- 2 days ago
Sponsored conversation with Tabitha Brown
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00I don't know how they put this on my plate!
00:06That ain't what I said. I'm just like, oh, what you eating?
00:09That's all I said.
00:11But your aura said, don't eat that in front of me.
00:15But I also said, that's your business.
00:18What you eat, that's your business. That ain't none of my business.
00:22So what do you want from, I know food really changed your life.
00:26What you eat really changed your life.
00:28What made you want to share that with others?
00:30You know, most of y'all know my story.
00:33When I went vegan, it's because I was sick, right?
00:36And I was sick for a very long time.
00:38And I wasn't a terrible eater.
00:42But I used to eat to look a certain way.
00:45I didn't eat to feel a certain way.
00:47And that was an issue.
00:49And I was only eating like, you know, fish and chicken and turkey.
00:52I have not had red meat or pork since I was 15.
00:55Oh, wow.
00:56Right? No swine, Kev. I ain't had it.
00:58I haven't had it since probably one hour.
01:03Right, and that's your business.
01:05But when I started to heal myself through food, the only reason that I really started to share it
01:11was because God had spoke to me and told me to do so.
01:14Like, I never even wanted to do videos.
01:16But when God put it in my heart and he told me I had to be obedient, I was like, okay, let me tell people that I am going vegan.
01:23And when I find vegan options, I'm just going to share it.
01:25Because then it became more of a responsibility, not to force my way on anybody, but simply just to tell my story.
01:32And a lot of people, like, started to relate to what I was saying.
01:36I was like, you know, I used to have this terrible headache.
01:38I used to be dealing with chronic fatigue, chronic pain.
01:41And other people was like, me too.
01:43Let me see if it helped me.
01:45And a lot of people, it did help.
01:47In my family, people get sick at young ages and they die at young ages.
01:54And how we eat plays a large, you know, role in that.
01:57And I really wanted my family to just choose better options.
02:01And so I would just share it, but never try to force it.
02:05I would just be like, honey, I'm trying this.
02:07It tastes good.
02:08Y'all want to try it?
02:09But that was really it.
02:11And people started trying it.
02:13People would be like, Sam, you crazy, girl.
02:15What in the world is a tomato sandwich?
02:17And then next thing you know, they were like, girl, that thing was hit.
02:19Okay.
02:20So it was really just simply wanting to show that we had another option
02:25and never wanting me to make people feel like I'm taking something away from you.
02:30But actually, I'm just giving you something new to try.
02:32Yeah.
02:33You know, black folks, we always say this runs in my family, that runs in my family.
02:36But a lot of times we eat the same things that our family members ate,
02:40so we are repeating the same mistakes.
02:42I have a question for you.
02:44What is your favorite thing to cook?
02:47Oh, my favorite thing to cook.
02:49I like cooking.
02:52But I think my favorite, I love a mushroom, right?
02:55I can do all kinds of things with them.
02:57Yeah.
02:58So I say mushrooms is kind of right there.
03:01But also, jackfruit be my friend.
03:02You be using a jackfruit for that cool part.
03:04And listen, me and Jack is tight.
03:05We tight.
03:06Sometimes I throw a mushroom in there with Jack.
03:08Yeah, I do that.
03:10So what would be Tab's perfect meal?
03:13Somebody said, Tab, we won't treat you right.
03:16You get the whole spread from appetizer to dessert.
03:19What would that meal look like?
03:21If we start with an appetizer, I love a good Caesar salad.
03:30I love a Caesar salad.
03:32And listen, I just figured out how to make the perfect Caesar dressing vegan,
03:36because I was missing it for so very long.
03:38Yeah.
03:39I figured it out now.
03:40So I would start with a Caesar salad.
03:42I might even start, if I'm letting my greedy spirit move me, with a little Philly cheese
03:48egg roll.
03:49Oh, yeah.
03:50Very good.
03:51Very good.
03:52With my little pecan meat in there.
03:54And then for, like, main course, you know, I love tacos.
03:57So I can eat a taco any day.
03:59Yeah.
04:00But I also love a good lasagna, right?
04:02Since I'm having a Caesar salad, then I'll have a little lasagna.
04:05And then I'm not big on dessert, so I'm going to go with red wine and a little piece of dark chocolate.
04:10You don't eat no dessert time?
04:12I'm not big on dessert.
04:13Really?
04:14Yeah, I'm glad, because I already got hip, thighs, and fries.
04:16So if I was big on dessert, I would be big on dessert.
04:20Yeah.
04:22So you have your own products in Target a couple of times.
04:26Woo!
04:29Listen, we—
04:30Look here in the dress right here.
04:32Somebody got on the hip, thighs, and fries.
04:33Hip, thighs, and fries?
04:34I know that's the tabs thing.
04:36Yeah.
04:37I see a couple of them down here.
04:38Yeah.
04:39Now, we couldn't—even in my Target in L.A.
