July 23, 2024 • 42 mins
In this episode of Jaime's Local Love, Jaime Cerreta chats with Chef Ron Young, the mastermind behind Foodvision. Chef Ron shares his wild journey from working at Nike and Victoria's Secret to cooking for celebs like Kyler Murray, Derrick Rose, and Odell Beckham Jr.
Hear how a random encounter with a supportive customer led him to cook for a Hall of Fame linebacker and eventually build a booming business.
Chef Ron dishes on his passion for meal prep, catering, private chef gigs, and how he gives back to the community with his culinary talents. He also spills stories from his travels, cooking for athletes overseas and learning from top chefs around the globe.
Tune in to hear about his exciting plans, including opening a fine dining restaurant set to be a game-changer. Don't miss this inspiring and entertaining episode!
Follow Chef Ron and Foodvision:
Website: www.foodvisionmeals.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Announcer (00:02):
You're listening to Jamie's local love, the podcast,
and Arizona's family originals
podcast.
>> Jaime Cerreta (00:10):
Hi, everybody. I'm your host, Jamie Seretta. On, um, this podcast,
we celebrate everything local. Our next
guest serves up delicious meals to some of the biggest
names in the valley. And guess what? He'll cook for you,
too. In fact, he's even cooked for me.
I want to introduce to you chef Ron Young of, uh,
foodvision. Chef Ron, hello. Good to see you
again.
>> Ron Young (00:30):
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
>> Jaime Cerreta (00:31):
I think of a picture I posted to instagram. I was sitting
at the base of, uh, Piestewa Peak, working on a
story at 4:30 in the morning, eating one of your meal prepped
meals. Tell me how you started cooking here in the
valley.
>> Ron Young (00:43):
Um, I started cooking in the valley. Uh, it
was 16, uh,
2016. I started cooking, uh, my brother,
ah, or close friend of mine, who I call my brother, was, uh,
a bodybuilder lifter. Ah, he was
getting ready for a physique show, and he was like, bro, you should do meal
prep. And I, um, was just like, nah. At that
(01:04):
time, I was just trying to, you know, just making food that, you know, we all
like to eat, you know, for fun. And, uh, he was like,
you should do the meal prep thing. And then we got into it.
Um, at the time, I think myfitfoods was at
that time, was the number one meal prep company. So I went
and checked them out and, um, you know, learned none of
them for a little bit and see how they were going until they had went through what
(01:24):
they went through, uh, towards the end. And, um,
after that, I would just. I set them all on the table, all the companies at the
time that were in the valley, and I said, oh, you
know, I'm gonna do this. I think I can, you know, focus
and get this done. So I executed it and been
consistent and, um, you know, it's been one person
at a time.
>> Jaime Cerreta (01:43):
And when we look at your instagram, yes, there are
celebs, big names. Go ahead and rattle some
off. Let's lead with a brag, chef Ronnie.
>> Ron Young (01:51):
Let's brag a little bit. So, you know, I've been able to cook for Kyler Murray,
which is our quarterback here for the cardinals. Uh, I've been able to
cook for Derrick Rose. Uh, I've been able to cook for, uh, Odell
Beckham multiple times. Um, even
people from the chiefs. I have a couple of chiefs players that I
cook for. Travis Kelsey. I wish Travis
Kelsey, um, took my instagram to the next level.
>> Jaime Cerreta (02:11):
Yeah, for sure, yeah.
>> Ron Young (02:12):
Ah, um, no, it's just a bunch of people, from
celebrities to singers, uh, to actors,
actresses, you know, Keisha Cole,
uh, the amigos music, soul child.
It's been quite a few people.
>> Jaime Cerreta (02:25):
And when we were chatting before,
how you got into this scene was one
person when you were working somewhere else? Tell
me this story.
>> Ron Young (02:34):
A lot of people remember me from the Nike store and
Victoria's, uh, secret at Arizona Mills mall. Uh,
since we're talking local. Arizona Mills mall. I used to work
there. And, uh, back in the day, this lady would come
in and her name at the time, I'm just gonna say miss
foster. Um, and, uh, she would come in
and talk, and we used to have great conversations. She
loved Nike, um, shoes. And she found out
(02:57):
I worked at Victoria secret. So we became friends because I think she wanted
to get some discount or something like that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (03:03):
She just liked your company.
>> Ron Young (03:04):
Yeah, she had them come in. No, no, she was really nice and she encouraged me.
And I used to, back in the day, I used to print out all these cards and
hand them out to people because everybody comes to those stores.
So, um, I used to hand them out to people and she used to
encourage me to keep doing that. And, uh, one day
she told me she was gonna have me come and cook for her and her family. And, uh,
she stood on business and had me come through. And
(03:24):
her husband ended up being, uh, Brian Erlocher,
which is a, ah, hall of fame linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
So, uh, it was just something that just happened. And after that,
me and him got to talking, went golfing,
and he introduced me to some more people. And from
there, I got to meet Dantrell Willis, Edwin Jackson,
Adam Jones, just, uh, a few names that have
(03:44):
played on the diamondbacks, uh, squad. And
just, um, met all these different people through him. And, uh, it's just been
a ride ever since Adam looked back.
>> Jaime Cerreta (03:52):
So just from talking, just communicating and being
kind to someone, leading with your kindness and
sharing your passion led to him talking
about you a whole lot and spreading your good name out and then
getting you more work.
>> Ron Young (04:05):
Yeah, that passion is very important. And the consistency,
I was real consistent about it. And I feel like
it wasn't really nothing I was saying. I think people were watching
me and how consistent I was and
determined to, uh, achieve that goal.
Um, and, you know, and it kind of just fell in my lap. The person I really
wanted to thank is this dude. And to this day, I still don't know
(04:25):
his name. Uh, but, uh, he used to own, I
think, one of the owners for sprinkles or the little cupcake joint. He used
to come in, like I said, everybody used to come in that Nike store looking
for, like, the new Nike outlet, looking for
Nike shoes or jordans. And he used to come in there all the time.
And he used to tell me all the. Give me step by step what I should do
to start a business.
>> Jaime Cerreta (04:44):
Oh, wow.
>> Ron Young (04:44):
And he wouldn't give me one step until I accomplished another.
And, um, the crazy thing, one of the steps was the last step
was finding a way on tv.
>> Jaime Cerreta (04:52):
Ah.
>> Ron Young (04:52):
And, you know, and that's how I ran, you know, with
my, you know, az, three family. And, uh, I met Scott
and Olivia and you and, uh,
you know, Javier at the time and all my. All those
people. And somehow he just mentioned that. And then, like,
that following two weeks later, I was in here with you
guys and first time meeting you guys. And, you know, I remember that
(05:13):
day. And, you know, after that, I did not see him no more after that.
Because when I stopped working at, uh, the Nike saw right
after that. And things started kind of falling into place.
And, um, it's just crazy. So, yeah, it is.
Communication, being kind. You never know who you're talking to and
who has a ticket for you. And, you know, you don't
know what higher power is in place at that time
(05:33):
for that person to be in your life. And you may
not get to know their names, but as long as you listen to what
they have for you, you never know what the golden ticket would be. And
I've been riding that wave ever since.
>> Jaime Cerreta (05:44):
What a beautiful story.
>> Ron Young (05:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (05:45):
Very layered with so many from. From
the man from sprinkles.
>> Ron Young (05:50):
Ah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (05:50):
Who gave you a direct, uh, task
to do every week, every month, and would not tell you
the next key. Almost sounds like a fairy tale. You do
not get the next key until you pass this test.
And then, um, when I met you,
you were already a friend of three tv. You
were someone who. You had been here a couple times. So how did
(06:11):
that initial meeting happen when you came in?
>> Ron Young (06:14):
This is a great story. Cause this includes, uh, someone,
uh, that's in my life. Uh, my best
partner, my pal, my best friend Amber. She
was. I, um, was invited
by these people to do a segment about a
caribbean festival because I was the head chef for a caribbean festival
coming up, uh, at that time. And,
(06:35):
uh, they invited me to come in and do some type of
food trick for them during this.
It was my first time even being up here. I didn't know what to do
at the time Amber was the one, the pr person who put
it together. And, um, when she
pulled up, and I would come walking out the thing,
and she was like, who are you? And I'm like, I'm
(06:55):
chef Ron. You know, like, you know, I'm here to cook the food. They didn't
tell me there was going to be a chef here today. And she was just
like, you know, she was just doing her thing, and she was like, you know what? Just stand
right here. And, um, she's just like, you know what? The segment,
since they want to have a chef farm, we gonna let this segment be focused on you.
And, um, that's when I got to meet Scott
and Olivia that day, and Scott did.
(07:15):
It went from Olivia straight to Scott. And then me and Scott were just
talking and messing around on the grill and
talking football, and all the stuff that I had done, I had. Was
doing before this. And, um, you know,
it was just. To this day, I don't know how it
happened. It just manifested. And,
um, I just. At that time, I got along with Scott, like,
right away. Me and him got, you know, linked up right away, uh,
(07:38):
uh, to the point where I think he was eating, uh, my ground
turkey on tv and called it sloppy Joe.
>> Jaime Cerreta (07:44):
I think he was, oh, I know that dish. I love that dish.
>> Ron Young (07:47):
I remember he was on tv, like, I love chef Ron
sloppy Joe. You get that? And I was like, no, not
sloppy Joe. Um, but, yeah, after that, it was just
relationship wise. And, um, like you said, being
kind and, uh, just being myself. And,
um, at that time, I was, uh, searching
for. For myself. I was looking for something
that was consistent, and I was minds. I was tired of
(08:09):
working, uh, for other people, and I
wanted something for myself. And, um, I
figured I made my mind up and figured this was going to
be my opportunity, and I just took it.
And, um, like I said, I'm still chasing it
to this day. Um, but as far as the
celebrities and stuff, uh, I wish there was, like, a
magical button you can push. Um, but
(08:31):
honestly, it's just being, like you said, being kind and
people just seeing my work, and, uh, you
know, my work speaks for itself, so my food
and everything speaks for itself, so.
>> Jaime Cerreta (08:41):
Yeah, well, now I'm thinking about that turkey, sloppy Joe, because that was my
favorite. That was my favorite meal. It was
indeed.
Uh, I want to back up to high school. Because you went to school here in the valley? Where'd you
go?
>> Ron Young (08:51):
I went to Highland high school in Gilbert. Um, I'm
a hawk. Uh, I went there, played football,
ran track, played basketball. Um.
Um, it was the best time. I feel like being there
was, uh, an opportunity at that time because
I was coming from another state at the time,
and being there kind, uh, of taught me about the
(09:11):
state and how, what I was getting ready to get into. And I
got to. I always knew
whatever I was going to do, I was coming back to Arizona to
finish it off, you know? And after m my time here, so.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:23):
Because you pursued football after school, right?
