February 20, 2024 • 40 mins
I ended up getting on [The Great American Baking Show] which was crazy... went over to London and shot for six weeks and just had the time of my life. When I got home I was like, I don't want to go back to doing hair. I feel like this is my actual calling, like this is what I should be doing. And it was from that moment on that I kind of started transitioning my hair clients into food clients. - Chris Tucker
Join us on a delectable journey with Chris Tucker, the vegan baking maverick who whisked his way from hairstyling to the heart of the culinary scene.
In this candid conversation, Chris unveils his transformation, sharing stories of his grandmother's influence, the rush of competing on The Great American Baking Show, and the birth of 'Betta with Butter'.
His personal anecdotes extend beyond the kitchen, touching on his path to veganism and the importance of embracing one's true self.
This episode is a feast for the ears, seasoned with tips for veganizing desserts and Chris's adventures from his TV debut to crafting plant-based delights for the stars. The aroma of charity work fills the air as we explore his contributions to PETA and community fridges, and the sweetness of his global Cake Initiative.
Chris's story is a testament to following your passion and the joy of finding fulfillment in unexpected places.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Tucker (00:00):
And so I went through this submission process,
ended up getting on the showwhich was crazy got on the bake
off, went over to London andshot for six weeks and, you know
, just had the time of my life,had never been to the UK, and
when I got home I was like Idon't want to go back to doing
hair.
I feel like this is my actualcalling, like this is what I
(00:22):
should be doing, and it was fromthat moment on that I kind of
started transitioning my hairclients into food clients.
So I started doing baby showersand making cakes for people's
birthdays.
Ella Magers (00:39):
Hey there and welcome to Rise and Thrive with
me, ella Majors.
I created this high vibepodcast from a place of profound
curiosity, fierce compassionand the deep desire to connect
you with the wisdom ofinspirational wellness, health,
fitness and conscious leadersand change makers.
Here's to discovering our blindspots and embracing life as the
(01:01):
adventure it is.
The time is now.
Let's do this.
Hey, hey everyone, ella hereand I just need to say that I
feel so damn lucky to be able toconnect with so many
fascinating, unique andauthentic human beings by
(01:23):
hosting this show, and I reallycouldn't be more grateful to be
able to share these powerful andplayful conversations with you.
Today's episode is no exception.
I can't wait for you to get toknow Chris Tucker, a Southern
chef at heart who is dedicatedto making luxurious baked goods
(01:43):
and succulent meals withoutharming animals.
Chris is all over the media andin the celebrity scene.
You can see him on the judgingpanel of Pealed, the first all
vegan culinary cookingcompetition show, and he's
appeared on countless daytimeprograms such as Inside Edition,
california Live and ABC's Onthe Red Carpet.
(02:05):
He was featured in CosmopolitanMagazine for Pride Month and
provided vegan desserts forElton John's Oscar party and
Stephen Tyler's Grammy party.
How cool is that?
As a private chef in LosAngeles, chris believes he can
influence people to incorporatemore plant-based meals into
their daily diets by showingthem how simple and delicious it
(02:27):
can be.
With charity at his core, chrisis constantly partnering with
organizations like PETA and theHumane League, while continuing
to look for other ways to joinforces with local and national
organizations to bring a smileand resources to people,
community and causes in need.
We both dive into his incrediblestory and also get some
(02:49):
practical tips for veganizingdessert recipes in this episode.
So, without further ado, let'sdo this.
Chris, it's so great to haveyou here.
I feel like I already know you.
I mean, when I'm like doing theprep for these things, I'm like
, oh my god.
And then we know Shabnam.
I mean, yeah, any friend ofours is a friend of mine.
Chris Tucker (03:12):
Yeah, we have a lot of people in the same circle
, so thanks for having me.
Ella Magers (03:16):
Yeah, my pleasure.
How actually do you knowShabnam so?
Chris Tucker (03:20):
Shab and the vet.
The three of us kind of becamereally close only a little over
a year ago, which is kind ofcrazy, because we did a project
together called Pealed, which isthe first all-vegan culinary
cooking competition show, and wejust kind of bonded really
quick on set and then once weleft set, we just we were like
(03:42):
okay, so like let's stayconnected and we just started
doing like Instagram content andjust like became family really
quick and it just stuck andwe've been really close ever
since.
Ella Magers (03:54):
That's amazing because I would have never
guessed it had only been a year,because I see your content all
together.
And you know, when I met her, Imet Shabin last June at the
Vegan Women's Summit for thefirst time, but we had a mutual
friend who else is in LA and herand I just hit it off
immediately so she's been onthis show.
And then when I asked her foran intro for Babette, she's like
(04:16):
oh well, don't you know aboutChris?
And I'm like well, yeah, let'sget him on too.
So yeah, it's like a familyaffair.
Yeah, that's kind of reallyjust work.
Chris Tucker (04:25):
Yeah, and that's kind of how we are.
We're like, oh well, if you'redoing that, then we should all
do that too, and we're just kindof like always just trying to
support each other.
And I think it's weird, thoughlike in the vegan space, when
you meet people, youautomatically kind of start at a
level that you don't with otherpeople normally, or even before
I was vegan, you would meetpeople and you don't have that
(04:47):
baseline connection, right.
But when you're in the veganspace, you're starting off with
like so many similarities.
It's very easy to connect, butI feel like the three of us
connect in a different way.
Yeah, yeah.
Ella Magers (04:59):
No, it's interesting.
You said that because, well youknow, I turned vegetarian at
the age of seven and vegan at 15, I'm 43 now and my whole life I
kind of felt like there wassomething wrong with me and my
inability to really connect withpeople.
And it wasn't until now thatI'm just in all these vegan
circles that I'm like you knowwhat?
There is something reallybonding about just this lens
(05:22):
through which we see the world.
That do you know what I mean?
Chris Tucker (05:26):
Totally.
Ella Magers (05:26):
Did things shift for you in terms of you know how
you related to people once youwent vegan?
How did that?
Chris Tucker (05:34):
It's interesting, I think, like when I first went
vegan, I really probably didn'tpay.
It's weird because a lot ofpeople when they first go vegan,
they're like they're angry,right, Like the angry vegans.
They want everyone around themto go vegan right away.
And I don't think for me it wasreally like that.
I think I was probably verysimilar to you, where I was
(05:57):
already vegetarian.
The dairy was the last thingthat I was kind of holding on to
, and I had transitioned fromthe South, and so we ate a lot
of chicken, a lot of barbecue.
You know, we ate a lot of meat.
So for me, I stopped eatingthose things at a younger age,
just for health reasons.
I was very overweight as a kid,and so I remember going to the
(06:19):
doctor and the doctor being like, oh you know, your weight was
240 pounds or 220 pounds, andI'm like I was in eighth grade,
I'm like that's not right.
And so you know it was at thatpoint that I was like okay, I'm
going down to chicken and fish.
You know, cut out red meat, cutout pork, and I kind of started
(06:40):
my journey then.
Right, it took me a long timeto get to where I am now, but I
don't think that I went intothat like angry vegan stage
until a little bit further down,which I've only been vegan for
about five years, and so for meI'm probably in a little bit of
that angry vegan stage now, butI don't really ever put it out
(07:00):
there, right, I get kind ofangry in my brain and in my
spirit, like I'm like why don'tyou guys see what I see?
all of the science is there.
Especially nowadays Like now,it's so easy to look at the
science.
20 years ago we had none ofthese scientific reviews that
were going on.
We had done the evidence toback up.
You know what the crazy veganswere saying.
(07:20):
But now all of the science isthere, and so for me I'm just
like just watch this documentaryand you know, make your own
choices after that.
You know, I think, when it comesto finding that alignment with
people, as long as people arewilling to listen, I think
that's fine.
Like, if people are open tolistening and making small
changes, that's kind of all Iask of them.
(07:42):
Like, if you can stop consumingmeat three times a day and
maybe you swap a plant baseddish in once a day for one of
those meals and you start there,cool, I'm not going to yell at
you, you know from my pedestalif you're making changes,
because a lot of people, I feellike, just don't want to make
any changes.
They don't want to make anysacrifice, and we live in a
(08:03):
world right now where there's somuch suffering an animal level,
a human level, especially anenvironmental level where we all
have to make a little bit ofchange somehow.
Ella Magers (08:14):
Right For the good of the collective, like even not
thinking about animals forthose who aren't quite connected
there.
But all right, yes, and I wantto dive into some parts of your
story and I want to talk aboutyour entrepreneurial journey,
because that's always ofinterest to me.
I'm being an entrepreneur.
But first I have a littlelightning round.
Are you up for it?
Okay, yeah of course, all right.
What's your go-to vegan butter?
(08:34):
Milkos.
I knew you were going to saythat A fun fact or quirk that
most people may not know aboutyou.
Chris Tucker (08:41):
I was a hairstylist for eight years.
That's what I did, okay.
Ella Magers (08:45):
What are three of your healthiest habits?
Chris Tucker (08:49):
Three of my healthiest habits.
If I commit to something, Ialways follow through.
If I don't want to do somethinglike go on a hike or go to, you
know, pilates class, which arepretty much my two forms of
physical activity If I don'twant to do them, those are the
days that I definitely go dothem, because that means that I
need them.
