We were lucky to catch up with Charlie DeSando recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Charlie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
77 % of the chefs in restaurants in the US are men. So why do so many men either hate, avoid or just stink at cooking? To me the reasons are simple – either they just don’t want to learn how to cook or they are intimidated by anything more than simple grilling of steaks.
I love to cook. It is a form of creativity that is hard to duplicate at work. You plan, prepare, serve, devour and then take in the adulation of your adoring public, for the wonderful meal you have created with your own two hands.
Cooking is really not that difficult. It’s no different from most other skills. Just takes a little practice, effort, and desire. What I hope to accomplish with my website is to show men out there (and other cooks) that you can be decent, if not very good, cook by following a few simple guidelines and incorporating some shortcuts and tricks I have learned along the way.
Charlie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I live in Milwaukee, just having moved from a big house in the suburbs to a condo in downtown Milwaukee. I live here with my wife of 32 years. I have two sons, one in St Petersburg, FL, and the other in Santa Fe, NM.
I started writing my cooking blog as a way to express my love of food. I started a companion YouTube channel about a year later.
I grew up in a restaurant family. My dad owned several restaurants in Washington, DC in the ’50s & ’60s (Randy’s, DeSando’s, and The Channel House, among others). My dad was the main cook and I learned a lot from him about how to cook. I started working in Country Clubs when I was 14, in various positions. I started out washing dishes, then moved to busboy, waiter, line cook, snack bar cook, and maître D’ cooking tableside. I worked in clubs until I graduated from college. I have always been comfortable in kitchens, thanks to my upbringing. Cooking in many ways is the most creative thing I do. I love to look in the fridge, see what’s there are devise a meal around on-hand ingredients. My wife Ellen is a fabulous cook, but she does not obsess about food as I do.
We have raised our two sons, Luke & Carlo, to be just as comfortable in the kitchen as we are. Luke is a very creative cook, not afraid to try different ethnic dishes. He has come to love Indian food and anything spicy. And he is the family pasta maker whenever we have fresh pasta for holiday meals. Carlo worked in the Bartolotta chain of restaurants in Milwaukee and then was a line cook at Company Brewing when it opened in Riverwest. He has shifted his personal cooking to a more healthy diet, with more veggies and grains, rather than meat dishes. But he has been known to eat a piece of bacon or two now and then. We are a family that loves to cook and be creative. Hopefully, yours can be also.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I started my YouTube cooking channel, I made a conscious decision to move from full-time office work to concentrate on my brand.
It took a lot of time, effort, and energy to switch focus. I talked with and met with many successful YouTubers. They were kind enough to pass along tips and suggestions. I will be forever grateful for their kindness and wisdom.
I had to invest in better equipment and software. I took some training classes. But I was focused on the transition to making my brand stand out.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I started making videos, I think I had 3 followers, all in my immediate family. Not a recipe for success. But I was dogged in my pursuit of success with my brand. I started posting to all the social media sites, with YouTube as the preferred destination for any followers.
First, I wanted 100 subscribers. Then 200, so I could get my company name as my YouTube channel name. Then push to 1000, which is where you can start to monetize your channel. I currently have almost 1,900 subscribers, with 2,000 as the next goal.
I keep track every day of the amount of subscribers I have on all my social media platforms. Focus and hard work have led me to where I am now. And I have no plans to slow down!!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.cookingsecretsformen.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cookingsecretsformen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CookingSecretsforMen
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cooking-secrets-for-men-llc/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CookingMen
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/cookingsecretsformen
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/cdesando1216/pins/
Image Credits
Photo Credits – Charlie DeSando