Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for joining and listening and
Speaker 1: watching this episode. I am so excited because I get
Speaker 1: to sit and have a conversation with the one and
Speaker 1: only Jenny Martine. I'm excited because it just like I'll
Speaker 1: spend like a good hour looking at your tiktoks, yours
Speaker 1: and Nana Joe's, and I'm just like, what am I
Speaker 1: going to make for dinner today? And you guys make
Speaker 1: it so simple and so easy and so fun. But
Speaker 1: I'm so honored and I'm so happy to have you
Speaker 1: here and to be able to talk with you and get.
Speaker 2: To know you, and yeah, well, thank you so much
Speaker 2: for having me here. I'm the one that's really excited.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I mean, I've been watching
Speaker 2: what you're doing too, so to me, it's an honor.
Speaker 2: And yeah, it was something that cooking was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: what else are we going to do in COVID, right, Yeah,
Speaker 2: so waiting for watching my videos.
Speaker 1: I'm super excited. This is actually our second time meeting.
Speaker 1: First time was out of coincidence. We were both getting
Speaker 1: our nails done, which was so fun, and I thought,
Speaker 1: I'm like, let's just get around the podcast and let's
Speaker 1: chit chat. I want to. I've seen so many great
Speaker 1: things about you. Obviously you mentioned you started in COVID
Speaker 1: and now you have a whole cooking line and sassonis
Speaker 1: and all this stuff, which I congratulations are well deserved,
Speaker 1: especially for the Latina and Mexican community. I think it's
Speaker 1: amazing because I feel like that's what every Mexican mom
Speaker 1: or person dreams of when they're just like in the
Speaker 1: kitchen cooking and just I don't know, I just I
Speaker 1: would love that. So maybe that's just me. But I
Speaker 1: want to go ahead and let you introduce yourself what
Speaker 1: you do for people that don't know.
Speaker 2: And yeah, well, thank you, thank you for that lovely introduction.
Speaker 2: My name is Jenny Martinez and thanks to my daughter Cindy.
Speaker 2: I was the one that was She was one that
Speaker 2: inspired me to mom, you should cook on TikTok. And
Speaker 2: I didn't even know what TikTok was back then. I
Speaker 2: just knew about Facebook and Instagram. And then I started, well,
Speaker 2: you know, like all of us watching what we're eating,
Speaker 2: so I started doing keto. It was like when keto
Speaker 2: was like big thing, and she says, but don't do
Speaker 2: keto on TikTok. You're just gonna do what you really do,
Speaker 2: what grandma taught you, your Mexican thing. And and I said, okay,
Speaker 2: well download the app and let's see what we can do.
Speaker 2: So she well, it was when all the stores were
Speaker 2: closing down. Yeah, you couldn't go to the store. You
Speaker 2: were not even allowed to go out from your house.
Speaker 2: So she says, do you have everything for to make
Speaker 2: me your mom? And I said, let me go to
Speaker 2: the pantry. But I usually always stalk my fridge and
Speaker 2: my pantry, so luckily I had everything, including the meat, imagine,
Speaker 2: So I said, yeah, I have everything. So she says, okay,
Speaker 2: let's let's record. So as I already had everything laid out,
Speaker 2: she says, but give me that energy, mom, give me
Speaker 2: that energy.
Speaker 1: Direct your coach.
Speaker 2: You what she is? She still is and a funny thing.
Speaker 2: It's to me. It was just like, what is this
Speaker 2: TikTok thing? This I could I was just seeing kids
Speaker 2: dancing and I'm like, okay, this is not even real.
Speaker 2: But She's like, give me, mom that energy because we
Speaker 2: only have three seconds to capture people's attention. So I
Speaker 2: grabbed the piece of meat and I'm like like this
Speaker 2: and she's like, mom, perfect, Hi, Cindy, she says, no, Mom,
Speaker 2: for real, that's perfect. So we did it and she
Speaker 2: uploaded the video and oh my gosh. The following morning,
Speaker 2: I wake up and my phone literally was just going crazy.
Speaker 2: I had to turn off all the notifications because it
Speaker 2: was like, you know. And so I run to Cindy
Speaker 2: and I'm like, oh my gosh, the video has over
Speaker 2: a million views, and she's like, I told you, Mom,
Speaker 2: I told you. So I'm looking at it and I'm like,
Speaker 2: is this even real? Are these robots?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: You're still thinking me because it's like there's no way.
Speaker 2: And so anyway, way, it's funny because on Instagram, when
Speaker 2: I was posting my my recipes, you know, family members
Speaker 2: were like, bo chef, you know, and it's like, well,
Speaker 2: I do cook, and I've been cooking since like forever,
Speaker 2: so I guess I am my own chef of my kitchen.
Speaker 2: And uh and after that, I mean that thanks to
Speaker 2: that one TikTok video that she she pushed me, then
Speaker 2: people wanted to know what a taco was, because no,
Speaker 2: it was not a thing back then, and then everybody
Speaker 2: started doing the tacos and uh, well, back in the day,
Speaker 2: it was like taco, but it was you would just
Speaker 2: stuff it with whatever choice of me. And so since
Speaker 2: I had the viria, I said, okay, well casabria taco.
Speaker 2: But now they come up with all these creative names
Speaker 2: for the keestabriotaco and it's just beautiful to see that,
Speaker 2: you know, you started something. I mean, I know that
Speaker 2: many women before us they were making biria, but I
Speaker 2: think that thanks to that video, like everybody's I started
Speaker 2: making Bria and I would get so many messages saying,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, thanks for your video. Now I can
Speaker 2: make me ria at my house because I never imagined
Speaker 2: that it could make hard.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean it's a lot of dating.
Speaker 1: It is intimidating because it's a lot of ingredients. But
Speaker 1: if you think about it's just it's pretty simple. But
Speaker 1: I love that you were you can explain it and
Speaker 1: make it simple. And especially I think during COVID, like
Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of people opened up their
Speaker 1: palettes and they kind of in a new world creatively
Speaker 1: as well, like it inspired that year inspired especially me
Speaker 1: for like to start new things and to start a
Speaker 1: new career and whatever, what were you doing before covid
Speaker 1: and the video.
