On today's episode, I am excited to introduce you to Chef Terrell James Jabbarr...an award winning Chef who is also a Trainer for the Clayton County Public School System. He can now add author to his title with his upcoming book " Squash the Beef" and Accept Your Path & Purpose" set to be released in October. Chef Terrell's story is layered in talent, wisdom and inspiration.
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On today's episode, I am excited to introduce you to Chef Terrell James Jabbarr...an award winning Chef who is also a Trainer for the Clayton County Public School System. He can now add author to his title with his upcoming book " Squash the Beef" and Accept Your Path & Purpose" set to be released in October. Chef Terrell's story is layered in talent, wisdom and inspiration.
Enjoying this podcast by theheadwrapsocialite….Like, follow and share! Comment below to keep the conversation going.
IG: theheadwrapsocialite
Good afternoon and welcome to everybody. The podcast which shares stories that highlight people in life, that make the world an interesting place, which ultimately ties us all together in unique and wonderful ways. And who am I, you might ask. I would be the headwrapped socialite Weith mom, micro-influencer in the fashion and etiquette world, but on this podcast I will be introducing you to some people who I've had the opportunity to meet along my journey, who have helped enrich me in my life in beautiful ways and who I hope will do the same in yours.
Speaker 1:On today's episode, I have the immense pleasure of introducing a friend from my college years, Chef Terrell James DeVar. When we first met, I remember when I would see him around campus and he would always offer me a hellosus and great conversation, and from there, I believe, our friendship was born. Chef Terrell is a proud member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and over the years, one thing I would like to say about friendship is the threads of friendship that we have have remained unbroken, and to me, a friend is someone who, even if you haven't spoken to them in years, when you do speak you can pick up as if no time has passed. It's been forever since our college days, but I am really looking forward to today's conversation, Because not only is Terrell a chef and trainer for Clayton County Public Schools, he has also just written a book titled Squash the Bee and Accept your Path and Purpose, which launches in October, A title that invites curiosity and promises wisdom.
Speaker 1:But for more on that we shall patiently wait and let the pages of the book speak to us later on in this episode. So, without further ado, please extend and help me extend the warmest welcome to my friend Chef Terrell Terrell. Thank you for being here today on this episode. Thank you.
Speaker 2:You know what Appreciate you for even thinking of me. So thank you much, thank you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Chef Terrell, can you please tell the listeners a little bit about who you are?
Speaker 2:Okay, Well, I'm an award-winning chef and trainer who trained nearly 600 school nutrition staff and managers annually on kitchen skills, leadership, hospitality, professional growth and development. Obviously, of course. As you mentioned, I'm an alumnus at Johnson Welch University. Now I reside in Riverdale, Georgia. When I'm not training, I assist in developing trendy and healthy menu items for my school district, which serves 50,000 students and with the fifth largest county in Georgia. So that's much to applaud. Well, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:So, terrell, how long have you been a chef for?
Speaker 2:Well, I would like to say almost 30 years. I graduated in Johnson Welch in 1992. And prior to that I actually was in culinary arts. In high school my brother suggested that I go there and take up culinary arts because we was hungry children and taking up culinary arts we would be able to eat. And so I took up culinary arts, not because I had a passion for cooking, but I was just a hungry child and I just wanted to eat. I had no clue that you can get a scholarship to Johnson Welch University and I was able to get a full scholarship. He wanted to find the schools for culinary arts.
Speaker 1:Wow, and in order to become a chef, like, how many hours does it take?
Speaker 2:You don't have to go to school to be a chef. You know, if you just sit next to your grandma or your mom while they're cooking and you learn, then you're cooking. Classify yourself as a chef. You can also go to restaurants and start off in the dish room and grow from there. So I won't say it's an amount of hours per se, it's just dedication. Is it your passion? How far do you want to go? But again, grandma teaches you so much stuff in the kitchen that even a five-star chef could not compare to a grandma and mom can do. I call them chefs as well.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. You just mentioned you have to have a passion for it, and the culinary world itself is creative. How has the creativity and how has your passion? How have you made that an integral part of your life?
