, like, it is who you are,

and I find that intriguing.

It's like, Do you ever hesitate to like, well, should I disclose

that I have an issue with food?

Do I?

I mean, yeah, I do.

But why do you just dismiss it and you're okay with just being your authentic self?

You don't even.

The

short answer is I'm old enough to know better.

And meaning this, I have lived not in my light enough.

I made a promise to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, or God.

That I would not live in darkness.

Okay.

With that is an everyday struggle to say, you are worthy to tell your story.

And I surround myself with people who remind me that It's okay to be you and

some days I forget, some days I, listen, some days I wake up and I'll put something

on and it'll effectively darken me, darken my aura, darken my energy where

I'm like, no one will see me today.

And then I'll take two steps and I'll get this tap on my shoulder that says, now

queen, that ain't going to work today.

And I have to choose to listen to that, that, that, that inner voice that says.

It's okay to show up and be yourself.

It's okay to

be bright.

It's okay.

This is an amazing thing because you are super authentic and you are

very busy on the social media and the media and, you know, this whole

idea of the, the bariatric patient.

And I did a little Googling not too long ago and I hit you with

that text and I was like, I just saw you on Say Yes to the Dress.

Yes, yes, yes.

So, Say Yes to the Dress is one of my favorite shows.

How did you get there?

Because I was tired of not seeing myself.

So, I watched that show.

Me and my wife would watch that show all the time.

And there was never a black, gay couple on there.

And I was like, nah, I know.

In New York, of all places where y'all film, y'all gots

to find somebody black and gay.

That look like me.

And they didn't.

And so I was laughing one night, probably like one, two in the morning, we were

watching a rerun and I, I wrote to them and I was like, you don't have anybody,

you pulled an email, you went dug out.

I did.

I said, they was like, you, I went on and I was like, I gotta

be, so I gotta be on a show.

And I was laughing.

I didn't think nothing of it.

So wait, were you getting married at the time?

We were.

Okay, so we were in the sense of this.

So Jay and I have been together 17 years.

She knew, my thing is five years, at five years you should know what you're doing.

That's right.

And we got to close to five years, and I was like, um, what we doing?

And so we were sitting on the couch, so our proposal story is comedy,

we were sitting on the couch and she goes, okay, uh, so you wanna

get married, and I was like, yeah.

And that was it.

But then we started like, kind of like planning stuff and we started,

I still wanted to air secrecy.

She still had to ask my mother and my brother because that was very

important, which was a very interesting thing because I am Muslim and I'm gay.

So that's interesting.

That's a whole nother story.

But, um, I wrote to them and I told them, I don't see me on your show.

And I have a great story and I would love to be on your show.

So you just said it.

Yeah.

You just said, look, you're not.

Showing up and this representation isn't here and I'm raising my

hand and part of me was like

they gonna tell you crazy You know, and the lady wrote back.

I was like, we love your story you Wow, and then so okay Let me just preface this

by saying at some point in time you have to say bunk it and just jump Okay, period.

Yeah at some point in time.

I have to say J on that Because she's the most, okay, if you want

to do it, sure.

She is supportive.

She is the most supportive, okay, it's crazy, and go.

And we were way younger, so we was also like, sure,

why not, that's interesting.

And she didn't think they was going to say yes.

I didn't think they was going to say yes.

I was like, I'm push send.

She was like, yeah, yeah, whatever.

So I push send.

How long did it take?

Maybe about a week or two before they reached back out.

I was like, we love your story.

We would love to.

So we talked to the lady, we met the people and they were like, come on up.

And they don't pay for anything.

You just waived the fit, the, the fee that you get to go into Kleinfeld.

It was the funniest thing.

But she was like, you can either come on a day that Randy's there or not there.

And I was like, I'm going to Randy.

If we're going to do this, we're going to do this whole thing.

And then she was like, where's your wife?

I was like, no, no, no.

See, I'm a little traditional.

She don't get to see me in this dress.

This is not happening.

But we had already planned sort of wedding dress shopping.

I was a size 30, and David's brother really didn't have anything for me.

But I knew I was having surgery, I knew I was gonna lose weight.

And so when we went up there, she was like, Don't pick a dang on thing.

You know how much them dresses cost?

