Up next in 10
What does the behind the scenes look like for cowboy cooking? We didn't just build an over 7 million follower brand over night. In this episode we talk about some of the lessons we learned a long the way as well as some insider tips if you are looking at building a brand on social media.
Cowboy Coffee Hour Podcast
Podcast available on Apple, Spotify and your favorite podcast platform!
Check out our BEST SELLING cookbooks. Get your copy here: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop
Also available at bookstores nationwide, and Amazon www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins
---------------------------------
Connect with us!
https://facebook.com/cowboykentrollins
https://instagram.com/cowboykentrollins
https://twitter.com/Kent_Rollins
---------------------------------
Kent Rollins
Cowboy Cooking, Cast Iron, Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Dutch Oven Cooking
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
What's the least glamorous part of your
0:01
job?
0:02
>> I would say all the cleanup mostly.
0:03
[laughter]
0:04
>> That's a great one because, you know,
0:06
like
0:07
>> people don't ever see that part. When
0:08
you're shooting a video and it's 6 or 8
0:11
hours long,
0:12
>> how much stuff did you drag out to
0:14
create all this stuff?
0:15
>> Not only the food and the like dishes
0:17
that you have to do elsewhere, but then
0:19
like the camera,
0:21
>> the lighting.
0:21
>> Yeah. All the all the things. Yeah,
0:23
that's a good one.
0:29
[music]
0:29
>> Howdy. My name is Kent Rollins. I've
0:32
been a cowboy and a chuck wagon cook for
0:34
over 30 years, cooking for [music]
0:36
ranches all across America. You might
0:38
have seen me on the Food Network or
0:40
alongside my beautiful wife, Shannon, on
0:42
our YouTube show, where we share cowboy
0:44
cooking from the trail. But now, [music]
0:46
we're going to take you behind the
0:47
scenes to real campfire conversations.
0:50
Join us as we share humor, cowboy
0:52
wisdom, and stories full of history,
0:54
heart, faith, and of course, a little
0:57
fire. So, grab you a cup of coffee, pull
0:59
up a chair, and welcome to the podcast.
1:03
[music]
1:07
But I'm here to tell you, it wasn't one
1:10
viral video. It was hundreds of times
1:12
doing something over and over, trying to
1:15
make something better every day. and for
1:17
the last 15 years researching, working,
1:21
cooking, building fires, and all the
1:24
stuff that Shen does. I mean, from
1:26
behind the scenes, y'all see me out
1:28
there, but this woman right here is the
1:30
talent, the brains, the good-lookingness
1:33
of the whole thing. I don't know about
1:35
that. But today we're going to kind of
1:37
deep dive behind the scenes of like how
1:40
did we take simple cowboy cooking and
1:43
turn it into a brand with over 7 million
1:46
followers.
1:47
>> Yes. But I think before we go any
1:49
further, I owe people an explanation.
1:51
>> Okay. So, I wasn't going to say
1:53
anything, but then I realized our fans
1:55
and audience are so astute in little
1:59
things. And so, Kent, you had something
2:02
done a week ago. Yep.
2:04
>> And people maybe notice if you're
2:06
watching on YouTube, um, your eyes are a
2:09
little swollen.
2:09
>> Yep. My wife beat me in the night with a
2:12
cast iron skillet because breakfast
2:14
wasn't ready.
2:15
>> No. So, Kent, you had an upper upper
2:18
bluff surgery is what it's called. I
2:20
believe
2:21
>> I just called it eyelid.
2:22
>> So, one day, Ken, well, it's been
2:24
several. It's been over a while. I've
2:26
been noticing like you can't see as
2:29
well.
2:29
>> Oh, I see just fine. And this is
2:31
hereditary because your your brother had
2:33
it. But
2:34
>> my brother had it.
2:35
>> Your eyelids started to impede on your
2:38
vision,
2:38
>> especially at night.
2:40
>> And so I said, "Just go to the eye
2:41
doctor, get it checked out because
2:42
obviously when I say something is wrong,
2:45
that's that's not enough." So we had to
2:47
go to the professionals. And so sure
2:49
enough, the doctor's like, "Yeah, you
2:50
need to get this done. This isn't
2:52
cosmetic at this point." And so you had
2:54
some of the skin removed
2:56
>> from the upper. And you did say that
2:58
things are looking brighter even with
3:00
the swelling.
3:01
>> Yeah, you have a a wider field of
3:04
vision. Yeah. You know, I can I can
3:06
still before this I could see a cow half
3:08
a mile away, but I couldn't find my
3:10
billfold in the house, you know, but I
3:12
think a lot of that was memory, not
3:14
eyesight. But um I mean they said, well,
3:17
you know, you could wear these glasses
3:19
and people wouldn't have to look at it
3:20
because for a while I was wearing dark
3:22
sunglasses, you know.
3:23
>> Yeah. No, it's a lot better now
3:24
>> because I was scaring the public. kids
3:26
were running off so it looked like
3:27
Frankenstein. And
3:28
>> be now a lot of people have asked you
3:30
this and maybe for some of our audience
3:32
who is has thinking about this at this
3:36
point a week out. Yeah.
3:38
>> Would you recommend this surgery?
3:40
>> Well, don't let Shan do it. Her and Mage
3:42
did this in the night and it was, you
3:44
know, little duct tape, some bailing
3:46
wire, but
3:47
>> I can tell a difference today. Yeah.
3:49
>> You know, because there's
3:52
>> not as much pain as there was. There's
3:55
not as much swelling.
3:56
>> Yeah.
3:56
>> Um
3:57
>> your w if you do have it done, your
3:59
significant other is going to laugh at
4:01
you. She will. She said, "One day I look
4:03
like a sad little puppy and the next day
4:05
I look like a chipmunk cuz I had these
4:06
jaws all swelled up."
4:08
>> But I think I think you're really going
4:09
to notice the difference as it as the
4:12
swelling goes down. And you used proper
4:13
eye associates in Amarillo, just in case
4:15
anybody's wondering. But let's just move
4:18
on.
4:19
>> Yes.
4:19
>> And let's talk about the good stuff.
4:21
Let's start where we're talking about
4:24
YouTube primarily, but then also that
4:26
goes into all of the social media
4:28
because as you guys know, social media
4:30
is everywhere and you can't just be on
4:32
one platform anymore, but YouTube was
4:35
kind of like the golden child and then
4:36
we we expanded from there. But let's
4:39
talk about the early days first of all,
4:41
like what did that look like? Did we
4:43
>> did we mean to start a YouTube channel?
4:46
>> I don't think so. No. you know, in 1991
4:49
when I first started with a wagon, I
4:51
just meant to try to make a living, you
4:53
know, um, didn't even know, didn't even
4:56
know YouTube was out there.
4:58
>> I mean, I I have to look back. YouTube
5:00
when we started, it was a thing. Um, but
5:02
I feel like it was still
5:03
>> pretty new.
5:04
>> Pretty new and people were still
5:05
figuring things out and, you know, we
5:07
kind of got in at a good time.
5:08
>> Yeah. But it I think it all started
5:10
about, you know, with the cooking I was
5:13
doing, catering, uh, working cooking for
5:15
working ranches, you know. and then
5:18
>> doing a lot of catering.
