I was a contestant and was posting posting posting and cooking cooking cooking and had an idea what was going on but thursday when the lady that only posted selfies of herself took first place from me, ive decided tonight i bow out im tired
This is why I dislike Favorite Chef so much. Even worse than taking people's money in exchange for nothing, it takes away your time. You can replace money, but time wasted is gone forever. I would encourage you to keep cooking and posting, but do it for yourself. If you're willing to post one cooking video per week on TH-cam, you will eventually get whatever it is you wanted to get from Favorite Chef. At a minimum, you will have a body of work you can be proud of. How many people do you know who have their own cooking show on TV? That will be you if you simply post one video per week on TH-cam.
Hi Lenzy, I competed last year. I made it through to the Quarterfinals. It began June 12, 2023 and the winner Karen Jenkins was announced August 25, 2023. The rules and regulations were listed on our page and it also listed how many people would be left per group after each round as well as the dates each round begins and ends. To know how many people are in your group you simply scrolled down from your position and see the position, name and photo of each person in your group. I was in the 1st position and there were 44 people in my first group.
Also, within our page you could see who voted for you and how they voted (free or champion paid) in real time. The fundraisers are the Colossal Group but the James Beard Foundation is both the recipient of the funds raised and one of the entities that facilitates the competition and supplies some of the prizes. Like the location that the winner goes to for their celebrity cooking experience with Carla Hall at the James Beard Foundation Food Hall and some of the Foundation execs facilitate workshops and trainings. At the end of the day votes are what gets the win and the Colossal Group runs this fundraising competition as well as about 10 or 12 others including from Favorite Chef and Greatest Baker to Fab over 40 and Super Mom. The thing that I gained from the experience was the realization of how much people were willing to support me and my business. I was surprised, humbled and appreciative. I have since done my best to use that small window of visibility to continue to advance my catering company and create a food product for retail.
Others have shared similarly that they benefited by learning that they could raise money. In my opinion, tapping into one's network to raise money for someone else is a very expensive way to learn that lesson...especially when supporters are donating money that they really do not have, as so many contestants find out that their supporters are doing. Selling food or selling a cookbook or just starting a TH-cam channel and asking those same people to subscribe and share are all ways that would give people an opportunity to show support by directly supporting the business instead of putting money into the pockets of third parties.
@@parkroadstudios I agree with your observations and am doing my best to learn from that past experience and move forward with my catering company and products.
Im a contestant... I clicked on this video from my email... I see what you are saying...if you looked at food which is my food I've prepared..its better than my competitors ans some people didn't evem put a pick of their food..aomeone put they baby on there . No i didn't know until you said something Thank you
Thank you soo much for such valuable information. Because that is exactly what is happening these people are believing in the numbers of the voters not the funds 🎉
The fundraising part is very clear on the rules and regulations they sent us. Also, how much per dollar in percentage goes to foundation and how much Colossal keeps is also outlined in the rules. It's very clear but many people that signed up did not read the dozens of fine print rules and regulation
Thank you so much for making this video to expose this absolute and utter nonsense! I have a friend currently in this fake me out competition. It has zero to do with cooking and everything to do with how many wealthy friends you have or how much money you have to give them to donate thousands of dollars. You would have better luck winning the lottery
My message to people is they would be much better off if they put that same energy into promoting their own business. If a person has it in them to do all this campaigning to send people to a website, they should be sending people to a website that they own and will get paid directly from.
They said it’s going to a James Beard Foundation and it’s only from May 20- June second week . It’s funny because my mother said that yesterday. And I told her what if we raised enough money for them to put in the damn check.
Thank you for sharing the dates. It seemed like it ran much longer than that last year, but I'm glad to be wrong about how long it runs. You're on point with your "what if".