You know we can't afford this thing, don't you pick nothing.

I was gonna pick nothing, it ain't got nothing in my size.

I'm just going to go have fun.

Little did I know, my dress was calling me.

So I got in there and I hate that they cut it out, but I really did

have a conversation with myself in this dress because everybody else

was like, no, that dress is ugly.

It's cute, but it's ugly.

And I kept saying, okay, yes, they're right.

But then something about that dress spoke to me and I kept saying,

I'm not going to get this dress.

And then I put it on for a second time and it really was

like, Yo, this is your dress.

I got that feeling that they talk about, that it was like, this is yours.

And I could see myself, not currently, but future in that dress.

So I envisioned how I would look months down the line.

But we had fun.

And when we had fun, they was like, they love my mother, they

love my best friend that came.

They was like, we coming to your wedding.

I was like, come on.

Come on.

And then a month later, they was like, so we still coming to the wedding?

I was like, you were serious.

Y'all was serious.

I was like, yeah, we're going to send a camera crew and we're

going to come to the wedding.

So they filmed season 10 is me choosing my dress and season 11

is them coming to the wedding.

Oh goodness.

So yeah, it was, it was really, really fun.

Um, in the interim we had already got married.

So how did, how did that change that being on that show?

What changed for you?

People noticing us.

It was the most weirdest thing.

I watched the show.

I know the show but when somebody goes, oh my god You the girl

don't say yes to the dress.

Wow.

Oh gosh They really did we in Target and people's just like

looking at us and staring at us and going like this Yes, it's me.

Yes.

Yes, it is.

They would notice Jay, which was also very weird.

Cause I was, she was like, I don't know if I like that.

I don't think I like that.

Right.

Or people would stop and look at your cart.

And I'm like, stop looking at my cart.

But the best one was we was doing a tasting for a client and I have

her plates in my hand and I'm ready.

And I walk out and she goes,

you

weren't say yes to the dress.

And I'm like this.

Yes.

Can I put your plates down, please?

And

I'm just like,

Yes.

That's interesting.

And I'm your caterer.

And, and so there's a moment here, you're a caterer, right?

You're doing this and you're sharing this, like, is there a moment that

you realized representation in your industry, in the food service

industry, didn't look like you?

So when we first started the business, because we were

doing high end stuff, people didn't realize the black girl was in

the back cooking, was the owner.

And so we stayed in the back.

I didn't have my face on it, we didn't have Jay's face on it,

we didn't have nothing on it.

Oh,

so you

weren't, you weren't trying to

be.

No,

they didn't know and I was okay with that because

people paid invoices faster when they didn't see that it was me.

Somebody said, oh my god, you're black.

But the way they said it was like, yes!

Oh, wow.

They saw a model.

Yes.

They saw light and hope.

And then that changed.

And then somebody said, I forget who, and I apologize if the person is listening

because it was a while ago, I forget.

They said, you have to show people your face.

And the funniest thing happened is that the business grew once we showed our face

because they realized we were different.

And what people started telling us is that they were tired of the same old same old.

And they understood because of the flavor that the person in the back cooking was

different, but to see it, we've had some interesting times where people were like,

I'm going to tell your boss this, this, this, this, this trying to be nasty.

And I come around the corner and they go, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh.

Okay.

Yeah.

You can't be racist when the person you're trying to be racist

to is the person that is me.

That's right.

It's the coolest part though.

I will say is that it warms my heart to be able, I've talked to a young lady.

Who is in an after school program, who, she wants to be a chef.

And a friend of mine was like, can you please just say hi, like

record me a message and say hi.

And I was like, no, I'll do you better.

Let me, what's her name?

And I recorded her a full video.

Because I understood that not seeing yourself, is a big deal.

It didn't deter you though.

It didn't deter me.

I don't know.

It fired me.

I'm from the Bronx.

Like

you, you just saw, Hey, this is something I can do.

This is I'm going to do.

And now you're getting this feeling like, Oh, I can actually bring along new faces.

Yeah.

As a, as a

business owner.

I mean, do you, how do you express that?

What do you say for about inclusion from just being a business owner?

Inclusion is important, but it's important to understand that

there are people out there who want it.