5:19
>> Then there was a the time where the
5:21
phone would ring and people say, "Hey,
5:22
we want you to be on the Food Network to
5:24
do something or we want you to do this,"
5:26
you know, and it just sort of got to
5:29
being one after another. Not real quick
5:31
at times because me and you were wishing
5:32
the phone would ring a little faster at
5:34
times, but I think it all led up to
5:36
something to where I remember telling
5:38
you, I enjoy TV. That's the thing that
5:42
really struck a chord with me is because
5:44
you really enjoyed the production aspect
5:47
of it. I think you really enjoyed
5:49
sharing this part of the our life with
5:53
people.
5:53
>> And I [snorts] think what was great is
5:55
that it was super unique at the time
5:57
that Food Network was really big. It was
6:00
primarily stand and stir.
6:01
>> Yep.
6:02
>> And you had people just sitting there
6:04
showing you how to make brownies and
6:06
there wasn't much to it in a kitchen
6:08
controlled environment. And then of
6:09
course there was a lot of the cooking
6:11
competitions that started taking off.
6:13
But I think what people really enjoyed
6:15
about you is you were kind of out of the
6:16
box. Yeah. You're we've got a chuck
6:18
wagon. We're cooking outdoors. It's live
6:21
fire. There's all these unpredictable
6:23
components. And that what's is what
6:26
makes you and our cooking style
6:28
interesting. We certainly did not start
6:31
off wanting to be quote unquote
6:34
influencers. And I hate that term
6:37
because I don't I feel like it's gotten
6:39
kind of a bad rap. The job title
6:41
influencer did not exist when we started
6:44
>> when we had started.
6:46
>> So I prefer content creators at this
6:49
point.
6:50
>> I mean if you influence somebody every
6:52
day in what you do in life, you know.
6:54
>> Yeah.
6:55
>> And people ask me I remember this guy as
6:56
one time. So so you're you're an
6:58
influencer and I said well you can lead
7:00
a horse to water but you can't make him
7:01
drink. And it's the same way with what
7:03
we do. We try to put the best thing out
7:05
there we can all the time. And but we
7:09
learned to rely on the thing I think
7:12
that got us through most of it and that
7:14
was just faith
7:15
>> and hard work
7:16
>> and hard work, sweat and a lot of
7:18
firewood
7:19
>> and just keep taking one step forward
7:21
because it was the wild west.
7:22
>> Oh, it was and social media still is the
7:25
wild west. Don't think, and we're going
7:27
to get into this,
7:28
>> but don't think we have it figured out
7:29
and don't think anybody else has it
7:31
figured out because it's constantly
7:33
changing. So, we didn't necessarily
7:36
start out seeking to be influencers or
7:39
content creators. I think what we did
7:42
was we saw an opportunity where Kent,
7:46
you were great on camera, you loved
7:48
sharing cooking, you loved sharing the
7:50
lifestyle, and you loved connecting with
7:52
people. And that first started doing
7:54
cooking competitions.
7:56
And we got to a point where whether it
7:59
was the Food Network or different
8:00
production companies were really
8:03
reaching out and wanted to create a TV
8:06
show which at the time it was huge.
8:10
>> Yeah.
8:10
>> Because we were we were struggling.
8:13
>> Yes.
8:13
>> We were struggling in what we wanted to
8:15
do. How do we grow our BA brand?
8:17
>> How do we make a living?
8:18
>> How do we put food on the table? you
8:21
know, and everybody I think most of
8:22
y'all know that like especially if
8:24
you're in a new job or you're just
8:27
starting out in whatever it is, maybe
8:28
you're newly weds, it's hard and you
8:31
don't know exactly what path you're
8:33
going to take and what what is it going
8:35
to look like? Yeah.
8:36
>> So,
8:37
what what were we what were we doing at
8:40
this point?
8:40
>> Well, I think when you know when the
8:42
food competitions come along and we had
8:44
so many people reach out and say, "Hey,
8:46
we got this show for you." That's when
8:49
we figured out really that they wanted
8:52
reality.
8:54
We wanted real.
8:55
>> Yeah.
8:56
>> You know, and people kept saying, "Oh,
8:57
no. You know, you can do this and you
8:58
can do this." They want drama, you know.
9:01
>> Do you remember? So, I remember one
9:03
company was talking to you and they had
9:06
the basic premise, you know, they're
9:08
going to go and follow us around and
9:10
cooking on ranches. And he said, "But do
9:14
you do you know a cowboy that like
9:16
screams a lot and like cusses and like
9:19
maybe he can throw things because that
9:21
would really make good TV." And I'm
9:23
thinking, "Yeah, they don't really get
9:24
it."
9:25
>> They don't They didn't They didn't have
9:26
a clue what we really wanted out of it.
9:28
>> Was there any crazy ask that you
9:31
remember from a producer as they're
9:33
doing this like TV development?
9:35
>> I think I remember one of them asked us
9:37
one time, "We just like to follow y'all
9:39
from catering job to catering job." And
9:40
I'm thinking, how boring would that be?
9:43
>> You know,
9:43
>> really. Yeah.
9:44
>> You unload the wagon, you set everything
9:45
up, you feed 500 people, you load the
9:47
wagon, you drive 1,000 miles, you do it
9:49
over. You know, I didn't want to see it
9:51
again.
9:51
>> The catering side wasn't as glamorous as
9:54
as I think the other things that we do.
9:56
Yeah.
9:56
>> Through all the competitions that we
9:58
did, I think it did bring about one
10:00
thing, and that was recognization.
10:03
People got to where they'd say, "Oh, I
10:06
saw you on Chopped or I saw you on the
10:08
Food Network." But
10:11
I didn't want to be thinking that this
10:13
is what they remembered us from from our
10:16
time on a reality show.
10:18
>> I think you had a big a bigger message,
10:20
right?
10:20
>> Yeah. I mean, we had something we needed
10:22
to tell people and that was it's just
10:25
not stand and stir cooking or I can cook
10:28
better than you. You ain't going to make
10:30
it. You're going to get chopped. You're
10:31
gone. Let's talk about doing something
10:34
real that's not just about food, but
10:37
shows a lifestyle, a culture, a history,
10:40
and do it to where people can enjoy it
10:42
and let everybody watch it.
10:44
>> And that's at the moment I decided, hey,
10:47
we can do this on our own. We don't need
10:50
to rely on a production company or a
10:52
food company to put content out there
10:55
because YouTube existed and YouTube was
10:59
building. And it's interesting. YouTube
11:00
is still, I think, the number one
11:03
platform visited in the entire world.
11:06
So, it's a great resource. So, I was
11:09
like, let's just put out a video. So, we
11:11
put out a video. I think it was like a a
11:13
little cook. We had a cooking school at
11:14
one point promotion there and then doing
11:17
a little um here's like how to make
11:20
cowboy beans or whatever. I remember one
11:22
of the very first videos we did, and I
11:24
would love for y'all to go back and
11:26
watch it because you can see
11:27
[sighs and gasps]
11:28
the evolution of the quality of our
11:31
content has gotten so much better. We
11:33
went to the Bell Ranch in uh northern
11:35
New Mexico outside of Tukim Carrey. This
11:38
was my first big cooking. Um we were out
11:40
there for five and a half weeks.
11:42
>> Yep.
11:43
>> And it was right after we'd gotten
11:44
married.
