Amber Mayfield Hewett Transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to The Future of Food Is You, a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host Abena Anim-Somuah, and each week I talk to emerging talents in the food world and they share what they're up to as well as their dreams and predictions for what's ahead. I love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and creatives making their way in the worlds of food, drink, media, and tech.
Today's guest is Amber Mayfield Hewett, the party planner, entrepreneur, and entertaining expert behind the companies To Be Hosted and While Entertaining Media. Amber and I talk about the recent gala she hosted bringing together black creatives in the culinary world and what it's like launching a media company at such a young age. She's all about creating mood boards, challenging your own ideas, and creating joy for joy's sake, which I love. Stay tuned for our chat.
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Now let's check in with today's guest. Amber, thank you so much for joining us on The Future food Is You.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Thank you for having me, Abena.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Can you tell us where you grew up and how did food show up in your life?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I grew up in Rockland County, New York in a small town called Nannuette. Food was always a part of gathering and just having barbecues and family gatherings. So I always loved holidays because I knew my mom was going to cook our favorites and really spend time in the kitchen in a way that we didn't always during the week because me and my brother were athletes and we were always involved in activities. So it was like go, go, go, eat really healthy. Maybe we're all sitting down together, maybe we're not.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What are some signature Mama Mayfield things like definitely asking for at the table?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Oh, she has so many good things. She makes really good ribs, really good mac and cheese, which is a recipe from my grandmother.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Love that.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Sweet potato casserole is really good too. So those are the ones that I'm like, okay, I got to go home and get some of that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. So let's fast-forward a little bit. You started off your career in one of the most prestigious start your career jobs. You were a page at NBC Universal and you later became an assistant working at Bravo. What were some of the highlights of that experience?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
What a time that was? I think for me, the main highlight was all of the people that I met, some of my dearest friends and some of my first clients were all people that I was pages with or met while I was a page or met while working at Bravo. So I think I'm most proud just coming out of that with such a strong community of women who get it and know how to build things and know how to get things done. It was a cool place to work. It was checking off one of the boxes on your dreams, but I think I'm just most proud of all the great people I met there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Were you with the daily shows or were you with the night shows? What was your?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Oh gosh. So the Patreon is really interesting and it has evolved so much since I was in it, but you get to bounce around and do everything. I remember being a page helping with the live shows for late night and “Saturday Night Live,” the “Today Show,” but then a lot of my assignments were more corporate jobs because that 30 rock building has so many different brands housed within it. So I worked in corporate social responsibility. I did an events assignment there and I did a USA Network, so it was all very different marketing and event related jobs and gave me that inkling that maybe this is the direction I want to go.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, that's awesome. It's like you get to work, but you also get to figure out what you want to do next. Well, since we like to talk about food on the show, I have to ask, were there any food requests that were made at the time of the page? Was there any food that you had to get for someone?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
No, those requests were always really interesting, but honestly, the thing that was always fascinating to me was there was this commissary kitchen where anybody in the building could go get something to eat during the day. And so I remember standing in the sandwich line, I was looking at my phone, just minding my business waiting for this line to go, and all of a sudden I heard this man ordering this very, I think I'll have the Turkey sandwich today and maybe we'll add a bit of lettuce. And I looked up and it's like Lester Hull ordering a sandwich in the voice.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh gosh.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
And I'm like, that is unreal. So I never forgot that. Like you feel a presence in the room. Yeah, I was like, wow, you sound like him. And I'll also have a turkey sandwich.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
While you were working at Bravo, you began your side hustle with a Supper Club concept series, which you called To Be Hosted. Why did you believe that this was the format for community gathering?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
To Be Hosted's humble beginnings, it's very two pronged. I think the first is that I was going to all these networking events that were quite awful. People just exchanged business cards and moved on. And so with a dinner party, you're sitting next to that person for two hours. You're either going to have a great time or it's going to be absolutely terrible, and I wanted to make it not terrible. So I started doing them as this way to just meet the other kids that were working in the industry and explore just anything that you could really imagine. I had an all teachers dinner, an all music dinner. There are so many different ways that you can get interesting people to the table in that format.
