Dinner Conversations with Chef Joe Friday: Joel Solish
Welcome to my Q&A series, Dinner Conversations with Chef Joe Friday. Check out my conversation with Joel Solish, where he shares important moments in his career and what he’s got going on next!
Tell us a small blurb of who you are?
Hi! My name is Joel Solish, aka @foodie411, and I facilitate branding and marketing for small to medium sized businesses in the food space. I aim to make people hungry and help them to make smart choices. I most recently launched my own brand, after over 20 years in the biz. Never Not Eating is a food and lifestyle brand focused on the flavours of the Middle East and North Africa.
What or who inspired you to pursue your current career? We’d love to hear the story.
My mom’s mom, Bubbie Minnie, is my lifelong inspiration. I always say, cook like a Bubbie and eat like a king/queen! I can still smell the smells from her kitchen on a Friday night as I sat watching her prepare a feast for our family. I very much cook like her, often forgetting to write recipes down, rarely measuring, but instead trusting my gut and in my process. This led to a lifelong love of food, and a constant search for the very best ta’am (taste in Hebrew).
So, after a career in marketing and sales in tourism, I left to start a new, and at that time social media was becoming popular, and that is where I found my people, and eventually started my business and found my customers. I was always grateful for my journey and the people that helped me along the way. I know Bubbie Minnie has been watching me with a smile on her face the whole time.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
I am lucky to have so many great mentors and motivators in my life, it is so hard to choose just one. It takes a village, as the saying goes. But, honestly, it has to be my close friend Suresh Doss. Always there to listen, always there to advise, and so tuned in to the pulse of what is going on in the food movement globally. Suresh was in the original group we formed in the early twitter days, and we started eating and drinking together and enjoying each other’s company. We had a crew who would drive around the suburbs sharing food and stories. Suresh (and our other good friend David Ort) encouraged me to start my food blog and to use and find my unique voice, when blogging was in its infancy, and this helped me find my place in this industry, and to be truly accepted. Thus, in turn, launching this chapter in my journey. Fast forward a dozen years, and our relationship is still one of my most cherished, and he is still one of my most trusted advisors and sounding boards. A good friend is one who not only will encourage you, but call you out on your shit; Doss is that friend for me.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lessons or take always did you learn from that?
Mistakes? You mean not in relationships, right? Because that is where most of my mistakes live. Hahaha. But seriously, I have to think that a lot of my failures stem from being head strong (Sagittarius ftw), and in my early years of business not wanting to listen to other people. It took a lot of kicks in the butt to learn that this isn’t helpful, and while you must trust your gut, that listening to others opinions plays a huge part in true success.
The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to a young person who aspires to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?
Having taught a few semesters at Centennial in their hospitality program this is something I thought about a lot, and practised in my time teaching there and mentoring young minds. The core of it for me is this, learn at a young age to ask for help, learn to have others give you their trust. Always be curious, and always ask questions, all people can say is they don’t know. Most importantly, trust yourself and your abilities, and don’t be afraid to fail. Just pick yourself back up and go back at it, because tomorrow is another day.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
My best friends Zadie (grandfather) wrote a book on his experiences living through the holocaust. It is heart wrenching, heartbreaking, and at the same time motivating. Just thinking about it sends me into an emotional state, and gives me goose bumps.
Being Jewish is at the core of who I am in so many ways, not the religion, but the people and culture, the morals and values. This drives me every day in life, and in my new business. You can be put through so much in your life, but it is all how you cope and deal with it that defines your path. The thing I really learned from the book, and the man, is that health and happiness is all that matters in life. Success is just a bonus. Also, to always take time to eat a hot dog, drink a beer, and spend time telling and listening to stories.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
I have 3 that I like to rotate between, that are of the same theme:
It’s not your job to be likeable, it’s your job to be yourself. The right people will gravitate.
It is makes you happy it doesn’t have to make sense to others.
Be the same person privately, publicly and personally.
For me, it is all about being your true self, and this will lead to true happiness and success.
What’s was the inspiration behind getting into this new venture? And how can people find your products? While I love client work, the whole point of working for yourself for me became creating something and pushing it out into the world. Using my own knowledge to not only benefit me, but help teach people something new. These revelations have lived in my head for a while, but the timing was never right, or the idea never quite resonated.
Never Not Eating comes from an honest place in my heart and soul, and a love for all things Israel, and the food experiences I have had on my time spent there. This is a country where there is no specifically defined food culture, because there are so many cultural influences happening at all times, and the food scene is truly living on the cutting edge of global cuisine. There are the Middle Eastern and North African flavours that have influenced my brand, but there are also so many other cultural groups there all sharing ideas through food and influencing each other’s tables.
You can learn more at https://iamnevernoteating.com/
Joel Solish, Founder & Spice Maestro at Never Not Eating.