Speaker 2:Well, my upbringing we was pretty much scrapping for food. We didn't have much, mom done the best she could, and so, working in the school system, I see a lot of students that I know haven't eaten a night before. How do I know? Because I see the scars, I wear the scars. I see them, I know them because I know myself. I know that I was a starving child and how I acted and behaved. So to be able to see this child who's really not advertising, it is just I'm able to see this, my God's great. But I'm able to serve that child and embrace that child and that child understands that. I understand why? Because we wear the same scars and that's one of the passions that I have in work with the school system. It bridges my upbringing to serving students.
Speaker 1:And that's beautiful. And I was thinking about how you said that you wear the scars and that you could recognize in somebody else's pain and recognize in their being whether or not they ate the night before. And I thought to myself when you were telling me that how acutely aware you must be, because there are some people who had that experience and then they push it to the back, to the back of their beings, and they put it in a little room, close a little door, and they don't think about it again because it is too painful. But you've taken that pain and you are able to help really nourish somebody else and uplift their spirit and I just think that's really beautiful, thank you, thank you. I would like to ask you what have been your favorite dish to cook for the students.
Speaker 2:Wow, I've never been asked that I would say fresh collard greens. Oh, and the reason why I say that is because traditionally you think of school lunch, the milk and square pizza and the corn and yes, basically you have that. But whenever I can come up with collard greens and do this, take to it because they don't eat vegetables. I pretty much have to market and advertise just to get them to eat vegetables. They just don't like eating vegetables at that age. But when they smell those collards and it's authentic collards, because in the school system we try to be authentic and try to match mom's cooking Exactly, but with the collard greens it hit the students, was really gone after them, especially with the potluck and you know that little juice that comes with it. So that was really surprising to have them eat the vegetables, the collard greens at that time.
Speaker 1:When you cook the collard greens, like do you? Or when you cook just school lunch in general, are you able to partner with local farms in the area or local supermarkets Like where do you get your fresh produce from? And basic, just the food from?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is encouraged. Farm to table our produce vendor is a local vendor that we use. That's encouraged. One of the programs we have is Buy America, where the food items we purchase it must come from America. Now there's some exceptions, of course, like bananas and some things like that, right, but it is encouraged to order from the local farmers. You get good product. Of course, economically it helps and it's safe, especially if there's a recall, we know exactly where to go to. I like that.
Speaker 1:So your journey from college to becoming a chef and my author, Chef Terrell, your book Squash the Beef and accept your path and purpose. Can you share with us the inspiration behind this and how it relates to the concept of accepting one's path?
Speaker 2:An old wise gentleman said to me one time. He said no child is ever wise. It's not until that child go through a multiple experiences in life and you can tie all your experiences into one story and you turn back to the next generation and you tell your story, Then that man is wise. And so, as I was in the school system, I noticed that I was always given back to the children that resemble me the most in terms of being a hungry child and the book I call it Angry, where they're angry because they're hungry and they act out. And so I was always amongst those students.
Speaker 2:One of the things I share in the book squash the beef is that my first assignment was to serve the EBD students, that's, emotionally behavior disorder students and every time I got a promotion or went to another location just so ironically, they will close down that emotionally behavior disorder class and they were relocated, and it was always been relocated to where I was at. Wow, and it dawned on me that was my purpose. Positions were always to be done in a very, very good way and you can have an understanding of what it was like. That's when I said okay, I know my purpose, even though I really never had a passion for cooking. I had a passion to serve these particular students and I could not outrun them. They were in my path and so that's when I said it's time to write about this. It's just, it's my life and I couldn't run away from it. You said, sometimes we put our pain in the back of our mind and we hide it, and doing so you stop your story and that's where a lot of that pain simmers. And then we always start questioning and God, what is our purpose? And your purpose doesn't start when you go to college, it starts when you're born and all of the traumas you go through, everything you go through. That's your assignment and you have to.