And that they might not speak up because their spirit is broke because they, when

they did speak up, somebody said, Oh, you don't really have the talent yet.

Versus saying, well, let's see what talent you do have.

Or someone said, well, what do you want to do?

I think that the biggest part, we did something for Job Corps.

And their students in the culinary program actually were staff for us.

And what they realized was that we were the owners.

And so the guy said, so what do you want to do?

He said, well, I'm going to start in the kitchen.

I said, well, what do you want to do?

He didn't want to start in the kitchen.

He just knew that that was the only way he could even begin to be a chef.

That was the path.

That was his path, because that's all he knew.

Because that's

what they were teaching him.

That was the model that they were working from.

Yes.

And you came along.

And I

said, no, you don't have to.

If, what you want to do is be a chef, figure out what your niche is.

Because that's the other part we don't teach people, is that find your niche.

In business, in any business, if you find your niche, then go after it.

Um, and one of the other cool parts about this was that other black chefs, other

black cooks, other black business owners started to come up and say, Hey, now I

understand I'm uniquely not unique and I'm okay with that now, but I got to see that

there's other chefs like chef Ricky Moore.

It was so dope.

I did an event and he came and he was like, I see you.

You see who you see me.

You know what I'm saying?

And that's big for me.

And he's like, do you have, you seen this chef?

Have you seen this chef?

I was part of AMX 100 for 100 during COVID and they did a

cooking demo with chef Carla Hall.

I fangirled like crazy.

She taught us biscuits, but we was on zoom and I had a question.

She was like, Queen Precious Jewel.

Ooh, I like that name.

I'ma remember that name.

I was no good to nobody.

I said, she said my name.

She said my whole name and she liked it.

You know?

But it's stuff like that, that you see these people and you're

like, I can actually do that?

Yes, you can.

It's going to take some work and it's going to take some gustle and you're going

to have to, uh You know, some strong oath to you, but it our own is what you wanna

do.

We have our, we also have a, well, chef Ricky too.

I work with Chef Ricky.

We, we've worked with, and then, uh, chef Carla Hall.

Yes.

Yeah.

We did with McEnroe, which she did with roe.

And we got to go in, into the space with her and.

What you see is what you get.

That was awesome.

And I, you know, part of it is you're not like her, but what you see with

Queen Precious Jewel is what you get.

This is me?

I can't give you any less.

And what I find also amazing is that your presence on social media

Is special because you do it out of passion.

I do, I do it out of passion.

I do it out of, all right Here's the secret.

I do it out of a straight fear.

Oh, it's a fear y'all.

Listen, really?

You don't want to be there.

It's not that I don't want to be there.

I love being there.

I think that this culture of social media is overwhelming at times because at

some point in time I have to stir a pot.

And I may not want to stir it on camera because I'm still trying to

figure out my recipe, but people want to see every aspect of it.

So they think, however, I don't have time to push record.

Sometimes I might not have the best angle.

I might be in a bonnet.

I mean, come on, but people want to see that.

So.

It's come to a point where I say, I'm just going to do it.

And if I happen to post on everything, great.

I have over 30, 000 things in my phone for media.

Y'all see three, you know, but it's because also people have to understand

what social media, when you become authentically yourself, visible, the way

that is, the right people will see you.

If you are authentically you, when I was doing cooking on social media, that's

how Gordon Ramsey's people found me.

And it wasn't, I wasn't reaching out.

They reached out to me.

That that's

the important part, right?

Because you're out there doing your thing, being authentically you showing your brown

face, your brown, your vulnerability.

And the, the approach that you're taking is from your heart and from your

past and from your history and from your, uh, ancestors and all of these

things coming together in who you are.

And they're like, Hey, I like your story.

I didn't think anybody would want to hear my story.

I'm, I'm, I'm so serious.

I was like, no,

I'm not.

This is, this is the, this is the, when you tread up stuff,

you have to deal with it.

So I'm not a size zero.

I don't have this long hair, this, all of this stuff that you see.

You don't have the pedigree.

I don't have that thing.

But what I realized is that I do.

You do.

And so once I realized that I, there's someone out there who looks like me,

you know,

and there's someone out there who looks like me, who says.

Oh, snap.

She did it.

A thing.