11:45
>> Yep. and one of our friends had given us
11:48
a little camcorder for a wedding
11:51
present. And I thought, hey, I'm just
11:53
going to go out and kind of like
11:55
document
11:57
our journey out here on this ranch. And
12:00
it was really neat because this was the
12:02
first time in over 50 years I think they
12:04
had pulled out a wagon. And so they were
12:05
doing it all traditional style. So the
12:08
wagon is hooked to a team of horses. We
12:10
pull it out. We're traveling
12:14
12 miles a day.
12:15
>> Yeah. Pretty close
12:16
>> between camps. Over 135 miles we put on
12:18
the wagon total.
12:20
>> Do you remember like what was your first
12:22
when we drove up to that ranch? Like
12:24
what were you thinking?
12:25
>> First of all, it's great history. I
12:27
mean, that ranch was so big. It had it
12:29
own its own post office
12:31
>> at the ranch for a long time. And when
12:33
they called and said they hadn't had a
12:34
wagon out in 50s something years because
12:37
they couldn't find somebody that could
12:38
cook and drive a wagon, you know. So,
12:40
I'm thinking we're going to get to do
12:42
something to me that's very special,
12:44
something that I I wanted to do for a
12:47
long time, and that's go on one of these
12:48
big iconic ranches, stay for a long
12:50
time, feed cowboys, see the country. But
12:54
I just remember pulling up in that wagon
12:55
yard, wagon was out there, and all the
12:58
crew was there.
12:59
>> There was this crazy excitement in the
13:02
air
13:02
>> because they never they hadn't done it
13:03
in so long,
13:04
>> and it was a young crew, and so a lot of
13:06
those kids had not even been on a wagon.
13:09
They knew the history involved. They
13:11
knew what was about to happen. It was It
13:13
was pretty exciting. But there was also
13:15
this unknown factor.
13:16
>> Yeah. Because I remember you asking me,
13:19
"What time are we going to get up?" And
13:21
I said, "Two." And you said 2:00. And I
13:24
said, "Yeah, breakfast is at 4." But I
13:26
remember you you had that little red
13:28
camcorder.
13:29
>> Yes.
13:29
>> And I'm thinking this is going to change
13:32
our world.
13:33
>> Did you think that? I did because this
13:35
is something I wanted to preserve to
13:37
show people what we did. I'm thinking
13:39
this will grow our business. You know,
13:41
this will be production quality.
13:43
>> And you know what? Maybe it did.
13:45
>> It might have
13:46
>> because as you had mentioned at the top,
13:48
it wasn't one thing. No.
13:50
>> And that's the thing I really want to
13:51
stress to people
13:52
>> as you're growing a business or a brand
13:55
or even in your job. It's not one thing
13:58
that you're like, "Oh, I finally made
14:00
it."
14:00
>> Yeah. Because even now when I strive to
14:04
do things or we strive to do things
14:05
like, "Oh, if we just if we just hit 1
14:08
million views, then we've made it." Or,
14:10
"If we just hit this many subscribers,
14:12
then we've made it." But once you get
14:14
there, there's always somewhere else to
14:16
go.
14:17
>> And it's kind of weird when you're
14:19
you're there. It's not what you thought
14:22
it would be.
14:23
>> It's not as like
14:25
>> grand as you think. I mean, you you
14:27
climb there to get to that plateau, you
14:29
know, and think this, you know, I've
14:32
made it. What am I going to do now? You
14:34
just keep climbing.
14:36
>> You do keep climbing. And I I do want to
14:39
say one thing. This may be in our
14:41
biggest mistake segment later, but now
14:43
that it's on my mind, I want to say it.
14:45
One thing I regret, and I remember as
14:48
I've been doing like different business
14:49
classes or social media training online,
14:52
someone had said this and it really
14:53
resonated with me. Don't forget to
14:56
celebrate.
14:57
>> Yeah.
14:57
>> And we didn't.
14:59
>> We're trying to be better. And it
15:01
doesn't have to be big. Like when we hit
15:02
1 million subscribers, I don't know that
15:04
we celebrated.
15:05
>> We had a bologn sandwich,
15:06
>> maybe, you know. But it doesn't have to
15:09
be a big win. Every little thing, take a
15:13
moment, take it in, and celebrate that.
15:16
Maybe it's a going out to dinner, maybe
15:18
it's a trip to Italy, whatever it is.
15:21
Because I think when you get in the
15:23
grind, you've got your head down and you
15:25
forget to look up and realize where
15:28
you've gotten and the wins that you've
15:29
made. So celebrate those. Yeah,
15:32
>> that's my my little tip there.
15:34
>> You can't get so busy in life that you
15:36
forget, first of all, where you come
15:38
from, but also don't forget to realize,
15:41
look what I accomplished. Take some
15:43
pride in yourself. Be happy in the
15:46
moment that you got there, but don't
15:48
think this is all of it. that I'm not
15:50
going any further.
15:52
I've climbed to the top rung. They
15:55
another ladder out there.
15:56
>> Yeah.
15:56
>> And you just got to keep on.
15:58
>> So, I've got this camera recorder. Yes.
16:00
And I'm just
16:01
>> You're looking professional.
16:02
>> I'm just showcasing what we're doing.
16:04
This is nothing fancy. By the way,
16:06
there's no audio. The audio is only
16:08
coming from the camera itself, which I
16:10
later learned and a lot of you know,
16:12
you've got to have audio, a separate
16:15
audio miked up. That's huge. But hey, so
16:18
we're going along and it's just a
16:21
dayto-day. We're we're cooking up. Of
16:24
course, I'm never I cook on the wagon as
16:27
equally as you do. Of course, I'm
16:28
holding the camera so you don't see me
16:29
doing that, but
16:30
>> we're cooking. We're feeding cowboys for
16:33
five weeks. Um, and just showing the
16:37
different parts of this. Um, it it was
16:40
really cool for what we had. It was a
16:42
neat deal. It was a two-parter.
16:43
>> Yeah. Um, but you can see the quality is
16:47
rough.
16:47
>> I went back and watched it again not
16:49
long ago.
16:49
>> Did you?
16:50
>> Just because I wanted to see some of
16:52
those people, you know, I had seen them
16:54
in forever. Yeah. But there's a part
16:57
where you're in the wagon with your
16:58
little camcorder and you're sort of
17:00
filming over my shoulder as the team is
17:02
going down and you can hear the jingling
17:04
of the trace chains, you know,
17:06
>> but you look at and I'm not meaning it
17:09
bad towards you, the graininess of the
17:12
of the quality and stuff and then I
17:14
watch a video that's yesterday and I'm
17:16
thinking
17:18
>> and I've been somewhere. I've I was
17:20
trying to be like a professional
17:22
biographer, too. So, I had like I had
17:25
interviews set up with these Cowboys and
17:27
they're thinking like, "Okay, whatever."
17:28
They were great sports. Um, but, you
17:30
know, the wind's blowing and so the
17:32
audio is kind of rough, but it's a great
17:34
reflection on where we've been. Yeah.
17:38
>> Um, I I read one thing one time somebody
17:40
was like, "Well, you know, my my YouTube
17:42
has gotten so much better. Should I
17:43
delete my old videos?" Absolutely not.
17:46
Because it's a great reminder of how far
17:48
you've come. Yeah.
17:49
>> And I think a lot of people look back
17:52
and realize they can see the the the
17:55
journey.