Speaker 2: I know I was telling you forklifts, can you believe
Speaker 2: it with your.
Speaker 1: By yourself?
Speaker 2: That was me. They when after I had the boys,
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, what am I going to do now?
Speaker 2: So I took this sale coordinating position and I'm like, okay,
Speaker 2: I was supposed to be running the whole sales team
Speaker 2: and I would be telling like all the sales guys
Speaker 2: where to go, like get them deals and go get
Speaker 2: them like appointments, and I was selling more on my own.
Speaker 2: So I said, okay, you know what, I'm just gonna
Speaker 2: go out there and just get it done my ship,
Speaker 2: and you know it was it was Yeah. The money
Speaker 2: was good too. I mean because you know, selling forklifts,
Speaker 2: it's it's literally a need for a company. So for sure,
Speaker 2: funny thing, it's like, okay, I have to do. I
Speaker 2: really have to learn about motors and about transmissions. And
Speaker 2: I said, okay, if there's where, if this is where
Speaker 2: the money's at, I have to learn. But it's okay
Speaker 2: to yeah, And.
Speaker 1: It's different from a woman like explaining it, so I
Speaker 1: feel like it's intimidating, badass, like you're selling it to
Speaker 1: like a group of men. Like right, yeah, they would
Speaker 1: look at me. I know exactly what it is, like she.
Speaker 2: Doesn't know what she's talking about. But then I would
Speaker 2: get a sale. And honest to god, in the very beginning,
Speaker 2: I didn't know what the hell I was talking about.
Speaker 2: But I think what what I did? I build that trust? Yeah,
Speaker 2: And if I didn't know, I would go go to
Speaker 2: my box and I'm like, Okay, I need to know this.
Speaker 2: I need to know that. And I think that's what
Speaker 2: helped me that I was being honest and I would
Speaker 2: get them all the information and I was not trying
Speaker 2: to blow smoke out of your you know. I'm like,
Speaker 2: I don't know, but I'll find out.
Speaker 1: Did they ever look at you weird like the men?
Speaker 2: Yes? Yeah. And then not only that, but our competition.
Speaker 2: They would also make comments like oh you know, And
Speaker 2: I was like a funny thing. When TikTok happened. I
Speaker 2: even told my boss, you know what, we should start
Speaker 2: promoting because the marketing thing, let's do it on TikTok
Speaker 2: like everybody's doing it. He's like oh no, no no,
Speaker 2: And he was like me, like, oh, that's the kids,
Speaker 2: that's not for us. And then when he learned that
Speaker 2: I had a million followers. He's like, well, Jenny, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, no, not anymore, because this is just
Speaker 2: about kitchen. It's about cooking. So it was just amazing
Speaker 2: that thanks for that one video, and then my followers
Speaker 2: just kept on just like blowing up later on, like
Speaker 2: in less than a year, already had a million followers.
Speaker 2: It was just crazy. And then after that my freaking
Speaker 2: collection at Daisy Penny. I see, That's when I started crying.
Speaker 1: Are you still doing the forklifting right now? You're just
Speaker 1: completely focused on TikTok social media?
Speaker 2: Now three months into it, I was already ready to
Speaker 2: leave work because of all the brand deals that were
Speaker 2: coming in, and I even told my daughter, you got
Speaker 2: to leave your work too. I got to leave mine.
Speaker 2: But then I felt bad. I felt bad for my
Speaker 2: boss because well, you know a lot of people were
Speaker 2: being laid off because of COVID, so yeah, I said,
Speaker 2: like just leave them, and you know, things are really
Speaker 2: happening for me, but you know, things with COVID, there
Speaker 2: was places that were closing down, so I felt bad
Speaker 2: just saying hey bye. But then he learned that I
Speaker 2: already had a million followers, and he even came to me.
Speaker 2: He says, if you're ready to move on, then that's fine.
Speaker 2: So I really have to appreciate that from from the
Speaker 2: owner of the forklift company that he understood. It's like
Speaker 2: you have to go, you have to go. And so
Speaker 2: now it's just like I'm doing what I love. Loke simpreto.
Speaker 2: I mean, I got married at a very early age
Speaker 2: at seventeen.
Speaker 1: I want to know all about that. I want to
Speaker 1: know how you got into cooking, and I'll give me
Speaker 1: that she's bad. I want to know how you.
Speaker 2: Well, my mom has always cooked. She's actually you know,
Speaker 2: like I've always said, if she would to have social
Speaker 2: media back in the day, I'm pretty sure she would
Speaker 2: also be well known because she was like the person
Speaker 2: in the Mexican community eyeira, like cacila viria for the
Speaker 2: quin senera for the wedding and so and so. She
Speaker 2: was the one that was donating the food gomola madrina,
Speaker 2: and she was known for making her famous viria, and
Speaker 2: she got us into the kitchen like all of my
Speaker 2: sisters at a very early age. For me, at thirteen,
Speaker 2: iurs already cooking on my own. So when I started
Speaker 2: dating my husband at the age of thirteen, and so
Speaker 2: my mom finds out. I may say, okay, no, no,
Speaker 2: you can't have a boyfriend until you're fifteen. And I said,
Speaker 2: and saying, ye see, the kid esperad he has to
Speaker 2: wait for to ask permission to your dad. And I said,
Speaker 2: oh my goodness, okay, so I told him. I said me, oh,
Speaker 2: my mom found out, and and I can't have a
Speaker 2: boyfriend until I'm fifteen, so you have to wait. So
Speaker 2: he says, okay, well i'm your chamberlain. Let's I'll be
Speaker 2: your chamberlain. I said, okay, yeah, let's let's do that.
Speaker 2: So he became my chamberlain. And the day of my
Speaker 2: kin sayera, he asked for permission, and so we got love.
