Conversations with Desarae Legros

Today we’d like to introduce you to Desarae Legros – Founder of Foodtok Tv

Hi Desarae, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My first memory of cooking was around 5 years old. My dad was teaching me how to make homemade pizza and I fell in love with cooking immediately. Throughout my childhood, I spent every possible minute in the kitchen with him. Absorbing his knowledge and love for food at such a young age inspired true passion in me. I was able to witness how my dad’s love for cooking truly brought people together and created friendships that lasted a lifetime.

I became a teen mom at 17 and by the age of 20, I had two children under the age of 3 while also attending college and running a restaurant full time. My life was pure chaos. Between school, parenting and working, I learned quickly that chaos is what I thrived on. Chaos is what ultimately made me fall in love with the restaurant industry. Throughout my two-decade-long restaurant career, I started at the bottom and worked hard to achieve the positions of District Manager, Regional Sales Manager and my biggest achievement was Managing Owner with a franchise.

In 2019 as I was preparing to leave my Managing Owner position to open a food truck with my husband, I was injured on my dominant hand and required surgery. Two months later, I broke my ankle which ultimately changed the direction of my life. In fourteen months, I underwent two hand surgeries and three ankle surgeries. My hand healed but sadly my ankle didn’t. In April, I was told by my Dr that my foot never healed from three surgeries. Ultimately, the career I loved and thrived on; I knew I could never do again. My heart was broken. I had to grieve walking, my career, and most importantly my dreams.

Two years…. That’s how much time I spent trying to walk again, find my purpose, fight through depression and find my worth again. Living with chronic pain isn’t something I would wish on my worst enemy, but I can tell you from experience… It can either destroy you or help you grow into the person you’re meant to be.

I’ve always been told that I should do comedy but I loved the restaurant industry so much that I couldn’t imagine walking away from it. I guess the universe had its own plan of what I should be doing with my life. Once my dreams were crushed, I needed to focus on a new one. A dream that I could chase while managing my pain as safely as possible. So, I reverted back to a dream I had as a child – hosting a cooking show and bringing people together through food. That’s where Cooking_Comedy_Chaos was born in 2022.

Cooking_Comedy_Chaos is my TikTok channel. Where I share my love for cooking while making you laugh and smile at the same time. I never knew being myself and truly showcasing my personality and food knowledge would lead me to have such an amazing community of people. My page promotes positivity, kindness, and giving back within your own community. I’m so blessed and thankful to do what I do. Content creation was never part of my plan in life. But I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to do it.

I truly see the change I’m making in the world just by loving people and food at the same time. Two decades of working in the restaurant industry never fulfilled my heart the way that this has. I’m reminded daily that my love for cooking inspires people and reminds them to have fun while in the kitchen. No paycheck could ever match that.

If there’s ever any advice, I could give to someone who’s struggling with a disability, depression, or chronic pain, it would be to never give up. Find something within your ability and do it the absolute best that you can. Be kind and most importantly, always believe in your own magic.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest obstacles that I had to overcome were depression, chronic pain and believing in myself. I had given up on finding myself, my purpose and where I wanted to go in life. It wasn’t until I started Foodtoktv and Cooking Club that I became comfortable being myself again. Also, overcoming my fear of adjusting and adapting to technology. That was to me, the most frustrating part. Learning how to navigate social media on several platforms while still focusing on editing, posting, and community engagement was a lot to take on in the beginning.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’d have to say what sets me apart from others is my creativity, spunky personality, and hysterical kitchen antics. I offer private cooking and comedy shows both virtually and in-person locally. Every client will enjoy an amazing meal that we cook together, step by step, while learning new techniques and how to laugh and have fun in the kitchen. I’m most proud of my ability to network within my community to build more engagement around small businesses and restaurants. I work with local restaurants, bakeries and service industry focused businesses to offer exposure, content creation and help boost employee morale. I recently helped promote Sabatello’s Bakery Grand Opening and ran videography production for promotional videos. This was by far my favorite project to date.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Finding a mentor is key to success. Especially in the world of content creation. It can be tricky to find someone who is willing to help you achieve personal success. Thankfully, I have found someone who became like a father to me. We’ve never even met in person but he’s truly one of my best friends. He’s helped me grow personally and constantly pushes my creative thought process in new directions. His name is Caz and together, he and I founded FoodTokTv and Cooking Club.

Caz and I created a virtual Cooking Club in July of 2021 and we found a family there. Each week we meet to cook virtually together and then we spend time eating and building friendships with one another. Cooking Club inspired us so much that one day I had a crazy idea of uniting the world through our love of food. And that’s what led to the creation of FoodTokTV in September of 2021. FoodTokTv is a group of amazing content creators who come from all walks of life and created a friendship by sharing recipes and breaking bread. We offer live cooking every Sunday evening on our FoodTokTV channel on TikTok.

My best advice for finding a mentor would be to find someone who has the same level of passion as you do or more. Someone who inspires you and will push you beyond your limits. Don’t settle for less.

Pricing:

• Cooking & Comedy Show (Virtual)
• $150 – 90 minutes
• In-Person Cooking & Comedy Show $250
• Promotional Content Creation – starts at $500

Contact Info:

• Website: www.foodtoktv.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cooking_comedy_chaos
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/foodtoktv
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCyma_5rmO6RAh0Ka7u8b-Jg
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdcnEn23/