>> Ron Young (09:26):
Yeah, I pursued football. And, um, I went
to Mesa community college first. And, uh,
with coach Dunn. I don't know if a lot of people remember him.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:34):
Coach Dunn.
>> Ron Young (09:35):
Yeah, high coach Dunn, whoever. Coach Dunn. And,
uh, we won the championship. When I was there, I was playing running back.
And, uh, right after that year was over, I
went and got a scholarship at a university, uh, called Alabama. A and
m um, out in, uh, Huntsville, Alabama.
So, yeah, yeah. So I played football here through high
school into junior high. So, yeah,
(09:56):
my strings here are real strong.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:58):
It's good to be home, isn't it?
>> Ron Young (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:59):
And to be building something of your own in your
hometown. And you even had a, uh, learning disability at
some point. When was that noted? Like, when did that come to attention?
How did you know?
>> Ron Young (10:09):
Um, as soon as I got, uh, as soon as I got
into high school, I, um, had a.
I had a teacher named matter, ah, of fact, Doug Prentice,
uh, if you're out there, too, out here. Um, he was
my IEP teacher. Um,
he kind of noticed that things. I didn't
comprehend things or my attention span wasn't
(10:30):
equipped, uh, like normal kids. So, uh, he was also
my track coach to that, which also helped, um, he spent
a lot of time with me and, um, helped
me learn to be in a classroom setting and
be able to take notes. I might not be able to take them like other people,
but he was like, you can still function.
>> Jaime Cerreta (10:46):
Was it reading or what was it?
>> Ron Young (10:48):
Uh, for me, it was reading and comprehension, just, uh,
mixing up my words and stuff like that. But with
practice, we used to read a lot, and we just. He
felt like if I was just consistent and I did it enough
times, um, that I would get it, which kind of
transferred into everyday life for me anytime, um,
I need to understand something or learn something. He taught me to
(11:09):
go over it multiple times, and, um, I've
learned to be. It taught me to be patient with myself
and learn to ask for help, which a lot of people don't like to
do. And, um, just, you know,
it built a different level of confidence for me,
you know, it taught me how to learn differently, uh, just because I
don't comprehend something right away like everybody else does.
(11:30):
I just. I know it takes me a little bit more time,
but I call it the. As long as I get there,
to me, in my mind, as long as I get there, I don't need to get there right away.
I just need to get there with the right understanding.
And, uh, you know, he taught me that, and I just want
to thank Doug for that. Cause I probably wouldn't have got, through college.
All the things that I had come in my way and even in
(11:50):
business with contracts and everything was if it wasn't
for him teaching me to be confident in myself, to understand
that I don't need to be like everyone. To
get everything to the finish line. Yeah, to get to the finish line.
>> Jaime Cerreta (12:01):
And it sounds like once you're there, once I'm locked
in, it's been looked over. It's thorough, it's,
uh, to completion. And you think of, uh, as a chef,
you read recipes and create your own,
but that's a lot of reading and detail oriented.
And I love that he told you to be patient with yourself.
What a beautiful lesson.
>> Ron Young (12:20):
Yeah. And food, too. With food,
too. It taught me to be patient. Um, at
that time, uh, individually, as a person,
I was trying to find myself as a man, and I needed to find
some, um,
way to find my confidence in myself, in
what I wanted to do in anything.
(12:41):
And, uh,
that just showed me how to believe in myself in
spite of this, you know, circumstances.
And like I said, with my business and
everything like that, I try to walk with
confidence, but I don't like to go into things
until I'm prepared. And like I said, it kind of fell
(13:01):
into everything with me playing football. I was
always prepared, and I knew I needed to know these plays
before I even touched the field, because if I try to
learn it when everybody else is trying to learn it, then I'm always going to be
behind. So it always taught me to be ahead and
be ahead of what I'm getting ready to get into and be more
detail oriented and, uh, consistent in what I was
doing here.
>> Jaime Cerreta (13:21):
And then there's confidence in that preparedness. That preparedness, you
know, that you are, um, well armed with what
you'll need for that day.
When did you start cooking? Did you start cooking as a kid or what?
>> Ron Young (13:32):
I started cooking, uh, as a kid. Uh, my
mom. Food is, ah, big in my family, so if
we ever want to get along with each other, somebody just has to start cooking
and everybody pulls up. You know how food is. Food is the
glue in most families. Um,
yeah, I've been cooking since I was a kid. I've always been
interested in food. It wasn't really until I got to the junior
college and I was looking to take classes. To be honest with
(13:55):
you, I needed to take classes out of criminal justice
or something like that. And I was just like, oh, I could take these cooking
classes and I would get through, you know what I'm saying? I'll get
through the semester. And I got through it and
just took them. And when I got to the university, I was
just like, all right, what do I do now with this? And then I just started
cooking on campus because I saw that it was a need for
food at a certain point of the night.
(14:17):
And I started making plates, which is something that goes on in
my university now. Like, there's somebody that does it. Um,
every four years, there's somebody that starts cooking and selling plates
there. So, uh, it's something that's been going on for a while since I
wouldn't been there. And, um, you know, I just
was. At the time, it was just a hustle, but it ended
up turning into.
>> Jaime Cerreta (14:34):
Something, uh, so making plates, are you talking about late night snacks?
What kind of food are you talking about? Dinner.
>> Ron Young (14:39):
Before hibachi became hibachi, we were doing
stuff like that. So my mom came down, we both noticed it.
She went and got me a sack of rice and a George foreman
grill and a rice cooker. And, um, I
started taking steak, um, and chicken,
and I would take the sauces. And this is true
story, a basket. We used to get all this chinese food with all these
sauces and everybody would throw them in there. So I took all the
(15:02):
sauces, started messing around with them and mixed this
with that. And then I started using that as marinade. And,
um, I started making these chickens. Me and a couple of girls,
these haitian girls would, uh, help me out because I had to go to
practice sometimes. And we make these plates and we sold them for
$5. And I think the
kitchen, cafeteria and the school closed at like eight
(15:22):
or nine. After nine, it was just. Everybody was looking for
food. And before I know it, I was the place to
come to. Foster, uh, dorm to get food.
>> Jaime Cerreta (15:30):
Chicken and rice.
>> Ron Young (15:31):
Chicken and rice, yeah, as simple as that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (15:34):
Wow. And always so good.
>> Ron Young (15:36):
Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (15:37):
How cool did you think you would own your own
business?
>> Ron Young (15:41):
Um, after I finished my time at a and
m, uh, at the university, I felt
like if football didn't work out,
being in business was the next closest thing that
I would need to be successful
and, um, for myself. So I always knew I
wanted to have a business. I told myself before I turned 30, I wanted to
have a business, and I was able to pull it off by 26.
(16:04):
So I started
26 is when I committed solely on my business,
llc wise and everything. So, um, my goal
was just to make sure I had a business by the time I was 30. Before I was 30.
>> Jaime Cerreta (16:16):
So you beat it by four years. And what were you doing before you made
that jump into full time for yourself?
>> Ron Young (16:22):
I was working at different restaurants around the valley. I worked at Lolo's
chicken and wild foods back in the day. Uh, I worked at
pure sushi. Uh, uh, we used to work at
new zigglers, uh, which is New York, uh,
NYPD pizza back, they used to call zigglers back in the
day. Um, just a bunch of different
places I worked at. Like I said, the Nikes tour. Um,
I worked at Victoria's Secret. I worked at,
(16:44):
um, security. Uh, I did a bunch
of different things, trying to find my way. And
like I said, once I got into the food thing and I seen how
everything was moving, I saw how Lolo's was built up, and
I got to see the process, and I was just like, you know what? I can do this
myself. I can do this
myself, and I can cook. And so I was just, you know, it just
(17:04):
clicked, and I was like, this is what I need to be doing. And,
um, I just decided once I made that
decision, uh, which is hard for a lot of people to
do, is to trust themselves, and making a decision like that and
then walk it out and is the next
step after that, it's really hard. So I just made my mind up
like it was do or die type of situation. It was either
it's either going to happen or it's nothing. I just rolled the dice,
(17:26):
and it's been working since.
>> Jaime Cerreta (17:28):
We chatted about you being prepared and going through something
thoroughly. What did you go through before you made that
jump? Did you map out
what it would cost you to, how much you
needed to make a week? Did you map out kind of what that
finances?
>> Ron Young (17:43):
Um, I'm not going to say I was that thorough yet. I
had to learn to be that thorough. But, um, one of the things is,
I had a friend with mine who was really good with numbers, and I had asked him, I said,
yo, how much do you think if I'm selling my meals for this
amount? Like, how much. How many meals do you think I would have to
sell, um, to get to a
million dollars. And he said, I think at the time, it was like
88,000.7 something,
(18:06):
um, meals. And, um, I was like, cool,
then I'm gonna take it one meal at a time. It used to be my
quote. And my quote back in the day is like, one meal at a time.
Just as long as I got a person, I'm getting to that number.
So, you know, I remember when you told me that
from there, um, I
started building myself up in my confidence. And then
(18:26):
once I realized, okay, this is starting to work
out, you know, this is starting to work out. And,
uh, I started learning more and more
about business. But that's the next step. A lot of people need to
understand, too. I feel like you don't need to know
the business stuff right away. You just need to
get started. Cause you gotta work on yourself first and build your self
confidence in what you're doing first. Then from there, you can
(18:49):
make the transition and you make that transition into, all
right, making myself legitimate and making sure that everything
is in play. But you gotta have something going first before
you even, you know what I'm saying? You can commit to that. So
I always tell people to just start. If you would just
start and then just stay committed to it, you
can really learn and build and grow
(19:09):
along the way. So I've been literally building and
growing. If I had any advice for anybody, Washington,
if for anybody is I got hot so
fast, uh, that I wasn't prepared for what was
coming. I'm gonna say this. I remember we did, um,
a segment on a Sunday.
>> Jaime Cerreta (19:28):
Mhm.
>> Ron Young (19:28):
And, um, this was right when me and
Ember started working together. And, um,
she got me hooked up with the segment. And it was right after that segment I
got, like, I wanna say I got hit with like 50
calls.
>> Jaime Cerreta (19:40):
Oh, my.
>> Ron Young (19:41):
Like 50 something calls right after. And I remember sitting
there, I was happy. But a couple days
later, I was just like, oh, like I wasn't
prepared for.
>> Jaime Cerreta (19:50):
How do I feel this?
>> Ron Young (19:51):
How do I fulfill, like, all these people?
I'm only one person. And, you know, I always
tell people, take your time. You don't need to, you know, things are gonna
happen when it's supposed to happen. And, um,
just because you think it should be going so fast,
so quick, don't mean you always ready for that. Sometimes it's
best to just let things just naturally
(20:11):
just create itself, you know? And along
the way, you start getting better. So, like, things that I went through
before is nothing I would go through now.
