Presents Chef Michelle Lundstrom from "BBQ Showdown" on Netflix

Follow her on social media @TheMoneyMichelle.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome too. Women we love withEllen Kay and not only she woman I
love, but she's a woman youloved to Ryan big Time, Big,
big Time, and not just methough America and the globe have fallen in
love with the money Michelle Barbecue showdownnumber four in the US right now number
eight globally. She's the star andshe's with us now. It is surreal.
I woke up to that. Icried in the car. I'm sure

(00:23):
you guys are not surprised if you'vewatched the show. I just feel like
it's hitting me hard on so manylevels. I'm just a mom from Long
Island, and like people are messagingme from around the world, like I
could probably name every single country andthey're just like with such huge fans.
I'm like, I just went outthere and never did I expected to be

(00:44):
that hard because it was. Itwas legit one of the hardest things I've
ever done in my life. LikeI was comparing it to like I was
saying, it was like life bootcamp, Like we killed it out there.
Chef Pittmaster, mommy food influencer.How many kids do you have?
I have two girls, twelve andeight, and the twelve year old is
like, you know, loving this. This is a big deal for from

(01:07):
middle school. You know, yeah, Mom's on Netflix and I'm like,
okay, this is crazy, youknow so but my eight year old she
just thinks I'm amazing and it's nothitting her like that. But it's been
amazing. It's been the best experience. And also, like everyone on the
show that I competed against that allincredible people, Like we really bonded out

(01:30):
there, like real barbecue stuff,Like in barbecue, that's what it is.
There's you know, camaraderie and likeyou know, you gather around food.
You really like that for us outthere, And I honestly, I
wanted to tell you, Michelle,I found that to be one of the
most refreshing pieces of the show becauseI think a lot of times during reality
shows it's about finding the negative,finding the fights. And you had a
little bit of headbutting at certain times, but for the most part, while

(01:53):
you guys are competing, you're lovingeach other. We really were. We
really were like we you know,on the way into a challenge. You
know, sometimes it would be superearly in the morning and like Big Tea
would pray and we we literally werenot thinking about like how we were going
into a competition and going into achallenge to compete against each other. It

(02:14):
was like we were all out therecompeting against ourselves. It was crazy.
Yes, some people, I feellike, you know, we're more set
in, like you know, wehad chefs out there and just you know,
it was different I think for eachof us, especially with the episode,
like you said, you know,butting heads. It's weird. As
a mom, you know, youhave a menu in your head for a

(02:34):
holiday feast and you're like, Idon't really want to change that up.
But then now afterwards, I'm like, oh, I should have just done
that because it's no big deal.But when you're in it and you're under
the pressure, you don't really thinklike that. Well, and here's the
thing. If you never would havedone this, Michelle, you never would
have known how much you can endureand do. And it's almost like what
else is out there that you mightnot think, Oh my god, I

(02:55):
can never or you know, justI don't know. We we sometimes we
get in our heads and we giveourselves negative speak, But look at you.
You just went for it. Whatwas that go for it moment?
I feel like it's so true whatyou just said. When I got chosen
for the show, I was like, wait, wow, I'm gonna leave
my kids, which I never woulddo ever, So that in itself was

(03:20):
crazy to me. But I'm like, I think this is my time.
I'm supposed to do this. Andthen when I went out there like that,
you know, I'm not going togive anything away. But certain episodes
were super hard and I wanted togive up at times, and I was
like, what did I sign myselfup for? This is no joke.
And then when you push yourself pastthe point of like I can't do this,
you break into like a whole otherlevel. Like I was like leveling

(03:44):
up and I'm like, who amI I went home with this from person?
It completely changed my life. Iam not the same person. I
am just so excited and who wouldhave thought this is going to happen in
my early forties, Like, yeah, that's crazy to me. This is
a great life blessing for your children, it is, Yeah, it is.
I feel like they really see youcan really do. Like they're shocked,

(04:08):
you know. I mean sometimes evenwhen they see me out on the
grill though, Like you did that, mom, you made that you know,
because not every girl's out there onthe grill or opened fire, you
know, they just so they areamazed. And I feel like, as
a mom, there's nothing bigger thanI could have done. But I am
so proud of myself, and Ithink those messages that I've gotten, those

(04:30):
are the ones that tear me upthe most, like we are so proud
of you, and I'm like,I'm so proud of myself. But to
have other people see what I didand have other people, you know,
a lot of messages were like youwere such an inspiration, I'm going to
try to do this, or I'mgonna say that's just everything to me.
Yeah. Yeah, Ryan brought youto me. I hadn't watched the show
yet, and then Ryan came inafter watching it. He was like,

(04:50):
oh my god, you guys,and then we watched it. So it's
a great word of mouth. Also, I mean, you don't need word
of mouth that's already doing amazing.You're slaying. But still, you know,
we're all amazed at you. AndI think, to Michelle, what
really gets me? And I mightget emotional saying this, but but we're
very big family people. Me Ellen. Everything revolves around family. And I

(05:13):
think that's what connects you to mostpeople, the pledge you made to your
father right to keep doing this,and that's why you're doing this. Yeah,
I think that really did touch alot of people. I've had a
lot of people reach out, especiallythat lost their parents. And so my
dad and I always used to watchcooking shows growing up. It was our

(05:33):
thing, and so I always hadthis thing for food. It was a
huge passion of mine at a youngage. And then when he ended up
passing away. You know, we'rea Sicilian family. We always had barbecues.
I'm like, so, who's goingto get on the grow and like
nobody was like, yeah me.So I'm like, I'll do it.
And I always was out there withhim, and it was natural to me.