I think people would do well to stop seeking to be someone's pick and pick themselves. Carla Hall is just a person, just like any of us. I'm sure she would say the same. With all the people who participate in Favorite Chef, there's no question there are people who have more formal training and food industry experience than Carla Hall. Carla got where she is by doing the work and creating opportunities for herself and the Top Chef opportunity is the one thing that gave her her big break out of probably hundreds of things she tried over the years. Her big break put her on TV and she did what she was supposed to do with the opportunity. I think people would do better to emulate her work ethic rather than hoping to be picked by her. An experienced chef who has equal or better credentials than Carla Hall should not be looking to get picked, they should be going out here and getting theirs. TH-cam makes that possible for anyone. Any chef can use TH-cam to host their own cooking show on TV. In U.S. households, TH-cam is the number one TV streaming app. Netflix is second place and all the other streaming platforms are not even close. When Carla got her break, the TH-cam opportunity did not exist. If it did, I have no doubt she would have taken advantage of it and not been hoping that somebody picked her. She would have picked herself and that's what I recommend that people do.
@@parkroadstudios Yeah, I’m gonna start my TH-cam cooking show & use your teachings to do it. Me & a friend of mine started a cannabis based cooking show on another TH-cam cooking channel 7 or 8 years ago and had 4 decent episodes. But we both stopped smoking and didn’t continue the series. But a lot of people liked it. It’s called BAKED. Nowadays I’m a lot better at editing, production & filming so I’m excited to get started. I just struggle with gaining subscribers & views.
If your focus is gaining subscribers and views, you won't be successful because you'll get discouraged and quit when results don't come quickly. You have to make videos because you enjoy what you're doing and believe in what you're doing. That will enable you to show up every week, even when no one is watching. Show up ever week, CONSISTENTLY, and eventually your audience will find you. You shouldn't be looking at numbers until you've published at least 30 episodes.
@@parkroadstudios You're right! I do love making videos and other content. This channel of mine here is full of content. We just stopped the BAKED channel because we stopped smoking LOL But yes I agree that being consistent and creating a lot of content will eventually bring my audience. The point of making videos is for people to eventually see them though at some point. Than kyou for the information. I have bee nwatching you other videos as well.
it doesnt seem like you yourself have actually did anything seems like its all about what you have heard from others.. they do not obligate you to spend money this i know i have placed 8th and it has all been from none payment votes.
You are in a fundraising competition. You will not continue to advance spending zero dollars. Some people must learn everything the hard way, I suppose. Come back after you get eliminated and we’ll see what you have to say then.
I am currently first place top ten soon top 5 with no paid votes. The top ten in my group are all chefs or restaurant owners. Are you making this video for views = money or really concerned? Is this just an opportunity for your business? I see nothing wrong with a competition that raises money for something good. Rules are defined in your profile that breaks down competition. Most people don't read. These are the people that sign up confused. I have not spent a dime yet. So please come vote for me. It's free. Lol. 1536 groups there was over100,000 competitors. Again, im currently 1st top 10 with no paid votes. Thank you for sharing this but I would recommend a little more research before posting a negative video on a competition that ends up helping the culinary community. God bless. I hope my story helps the confused.
@@chrismahon5625you can’t pay for votes yourself. Whoever votes for you maybe the one who does. I agree with this video it is misleading and it is a fundraising vote. The reason why he made this video is because a lot of people are asking about it. Reddit led me to here so I wouldn’t be quick to discredit his claims to why.
@@chrismahon5625 I’d advise you to check your dashboard, you’ll know who purchased votes on your behalf and who voted for you. Also being in the top 20 and top 10 is nothing. It gets harder once you are cut down to top 5. Each group will need to be placed first N each 1st place participants from each group will then go another round. So your supporters really have to buy votes. My cousin has supporters who are buying 2-4-1 votes worth 250 votes and she’s in 3rd place in her group. So I find it hard to believe, unless you have a huge following of people voting for you every week
That’s how it starts out for everyone. Then it turns into something else entirely when you’re going to your friends and family and even strangers everyday asking for money.
Since it’s a fundraiser and only a fundraiser and the sole purpose is to raise money, it would be nice if they were honest about it. Nobody seems to participate understanding what it actually is, which says a lot about how it’s being advertised.