Speaker 2: I can't so he was so nervous to ask my
Speaker 2: dad for for permission, but he did. And uh and
Speaker 2: then thirty three years later we're still together. But I
Speaker 2: remember my dad had to sign for me because I
Speaker 2: was seventeen. But we had already planned, like okay, it's
Speaker 2: almost like a staca. And and so my dad's like,
Speaker 2: but canna spend on like two more months, just wait
Speaker 2: two more months and you can sign on your own.
Speaker 2: And my husband's like, well, he already said he could sign,
Speaker 2: So why can't you just sign and and let's just,
Speaker 2: you know, let's just get married. And I said, okay, well,
Speaker 2: dad just signed please, because we already have the date,
Speaker 2: we already have everything. So and he said, yes, my
Speaker 2: dad just told them that you're gonna you know, you're
Speaker 2: still gonna take her to school because I was still
Speaker 2: in high school. Right, You're gonna take her to high
Speaker 2: school and she's gonna finish school and you're gonna always
Speaker 2: be there for her. And you know what, he kept
Speaker 2: his promise.
Speaker 1: Imagine if you got married at seventeen like this day,
Speaker 1: though like in this time, I don't know, like exactly right,
Speaker 1: totally different, Like it would be absolutely not like you're
Speaker 1: gonna wait until like you're too you know, you're too
Speaker 1: young or whatever, but like this is it.
Speaker 2: This is I think I was just I just knew
Speaker 2: all along what I could do in my capabilities, and
Speaker 2: I saw that he was very mature too at the
Speaker 2: age of nineteen, because he was nineteen seventeen, and so
Speaker 2: when I saw his maturity and how how responsible he was,
Speaker 2: I'm like, Okay, you know I got this, like we
Speaker 2: got this, and we did. We did four babies later too,
Speaker 2: four babies later.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when did you have your first baby?
Speaker 2: So I was eighteen when I gave birth to Anthony.
Speaker 2: He's thirty two years old, and uh, I got traumatized
Speaker 2: with his births that I said, Okay, I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: have any more kids. But then I really wanted a girl.
Speaker 2: So after the seventh year mark, I'm like, all right,
Speaker 2: you know what, I'm gonna give it another try. Okay.
Speaker 2: So thankfully I had my girl and I said, Okay,
Speaker 2: that's it. I'm done. But then ten years later, I'm like,
Speaker 2: I want more girls. I want more because my mom
Speaker 2: had five girls. And the way that we're just you
Speaker 2: know with my mom, like I want that.
Speaker 1: Do you have brothers too?
Speaker 2: Or I have one brother? Oh? Oh, so backwards reverse,
Speaker 2: it's reverse. And it's funny though that my mom, because
Speaker 2: she wanted boys and she had, you know, the majority
Speaker 2: of girls. It's funny that we all her daughters the majority,
Speaker 2: we all have boys like her grandsons. Yeah, and everyone
Speaker 2: just had like all my sisters, we all have one girl,
Speaker 2: the majority of our boys. It's crazy how it got reversed.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I got I got that little fever. H
Speaker 2: ten years later, after Cindy and I planned it, I
Speaker 2: did my Chinese calendar and then I ended up with
Speaker 2: a boy, two more boys. But I think there been
Speaker 2: are blessing because well, you know, they grow the your
Speaker 2: kids grow older, they start doing their own thing, and
Speaker 2: then so it's like, Okay, that's good that it happened
Speaker 2: like that. But if I were to start all over again,
Speaker 2: I would have them back to back, just to kind
Speaker 2: of thing so they could.
Speaker 1: All sure, they could all grow to this is different,
Speaker 1: Like it's like their attitudes and the way that they
Speaker 1: everything is.
Speaker 2: I think so. And then Cindy sometimes acts like the
Speaker 2: mom or Anthony Ax like the dad to the younger ones.
Speaker 2: And so for me, I would have rather them all
Speaker 2: just like grow up together instead of being like that.
Speaker 1: All right, we're going on a quick break and we'll
Speaker 1: be right back with more of Jenny. Welcome back. Were
Speaker 1: you guys your siblings close?
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, we were all like either a year and
Speaker 2: a half or two years apart, back to back.
Speaker 1: And then you guys would always help your mom cooking
Speaker 1: all that.
Speaker 2: We were always always together in the kitchen, my dad,
Speaker 2: my brother, everybody cooks. So for me to teach my
Speaker 2: kids boys in the kitchen. It's like for me, it
Speaker 2: was like it was the natural thing in my family,
Speaker 2: So they know how to cook. Josh at the age
Speaker 2: he actually surprised me, the baby one. He started cooking
Speaker 2: at the age of six. He was already in the
Speaker 2: kitchen with me and they were part of the kitchen
Speaker 2: cooking all the time. So by the age of thirteen,
Speaker 2: he was already making fresh pasta, something that I had
Speaker 2: never done, which.
Speaker 1: Is good because I think men knowing how to cook
Speaker 1: is a very I think that's a good, good start.
Speaker 1: Like I would love for my brothers to be able
Speaker 1: to cook too, like or when they're on like a
Speaker 1: first date or their wives. I think it's like that's
Speaker 1: a great thing that you're showing them. And I think
Speaker 1: that's I don't know, does your husband not a cook? Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he did. I mean he he's more like, uh,
Speaker 2: like towards the grill, like just AlSi may said, you know,
Speaker 2: because sometimes I prepare everything and then I just take
Speaker 2: it outside and he just grills it. But you know,
Speaker 2: he really he can really get down like if he
Speaker 2: has to do it all on his own, he knows
Speaker 2: how to do it. But but it was something that
Speaker 2: for me to teach him for my kids to be
Speaker 2: independent in the kitchen, because you just never know, you
Speaker 2: just never know. I always taught him like, Okay, you
Speaker 2: could dress on your own at five. I don't have
Speaker 2: to be selecting your clothes. You have to wash at seven.