She posted, she talked, and when she talked she didn't

sound all extra prim and proper.

She actually said some word that probably wasn't a right word and she

conjugated it that probably didn't need to be conjugated and I mixed up.

I'm learning French right now and I, I put French with a Spanish accent

because I learn Spanish first.

So I, I don't, I know my sister laughs at me every time I call her

and I say, She said, no, no, no, no.

Pause.

Turn off the Spanish.

Get on the French.

And I was like, Oh Lord, that's just who I am.

So my Bronx accent will come out some days and sometimes it'll be, have a Southern

twang and some days I don't know what twang that is on there, but I'm speaking.

Um, but this is who I am.

And so you have to realize that you have to have pride in who you are because

all those pieces, Made you who you are.

Um, I read something on social media that said, if that is not your

narrative anymore, don't own it.

So if that negative thing that is holding you back is not really the narrative

that's holding you back, don't own it.

Guess what?

I love going live.

Live is fun because I get the interaction.

And let somebody talk to me back on live, oh, I'm running my mouth for days.

That's it.

That's it.

But I have to understand that there's a reason for me going live.

And that is To showcase my products showcase who I am and

be myself and be okay with that

I'm gonna turn this a little bit sure and talk about the need for you

Representing yourself out there as a chef.

Yes.

Do you have a plan right now to?

pivot into the video as an asset for your business I Like,

are you going to do, you know?

Okay, so I'm going to make

you laugh, right?

Okay.

So, there's this quote that I hold on to.

And occasionally when I forget it, I say it.

And it's by Jay Z. He says, I'm a biz He said, I'm not a

business man, I'm a business.

And for me, and I know I'm probably saying it wrong, but I'm telling

you what it feels like for me.

At some point, you have to embody your business.

That's what I do, and that's what I yearn to do.

I'm not just a asset, a piece of my business.

I am my business.

I am Chef Queen Precious Jewel.

It took me a long time to say, you know, you really are a chef.

Because I am homeschooled.

I cook, this is, how did you start?

What class did you go to?

My mama's kitchen.

That's the class.

They needed food.

Did you know there was another route?

Chef Yes, but later on, and I decided I didn't want to be tainted.

And I mean, no offense to anybody who's been to school, because

I love school and learning.

School is different because sometimes I feel that for some people it

refines their raw talent, and for some people it ruins your raw talent.

Because you want to do things precisely the way that that thing is.

If you need better knife skills, go take a course in knife skills.

But if you want to learn the perfect French way to do stuff, go take a

perfect French way to do stuff class.

But if you're authentically saying, I am cooking the way my ancestors

cooked, and I am doing an influence of this, an influence of that,

then learn those influences.

I don't believe that you have to essentially go just to the school

to learn it, to do it that way.

Because there's some chefs out there That once they leave school, they then

go find somebody's grandma, somebody else to teach them the ways of the

way and then they meld it together.

And for me, I read a lot, I YouTube a lot.

If I wanted to learn, when I wanted to learn how to make pasta, I

made a whole lot of nasty pasta.

I made a whole lot of dumpling pasta.

But then I started watching people and how they make pasta.

And I said, Oh, Oh, Oh, I'm gonna get that tool.

Let me see what that tool does.

Jay calls it the graveyard of my ideas.

I have several tools and things that I bought.

And I said, I'm going to use that.

And I never, I have a sous vide machine.

I don't even know what sous vide is.

Yeah.

I thought I was going to use it because somebody I watched used it.

And it was like, Oh, this is so cool.

I'm gonna buy it.

It's still in a box.

I see.

Now I, I could use it if I need to.

Okay.

Yeah.

But I don't because that's not who I am as a chef right now, right now, but

that's why I'm able to go on social media and say, this is who I am.

And like I said, every day I'm like,

so I'm going to put this out there too.

It's like, you know, if somebody said, Hey, we want to learn your process,

you interested in putting together some, you know, tips, videos, content,

content, and then, you know, packaging

that I have no problem with that now, because I understand that.

What I do is cool and some people might want that.

I've done a couple of cooking classes, I have the YouTube channel where it

was just me having fun and doing stuff.

And I realized there was people who was like, Hey, can we

have nine episodes of that?