17:56
>> Yeah. They know where it starts. You
17:57
know, we have we have some of the
17:58
greatest fans in the world. And I get a
18:00
comment a lot. I've been watching you
18:02
ever since you started at the Bell
18:03
Ranch.
18:04
>> You know, they've went from the
18:06
camcorder all the way, you know, and
18:09
it's I go back and watch them every once
18:11
in a while just to think
18:14
>> this is where it started.
18:15
>> Mhm. But it's never ending
18:18
>> because [clears throat] we're going to
18:19
keep it going.
18:20
>> Then from there, my editing got better,
18:23
audio got better. I'm not a big tech
18:25
person. Um, I'm much more about the
18:28
story and the content. Of course, tech
18:30
is important, but here's another big
18:33
takeaway um that shocks people, and
18:35
we've said this a lot. From from day
18:38
one, other than the Bell Ranch video
18:40
when I had the camcorder, to this day, I
18:43
still record everything on an iPhone.
18:46
So, here's you don't have an excuse. I
18:49
haven't started a YouTube channel
18:51
because I don't have the equipment. I
18:52
haven't started Facebook reels because I
18:55
don't have the right stuff. We started
18:56
with a phone.
18:58
>> That's all you need. Especially when
19:00
we're outdoors.
19:02
>> The light changes. We don't have a
19:03
controlled environment. The phone is the
19:05
easiest thing. And I personally don't
19:07
want to spend a ton of time learning a
19:11
bunch about cameras and how they work
19:13
and changing settings. That's just not
19:15
important to me. Like I said, I think
19:16
what's important is our content and the
19:19
storytelling you have and sharing food.
19:22
So, that's the thing like decide what's
19:25
important to you. Now, of course, if you
19:26
are starting a gadget brand, of course,
19:29
you need to be on top of that stuff. You
19:31
need to figure out what your why is and
19:34
how you're going to communicate that
19:35
effectively. I don't think, and
19:37
especially in the beginning, people
19:39
really cared that the quality was low.
19:41
No, I mean, you go back and look at them
19:44
videos and you see the views they got
19:45
and
19:47
I I don't think at that time I don't
19:49
know how many people were shooting on
19:50
professional cameras on YouTube. They
19:52
might have been shooting on camcorders.
19:54
Everybody, you know, I don't have a
19:55
clue. But [music] it lets people look
19:58
back and realize, hey, these folks, they
20:00
started just from [music] simple
20:07
>> [music]
20:15
>> This is a question I'm sure a lot of
20:16
people have because
20:20
you first need to start with your
20:21
passion and I wouldn't recommend getting
20:25
into social media or brand building if
20:28
it's all about money because you won't
20:30
succeed. You need to have another
20:33
passion beyond that. It has to be like
20:36
for us, we wanted to share. We wanted to
20:38
connect with people. We wanted to share
20:40
Kent's stories. All that being said, it
20:43
does turn into a business and you have
20:45
to make money at it. You have to put
20:47
food on the table. You have to survive.
20:49
So, Kent,
20:51
>> yes, ma'am.
20:51
>> How long do you think it was before we
20:53
started making meaningful money in the
20:56
brand itself? Taking out the catering
20:59
and taking out the ranch cooking
21:01
>> like the social media. When did we start
21:04
making like a living off of it? Do you
21:06
remember?
21:06
>> You know, the the vid earliest videos
21:08
come out 2014, 2015, long in there. And
21:12
u I didn't even really know what was
21:14
going on at the time. But I remember us
21:16
going back and looking after we seen
21:18
that people had watched that first
21:19
cooking school video and then they
21:21
watched some videos about the Bell Ranch
21:24
and me cooking on the grill. And I'm
21:26
thinking, you'd see the people's
21:28
comments and you see what people were
21:29
thinking and see what people were saying
21:31
and you think maybe we just need to do
21:32
this more often cuz we didn't even have
21:34
a system. Then there was one video here
21:36
and then oh month and a half we'll have
21:38
another one. Yeah. You know, and it's
21:40
it's like feeding cows in the winter
21:42
time. You got to be consistent.
21:44
>> You got to have a plan that lets the
21:46
viewer know, hey, I'm going to be here
21:49
at this time every day, every week, no
21:52
matter. I'm really thinking it was three
21:55
years before we even realized, hey,
21:58
we've got we've got enough subscribers
22:01
to be monetized.
22:02
>> I want to say and that that changes too.
22:04
I want to say maybe yeah, three to five
22:07
years probably that we were like then
22:10
seeing something now. Now I don't want
22:12
to discourage people because that's like
22:13
that seems like a long time.
22:15
>> You have to remember that was also back
22:16
in the day there's we didn't have
22:19
resources. We didn't have people to like
22:21
learn things off of. And so there's a
22:23
lot more resources today on how to
22:26
effectively build a brand and content.
22:29
So you can kind of speed that up a
22:31
little bit. But I do want to say it was
22:32
it was closer to five years till like we
22:34
could really maybe start relying more.
22:36
>> I remember we went it was about four to
22:39
five years after we started. We went to
22:41
Oklahoma State University football game
22:43
and at that time on YouTube we had
22:45
71,000 subscribers.
22:47
>> Oh wow.
22:48
>> And we were sitting there and they said
22:49
today's attendance is 73,500. And I
22:52
remember I telling you,
22:53
>> look at all these people. That's how
22:55
many people we got that are subscribed
22:57
to our channel. Yeah.
22:58
>> And it sort of brought it really to a a
23:00
presence to me. That's a lot of people.
23:03
>> Yeah.
23:03
>> You know, and them people are relying on
23:04
us. And I thank you each and every one
23:07
if you were some of them. First one
23:08
that's been on there.
23:10
I mean, that was motivation to me right
23:13
there.
23:13
>> Yeah. You know what also was a big jump
23:16
for our channel was co
23:18
>> co was a a really hard time but there
23:22
was there were blessings of co one was
23:24
that we got to meet a lot more people
23:28
were at home they were stuck they wanted
23:31
to learn something they came to our
23:33
channel outside being outside was super
23:36
big during co and so outdoor cooking
23:38
that exploded and so co was a really
23:42
>> big time for It brought brought a lot of
23:45
people to the computer and there was so
23:47
many comments. Hey, you you're you're
23:49
helping me get through co,
23:51
>> you know, we went to the store and
23:53
everybody's done got all the bread. You
23:54
taught us how to make bread or we're
23:56
we're making cowboy coffee in the
23:58
fireplace.
23:59
>> You know what I remember too is when
24:02
Texas's grid
24:03
>> collapsed the the electrical grid and it
24:08
was something insane amount like people
24:09
are out of power. I remember we got so
24:12
many comments of people like you helped
24:16
us survive because we didn't we couldn't
24:18
cook with electricity so we got outside
24:20
or we made cowboy coffee.
24:22
>> Yeah.
24:22
>> And so again it was like those little
24:25
those little things that keep you
24:26
thinking okay what we're doing is
24:28
important and it's bringing joy to
24:31
people.
24:31
>> That's right. That's about
24:32
>> let's keep doing that. Yeah.
24:34
>> Was there a turning point do you think?