Speaker 2: And my Mom's like, I'm me happy. I'm like, no, no,
Speaker 2: they could do it. And so I've always taught him
Speaker 2: to be very independent. And so thankfully, Mita, I raised
Speaker 2: someone that she when this whole thing happened for us,
Speaker 2: when the fame happened and we needed to read contracts,
Speaker 2: we needed to negotiate, Cindy had to handle everything and
Speaker 2: she did everything herself.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, Sinday, because there's a lot of wishy washy
Speaker 1: things happening. So that's very good that she has you
Speaker 1: and that obviously the guidance. And I think what I
Speaker 1: love the most is that you're enjoying something that you are,
Speaker 1: that you love to do naturally, like you could be
Speaker 1: at home cooking, and you're also building a community of
Speaker 1: people that love your recipes and love.
Speaker 2: Who you are.
Speaker 1: And on Facebook, what is it like ninety thousand? What
Speaker 1: is biggest things you get told to cook favorite thing
Speaker 1: you love to cook for everybody, and then your favorite
Speaker 1: thing about having this community that follow you and support you.
Speaker 2: Well, going back to the Facebook, it was something that
Speaker 2: we just focused on TikTok and Instagram, right, and everybody's like, oh,
Speaker 2: don't do Facebook anymore.
Speaker 1: Sports up too.
Speaker 2: I know we do regret not focusing there, but ever
Speaker 2: since I started, like, okay, we got to get Facebook up. Thankfully,
Speaker 2: like within two months from twenty two k, now we
Speaker 2: grew to ninety K. So it's a good stark. No,
Speaker 2: it's not paying attention, but the very the very first,
Speaker 2: the number one thing that everybody asks me, like what
Speaker 2: is your favorite thing to cook or for you or
Speaker 2: for your husband? And I feel like Chile Rieno's was
Speaker 2: the one that I think, I that's how I got
Speaker 2: my husband's attention because when I was.
Speaker 1: That's your marry me dish pretty much pretty much because
Speaker 1: I got invited.
Speaker 2: Well, I was always at his house with his mom cooking,
Speaker 2: helping her. But he did say yo enos and the mom,
Speaker 2: Masoya said, I know me who that takes forever? And
Speaker 2: I'm like, no, I can. I can make them because
Speaker 2: I mean I grew up with my mom, five sisters,
Speaker 2: one brother, and then we always had piastios, so we
Speaker 2: always had not just one bag of Chila Reno's, we
Speaker 2: had bags and bags and bags of Chila reanos. So
Speaker 2: for us, we already kind of had a system. So
Speaker 2: yo Sol and like my my mother in law was
Speaker 2: very amazed too, like wow, and so everybody was like
Speaker 2: these are so good. So I think that's when everything's like, Okay,
Speaker 2: she's she's a person to marry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the best way. Honestly, you've been on Food Network
Speaker 1: and all these amazing things. I think for me, what
Speaker 1: I want to know is obviously, uh, you know, you've
Speaker 1: lived along, you've lived a long life, you've had a
Speaker 1: long career, You've did different things, and then this came,
Speaker 1: and obviously it's such a blessing. It's amazing, it's a
Speaker 1: it was just a career switch like this, though, did
Speaker 1: you ever expect this to happen? Did you ever like
Speaker 1: think like was it a dream maybe to maybe this.
Speaker 2: Is or just happened and you were just never did
Speaker 2: I imagine or or did I say I'm gonna do
Speaker 2: my videos to get famous. Nothing like that passed through
Speaker 2: my head, And to me, it was just something that
Speaker 2: I was doing because we were all stuck it at home,
Speaker 2: you know, and it's like, all right, well, you know,
Speaker 2: we can continue this, we can continue cooking, and since
Speaker 2: people like it, well let's do more. And then as
Speaker 2: we started growing and going back to the community, it
Speaker 2: was something for me that I inspired someone to just
Speaker 2: turn on the stove because people were saying, oh my gosh, Jenny,
Speaker 2: thanks to you, you help me cook because well, you
Speaker 2: can't go out to restaurants. I was forced to cook
Speaker 2: at home. And thanks to your videos, you make them
Speaker 2: so easy, you make them look so easy. But remember
Speaker 2: back in the day, TikTok only gave you sixty seconds,
Speaker 2: so it was like I really had to figure out
Speaker 2: how to deliver a whole recipe in a whole minute.
Speaker 2: And so people are like, oh, you making you make
Speaker 2: it so easy. You actually inspired me to turn on
Speaker 2: the stove. And I said, Okay, if I'm helping one person,
Speaker 2: I'm going to continue posting. And so obviously, I mean,
Speaker 2: you get you get All these people say no, but
Speaker 2: it's like, well that's how I got you know, That's
Speaker 2: how my mom got me. And and if a million
Speaker 2: people back in the day, it's like they're like in it,
Speaker 2: well I'm going to continue. So I just continued with
Speaker 2: my own thing. But yeah, thanks to that, it just
Speaker 2: I got invitations to Food Network. I mean made Hiro
Speaker 2: and Jenny, can you promote our pots and pans? And
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, actually I want my own lines. And
Speaker 2: so when they said, wow, maybe we could. And so
Speaker 2: when they came back to me saying yes we can
Speaker 2: make your own line, wow, oh wow, It's like wow,
Speaker 2: could you could just It's it was not like I
Speaker 2: cannot say that it wasn't a dream, but I guess
Speaker 2: you cannot dream if the opportunity presents to you. It's like,
Speaker 2: let's just see how far you can get with this.
Speaker 2: And I mean I'm not I'm not twenty, I'm not thirty.
Speaker 2: So I said, because I'm not going to stop right now,
Speaker 2: like this is the time that I'm just going to continue.
Speaker 2: And it's just one door opens, another door or keeps
Speaker 2: on opening, and it's just it's like when when do
Speaker 2: you stop? And it's like, well, I'm just gonna continue
Speaker 2: opening all these doors.