Obviously. Cause I'm more prepared, and I know how this
goes. A lot of people don't know. I started cooking out of
my apartment for those that used to
get food, uh, for me back in the beginning. I think back in,
uh, I shouldn't say this, but this lady wrote on my yelp,
(20:33):
getting food from chef Ron. It was like doing a
deal, and I hope
that I printed that out. I printed that out and put it
in my condo, and, uh, I look at it every
day.
>> Jaime Cerreta (20:45):
What was your response when you saw that?
>> Ron Young (20:47):
I just laughed. We laughed. And I was just
like, I couldn't be mad at her. Cause it felt like that. So I was like, oh,
you know, I just took it as a learning
lesson, and I smile about it. That's why I hold it up, to
remind me of how things were in the
beginning and, um, to where I am right now that, you
know. And, uh, you know, I like to hold on to
stuff like that. I don't think. I didn't take it as, like, a loss. I took
(21:10):
it as, like, it was so good.
>> Jaime Cerreta (21:12):
You're gonna go get it?
>> Ron Young (21:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was like, regardless, I'm coming to get it.
>> Jaime Cerreta (21:15):
It's good.
>> Ron Young (21:15):
Like, you know, but still, at the same time, you.
You know, I didn't know. I didn't really care about
reputation at the time until I met Ambry. And Amber started teaching me
about, uh, the importance of reputation
and everything like that and why I needed to do
things, you know, the right way, get myself
organized. I wasn't really paying attention. I was just so focused on the
hustle, uh, that I didn't, you know,
(21:37):
I tell my friends, I was like, you can hustle all day, but, you know, if the hustle
ain't matching the growth, then you're just gonna be
stuck. And, um, I
needed to grow, so I took, you know, sometimes you gotta
fall back yourself and give yourself some time to
reorganize. Yeah, yeah. Catch up with yourself and then put
yourself back out there. Uh, one thing that I've had felt like
(21:57):
I've done, um, better than most
is, uh, I've been consistent
and, um, I've been, uh,
determined and, um. Um, my PR
has been crazy how I've been able to promote myself
naturally and without having to come out of pocket
and, um, just building the right relationships
and being at the right places at the right time and meeting the right
(22:19):
people, um, and just being
consistent on social media. I want to make sure I shout
out, Instagram, TikTok. All of it's
been good. To me, if you use it the right way. And, um,
I've been able to use it the right way and make a name for myself
through.
>> Jaime Cerreta (22:34):
How did you learn how to do that?
>> Ron Young (22:36):
I didn't. I just started literally, uh, I think I
had, uh. I, um, want to
say in 2015 to
16, I probably only had maybe 900
followers just naturally
on my own. And, um, you know, from
each. I worked each and every day. I remember I used to
post so much, which I still post a lot,
(22:58):
still m more, probably more now. Um, but I remember Amber
used to be like, yo. Because I had multiple pages on both these
sites, and she'd be like, man, you posting is annoying.
And I like, you know, your posters are annoying. Like, it's
just the same thing all the time. And I had, in my mind, I
said, well, I always felt like,
you know, everybody has their different avenues. I always felt like social
(23:18):
media for me was like, 24 hours tv.
>> Jaime Cerreta (23:20):
Yeah.
>> Ron Young (23:21):
And I figured if I kept playing it like those forge
commercials for Jingo, like, if I played it, I
don't never drunk it, you know what I'm saying? But I know the song, you know, I
know the jingle, I know what it looks like. I could tell you everything about
it, but, uh, I've never tried it,
you know, but I figured if I just
consistently throw the logo, the
brand, the food
(23:43):
constantly at, uh, people, eventually it'll
catch on and they'll get familiar with it and stuff
like that. So I just. I learned all I had to do is get
past how people felt about it, you know? And then
once I got past what people think, then I was just like, all right, let
me brand myself and let me be. Branding is
annoying.
>> Jaime Cerreta (24:01):
You know, I'm a sucker for that. I'll say, oh,
this food was stalking me on
Instagram. Now, food vision. Food vision. What is
food? Now I'm down the rabbit hole looking to
see what's food vision? And so for people
who are listening to this, let's tell them what kind of. What kind of meals can they get?
What kind of meal prep? What kind of. You're a private chef as well, so you'll
come do a party. Tell me about. Let's start with the. The meal
(24:24):
prep. What do you do?
>> Ron Young (24:25):
All right, well, before I can start by the meal prep, how meal prep got
created, uh, I started feeding. Once I
started, uh, making a little coin. A, um, lot of people don't
know I've been, uh, working with Cass.
Um, and I, um, was working with the
homeless veterans, and I used to give them I used to make them
food first. That's how the meals end up in the
(24:46):
containers that they're in. I was making them food first. Uh,
and then from there, I was just like, okay, this works.
And really was able to practice on them and
at the shelter. And then I kind of took it from there.
And then I started, um, pushing the meals. But,
um, meal prep.
You can get meal prep for me. You can do catering for me.
(25:07):
You can book me personally. You can book chevron personally
yourself. Uh, we fly out the country. We
fly, uh, to other states. Um, I've
been able to cook all over, and it's not
too much. Nothing. I cannot cook. I like to be
challenged. And, um, that's one of the reasons. Reasons why
I took on the job about traveling overseas is cause I get to sit down with
other chefs when I'm out there and learn from them.
(25:30):
Um, that experience alone has been a, uh,
while in my cooking because it's changed a lot
of my style of cooking and
finding healthier ways to give people food. Cause in other countries,
we don't, you know, a lot of people don't pay attention to how people eat
out there and different ways of how they eat. And, um,
I'm just taking all these different experiences and, um,
(25:50):
putting them into my food and then sharing it with people. I think
that's why I've been able to be more consistent with my food.
You never get the same thing. It's always different. I'm always testing the waters and
taking it to the next level and trying to get people to try different
things in a different style. Um, but yeah, you can
get anything from me on all my platforms, on AZ's
dopeshef page, on Instagram or foodvision
(26:11):
meals, uh, uh, for meal preps.
Or you can even go to my website, uh,
www.foodvisionmills.com, and it'll
show you everything that we do on my website. When it comes to
food. Um, my goal is to create a
website, uh, that can weaken, at least
locally, we do all things food. So you can
get any type of format of food, uh,
(26:33):
from that site, in that
location. And myself or any one of my
chefs will go out there and help you
in the handling business.
>> Jaime Cerreta (26:42):
And you mentioned you're learning from other chefs and traveling
the world. You've been traveling with some
athletic teams. Tell me what's going on here.
>> Ron Young (26:51):
Yeah, I have a friend that's a, uh, basketball coach overseas, and, uh, me and
him got together, got to, and he was like, man, I'm tired of eating
this food out here, and, you know, we go to all these different
countries, and some ain't got no good food. And, you know,
I got a couple american dudes I need. They need food. So he
was just like, let me talk to my people and see if you can get going with
us when we do the multiple, uh, country runs.
(27:12):
Country run.
>> Jaime Cerreta (27:12):
Yeah, let's go.
>> Ron Young (27:13):
So, uh, we did that, and, um, he got me
on, and, uh, I've been flying out with them when they go to different,
uh, countries, and I've been able to cook with them for a couple weeks, and
then I come home. Um,
it's a fun experience. Like I said, I get to meet new people.
I got friends overseas now that I didn't have
before. And food, um, wise, it's crazy
(27:33):
because you realize food is different
other places. And just the
way I fry chicken is different now because, uh,
one of the things here, uh, in the states, we
use a lot of milk or eggs as
base for chicken. And, um,
other countries, they don't use those. It's just
(27:54):
simple. Little bit of water. Like cold water.
Really, really cold water. Uh, then, you know,
season your flour, and then you just make, like, a, um,
milky texture to the
thing. Throw it in there with the chicken like
that. Let that marinade, and then take a little bit more of that
flour and then double bread it
(28:15):
again. And then, you know, just. It's how. It's
just. It's just different ways of doing it. Before, I was using eggs,
milk, and doing all these different things and,
um, being out there, I'm like, oh, there's a healthier way of doing this and still
being able to, you know, not use all those things that
they say that we have to use.
>> Jaime Cerreta (28:31):
Well, America gets such a bad rap for how we
eat and what is in our food. That must
be such eye opening knowledge and information as
a chef.
>> Ron Young (28:40):
Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (28:41):
To travel the world and with athletes.
>> Ron Young (28:43):
Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (28:43):
So they're gonna have specific requests and diets and
needs.
>> Ron Young (28:46):
Yeah. And then you gotta know that the grocery stories are different out
there. Um, you gotta find stuff. I
remember I was in, uh, Thailand, and I had.
They wanted french toast, and I was just like, man, ah. Like,
Amara's like, I need that frosting, the frosting and
everything on there. I. Bro. So I'm gonna go
to store. I'm saying s***. You know, just normally, I'm like, I'm, um, going to store. I know what to
(29:06):
grab. I get there, you know,
obviously, everything's a different language.
>> Jaime Cerreta (29:11):
Yeah.
>> Ron Young (29:12):
At the same time, I'm like, okay, what is
the word for brown sugar? You know what I'm saying? Like, so we
sitting there on the phone trying to figure it out. Everybody's, like, running in
the store, they're trying to find stuff. And, uh, you made a
thing out of it. But it's always fun because, you
know, I had to be creative and I had to make. They
don't use normal sugar that we use here.
(29:32):
So we had the use.
I couldn't find it, so we had to use m. Uh,
we used to end up using um. Or I end up using
um. Was it. I don't say,
um, those things called when you make your
s'mores, uh, marshalls
marshmallows.
>> Jaime Cerreta (29:51):
Yes.
>> Ron Young (29:52):
I melted that. Yeah, I had to get creative with
that, and I melted it. Made a little sauce for me and a little,
you know, using that. And, um, that was fun.
Um, but like I said, being creative and using what
you have and is one of the
things I love about cooking. Cause I grew up, uh,
with, uh, my brothers and my mom,
and being with single mom, sometimes she's at work and
(30:15):
you gotta be creative and make, you gotta make stuff. And I love
that idea of just being,
this is what all you have now. You gotta make the
best meal you could possibly make out of that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (30:25):
You were like, on a food network challenge for yourself.
Did they like the french toast?
>> Ron Young (30:31):
I might have to show you a picture. They loved it.
>> Jaime Cerreta (30:34):
Um, so for folks who might be wanting to get into the meal
plan thing, they could do that. They can get all over your website, find
out and then select what they like. What about someone who
has a party coming in town? Or
I've seen the drizzle of the honey with the
fried chicken and the bachelorette party. You do big events,
too.
Tell me about the private chef events you do in town and how people
(30:54):
might be. It might serve their need.