And I was like, you really?

Sure.

Like it always, it's the most comedic thing.

It's like, some people are like, don't show your card that you're

shocked that somebody said, Yes to you, but I am doing it.

I am and I'm okay with that to say, wow, that's awesome.

That doesn't negate the fact of that.

I'm going to do it and I'm gonna have fun with it.

But it also allows me to really be that little young girl who

says, yo, you're doing that thing.

This is so cool.

You

know, still have that internal passion about what you're doing.

We can feel it.

We see it and truthfully, we want to be around it.

Listen, I love it.

I, that's why I'm a personal chef.

I tell, listen, when I'm in your house and I'm able to take over your kitchen,

it's, if my client wants to sit there and entertain their guests and don't want to

come in the kitchen, I'm fine with that.

I'll get my zone and I'll have some music going and I'll go.

But if you want to come and learn how to stir a pot, I'm like, sure.

What would you like to know?

Now, of course, food safety.

I'm going to keep it to myself.

I'm going to make sure I stay everything safe and I'm going to stir

certain pots and stuff like that.

But if you have a question about something, I don't mind

that because I'm able to share.

Okay.

I didn't re, I didn't invent this wheel.

I'm not trying to reinvent this wheel.

And it's going to be there when you're gone.

It's going to be there when I'm gone.

And luckily I've been blessed enough for people to be in my life, both business

and personally to say, let me help you.

So who am I to be disrespectful for those who have helped me to say no, if you want

my knowledge, you know what I'm saying?

There's, I'm not, I'm not that type of person, which is really, really cool.

And at, yes, business, we still, let's still talk business, at some

point you do have to monetize your stuff because you do still have to.

So tell me, what do you have out there right now that, that is

living without you doing too much?

Cause I know you do the essential spices.

So

I have my spice line.

So indulgent essential spices is a spice and condiment line in

which it is like having a chef in your kitchen with you while you're

cooking to know what spices to use.

Where do we get

that?

You can purchase them at Weaver Street Market.

So that's our first supermarket.

Um, Weaver Street Market, all four of them carry three of the spices, sorry, three of

the barbecue sauces and two of the spices.

Online at indulgentessentialspices.

com is where I'm really able to have my whole catalog.

So, And everybody laughs when I tell them my catalog.

So I'm going to say it because I love it.

I'm so proud of myself.

We have three spice lines, which are award winning spices.

My jerk seasoning just won from the North Carolina Specialty Foods Association.

We took a silver medal for that.

My Chef Queen's Pomodoro sauce.

I've been making the same Pomodoro sauce as a chunky marinara sauce.

I've been making that same sauce since I was probably about 13.

That took first place gold medal in the pantry section.

I have a coffee line, which is a collaboration Little Waves Roasters, which

is a Latinx roaster right here in Durham.

Roasts our floors.

That coffee for me, and it's called Rooted Cowie.

And Cowie means coffee in the Cherokee language, so it's an homage to my

grandfather, who was of Cherokee descent.

I also have several new blends coming out.

Hopefully we'll venture into the frozen food section at the end of this year.

So,

so you're doing some testing on that.

I've already done all the testing that I need and I just need a label.

Um, yes.

Um, but one of the things I really said was that I'm going

to also be a manufacturer.

So I'm one of a few manufacturers.

of my own products.

So I'm FDA certified, Department of Ag.

You, you don't sit

still.

I don't.

I don't.

And that's fun.

Um, which is why the chef part is also a traveling chef.

So my goal is to be not just domestic, but international.

So how do people get in touch with you to become their executive chef?

Oh, well, to be your personal chef.

Personal

chef.

Personal chef, you go to elevated palette.

com, which is my website.

Um, you can reach out to me there, um, or on my social media.

Are you looking for international,

uh?

I am.

I am.

Please fly me out.

I carry my passport with me.

Um, so.

You've got something on the books for that.

I do.

So one of the cool parts about standing in your own light and having people

around you who believe in you is that you also get doors open for you.

So I'm very thankful for Miss Jackie Sheldon Green, who is the

Poet Laureate of North Carolina.

She has a conference, a retreat, called Sister Rites.

And I am the chef in residence for Sister Right.

So what that means is that I go with her and provide all things

culinary for her and her crew.