Speaker 1: Which I think is more inspiring because, like I said,
Speaker 1: young and beautiful at your age, I feel like people
Speaker 1: just don't expect this to happen, and it literally right there.
Speaker 2: But it's it's what it's what you do with this opportunity,
Speaker 2: because I mean, yeah, you can get one radio viral,
Speaker 2: but can you maintain it? And it's about now having
Speaker 2: that discipline, having to wake up every day. It's like, okay,
Speaker 2: how can I be better and how can I improve?
Speaker 2: And so it's like now you can dream big. Now
Speaker 2: it's like, okay, now let's let's take the ball by
Speaker 2: the horns and let's make it big. So thankfully now
Speaker 2: I have my U Messa Mia, Jace Penny. They opened
Speaker 2: the doors for me and that was such a huge accomplishment.
Speaker 1: Was that your I made a moment pretty much, I
Speaker 1: want to say they there's been so many moments, Jenica
Speaker 1: that it's like when they tell me which one's your favorite,
Speaker 1: I can't say.
Speaker 2: Which is my favorite because there all have been blessing.
Speaker 2: They all have brought tears to my eyes and it's like, wow,
Speaker 2: you know, he said this happened to us, and so
Speaker 2: but when I saw when I saw the shelves at
Speaker 2: Jayce Penny with my face and then Messa MIA's name
Speaker 2: on it, It's.
Speaker 1: Like wow that, how did your kids and your husband feel.
Speaker 2: They they all they all get like very also choked up,
Speaker 2: and and they're like, yeah, that's my mom, that's my mom.
Speaker 2: But it's funny has like, oh Mom, you can do it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: oh my god, Like yeah, there's time. So like when
Speaker 2: when Food Network invited me, I told my daughter, I said,
Speaker 2: I'm not I just cook at home, like I'm not
Speaker 2: ready for a competition and I am not like this
Speaker 2: this chef. I'm just a cook at home. And she
Speaker 2: and Cindy reminded me, what have you always told me? Mom?
Speaker 2: You got to confront your fears. And I'm like, don't fear,
Speaker 2: don't let fears stop you. And that's when it hit me.
Speaker 2: I'm like, damn it, I can't say no, right, So
Speaker 2: I said, okay, tell them yes. So when I go,
Speaker 2: obviously I was nervous. I didn't want to let my
Speaker 2: community down, but I was gonna be competing with other people.
Speaker 2: And it's like these are people that are chefs that
Speaker 2: they went to to culinary school and I'm over here
Speaker 2: just my mom taught me or self taught at home,
Speaker 2: and I freaking want.
Speaker 1: Like the ones that you know cook at home. Salame
Speaker 1: and I feel like, you know, the competition or whatever,
Speaker 1: and it's like, no, it's everybody eats no put in,
Speaker 1: but everybody what iss like, there's no everybody has their
Speaker 1: different things exactly how you said, you're a chef in
Speaker 1: your own kitchen, and I'm a chef in my own kitchen.
Speaker 1: There's a way that I do things. There's a way
Speaker 1: that you do things, and I feel like everybody has
Speaker 1: super processor on the way that they do things, and
Speaker 1: and I feel like that goes into everything everything else,
Speaker 1: Like I you know, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: you're doing this. I feel like, you know, for yourself
Speaker 1: and for the women at home or men at home
Speaker 1: as well, Like it's it's super super inspiring. And because
Speaker 1: I feel like it, I know it sounds ridiculous, but
Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of people are intimidated by
Speaker 1: the kitchen like or cooking. Like I feel like they're like,
Speaker 1: I can't do this. It's like no, there's a it's
Speaker 1: it's not that hard, really not that hard.
Speaker 2: But it is very intimidating for a lot it is.
Speaker 2: And so it's like if they tell me, oh, Jenny,
Speaker 2: go build a car, and it's like, okay, well that's
Speaker 2: not in my you know, my area. But and I
Speaker 2: guess that's why I felt intimidated like sellly Fork back
Speaker 2: in the day, because of the motors and the transmissions.
Speaker 2: But then if you really do it, and it doesn't
Speaker 2: matter what field you're in at work, if you just
Speaker 2: do it with pure intentions and with a good heart,
Speaker 2: easy gonnason o'kay. Even though you mess it up the
Speaker 2: very first time, you're gonna eventually get it. And so
Speaker 2: that goes with everything in life. If you just do
Speaker 2: it with love, it's gonna come out right, of course,
Speaker 2: and it's okay if you mess up. It's okay if
Speaker 2: you burn it, because I've burned a lot of stuff myself.
Speaker 2: I still do. But even so, it's like it's gonna
Speaker 2: happen to the most of us, even to like to
Speaker 2: the culinary chefs. And so I always say, Cicosina's gonna more.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you remember hearing your family say
Speaker 2: as you didn't know how that good when you're pissed
Speaker 2: off when you were like cooking this because it's either
Speaker 2: too salty or whatever. But it's so true. It's so
Speaker 2: true you transfer your emotions to food. Of course, it's
Speaker 2: great worse. But I totally believe in that. But the
Speaker 2: funny thing and what I really really love and if
Speaker 2: you pay attention next time, Jenica, just pay attention when
Speaker 2: you're surrounded just it doesn't have to be your family,
Speaker 2: just with anybody. When when you're surrounded by food and
Speaker 2: with people, they're like the most happiest when you're eating,
Speaker 2: You're the.
Speaker 1: Most hare joy seeing them like it too, Like it
Speaker 1: brings some type of like like but maybe that's because
Speaker 1: like I'm a I'm a people person, like I you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a razer. So I'm just like, Okay, they liked it.
Speaker 1: If they didn't like it, oh my gosh, like I
Speaker 1: freak out. I'm just like, what did I do wrong?