24:37
Was there like one turning point for
24:38
you? I think when uh really come after
24:42
the chop grill masters and after our
24:48
first cookbook I think that was I mean
24:51
them two sort of worked together to play
24:53
with YouTube and I'm thinking we've got
24:56
like some headwater on the stream now we
24:58
rolling you know there was child grill
25:00
masters cookbooks fixed to be published
25:02
let
25:03
>> that was in 2015
25:04
>> yeah I think that really sort of pushed
25:07
me in a way to think I don't and sure
25:10
there was a lot of folks reaching out
25:11
saying you need to have TV, you need to
25:13
do this, you need to do this, but it
25:14
made me realize we were in control of
25:16
our own content, our own destiny.
25:18
>> That was big.
25:19
>> Yeah.
25:20
>> Because from that point on, it felt like
25:22
we were relying on other people so much
25:25
for our success. Like, oh, if we we get
25:28
in with this production team or if we
25:30
have a good meeting on this time or if
25:32
we really impress this person,
25:34
>> then we'll get on TV, then we'll get
25:35
this brand deal, then this will happen.
25:37
We were yeah we were relying too much on
25:39
other people when we could control our
25:41
our destiny.
25:42
>> I remember when the when the first
25:44
cookbook come out and CBS Sunday Morning
25:46
did that piece you know
25:47
>> the Scott Simon that was wonderful
25:49
>> and uh I was on a ranch in uh west of
25:53
St. Angelo out there at a rocker be and
25:58
uh I can remember thinking, you know,
26:01
there's there's TV, there's all kinds of
26:04
things, but being on that ranch the day
26:07
that CBS Sunday Morning aired, the day
26:09
that we sold a lot of cookbooks online,
26:13
and I'm not talking about just for the
26:14
money, just to reach people, and I was
26:16
in a place to where it started on a
26:19
ranch.
26:19
>> Yeah. cooking and it just made it come
26:23
full circle to me and I'm thinking, you
26:25
know, we had a guy that had been working
26:28
on a show for us and he was so close. He
26:30
said, "We got this deal done. It's on
26:32
the Food Network desk." What happened?
26:35
>> The CEO of the Food Network had the
26:37
contract on his desk. He was going to
26:40
sign it the next morning. That evening,
26:42
Food Network consolidated and fired all
26:45
the upper echelon. Yeah. Gone. And he
26:47
called me while I was on that ranch and
26:48
he was crying. It just broke his heart.
26:51
And I said, "Hey, we going to make it. I
26:54
got firewood. We're in good shape." You
26:56
know, but it's I think you you get to go
26:59
through life and you you think this is
27:01
what I want to be. This is what I want
27:03
to be. This is what I got to be. And you
27:05
put so much focus on one thing
27:08
>> that you don't see all the other little
27:09
things that you could become. Mhm.
27:12
>> And them are the little blessings in
27:13
life that often just reach out there and
27:15
say, "Hey, this didn't work, but if
27:17
you'll just keep going, you'll keep
27:19
trying. Let's do this."
27:20
>> I think pivoting, right?
27:22
>> Oh, yeah. You got to learn. You got to
27:23
be 360
27:25
>> all the time. All the time.
27:26
>> It's all And it's And it can be just
27:27
little baby pivots, you know? It doesn't
27:29
have to be a full like rebrand, but I
27:32
think that's what we learned too is just
27:34
maybe this isn't meant to be let go,
27:36
pivot. And it was more like, okay, well,
27:39
what do we want? What's the message we
27:40
want to send? Um, we don't want a
27:42
television show where people are
27:44
screaming and throwing things. We want
27:46
to share real stories, people, faith,
27:50
>> uh, food. Right.
27:51
>> Yes, ma'am.
27:52
>> I think the the big turning point too
27:55
was understanding our audience and we
27:59
got a little more data driven because I
28:02
want to say something that may shock a
28:04
lot of people that don't understand the
28:06
social media world. We can't always put
28:09
out content that we want to put out. We
28:12
have to look at what you are searching
28:15
for. What do you want? And we reverse
28:17
engineer things. It takes a lot of
28:21
research behind one video that comes
28:23
out. It's not just like, hey, can't your
28:26
mama made the best blueberry pie. Let's
28:29
do a video on that because it literally
28:30
is the best thing ever. Well, we can't
28:32
because one, are search are people
28:35
searching for it? Is it the time of year
28:37
for blueberry pie? Um, has are
28:40
blueberries in season? Like, is there a
28:42
blueberry deficit? I mean, there's so
28:45
many things. So, one thing that's
28:48
interesting is the backend research it
28:51
takes. I'm going to try to break it
28:52
down. Like, if for one episode, how long
28:55
does it take for us to to film one
28:57
episode? If you're going to go back and
28:59
do all the research and before we ever
29:01
get to the day we're going to film, you
29:03
done put in
29:03
>> probably eight hours, maybe
29:05
>> 8 to 12 hours on that.
29:06
>> That's just like the backend research.
29:08
And then also recipe development. So
29:10
you've probably got like four hours in
29:11
that.
29:12
>> The filming itself, like on camera, it
29:16
really depends on what the recipe is,
29:17
but anywhere from five to 10 hours. Like
29:21
if you're doing a smoking video, those
29:23
are longer. And then you have the post
29:25
production. So, we've got editing. I did
29:28
all of the editing up until about a year
29:30
ago. We had some had some editors here
29:33
and there and that was really hard for
29:34
me to let go of because this is our
29:36
baby. But now I do a first pass like
29:40
rough edit and then I send it to editors
29:41
and we kind of go back and forth. So
29:43
then you've got the post edit which is
29:44
probably another
29:46
six to eight hours. Then you have the
29:48
promotion of it. So like once it goes
29:50
live, well what then we have to promote
29:51
it, put it on our website, our um email
29:55
newsletter. So our different Facebook
29:58
>> Yes.
29:59
>> Instagram, Tik Tok, all of that.
30:01
>> So
30:02
>> it's not just let's shoot a video and
30:04
put it on there.
30:05
>> And like and let's just hope everybody
30:07
likes blueberry pie. No, [laughter]
30:10
>> we've got to look at we look at search
30:11
trends, data. Yeah.
30:13
>> What people are searching for. So
30:15
there's a lot that goes into it. And I I
30:17
I want to want to tell everybody out
30:19
there watching, nobody taught her how to
30:24
be a editor, a camera person,
30:29
uh a producer, a researcher. I admire
30:33
this woman so much. Not only is she a
30:35
great cook, she's tough. As an old man
30:37
said one time, and he said, "I mean this
30:39
as a compliment to her now, Kent. She's
30:41
tougher in boot leather and shinier than
30:43
a brand new penny. [laughter] I [snorts]
30:45
mean, she just gets it done. I've seen
30:47
you be up against a wall to where
30:51
>> you thinking this mic ain't working.
30:53
This ain't going to be right. This ain't
30:55
going to happen. But I think we've been
30:57
together enough and we've been through
30:59
enough. You have that same mentality and
31:01
attitude. You don't quit.
31:03
>> You figure out a way. If it's duct tape
31:05
and bail and wire, you get her done.
31:08
>> I remember we were shooting a video for
31:10
it was bread pudding
31:11
>> the tripod. We were on a ranch cooking
31:13
for oh was I think it was a certified
31:15
Angus beef
31:16
>> Yeah.
31:16
>> deal in Kansas.
31:17
>> In Kansas was it?