It came out of this necessity to want to network. It also came out of this necessity to have a job. So while I was there, I had already got this inkling that I wanted to work in events, but there weren't very many entry-level event jobs. I was applying to dozens and dozens of jobs. I made it to the final interview rounds for some incredible dream jobs. I never quite landed because I didn't have traditional event experience. And so To Be Hosted, I'm like, well, I can just start planning events and I'll get that traditional event experience. And then it just rolled out of control between having the supper clubs and then having other people ask me to plan their parties. I never quite made it into another job, it just became my job.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Something that I loved reading and researching about you is how a lot of that was also rooted in finding other black people and people of color to commune with. Why did you think that was really important to really be clear about and really let that be a core of the earliest dinner parties?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I think being niche is something that people usually shy away from, but I just never did. I think specificity is king. When I was looking at the other supper clubs that existed during that time or didn't exist during that time, I was like, this is what makes me different and my interest different, and so that's something that I should pursue, and it became the space where I can give opportunities to chefs that weren't being invited to do the dinner parties and help them build their street cred too. So it just made a lot of sense.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that. That's really awesome. Someone who loves hosting dinner parties. There's always a story. There's always a snafu. Are there any highlights that you remember from some of the first dinners that you threw?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Oh man, the first dinners, they were all snafus. I think I learned so much from those first dinners because of the trial and error, like choosing spaces that didn't have kitchens or didn't have back of house spaces, or didn't even have lights on dimmers. I think a lot of those early dinners taught me what I wanted to do and not do with my events to make them feel special and accessible and just make sense. So I wouldn't say there was any terrible, terrible incidents, but there was just always little nuggets of, okay, this time I'm going to do this better. And I just collected that over time until I established this To Be Hosted way of doing dinner parties.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
When did you know that you were ready to make To Be Hosted a full-time gig?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Oh, goodness. I think it's really important to caveat my situation because I was 23 years old at the time. I was working at a corporate company. I had roommates. I was paying 900 bucks for rent. I was still on my parents' insurance. And so I think all of those things made it very easy to leap because I was like, if I fall, I can very easily go back to a corporate assistant job. I don't have to pay for insurance out of pocket, I'm still under 26. There wasn't much that I had to be afraid of anyway. So I always like to start with that to not romanticize. Let's all quit our corporate jobs and be entrepreneurs. That's not quite what we should do.
So for me, I think it became a point of, okay, I can no longer take phone calls in the closet or sneak away, I couldn't do both. And if I wanted to see To Be Hosted grow and not suffer, then I had to make the leap of like, okay, I've got this much money saved up, this is what my living expenses are. I'm giving myself these three to six months to make something shake or I need to go get a side job of some sort. And I think that reckless pursuit of the thing that I really wanted and putting myself on that very short deadline of this has to work or you're going back is what helped me make it work.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You've had To Be Hosted for seven years, congratulations.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Thank you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And it's a full service event agency that specializes in dinner parties, salon events, and celebrations. For those of us who are uninitiated to the wonderful works of To Be Hosted, can you tell us a little bit about the services that you're offering with each type of event you're hosting?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah. I think it can be described in a nutshell of we're party planners and we do a lot of parties that surround food and beverage, but we do parties that can surround lifestyle clients, fashion clients, any sort of clientele, as long as they're something that is good to celebrate and that we believe in, we can take somebody's vision and really bring it to life from the very beginning to the actual event and how it all comes together and executing everything. So it's a very involved job, but it's a job I love quite a bit.
Our team now has five people including me, and so we can really take people from some really great idea that they have to like, oh, this is how it shows up in real life. Whether that's a dinner party or a screening or a cocktail party or any sort of thing that I think it's just been really fun to be creative and pick up different little worlds and be like, okay, I'm learning everything I need to learn about this particular book or this particular video project, and now how does this live in an event? And then I can switch to something else. So that part is cool.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Parties are such an important part of society, and I'm sure you've drawn inspiration from lots of ideas, but I would love to know who are three people that you think inspire and ground the work that you do with To Be Hosted?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Oh, gosh, there's so many, but I think the first one of course is B. Smith. I think if she didn't exist, I really wouldn't exist. I wouldn't be able to see a life that is built around conviviality and lifestyle in a way that's not servitude. So I'm very, very, very inspired by her work and her disposition about event planning.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
B. Smith being the restaurateur and entrepreneur who is so important to black entertaining and black celebration.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
It's a lot of B. Smith. It's a lot of a Layla Walker. I think she was very prominent during the Harlem Renaissance and throwing these parties that you read about them or you hear people speak about them. They just seem like these really lavish gatherings. But then when you really get into it's like, no, she was creating a space for black excellence to be safe and be celebrated during a time when that was not quite what the vibe was. So I really appreciate her.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I just read the piece in the New York Times about the rent parties that they used to throw during the Harlem Renaissance, and I'm like, maybe we should bring those back.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
But the way rent prices are now. But that ingenuity inspired me. I guess that can be my third option here. I know it's not an individual person, but it's a time period when you can see how the parties and the creativity around parties we're helping people pay their rent and establish community. There is a space where parties can be this very fulfilling and very meaningful environment beyond just the frivolous things that we think they are at first glance.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You just hosted one of your, I call your flagship events, your WE Gala, which is a celebration of black talent and excellence in the culinary scene. I unfortunately couldn't make it, but I felt like everyone who I knew was there enjoying Nana Wilmot, I think Fariyal from Hav & Mar did something amazing there as well. Congratulations. I know that was a fete. I want to understand your process of bringing an event from concept to real life. So could you walk us through a little bit of the process of how this year's gala came together?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yes. So our annual WE Gala is really a celebration of black culture and food and beverage spaces. So we know that we are entertaining an audience that are chefs or beverage professionals or writers or just really, really big food enthusiasts. That is definitely where we want to try every new format or every new idea because this is the audience that's going to determine all the trends. So that event this year had about 120 people. We hosted it at a restaurant, New York here, Hav & Mar, and it was a really interesting thing to imagine how we were going to create this big table. We're all in this together experience across a restaurant where everybody is actually spread out.