What's the third one?
(09:10):
I try to incorporate as manyplants into my daily diet as
possible, and so I know thatmight sound kind of crazy
because I'm vegan, but you canbe vegan and eat completely no
plants at all during the day,and I know that's probably crazy
too, but yeah, I try to eat asmuch like, as many like living
things throughout the day aspossible.
Ella Magers (09:31):
Love it.
What's your biggest challengewhen it comes to being your
healthiest, happiest self atthis point?
Chris Tucker (09:39):
Probably getting off my ass, off my phone and
outside.
That's probably my biggestthing.
Ella Magers (09:46):
What's a pet peeve or something that is a little
triggering to you?
Chris Tucker (09:51):
Wildly enough.
Being in the food space, Ican't stand hearing people eat
like the sound of people's likefood moving through their mouth,
while they're like salivatingand stuff Not for me.
Ella Magers (10:02):
There's a word for that and I was interviewing Tony
Okamoto and she has that toobecause I was asking her how to
eat ramen noodles, because sheloves ramen.
I'm like, oh my God, every timeI eat ramen it's like a
disaster zone, you know.
And she said she's got thatsame thing and there's a name
for it, and I can't think of it,you don't know, do you?
Chris Tucker (10:19):
Yeah, it's actually a thing where you don't
like certain sounds from abunch of different things, right
?
So it could definitely be thefood thing, but there's like an
actual disorder.
My friend has it.
Ella Magers (10:30):
Oh, wow, okay, Learn something new.
Alright, last one.
It's your last day on earth.
What do you eat as your finalmeal, including your dessert?
Chris Tucker (10:39):
Mmm, I would probably have some delicious
pizza for sure, and then fordessert I probably want some
type of really scrumptious cake.
Ella Magers (10:48):
Yeah, Flavor Are you chocolate or vanilla?
Chris Tucker (10:53):
I'm kind of open with flavor.
Yeah, I'm very versatile whenit comes to flavor.
I'm not like hardcore sold-onchocolate, but I would never
push it away and then, like Icould do a fruity flavor, but I
could also.
I'm kind of like a pretty basic, like give me a vanilla cake
with a nice filling, and I'msold on that too.
Ella Magers (11:10):
All right, all right.
And are you a frosting lover?
Do you like the frosting partor the cake part?
Chris Tucker (11:14):
Cake part.
I'm a minimal frosting.
Yeah, minimal frosting.
Ella Magers (11:18):
Yeah, okay, good to know.
All right, that was fun.
All right, I want to talk aboutyour journey to better with
butter, which I love saying.
I'm sure you hear that a lot.
And first of all, I know you'rekind of love or passion for
food started young, and did youcall your grandmother Mimi?
I did so.
I did too.
My Mimi died just a year ago, aday before her 100 first
(11:39):
birthday, and she was afirecracker to the day she died.
She was amazing, so it must besomething in the name.
Must be something in the nameBecause, yeah, so you kind of
found your interest in food andwhen you were young, how did
that progress and turn into anactual business?
Because that came much later.
You thought you were going tobe a hairstylist or you were,
(12:02):
but that's where you thoughtyou're going.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and the journey to LA?
Chris Tucker (12:07):
Yeah.
So I had both sets ofgrandparents, my mom's parents.
Mimi, she taught me everythingI know about baking and I was
kind of the only grand kid thatwas actually in the kitchen with
her, like ever reallyinterested in it, and so it was
a lot of time where just her andI were bonding.
And when she passed awayactually when I was in eighth
(12:27):
grade, and it was from like thatmoment where I started doing
all of the Christmases, all ofthe birthdays and like anything
that she would normally bake for, I started filling in.
And so my other set ofgrandparents.
They were actually restaurantowners and so whenever it was a
holiday from school or anythingof that nature, we would be at
(12:47):
the restaurant, in the kitchenor helping on the floor.
And that's kind of where all ofthese passions for food my
family is always revolved aroundfood, right, like whenever
there was some kind of holidayor whenever it was somebody's
birthday always revolved aroundsitting around a table full of
food.
Graduate high school, thought Iwanted to be a hairstylist, move
out to LA, go to hair school,do hair for eight years, like at
(13:09):
the first couple, never reallylike, fell in love with it, and
all along I was posting onsocial media like the bakes that
I was doing and just differentlittle cakes and things.
My husband is in theentertainment industry and
somebody from his casting daysreached out to him and said hey,
you know, they're casting forthe bakeoff.
Do you think your husband wouldever be up for it?
And so I went through thissubmission process, ended up
(13:31):
getting on the show which wascrazy, got on the bakeoff, went
over to London and shot for sixweeks and, you know, just had
the time of my life, had neverbeen to the UK and when I got
home I was like I don't want togo back to doing hair.
I feel like this is my actualcalling, like this is what I
should be doing, and it was fromthat moment on that I kind of
(13:54):
started transitioning my hairclients into food clients.
So I started doing baby showersand making cakes for people's
birthdays and just doing littlekind of like side gigs.
But I transitioned completelyaway from hair and started my
own company where I just reallywas passionate about what I was
doing for the first time in along time.
Ella Magers (14:16):
That's amazing.
And I talk about passion andthen we talk about a calling.
Do you see a difference in thetwo of those?
Chris Tucker (14:23):
I mean, I think, yeah, I do.
I do because a passion candefinitely be something that
you're doing every day, that isfulfilling to you, that you're
making a living from.
Maybe you're not making aliving from it, you know.
Maybe your passion isn'tsomething that's providing an
income, but then your callingmight be to help underserved
(14:44):
communities or helped.
You know animals and they mightnot actually align, but you do
both.
Ella Magers (14:52):
Yeah, and I'm curious.
So, and when you turnvegetarian, what about your
family?
I haven't really heard you talkabout were they on board with
it?
Did they just say, okay, dowhat you got to do what was?
Chris Tucker (15:02):
Yeah, I mean so when I was still living at home,
I was definitely still likeeating chicken, I was still in
the pescatarian phase and itwasn't until I moved out to LA,
started living on my own.
But I was really more on thatjourney to where I am now.
So, yeah, I don't know how muchof that was influenced by my
surroundings.
You know I was in Florida atthe time.
(15:24):
Florida has a great vegancommunity, but where I was
growing up and just the peoplethat I was surrounded with, it
wasn't really something you knowin my foreground.
Ella Magers (15:33):
Yeah, you know I love to explore kind of the
powerful chapters in our livesand big aha moments and
realizations, and one of those,I'm assuming, was you also
coming out.
Yeah, when did that happen andwhat was that experience like
for you?
Chris Tucker (15:47):
Yeah, that was a really interesting one because
it happened, I believe, when Iwas 18.
So I think I was still in highschool.
I may have been out of highschool, I can't quite put my
finger on it, but I remember mymom just sitting down with me
and she had gone to my sisterand asked my sister if do
(16:08):
anything that she wanted toshare.
My sister and I have an 18 yearage gap, so I would go over to
my sister's house and I wouldspend the night with her and I
did have a boyfriend at thattime.
I was in high school, as amatter of fact because now I'm
thinking back on something Ihaven't thought of in a really
long time and I would go over tomy sister's house and I would
spend the night and that's whenI would see, you know, this guy
(16:31):
that I had been dating, and soshe was like mom if you have any
questions, you should probablyjust ask chris and so my mom sat
me down and she's like you know, like what's going on, and I
grew up very religious.
I grew up in a very religious,you know, family and it was
really difficult at first.
They didn't really know what todo with it, you know, and how
(16:53):
to process it.
So it took some time for themto Come to terms with it, but
once they did, you know, it'sbeen a really great Relationship
with my family these days, likemy mom and my dad, like they
love and support my husband,like it's just really wonderful.
And I think that it took my mom.
(17:14):
My mom actually was working inthe nonprofit sector and she
actually worked for this massivechurch in Orlando and One of
the people that were on staff atthe church was actually a
lesbian who had a wife, who hadkids.
Really, and it took my momseeing this woman have a
completely normal life, right,and so I don't think back then
(17:38):
people really understood like,oh yeah, you couldn't get
married then, but you can getmarried and you can have
children and you can create afamily and it's just another way
of life.
And I think it wasn't reallyuntil my mom saw that mirrored
in somebody else's life, thatshe was like, oh, I get it.
And again it was also unpackingall of those biblical teachings
(18:01):
that you know Were justhorrible translations of the
actual bible and not fact andjust coming to terms with all of
that.
So it was definitely a journey,I think you know.
For me it's a constant journeyto just kind of living
comfortable with myself andfeeling like I am who I'm
supposed to be.
Ella Magers (18:22):
And so if I asked you who are you, you know,
beyond all the accomplishmentsand this Amazing bio and the
celebrities and these, I want totalk about some of these
desserts for elton john's oscarparty.
I mean, how incredible is that?
But beyond all of that, I meanyou're being.
Who are you like?
How would you describe who youare?
Chris Tucker (18:42):
Yeah, I mean, I think I'm somebody who is just
Just compassionate, that hasalways had like just a really
big heart for other people, andI think that you know, even now,
knowing where I am as you know,a vegan who is into animal
rights and just advocating forthe underserved regardless I
think that my parents can looknow and be like this all makes
(19:05):
sense, like just because of howI used to be with my dog as a
kid and how I used to justconnect with animals on a
different level and just withpeople.