31:19
>> So we're on this ranch and we're cooking
31:21
a meal, but I thought let's also film a
31:24
video while we're here, which is kind of
31:26
crazy. And we're going to do bread
31:27
pudding with whiskey cream sauce, which
31:30
is an amazing recipe. If you guys want
31:31
to check it out, we've got them all on
31:32
our website. So, I'm setting everything
31:34
up and the tripod breaks because I'm
31:36
sure at the time our budget was
31:38
extremely low and I had some like $10.99
31:41
tripod I found at Walmart
31:44
>> and it breaks and I'm just like I'm
31:46
going to break down. I can't do this.
31:47
What are we going to do? And I remember
31:49
you're like, "That's no problem." And
31:51
you grab two shovels
31:54
and maybe
31:56
>> two shovels and a tepee pole
31:59
>> and you had duct tape.
32:00
>> Yes. and you duct tape them.
32:01
>> We duct taped it around
32:02
>> like a little tripod
32:03
>> and set it up and that's how we filmed
32:05
that episode. So,
32:07
>> you're going to run across obstacles.
32:09
They're going to be things that step out
32:10
in the way, things that just don't work.
32:13
And so many times in life, you can say,
32:15
"Well, if it ain't going to work, it
32:17
wasn't meant to be. I'm just going to
32:18
quit." You know, you never get nowhere
32:20
in life if you quit. And this woman
32:22
right here has no quit in her. She is
32:26
you so far above my pay grade on
32:28
talented things you can do on a computer
32:31
and a kitchen both and a Dutch oven.
32:33
>> Well, it's and and it was hard back then
32:34
because again you couldn't YouTube
32:38
everything back then like how to film
32:41
outdoors, how to fix your audio, stuff
32:43
like that. So, it was a lot of trial and
32:45
error. I want to go into a section of
32:48
the biggest lessons
32:49
>> that we've learned and taken away. As
32:52
you said, it's not just one viral video.
32:54
I think for a lot of people, and I was
32:56
the same way, you see maybe an actor or
32:59
you see a brand or you see a person all
33:02
of a sudden in the spotlight and you
33:03
think, "Well, wow, that was like a one-h
33:05
hit wonder. How'd they do that?" Very,
33:08
very rarely is it just one thing that
33:11
catapults somebody. It's all these
33:13
little things that you're doing behind
33:15
the scenes when nobody's looking that
33:18
really makes the difference. And I am
33:20
with you all. If you are in that mud
33:22
hole right now where you're just trying
33:24
to climb yourself out and you're doing
33:26
all these little things, keep doing it
33:28
because it will happen.
33:30
>> And I think that's maybe one of the
33:31
hardest things of having your own
33:32
business or brand. You you're the last
33:34
line of defense, right? Like there's
33:36
nowhere else to go. And sometimes it's
33:38
just it's a lot. But it's just pulling
33:41
your out pulling yourself out one little
33:44
step at a time.
33:45
>> It's not going to be easy every day. If
33:48
it was, it wouldn't even be no fun.
33:50
>> Everybody would do it.
33:50
>> Yeah.
33:51
>> The one thing I think you would mention,
33:53
too, consistency beats perfection every
33:56
time.
33:56
>> Yes.
33:57
>> So, whatever it is you're doing, be
33:59
consistent about it. We put out a video
34:01
every Wednesday. Now, we put out a
34:03
podcast every Sunday.
34:05
>> Is it perfect every time? No. Have we
34:07
done all of the research that we should
34:09
have? Sometimes, no. Like, you have had
34:12
your surgery, so some of our content got
34:14
a little behind or we're kind of like
34:15
scrambling to get stuff done.
34:18
What I realized and what I really love
34:20
about social media is that it's so much
34:24
more relaxed. When we were first doing
34:26
videos, I was trying to produce like it
34:28
was the Sundance Film Festival.
34:30
>> Yes.
34:30
>> And I remember people, one guy said
34:33
like, "Oh, I really love it the the
34:35
bloopers or like when Kent messes up."
34:37
And I thought, "Oh, you mean so I don't
34:40
have to be perfect? You guys like you
34:41
like real? Who knew?"
34:44
>> [laughter]
34:45
>> And I think that that was big. I think
34:48
it's hard now because
34:51
there's so many influencers and content
34:53
creators that inauthenticity kind of
34:57
creeps in. But I think in the long run,
35:01
being authentic and being who you are is
35:04
going to win out.
35:05
>> Yeah. If you stay true to yourself,
35:07
people can spot a counterfeit 100 miles
35:09
away and it will ruin not only your
35:12
reputation, but it'll ruin your viewers.
35:15
They will not be there for you no more.
35:17
Find something you like to do in life
35:19
that is a passion that you know you can
35:21
create, that you can master. I'm not
35:24
saying it's going to be easy, but put
35:25
your heart into something that your
35:27
heart wants to be in and get it done
35:29
that way. The story matters than more
35:32
than fancy cameras. And your audience
35:35
matters more than views.
35:38
>> Yeah,
35:39
>> that's a hard thing for me to remember
35:41
and to keep in. Your audience matters
35:44
more than the views. Who are you trying
35:46
to connect with? Because if you get some
35:49
viral video and maybe it gets a million
35:51
views, but those people aren't sticking
35:53
around for the next one, it doesn't
35:54
matter.
35:56
>> Who are you trying to connect with? Why
35:57
are they going to keep coming back? You
36:00
owe your loyalty to your audience and
36:03
your life lifers. Right?
36:05
>> That's why we tell y'all every time
36:07
you're not fans, you're family. Because
36:10
that's what we wanted to create was
36:12
something here that was just sure
36:14
there's food, there's history, but it's
36:18
family time. I I can remember being
36:20
little and so much. You look forward to
36:22
them times to where you could gather
36:23
around the table or everybody sit in the
36:25
living room and you had family time.
36:27
Like now we have family time but one of
36:29
the family is asleep
36:31
which you all have made a mention like
36:33
he could major our our dog here can
36:35
sleep through a a freight train and
36:37
that's probably true.
36:38
>> He loves a podcast.
36:39
>> Biggest thing too is don't chase the
36:41
trend. That's really hard in social
36:43
media. But if you realize trends change
36:47
faster than you can blink. So, if you're
36:50
constantly chasing the trends, there's
36:53
nothing for you to stand on and there's
36:56
nothing for you to go back to and rely
36:57
on. And your audience will be the same
36:59
way. It's like, well, what are what are
37:00
we coming here for? That that's hard for
37:04
me because I'm a big Tik Tok personally.
37:06
Like, I just love the scroll and I get
37:08
sucked in and and I think of things like
37:11
there's this trend where people are
37:12
voicing over some popular song and I'm
37:14
like, "Oh, Ken, this would be so fun.
37:16
Let's do it." and it doesn't work for
37:18
us. Like you have to realize what
37:20
doesn't work for your brand. And there's
37:21
a lot of onbrand trendy things that we
37:24
do not do because it just doesn't work
37:26
for our audience. It would be fun to do
37:28
but
37:29
>> you know and you don't like to lip sync.
37:33
>> No, I got I [laughter] don't sing very
37:35
well anyway. You know what I mean?
37:37
[music]
37:48
What do you think is some of the biggest
37:50
mistakes that we've made?
37:55
>> I' and viewers don't see it.