>> Ron Young (30:56):
So, um, first off, for meal
prep, like she said, you can go to the website. There's a whole
thing list. Uh, we not like normal meal prep
companies, where you have a set meal, how everything's
set. You literally can go on there on a cart and put your
meals together yourselves. Um, that's one of the best things
I feel like, that we offer, uh, compared to other companies,
(31:17):
is we give you a choice to kind of put together
your own meals. Um, but as far as the
catering, uh, booking me individually, it's the
experience that we have is what we call food vision experience. You get
to come in. Chef Ron comes myself, and we
come and, um, you know, perform and have
fun. And I like food is
about being together and family and having a good time.
(31:39):
And that's the part that I love about the catering part. And
my clients, I know that they book me, not just
always because of my food. It's always the energy and the experience
and having fun.
>> Jaime Cerreta (31:49):
They want to meet Chef Ron.
>> Ron Young (31:50):
Yeah, they want to meet Chef Ronnie. Be fun, and we have a good
time with it. And I involve people and allow
them to be in the kitchen with me. And, you know, if they want to help me
or, um, if they just want to sit around a lot of part time, they,
like, just pull up a chair and just want to ask me questions
and ask, uh, me how I got into this
and what do I like about it and things like that. And,
(32:10):
um, one of the things I love, too, is, um,
we were talking about celebrities is a lot of times when I do these catering events,
I never know who I'm cooking for.
>> Jaime Cerreta (32:18):
Oh, my.
>> Ron Young (32:19):
So a lot of times, oh, celebrities
always use fake names. They don't ever use their, their
regular name. So you, you know, you might be talking to their girlfriend
or somebody, you know. And, uh, so I. A lot of times
I'd be walking into stuff, and I remember one time,
um, I had Amber usually have her going first, and
she went in to give him the rundown, let them know that
Chevron is coming. She's the hype man.
(32:41):
She's the ultimate hype person. And she let him know Chef
Ron has come in. And, um, she,
uh, when she said that, she comes out, she said, yo, Derry
Rose is sitting on the couch. I was like, what do you mean, Derry
Rose? He just sitting on the couch. And I was like, oh, uh, he's waiting to be
fed, so you never know what you're walking
into. So I try to treat everybody the same, you know, no matter if
(33:02):
you are a celebrity or a person,
that just is, you know, I have a story that I
do have. And why I'm saying this is because,
uh, you know, I don't want people to think they can't book me
because, you know, it looks like all I do is cook for
celebrities. Um, I remember one time I had a family,
um, this lady, uh, that lives in the south side, and,
um, she kept telling me, like, I'm gonna have you cook for me and my family one
(33:25):
day. And, you know, I get that a lot. So I'd be like, yeah,
you know, just let me know. I'm ready.
>> Jaime Cerreta (33:29):
Ah.
>> Ron Young (33:29):
And she finally, she pulled the trigger. And I remember getting to the house
you know, you could tell they were good family, and they work hard,
uh, big family. And I remember getting there and, uh, just
to keep it 100. Her husband was not happy that she paid the
amount of money that she had paid to have me there. And I remember
he just wouldn't come out the room, and, um. Um, you
know, at the time, you know, I could feel some way about it, or I can just
(33:50):
give that same love and energy that I always give and, you
know, make everybody, you know, feel comfortable and everything like that. And,
uh, you know, I just, you know, instead of trying to
convince anybody, I just figured, I'll just cook and do what I do best.
And I remember at the end of it and him coming to me, and it was
like, you know, this was, like, the best. You
know, this is the best experience I had with my family.
(34:11):
And I remember them. They took, you
know, I don't know how to describe it. I don't want to talk about their family like that. But,
you know, they have a whole lot, but they literally just took every table they had
and just put it on the thing, and they had their whole family come and sit at the table, and
I'm treating them just like I would treat Odell Beckham or, you
know, just anybody. And, uh, I just remember him
coming to me and be like, bro, I had a good time giving me a hug
(34:32):
and saying, this wasn't, you know, it was worth it. And, you
know, just having his family like that. And, um, you
know, his kids were excited. Cause they knew some of the people
I cooked for, and, um, they really, you know, that has
changed my life, and that's what I do. And I'm really in this.
Cause I love what I do. It don't matter the size
of it. It can be one person, it can be two, it can be 100, it
(34:52):
can be 500, it can be a thousand. Either way it
goes, you know, um, either way, I'm gonna cook the same way.
It's the same energy. Um, food saved my life.
It gave me a second chance at chasing
something and having.
>> Jaime Cerreta (35:05):
Because of football.
>> Ron Young (35:06):
Yeah. Yeah. Cause football was my initial dream.
And to a lot of athletes, can admit to this,
like, you know, when you realize that's over, it's
a tough time. That first
year is real tough. And, um, to be able
to get out of that funk and to
find myself in something else and,
uh, is. I take pride in it. So I
(35:29):
genuinely take pride in what we do. Um, we worked
hard. Uh, even when Amber got on with
me and she made a huge commitment and committed to
my company and being a part of my team and,
um, you know, and being my business partner. Just, uh,
all of it is all, you know, I know it's
God sent, and God put all these opportunities, so I don't,
(35:49):
I don't take them for granted, you know? So anyway, it. No
matter who you are and, you know, if you want food for me, you're gonna get the
same love and energy. No matter if you live in a mansion
or you live in a three bedroom house or, you know
what I'm saying? I'll live in a condo or an apartment, you know, you get the same
energy, so.
>> Jaime Cerreta (36:04):
Well, thank you for ignoring the tears down my face. There
was such a beautiful story about that family, and I bet they
are still talking about
that time together when they got to really treat their
family.
>> Ron Young (36:16):
Those are my biggest supporters. People like that are my biggest
supporters, and I know that, and I don't, you
know, even for me sometimes, and I want to say this
now, I don't know what it cameras is sometimes when I'm at Walmart or at
fries or, you know, and people come to me and be
like, hey, man, I love your food, and I love what you do
and just keep doing it. And, you know, I want to say
(36:36):
thank you to those people because I don't really have a platform like that,
uh, outside of social media, to say, you know,
thank you. But, uh, it's been a journey. A lot of people don't
realize I've been doing this a very long time. There's even
steps wherever, um, people remember me
being at those la fitnesses, handing out samples when
nobody knew who I was. And, um, sometimes I post about
(36:57):
stuff like that and people leave a comment. I know one of them
is, uh, one of Amber's really close friends, and his,
uh, I think it was his auntie or cousin. Uh,
they got a video of her getting sampled from me, and she had passed
away, but his family was like, yo, we remember that.
And just hearing people like, bro, just keep
going, we see. Thank you for posting that
(37:18):
about my uncle.
>> Jaime Cerreta (37:18):
So, as people say, keep going.
What is next for chef Ron? You wanted me.
Now, plans for the future.
>> Ron Young (37:24):
Yes, plans for the future. Um, is,
um, you know, I want to create a
restaurant, uh, an atmosphere, an experience for
people that's different from what they're used to
out here. I feel like people are heavy on
ambiance or some extra excitement,
and, uh, I think we get away from the
food sometimes, and, you know, and everybody, I think, is
(37:47):
in a race of trying to be the landmark for Arizona. When it comes
to food, I just want to create an atmosphere and
energy for people where the food, the
music, the art, everything that goes into it, it all
matches. And it's just something where people are leaving
there, um, how that man felt about me
just leaving my experience and being m like, yo, this was,
(38:07):
I came and talk. It's nothing you really talk
about. You just got to go and experience, and, um, that's what
I'm working on right now. And, uh, I got a couple of investors.
I, uh, want to get into the fine dining area, and I
feel like right now we already have enough chicken and waffle
spots, and no disrespect to them or brunch
spots. Um, I just want to. I feel like
(38:27):
this is a time for someone like myself to be able to get
into the arena of fine dining
and, um, being able to own a
restaurant, uh, of that
caliber, uh, and be able to be something
that's arizona made of, um, from the ground
up. And people to know, uh, you know, I was
once, uh, you know, which it won't be hard for me to do because
(38:49):
literally what I'm doing right now, when I go do the catering and
stuff like that, I consider that door to door, and I'm just
introducing myself to everyone. So when it's time for me to open up
something, it won't for me. I
want to be there. So
come experience my dream and, uh, my
vision and my purpose, and, um,
(39:09):
you know, I can't wait for that. And for people that got my
food from the very beginning to the people getting my
food now. Cause sometimes people are looking at you, uh, where you're at right
now and don't understand where you came from. And
sometimes I'm looking in the mirror still looking at that same guy that was
working at Nike, just like, yo, I need to. I'm gonna do
this. I'm gonna make this happen. Yeah,
(39:29):
it's weird like that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (39:30):
Sometimes a little kid still very much is in there.
And all those words that you said before about
getting your reps in, about consistency, about
preparedness, about being thorough, about, uh, treating
people with kindness, about the people first, all
who you were as a little kid. And now you get to build that as a
businessman and a restaurateur.
So stay tuned. We will.
(39:52):
What are you loving in Arizona when you're not cooking? What are you eating?
What are you drinking? What are you doing? What are you.
>> Ron Young (39:58):
I'm a creature of habit. So, um, I'm
up there with, like, Kobe and Jordan. I'm obsessed with what I do. So
I'm always cooking, I'm always working. I'm always looking
for the next opportunity. I'm always looking for people to
bless and help out. Uh, what I do like to do,
though, when I'm not cooking like that, is I
like to cook and I like to feed people in my neighborhood. So
(40:18):
I go out every weekend, um, when I have
a free day, um, for those that do know, I
go to, I just go through my neighborhood and there's a lot of,
you know, I go down Phoenix and I just feed homeless
people. And, um, I, you know, I try to
do it. You know, there's no secret to it. I just want people
to understand that, you know, I don't know how much we can say about
(40:39):
this, but are we supposed to look out for our neighbors and
our people around us? And we'd be so focused on the
world. Sometimes it's just the person next to you need help.
And, uh, I just try to remember that when I'm, you
know, out of having good things happen to me or if I'm going through
something, uh, to remember to, you know, there's
always someone out there that need a little bit more than you
(40:59):
need. And, uh, when I go out there and I get
to, I'm meeting these people and they
change my life, man, to the point where they know my name. So it's
crazy. So, um, it's just when I'm not
doing food, I'm doing food.
Yeah. So, to me, the dream is never
over. I really feel like I need to finish what I started.
(41:19):
And, um, it's not for
myself. It's just, I know if I finish it that it would.
It's definitely going to be something that will help the city
and definitely, uh, gonna help people around me and change,
uh, my family's life as well. Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (41:33):
Amen. Amen to that. Chef Ron, what a delight. Great to see
you. Food vision. Thank you so much for being here.
>> Ron Young (41:38):
Thank you.