I was kind of always with theunderdogs, you know.
And so it makes sense now forme to kind of be in the position
that I am, feeling like I'mjust kind of here to serve
others.
You know, I feel like I alwayskind of want to be the person
(19:28):
that Says you know, you'rewelcome, but what can I do for
you now, you know?
And so I feel like I'm justsomebody with the mind of
service and somebody who justwants to help people.
Ella Magers (19:39):
Love it.
Okay, so back to the greatamerican baking show.
Experience Was that?
I mean, this is a big show.
You're in front of the camera.
How did that feel to be on thatshow, and what did you kind of
learn about yourself?
What did you take away fromthat?
Chris Tucker (19:52):
It was crazy.
It's a big experience.
It's a really big experiencethat you know, I'm very grateful
to have had the opportunity.
I had never been on camera, Ihad never been In front of
cameras, I had never done anykind of instagram video, so for
me it was just, it was all brandnew.
But it was really funny becausethat was actually the time that
(20:14):
I realized that I enjoyed beingon camera and that I liked it
and that it wasn't a scary thingfor me and that, you know, I'd
always done theater and likehigh school and done performing
arts when I was younger, but itwas never like on camera, it was
just all stage stuff.
So being in the tent reallyshowed me that I'm able to do
big things and I can set goalsand accomplish big goals.
(20:36):
And so I think for me it wasyou know, no, I didn't win the
season that I was on but lookingback now and seeing everything
that I've been able to do sincethen and the impact that I've
been able to have, it's becauseI went into that tent and I
realized that I was able to dobig things.
Ella Magers (20:56):
Amazing.
All right.
So you get back to LA.
You're like, okay, my callingis food.
You start to transition yourclients and then how was this
company born?
Chris Tucker (21:06):
Yeah, it was kind of born my husband's from the
east coast and Betta with butterjust kind of feels like
something you would hearsomebody say like, oh well,
that's better with butter.
And you know, I think that a lotof times in our space we think
that a lot of times in the veganworld we think that there's
like things that we have to giveup or that we take away, and so
(21:27):
it just it's kind of asymbolism that like Nah, you
could still have it, it's betterwith butter, you know, like we
can still do it.
And so, yeah, it kind of justblossomed from, started a
website putting recipes up thereand Kind of went from there
became something where I couldshowcase what I had going on and
different outreach projectsthat we were doing and a place
(21:50):
where people could come andorder cakes.
And we started a cake initiativeover Quarantine when everybody
was kind of locked inside.
We realized that like therewere kids celebrating birthdays
that would get birthday cakesbecause businesses were closed
and parents were out of jobs.
And so we started the cakeinitiative, which was giving
people free birthday cakes whowere, you know, in need at the
(22:12):
time.
And that initiative spreadglobally and we started doing it
in different parts of the worldand around the us, which is
different home bakers who wantedto get in on the project and I
think that's what people shouldrealize like my platform was
very small at the time but itwas with a small platform that
one person caught on and anotherperson caught on and just to
(22:33):
feel good movement like startedbecause people wanted to do
something that was kind forother people.
Ella Magers (22:41):
Amazing, okay, and you said that dairy was your
last thing to go and I know youwere kind of also a little
unsure of can you do thesethings without dairy and eggs,
and what was it that finallykind of changed your mind about
that and had to go all the way?
Chris Tucker (22:57):
Yeah.
So what finally changed my mindwas watching what the health.
We watched a documentary and youknow, I was even somebody who
would like make my husband asteak, or like a pork chop, and
so I wasn't even somebody whowas like no meat in the house.
You know, I was very likewhatever about it, and he was
the one that we got to cut allof this out, like we got to just
(23:19):
quit, and so it was after thatthat we literally went to the
refrigerator and just cleaned itout and that was it.
And we went from there and Ifigured it out, figured out how
to do it, and it was actuallyreally exciting for me, because
after a while you get into aprocess where you're like, okay,
a cake, a cake, you throw someingredients together, you know
what to do, but then when you'relike, wait a second, I don't
(23:42):
know what to do now because I'vetaken my eggs out, and butter
is very easy to replace, butit's the eggs in every recipe
where you're like, wait a second, what do I do.
It became fun again because Iwas learning all over again.
Ella Magers (23:56):
All right, we say that about baking, throwing some
things together, but from mypersonal experience, baking does
not work like that, because itreally is like a science, and I
just read the book the Alchemistand so I've got alchemy in my
head.
I mean, baking is not an easytask.
Yeah yeah, like, and you gotinterested in it when you were a
(24:16):
young kid, but I mean, it'slike scientific, but the fact
that you had kind of, you know,mastered it in a sense right,
and now you got to say, hey, nowI get to experiment, and that
you saw it as more of anadventure and a challenge.
Do you want to give us sometips?
Like, while we're on this topic, about the egg thing, Because I
know I do the flax things.
(24:37):
You know, I don't even tryanymore, I blend.
You know I do nice cream.
That is my only dessert that Imake, chris Nice.
Just letting you know, yeah,because you just blend it and
it's just like okay, how muchmilk do I add?
Or you know how much milk, orwhatever.
But yes, can you give us sometips?
Chris Tucker (24:54):
Well.
So the egg replacer is a reallyinteresting thing because it's
different from every single bakeyou're trying to do right.
If you're making a cookie thatcause for an egg yolk, you can
just take it out, Like you cantake that egg yolk completely
out of the recipe and you don'thave to do anything else to it.
A lot of different cookierecipes that actually call for
(25:18):
eggs.
You'd be surprised that youcould just completely eliminate
them and replace the liquid inthat egg.
So most eggs are about 50 gramsof peas, so most recipes will
call for two eggs, which is 100grams.
So if you're just going toeliminate those eggs from your
cookie recipe, the only thingyou want to do is replace that
(25:40):
liquid in your recipe with anadditional 100 grams of liquid.
So that's cookies.
When it comes to cakes, the bestthing that you can do for cakes
is baking soda and apple cidervinegar.
So baking soda, just like whenwe were in elementary school and
we did the volcano with theeruption and it was all
different colors.
(26:01):
That's exactly what happens ina cake, and so if you are trying
to take your eggs out andreplace it, you're going to
typically do that with bakingsoda and a little bit of acid,
and so I do that by using applecider vinegar.
Usually for a cake, it's aboutone tablespoon of apple cider
vinegar to about two teaspoonsof baking soda, and that's
(26:23):
pretty much all the leaveningagents you'll need for the
entire cake.
That would be for about, youknow, a regular eight inch size
cake.
That's simple and like it'sreally simple when you get it
right.
It's about getting it first.
That is the challenging part.
Ella Magers (26:40):
That is so great, like that is so clear, and I
will try it.
I will get myself back in thebaking game for just one try, I
think.
But the aquafaba can we talkabout that for a moment, because
it's so crazy?
I mean that ingredient has beenaround forever and yet in the
last you know, just year or two,really.
I mean it's everywhere.
(27:01):
Can you talk about when youdiscovered how that works and
how you use it?
Chris Tucker (27:06):
Yeah, so I use aquafaba as like the replacement
so you can make macarons out ofit.
If you went vegan and you'relike, oh, I'm never going to
have my favorite French macaronagain, you can, you can make it
out of aquafaba.
You can use anytime you'reneeding like an egg white
replacer in a recipe.
Aquafaba, 90% of the time, ifit's whipped up properly, is
(27:28):
going to do the trick.
So, yes, that's a great one andI think for me like thinking of
a recipe off the top of my headI use it in my brioche recipe,
because brioche is an enricheddough that you're going to have
eggs and butter, and so I use itas the egg replacer and my
brioche recipe and that'stypical.
That was my like aha moment foraquafaba was when I was
(27:52):
creating my brioche recipe and Ilearned that actually through a
baker who's not vegan, out ofAustralia and she's one of my
good friends and she had abakery and she just kind of
created what she called allergyfriendly baked goods.
So she had a whole line ofallergy friendly products in her
bakery and, yeah, I learnedthat little trick through her.
Ella Magers (28:12):
So interesting, All right.
Another question I just thoughtof.
I mean, you look very much fitin shape, not overweight.
How do you bake for a livingand stay lean?
Chris Tucker (28:24):
So I don't do a ton of baking right now for,
like you know, just to playaround back in the day, I would
do like baking for the Instagram, and that was hard.
I did a lot of giving away ofbaked goods and my husband was
going to the office at the timeand so I would send him to work
with like a ton of things.
But now I don't do a ton of itand I'm really into using, like
(28:47):
this morning I just shot apancake recipe, so it's, like
you know, it's full of proteinplant powered protein and I
sweetened it with banana anddates.
So, you know, for me it'sreally about, like, if it's
something that we're consuming,you know, for ourselves.
I do try to be mindful because,you know, I'm constantly trying
(29:08):
the latest chocolate on themarket and I'm constantly trying
, like, all of the latestgoodies that are coming to
market, and so I do have to bemindful that you know what I'm
eating, because overweight isdefinitely in my blood, and so I
do have to be very conscious ofwhat I'm putting into my mouth
and how much I'm exercising on adaily basis, or I won't look
(29:28):
fit and lean you know, so for me, it's all about moderation.