I made it to the quarter finals and cut got yesterday because I was in 11th place all I can say yes its all about money however it was a great experience just to make it that far last year I didn't make it past the 3rd round but i made it to the quarter finals this year. You do know who you're going against in your group however when you get to the quarter finals its a different group
I do my own food and this competition. Was the very best I've ever had. I was on 13 place, but it's still a lot for a beginner and a new being. So it means a lot to those underdogs. There are in competitions like this. And yes, there is the vote stat. You can pay money for but it does also a good. Foundation for the James beard And people like me who have dreams like I said, I am disabled and I have one. And a lot of people saw my food.😊😅😮❤❤ And I saw all the people from my group on it. There are some challenged people.
Nobody saw your food because of Favorite Chef. People saw your food because you promoted yourself. When Favorite Chef is over, if you go back to not promoting yourself, you go back to people not seeing your food. You do not need Favorite Chef to promote yourself.
The annual Favorite Chef competition benefits the James Beard Foundation (JBF), a US non-profit organization that aims to create a more sustainable and equitable future for the restaurant industry. The competition is operated by Colossal, a global leader in online competitions and fundraising platforms for charities.  Favorite Chef
You do understand that you have zero chance of winning with free votes, right? This is a fundraising competition. It starts out free and then you get to a round where you will not advance any farther with free votes.
It's nonsense, the entire thing is nonsense. Most of the money goes into Carla's pocket add to her bureaucratic downline team. They raised billions and the top prize is 25,000 are you kidding me...
Doesn't seem like it. I absolutely am because I run a business, so if you're trying to run a guilt trip, you're on the wrong channel. The only reason I have this channel is because I run a business and make money by making videos that teach chefs how to create a cooking show that they can use to make money. Making money is not a bad thing, so if that's your belief, you're definitely on the wrong TH-cam channel because making money is something that all productive adults must do. Ads are what pays for TH-cam so we can all use it. And ad revenue for most channels doesn't come close to the cost of making the videos. If you don't like seeing ads, then pay for TH-cam Premium...unless you're one of those people who think you're never supposed to have to pay for anything, but you're supposed to get paid for the work that you do.
If nothing else - it’s an education in how relentless you have to be posting every day to promote yourself. I never asked for a paid vote- yet- and that will be the end. There is a lack of critical info and ability to change your pictures and screen avatar-👩🏼🍳. We’ll see!
The video addresses enough about the cons vs. pros in order to conclude it’s not worth the investment. I’d rather give money toward a solid business plan. Everything is a risk, but this seems more like lotto.
I told my friends do not buy votes i feel thats cheating nor did i vote for self i I know everything in life has an agenda these days sitting at 7th without posting or promoting
It's not cheating to buy votes, that's the only way to compete. The entire point of Favorite Chef exists is to get people to spend money on votes. If you don't buy votes, you don't advance beyond the free rounds. It's a fundraising competition. It is impossible to win by spending zero dollars.
Oh Man , I in the competition and I Small some back smell 144 groups and tha 4th semifinals , 144 groups , You know how much money those make , Oh my Goddddd Thanksss My Friend Thankkkkkk 😢😢😢😢😢 You are my Herooooooon❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I was a contestant and was posting posting posting and cooking cooking cooking and had an idea what was going on but thursday when the lady that only posted selfies of herself took first place from me, ive decided tonight i bow out im tired
This is why I dislike Favorite Chef so much. Even worse than taking people's money in exchange for nothing, it takes away your time. You can replace money, but time wasted is gone forever.
I would encourage you to keep cooking and posting, but do it for yourself. If you're willing to post one cooking video per week on TH-cam, you will eventually get whatever it is you wanted to get from Favorite Chef. At a minimum, you will have a body of work you can be proud of.
How many people do you know who have their own cooking show on TV? That will be you if you simply post one video per week on TH-cam.
Hi Lenzy,
I competed last year. I made it through to the Quarterfinals. It began June 12, 2023 and the winner Karen Jenkins was announced August 25, 2023.