37:57
>> Yeah. You know, to me it would be when
37:59
we were [music] in a bind filming and if
38:02
the weather was not cooperating and I've
38:04
left an ingredient 27 miles away
38:06
somewhere else, you know, have to go
38:09
back to to the house to pick it up to
38:12
bring it back out there and everything's
38:14
then on hold. Then the light has
38:15
changed. Then the wind is worse. But
38:18
there's been a lot of things that I've
38:19
learned from mistakewise. And one of it
38:22
is when you start shooting this video,
38:24
this is not regular cooking time
38:26
anymore. This is not I'm gonna cook this
38:28
35 minutes,
38:30
>> then it'll be done.
38:31
>> There is so much more to it because
38:34
you're you got to build the fire, but
38:36
you want to show your people what did
38:37
you put in the fire? Was there a certain
38:39
kind of wood you use, certain kind of
38:41
smoking wood? But also now we have to go
38:44
back through this again the recipe. Now
38:46
we have to do something change over
38:48
here. So it was really hard for me.
38:49
>> Was your biggest mistake not planning?
38:51
Well,
38:52
>> yeah. But it was really hard for me to
38:54
try to understand this is messing up my
38:57
rhythm.
38:58
>> What's really hard too now that we have
38:59
a TV show, [clears throat] so it's not
39:01
even just me producing. Now the TV show
39:03
on the outdoor channel, The Cast Iron
39:06
Cowboy, what what's really great for me
39:08
is I don't have to produce. I don't have
39:10
to edit. None of that. I'm on camera
39:13
cooking with Kent and it's set up like
39:15
we do in ranching. But production time
39:18
is so different. Like you said, we could
39:21
cook this cake in 30 minutes. Well, not
39:22
in production time because you have to
39:24
stop, you have to do cameras, you have
39:25
to reset and do lighting. So, a
39:27
30-minute cake will take four hours.
39:29
>> Yeah. I mean, I was always one, let's
39:31
saddle the horse and ride,
39:33
>> you know.
39:33
>> Yeah.
39:34
>> And uh that don't [clears throat] work a
39:36
lot of times, but it's planning was my
39:39
biggest deal that I didn't come up with.
39:41
>> Did I allow enough time or did I change
39:43
this or was this going to work for
39:45
today? What time was we going to do
39:47
this? There's so many variables that fit
39:49
in there when you're doing this because
39:50
it's not just like going in the backyard
39:52
and cooking.
39:52
>> I think my biggest mistakes is now this
39:56
is coming from a place not in the
39:57
beginning. This is as we've grown. I
39:59
didn't delegate enough and we should
40:01
have hired people sooner. And if you're
40:03
an entrepreneur, you know this, you take
40:05
on everything and you it's hard to give
40:07
things up because again, this is your
40:09
baby. This is your brand. It's hard to
40:11
rely on other people to take that
40:13
weight. But it is very important if you
40:16
want to grow, you have to learn to
40:18
delegate and hire people because
40:21
surprise, there are some people that do
40:23
things better than you do
40:25
[clears throat] in certain elements. And
40:27
so
40:29
building a trustworthy team is huge.
40:32
It's easy for me to say that. We've been
40:34
through a lot of different people and
40:35
elements. And again, it's one of those
40:38
things you just take baby steps and you
40:40
finally find the people you trust who
40:43
believe in you and if you get a stellar
40:45
team behind you and even that even if
40:48
it's not your working team it's just
40:50
like friends and family you need
40:52
support. I just want to go through some
40:54
viewer questions that we have gotten in
40:56
the in the past that um maybe you will
40:59
find interesting or informative if you
41:01
are exploring your brand. Have you ever
41:05
wanted to quit?
41:06
>> Ever wanted to quit?
41:09
There's there's been a few times that I
41:12
wanted to postpone,
41:14
>> not quit. Uh quit is not in vocabulary
41:17
that I grew up with and I try not to
41:19
have it now ever because there are a lot
41:23
of people counting on what me and you
41:25
do. And if we quit and if there's just
41:28
one person that misses it, we didn't do
41:30
our job. Quitting is not an option. Now,
41:33
let's postpone I can remember them days
41:35
when it was like either 118 and we were
41:38
cooking or it was minus 3 and the wind
41:40
was blowing that I might have wanted to
41:41
postpone.
41:41
>> Can is there any and you may not have an
41:43
answer to this but is there any one
41:45
moment that kind of comes to mind where
41:47
you're like this is it. I'm done. I
41:49
can't do it anymore.
41:50
>> Oh, [sighs]
41:51
>> I don't know if I have. Again, I think
41:53
it's just been little moments where you
41:56
get overwhelmed.
41:57
>> Yeah.
41:57
>> And you think like I don't know if this
41:59
is worth it. But I don't know if there's
42:00
any one moment where I was like,
42:01
>> I don't think there's ever been just one
42:03
particular thing that said, "Hey, you
42:05
can't go no more. This is it." No.
42:08
>> What advice would you give to someone
42:09
starting in social media?
42:11
>> First of all, be real to who you are.
42:14
>> Be consistent every time and put your
42:17
heart into it. Let people know that this
42:20
they really care. They truly care about
42:23
what they're putting out their content,
42:25
but they care about me as a person. To
42:27
me, I think sometimes people get so
42:29
wrapped up in viral videos and content
42:32
and everything else in the world, they
42:34
forget about
42:35
>> who's watching it.
42:36
>> Let's be there for the people.
42:37
>> Yep.
42:38
>> I'm all for the people, Sh. Yes, ma'am.
42:40
>> Mine would be go on multiple platforms.
42:44
And that is creating a system where you
42:47
create one video, but it goes on
42:49
multiple sources. Because back in the
42:51
day, I think you could rely on just one
42:53
platform. Now to be successful, I don't
42:57
think that's the best option, especially
42:59
because it's so volatile and you don't
43:00
know what's happening. But like we
43:02
create one short video of like one we
43:04
did that just went crazy was jalapeno
43:06
dip. We created that and we posted on
43:09
YouTube, Instagram reels, Facebook
43:11
reels, YouTube shorts. So you get one
43:13
video, multiple platforms. It's kind of
43:16
doing the work for you. Also, in the
43:18
comments, let us know, would you like us
43:20
in a future episode to go more in depth
43:23
on any of this? Maybe this isn't
43:25
interesting to you guys. Maybe like the
43:26
business side. Maybe you just want to
43:28
hear more behind the scenes wackiness.
43:29
Do you want to hear more like the data
43:31
or how to? Let us know. If you just had
43:34
$400 to start a YouTube channel, what
43:37
would you get first?
43:38
>> Someone like you to run it for me. I
43:40
don't know if you can do that for I'd
43:42
get me iPhone if I could.
43:44
>> And here's the like so that doesn't even
43:46
count because most people have a phone
43:48
already. So you can't use that excuse.
43:50
Good little audio
43:53
>> mic. We use road. I think it's called a
43:55
road go.
43:56
>> Yeah.
43:56
>> Uh that's a great one.
43:58
>> It is.