Speaker 2:When I say squash the beef, it means squash the beef is an old hip hop term, since it's the 50 year anniversary of hip hop. Squash the beef is a hip hop term meaning to put aside your differences, unite and move forward. And so most of the beef I had was with God. I would beef with God. Why this, why that, why this? I would beef with the creator. I'll beef with friends and coworkers, because I was just upset that I was not fulfilling any goals. And so when that pain is. You pointed out. You put that into the forefront. You realize that's part of your assignment. So squash the beef and move on to your path and your purpose. And I think and I know that as an author this book isn't your average cookbook. It's more, much more artfully written. It's engaging. It's a collection of recipes and home spun wisdom. You find recipes, techniques, how to from the kitchen, but also valuable life lessons and relationship skills. It's the reader will really enjoy it. Squash the beef. It serves up a recipe for life. That's all heart.
Speaker 1:Terrell, you graciously shared excerpts from your upcoming book, and in your book you emphasize the importance of putting God first in our journeys, and could you tell us about a personal experience that highlighted this principle and shaped your perspective?
Speaker 2:Yes, when I first joined the school system they didn't have anything position-wise in the cafeteria. So they offered me a position as a substitute teacher and my first son I took it. I said okay, great. Before I accepted that position and if readers read the book, I was unemployed for a while and I was trying to regroup and at this time I took that particular position.
Speaker 2:And those students, the emotionally behavior disorder students they were loud and as a teacher or a faculty member we could not yell back Having my upbringing to engage those particular students. See, a student is not a fool. They know if you are sincere or if it's a paycheck and if you are there just for a paycheck, there goes the beef. They gonna beef with you. Right, it's gonna be all beef, cause they know you don't really dig me, you don't, you're not here for me. But when I was able to have them listen to me and there was no beef between us, because I squashed the beef with genuine love, because, as I indicated, I wore their scars, we squashed the beef and they were like the exceptional students to me.
Speaker 2:So as I moved from being a sub to a cafeteria manager at that time, every time I moved they were there. That was when I knew okay, the creators, real, this is my assignment. Before that, before that sub, I was actually literally selling final calls and being paused along with the nation of Islam. That's all in the book, it's exciting. And I wasn't making that much money. And I remember the creator. I had spoken to me and said why are you upset at the $11 that you have in your pocket when you have a degree in culinary arts? And at that moment I realized I didn't wanna be like that foolish person who buried their talents Right. And God pretty much chastised that person and I said let me get back in. And that's when I knew it was my journey, it was my assignment, that's how I knew and I'm excited to share that.
Speaker 1:I would like to say thank you always for sharing your story. Your faith I have seen the way that you talk shines through. Can you share how your relationship with God has influenced your culinary pursuits and your journey as an author? How have you seen your career path change?
Speaker 2:Well, the exciting thing is jello. I talk about jello in the book and you know, with jello it's a timing thing. You wanna gel, you wanna put the fruit in the jello, but you have to make sure that is just right before you put that fruit in there. And so the thing I take from jello is that when you're first starting with a relationship of any kind, you don't wanna go in there and just divulge everything, just like adding fruit to jello. The relationship is not strong enough yet to withhold all of that. But see on that same thing with the jello. If you are good at having the fruit in the jello and it's all there.
Speaker 2:I say that one of the things that I say. In squash the beef, I said you have to be careful of what you say. God used words to create the heavens and the earth. He said let there be. So words are powerful. And so what I say is that once you say negative words to your child or to your mate, those words are like fruit in jello it's sealed in their heart. It's sealed there. If you apologize to them and say I didn't mean to say that it's too late, those words are still embedded inside them. And I say in the book, trying to get those words back from their heart, or that's their psychic. It's like trying to get fruit out of jello without damaging the jello mode. It's impossible. Those words are there, and so it's gently faith flavored, I like to say, and the life lessons imparted, for plenty of food for thought. That talks of wisdom.