Speaker 1: But yeah, and I totally agree, I think like with
Speaker 1: good intentions, Seva Salibrian, you know that's like the most
Speaker 1: important thing because obviously, like you're putting love into not
Speaker 1: only your food but into your your business. I guess now, Mesama,
Speaker 1: all right, we're going on a quick break and be
Speaker 1: right back with more of Jenny. Welcome back. You have
Speaker 1: a cookbook, right, yes, you have a cookbook, and then
Speaker 1: you have the sasonis Jenny's favorite seasoning. I remember and
Speaker 1: the pats and pans. How is that moment for you?
Speaker 1: Like take me through the process of creating, And because
Speaker 1: I don't know what it's like to write a cookbook,
Speaker 1: and I feel like that's complicated because you got to remember,
Speaker 1: Like you can't remember like I cook without like tablespoons
Speaker 1: or measurements, so then now you have to guess it
Speaker 1: and do it right.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Absolutely. When when the publisher came to me,
Speaker 2: it says, Jenny, we do you want to write a cookbook?
Speaker 2: I'm like, yes, can we have it done like in
Speaker 2: three months, like for Mother's Day? And they're like, oh,
Speaker 2: hold ye, no, no, no, no, no, this is going
Speaker 2: to be ready for Mother's Day, but in two years
Speaker 2: from now. And I was like, what two years?
Speaker 1: You had it planned a long time ago.
Speaker 2: It's a two year process, which to me was like
Speaker 2: I even got like, oh my gosh, I who knows
Speaker 2: if TikTok's going to be around in two years because
Speaker 2: they kept on saying TikTok's going to be you know whatever,
Speaker 2: it's older and and I said, oh my gosh, mom,
Speaker 2: and I really needed to help me with measurements, No mom,
Speaker 2: momadas and she was said, which is a what size
Speaker 2: is it the small motor? And I had literally but
Speaker 2: she said, Mika, you already know. And I'm like, you
Speaker 2: know what I I do? I already know. So I
Speaker 2: guess I just got nervous because they did say you
Speaker 2: have to explain to someone that has never been in
Speaker 2: the kitchen, and so you can't assume they already know,
Speaker 2: like you already know, so you really have to sit
Speaker 2: down and think. So I would run to the kitchen,
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, quanto, and then I would like literally
Speaker 2: have to just to make sure that I was giving
Speaker 2: proper instructions and proper measurements. I had to redo the
Speaker 2: whole thing. But it's like, okay, I already knew it,
Speaker 2: but just to kind of test it. And then even
Speaker 2: so you write a recipe and then you have to
Speaker 2: hire food testers because we got to make sure.
Speaker 1: That you q the salt is correct or the typos
Speaker 1: in the cookbooks.
Speaker 2: So's it's a whole process. But after you have that
Speaker 2: book in your hands, it's like giving birth to your baby,
Speaker 2: like yeah, finally it's ready. But it was such a
Speaker 2: huge accomplishment because I wrote it honoring my mom My
Speaker 2: mom is such a great chef herself that it's like,
Speaker 2: you know, my mom is really the goat here. My
Speaker 2: mom is the one that taught us. Because of my mom,
Speaker 2: this is how, this is how what I know and
Speaker 2: I do best because of her. And yes, even though
Speaker 2: I got some from my tias for my sisters, because
Speaker 2: my sisters learned from their suegras, and so I was
Speaker 2: that type of person that's like, Okay, this is really good.
Speaker 2: I need to know how did your mam make that thing? God,
Speaker 2: because you know this is from from Mexico. I didn't
Speaker 2: know how to make dinga. My mom didn't know how
Speaker 2: to make dinga. So I was like investigating, like okay,
Speaker 2: cant and so me asking being that met tech, I
Speaker 2: got to learn how to make certain other recipes. So
Speaker 2: this and I explained in each and every recipe I
Speaker 2: give I give credit to the person that I that
Speaker 2: I that I learned the recipe, because I feel that's
Speaker 2: the way to honor the people that because we're all
Speaker 2: great chefs, we all learned all that. And so and
Speaker 2: even with when when TikTok happened for me, it's like
Speaker 2: who do I go to for help? We didn't know
Speaker 2: how to, you know, with TikTok, like nobody wanted to
Speaker 2: help me because and then some muchas and mexicanosy didn't.
Speaker 2: They didn't know. So when other other chefs started reaching
Speaker 2: out to me, I was gladly helping them like look,
Speaker 2: I don't know, I don't have all the answers.
Speaker 1: It's good karma.
Speaker 2: But but because this is what I know, this is
Speaker 2: what my daughter found out, and sometimes we had to
Speaker 2: learn the hard way ourselves, like you could do this,
Speaker 2: you could do that, or this is what worked for me.
Speaker 2: And so I feel by by doing that, like you said,
Speaker 2: the good karmatar even though you know, and some others
Speaker 2: they they even grew bigger than me, double than me,
Speaker 2: and I was so happy for them. So I was
Speaker 2: getting blessings in many different ways that it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: that's just who I am. I'm always I'm always trying
Speaker 2: to help Otras personas porquet. We have to change that
Speaker 2: that instead of being jealous or being envious, help each other.
Speaker 2: And that was my mentality. When I invited everybody for
Speaker 2: my launch of Messamia, I wanted all the Mexican chefs
Speaker 2: to be there too, because I wanted them to be
Speaker 2: also be known. It's like how many taco stands are there?
Speaker 1: Too many?
Speaker 2: Too many? So to me, it's like, whatever's gonna happen
Speaker 2: to you meta, it's it's already written for you. It's
Speaker 2: gonna happen for you. And if you want to stop
Speaker 2: whatever's gonna happen for me, you can't because it's already
Speaker 2: gonna happen for me. So I am a huge believer
Speaker 2: in that. And this is why to me, it's like,
Speaker 2: I'll help all my other chef influencers because I already
Speaker 2: know that whatever's going to happen to them, it's gonna
Speaker 2: happen for them because we're all stars where we all
Speaker 2: have talent, we all have a little extra special different thing.
Speaker 1: And everybody's different.
