Foodie Biz
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Consulting
  • Contact

Foodie Biz Blog

Easy to Please, Hard to Impress

Aarti Sequeira: The path from foodie to food celebrity

5/3/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Aarti Sequeira is living the foodie dream. The winner of “Food Network Star” season six, Sequeira went on to host her very own Food Network Show, “Aarti Party,” as well as author her own cookbook, “Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul.” She’s appeared on a dizzying number of cooking shows and assured the world of her talents by winning “Chopped All-Stars.”
 
Getting to this point, however, was far from easy. Dubai-born Sequeira’s entrepreneurial journey didn’t even start in the kitchen. A journalism graduate from Northwestern University, Sequeira began her career behind the camera. It took a long time for her to discover her passion for cooking, and even longer for her to build that passion into a business. 
 
Sequeira took the time to discuss the fascinating path she took to land where she is today, as well as share her insights for all the aspiring food celebrities out there to do the same.

  1. You started out as a producer on CNN. What took you out of the newsroom and into your first restaurant job at Lucques?
 
“When I was in New York, I was on a track. I knew exactly where I was professionally and where I was going. When I moved to LA to be with my husband, I found that it was hard to get work. But when I thought about it, the real reason it was hard is that I lost the hustle, I lost the appetite for [being a producer]. When I was in journalism school, one of my instructors said, ‘if you ever lose the fire, then you have to get out of it.’”
 
“That’s when I started cooking. It’s been in my blood. My mom loves it, my dad is a huge foodie, my grandmothers were amazing cooks. Cooking is practical and healing at the same time. I found that when I followed a recipe, I could transform something raw and ugly, like an onion, into something beautiful, like a French onion soup. I found that the passion I had for news, I now had for cooking.”
 
2. What was it like getting scouted off of YouTube and onto Food Network?

 
“When I started doing the YouTube show it was just pure joy. My husband [Brendan McNamara] was the director. After a while, a woman at [online food platform] Good Bites saw my YouTube channel and apparently said, ‘I can make that woman a star.’”
 
“I started shooting cooking videos for them. I remember thinking, ‘holy cow I would do this for free.’ It was a moment where everything slowed down and I realized this is what I want to do.”
 
“When people told me to try out for Food Network star, I thought there was no way that they would pick me. When you’re in the spotlight, you feel like all people want to do is look down on you. It was definitely a leap of courage and faith. And then they picked me. And when I won, it was incredibly validating.”

3. What advice do you have for all the food bloggers and youtubers out there looking to become the next Aarti Sequeira?
 
“If you want a cooking show, well, just make one. It is easier than ever to set up a camera in your own home and film yourself. Learn to edit too. That helped me a lot.”
 
“My big advantage in doing food network star is that I had basically already done the job. I had been doing it on my own for 9 months. I had the on-camera experience and the kind of recipes people were looking for. I knew the kinds of lines and film cuts that Food Network was looking for.”
 
“For food bloggers, I blogged because I needed an outlet to talk about what was going on in my life and in the kitchen. It helped me figure out what my point of view was and what made me different as a chef. There’s a lot of copycats out there and you have to figure out a way to separate yourself. The only way to do that is to get yourself on a regimen of blogging 3 times a week. You just have to do it, and do it, and do it. I spent years of just writing and shooting and editing and blogging before going onto the Food Network.”

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Benjamin Brown is a seasoned restaurant writer and hospitality consultant, serving up SoCal's hottest food news and reviews.

    Categories

    All
    American
    Anaheim
    Beer
    Beverly Hills
    Biz
    Biz Tips
    Brunch
    Celebrity Chef
    Cocktails
    Comfort Food
    Consulting
    Downtown
    Economical
    Food Festival
    Glendale
    Hollywood
    Huntington Beach
    Irvine
    Italian
    Japanese
    Koreatown
    Las Vegas
    Long Beach
    Marina Del Rey
    Mexican
    Middle Eastern
    Newport Beach
    Pasadena
    Peruvian
    Pizza
    Rancho Santa Margarita
    San Diego
    Santa Clarita
    Santa Monica
    Seafood
    Small Plates
    South Bay
    Steakhouse
    Studio City
    Thai
    Venice
    Ventura
    Westlake Village
    Westood
    Wine
    Woodland Hills
    Yorba Linda

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Instagram

    @Foodie_Biz

    Picture
Home
About
Blog
Consulting Tips
Contact
Legal
Foodie Biz provides restaurant news and reviews for the food community, as well as consulting advice for restaurant owners and other hospitality professionals.
Contact Foodie Biz for media opportunities and freelance consulting projects.

Contact Foodie Biz

Picture
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Consulting
  • Contact