Speaker 1:You know, in the world that we live in, it's so often focused on comparison and competition. How does your book guide readers towards embracing their individual journeys and avoiding the traps of self-doubt, like being stuck in honey?
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, exceptional question. There's so many stories in the book. One of the stories is my son, who was born in Rhode Island when he was on campus and he have a disability and he could not find work. From 1670, he could not find work. No one wanted to take a chance, and so one job took a chance on. It was just this independent CD place that he burned CDs. Anyway, this young man was able to take that business and this was when CDs were on a decline. The business was folding and my son asked the owner before you close the doors, let me revamp this into a digital and they done that and this is clearly in the book and the rest is history.
Speaker 2:He made a fortune off of this. He makes a fortune off of his influence on the internet. He didn't have to work. He really done well for himself. He was bullied in high school and teasing his office, like now that he's really wealthy, by God's permission. If you stop being jealous long enough, if I can do it for him, I can do it for you. Right, and that's where it all works. If we stop looking at other people and being jealous of what they're doing, we're missing the story of yourself and the story that is in everybody's life.
Speaker 1:And what's beautiful, too, is everybody's story and everybody's journey. All have something beautiful, unique and wonderful to add to the overall story. Can you tell us more, because I'm intrigued when we're in college and I like that you're so open and so forthcoming and sharing your story with us. How did you manage college with having a baby?
Speaker 2:Wow, you know, with my son. We didn't hold him for a whole year because he was born in women and infants and he caught bacteria death, lacoccus aureus, and he was deaf and went here. So we didn't even hold him because he was in the hospital. How I got through, I don't know, but here was one thing because I didn't have a father, I wanted to be one, I wanted to be a good one, and so that desire of wanting to be a good father because I didn't have one growing up, led me to say I want to be a father. God, and I remember that was, I guess, inspiration to want to do that because I wanted to be a good father. It was the strength of God that kept me, wanting to be there and engage just prayer. All praises to the Creator, to God. He was the strength. And again, jamil has a fantastic mother too. She didn't miss her assignment as well. So, yeah, it worked itself out, and faith it always do.
Speaker 1:Thank you for sharing it. Thank you for sharing that, and I mean you have such a unique story. I know that your story is going to help so many people and I think that's a beauty of sharing our stories, because for a long time and this is to go back and just do a quick shameless plug again, but it is it's sometimes like we think our stories are just for ourselves in it. But I really think if we talk about and if we share stories with one another, I think we're able to see that we each are called for a specific purpose. Whether or not we will recognize the purpose within the next year, two years, five, 10 years, but we do have a purpose and I think we have to be open and willing to be open to that purpose. But sometimes we don't recognize that because we go through the motions right, we go through the motions on a daily basis. But when we hear other people talk about it, it starts to make you ponder what is my purpose in this life?
Speaker 1:And to go back to your book, not only does it have a place for God's word, what I immediately felt connected to when I saw the excerpts, for I had plans to prosper you plans to give you hope in a future. I love that. I also looked at the book and I thought to myself this would be a great place to write down your aspirations and dreams and to use it as a journal as well, and to take the recipes while you are pondering your life's purpose. But there's so many different ways that this book, I know, is going to be helpful to the masses and, honestly, I cannot wait to see the response that you get back from this book, because it is very powerful and I know it will connect a lot of people to their purpose.
Speaker 2:Thank you, sis. You know that means a lot coming from you. It means a lot. Yeah, we were what 18, 19? And I saw your light. I saw your light so it did shine and so I know I do, and I know now and again I just thank you. Wow, and I don't know the words, but I thank you for this to be able to sit down with you and dialogue on these. It's not too often you can dialogue with certain subjects like this, but when you can, it's fulfilling.