So we put a lot into what the actual floor plan would be, how many people we could have at the same table, where everybody was going to sit in a way that they felt like they were within arm's reach of the people that they would enjoy being here. We spent a lot of time talking to Chef Nana and Fariyal and Jeneh just about what the menu was going to be and how that was going to live in an environment where people are very, very dressed up. Doing family style while also doing evening wear. It's kind of a challenge. How are we going to plate everything?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's like prom.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Exactly. How are we going to plate everything in a way that just feels elegant and feels easy to access? Just a lot of logistics, a lot of communication and a lot of meetings trying to figure out how can we do this in a restaurant format and make it cool.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You also mentioned Jeneh Kaikai who is of Pelah Kitchen, another future food as you guest alum, which is so awesome to see. To Be Hosted, there's so much detail into it and also bringing a lot of people into the fold, making sure that everyone's on the same page and able to do their thing and do it really well. I know you part with a lot of brands and a lot of chefs on this. How do you think about the communication between other people that aren't necessarily in your brain, but are playing a big role in the whole process?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I love getting people on the phone.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
No texting?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I'll answer the text message, but I'm so quick when I text that it can almost feel like, Oh, does Amber like me? Should I send an emoji? So I just love to call people and be like, okay, let's just hash this out. Give me your perspective about this idea. Because again, if I don't vet all my ideas through the people I want to partner with and they don't tell me I think this is a terrible idea, or I think you need to consider X, Y, and Z, then it's going to go wrong. So I really like to keep an open line of communication with everybody that we work with. So in that regard, I just always hope that they're nice and friendly and warm, and usually they are.
Having clearly defined terms and emails and contracts are the starting base, and then scheduling calls throughout the production process to make sure that we're communicating clearly about what our vision is and then that they also feel very heard in the process because I do think of them as partners and not just puppets. So we have to really build a rapport that feels like, oh, I'm in this too. And I think we do a really good job of that as a team to make everybody feel like they're part of our little family.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, I love that. That's so cute. Get on the phone.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah, get on the phone, call people.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Get on the horn. To Be Hosted has partnered with lots of brands like Equinox, Soho House, YouTube, and this is just a very small list of all the incredible brands you've worked out with. What is your approach to partnerships when you're working with corporations who have their own identities and their own brands to think about creating experiences?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I'm really keen on doing things that bring me joy and working with people that I really, really like. So I think everything goes through that funnel first of do I actually like this brand? Do I actually like the people that are talking to me? Do I want to be in this planning process with them for X amount of weeks or X amount of months? As long as those answers are always yes, the work product is better. So I really do approach everything with just like how do we get along? How do we align, are we mission aligned, and are they interested and adaptable to the things that we care about? I really admire that everybody that we work with, if we call them out about diversity and equity, they hear us. If they do something or they have an approach or a communication style that we're like, "That's not doing quite well." They're really open to hearing it and having those tough conversations with us and then working beyond that. I only work with people that we really, really love and that has been such a blessing really.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And that's a good signal too, where it shows you have worked with so many brands, but behind the scenes it's like you're really, really thinking about, do I want to have a good time? Do I like them? Can I even create something exciting with them?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah. And do I want to advocate for them? Because that's what partnerships suggests, that I believe in you and you believe in me, so that's got to be there in the foundation.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Okay. We're huge manifestors on the podcast, and I know you are quite a manifestor as well. Are there any dream brands or people you'd love to plan a party for?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Say it with your chest.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I really want to plan a party for Rihanna. I hear she's quite the foodie and I think that would be really interesting to blend what she's doing with Fenty and what she does with her music and some sort of really cool immersive experience. Rihanna, as soon as you need me, I'll send you my number. And then I would say 2 Chainz, honestly. I used to love watching the episodes of 2 Chainz most Expensivist, he used to have it on YouTube. I think eventually he got picked up by somebody, but the YouTube versions were just like A1 editing, A1 research went into them, and I think it would be really fun to do a most Expensivist dinner party, and I think he can be the snoop to my Martha.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Wow, that's iconic. Okay. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Exactly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. The most beautiful-est friendship. I love that so much. When it comes to planning, I mean, I planned so many events. I did stuffin college, planned parties in high school. How do you and your team think about the logistics to make sure everyone is fed well and that there's enough to drink? I'm always curious how party planners think about this.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Well, we're a very food-first agency, so I think about it often.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's all she thinks about.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah, it might be all I think about. I have to remember to hire the DJ.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