43:59
>> Mine would be there are a lot of Now
44:02
don't get mad at me people. There's a
44:04
lot of AI programs out there. Here's the
44:06
the balance that you need to be careful
44:07
with AI. AI can be extremely helpful,
44:11
but you have to remember you also have
44:13
to be authentic and real. So use AI to
44:17
help maybe you generate ideas. There is
44:20
a platform that I love that I use called
44:22
Vid IQ. It integrates with YouTube and
44:26
it gives you all sorts of different
44:27
tools. It tells you data like what's
44:29
what's trending right now? How could you
44:31
improve your thumbnail? What's a good
44:32
title that you could use for your your
44:35
channel or your video. So, I would
44:38
invest in a third-party program, whether
44:41
it's AI, whether it's Vid IQ, whether
44:43
it's some sort of a reach search tool to
44:46
help you get started. They're cheap. So,
44:48
find one of those. Another thing, too,
44:50
if anybody's interested in editing
44:52
software, because I do get that question
44:54
a lot. So, I'm an Apple person. Of
44:56
course, I shoot on an iPhone. Final Cut
44:59
Pro is what I use now. However, iMovie,
45:03
which is the free version, and it's very
45:05
basic. It's super userfriendly. If you
45:07
need to start on something, I would
45:09
recommend that. It's really easy. There
45:11
are also several online editors. Some of
45:14
them have free options. Some of them are
45:16
paid, but again it's ve it's pretty
45:18
minimal. Um, I like Cap Cut. I like V.
45:22
Ve D and also Canva. Canva is primarily
45:26
like a photo editing graphic, but they
45:31
have expanded and they offer some really
45:34
neat video features to do. You can add
45:36
captions to videos. Again, they have a
45:39
free service, I think, up to a certain
45:41
point and then and then a membership.
45:43
But please don't let the editing
45:44
software scare you or prevent you from
45:47
starting something because there's a lot
45:48
of easy options out there. What's the
45:50
least glamorous part of your job?
45:52
>> The least glamorous part of my job. I
45:55
would say all the cleanup mostly.
45:58
>> That's a great one because you know like
46:00
>> people don't ever see that part. When
46:02
you when you're shooting a video and
46:04
it's six or eight hours long,
46:07
>> how much stuff did you drag out to
46:09
create all this stuff? Not only like not
46:11
only the food and the like dishes that
46:13
you have to do elsewhere, but then like
46:15
the camera and the pod or the lighting.
46:18
>> Yeah. All the all the things. Yeah,
46:20
that's a good one.
46:21
>> Well, I mean, I don't know if I've ever
46:23
been glamorous, you know, but what we
46:26
get to see when we're cooking and some
46:29
of the remote places that we've been
46:31
makes it all worthwhile for the glamour
46:34
part of it. Uh, you are my glamorous.
46:36
You and the snouse are down there who's
46:38
taking a nap. That's another reason I'm
46:39
not on front camera all the time. That
46:41
means I have to shower, do my hair,
46:43
makeup. That's I'd much rather be behind
46:46
on the camera. But the biggest point,
46:48
like the biggest takeaway we want for
46:49
you all is that to build something
46:52
meaningful, it doesn't happen overnight.
46:54
>> It's little moments. It's day by day.
46:57
It's being authentic. It's believing in
47:00
yourself. Even when things are hard,
47:02
even when you you don't see the light at
47:04
the end of the tunnel, it's there. You
47:06
just have to keep clawing your way out.
47:09
And I think what's what's really
47:11
interesting for us is with over 7
47:14
million followers we have across all of
47:16
our brands or all of our platforms, it
47:19
may feel like we have it figured out.
47:21
And when you're watching other people,
47:23
it may seem like they have it figured
47:25
out, but you have to remember social
47:27
media is misleading. People are posting
47:29
the best of the best. You don't always
47:32
see all the heartache and the hardship.
47:35
So keep that in mind. And what I love
47:37
about what we've done is that we have
47:40
been able to morph over the years. And
47:42
what's great now that we have a podcast,
47:44
we're able to take our food and change
47:47
it into more of our behind the scenes,
47:49
what our life is really like, how we can
47:52
share stories of faith with you all. And
47:55
I think that's what's really fun about
47:57
where we've gotten to is we've been able
48:00
to expand and share more of our life.
48:03
It's it's about sharing more than
48:05
anything else. As my mother would say a
48:07
long time ago, there's two little words
48:09
and they rhyme often all the time.
48:11
That's caring and sharing. Be sure you
48:13
do both. You'll make a difference in
48:14
someone's life. And that's what that's
48:18
what it is for me every day. If we can
48:20
get up and we can do something that's
48:23
going to help someone or give someone a
48:26
brighter day, bring a smile to someone's
48:28
face, give a pat on the back to somebody
48:31
and add a boil. that that's what life is
48:33
about to me. And don't quit. Just keep
48:36
going. Climb that ladder and then if you
48:39
ain't got to the top where you want to
48:41
be, get another ladder and stack on that
48:43
and keep on climbing. Right.
48:44
>> Absolutely. Now, our one final quick
48:47
little segment we call one more cup. And
48:49
this is where we just talk about what we
48:51
have been rabbit holeing or thinking
48:52
about researching this past week. And
48:55
Kent, this has been a little more than
48:57
just this last week, but Kent just
49:00
became a great grandfather.
49:02
>> Yeah. I mean, I've had grandkids, but
49:04
great grandfather
49:06
>> is the first title you had.
49:07
>> Yes. And uh
49:09
>> a little girl.
49:10
>> Yeah. And I look I look so forward to
49:12
seeing this little gym. Grandkids was
49:14
always good because you can do what you
49:16
want to with them. You can send them
49:17
home. But I'm thinking great grandkids
49:19
are probably even going to be better
49:21
because you can do twice as much and
49:22
still send them home. Well, and just for
49:24
you those that don't know, Kent has two
49:26
boys and three grandkids, two grandsons,
49:30
a granddaughter, and the granddaughter
49:32
is the one who just had the baby.
49:33
>> And you're a great grandma now.
49:35
>> I guess I'm a great step great grandma.
49:38
>> Yeah. [laughter]
49:39
And also, if you haven't noticed, it's
49:41
been a couple episodes and we haven't
49:42
talked about it, but we have a new sign
49:45
behind me, Cowboy Coffee Hour, and our
49:48
friends, the Berry Hill family,
49:50
>> made this for us, and we absolutely love
49:53
it. I think it classes up our little
49:56
>> great people and uh we are honored to
49:58
have it. We are. But we we thank [music]
50:00
y'all so much for uh taking time to
50:03
visit with us today. We appreciate it.
50:05
We do. We never take it for granted. And
50:07
remember, [music] success doesn't just
50:09
happen overnight.
50:11
It happens through [music] a period of
50:13
time that's going to test you. That
50:15
there's going to be trials. There's
50:16
going to be tribulations. But quitting
50:19
is not an option. And remember, you're
50:20
not alone. God is with you. And we are
50:23
with you. And we can all make a
50:25
difference in someone's life. And that's
50:26
what it's about. But it is with pride,
50:29
honor, and privilege that I tip my hat
50:31
to all our servicemen and women and all
50:33
the veterans that have kept that old
50:34
flag of flying over camp. We commend you
50:36
all and we lift you up in prayer daily.
50:39
God bless each and every one of you.
50:41
Shen, thank you for bringing the brains,
50:43
the beauty, and the talent of this
50:44
thing. Mage, I'm glad you had a good
50:46
nap. We appreciate it. We'll see y'all
50:49
down the podcast trail.
50:56
[music]
51:00
Pioneer
#People & Society