It's constantly in the back ofmy mind, you know I think
somebody who used to be veryoverweight as a young person.
You know, it's something thatlives with me to this day, and I
think about every single thingthat goes into my mouth.
The difference is now is that Ifeel enjoyment when I eat, and
(29:49):
so I don't necessarily.
It's almost like a goodawareness instead of, like you
know, feeling bad about what I'meating.
It's a good awareness.
Ella Magers (29:59):
It sounds like you have a really healthy, at this
point, relationship with foodand your body and you're mindful
about it, and when you do makea choice, it's a conscious
choice, and so if you're goingto eat a piece of cake with, you
know, real sugar or whatever,you're choosing it and you're
going to enjoy it and you're notgoing to beat yourself up about
it and you're going to bemindful.
Yeah, that's amazing.
So you use the banana and datesas sweeteners.
(30:22):
Any other tips on baking with,maybe, alternative flowers, like
, instead of a light all purposeflower, any tricks, you know,
because all these differentflowers have very different
textures and work differently.
Any little ones that you cangive us.
Chris Tucker (30:37):
Yeah.
So something like the Bob's RedMill one to one gluten free
flour, that's a really greatreplacement and just your
standard baking stuff.
So if you're looking to do likecookies or a cake or even I use
that when I'm making glasses ifI'm making something like on
the stove that needs flour forthickening, or if I'm making
(30:57):
like a roux, you can even usethat gluten free flour and it
works identical and like cookingrecipes.
So that would be my biggest onebecause it's the most.
I would say no fuss, right Likeyou can get really technical
and really fancy and buy allthese separate flowers to make
your own gluten free blend.
That's going to have no grit toit and, you know, be amazing,
(31:21):
but you really have to have sometime under your belt when it
comes to baking.
So for me it's that one to onebaking mix from Bob's Red Mill.
That's probably the best.
You can also like the pancakesthat I made this morning that
I'm going to be doing a video,for it's just ground oats and so
that's the flour that I'm usingin these pancakes, and so
(31:42):
simple swaps like that forthings like pancakes or waffles,
you can still enjoy it rightand not feel like, oh, I just
had a plate of pancakes forbreakfast.
No, you actually just hadoatmeal for breakfast and you
prepared in a different way.
Ella Magers (31:56):
I love that.
Do you enjoy making those typesof videos for Instagram, or is
it more of a pain in the buttthan anything?
I'm curious.
Chris Tucker (32:03):
No, I do.
I like it, I like makingcontent.
I think it's fun, I enjoy likerecipes that taste like normal
food, like normal pancakes, butthey're healthier for you.
And so I think I wish we hadthese resources when we were
young, like we didn't have theinner webs the way that people
do now, and so I think it's coolthat we get to be helpful and
(32:27):
show people like different waysof doing things that can give
you a better outcome, that don'trequire sacrifice.
Ella Magers (32:34):
And I did see on your Instagram.
Your Instagram is fabulous, bythe way.
Thank you.
It's obvious that you actuallyenjoy making those videos.
I also saw you did acollaboration with V-Dog.
Can you tell us about Sis?
This is your dog.
Chris Tucker (32:48):
Yes, yeah, our dog , she's eight, so we rescued her
when she was six months.
So we've had her for seven anda half years now and she's a
little baby.
She kind of rules the nestaround here, but yeah, she's a
little everything.
Ella Magers (33:03):
Yeah, and is she plant-based now?
Chris Tucker (33:05):
She's not plant-based.
She was back in the day we hadher on a plant-based diet for a
while.
But yeah, we did incorporatemeat back into her diet,
probably maybe four years ago.
Ella Magers (33:15):
Got it.
Chris Tucker (33:16):
Yeah.
Ella Magers (33:18):
And so can you talk a little bit about how you
provided vegan desserts forEllen and John's Oscar party,
like, how amazing is that?
I mean, are these allconnections that you made at
first through your hair styling,or how did this all come to be?
Chris Tucker (33:31):
Yeah, no.
So I actually got anopportunity to do this program
with Good Morning America.
It didn't end up happening, butwith that like project that was
going on, I had to source likea massive kitchen.
And so in the works of sourcingthat massive kitchen, I met
this woman who bakes bread forlike everyone in LA, and I was
(33:53):
going to rent the kitchen outfrom her and she wanted to
introduce me to this gentlemanand I was like, okay, cool, he
happened to be there one day.
His name is chef Wayne and heactually does out in John's
Oscar party every single year.
And when she first told me thisI was like, oh, come on, like
this lady's just blowing steam,you know, up my butt.
(34:13):
And I met him.
He got my information.
He had sampled my cookies thatday without me knowing he was
there like earlier and told meyou know how great they were.
And then he ended up calling melike a few weeks later and
saying that he had a gig for meand the gig was out in John's
(34:35):
Oscar party and he wanted me toprovide all of the vegan
desserts for it.
And so that was, I believe,four years ago.
So you know, it was just kindof one of those very LA moments
of in the right place at theright time, met chef Wayne and,
yeah, I've done some really coolprojects with him ever since.
Ella Magers (34:55):
And so does Elton John for his parties.
I mean, he's not vegan as hejust wants to provide desserts.
Is this an LA party thing thatthey always have the vegan
desserts there, Right?
Chris Tucker (35:06):
Yeah, it's a LA party and so you know it's one
of those things where you come,there's like a red carpet,
there's an actual viewing of theOscars and then after the
actual Oscars is when all of thecelebrities come from the
actual Oscar show, because it'sa really big night for him to
raise money for his AIDSfoundation that he runs.
So you have to like say, yes,I'm coming and I'm a vegan or
(35:29):
I'll have the vegetarian dish,it like going to a wedding,
right, got it.
And so we know there's like 150vegans coming, got it.
Ella Magers (35:37):
Okay, yeah, okay, okay, I get it.
And then you did StephenTyler's Grammy party too.
Chris Tucker (35:43):
So Stephen Tyler actually he had a party I
believe it was the weekfollowing the Oscars but he has
a charity called Janie's Fundthat raises money for some
organizations that I believeit's like in dedication of his
daughter.
So, yeah, I was able to providesome things for them as well.
Amazing.
Ella Magers (36:01):
Amazing.
So, speaking of charities,where are you focused on these
days and moving forward?
What projects are you workingon?
Chris Tucker (36:08):
Yeah, working a lot right now with PETA, trying
to really just walk a little bitmore with them this year and
figure out some more projects toget involved with through their
organization and also justreally trying to stay cognizant
of these community fridges thatwe have here in Los Angeles, a
(36:29):
project that I did towards theend of the year with the company
called Board Cow.
They're a milk alternativecompany and they reached out to
me and they were like hey, we dothis every year.
We would love to have you stockone of our fridges and it's a
nationwide thing.
So no matter where you live,you can just go on your computer
and type in you're in Miami,you can type in Miami Community
(36:50):
Fridge and it's going to showyou like wherever there's
community fridges in your area.
And for me it's like the reallyeasiest way to be a direct
source for people that aredealing with food insecurity.
And so even since I've done theproject with Board Cow, we've
just been trying to pass by thisone specific community fridge
(37:11):
as frequent as possible.
I think we all kind of overbuyat times at the grocery store
and it's just really easy to bea little helpful in that way.
So I'm going to be trying towork a lot more with that
company that places the fridgesaround town and it's just a
really easy way, especiallyaround holidays, to provide food
(37:31):
for people who are foodinsecure and to help out as much
as possible.
Amazing so are there any?
Ella Magers (37:38):
final thoughts you'd like to share, or how
people can find it and they canorder from your website if they
want to order baked goods.
Chris Tucker (37:45):
Yeah, so the easiest way is to reach out to
me on Instagram.
Vegan chef Chris Tucker and Idon't have a ton of stuff that's
for sale right now on thewebsite, because a lot of it is
more.
I'm doing a lot more likein-house catering these days and
more events and things likethat.
I've kind of gotten away fromdoing all of the shipping that I
(38:06):
used to do, but, yeah, I wouldlove to connect with people on
Instagram and go from there.
Ella Magers (38:12):
Chris, I hope to get to meet you in person one
day soon.
I'm sure I'll make a trip outto LA at some point.
It's been so wonderful speakingwith you.
Thank you for being here.
Chris Tucker (38:22):
Yeah, you as well, or we'll be in Miami for
something plant-based this year,I'm sure.
Ella Magers (38:27):
I hope, so Hopefully we'll get some sun for
you, because we have a crazyweather.
But yeah, yes, I'm sure We'llmeet up soon, awesome, Thanks,
Ella.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to thisweek's episode of Rise and
Thrive with me, ella Majors.
(38:47):
I truly hope you found itinspiring and, if you did,
please help me spread the wordby leaving a rating and review
on your favorite podcast playerand by sharing the show with
your friends.
As you probably know by now, mylife's purpose is to use my
voice to make this world a moreconscious and compassionate
place, and your reviews andshares make a huge impact.
