Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Pettis
Hi Tyler, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story begins in my childhood home, living with my grandparents. At an early childhood age, I began watching my grandmother make meals for the family for every holiday and Sunday dinner — even helping her from time to time.
A few years later in my preteen-teenage years, I developed a love for the art of cooking through being an avid watcher of the food channel. While other kids were watching Nickelodeon and Disney, I was watching the likes of Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, and Rachel Ray — studying everything they did in the kitchen. This is when I began practicing and experimenting what I had been learning from my grandmother and the food network, learning things such as how shrimp and baked beans DO NOT pair well together.
Once I grew into adulthood, and after honing my skills in the kitchen through trial and error, I started perfecting my craft even more. I would make dishes of all types, from Caribbean to Asian cuisines.
Wanting to share what I made with more people other than my friends and family, I combined my childhood passions (culinary arts and video editing) and created the We FN Love Food Instagram account.
Today, I continue to try to perfect my culinary skills because there is ALWAYS something new to learn. At the moment, I don’t have much a goal with my page. It’s purely just for the fun and love of it. Sharing food with the world is something that has brought me a lot of enjoyment in life even when life can be not so enjoyable at times.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not too long after I began my food page, I lost my grandfather and I was going through a traumatic breakup at the time. These two things caused me a lot of grief, and the motivation that I once had of sharing my kitchen creations ceased. I stopped being as hungry, which resulted in far less content to share with the world.
Now that I’ve gotten the help and support I needed to get through that trying time, I’ve felt more empowered and motivated than ever to get in the kitchen and create again.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Aside from cooking, I have a few other passions that I’ve turned into careers.
My main job is being an educator — I work as an English teacher, which I’ve been doing for the past 8 years. Looking back, it’s a career I’ve always been in development for — working as a tutor, leadership development coach, and a VPK instructor throughout high school and college.
In addition to learning how to cook at an early age, I also taught myself how to DJ at the same age as well. So, I took those skills and turned them into a business where I am the owner of GVO Entertainment, a mobile DJ business in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Don’t stop. Save the memories. Keep your eye on the ball.
These three lessons were lessons that I learned while I was healing from the loss of my grandfather and the breakup that I was going through at the time.
I lost the motivation to do the things that I was passionate about. I stopped DJing.
I stopped cooking/filming content for enjoyment.
After the time passed and the dust had cleared a bit, that’s when the lessons started to become more understandable to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gvodj.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/wefnlovefood
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/djtip
