00:16Hi Essence come on in. What's up Alex? I like your home. We can come in right? Come on in.
00:24This is a beautiful home you have. Don't mess up anything in my house. We'll try not to. Definitely
00:31don't want to mess up these beautiful pictures. This is my dog Gray. Hi Gray. He's outside the house.
00:36Gray come here. Gray. I was about to cuss. Gentle parenting. I love your pictures you have here.
00:45Thank you. These are my parents. This is Evelyn and Barry. I look like him. The nose. The nose. Yeah.
00:53Someone told me your mom taught you how to cook. My mom taught me how to cook. She is the
00:58baddest
00:58Puerto Rican from Brooklyn. She taught me how to cook when I was like 10 or 11. I've been cooking
01:02ever
01:02since. That's so amazing. I'm seeing some awards there. Zoom in. Zoom in. I was nominated for an
01:10NAACP award for outstanding digital content creator in food and wellness and lifestyle. I lost but
01:17like it's still honored to be nominated. You're a winner in our book Alex. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we
01:21want to try some food. What's going on here? I am recipe testing for my cookbook. It comes
01:25out next year. So buy it when I post a pre-order and all that stuff. Come on Gray. Amazing.
01:30So what's a typical day like for you Alex? A typical day. I wake up around six. I move
01:35my body because you got to keep it right and tight. You know I cook a lot right. And then
01:40once I get home I start cooking. I live in a grocery store. Literally. I've been there
01:45every day. Every day this week. So living in the grocery store means you are your own boss. How did
01:51you get started in entrepreneurship? I am. I got started the long source. I got started
01:56in 2017 and I had a panic attack at my job in 2021. And that day I was like I'm
02:04quitting.
02:05I'm going to do food full time. And yeah I quit on my birthday so I could get my last
02:11paycheck
02:12April 30 of Taurus. That's amazing. So what's one challenge that you faced starting out your
02:17business and how did you overcome? Oh my gosh. Imposter syndrome is mental gymnastics. You have
02:25to lean into the imposter syndrome and just know that you are that girl because I'm that
02:29girl. And then just like lean into it. What's this dish you have on the stove here? So I am
02:33making picarillo. It's technically a Cuban dish but my mom used to make it for me all the time
02:38growing up. So it's ground beef with peppers and onions and sofrito. That's like our secret sauce
02:45and everything. And it's sweet, savory, and a little spicy. I love it. What are your ingredients
02:50for success? My ingredients for success is foundation, fear, and faith. And we know that
03:01no dream is achieved alone. So who's in your tribe? What does your tribe look like? My tribe
03:05is my mom. That's my girl. That's my bestie. Big Ev. They call me Big Lex. But you know,
03:10that's big ass. My dad, my friends are my anchor to everything. Yeah, they give me life and I see
03:19them. I love it. And so when you talk about giving life, what advice would you give to aspiring
03:24entrepreneurs out there? A lot of things. Pay your taxes. But also lean in the cringe. It's going to
03:32be very cringy when you first start out posting content, talking to the camera, lean into it because
03:37you'll eventually get over that fear. I always say feel the fear and do it anyway. Speaking of leaning
03:43in, can we lean into this dish? Can we get a little bit of a taste? Lean in! Can we
03:46taste test before we
03:47get out of here? Lean in! But also if you don't like it, pan up. If you don't like it,
03:50don't tell me.
03:51Okay. It's going to be really good. Our little secret. Yeah. Look at all that. Delicious.
03:57We're ready to eat and we want to thank you, Alex, for letting us pull up on you today.
04:01You're welcome. Come back anytime.