>> Jaime Cerreta (41:40):
Thanks for listening to Jamie's local love, the podcast. I'm
your host, Jamie Seretta. Our technician is Tom
Heidenger. Our editors are Lorraine shearing
and Gina Coy. Make sure to subscribe and give us
a five star review, please. And tell your friends about the podcast
and the businesses we feature. To show your local
love, you can find us on Apple, YouTube,
Spotify, Amazon music, and anywhere you get your
(42:02):
podcasts.
>> Ron Young (42:03):
You're listening to Jamie's local love, uh, in
Arizona's family originals podcast.
You're listening to Jamie's local love, the podcast,
and Arizona's family originals
podcast.
>> Jaime Cerreta (00:10):
Hi, everybody. I'm your host, Jamie Seretta. On, um, this podcast,
we celebrate everything local. Our next
guest serves up delicious meals to some of the biggest
names in the valley. And guess what? He'll cook for you,
too. In fact, he's even cooked for me.
I want to introduce to you chef Ron Young of, uh,
foodvision. Chef Ron, hello. Good to see you
again.
>> Ron Young (00:30):
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
>> Jaime Cerreta (00:31):
I think of a picture I posted to instagram. I was sitting
at the base of, uh, Piestewa Peak, working on a
story at 4:30 in the morning, eating one of your meal prepped
meals. Tell me how you started cooking here in the
valley.
>> Ron Young (00:43):
Um, I started cooking in the valley. Uh, it
was 16, uh,
2016. I started cooking, uh, my brother,
ah, or close friend of mine, who I call my brother, was, uh,
a bodybuilder lifter. Ah, he was
getting ready for a physique show, and he was like, bro, you should do meal
prep. And I, um, was just like, nah. At that
(01:04):
time, I was just trying to, you know, just making food that, you know, we all
like to eat, you know, for fun. And, uh, he was like,
you should do the meal prep thing. And then we got into it.
Um, at the time, I think myfitfoods was at
that time, was the number one meal prep company. So I went
and checked them out and, um, you know, learned none of
them for a little bit and see how they were going until they had went through what
(01:24):
they went through, uh, towards the end. And, um,
after that, I would just. I set them all on the table, all the companies at the
time that were in the valley, and I said, oh, you
know, I'm gonna do this. I think I can, you know, focus
and get this done. So I executed it and been
consistent and, um, you know, it's been one person
at a time.
>> Jaime Cerreta (01:43):
And when we look at your instagram, yes, there are
celebs, big names. Go ahead and rattle some
off. Let's lead with a brag, chef Ronnie.
>> Ron Young (01:51):
Let's brag a little bit. So, you know, I've been able to cook for Kyler Murray,
which is our quarterback here for the cardinals. Uh, I've been able to
cook for Derrick Rose. Uh, I've been able to cook for, uh, Odell
Beckham multiple times. Um, even
people from the chiefs. I have a couple of chiefs players that I
cook for. Travis Kelsey. I wish Travis
Kelsey, um, took my instagram to the next level.
>> Jaime Cerreta (02:11):
Yeah, for sure, yeah.
>> Ron Young (02:12):
Ah, um, no, it's just a bunch of people, from
celebrities to singers, uh, to actors,
actresses, you know, Keisha Cole,
uh, the amigos music, soul child.
It's been quite a few people.
>> Jaime Cerreta (02:25):
And when we were chatting before,
how you got into this scene was one
person when you were working somewhere else? Tell
me this story.
>> Ron Young (02:34):
A lot of people remember me from the Nike store and
Victoria's, uh, secret at Arizona Mills mall. Uh,
since we're talking local. Arizona Mills mall. I used to work
there. And, uh, back in the day, this lady would come
in and her name at the time, I'm just gonna say miss
foster. Um, and, uh, she would come in
and talk, and we used to have great conversations. She
loved Nike, um, shoes. And she found out
(02:57):
I worked at Victoria secret. So we became friends because I think she wanted
to get some discount or something like that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (03:03):
She just liked your company.
>> Ron Young (03:04):
Yeah, she had them come in. No, no, she was really nice and she encouraged me.
And I used to, back in the day, I used to print out all these cards and
hand them out to people because everybody comes to those stores.
So, um, I used to hand them out to people and she used to
encourage me to keep doing that. And, uh, one day
she told me she was gonna have me come and cook for her and her family. And, uh,
she stood on business and had me come through. And
(03:24):
her husband ended up being, uh, Brian Erlocher,
which is a, ah, hall of fame linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
So, uh, it was just something that just happened. And after that,
me and him got to talking, went golfing,
and he introduced me to some more people. And from
there, I got to meet Dantrell Willis, Edwin Jackson,
Adam Jones, just, uh, a few names that have
(03:44):
played on the diamondbacks, uh, squad. And
just, um, met all these different people through him. And, uh, it's just been
a ride ever since Adam looked back.
>> Jaime Cerreta (03:52):
So just from talking, just communicating and being
kind to someone, leading with your kindness and
sharing your passion led to him talking
about you a whole lot and spreading your good name out and then
getting you more work.
>> Ron Young (04:05):
Yeah, that passion is very important. And the consistency,
I was real consistent about it. And I feel like
it wasn't really nothing I was saying. I think people were watching
me and how consistent I was and
determined to, uh, achieve that goal.
Um, and, you know, and it kind of just fell in my lap. The person I really
wanted to thank is this dude. And to this day, I still don't know
(04:25):
his name. Uh, but, uh, he used to own, I
think, one of the owners for sprinkles or the little cupcake joint. He used
to come in, like I said, everybody used to come in that Nike store looking
for, like, the new Nike outlet, looking for
Nike shoes or jordans. And he used to come in there all the time.
And he used to tell me all the. Give me step by step what I should do
to start a business.
>> Jaime Cerreta (04:44):
Oh, wow.
>> Ron Young (04:44):
And he wouldn't give me one step until I accomplished another.
And, um, the crazy thing, one of the steps was the last step
was finding a way on tv.
>> Jaime Cerreta (04:52):
Ah.
>> Ron Young (04:52):
And, you know, and that's how I ran, you know, with
my, you know, az, three family. And, uh, I met Scott
and Olivia and you and, uh,
you know, Javier at the time and all my. All those
people. And somehow he just mentioned that. And then, like,
that following two weeks later, I was in here with you
guys and first time meeting you guys. And, you know, I remember that
(05:13):
day. And, you know, after that, I did not see him no more after that.
Because when I stopped working at, uh, the Nike saw right
after that. And things started kind of falling into place.
And, um, it's just crazy. So, yeah, it is.
Communication, being kind. You never know who you're talking to and
who has a ticket for you. And, you know, you don't
know what higher power is in place at that time
(05:33):
for that person to be in your life. And you may
not get to know their names, but as long as you listen to what
they have for you, you never know what the golden ticket would be. And
I've been riding that wave ever since.
>> Jaime Cerreta (05:44):
What a beautiful story.
>> Ron Young (05:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (05:45):
Very layered with so many from. From
the man from sprinkles.
>> Ron Young (05:50):
Ah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (05:50):
Who gave you a direct, uh, task
to do every week, every month, and would not tell you
the next key. Almost sounds like a fairy tale. You do
not get the next key until you pass this test.
And then, um, when I met you,
you were already a friend of three tv. You
were someone who. You had been here a couple times. So how did
(06:11):
that initial meeting happen when you came in?
>> Ron Young (06:14):
This is a great story. Cause this includes, uh, someone,
uh, that's in my life. Uh, my best
partner, my pal, my best friend Amber. She
was. I, um, was invited
by these people to do a segment about a
caribbean festival because I was the head chef for a caribbean festival
coming up, uh, at that time. And,
(06:35):
uh, they invited me to come in and do some type of
food trick for them during this.
It was my first time even being up here. I didn't know what to do
at the time Amber was the one, the pr person who put
it together. And, um, when she
pulled up, and I would come walking out the thing,
and she was like, who are you? And I'm like, I'm
(06:55):
chef Ron. You know, like, you know, I'm here to cook the food. They didn't
tell me there was going to be a chef here today. And she was just
like, you know, she was just doing her thing, and she was like, you know what? Just stand
right here. And, um, she's just like, you know what? The segment,
since they want to have a chef farm, we gonna let this segment be focused on you.
And, um, that's when I got to meet Scott
and Olivia that day, and Scott did.
(07:15):
It went from Olivia straight to Scott. And then me and Scott were just
talking and messing around on the grill and
talking football, and all the stuff that I had done, I had. Was
doing before this. And, um, you know,
it was just. To this day, I don't know how it
happened. It just manifested. And,
um, I just. At that time, I got along with Scott, like,
right away. Me and him got, you know, linked up right away, uh,
(07:38):
uh, to the point where I think he was eating, uh, my ground
turkey on tv and called it sloppy Joe.
>> Jaime Cerreta (07:44):
I think he was, oh, I know that dish. I love that dish.
>> Ron Young (07:47):
I remember he was on tv, like, I love chef Ron
sloppy Joe. You get that? And I was like, no, not
sloppy Joe. Um, but, yeah, after that, it was just
relationship wise. And, um, like you said, being
kind and, uh, just being myself. And,
um, at that time, I was, uh, searching
for. For myself. I was looking for something
that was consistent, and I was minds. I was tired of
(08:09):
working, uh, for other people, and I
wanted something for myself. And, um, I
figured I made my mind up and figured this was going to
be my opportunity, and I just took it.
And, um, like I said, I'm still chasing it
to this day. Um, but as far as the
celebrities and stuff, uh, I wish there was, like, a
magical button you can push. Um, but
(08:31):
honestly, it's just being, like you said, being kind and
people just seeing my work, and, uh, you
know, my work speaks for itself, so my food
and everything speaks for itself, so.
>> Jaime Cerreta (08:41):
Yeah, well, now I'm thinking about that turkey, sloppy Joe, because that was my
favorite. That was my favorite meal. It was
indeed.
Uh, I want to back up to high school. Because you went to school here in the valley? Where'd you
go?
>> Ron Young (08:51):
I went to Highland high school in Gilbert. Um, I'm
a hawk. Uh, I went there, played football,
ran track, played basketball. Um.
Um, it was the best time. I feel like being there
was, uh, an opportunity at that time because
I was coming from another state at the time,
and being there kind, uh, of taught me about the
(09:11):
state and how, what I was getting ready to get into. And I
got to. I always knew
whatever I was going to do, I was coming back to Arizona to
finish it off, you know? And after m my time here, so.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:23):
Because you pursued football after school, right?
>> Ron Young (09:26):
Yeah, I pursued football. And, um, I went
to Mesa community college first. And, uh,
with coach Dunn. I don't know if a lot of people remember him.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:34):
Coach Dunn.
>> Ron Young (09:35):
Yeah, high coach Dunn, whoever. Coach Dunn. And,
uh, we won the championship. When I was there, I was playing running back.
And, uh, right after that year was over, I
went and got a scholarship at a university, uh, called Alabama. A and
m um, out in, uh, Huntsville, Alabama.