The rules and regulations were listed on our page and it also listed how many people would be left per group after each round as well as the dates each round begins and ends.
To know how many people are in your group you simply scrolled down from your position and see the position, name and photo of each person in your group. I was in the 1st position and there were 44 people in my first group.
Also, within our page you could see who voted for you and how they voted (free or champion paid) in real time.
The fundraisers are the Colossal Group but the James Beard Foundation is both the recipient of the funds raised and one of the entities that facilitates the competition and supplies some of the prizes. Like the location that the winner goes to for their celebrity cooking experience with Carla Hall at the James Beard Foundation Food Hall and some of the Foundation execs facilitate workshops and trainings.
At the end of the day votes are what gets the win and the Colossal Group runs this fundraising competition as well as about 10 or 12 others including from Favorite Chef and Greatest Baker to Fab over 40 and Super Mom.
The thing that I gained from the experience was the realization of how much people were willing to support me and my business. I was surprised, humbled and appreciative. I have since done my best to use that small window of visibility to continue to advance my catering company and create a food product for retail.
Others have shared similarly that they benefited by learning that they could raise money. In my opinion, tapping into one's network to raise money for someone else is a very expensive way to learn that lesson...especially when supporters are donating money that they really do not have, as so many contestants find out that their supporters are doing.
Selling food or selling a cookbook or just starting a TH-cam channel and asking those same people to subscribe and share are all ways that would give people an opportunity to show support by directly supporting the business instead of putting money into the pockets of third parties.
@@parkroadstudios I agree with your observations and am doing my best to learn from that past experience and move forward with my catering company and products.
Im a contestant... I clicked on this video from my email... I see what you are saying...if you looked at food which is my food I've prepared..its better than my competitors ans some people didn't evem put a pick of their food..aomeone put they baby on there . No i didn't know until you said something
Thank you
Thank you soo much for such valuable information. Because that is exactly what is happening these people are believing in the numbers of the voters not the funds 🎉
The fundraising part is very clear on the rules and regulations they sent us. Also, how much per dollar in percentage goes to foundation and how much Colossal keeps is also outlined in the rules. It's very clear but many people that signed up did not read the dozens of fine print rules and regulation
Thank you so much for making this video to expose this absolute and utter nonsense! I have a friend currently in this fake me out competition. It has zero to do with cooking and everything to do with how many wealthy friends you have or how much money you have to give them to donate thousands of dollars. You would have better luck winning the lottery
My message to people is they would be much better off if they put that same energy into promoting their own business. If a person has it in them to do all this campaigning to send people to a website, they should be sending people to a website that they own and will get paid directly from.
Raise enough money for ME and you'd be my "favorite chef" too 😂
It’s so true! You don’t know how much you’ve raised and the organization does not tell you anything. It’s a money contest.
They said it’s going to a James Beard Foundation and it’s only from May 20- June second week . It’s funny because my mother said that yesterday. And I told her what if we raised enough money for them to put in the damn check.
Thank you for sharing the dates. It seemed like it ran much longer than that last year, but I'm glad to be wrong about how long it runs. You're on point with your "what if".
I found the rules and it actually runs through the end of July: favchef.com/rules
Thank you for sharing this. Yes I did learn more from you.
What does this organization do with all the money?
What’s your opinion on the Carla’s Pick portion of the competition?
I think people would do well to stop seeking to be someone's pick and pick themselves. Carla Hall is just a person, just like any of us. I'm sure she would say the same. With all the people who participate in Favorite Chef, there's no question there are people who have more formal training and food industry experience than Carla Hall.
Carla got where she is by doing the work and creating opportunities for herself and the Top Chef opportunity is the one thing that gave her her big break out of probably hundreds of things she tried over the years.
Her big break put her on TV and she did what she was supposed to do with the opportunity. I think people would do better to emulate her work ethic rather than hoping to be picked by her.