(05:55):
It was like a sixth sense,Like I just knew how to do
it all because I was good atcooking, but I didn't know I was
great at grilling, um, andyou know, barbecue, And every time
I did it, I just feltlike it was a part of him.
Um. So yeah, it getsme emotional obviously, but um, I
know he must be like super proud. Yeah, what's his name? His

(06:17):
name toward it would call him HowieHowie, you gotta have Howie sauce.
Want. Yeah, it's funny thatyou said that. I'm not even kidding.
I just had this conversation this morning, just this morning, and you
know, everyone loves the way Isay sauce. Yes, it's the only
way I could say it, obviously, So it's gonna definitely be like dad
sauce and um, he always hadYeah, he had a barbecue sauce and

(06:41):
I created that on the show.Um. It was just like he laded
that on anything and everything. Andso yeah, it's crazy. I feel
like even if someone's gone, youcan continue traditions and continue. But he
was like a fierce force for meout there, Um, and it really
helped boost me through, especially whenyou're out there and I'm a huge,
you know, family person and mykids are everything to me and you're out

(07:04):
there with nobody, just these newpeople that you met, and so you
have to dig deep to keep pushingbecause you don't have support system out there.
Yeah, but how he is rightthere on your shoulder. Yeah.
Yeah, it really was super helpfuland I'm really proud of how I did
well. You can follow her atthe Money Michelle watch season to a Barbecue

(07:27):
Showdown on Netflix. We don't wantto let you go yet. We need
a as a liner from you sowe can play it. We just want
you to say, this is money, Michelle, This is Michelle. Whatever
you want to go by is moneyMichelle. And you're listening to the ellen
K Morning Show or you're in thesauce with the ellen K Morning Show.
Yeah, okay, let me practiceone. Yeah, yeah, okay.

(07:50):
So you want me to say thisis money Michelle, say hey, this
is money Michelle and from Barbecue Showdown. Yeah, yes, yeah. We
can do it in pieces. Andyou're listening to and you're in and you're
in the sauce with the ellen QueMorning Show. All right, I'm gonna
try it. Okay, all right, Hey this is money Michelle and you're

(08:13):
nope. Let's start over again.Good. I'm usually so good too,
Like with my voiceovers, I'm usuallylike nailing it, all right, so
let me figure it quick. Thisis money Michelle from from Barbecue Showdown.
You're in the sauce listening to theWest gotcha, okay, all right,

(08:35):
ruddy, okay, thank hey,this is money Michelle from Barbecue Showdown in
the Nope, Nope, you're inthe sauce. Yeah, and you're in
the sauce. You're so far,so good. This is money Michelle from
Barbecue Showdown and you're in the saucewith the ellen K Morning Show. Okay,
gotcha. Hey, this is moneyMichelle from Barbecue Showdown and you're in

(08:56):
the sauce with ellen K Morning Show. There you go, great, Thank
you so much, thank you.One last question though, as I would
say, as arguably America's top femalepitmaster, what is what is next for
you? I mean, are wedoing a restaurant? Are we doing?
Uh? We're going people? Yeah, all right. People have asked me
that I don't think I'll ever doa restaurant, but I can tell you

(09:18):
that I will be traveling Okay,California and July. Um, we're gonna
do our first pop up event.I did want to announce that to you
guys because it's going to be inLa Okay. Where do you guys want
to come and tell us everything?Yeah, we're gonna be at Benny Boys
Brewery July Sunday, July thirtieth,at Benny Boys Brewery in La Good Okay.

(09:41):
Oh my god, that's fantastic.Miney Michelle, Look, if you're
going to go on sale, we'reactually making the announcement today. So it's
me, Logan from the show andEd. So we're doing three of us
out there. You're gonna be ableto have our food, hang out with
us, meet and greet, andthen I'm going to do one on Long
Island in August. So like we'regoing to continue to do a little bit
of a barbecue tour. It's goingto have our food. Um, I

(10:01):
have a lot of things played.It's gonna be a lot of things going
on that I'm excited about. No, we are too, so thank you
so much. And make sure youbring out some sauce. Yeah, yeah,
there'll be extra sauce for sure.Thank you, Michelle, you're the
best. Congrats on everything. Thanks, thank you, Bye bye