Speaker 1:I agree. You know it was looking forward to this conversation. You know we haven't spoken. You know we've seen each other on Facebook and connected through Facebook, but to talk, talk, you know who would have known those 18 year old kids who you know were walking through. You know the yard.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Living life right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly yeah. We go on to get married and have children and life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and still stay connected. I just think you know, by the grace of God, it's everybody that he puts in our path. I was just talking to a friend earlier today. It's like everybody that he puts in our path has a purpose. You know on our life and hopefully you know that purpose and a lot of times that that purpose is. It helps you unlock something you know deep within yourself that maybe you didn't see or that he's like okay, I need you, I need you to understand this today. So you know this is your friend who is going to help you on this journey. Before we close, you know I have a million and one questions. I've written a million and one things down, but I would like to also ask you, as someone who has explored, you know, culinary arts and been in that science and writing, what message do you hope that the readers take away from your book to enrich their lives and their walk with God?
Speaker 2:You said it clearly Hope, hope, hope or cousins, and we are in a world where people are losing hope and once you lose hope and you lose faith, man want this book to reestablish hope and faith in God and God alone.
Speaker 2:That is going to be the assignment of this book. I don't know where it's gonna go, but that's where I will hope it goes to reestablish faith and hope. When you asked me earlier, how did I get by, how do I endure? It's just with the creator. So that's what I pray, that's what I hope that readers will take with this book. Shock that after many years, we can still hit it off the way it is, because you know a good slow cooked meal if it's a homemade meal. When it goes cold or is the next day, you can reheat that home cooked meal and it won't lose any of its quality and in fact, the flavors are going to be more seasoned than ever before. So as we go through life, even though we haven't seen each other or talked that many years, it picks off what we left off, because it's a genuine home cooked relationship and the season we're more seasoned now.
Speaker 2:We're more seasoned, more developed For sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I agree with you on that and I like the way you put that my friend.
Speaker 1:But I would like to say, as we draw this episode to a close, I find myself, I have been enlightened, immersed in the wisdom and inspiration that you've shared, chef, and I would like to also say that you have a gift. You have an insight which was beautifully stated in the pages of your upcoming book, squash the Beef, and Accept your Path and Purpose. Through today's conversation, I'm understanding that Squash the Beef isn't just a book. It's a guiding light of self discovery, acceptance and how to find one's purpose. I also will tell you that through our conversation today, I see your unwavering faith in God. I hear it in your voice. God serves as your compass and it steered you towards a deeper calling for yourself and from your culinary endeavors to this new venture.
Speaker 1:In writing. Chef Terrell's Experiences a beautiful testament to finding out what fuels us and pushes us forward in this thing called life. We are reminded also, I think, that each step that we take, no matter how small they can seem at the time, can lead us towards revelations and an enormous amount of transformation. So the concept, I think, is beautiful of Squash the Beef because it's multi-dimensional and I cannot wait to read the full book and implement that in my life and to also cook some really cool recipes. Your relationship with God makes my heart sing. From my heart to yours, I just wanna say thank you so much for being a part of this episode.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm happy as a clam.
Speaker 1:And you're welcome here at any time and when your book launches, we'll have to put a social media blast out Like the book is here. Get your book, because they are gonna sell out fast.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Can I get a signed copy?
Speaker 1:Certainly of course I would like a signed copy.
Speaker 2:You don't even have to ask that, of course Sign filled and delivered.
Speaker 1:I will tell you since, okay, the episode has concluded. You're amazing, son. He's this TikTok extraordinary. Can I tell you? My kids know your son from TikTok. They're like yeah, yeah, seriously, and this is my son is a sneakerhead and he does his sneakers and my son was like you don't know his dad. I was like no, we went to college together. Yeah, like really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a small pink world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. He gonna be tickled when I mention that yeah, you did. Yeah, that is wow.