So, yeah, yeah. So I played football here through high
school into junior high. So, yeah,
(09:56):
my strings here are real strong.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:58):
It's good to be home, isn't it?
>> Ron Young (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (09:59):
And to be building something of your own in your
hometown. And you even had a, uh, learning disability at
some point. When was that noted? Like, when did that come to attention?
How did you know?
>> Ron Young (10:09):
Um, as soon as I got, uh, as soon as I got
into high school, I, um, had a.
I had a teacher named matter, ah, of fact, Doug Prentice,
uh, if you're out there, too, out here. Um, he was
my IEP teacher. Um,
he kind of noticed that things. I didn't
comprehend things or my attention span wasn't
(10:30):
equipped, uh, like normal kids. So, uh, he was also
my track coach to that, which also helped, um, he spent
a lot of time with me and, um, helped
me learn to be in a classroom setting and
be able to take notes. I might not be able to take them like other people,
but he was like, you can still function.
>> Jaime Cerreta (10:46):
Was it reading or what was it?
>> Ron Young (10:48):
Uh, for me, it was reading and comprehension, just, uh,
mixing up my words and stuff like that. But with
practice, we used to read a lot, and we just. He
felt like if I was just consistent and I did it enough
times, um, that I would get it, which kind of
transferred into everyday life for me anytime, um,
I need to understand something or learn something. He taught me to
(11:09):
go over it multiple times, and, um, I've
learned to be. It taught me to be patient with myself
and learn to ask for help, which a lot of people don't like to
do. And, um, just, you know,
it built a different level of confidence for me,
you know, it taught me how to learn differently, uh, just because I
don't comprehend something right away like everybody else does.
(11:30):
I just. I know it takes me a little bit more time,
but I call it the. As long as I get there,
to me, in my mind, as long as I get there, I don't need to get there right away.
I just need to get there with the right understanding.
And, uh, you know, he taught me that, and I just want
to thank Doug for that. Cause I probably wouldn't have got, through college.
All the things that I had come in my way and even in
(11:50):
business with contracts and everything was if it wasn't
for him teaching me to be confident in myself, to understand
that I don't need to be like everyone. To
get everything to the finish line. Yeah, to get to the finish line.
>> Jaime Cerreta (12:01):
And it sounds like once you're there, once I'm locked
in, it's been looked over. It's thorough, it's,
uh, to completion. And you think of, uh, as a chef,
you read recipes and create your own,
but that's a lot of reading and detail oriented.
And I love that he told you to be patient with yourself.
What a beautiful lesson.
>> Ron Young (12:20):
Yeah. And food, too. With food,
too. It taught me to be patient. Um, at
that time, uh, individually, as a person,
I was trying to find myself as a man, and I needed to find
some, um,
way to find my confidence in myself, in
what I wanted to do in anything.
(12:41):
And, uh,
that just showed me how to believe in myself in
spite of this, you know, circumstances.
And like I said, with my business and
everything like that, I try to walk with
confidence, but I don't like to go into things
until I'm prepared. And like I said, it kind of fell
(13:01):
into everything with me playing football. I was
always prepared, and I knew I needed to know these plays
before I even touched the field, because if I try to
learn it when everybody else is trying to learn it, then I'm always going to be
behind. So it always taught me to be ahead and
be ahead of what I'm getting ready to get into and be more
detail oriented and, uh, consistent in what I was
doing here.
>> Jaime Cerreta (13:21):
And then there's confidence in that preparedness. That preparedness, you
know, that you are, um, well armed with what
you'll need for that day.
When did you start cooking? Did you start cooking as a kid or what?
>> Ron Young (13:32):
I started cooking, uh, as a kid. Uh, my
mom. Food is, ah, big in my family, so if
we ever want to get along with each other, somebody just has to start cooking
and everybody pulls up. You know how food is. Food is the
glue in most families. Um,
yeah, I've been cooking since I was a kid. I've always been
interested in food. It wasn't really until I got to the junior
college and I was looking to take classes. To be honest with
(13:55):
you, I needed to take classes out of criminal justice
or something like that. And I was just like, oh, I could take these cooking
classes and I would get through, you know what I'm saying? I'll get
through the semester. And I got through it and
just took them. And when I got to the university, I was
just like, all right, what do I do now with this? And then I just started
cooking on campus because I saw that it was a need for
food at a certain point of the night.
(14:17):
And I started making plates, which is something that goes on in
my university now. Like, there's somebody that does it. Um,
every four years, there's somebody that starts cooking and selling plates
there. So, uh, it's something that's been going on for a while since I
wouldn't been there. And, um, you know, I just
was. At the time, it was just a hustle, but it ended
up turning into.
>> Jaime Cerreta (14:34):
Something, uh, so making plates, are you talking about late night snacks?
What kind of food are you talking about? Dinner.
>> Ron Young (14:39):
Before hibachi became hibachi, we were doing
stuff like that. So my mom came down, we both noticed it.
She went and got me a sack of rice and a George foreman
grill and a rice cooker. And, um, I
started taking steak, um, and chicken,
and I would take the sauces. And this is true
story, a basket. We used to get all this chinese food with all these
sauces and everybody would throw them in there. So I took all the
(15:02):
sauces, started messing around with them and mixed this
with that. And then I started using that as marinade. And,
um, I started making these chickens. Me and a couple of girls,
these haitian girls would, uh, help me out because I had to go to
practice sometimes. And we make these plates and we sold them for
$5. And I think the
kitchen, cafeteria and the school closed at like eight
(15:22):
or nine. After nine, it was just. Everybody was looking for
food. And before I know it, I was the place to
come to. Foster, uh, dorm to get food.
>> Jaime Cerreta (15:30):
Chicken and rice.
>> Ron Young (15:31):
Chicken and rice, yeah, as simple as that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (15:34):
Wow. And always so good.
>> Ron Young (15:36):
Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (15:37):
How cool did you think you would own your own
business?
>> Ron Young (15:41):
Um, after I finished my time at a and
m, uh, at the university, I felt
like if football didn't work out,
being in business was the next closest thing that
I would need to be successful
and, um, for myself. So I always knew I
wanted to have a business. I told myself before I turned 30, I wanted to
have a business, and I was able to pull it off by 26.
(16:04):
So I started
26 is when I committed solely on my business,
llc wise and everything. So, um, my goal
was just to make sure I had a business by the time I was 30. Before I was 30.
>> Jaime Cerreta (16:16):
So you beat it by four years. And what were you doing before you made
that jump into full time for yourself?
>> Ron Young (16:22):
I was working at different restaurants around the valley. I worked at Lolo's
chicken and wild foods back in the day. Uh, I worked at
pure sushi. Uh, uh, we used to work at
new zigglers, uh, which is New York, uh,
NYPD pizza back, they used to call zigglers back in the
day. Um, just a bunch of different
places I worked at. Like I said, the Nikes tour. Um,
I worked at Victoria's Secret. I worked at,
(16:44):
um, security. Uh, I did a bunch
of different things, trying to find my way. And
like I said, once I got into the food thing and I seen how
everything was moving, I saw how Lolo's was built up, and
I got to see the process, and I was just like, you know what? I can do this
myself. I can do this
myself, and I can cook. And so I was just, you know, it just
(17:04):
clicked, and I was like, this is what I need to be doing. And,
um, I just decided once I made that
decision, uh, which is hard for a lot of people to
do, is to trust themselves, and making a decision like that and
then walk it out and is the next
step after that, it's really hard. So I just made my mind up
like it was do or die type of situation. It was either
it's either going to happen or it's nothing. I just rolled the dice,
(17:26):
and it's been working since.
>> Jaime Cerreta (17:28):
We chatted about you being prepared and going through something
thoroughly. What did you go through before you made that
jump? Did you map out
what it would cost you to, how much you
needed to make a week? Did you map out kind of what that
finances?
>> Ron Young (17:43):
Um, I'm not going to say I was that thorough yet. I
had to learn to be that thorough. But, um, one of the things is,
I had a friend with mine who was really good with numbers, and I had asked him, I said,
yo, how much do you think if I'm selling my meals for this
amount? Like, how much. How many meals do you think I would have to
sell, um, to get to a
million dollars. And he said, I think at the time, it was like
88,000.7 something,
(18:06):
um, meals. And, um, I was like, cool,
then I'm gonna take it one meal at a time. It used to be my
quote. And my quote back in the day is like, one meal at a time.
Just as long as I got a person, I'm getting to that number.
So, you know, I remember when you told me that
from there, um, I
started building myself up in my confidence. And then
(18:26):
once I realized, okay, this is starting to work
out, you know, this is starting to work out. And,
uh, I started learning more and more
about business. But that's the next step. A lot of people need to
understand, too. I feel like you don't need to know
the business stuff right away. You just need to
get started. Cause you gotta work on yourself first and build your self
confidence in what you're doing first. Then from there, you can
(18:49):
make the transition and you make that transition into, all
right, making myself legitimate and making sure that everything
is in play. But you gotta have something going first before
you even, you know what I'm saying? You can commit to that. So
I always tell people to just start. If you would just
start and then just stay committed to it, you
can really learn and build and grow
(19:09):
along the way. So I've been literally building and
growing. If I had any advice for anybody, Washington,
if for anybody is I got hot so
fast, uh, that I wasn't prepared for what was
coming. I'm gonna say this. I remember we did, um,
a segment on a Sunday.
>> Jaime Cerreta (19:28):
Mhm.
>> Ron Young (19:28):
And, um, this was right when me and
Ember started working together. And, um,
she got me hooked up with the segment. And it was right after that segment I
got, like, I wanna say I got hit with like 50
calls.
>> Jaime Cerreta (19:40):
Oh, my.
>> Ron Young (19:41):
Like 50 something calls right after. And I remember sitting
there, I was happy. But a couple days
later, I was just like, oh, like I wasn't
prepared for.
>> Jaime Cerreta (19:50):
How do I feel this?
>> Ron Young (19:51):
How do I fulfill, like, all these people?
I'm only one person. And, you know, I always
tell people, take your time. You don't need to, you know, things are gonna
happen when it's supposed to happen. And, um,
just because you think it should be going so fast,
so quick, don't mean you always ready for that. Sometimes it's
best to just let things just naturally
(20:11):
just create itself, you know? And along
the way, you start getting better. So, like, things that I went through
before is nothing I would go through now.
Obviously. Cause I'm more prepared, and I know how this
goes. A lot of people don't know. I started cooking out of
my apartment for those that used to
get food, uh, for me back in the beginning. I think back in,
uh, I shouldn't say this, but this lady wrote on my yelp,
(20:33):
getting food from chef Ron. It was like doing a
deal, and I hope
that I printed that out. I printed that out and put it
in my condo, and, uh, I look at it every
day.
>> Jaime Cerreta (20:45):
What was your response when you saw that?
