Well, today’s blog post is going to be a heart-wrencher with a dollop of hope on the side. I felt the need to write this post for some time now… and it’s finally the right moment to do so.
I get a lot of questions every week on social media about what’s happening with my TV series, “How to Live to 100” on Cooking Channel. And, I’m finally going to answer those questions for you now.
“How to Live to 100” – the world’s first primetime vegan cooking series on cable television – was not picked up for a second season by the Cooking Channel and their parent company, Scripps Networks Interactive. But, before you lament the passing of the first mainstream vegan TV series, allow me to explain the genesis of how this all started AND leave you with some good news today…
After the initial seedlings for the TV show concept sprouted back in 2011, we shot a pilot episode that aired in January 2013 and was the highest rated show of the day on Cooking Channel (yea for big wins with the ratings!) Due to the early success of the pilot episode, we got green lit for Season One, which just wrapped airing reruns in late July 2014.
Earlier this Spring, when I heard the news that the series wasn’t being picked up for Season Two, I was emotionally devastated and flat-out heartbroken. Almost three years of hard work, determination, creativity, sleep-deprived recipe testing, 14-hour-long shoot days and big dreams of stardom felt like they just evaporated overnight because the numbers weren’t big enough. I learned a LOT of big lessons with the dangers of having too many expectations… and how the mechanics of the television business really work.
Today, I’m choosing to let go of those negative emotions and feel the immense gratitude for the wonderful opportunity I was given to bring plant-based recipes to a major TV network platform that had NEVER even tried a vegan series before. I know in my heart that I put 100% of myself into that series and did my absolute best with the concept and framework I was given. Alas, no matter how many Facebook posts, retweets, Instagram pics or kind letters from housewives in Nebraska, the ratings are still the ratings – and they simply weren’t high enough to justify continuing the series. In the words of one of the network executives, “As much as we don’t like it, people still want burgers, bacon and beer…”
Being that as it may with some of the American public, I will continue to press on. I will continue to offer my healthy, plant-based recipes and nutrition perspectives to this world because MILLIONS more people every year don’t want to eat the toxic “triple B’s” listed above. They’re shifting their diets and lifestyles because they want to live longer, healthier lives and are ready to make the necessary changes to do so. They’re ready to actually LIVE for the first time in their lives and are looking for support with their transformation.
Now, here’s the GOOD news I promised you… whew! We’ve got a mighty terrific trifecta:
1) I am working on my first major recipe and lifestyle book with Hay House International, which is due out in April 2016 (it’ll be worth the wait, I promise!)
2) I’m also working on a new vegan meal plan website and a new business course about brand-building in the plant-based business world (coming this Fall)
3) If you didn’t actually catch the TV series, you can watch virtually ALL of the recipe clips from “How to Live to 100” for FREE on Ulive.com. Just click on the link below to check them out now:
http://www.ulive.com/how-to-live-to-100
THANK YOU ALL for your beautiful and thoughtful e-mails, social media posts, letters and warm wishes of support for “How to Live to 100”. Your love, enthusiasm and unyielding belief in the relevance of vegan cuisine made the experience all worthwhile for me. I am deeply honored and grateful to have represented veganism in the mainstream TV world. And I know in my heart that for all of us in this conscious community… the best is yet to come. Onward, upward and with mucho gusto!