(39:08):
And last, I'm getting a ton ofinsanely positive feedback about
my short and sweet monthlynewsletter called the Way Short,
for the Way Out Is Through.
I give my top five latest badassdiscoveries, insights and
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I'm obsessed with books andshows I'm loving and workouts
(39:30):
that have me fired up.
Head on over to my website,ellamajorscom, to sign up and
check out all the other awesomeresources I have for you and
projects I'm involved with,including Hogs and Kisses Farm
Sanctuary, where our mission isto create the best life for farm
animals while inspiringcompassion for all living beings
(39:51):
.
Thanks a lot, and I'll see youon the next one.
And so I went through this submission process,
ended up getting on the showwhich was crazy got on the bake
off, went over to London andshot for six weeks and, you know
, just had the time of my life,had never been to the UK, and
when I got home I was like Idon't want to go back to doing
hair.
I feel like this is my actualcalling, like this is what I
(00:22):
should be doing, and it was fromthat moment on that I kind of
started transitioning my hairclients into food clients.
So I started doing baby showersand making cakes for people's
birthdays.
Ella Magers (00:39):
Hey there and welcome to Rise and Thrive with
me, ella Majors.
I created this high vibepodcast from a place of profound
curiosity, fierce compassionand the deep desire to connect
you with the wisdom ofinspirational wellness, health,
fitness and conscious leadersand change makers.
Here's to discovering our blindspots and embracing life as the
(01:01):
adventure it is.
The time is now.
Let's do this.
Hey, hey everyone, ella hereand I just need to say that I
feel so damn lucky to be able toconnect with so many
fascinating, unique andauthentic human beings by
(01:23):
hosting this show, and I reallycouldn't be more grateful to be
able to share these powerful andplayful conversations with you.
Today's episode is no exception.
I can't wait for you to get toknow Chris Tucker, a Southern
chef at heart who is dedicatedto making luxurious baked goods
(01:43):
and succulent meals withoutharming animals.
Chris is all over the media andin the celebrity scene.
You can see him on the judgingpanel of Pealed, the first all
vegan culinary cookingcompetition show, and he's
appeared on countless daytimeprograms such as Inside Edition,
california Live and ABC's Onthe Red Carpet.
(02:05):
He was featured in CosmopolitanMagazine for Pride Month and
provided vegan desserts forElton John's Oscar party and
Stephen Tyler's Grammy party.
How cool is that?
As a private chef in LosAngeles, chris believes he can
influence people to incorporatemore plant-based meals into
their daily diets by showingthem how simple and delicious it
(02:27):
can be.
With charity at his core, chrisis constantly partnering with
organizations like PETA and theHumane League, while continuing
to look for other ways to joinforces with local and national
organizations to bring a smileand resources to people,
community and causes in need.
We both dive into his incrediblestory and also get some
(02:49):
practical tips for veganizingdessert recipes in this episode.
So, without further ado, let'sdo this.
Chris, it's so great to haveyou here.
I feel like I already know you.
I mean, when I'm like doing theprep for these things, I'm like
, oh my god.
And then we know Shabnam.
I mean, yeah, any friend ofours is a friend of mine.
Chris Tucker (03:12):
Yeah, we have a lot of people in the same circle
, so thanks for having me.
Ella Magers (03:16):
Yeah, my pleasure.
How actually do you knowShabnam so?
Chris Tucker (03:20):
Shab and the vet.
The three of us kind of becamereally close only a little over
a year ago, which is kind ofcrazy, because we did a project
together called Pealed, which isthe first all-vegan culinary
cooking competition show, and wejust kind of bonded really
quick on set and then once weleft set, we just we were like
(03:42):
okay, so like let's stayconnected and we just started
doing like Instagram content andjust like became family really
quick and it just stuck andwe've been really close ever
since.
Ella Magers (03:54):
That's amazing because I would have never
guessed it had only been a year,because I see your content all
together.
And you know, when I met her, Imet Shabin last June at the
Vegan Women's Summit for thefirst time, but we had a mutual
friend who else is in LA and herand I just hit it off
immediately so she's been onthis show.
And then when I asked her foran intro for Babette, she's like
(04:16):
oh well, don't you know aboutChris?
And I'm like well, yeah, let'sget him on too.
So yeah, it's like a familyaffair.
Yeah, that's kind of reallyjust work.
Chris Tucker (04:25):
Yeah, and that's kind of how we are.
We're like, oh well, if you'redoing that, then we should all
do that too, and we're just kindof like always just trying to
support each other.
And I think it's weird, thoughlike in the vegan space, when
you meet people, youautomatically kind of start at a
level that you don't with otherpeople normally, or even before
I was vegan, you would meetpeople and you don't have that
(04:47):
baseline connection, right.
But when you're in the veganspace, you're starting off with
like so many similarities.
It's very easy to connect, butI feel like the three of us
connect in a different way.
Yeah, yeah.
Ella Magers (04:59):
No, it's interesting.
You said that because, well youknow, I turned vegetarian at
the age of seven and vegan at 15, I'm 43 now and my whole life I
kind of felt like there wassomething wrong with me and my
inability to really connect withpeople.
And it wasn't until now thatI'm just in all these vegan
circles that I'm like you knowwhat?
There is something reallybonding about just this lens
(05:22):
through which we see the world.
That do you know what I mean?
Chris Tucker (05:26):
Totally.
Ella Magers (05:26):
Did things shift for you in terms of you know how
you related to people once youwent vegan?
How did that?
Chris Tucker (05:34):
It's interesting, I think, like when I first went
vegan, I really probably didn'tpay.
It's weird because a lot ofpeople when they first go vegan,
they're like they're angry,right, Like the angry vegans.
They want everyone around themto go vegan right away.
And I don't think for me it wasreally like that.
I think I was probably verysimilar to you, where I was
(05:57):
already vegetarian.
The dairy was the last thingthat I was kind of holding on to
, and I had transitioned fromthe South, and so we ate a lot
of chicken, a lot of barbecue.
You know, we ate a lot of meat.
So for me, I stopped eatingthose things at a younger age,
just for health reasons.
I was very overweight as a kid,and so I remember going to the
(06:19):
doctor and the doctor being like, oh you know, your weight was
240 pounds or 220 pounds, andI'm like I was in eighth grade,
I'm like that's not right.
And so you know it was at thatpoint that I was like okay, I'm
going down to chicken and fish.
You know, cut out red meat, cutout pork, and I kind of started
(06:40):
my journey then.
Right, it took me a long timeto get to where I am now, but I
don't think that I went intothat like angry vegan stage
until a little bit further down,which I've only been vegan for
about five years, and so for meI'm probably in a little bit of
that angry vegan stage now, butI don't really ever put it out
(07:00):
there, right, I get kind ofangry in my brain and in my
spirit, like I'm like why don'tyou guys see what I see?
all of the science is there.
Especially nowadays Like now,it's so easy to look at the
science.
20 years ago we had none ofthese scientific reviews that
were going on.
We had done the evidence toback up.
You know what the crazy veganswere saying.
(07:20):
But now all of the science isthere, and so for me I'm just
like just watch this documentaryand you know, make your own
choices after that.
You know, I think, when it comesto finding that alignment with
people, as long as people arewilling to listen, I think
that's fine.
Like, if people are open tolistening and making small
changes, that's kind of all Iask of them.
(07:42):
Like, if you can stop consumingmeat three times a day and
maybe you swap a plant baseddish in once a day for one of
those meals and you start there,cool, I'm not going to yell at
you, you know from my pedestalif you're making changes,
because a lot of people, I feellike, just don't want to make
any changes.
They don't want to make anysacrifice, and we live in a
(08:03):
world right now where there's somuch suffering an animal level,
a human level, especially anenvironmental level where we all
have to make a little bit ofchange somehow.
Ella Magers (08:14):
Right For the good of the collective, like even not
thinking about animals forthose who aren't quite connected
there.
But all right, yes, and I wantto dive into some parts of your
story and I want to talk aboutyour entrepreneurial journey,
because that's always ofinterest to me.
I'm being an entrepreneur.
But first I have a littlelightning round.
Are you up for it?
Okay, yeah of course, all right.
What's your go-to vegan butter?
(08:34):
Milkos.
I knew you were going to saythat A fun fact or quirk that
most people may not know aboutyou.
Chris Tucker (08:41):
I was a hairstylist for eight years.
That's what I did, okay.
Ella Magers (08:45):
What are three of your healthiest habits?
Chris Tucker (08:49):
Three of my healthiest habits.
If I commit to something, Ialways follow through.
If I don't want to do somethinglike go on a hike or go to, you
know, pilates class, which arepretty much my two forms of
physical activity If I don'twant to do them, those are the
days that I definitely go dothem, because that means that I
need them.
What's the third one?
(09:10):
I try to incorporate as manyplants into my daily diet as
possible, and so I know thatmight sound kind of crazy
because I'm vegan, but you canbe vegan and eat completely no
plants at all during the day,and I know that's probably crazy
too, but yeah, I try to eat asmuch like, as many like living
things throughout the day aspossible.
Ella Magers (09:31):
Love it.
What's your biggest challengewhen it comes to being your
healthiest, happiest self atthis point?
Chris Tucker (09:39):
Probably getting off my ass, off my phone and
outside.