>> Ron Young (20:47):
I just laughed. We laughed. And I was just
like, I couldn't be mad at her. Cause it felt like that. So I was like, oh,
you know, I just took it as a learning
lesson, and I smile about it. That's why I hold it up, to
remind me of how things were in the
beginning and, um, to where I am right now that, you
know. And, uh, you know, I like to hold on to
stuff like that. I don't think. I didn't take it as, like, a loss. I took
(21:10):
it as, like, it was so good.
>> Jaime Cerreta (21:12):
You're gonna go get it?
>> Ron Young (21:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was like, regardless, I'm coming to get it.
>> Jaime Cerreta (21:15):
It's good.
>> Ron Young (21:15):
Like, you know, but still, at the same time, you.
You know, I didn't know. I didn't really care about
reputation at the time until I met Ambry. And Amber started teaching me
about, uh, the importance of reputation
and everything like that and why I needed to do
things, you know, the right way, get myself
organized. I wasn't really paying attention. I was just so focused on the
hustle, uh, that I didn't, you know,
(21:37):
I tell my friends, I was like, you can hustle all day, but, you know, if the hustle
ain't matching the growth, then you're just gonna be
stuck. And, um, I
needed to grow, so I took, you know, sometimes you gotta
fall back yourself and give yourself some time to
reorganize. Yeah, yeah. Catch up with yourself and then put
yourself back out there. Uh, one thing that I've had felt like
(21:57):
I've done, um, better than most
is, uh, I've been consistent
and, um, I've been, uh,
determined and, um. Um, my PR
has been crazy how I've been able to promote myself
naturally and without having to come out of pocket
and, um, just building the right relationships
and being at the right places at the right time and meeting the right
(22:19):
people, um, and just being
consistent on social media. I want to make sure I shout
out, Instagram, TikTok. All of it's
been good. To me, if you use it the right way. And, um,
I've been able to use it the right way and make a name for myself
through.
>> Jaime Cerreta (22:34):
How did you learn how to do that?
>> Ron Young (22:36):
I didn't. I just started literally, uh, I think I
had, uh. I, um, want to
say in 2015 to
16, I probably only had maybe 900
followers just naturally
on my own. And, um, you know, from
each. I worked each and every day. I remember I used to
post so much, which I still post a lot,
(22:58):
still m more, probably more now. Um, but I remember Amber
used to be like, yo. Because I had multiple pages on both these
sites, and she'd be like, man, you posting is annoying.
And I like, you know, your posters are annoying. Like, it's
just the same thing all the time. And I had, in my mind, I
said, well, I always felt like,
you know, everybody has their different avenues. I always felt like social
(23:18):
media for me was like, 24 hours tv.
>> Jaime Cerreta (23:20):
Yeah.
>> Ron Young (23:21):
And I figured if I kept playing it like those forge
commercials for Jingo, like, if I played it, I
don't never drunk it, you know what I'm saying? But I know the song, you know, I
know the jingle, I know what it looks like. I could tell you everything about
it, but, uh, I've never tried it,
you know, but I figured if I just
consistently throw the logo, the
brand, the food
(23:43):
constantly at, uh, people, eventually it'll
catch on and they'll get familiar with it and stuff
like that. So I just. I learned all I had to do is get
past how people felt about it, you know? And then
once I got past what people think, then I was just like, all right, let
me brand myself and let me be. Branding is
annoying.
>> Jaime Cerreta (24:01):
You know, I'm a sucker for that. I'll say, oh,
this food was stalking me on
Instagram. Now, food vision. Food vision. What is
food? Now I'm down the rabbit hole looking to
see what's food vision? And so for people
who are listening to this, let's tell them what kind of. What kind of meals can they get?
What kind of meal prep? What kind of. You're a private chef as well, so you'll
come do a party. Tell me about. Let's start with the. The meal
(24:24):
prep. What do you do?
>> Ron Young (24:25):
All right, well, before I can start by the meal prep, how meal prep got
created, uh, I started feeding. Once I
started, uh, making a little coin. A, um, lot of people don't
know I've been, uh, working with Cass.
Um, and I, um, was working with the
homeless veterans, and I used to give them I used to make them
food first. That's how the meals end up in the
(24:46):
containers that they're in. I was making them food first. Uh,
and then from there, I was just like, okay, this works.
And really was able to practice on them and
at the shelter. And then I kind of took it from there.
And then I started, um, pushing the meals. But,
um, meal prep.
You can get meal prep for me. You can do catering for me.
(25:07):
You can book me personally. You can book chevron personally
yourself. Uh, we fly out the country. We
fly, uh, to other states. Um, I've
been able to cook all over, and it's not
too much. Nothing. I cannot cook. I like to be
challenged. And, um, that's one of the reasons. Reasons why
I took on the job about traveling overseas is cause I get to sit down with
other chefs when I'm out there and learn from them.
(25:30):
Um, that experience alone has been a, uh,
while in my cooking because it's changed a lot
of my style of cooking and
finding healthier ways to give people food. Cause in other countries,
we don't, you know, a lot of people don't pay attention to how people eat
out there and different ways of how they eat. And, um,
I'm just taking all these different experiences and, um,
(25:50):
putting them into my food and then sharing it with people. I think
that's why I've been able to be more consistent with my food.
You never get the same thing. It's always different. I'm always testing the waters and
taking it to the next level and trying to get people to try different
things in a different style. Um, but yeah, you can
get anything from me on all my platforms, on AZ's
dopeshef page, on Instagram or foodvision
(26:11):
meals, uh, uh, for meal preps.
Or you can even go to my website, uh,
www.foodvisionmills.com, and it'll
show you everything that we do on my website. When it comes to
food. Um, my goal is to create a
website, uh, that can weaken, at least
locally, we do all things food. So you can
get any type of format of food, uh,
(26:33):
from that site, in that
location. And myself or any one of my
chefs will go out there and help you
in the handling business.
>> Jaime Cerreta (26:42):
And you mentioned you're learning from other chefs and traveling
the world. You've been traveling with some
athletic teams. Tell me what's going on here.
>> Ron Young (26:51):
Yeah, I have a friend that's a, uh, basketball coach overseas, and, uh, me and
him got together, got to, and he was like, man, I'm tired of eating
this food out here, and, you know, we go to all these different
countries, and some ain't got no good food. And, you know,
I got a couple american dudes I need. They need food. So he
was just like, let me talk to my people and see if you can get going with
us when we do the multiple, uh, country runs.
(27:12):
Country run.
>> Jaime Cerreta (27:12):
Yeah, let's go.
>> Ron Young (27:13):
So, uh, we did that, and, um, he got me
on, and, uh, I've been flying out with them when they go to different,
uh, countries, and I've been able to cook with them for a couple weeks, and
then I come home. Um,
it's a fun experience. Like I said, I get to meet new people.
I got friends overseas now that I didn't have
before. And food, um, wise, it's crazy
(27:33):
because you realize food is different
other places. And just the
way I fry chicken is different now because, uh,
one of the things here, uh, in the states, we
use a lot of milk or eggs as
base for chicken. And, um,
other countries, they don't use those. It's just
(27:54):
simple. Little bit of water. Like cold water.
Really, really cold water. Uh, then, you know,
season your flour, and then you just make, like, a, um,
milky texture to the
thing. Throw it in there with the chicken like
that. Let that marinade, and then take a little bit more of that
flour and then double bread it
(28:15):
again. And then, you know, just. It's how. It's
just. It's just different ways of doing it. Before, I was using eggs,
milk, and doing all these different things and,
um, being out there, I'm like, oh, there's a healthier way of doing this and still
being able to, you know, not use all those things that
they say that we have to use.
>> Jaime Cerreta (28:31):
Well, America gets such a bad rap for how we
eat and what is in our food. That must
be such eye opening knowledge and information as
a chef.
>> Ron Young (28:40):
Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (28:41):
To travel the world and with athletes.
>> Ron Young (28:43):
Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (28:43):
So they're gonna have specific requests and diets and
needs.
>> Ron Young (28:46):
Yeah. And then you gotta know that the grocery stories are different out
there. Um, you gotta find stuff. I
remember I was in, uh, Thailand, and I had.
They wanted french toast, and I was just like, man, ah. Like,
Amara's like, I need that frosting, the frosting and
everything on there. I. Bro. So I'm gonna go
to store. I'm saying s***. You know, just normally, I'm like, I'm, um, going to store. I know what to
(29:06):
grab. I get there, you know,
obviously, everything's a different language.
>> Jaime Cerreta (29:11):
Yeah.
>> Ron Young (29:12):
At the same time, I'm like, okay, what is
the word for brown sugar? You know what I'm saying? Like, so we
sitting there on the phone trying to figure it out. Everybody's, like, running in
the store, they're trying to find stuff. And, uh, you made a
thing out of it. But it's always fun because, you
know, I had to be creative and I had to make. They
don't use normal sugar that we use here.
(29:32):
So we had the use.
I couldn't find it, so we had to use m. Uh,
we used to end up using um. Or I end up using
um. Was it. I don't say,
um, those things called when you make your
s'mores, uh, marshalls
marshmallows.
>> Jaime Cerreta (29:51):
Yes.
>> Ron Young (29:52):
I melted that. Yeah, I had to get creative with
that, and I melted it. Made a little sauce for me and a little,
you know, using that. And, um, that was fun.
Um, but like I said, being creative and using what
you have and is one of the
things I love about cooking. Cause I grew up, uh,
with, uh, my brothers and my mom,
and being with single mom, sometimes she's at work and
(30:15):
you gotta be creative and make, you gotta make stuff. And I love
that idea of just being,
this is what all you have now. You gotta make the
best meal you could possibly make out of that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (30:25):
You were like, on a food network challenge for yourself.
Did they like the french toast?
>> Ron Young (30:31):
I might have to show you a picture. They loved it.
>> Jaime Cerreta (30:34):
Um, so for folks who might be wanting to get into the meal
plan thing, they could do that. They can get all over your website, find
out and then select what they like. What about someone who
has a party coming in town? Or
I've seen the drizzle of the honey with the
fried chicken and the bachelorette party. You do big events,
too.
Tell me about the private chef events you do in town and how people
(30:54):
might be. It might serve their need.
>> Ron Young (30:56):
So, um, first off, for meal
prep, like she said, you can go to the website. There's a whole
thing list. Uh, we not like normal meal prep
companies, where you have a set meal, how everything's
set. You literally can go on there on a cart and put your
meals together yourselves. Um, that's one of the best things
I feel like, that we offer, uh, compared to other companies,
(31:17):
is we give you a choice to kind of put together
your own meals. Um, but as far as the
catering, uh, booking me individually, it's the
experience that we have is what we call food vision experience. You get
to come in. Chef Ron comes myself, and we
come and, um, you know, perform and have
fun. And I like food is
about being together and family and having a good time.
