Pracitce Before You Preach

Ghandi said “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

Like many people, I've always been afraid of public speaking. But as my career has progressed I've been increasingly called upon to speak to groups and to lead by articulating a vision to groups of people in public forums.

Back in 2006 I made an effort to get more comfortable and confident through practice. I began accepting every opportunity to speak in public.



I began volunteering to speak at industry conferences, to schools, associations, and to any other group that would have me.



I also pushed for opportunities within my job to make presentations.



I did over 15 speaking engagements between 2006 and 2009, including a keynote speech to over 400 marketing professionals,


and little by little, after each one, I felt just a bit more comfortable.



Every time I'd get behind the microphone I'd find myself sweating a bit less, stumbling over my words a bit less, and lapsing into pregnant pauses just a bit less.



Today I can actually say that I enjoy and look forward to public speaking.

My advice to everyone is to use practice to tame your fears. The more you do something you're scared of, the less scary the thing becomes. It's like weight training. The more your stress your muscles during a single workout session, the stronger they recover for the next session.

So even if you feel you've screwed up while trying something, think of that screw up as practice. Practice that will make you stronger and better the next time.

Best Teen Chef

I spent the weekend in Houston judging the Art Institute’s 10th Annual Best Teen Chef competition.


Included were 36 high schoolers from across the US, winners of preliminary local competitions among 1,200 students.


The winner gets an $87,000 scholarship to study culinary arts at one of the Art Institute’s 37 campuses.

The students had about 1 hour each to to prepare two courses using a preset list of ingredients.


They were closely monitored by the judges, who evaluted their knife and other culinary skills.



As judges, we also had to taste two courses each from the 36 competitors. That made for 72 plates to taste in about six hours.




We also met with each student and gave them feedback on their cooking and career advice.

I can’t tell you who won.



You’ll have to tune into Cooking Channel later this Summer to find out.

Turning 47 Tomorrow

Birthdays always seem to make you think about your past. Where you've been, how far you've come. What you've accomplished, what's you've failed to achieve.

This year is 2010 and I thought I'd look back at myself over the past four decades, starting in 1970.

In 1970



I was a skinny young immigrant kid, fresh off the plane from Jamaica W.I., living with my parents in Rochester, NY. My dream was to become a big time automobile designer for GM or Ford. My dad had been a carpenter back in Jamaica, so I was always into building things.

By 1980



I was living in Columbia, MD, preparing to depart for college at Stanford University to study Industrial Engineering. By them my dream was to work in the entertainment business. Since coming to the US in 1970, I'd become obsessed with American pop culture, especially television. I majored in Engineering to make my mother happy and because I truly do enjoy science.

In 1990



my TV dreams began to be realized when in April of that year I began working for the Disney Channel TV network in New York City.

By 2000



I'd been in the TV business for over 10 years and was working for Food Network. It's better to be lucky than good, and coming to Food Network was certainly a lucky break as its success has led to my great current job with Cooking Channel.

As we move through 2010



my only regret is that I wasn't so vain about my weight and could allow myself to really chow down on all the great food I'm surrounded with at Food Network and Cooking Channel :)

One lesson I've learned over the years is that the more consistently you show up, the better your chances of having good things happen to you. Sometimes, just hanging in there can take you to surprising heights.