At least he'll have food when he comes.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Exactly. Yeah, no, they'll definitely be a plate for her. Most of my DJs are women.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
So I think today you have to be very cognizant of different dietary restrictions and different preferences around spirits. So I always approach it looking at the variety of a menu and how we can ensure that everybody can get a bite, whether you're gluten-free or you're vegetarian or you're vegan or you're like, I don't want any alcohol. And making sure that those non-alcoholic options are exciting and not an afterthought. I really look at who's coming, what their food, dietary restrictions and allergies and things like that at the top, and then what their cultural norms are around food. Do they feel good about shared plates? Do they feel good about a raw bar? All of those things inform what we'll recommend because I think making people comfortable and making sure everybody gets a bite of something that they love the moment they walk in is how to knock it out of the park on every event.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, I love that. I always have had this thought, but you know sometimes when you're at a party and it's like you're standing and then the food and stuff comes, do you think there's ever a world where we will figure out the dance of holding the wine glass or the whatever glass and get the food? I don't know.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Well, I think about the people busing and making sure they're very present because I think people holding on to the little toothpicks, that is very annoying. And then I also think about how many high tops are in the area so that you have somewhere that you can sit something down comfortably. And then I think about just how easy is that item of food to eat. I think there are a lot of cool past apps that are out there, but some of them are not. They need two or three or four bites, and I'm just like, that's not going to work. Or this piece of toast is so loaded that it's about to slide off and get on somebody's dress. I really antagonize what the decisions are around the menu and some ideas. I'm like, okay, maybe we save that for a station or something seated and just having a point of view that really is guest first.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I really love that you're thinking about the signs of a canopy. That's amazing.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
It's none of my business. The chefs get annoyed with me, but I do think about it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
In 2020, you launched While Entertaining, which I would consider the second arm of your-
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah, like the media extension of To Be Hosted.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes, the media, exactly. Which is a food media destination from the lens of home entertaining. And I love that you make highlighting black chefs, again, a core mission of this work. Why do you think this representation matters, particularly in the media landscape?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Well, I think before Black Square summer, it was very much a February, you get a listicle, and I don't think that is what I'm about. So I really wanted a space where we were consistently sharing these stories. Yes, we're sharing them with beautiful recipes or beautiful design, but there are real people attached to them and real people that you can feel like you know or have the intrigue to hire for your events or the intrigue to go to their restaurant. And so my hope with that platform has always been to just continue to introduce people to new voices consistently in a way that will impact change in their lives.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And you've since published five volumes of While Entertaining, and thank you, I was so honored that you asked me to write a piece on one of my favorite desserts and the theme's all about love. How did you decide on that theme, and then what were some of the highlights of the editorial process?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I do a lot of my work around how I'm feeling, and I think the past year of my life was so surrounded by love. I got married.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Congratulations. Your wedding was stunning.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Thank you. So there was a lot of romantic love, but there was also just a lot of friends. Our first and our best relationships are with our friends, and I think I just looked around and I was like, "I kind of love it here. I'm surrounded by people that I really love and I'm doing the work that I really love." And so those things just kept coming up in my mind that I was like, maybe that should be a theme for a magazine because if I feel this way, it might be interesting to see how other folks are processing love because it didn't have to be based on relationships. So some people wrote about ingredients, some people wrote about family members, some people did write about romantic relationships. Krista Barfield wrote about her love of soil, which was so fascinating to hear from a farmer in that way. It really just opened the door to see how people are processing and appreciating the things around them in a new way.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Party planning and magazines are probably very similar in terms of getting your line book already, the types of people that you need. You're working with different people.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Detail oriented.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
No typos, no. Got a good copy editor. What are some lessons you've learned from creating editorial content that you think will help with the party planning side of the business?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I think it just deepened my attention to detail and how things can be really beautiful in person, but they might not translate in photographs. And so what you need to change on site to make sure that they translate to folks who were not at the event but are experiencing it through photo and video. I feel like that has been one of the main lessons or crossovers if you will.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I know the magazine's primarily written by freelancers. You write some stuff, I'm sure, some of your staff members that To Be Hosted write stuff as well. I know a lot of our guests are ambitious writers wanting to get their bylines in a lot of different magazines. What do you look for in people who potentially want to write for you or contribute to the magazine?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