That's probably my biggestthing.
Ella Magers (09:46):
What's a pet peeve or something that is a little
triggering to you?
Chris Tucker (09:51):
Wildly enough.
Being in the food space, Ican't stand hearing people eat
like the sound of people's likefood moving through their mouth,
while they're like salivatingand stuff Not for me.
Ella Magers (10:02):
There's a word for that and I was interviewing Tony
Okamoto and she has that toobecause I was asking her how to
eat ramen noodles, because sheloves ramen.
I'm like, oh my God, every timeI eat ramen it's like a
disaster zone, you know.
And she said she's got thatsame thing and there's a name
for it, and I can't think of it,you don't know, do you?
Chris Tucker (10:19):
Yeah, it's actually a thing where you don't
like certain sounds from abunch of different things, right
?
So it could definitely be thefood thing, but there's like an
actual disorder.
My friend has it.
Ella Magers (10:30):
Oh, wow, okay, Learn something new.
Alright, last one.
It's your last day on earth.
What do you eat as your finalmeal, including your dessert?
Chris Tucker (10:39):
Mmm, I would probably have some delicious
pizza for sure, and then fordessert I probably want some
type of really scrumptious cake.
Ella Magers (10:48):
Yeah, Flavor Are you chocolate or vanilla?
Chris Tucker (10:53):
I'm kind of open with flavor.
Yeah, I'm very versatile whenit comes to flavor.
I'm not like hardcore sold-onchocolate, but I would never
push it away and then, like Icould do a fruity flavor, but I
could also.
I'm kind of like a pretty basic, like give me a vanilla cake
with a nice filling, and I'msold on that too.
Ella Magers (11:10):
All right, all right.
And are you a frosting lover?
Do you like the frosting partor the cake part?
Chris Tucker (11:14):
Cake part.
I'm a minimal frosting.
Yeah, minimal frosting.
Ella Magers (11:18):
Yeah, okay, good to know.
All right, that was fun.
All right, I want to talk aboutyour journey to better with
butter, which I love saying.
I'm sure you hear that a lot.
And first of all, I know you'rekind of love or passion for
food started young, and did youcall your grandmother Mimi?
I did so.
I did too.
My Mimi died just a year ago, aday before her 100 first
(11:39):
birthday, and she was afirecracker to the day she died.
She was amazing, so it must besomething in the name.
Must be something in the nameBecause, yeah, so you kind of
found your interest in food andwhen you were young, how did
that progress and turn into anactual business?
Because that came much later.
You thought you were going tobe a hairstylist or you were,
(12:02):
but that's where you thoughtyou're going.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat and the journey to LA?
Chris Tucker (12:07):
Yeah.
So I had both sets ofgrandparents, my mom's parents.
Mimi, she taught me everythingI know about baking and I was
kind of the only grand kid thatwas actually in the kitchen with
her, like ever reallyinterested in it, and so it was
a lot of time where just her andI were bonding.
And when she passed awayactually when I was in eighth
(12:27):
grade, and it was from like thatmoment where I started doing
all of the Christmases, all ofthe birthdays and like anything
that she would normally bake for, I started filling in.
And so my other set ofgrandparents.
They were actually restaurantowners and so whenever it was a
holiday from school or anythingof that nature, we would be at
(12:47):
the restaurant, in the kitchenor helping on the floor.
And that's kind of where all ofthese passions for food my
family is always revolved aroundfood, right, like whenever
there was some kind of holidayor whenever it was somebody's
birthday always revolved aroundsitting around a table full of
food.
Graduate high school, thought Iwanted to be a hairstylist, move
out to LA, go to hair school,do hair for eight years, like at
(13:09):
the first couple, never reallylike, fell in love with it, and
all along I was posting onsocial media like the bakes that
I was doing and just differentlittle cakes and things.
My husband is in theentertainment industry and
somebody from his casting daysreached out to him and said hey,
you know, they're casting forthe bakeoff.
Do you think your husband wouldever be up for it?
And so I went through thissubmission process, ended up
(13:31):
getting on the show which wascrazy, got on the bakeoff, went
over to London and shot for sixweeks and, you know, just had
the time of my life, had neverbeen to the UK and when I got
home I was like I don't want togo back to doing hair.
I feel like this is my actualcalling, like this is what I
should be doing, and it was fromthat moment on that I kind of
(13:54):
started transitioning my hairclients into food clients.
So I started doing baby showersand making cakes for people's
birthdays and just doing littlekind of like side gigs.
But I transitioned completelyaway from hair and started my
own company where I just reallywas passionate about what I was
doing for the first time in along time.
Ella Magers (14:16):
That's amazing.
And I talk about passion andthen we talk about a calling.
Do you see a difference in thetwo of those?
Chris Tucker (14:23):
I mean, I think, yeah, I do.
I do because a passion candefinitely be something that
you're doing every day, that isfulfilling to you, that you're
making a living from.
Maybe you're not making aliving from it, you know.
Maybe your passion isn'tsomething that's providing an
income, but then your callingmight be to help underserved
(14:44):
communities or helped.
You know animals and they mightnot actually align, but you do
both.
Ella Magers (14:52):
Yeah, and I'm curious.
So, and when you turnvegetarian, what about your
family?
I haven't really heard you talkabout were they on board with
it?
Did they just say, okay, dowhat you got to do what was?
Chris Tucker (15:02):
Yeah, I mean so when I was still living at home,
I was definitely still likeeating chicken, I was still in
the pescatarian phase and itwasn't until I moved out to LA,
started living on my own.
But I was really more on thatjourney to where I am now.
So, yeah, I don't know how muchof that was influenced by my
surroundings.
You know I was in Florida atthe time.
(15:24):
Florida has a great vegancommunity, but where I was
growing up and just the peoplethat I was surrounded with, it
wasn't really something you knowin my foreground.
Ella Magers (15:33):
Yeah, you know I love to explore kind of the
powerful chapters in our livesand big aha moments and
realizations, and one of those,I'm assuming, was you also
coming out.
Yeah, when did that happen andwhat was that experience like
for you?
Chris Tucker (15:47):
Yeah, that was a really interesting one because
it happened, I believe, when Iwas 18.
So I think I was still in highschool.
I may have been out of highschool, I can't quite put my
finger on it, but I remember mymom just sitting down with me
and she had gone to my sisterand asked my sister if do
(16:08):
anything that she wanted toshare.
My sister and I have an 18 yearage gap, so I would go over to
my sister's house and I wouldspend the night with her and I
did have a boyfriend at thattime.
I was in high school, as amatter of fact because now I'm
thinking back on something Ihaven't thought of in a really
long time and I would go over tomy sister's house and I would
spend the night and that's whenI would see, you know, this guy
(16:31):
that I had been dating, and soshe was like mom if you have any
questions, you should probablyjust ask chris and so my mom sat
me down and she's like you know, like what's going on, and I
grew up very religious.
I grew up in a very religious,you know, family and it was
really difficult at first.
They didn't really know what todo with it, you know, and how
(16:53):
to process it.
So it took some time for themto Come to terms with it, but
once they did, you know, it'sbeen a really great Relationship
with my family these days, likemy mom and my dad, like they
love and support my husband,like it's just really wonderful.
And I think that it took my mom.
(17:14):
My mom actually was working inthe nonprofit sector and she
actually worked for this massivechurch in Orlando and One of
the people that were on staff atthe church was actually a
lesbian who had a wife, who hadkids.
Really, and it took my momseeing this woman have a
completely normal life, right,and so I don't think back then
(17:38):
people really understood like,oh yeah, you couldn't get
married then, but you can getmarried and you can have
children and you can create afamily and it's just another way
of life.
And I think it wasn't reallyuntil my mom saw that mirrored
in somebody else's life, thatshe was like, oh, I get it.
And again it was also unpackingall of those biblical teachings
(18:01):
that you know Were justhorrible translations of the
actual bible and not fact andjust coming to terms with all of
that.
So it was definitely a journey,I think you know.
For me it's a constant journeyto just kind of living
comfortable with myself andfeeling like I am who I'm
supposed to be.
Ella Magers (18:22):
And so if I asked you who are you, you know,
beyond all the accomplishmentsand this Amazing bio and the
celebrities and these, I want totalk about some of these
desserts for elton john's oscarparty.
I mean, how incredible is that?
But beyond all of that, I meanyou're being.
Who are you like?
How would you describe who youare?
Chris Tucker (18:42):
Yeah, I mean, I think I'm somebody who is just
Just compassionate, that hasalways had like just a really
big heart for other people, andI think that you know, even now,
knowing where I am as you know,a vegan who is into animal
rights and just advocating forthe underserved regardless I
think that my parents can looknow and be like this all makes
(19:05):
sense, like just because of howI used to be with my dog as a
kid and how I used to justconnect with animals on a
different level and just withpeople.
I was kind of always with theunderdogs, you know.
And so it makes sense now forme to kind of be in the position
that I am, feeling like I'mjust kind of here to serve
others.
You know, I feel like I alwayskind of want to be the person
(19:28):
that Says you know, you'rewelcome, but what can I do for
you now, you know?
And so I feel like I'm justsomebody with the mind of
service and somebody who justwants to help people.