04:43It ain't even a lot of black people in our area.
04:45It's mostly Hispanics.
04:47That stuff ain't—it don't stay up in there.
04:50Now, we went at 11.01.
04:54Target opened at 10.
04:56I said, oh, surely they're going to be something.
04:58It looked like there was a riot in Target.
05:02The people—I saw a man got pushed over a baby.
05:05He pushed the baby down to get the popcorn and the—
05:08Now, let me tell you what my favorite is.
05:10That pickled okra Tabitha Brown.
05:13I said, I said, I don't, I, I, I tell you Tab, I bought, I bought that somehow when I got home, I had a rocking chair on my front porch. I was sucking corn. I was peeling greens. I started, I had no socks on. I was in North Carolina.
05:35So what, what, like, how did you choose what to have available? Because everything was good, but you didn't have a lot, but everything was like, oh, this is good. Oh, the tip is good. Oh, that's good. Like, what was that process like?
05:47So for me, I wanted it to feel like, oh, you at Tab's house, right? So I went with my favorite things and the things that I, like, use a lot of them, right? And I wanted people to experience, like you said, like North Carolina, like you wanted to feel like, oh, this is how Tab eat.
06:01And for years, you know, people would know when I, uh, finish a pickle jar, I take okra and put it in the, in the pickle juice and pickle my own okra. That way, that's the way you cheat and do it. Okay.
06:12And so when I started playing and I was like, oh, you know what? Let's do pickled okra. Cause a lot of people be like, oh, I don't eat okra. It's too slimy. But what they don't realize when you pickle it, it removes the slime.
06:23And so I just wanted to start doing things that could help people try something new. Even like Carlos was like, oh, I don't want to do no okra. He tried that pickle okra and then ended up buying a jar. I'm talking about, hey, I left my jar at your house.
06:35Well, how you gonna leave a jar at my house of my, of my pickled okra, okay? But really, I just wanted people to, to taste the things that a lot of people like burgers and sausage.
06:46And that's also how you get non-vegans to like try food. If you just show them things that are familiar to them.
06:52Yeah. So I was just doing all the things that make it familiar and not too crazy, but all everyday food.
06:57No, and listen, we, Melissa and I bought everything. We bought the pans. We didn't even know you had pans. We got the pans down there and everything.
07:04Little cast iron. Little cast iron. Seasoned. We seasoned. Yeah.
07:08What does it feel like to like, shoot, you've been blown up for five, around five years, four or five years.
07:14What does it feel like to have like, people like this support you? I mean, Target is a huge thing, right?
07:21What does it feel like to, to have an idea in your mind, say I want to help people, but then really have people actually support you. What is it, what is that moment like?
07:30It is, uh, a surreal feeling. I feel so blessed, uh, for all of y'all. Like, I, I couldn't do it without all, like y'all, right?
07:41I'm so grateful. I love y'all. I love you too.
07:46But then you get a partner like Target who really sees you, who never tries to change you, who listens to your ideas, who don't ask you to edit things and make it, tweak it a little bit.
08:00They just simply say, oh girl, whatever you like, we love it. And that is the best feeling in the world, right?
08:07Because I would have hate to have had to say no.
08:09You know? Um, you know, you have people like Pamela Brown right there who saw me way early.
08:17I love you so much. I'm so grateful. You know, as a, as a black woman in position, it is our responsibility to bring others up. And that's what she has done for me.
08:28And so, I love you. Look at her crying. I love you. Listen, we always have a little joke. We, we both are brown. So I was like, we cousins, we family, right?
08:38But it's really a village. And I feel so grateful to have a true village.
08:46I want to step away from food real quick. I got two things I want to talk to you about.
08:51How do you have an ability through your phone, to my phone, to where I know you post this for everybody to see, but you are talking to Kevin Fredericks only.
09:03And you'll be like, in my life, you say hello there. I'll be like, I'm not going to cry with you, Tab. Get, get out of my life.
09:10What is it about you? Like, I don't know how to even describe your ability to be so personal. Like, is that like a skill? Is it, have you always been that way?
09:20Like, how do you connect with us and a one-on-one thing and we know it's posted on Instagram or TikTok or whatever?
09:26You know, I think that when you are walking in purpose and obedience, right?
09:33Like, when I do those videos, it's because God put it on my heart. And I'm never thinking that it's for millions of people. I'm thinking it's for one person.
09:41And so I hold my phone close to my face purposely because I want you to feel like I'm just talking to you. And if it applies in that moment, then God has done his job, right?
09:51And so then it is for you then. And I just mean it when I say it, right? I believe in people, Kev. I love people. Like, I truly am one of those people.
10:05My mama taught me, try to see the good in everybody. And that's what I try to do. And I also try to remind people that we all are alright.
10:13Like, no matter where we've been or what we're going through, like, you are okay and you are worthy. And I love you. Like, I just, I be loving people.