So our magazines aren't necessarily by writers. Nobody's a writer. I think this was our first year that we had a writer, but everybody else-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's like people who happen to write and do other things.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah. So they're mostly chefs, farmers, beverage producers. That's what I think is interesting about the magazine is that you get somebody that you usually only get a couple quotes from in an article to now write you a couple of paragraphs and a couple of pages. So you get to hear from them a little bit more than you would in a traditional interview format. And you also just get really truthful raw writing. They all write their pieces themselves. So you are really hearing from Terrence Harvey who's the executive sous chef at the James Beard platform space. You are really hearing from him for the first time in media in the way that he showed up in the magazine. It's hard to say because I really do choose folks based on the work that they're doing, and then if they have time to write something.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I think that's great. It seems like you want people who are doing the work. Writing about food is also work, but I think you want people that are more in there who their primary focus is to create a beverage, make a meal, share something, which I respect. You announced a few months ago that you are working on your first book, congratulations.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Thank you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And you are publishing it with Artists and Books, which is so exciting. Can you tell us about the concept of the book?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Essentially, the book is going to dive into my party planning process, but of course, do so in a lens that you can recreate at home. So it really gives a lot of my tips and tricks and sources for inspiration, and I really wanted it to be beautiful and practical. So I want to show a couple of parties that can serve as inspiration for folks, but then I also want to have templates and how-to's and step-by-step guides so that everything that has become part of the To Be Hosted way or just my approach as a party planner will now live in this source. Instead of picking my brain, you could pick up a copy of my book.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, there it is. That better be somewhere in your promotional copy.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
There you go.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that. Can you give us a sneak peek of a recipe or two that we should look for?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
It really is a lot more about party planning. So I would say that the recipes are more like-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Guides?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah, they're guides, but then there are recipes for how to do something, a recipe for a good toast and not toast that you eat, making a good party toast.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Keep it short.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah, be brief. But beyond that, how do I actually seam things together in a way that serves as a rallying cry for a party? It gives it that intention and feeling that you want to go for. So it's a lot of that type of stuff.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love it. It's a recipe for success.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
There you go.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that. Obviously, we're staying on the manifesting track. We've got a party with Rihanna, but I like to ask dream recipients for the book. If you could send your presser over to anyone, who would it be?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Oh, is that a thing?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I mean, we're manifesting, let's not get stalkerish.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Send to anyone, besides Rihanna.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
She's already got the book because she read the book and then-
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Right. Rihanna has the book.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
... she planned the party. She asks you to plan the party.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
2 Chainz has the book.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, they're good.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Beyonce has to have the book.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Say less.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I don't know, I want everyone to have it. I think whoever's going to use it and appreciate it should have it. Beyond just big celebrities, I'm manifesting that lots and lots of people want to hear what I have to say.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that. Anyone, everyone. That book should be on every kitchen shelf counter in America and the world.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
That's all I asked.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
There we go. Hosting events a lot means you really have to turn it on for guests so they can enjoy an event while you're constantly thinking about what's next. Thinking one step ahead of everyone, but I would love to ask you, what do you like to do when you're not hosting? How do you like to entertain yourself outside of work?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
To Be Hosted is really just a whole plot to do the things that I really like to do, which is hosting parties or hanging out with my friends and eating really good food and listening to really good music. I think that is still what I do when I'm not working. I like to go try new restaurants. I like to try new recipes. I like to hang out with my friends, hang out with my husband, hang out with my family. I really love gathering. If I am not gathering, if my social battery is dying and I need to be by myself, I do love television, which makes a lot of sense from how I started my career. I watch everything. I always say, I'll watch an episode of anything once at least. I will give anything a try, and so because of that, I have to finish things.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Because you started?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Because I started, so I ended up watching a ton of shows.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Okay. What's a show you've loved recently?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