An experienced chef who has equal or better credentials than Carla Hall should not be looking to get picked, they should be going out here and getting theirs. TH-cam makes that possible for anyone. Any chef can use TH-cam to host their own cooking show on TV. In U.S. households, TH-cam is the number one TV streaming app. Netflix is second place and all the other streaming platforms are not even close.
When Carla got her break, the TH-cam opportunity did not exist. If it did, I have no doubt she would have taken advantage of it and not been hoping that somebody picked her. She would have picked herself and that's what I recommend that people do.
@@parkroadstudios Yeah, I’m gonna start my TH-cam cooking show & use your teachings to do it. Me & a friend of mine started a cannabis based cooking show on another TH-cam cooking channel 7 or 8 years ago and had 4 decent episodes. But we both stopped smoking and didn’t continue the series. But a lot of people liked it. It’s called BAKED. Nowadays I’m a lot better at editing, production & filming so I’m excited to get started. I just struggle with gaining subscribers & views.
If your focus is gaining subscribers and views, you won't be successful because you'll get discouraged and quit when results don't come quickly. You have to make videos because you enjoy what you're doing and believe in what you're doing. That will enable you to show up every week, even when no one is watching. Show up ever week, CONSISTENTLY, and eventually your audience will find you. You shouldn't be looking at numbers until you've published at least 30 episodes.
@@parkroadstudios You're right! I do love making videos and other content. This channel of mine here is full of content. We just stopped the BAKED channel because we stopped smoking LOL But yes I agree that being consistent and creating a lot of content will eventually bring my audience. The point of making videos is for people to eventually see them though at some point. Than kyou for the information. I have bee nwatching you other videos as well.
i have only been taking none payment votes, ive advanced to the next round without a dollar spent.
it doesnt seem like you yourself have actually did anything seems like its all about what you have heard from others.. they do not obligate you to spend money this i know i have placed 8th and it has all been from none payment votes.
You are in a fundraising competition. You will not continue to advance spending zero dollars. Some people must learn everything the hard way, I suppose. Come back after you get eliminated and we’ll see what you have to say then.
I am currently first place top ten soon top 5 with no paid votes. The top ten in my group are all chefs or restaurant owners. Are you making this video for views = money or really concerned? Is this just an opportunity for your business? I see nothing wrong with a competition that raises money for something good. Rules are defined in your profile that breaks down competition. Most people don't read. These are the people that sign up confused. I have not spent a dime yet. So please come vote for me. It's free. Lol. 1536 groups there was over100,000 competitors. Again, im currently 1st top 10 with no paid votes. Thank you for sharing this but I would recommend a little more research before posting a negative video on a competition that ends up helping the culinary community. God bless. I hope my story helps the confused.
@@chrismahon5625you can’t pay for votes yourself. Whoever votes for you maybe the one who does. I agree with this video it is misleading and it is a fundraising vote. The reason why he made this video is because a lot of people are asking about it.
Reddit led me to here so I wouldn’t be quick to discredit his claims to why.
@@chrismahon5625 I’d advise you to check your dashboard, you’ll know who purchased votes on your behalf and who voted for you. Also being in the top 20 and top 10 is nothing. It gets harder once you are cut down to top 5. Each group will need to be placed first N each 1st place participants from each group will then go another round. So your supporters really have to buy votes. My cousin has supporters who are buying 2-4-1 votes worth 250 votes and she’s in 3rd place in her group. So I find it hard to believe, unless you have a huge following of people voting for you every week
This is so informative. I'm in the first stage...thought it would or will be fun. 🤷
That’s how it starts out for everyone. Then it turns into something else entirely when you’re going to your friends and family and even strangers everyday asking for money.
Thank you for this, I’m running for the first time I didn’t know how this works
😮😧😳
I said that must be who can raise the most money
Since it’s a fundraiser and only a fundraiser and the sole purpose is to raise money, it would be nice if they were honest about it. Nobody seems to participate understanding what it actually is, which says a lot about how it’s being advertised.