10:23And so I, my hope is that love is felt through the phone. So, I guess that's it.
10:28It absolutely is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
10:32Now, one more thing I want to ask. That's outside of food. You really inspire me to sit in who I am, right?
10:50Especially in Hollywood. Like, Hollywood will make you, like, dance through hoops and fit into shapes and all that stuff.
10:55And you've talked a lot about how you try to do that. And then you change your mind. And you're like, I'm going to be who I am.
11:00And then you really started. What was the moment in your mind where you changed? You said, this is who I am. I'm not hiding my accent no more.
11:07If I lose this, I lose it. If I get it, it's like, you have a very strong sense of what God has for me is for me.
11:13And you, I believe you're blessed for that. But sometimes I ain't going to hold you. I'll be like, what you want me to be?
11:17You want me to talk like this? Hello, sir. I talk like this. You want me to be white? I will cover myself white.
11:22But you'll be like, listen, meet Donna, fro, accent, take it or leave it. And I'm going to be blessed either way.
11:30I think we all can learn something from that. Yeah. I really think we all can learn something from that.
11:36But what made it, what made you change in an industry that forces you to change to what they want you to be?
11:43You know, the God honest truth is that I took myself out of the mindset that I'm in an industry and that I'm just doing what God has purposed me to do.
11:54Yeah. Right. But it was, it really happened when I was sick.
11:57So I always tell people I had to get to a very dark place to come into this understanding.
12:01And what I realized that I had been thinking for so long and covering my true self, right, that I had lost myself.
12:11But when I prayed my prayer when I was sick and I said, God, if you heal me, you can have me.
12:16That meant I could no longer try to live my life my way anymore, their way anymore.
12:21I had to live it exactly how he wanted me to live and how he created me to live.
12:26Yeah. And so that's true freedom. And so I only wanted to be free.
12:32I never want to go back into not ever being free again.
12:35And so when I say I truly believe what God has for me is for me, that's freedom.
12:40Yeah. And I don't care about what somebody offered me.
12:43I just be like, oh, okay, let me see. Let me, let me see about it. Okay. Let me pray about it.
12:48Let me pray about it. And then if God say no, I'd be like, you know what, God bless y'all.
12:51No, that ain't going to work for Tab. And they'd be like, well, how much do you need?
12:54It's not even about the money. It's just that it don't serve me. Right.
12:58And so I'm grateful that God has blessed me to be able to live in that space.
13:03Yeah. But I was also saying no when I didn't have money in the beginning.
13:08It was in those early stages when I was just trying to learn really how to be obedient in my walk.
13:15I was saying no then to things that I needed money. Right.
13:19But I was like, the Lord said I can't do this. So it's a no.
13:23But then after saying no, a couple of weeks later, he showed me why I had to say no so that I could say yes later.
13:29Come on. Yes. Now we fit to wrap up.
13:32Oh, okay. We fit to wrap up. But there's something that you want to tell the people.
13:37Now, it's been burning a hole in me because I've seen the question. I want to know.
13:42I don't even know what it is. It just says toss up to Tab.
13:46So I'm tossing it to you, Tab. I don't know what it is.
13:49Okay, we got two things.
13:50Two things to tell the people. See, I didn't even know what's two. I thought it was just one.
13:54Okay, so the first thing is, I know, first of all, I'm so grateful for y'all. Thank y'all for supporting me and going to Target.
14:03And loving on me at Target and buying all the things. And y'all sold that food out so fast.
14:08Yeah. But next year, it's going to be in there all year long.
14:13What you say? What you say? I serve a year-round guy. He done taken that limited season and gave it to me to all four.
14:23If you're faithful of those few things, he'll give you more. Y'all done came in blasting the city, blasting the theater, all through the refrigerator.
14:33I can get my people over it anytime I wanted them. Y'all, y'all. And listen, and not only that.
14:40What else, Tab? So everything that was there, plus some, some new things will be coming.
14:44New things. Right? Because he's doing a new thing. He's doing a new thing, you know.
14:49Yes, he is. Yes, he is. And I know a lot of y'all be like, Tab, but it's the popcorn coming back.
14:54And I just know, I don't know for sure, but everybody going to get a bag today.
15:00You get a bag. You get a bag. You get a bag. You get a bag. You get a bag.
15:07Where the popcorn is? There's got a popcorn right there.
15:13I've always wanted to have my Oprah moment. I've always wanted to be able to be like Oprah and say, you get a bag. You get a bag. You get a bag.
15:21But listen, for real, y'all all going to get a bag. And then next year, honey, we're going to see what the Lord does.
15:27Thank y'all again for always supporting me. I love y'all. God bless y'all. And listen, until the next time, honey, go about y'all business.
15:36We'll have the most amazing day. But even if you can't have a good one, don't you dare go messing up nobody else.
15:42Love y'all. Love y'all. Love y'all. God bless you.
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