Ella Magers (19:39):
Love it.
Okay, so back to the greatamerican baking show.
Experience Was that?
I mean, this is a big show.
You're in front of the camera.
How did that feel to be on thatshow, and what did you kind of
learn about yourself?
What did you take away fromthat?
Chris Tucker (19:52):
It was crazy.
It's a big experience.
It's a really big experiencethat you know, I'm very grateful
to have had the opportunity.
I had never been on camera, Ihad never been In front of
cameras, I had never done anykind of instagram video, so for
me it was just, it was all brandnew.
But it was really funny becausethat was actually the time that
(20:14):
I realized that I enjoyed beingon camera and that I liked it
and that it wasn't a scary thingfor me and that, you know, I'd
always done theater and likehigh school and done performing
arts when I was younger, but itwas never like on camera, it was
just all stage stuff.
So being in the tent reallyshowed me that I'm able to do
big things and I can set goalsand accomplish big goals.
(20:36):
And so I think for me it wasyou know, no, I didn't win the
season that I was on but lookingback now and seeing everything
that I've been able to do sincethen and the impact that I've
been able to have, it's becauseI went into that tent and I
realized that I was able to dobig things.
Ella Magers (20:56):
Amazing.
All right.
So you get back to LA.
You're like, okay, my callingis food.
You start to transition yourclients and then how was this
company born?
Chris Tucker (21:06):
Yeah, it was kind of born my husband's from the
east coast and Betta with butterjust kind of feels like
something you would hearsomebody say like, oh well,
that's better with butter.
And you know, I think that a lotof times in our space we think
that a lot of times in the veganworld we think that there's
like things that we have to giveup or that we take away, and so
(21:27):
it just it's kind of asymbolism that like Nah, you
could still have it, it's betterwith butter, you know, like we
can still do it.
And so, yeah, it kind of justblossomed from, started a
website putting recipes up thereand Kind of went from there
became something where I couldshowcase what I had going on and
different outreach projectsthat we were doing and a place
(21:50):
where people could come andorder cakes.
And we started a cake initiativeover Quarantine when everybody
was kind of locked inside.
We realized that like therewere kids celebrating birthdays
that would get birthday cakesbecause businesses were closed
and parents were out of jobs.
And so we started the cakeinitiative, which was giving
people free birthday cakes whowere, you know, in need at the
(22:12):
time.
And that initiative spreadglobally and we started doing it
in different parts of the worldand around the us, which is
different home bakers who wantedto get in on the project and I
think that's what people shouldrealize like my platform was
very small at the time but itwas with a small platform that
one person caught on and anotherperson caught on and just to
(22:33):
feel good movement like startedbecause people wanted to do
something that was kind forother people.
Ella Magers (22:41):
Amazing, okay, and you said that dairy was your
last thing to go and I know youwere kind of also a little
unsure of can you do thesethings without dairy and eggs,
and what was it that finallykind of changed your mind about
that and had to go all the way?
Chris Tucker (22:57):
Yeah.
So what finally changed my mindwas watching what the health.
We watched a documentary and youknow, I was even somebody who
would like make my husband asteak, or like a pork chop, and
so I wasn't even somebody whowas like no meat in the house.
You know, I was very likewhatever about it, and he was
the one that we got to cut allof this out, like we got to just
(23:19):
quit, and so it was after thatthat we literally went to the
refrigerator and just cleaned itout and that was it.
And we went from there and Ifigured it out, figured out how
to do it, and it was actuallyreally exciting for me, because
after a while you get into aprocess where you're like, okay,
a cake, a cake, you throw someingredients together, you know
what to do, but then when you'relike, wait a second, I don't
(23:42):
know what to do now because I'vetaken my eggs out, and butter
is very easy to replace, butit's the eggs in every recipe
where you're like, wait a second, what do I do.
It became fun again because Iwas learning all over again.
Ella Magers (23:56):
All right, we say that about baking, throwing some
things together, but from mypersonal experience, baking does
not work like that, because itreally is like a science, and I
just read the book the Alchemistand so I've got alchemy in my
head.
I mean, baking is not an easytask.
Yeah yeah, like, and you gotinterested in it when you were a
(24:16):
young kid, but I mean, it'slike scientific, but the fact
that you had kind of, you know,mastered it in a sense right,
and now you got to say, hey, nowI get to experiment, and that
you saw it as more of anadventure and a challenge.
Do you want to give us sometips?
Like, while we're on this topic, about the egg thing, Because I
know I do the flax things.
(24:37):
You know, I don't even tryanymore, I blend.
You know I do nice cream.
That is my only dessert that Imake, chris Nice.
Just letting you know, yeah,because you just blend it and
it's just like okay, how muchmilk do I add?
Or you know how much milk, orwhatever.
But yes, can you give us sometips?
Chris Tucker (24:54):
Well.
So the egg replacer is a reallyinteresting thing because it's
different from every single bakeyou're trying to do right.
If you're making a cookie thatcause for an egg yolk, you can
just take it out, Like you cantake that egg yolk completely
out of the recipe and you don'thave to do anything else to it.
A lot of different cookierecipes that actually call for
(25:18):
eggs.
You'd be surprised that youcould just completely eliminate
them and replace the liquid inthat egg.
So most eggs are about 50 gramsof peas, so most recipes will
call for two eggs, which is 100grams.
So if you're just going toeliminate those eggs from your
cookie recipe, the only thingyou want to do is replace that
(25:40):
liquid in your recipe with anadditional 100 grams of liquid.
So that's cookies.
When it comes to cakes, the bestthing that you can do for cakes
is baking soda and apple cidervinegar.
So baking soda, just like whenwe were in elementary school and
we did the volcano with theeruption and it was all
different colors.
(26:01):
That's exactly what happens ina cake, and so if you are trying
to take your eggs out andreplace it, you're going to
typically do that with bakingsoda and a little bit of acid,
and so I do that by using applecider vinegar.
Usually for a cake, it's aboutone tablespoon of apple cider
vinegar to about two teaspoonsof baking soda, and that's
(26:23):
pretty much all the leaveningagents you'll need for the
entire cake.
That would be for about, youknow, a regular eight inch size
cake.
That's simple and like it'sreally simple when you get it
right.
It's about getting it first.
That is the challenging part.
Ella Magers (26:40):
That is so great, like that is so clear, and I
will try it.
I will get myself back in thebaking game for just one try, I
think.
But the aquafaba can we talkabout that for a moment, because
it's so crazy?
I mean that ingredient has beenaround forever and yet in the
last you know, just year or two,really.
I mean it's everywhere.
(27:01):
Can you talk about when youdiscovered how that works and
how you use it?
Chris Tucker (27:06):
Yeah, so I use aquafaba as like the replacement
so you can make macarons out ofit.
If you went vegan and you'relike, oh, I'm never going to
have my favorite French macaronagain, you can, you can make it
out of aquafaba.
You can use anytime you'reneeding like an egg white
replacer in a recipe.
Aquafaba, 90% of the time, ifit's whipped up properly, is
(27:28):
going to do the trick.
So, yes, that's a great one andI think for me like thinking of
a recipe off the top of my headI use it in my brioche recipe,
because brioche is an enricheddough that you're going to have
eggs and butter, and so I use itas the egg replacer and my
brioche recipe and that'stypical.
That was my like aha moment foraquafaba was when I was
(27:52):
creating my brioche recipe and Ilearned that actually through a
baker who's not vegan, out ofAustralia and she's one of my
good friends and she had abakery and she just kind of
created what she called allergyfriendly baked goods.
So she had a whole line ofallergy friendly products in her
bakery and, yeah, I learnedthat little trick through her.
Ella Magers (28:12):
So interesting, All right.
Another question I just thoughtof.
I mean, you look very much fitin shape, not overweight.
How do you bake for a livingand stay lean?
Chris Tucker (28:24):
So I don't do a ton of baking right now for,
like you know, just to playaround back in the day, I would
do like baking for the Instagram, and that was hard.
I did a lot of giving away ofbaked goods and my husband was
going to the office at the timeand so I would send him to work
with like a ton of things.
But now I don't do a ton of itand I'm really into using, like
(28:47):
this morning I just shot apancake recipe, so it's, like
you know, it's full of proteinplant powered protein and I
sweetened it with banana anddates.
So, you know, for me it'sreally about, like, if it's
something that we're consuming,you know, for ourselves.
I do try to be mindful because,you know, I'm constantly trying
(29:08):
the latest chocolate on themarket and I'm constantly trying
, like, all of the latestgoodies that are coming to
market, and so I do have to bemindful that you know what I'm
eating, because overweight isdefinitely in my blood, and so I
do have to be very conscious ofwhat I'm putting into my mouth
and how much I'm exercising on adaily basis, or I won't look
(29:28):
fit and lean you know, so for me, it's all about moderation.
It's constantly in the back ofmy mind, you know I think
somebody who used to be veryoverweight as a young person.
You know, it's something thatlives with me to this day, and I
think about every single thingthat goes into my mouth.
The difference is now is that Ifeel enjoyment when I eat, and
(29:49):
so I don't necessarily.
It's almost like a goodawareness instead of, like you
know, feeling bad about what I'meating.
It's a good awareness.