I made it to the quarter finals and cut got yesterday because I was in 11th place all I can say yes its all about money however it was a great experience just to make it that far last year I didn't make it past the 3rd round but i made it to the quarter finals this year. You do know who you're going against in your group however when you get to the quarter finals its a different group
I do my own food and this competition. Was the very best I've ever had. I was on 13 place, but it's still a lot for a beginner and a new being. So it means a lot to those underdogs. There are in competitions like this. And yes, there is the vote stat. You can pay money for but it does also a good. Foundation for the James beard And people like me who have dreams like I said, I am disabled and I have one.
And a lot of people saw my food.😊😅😮❤❤ And I saw all the people from my group on it. There are some challenged people.
Nobody saw your food because of Favorite Chef. People saw your food because you promoted yourself. When Favorite Chef is over, if you go back to not promoting yourself, you go back to people not seeing your food. You do not need Favorite Chef to promote yourself.
The annual Favorite Chef competition benefits the James Beard Foundation (JBF), a US non-profit organization that aims to create a more sustainable and equitable future for the restaurant industry. The competition is operated by Colossal, a global leader in online competitions and fundraising platforms for charities.

Favorite Chef
like other people said.I vote it for free Tell other people to vote for you too. So you can vote for free.😊😮😂❤
You do understand that you have zero chance of winning with free votes, right? This is a fundraising competition. It starts out free and then you get to a round where you will not advance any farther with free votes.
It's nonsense, the entire thing is nonsense. Most of the money goes into Carla's pocket add to her bureaucratic downline team. They raised billions and the top prize is 25,000 are you kidding me...
There was a lot of Confusion with Master Chef......
Do I have to be a chef to have a cooking show.
You just need to know how to cook and have a desire to teach. Use the link in the description box for more info on how to start.
Have I gotta story for you! 😂
Seems as though you are taking an opportunity here to make money through the ads on your video.
Doesn't seem like it. I absolutely am because I run a business, so if you're trying to run a guilt trip, you're on the wrong channel. The only reason I have this channel is because I run a business and make money by making videos that teach chefs how to create a cooking show that they can use to make money.
Making money is not a bad thing, so if that's your belief, you're definitely on the wrong TH-cam channel because making money is something that all productive adults must do. Ads are what pays for TH-cam so we can all use it. And ad revenue for most channels doesn't come close to the cost of making the videos.
If you don't like seeing ads, then pay for TH-cam Premium...unless you're one of those people who think you're never supposed to have to pay for anything, but you're supposed to get paid for the work that you do.
Sounds like church to me! 😢
At least church offers everyone a spot in heaven who qualifies. Favorite Chef allows only one winner and everybody else can kick rocks.
Also taste of home not falling Carla Hall and shebbot following them why is she going along with this crap
Because she's getting a nice cut $$
If nothing else - it’s an education in how relentless you have to be posting every day to promote yourself. I never asked for a paid vote- yet- and that will be the end. There is a lack of critical info and ability to change your pictures and screen avatar-👩🏼🍳. We’ll see!
You don’t have all your facts!
You have not offered any facts. What facts do you have to offer?
The video addresses enough about the cons vs. pros in order to conclude it’s not worth the investment. I’d rather give money toward a solid business plan. Everything is a risk, but this seems more like lotto.
You must be on Carla's bureaucratic team... don't worry you're not going to win either😂
I told my friends do not buy votes i feel thats cheating nor did i vote for self i I know everything in life has an agenda these days sitting at 7th without posting or promoting
It's not cheating to buy votes, that's the only way to compete. The entire point of Favorite Chef exists is to get people to spend money on votes. If you don't buy votes, you don't advance beyond the free rounds. It's a fundraising competition. It is impossible to win by spending zero dollars.
So am I
Oh Man , I in the competition and I Small some back smell 144 groups and tha 4th semifinals , 144 groups , You know how much money those make , Oh my Goddddd Thanksss My Friend Thankkkkkk 😢😢😢😢😢 You are my Herooooooon❤❤❤❤❤❤❤