Speaker 2: And this is this is why I feel when people
Speaker 2: say I could, man, it's like, well good because imagine
Speaker 2: the same recipes over and over. How boring would this
Speaker 2: world be. That's good that you don't add this. It's
Speaker 2: good that I add this because now it's different. And
Speaker 2: so this is why I captured your attention because mine
Speaker 2: is different. And that's why I you know, you who
Speaker 2: captured my like with not a dot, it's like wow,
Speaker 2: like she does it different and I would never imagine
Speaker 2: to do that, but it's her own little different way.
Speaker 2: With many other chef influencers, it's like wow, like I
Speaker 2: never imagine of doing that. But it's the beauty of
Speaker 2: all these recipes.
Speaker 1: And your creatings that they could good food, good food,
Speaker 1: good vibes. Everyone loves food. There's there's should be no
Speaker 1: person that does not like delicious homemade food, which and
Speaker 1: I love hearing that side of you as well, because obviously,
Speaker 1: like social media can change everything, it can change to
Speaker 1: mental la hinte and what you think and you know,
Speaker 1: even personally. Have you ever had a moment, like a
Speaker 1: discouraging moment like you wanted to stop?
Speaker 2: No? No, I have never never allowed that that to
Speaker 2: to get over me. There's there's times, though that I
Speaker 2: do get mad at myself because I don't know the
Speaker 2: technology as good as my daughter, because because she in
Speaker 2: one minute, she already figured it out. And sometimes I'm
Speaker 2: sitting there and I'm like watching girls and so and
Speaker 2: so Sidny's like, mom, I can't do everything for you,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I know me, I'm sorry, And that's
Speaker 2: when I get mad at myself. But it and and
Speaker 2: so I wish, I wish that I was more techy savvy,
Speaker 2: if I can say that, or even in downloading an
Speaker 2: app or or or that it takes me forever, and
Speaker 2: I see my kids they do it in like a
Speaker 2: minute or less than a minute, and I'm like, like,
Speaker 2: what's wrong with me? But then, you know, if I
Speaker 2: really think back, I remember how my mom and my
Speaker 2: dad would come to me at one point it's like yes,
Speaker 2: like like momy bus ussi and and now I kind
Speaker 2: of feel like that. So that's the only thing I felt.
Speaker 2: But it was because of the technology. And right now,
Speaker 2: I mean technology is where it's at. I mean everything's
Speaker 2: on your phone, everything's on an app, everything's on a platform.
Speaker 2: So I just have to stay up to date. And
Speaker 2: that yeah, forcefully for us.
Speaker 1: But luckily you have four you have four kids to
Speaker 1: help you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you. I have I have four kids
Speaker 2: that keep me on my toes or with the new
Speaker 2: language that sometimes I don't even understand what they're saying,
Speaker 2: or sometimes they're like, oh bro, I'm like, I'm not
Speaker 2: your bro. I'm still your mom. I mean, I mean
Speaker 2: I'm not your your your friend. I'm still your mom.
Speaker 1: My, sister, says that all the time, and even my
Speaker 1: nieces too, They tell me brou and I'm like, no, Nina,
Speaker 1: you better call.
Speaker 2: Me no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: We're not going to start that. So okay, obviously you've
Speaker 1: accomplished all of this, the views, the recipes, the cookbook,
Speaker 1: the pots, the sass. Now that you have this, what
Speaker 1: do you want to do next?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. People have asked me that, and there's
Speaker 2: other stuff that are coming, and that I still don't
Speaker 2: believe that it's happening, but there's there's other things that
Speaker 2: are coming. We're gonna share it with it.
Speaker 1: Okay, is there anything that you that's not that's not
Speaker 1: happening right now? Maybe that or something a goal that
Speaker 1: you might want to reach or.
Speaker 2: Yeah, cooking with you leave.
Speaker 1: That's what I was saying off camera guys too, that
Speaker 1: we were supposed to but right now my kitchen, I
Speaker 1: gotta go to your house see now. If not you can,
Speaker 1: we're going to come back once my kitchen is back
Speaker 1: and working. But also I would love to cook with
Speaker 1: you and do some cute little videos and give you
Speaker 1: one of my mom's recipes to show you one of
Speaker 1: my moms that I learned to cook.
Speaker 2: Oh, I can't wait. Well, you already know that I'm
Speaker 2: a huge fan of your mom. I still am, and
Speaker 2: thank you. I appreciate it huge my you know, biggest
Speaker 2: respect for for your entire family.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate it. No, and it's a huge
Speaker 1: honor say't have you? And I think more than anything
Speaker 1: to be that voice for Latina's, for Latinas that you
Speaker 1: know that are at home that love to cook. I
Speaker 1: feel like it's an important message that you can be
Speaker 1: anything that you want to be. If you want to
Speaker 1: be a chef and you want to quit your job,
Speaker 1: or if you don't have a job, I feel like
Speaker 1: you have the inspiration and the goal to just show
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if there's a thousand people doing it,
Speaker 1: you could still do it.
Speaker 2: You can still do it.
Speaker 1: And if you have a daughter, if you have somebody
Speaker 1: that can help you, you don't even better. But if
Speaker 1: you don't, I promise you could do it. I feel
Speaker 1: like there's a world in a space again for everybody,
Speaker 1: and everybody can do it.
Speaker 2: There's not.
Speaker 1: There's nothing that nobody can do. And I love that
Speaker 1: you may also made that possible for Latina women. And
Speaker 1: again huge, congrats to the book, you guys, the book
Speaker 1: and mess amia in general. That's where that's basically the line, right, Messama.
Speaker 2: Sama, and then my book is my Mexican mess I
Speaker 2: know everybody's like, how did you get that listo? And
Speaker 2: I said, well, everybody says lista when it's done. So
Speaker 2: when people started saying, I, why are you saying lista
Speaker 2: like that? You sound like doras for Dora. So then
Speaker 2: I started extending my words, you know, and I that
Speaker 2: was more catchy.
Speaker 1: I didn't think that it does sound like door, but
Speaker 1: it sounds cool.