(31:39):
And that's the part that I love about the catering part. And
my clients, I know that they book me, not just
always because of my food. It's always the energy and the experience
and having fun.
>> Jaime Cerreta (31:49):
They want to meet Chef Ron.
>> Ron Young (31:50):
Yeah, they want to meet Chef Ronnie. Be fun, and we have a good
time with it. And I involve people and allow
them to be in the kitchen with me. And, you know, if they want to help me
or, um, if they just want to sit around a lot of part time, they,
like, just pull up a chair and just want to ask me questions
and ask, uh, me how I got into this
and what do I like about it and things like that. And,
(32:10):
um, one of the things I love, too, is, um,
we were talking about celebrities is a lot of times when I do these catering events,
I never know who I'm cooking for.
>> Jaime Cerreta (32:18):
Oh, my.
>> Ron Young (32:19):
So a lot of times, oh, celebrities
always use fake names. They don't ever use their, their
regular name. So you, you know, you might be talking to their girlfriend
or somebody, you know. And, uh, so I. A lot of times
I'd be walking into stuff, and I remember one time,
um, I had Amber usually have her going first, and
she went in to give him the rundown, let them know that
Chevron is coming. She's the hype man.
(32:41):
She's the ultimate hype person. And she let him know Chef
Ron has come in. And, um, she,
uh, when she said that, she comes out, she said, yo, Derry
Rose is sitting on the couch. I was like, what do you mean, Derry
Rose? He just sitting on the couch. And I was like, oh, uh, he's waiting to be
fed, so you never know what you're walking
into. So I try to treat everybody the same, you know, no matter if
(33:02):
you are a celebrity or a person,
that just is, you know, I have a story that I
do have. And why I'm saying this is because,
uh, you know, I don't want people to think they can't book me
because, you know, it looks like all I do is cook for
celebrities. Um, I remember one time I had a family,
um, this lady, uh, that lives in the south side, and,
um, she kept telling me, like, I'm gonna have you cook for me and my family one
(33:25):
day. And, you know, I get that a lot. So I'd be like, yeah,
you know, just let me know. I'm ready.
>> Jaime Cerreta (33:29):
Ah.
>> Ron Young (33:29):
And she finally, she pulled the trigger. And I remember getting to the house
you know, you could tell they were good family, and they work hard,
uh, big family. And I remember getting there and, uh, just
to keep it 100. Her husband was not happy that she paid the
amount of money that she had paid to have me there. And I remember
he just wouldn't come out the room, and, um. Um, you
know, at the time, you know, I could feel some way about it, or I can just
(33:50):
give that same love and energy that I always give and, you
know, make everybody, you know, feel comfortable and everything like that. And,
uh, you know, I just, you know, instead of trying to
convince anybody, I just figured, I'll just cook and do what I do best.
And I remember at the end of it and him coming to me, and it was
like, you know, this was, like, the best. You
know, this is the best experience I had with my family.
(34:11):
And I remember them. They took, you
know, I don't know how to describe it. I don't want to talk about their family like that. But,
you know, they have a whole lot, but they literally just took every table they had
and just put it on the thing, and they had their whole family come and sit at the table, and
I'm treating them just like I would treat Odell Beckham or, you
know, just anybody. And, uh, I just remember him
coming to me and be like, bro, I had a good time giving me a hug
(34:32):
and saying, this wasn't, you know, it was worth it. And, you
know, just having his family like that. And, um, you
know, his kids were excited. Cause they knew some of the people
I cooked for, and, um, they really, you know, that has
changed my life, and that's what I do. And I'm really in this.
Cause I love what I do. It don't matter the size
of it. It can be one person, it can be two, it can be 100, it
(34:52):
can be 500, it can be a thousand. Either way it
goes, you know, um, either way, I'm gonna cook the same way.
It's the same energy. Um, food saved my life.
It gave me a second chance at chasing
something and having.
>> Jaime Cerreta (35:05):
Because of football.
>> Ron Young (35:06):
Yeah. Yeah. Cause football was my initial dream.
And to a lot of athletes, can admit to this,
like, you know, when you realize that's over, it's
a tough time. That first
year is real tough. And, um, to be able
to get out of that funk and to
find myself in something else and,
uh, is. I take pride in it. So I
(35:29):
genuinely take pride in what we do. Um, we worked
hard. Uh, even when Amber got on with
me and she made a huge commitment and committed to
my company and being a part of my team and,
um, you know, and being my business partner. Just, uh,
all of it is all, you know, I know it's
God sent, and God put all these opportunities, so I don't,
(35:49):
I don't take them for granted, you know? So anyway, it. No
matter who you are and, you know, if you want food for me, you're gonna get the
same love and energy. No matter if you live in a mansion
or you live in a three bedroom house or, you know
what I'm saying? I'll live in a condo or an apartment, you know, you get the same
energy, so.
>> Jaime Cerreta (36:04):
Well, thank you for ignoring the tears down my face. There
was such a beautiful story about that family, and I bet they
are still talking about
that time together when they got to really treat their
family.
>> Ron Young (36:16):
Those are my biggest supporters. People like that are my biggest
supporters, and I know that, and I don't, you
know, even for me sometimes, and I want to say this
now, I don't know what it cameras is sometimes when I'm at Walmart or at
fries or, you know, and people come to me and be
like, hey, man, I love your food, and I love what you do
and just keep doing it. And, you know, I want to say
(36:36):
thank you to those people because I don't really have a platform like that,
uh, outside of social media, to say, you know,
thank you. But, uh, it's been a journey. A lot of people don't
realize I've been doing this a very long time. There's even
steps wherever, um, people remember me
being at those la fitnesses, handing out samples when
nobody knew who I was. And, um, sometimes I post about
(36:57):
stuff like that and people leave a comment. I know one of them
is, uh, one of Amber's really close friends, and his,
uh, I think it was his auntie or cousin. Uh,
they got a video of her getting sampled from me, and she had passed
away, but his family was like, yo, we remember that.
And just hearing people like, bro, just keep
going, we see. Thank you for posting that
(37:18):
about my uncle.
>> Jaime Cerreta (37:18):
So, as people say, keep going.
What is next for chef Ron? You wanted me.
Now, plans for the future.
>> Ron Young (37:24):
Yes, plans for the future. Um, is,
um, you know, I want to create a
restaurant, uh, an atmosphere, an experience for
people that's different from what they're used to
out here. I feel like people are heavy on
ambiance or some extra excitement,
and, uh, I think we get away from the
food sometimes, and, you know, and everybody, I think, is
(37:47):
in a race of trying to be the landmark for Arizona. When it comes
to food, I just want to create an atmosphere and
energy for people where the food, the
music, the art, everything that goes into it, it all
matches. And it's just something where people are leaving
there, um, how that man felt about me
just leaving my experience and being m like, yo, this was,
(38:07):
I came and talk. It's nothing you really talk
about. You just got to go and experience, and, um, that's what
I'm working on right now. And, uh, I got a couple of investors.
I, uh, want to get into the fine dining area, and I
feel like right now we already have enough chicken and waffle
spots, and no disrespect to them or brunch
spots. Um, I just want to. I feel like
(38:27):
this is a time for someone like myself to be able to get
into the arena of fine dining
and, um, being able to own a
restaurant, uh, of that
caliber, uh, and be able to be something
that's arizona made of, um, from the ground
up. And people to know, uh, you know, I was
once, uh, you know, which it won't be hard for me to do because
(38:49):
literally what I'm doing right now, when I go do the catering and
stuff like that, I consider that door to door, and I'm just
introducing myself to everyone. So when it's time for me to open up
something, it won't for me. I
want to be there. So
come experience my dream and, uh, my
vision and my purpose, and, um,
(39:09):
you know, I can't wait for that. And for people that got my
food from the very beginning to the people getting my
food now. Cause sometimes people are looking at you, uh, where you're at right
now and don't understand where you came from. And
sometimes I'm looking in the mirror still looking at that same guy that was
working at Nike, just like, yo, I need to. I'm gonna do
this. I'm gonna make this happen. Yeah,
(39:29):
it's weird like that.
>> Jaime Cerreta (39:30):
Sometimes a little kid still very much is in there.
And all those words that you said before about
getting your reps in, about consistency, about
preparedness, about being thorough, about, uh, treating
people with kindness, about the people first, all
who you were as a little kid. And now you get to build that as a
businessman and a restaurateur.
So stay tuned. We will.
(39:52):
What are you loving in Arizona when you're not cooking? What are you eating?
What are you drinking? What are you doing? What are you.
>> Ron Young (39:58):
I'm a creature of habit. So, um, I'm
up there with, like, Kobe and Jordan. I'm obsessed with what I do. So
I'm always cooking, I'm always working. I'm always looking
for the next opportunity. I'm always looking for people to
bless and help out. Uh, what I do like to do,
though, when I'm not cooking like that, is I
like to cook and I like to feed people in my neighborhood. So
(40:18):
I go out every weekend, um, when I have
a free day, um, for those that do know, I
go to, I just go through my neighborhood and there's a lot of,
you know, I go down Phoenix and I just feed homeless
people. And, um, I, you know, I try to
do it. You know, there's no secret to it. I just want people
to understand that, you know, I don't know how much we can say about
(40:39):
this, but are we supposed to look out for our neighbors and
our people around us? And we'd be so focused on the
world. Sometimes it's just the person next to you need help.
And, uh, I just try to remember that when I'm, you
know, out of having good things happen to me or if I'm going through
something, uh, to remember to, you know, there's
always someone out there that need a little bit more than you
(40:59):
need. And, uh, when I go out there and I get
to, I'm meeting these people and they
change my life, man, to the point where they know my name. So it's
crazy. So, um, it's just when I'm not
doing food, I'm doing food.
Yeah. So, to me, the dream is never
over. I really feel like I need to finish what I started.
(41:19):
And, um, it's not for
myself. It's just, I know if I finish it that it would.
It's definitely going to be something that will help the city
and definitely, uh, gonna help people around me and change,
uh, my family's life as well. Yeah.
>> Jaime Cerreta (41:33):
Amen. Amen to that. Chef Ron, what a delight. Great to see
you. Food vision. Thank you so much for being here.
>> Ron Young (41:38):
Thank you.
>> Jaime Cerreta (41:40):
Thanks for listening to Jamie's local love, the podcast. I'm
your host, Jamie Seretta. Our technician is Tom
Heidenger. Our editors are Lorraine shearing
and Gina Coy. Make sure to subscribe and give us
a five star review, please. And tell your friends about the podcast
and the businesses we feature. To show your local
love, you can find us on Apple, YouTube,
Spotify, Amazon music, and anywhere you get your
(42:02):
podcasts.
>> Ron Young (42:03):
You're listening to Jamie's local love, uh, in
Arizona's family originals podcast.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.