Ella Magers (29:59):
It sounds like you have a really healthy, at this
point, relationship with foodand your body and you're mindful
about it, and when you do makea choice, it's a conscious
choice, and so if you're goingto eat a piece of cake with, you
know, real sugar or whatever,you're choosing it and you're
going to enjoy it and you're notgoing to beat yourself up about
it and you're going to bemindful.
Yeah, that's amazing.
So you use the banana and datesas sweeteners.
(30:22):
Any other tips on baking with,maybe, alternative flowers, like
, instead of a light all purposeflower, any tricks, you know,
because all these differentflowers have very different
textures and work differently.
Any little ones that you cangive us.
Chris Tucker (30:37):
Yeah.
So something like the Bob's RedMill one to one gluten free
flour, that's a really greatreplacement and just your
standard baking stuff.
So if you're looking to do likecookies or a cake or even I use
that when I'm making glasses ifI'm making something like on
the stove that needs flour forthickening, or if I'm making
(30:57):
like a roux, you can even usethat gluten free flour and it
works identical and like cookingrecipes.
So that would be my biggest onebecause it's the most.
I would say no fuss, right Likeyou can get really technical
and really fancy and buy allthese separate flowers to make
your own gluten free blend.
That's going to have no grit toit and, you know, be amazing,
(31:21):
but you really have to have sometime under your belt when it
comes to baking.
So for me it's that one to onebaking mix from Bob's Red Mill.
That's probably the best.
You can also like the pancakesthat I made this morning that
I'm going to be doing a video,for it's just ground oats and so
that's the flour that I'm usingin these pancakes, and so
(31:42):
simple swaps like that forthings like pancakes or waffles,
you can still enjoy it rightand not feel like, oh, I just
had a plate of pancakes forbreakfast.
No, you actually just hadoatmeal for breakfast and you
prepared in a different way.
Ella Magers (31:56):
I love that.
Do you enjoy making those typesof videos for Instagram, or is
it more of a pain in the buttthan anything?
I'm curious.
Chris Tucker (32:03):
No, I do.
I like it, I like makingcontent.
I think it's fun, I enjoy likerecipes that taste like normal
food, like normal pancakes, butthey're healthier for you.
And so I think I wish we hadthese resources when we were
young, like we didn't have theinner webs the way that people
do now, and so I think it's coolthat we get to be helpful and
(32:27):
show people like different waysof doing things that can give
you a better outcome, that don'trequire sacrifice.
Ella Magers (32:34):
And I did see on your Instagram.
Your Instagram is fabulous, bythe way.
Thank you.
It's obvious that you actuallyenjoy making those videos.
I also saw you did acollaboration with V-Dog.
Can you tell us about Sis?
This is your dog.
Chris Tucker (32:48):
Yes, yeah, our dog , she's eight, so we rescued her
when she was six months.
So we've had her for seven anda half years now and she's a
little baby.
She kind of rules the nestaround here, but yeah, she's a
little everything.
Ella Magers (33:03):
Yeah, and is she plant-based now?
Chris Tucker (33:05):
She's not plant-based.
She was back in the day we hadher on a plant-based diet for a
while.
But yeah, we did incorporatemeat back into her diet,
probably maybe four years ago.
Ella Magers (33:15):
Got it.
Chris Tucker (33:16):
Yeah.
Ella Magers (33:18):
And so can you talk a little bit about how you
provided vegan desserts forEllen and John's Oscar party,
like, how amazing is that?
I mean, are these allconnections that you made at
first through your hair styling,or how did this all come to be?
Chris Tucker (33:31):
Yeah, no.
So I actually got anopportunity to do this program
with Good Morning America.
It didn't end up happening, butwith that like project that was
going on, I had to source likea massive kitchen.
And so in the works of sourcingthat massive kitchen, I met
this woman who bakes bread forlike everyone in LA, and I was
(33:53):
going to rent the kitchen outfrom her and she wanted to
introduce me to this gentlemanand I was like, okay, cool, he
happened to be there one day.
His name is chef Wayne and heactually does out in John's
Oscar party every single year.
And when she first told me thisI was like, oh, come on, like
this lady's just blowing steam,you know, up my butt.
(34:13):
And I met him.
He got my information.
He had sampled my cookies thatday without me knowing he was
there like earlier and told meyou know how great they were.
And then he ended up calling melike a few weeks later and
saying that he had a gig for meand the gig was out in John's
(34:35):
Oscar party and he wanted me toprovide all of the vegan
desserts for it.
And so that was, I believe,four years ago.
So you know, it was just kindof one of those very LA moments
of in the right place at theright time, met chef Wayne and,
yeah, I've done some really coolprojects with him ever since.
Ella Magers (34:55):
And so does Elton John for his parties.
I mean, he's not vegan as hejust wants to provide desserts.
Is this an LA party thing thatthey always have the vegan
desserts there, Right?
Chris Tucker (35:06):
Yeah, it's a LA party and so you know it's one
of those things where you come,there's like a red carpet,
there's an actual viewing of theOscars and then after the
actual Oscars is when all of thecelebrities come from the
actual Oscar show, because it'sa really big night for him to
raise money for his AIDSfoundation that he runs.
So you have to like say, yes,I'm coming and I'm a vegan or
(35:29):
I'll have the vegetarian dish,it like going to a wedding,
right, got it.
And so we know there's like 150vegans coming, got it.
Ella Magers (35:37):
Okay, yeah, okay, okay, I get it.
And then you did StephenTyler's Grammy party too.
Chris Tucker (35:43):
So Stephen Tyler actually he had a party I
believe it was the weekfollowing the Oscars but he has
a charity called Janie's Fundthat raises money for some
organizations that I believeit's like in dedication of his
daughter.
So, yeah, I was able to providesome things for them as well.
Amazing.
Ella Magers (36:01):
Amazing.
So, speaking of charities,where are you focused on these
days and moving forward?
What projects are you workingon?
Chris Tucker (36:08):
Yeah, working a lot right now with PETA, trying
to really just walk a little bitmore with them this year and
figure out some more projects toget involved with through their
organization and also justreally trying to stay cognizant
of these community fridges thatwe have here in Los Angeles, a
(36:29):
project that I did towards theend of the year with the company
called Board Cow.
They're a milk alternativecompany and they reached out to
me and they were like hey, we dothis every year.
We would love to have you stockone of our fridges and it's a
nationwide thing.
So no matter where you live,you can just go on your computer
and type in you're in Miami,you can type in Miami Community
(36:50):
Fridge and it's going to showyou like wherever there's
community fridges in your area.
And for me it's like the reallyeasiest way to be a direct
source for people that aredealing with food insecurity.
And so even since I've done theproject with Board Cow, we've
just been trying to pass by thisone specific community fridge
(37:11):
as frequent as possible.
I think we all kind of overbuyat times at the grocery store
and it's just really easy to bea little helpful in that way.
So I'm going to be trying towork a lot more with that
company that places the fridgesaround town and it's just a
really easy way, especiallyaround holidays, to provide food
(37:31):
for people who are foodinsecure and to help out as much
as possible.
Amazing so are there any?
Ella Magers (37:38):
final thoughts you'd like to share, or how
people can find it and they canorder from your website if they
want to order baked goods.
Chris Tucker (37:45):
Yeah, so the easiest way is to reach out to
me on Instagram.
Vegan chef Chris Tucker and Idon't have a ton of stuff that's
for sale right now on thewebsite, because a lot of it is
more.
I'm doing a lot more likein-house catering these days and
more events and things likethat.
I've kind of gotten away fromdoing all of the shipping that I
(38:06):
used to do, but, yeah, I wouldlove to connect with people on
Instagram and go from there.
Ella Magers (38:12):
Chris, I hope to get to meet you in person one
day soon.
I'm sure I'll make a trip outto LA at some point.
It's been so wonderful speakingwith you.
Thank you for being here.
Chris Tucker (38:22):
Yeah, you as well, or we'll be in Miami for
something plant-based this year,I'm sure.
Ella Magers (38:27):
I hope, so Hopefully we'll get some sun for
you, because we have a crazyweather.
But yeah, yes, I'm sure We'llmeet up soon, awesome, Thanks,
Ella.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to thisweek's episode of Rise and
Thrive with me, ella Majors.
(38:47):
I truly hope you found itinspiring and, if you did,
please help me spread the wordby leaving a rating and review
on your favorite podcast playerand by sharing the show with
your friends.
As you probably know by now, mylife's purpose is to use my
voice to make this world a moreconscious and compassionate
place, and your reviews andshares make a huge impact.
(39:08):
And last, I'm getting a ton ofinsanely positive feedback about
my short and sweet monthlynewsletter called the Way Short,
for the Way Out Is Through.
I give my top five latest badassdiscoveries, insights and
explorations, like veganproducts and recipes.
I'm obsessed with books andshows I'm loving and workouts
(39:30):
that have me fired up.
Head on over to my website,ellamajorscom, to sign up and
check out all the other awesomeresources I have for you and
projects I'm involved with,including Hogs and Kisses Farm
Sanctuary, where our mission isto create the best life for farm
animals while inspiringcompassion for all living beings
(39:51):
.
Thanks a lot, and I'll see youon the next one.
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