Um, so she doesn't have to worry about it.

I'm a little jealous of them right now.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I do this for other people as well.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and snacks.

I take care of it and provide this experience.

But I believe she'll be going to France.

And I'll be going with her in September.

So my first

international.

Yes.

Okay.

So here's the call out, right?

Yes.

I know we have lots of people out here that are doing conferences

and workshops and retreats.

And I am just going to say, if you loved what you saw today, what you're

seeing right here in front of us.

Thank you.

Queen Precious Jewels is a brisky.

Yes.

Exactly.

And what is it?

Elevated Pallet.

Elevated Pallet Personal Chef Services, um, is for hire.

So I would love to create a curated menu or bespoke menu just for you

and your conference and your retreat.

One of the great things is that I am very allergens, um, friendly.

So I understand halal, I understand kosher, gluten free and stuff like that.

But my services that I provide are intimate dinners, six courses,

for either two people, max is 15.

And then I also provide personalized meal prep, cooking classes that

I come into your home and we can teach you a recipe for you.

And then I love

that as a, as a fundraiser idea.

Yes.

Yes.

I can come and do something like that.

Because what

happens is it becomes a really amazing experience.

Because if you have your high donors here and they want to have

something that they can talk about later, that they went to somebody's

house and got to be with the chef.

And learn something that they don't know anything about.

Yes, yes.

It

would be, I think it would be a great idea.

I, I

love doing that because what also people are scared

of certain things to cook.

And, and it's fun.

Like people hate cooking eggs and rice.

And I'm like, it, but eggs, cause eggs, you can go really bad.

We have the sweetheart eggs is what we call it in my house.

That's the way that I like my eggs and Jay likes her eggs.

And it's probably wrong on so many chefs ideas, but that's

the way my baby likes her eggs.

So she gonna get her eggs that way.

Yeah.

And then you have the proper way to cook eggs, the over medium, the over easy,

the poached, and all that good stuff.

Yeah, we can play with that.

But people get scared of that.

But food is not scary.

Cooking is not scary.

And so I want people to understand that.

Invite me in your home.

Let me show you how much fun you can have with it.

And then we'll, we'll go from there.

But, and also on your vacations and your retreats, if you do

not want to cook, that's my job.

I actually love it.

Yeah, that's fantastic.

That's what we have.

So we're going to wrap it up.

We've run out of time and I have such a good time when I'm hanging out with you.

Do you have anything else that you wanted to find out about?

No, I mean, I like, I love

listening so much.

It's like, you know, in my head I'm going, well, how did you get over that obstacle?

And you already are like, You know, the tap on the shoulder, the,

the, you know, I don't need this.

You get through that obstacle so quickly for people that

might be hindered from moving.

Yeah, they see it as a barrier and

they see it a place to stop.

And so we're really happy to, to share.

You, with our audience, however small or big it is, uh, because we, we want

to see you make that million dollars.

Oh, yeah.

Yes.

I'm, I'm here for it.

At least.

Listen,

it's, it's a number.

I have a good friend, Abner and Quadro.

They are my brothers and sisters.

And my brother Quadro said to me, the amount of money that scares

you, you'll never go past it.

And I said, Oh, so you have to rethink money.

You think, rethink poverty, rethink.

Your status, rethink who you are and go through it and give yourself grace to know

that some days you're gonna be scared.

Right, because here's the thing, you know, growing up in black

and brown communities, we don't always have access to role models and the

best financial, economic information.

And we're just figuring it out as we go.

Yeah, and I say, go figure it out.

Go reach for somebody.

Right, and so we're here to say, change is real.

Yes, it is.

Switch up that story.

Figure out who we can look at and model.

And someone behind you too.

Right.

You need to be the model for somebody else.

For somebody behind you because you figured

it out.

It's time for you to hand that code back to them so they can get to be

where you're standing and then you just look forward and take the next step.

Keep going.

Keep

going.

Change the reel.

Yes.

I love it.

Thank y'all so much.

This has been fun.

Always is.

Always is.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Change the Real.

If you liked the episode, follow us, share it, or hop on Podchaser.

com and leave us a review.

And remember, representation starts here.

Hasta pronto.

See you soon.