Speaker 2: But you know what, I'm like, Hey, Dora was fay mary.
Speaker 2: So so I started extending the words even more, like
Speaker 2: if you're not gonna remember my name, you're gonna remember
Speaker 2: me by the listo lady or by the beautiful lady.
Speaker 2: And sure enough we're like in public and if they
Speaker 2: don't remember my name, they're like the beautiful lady, lady beautiful.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, you see, were those things that
Speaker 1: you came up with or you always said.
Speaker 2: Well like yes, well I would always I always say
Speaker 2: beauty and food, so I would say peutiful. But then
Speaker 2: I noticed that a lot of chefs do say that too,
Speaker 2: but but somebody did say, no, Jenny, you brought beautiful
Speaker 2: to the next level because I was extending my words
Speaker 2: and it's something that I gus. I didn't realize I
Speaker 2: was doing. And then people were like, you know, like
Speaker 2: why do you do that? And I'm like, okay, well
Speaker 2: here's even more. And then it just became a thing.
Speaker 1: Lo your awn little vocabulary. Did you put that in
Speaker 1: the book?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1: I need to go get it. I need to go
Speaker 1: get it.
Speaker 2: But you have to try Jenny's Favorite seasoning. And I
Speaker 2: brought it for you, and I also brought your little present.
Speaker 1: I ask you. I was going to ask him, like,
Speaker 1: what's in Jenny's Favorite seasoning? Like what kind of like
Speaker 1: sasson is it?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Well it's a little bit of everything
Speaker 2: you already know us Mexicans. Yes, this is for you.
Speaker 1: It's okay.
Speaker 2: And I literally put that on on everything, everything, okay,
Speaker 2: So it goes with potatoes, with chicken with I actually
Speaker 2: came up with this blend for my Carna sala okay.
Speaker 2: And because my husband went viral with this onion milk
Speaker 2: marinate that I came up with and because I was
Speaker 2: like wait, we we had garden, we had sailantro to
Speaker 2: the Carna sada, but then we end up throwing it away.
Speaker 1: That I taste a little bit of limon.
Speaker 2: Well you know how we add lemon to the garna salda.
Speaker 2: We had onion, we had cilantro, we had I like
Speaker 2: to add a little bit of spice, then a chile,
Speaker 2: so it has a little caig. But it's such a
Speaker 2: really good one.
Speaker 1: Well I'm excited. Oh now I want to cook, but
Speaker 1: I can't be cause my kitchen its hido. This is
Speaker 1: a beautiful, beautiful book. I've seen it online and obviously
Speaker 1: you don't go I haven't gone to like Barnes and
Speaker 1: Nobles or any stories like that, but this is beautiful. Wow,
Speaker 1: congratulations it.
Speaker 2: Actually it actually made uh that one of the best
Speaker 2: books of twenty twenty four from Amazon, So to me
Speaker 2: that was like a huge accomplishment. And then it also
Speaker 2: we hit the national best selling because I'm like, well, Latinos,
Speaker 2: we don't buy cookbooks because we don't measure. And so
Speaker 2: for my community came together and for them to give
Speaker 2: me all that love and to show me that support,
Speaker 2: and it's I'm saying all right now for eighteen dollars.
Speaker 1: There you guys go, this is your your.
Speaker 2: That's my oldest son, Oh, my god, Anthony.
Speaker 1: And then I saw your husband in here too, my mom.
Speaker 2: And this pretty much is more family style cooking. Oh
Speaker 2: can you reduce the amounts to like two or four people?
Speaker 2: I'm like, that's not Mexican. I'm like, if you're gonna
Speaker 2: be cooking Mexican, at least give.
Speaker 1: Me eight exactly exactly. Wow. And I love that it's
Speaker 1: so family orientedy and and that's beautiful and I think
Speaker 1: so I think that's the reason of all your success
Speaker 1: and with good intentions, like we said, congratulations, thank you again,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for this. I'm gonna be I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be cooking it up because I I started my cooking.
Speaker 2: On my why see that by you?
Speaker 1: Why my TikTok. I was like, you know, let me
Speaker 1: just throw it on there. It might not be the best,
Speaker 1: i might not be beautiful and enjoy, but I'm definitely
Speaker 1: gonna throw this in there. And I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you again so so so much. You're huge inspiration I
Speaker 1: think too many And if you guys please please please
Speaker 1: support Jenny Martinez and all her endeavors, go buy her pots,
Speaker 1: her pants and her sasson.
Speaker 2: And her book.
Speaker 1: What is your social media and everything so that they can.
Speaker 2: Find on Instagram, I'm Happy Bellies by Jenny for the
Speaker 2: same reason, so Happy Bellies by Jenny. And because there
Speaker 2: were so many Jenny Martinez on Instagram.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of Jenny there.
Speaker 2: For TikTok, it's Jenny Martinez with triple z and on
Speaker 2: you Tube to where Jenny Martinez that I'm being on Facebook.
Speaker 1: Now there you go. You got it your She's everywhere
Speaker 1: you guys, Amazon, j C Penny, go to j C Penny,
Speaker 1: which is a great, great place.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was my childhood store.
Speaker 1: So I feel like there's goot to be.
Speaker 2: This, you know. Yes, thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I had so much fun. I mean, I love you
Speaker 2: and your entire family, so thank you. Thank you. We
Speaker 2: have an honor for me.
Speaker 1: We have a cooking day. It was an honor for
Speaker 1: me too. I really I really appreciate. I love hearing
Speaker 1: everybody's story and I love food to so I love
Speaker 1: knowing where your heart is at and all this, and
Speaker 1: I love thank you, Cindy, Thank you guys so much
Speaker 1: for coming. Thank you guys for watching and listening. Make
Speaker 1: sure you guys like, comment, subscribe, Please support Jenny and
Speaker 1: all everything like she said her social media and I
Speaker 1: will see you guys next Tuesday. Overcome for podcast is
Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Fast Network