That I love right now for sure is “Shogun” on FX because I think the history is fascinating. It's set in Japan in the 1500s, and I think learning about a lot of their cultural traditions and history and just the detail that has gone into that show is really inspiring and also just fascinating. I am learning a ton and I'm really enjoying that show, so I'm watching that. I feel like I run the gamut on television shows. I also decided recently to rewatch this show called “Revenge” that came out in 2011 with Emily Van Camp. It was this girl that wanted to avenge her father being wrongfully accused of embezzlement or something like that, and then he ended up being murdered. And so she comes back to the Hamptons to haunt all these people and play all these tricks on them just to clear her father's name. And I started watching that because I was having a conversation with somebody about how revenge shows don't usually hit. I thought that Apple falls from the tree. I was very annoyed with how that ended, and so then I went back and started watching Revenge.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, I love that. That's awesome.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I might go back and watch “Scandal” too, but.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I just finished “Scandal,” but that's amazing. Well, Amber, it seems like you are looking at black excellence and entertaining for black communities in such interesting perspectives from the event planning to the food media, to the print perspective as well. When you look at all of this, how do you think about the future of representation for black people in the culinary space?
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I feel like it's very lofty to say that I feel good about it just based on my own work because I think there's a ton of people doing the work, and there's a ton more work to do, but I think as long as we continue to have people who are passionate about the stories that they tell and how those stories show up, I think we're, I don't know, I hope we're looking brighter.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And then how do you hope your work as an entertaining expert inspires others? Truth be told, when you think of the party planning space, it's very white when you think of the top performing party planners in the city. But I also think for me, some of the best celebrations I've had, I've been in rooms with colorful people. My mom is a pro party planner, she used to-
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
There you go.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
When friends would come over after school, I'm like, how did you get all those ingredients into this meal on the table? So I'm really curious to hear how you think your work will inspire a more diverse generation of party planners and people who really are creating experiences for everyone, but really rooted in themselves.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I think I would be very flattered if my work could be that impactful. I think creating space and being in a career path that I'm passionate about, I hope it inspires other people to just pursue what their passions are and be really confident in their perspective of how you approach them. When you think about lifestyle and home entertaining magazines and this hostess with the mostest persona, yeah, there's a lot of model looking women that are in industry, and I think that's great for them. But I also think that if we continue to value perspectives that don't fit one particular aesthetic, we will have much more interesting lives and much more interesting social experiences. So I think you should just do it, and I think you should do it your way, and I think if you have clients that tell you that you shouldn't do it that way, they shouldn't be your clients. I think you can find the right guests and the right people to have at your party that will deeply, deeply appreciate what you bring to the table, and you should just be in reckless pursuit of that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amber, I enjoyed this so much. I've got recommendations, we've manifested, and I'm really excited to see your work and hopefully finally get to go to one of your events very soon.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yeah, you got to come to a party.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes. If we want to continue to support you, where are the best places to find you.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
I'm on Instagram if you want to follow me personally, Ambb, A-M-B-B_M-A-Y-Y, and if you want to follow my brands @To Be Hosted and @While Entertaining, and we're on YouTube, I have a little channel where I do a show called Soiree School where I'm giving all my tips so that can kind of hold you over until my book comes out.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that. Amazing. Well, thank you so much.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Yes, thanks for having me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Before we go, our guest is going to leave a voicemail just talking to themselves 10 years from now. You have reached The Future Of Food Is You mailbox. Please leave your message after the beep.
Amber Mayfield Hewett:
Hey, doll, I hope you're doing well. I hope you are having so much fun with this beautiful life that you have worked very, very hard for. I hope you are living in the moments and abandoning the plan as often as you can. I hope you are still madly in love with yourself and madly in love with your partner and madly in love with the work that you do and the ability that you have to bring people together for really special things. I hope you have not lost sight of why you started and have a clear grip on where you're going. Enjoy it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's show. I would love for you to leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our show. The Future Of Food Is You as a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Thanks to the team at CityVox Studios, executive producers Kerry Diamond and Catherine Baker. Associate producers Jenna Sadhu and Elizabeth Vogt, and Content operations manager London Crenshaw. Catch you on the future flip.