Social media cook mixes in knowledge of previous executive experience with love of cooking
CHICAGO (CBS) — A former Disney and Microsoft executive has found more success after turning his corporate retirement into social media superstardom.
Darryl Postelnick, better known by his social media handle — Cooking with Darryl — has nearly 3 million followers on TikTok.
The former corporate titan has turned his love of cooking for his family into a popular personal brand, and he's now using his popularity to give back.
Before the viral sensation, there was Darryl Postelnick, the dad, cooking dinner for his family.
"I would just film cooking dinner, and that was it," he said. "I just film it again, have a glass of wine, have a beer, because it's just what normal people do."
Postelnick has always enjoyed being in the kitchen. After wrapping up a lengthy career as a corporate executive, he took full advantage of the newfound time at home, and so did his daughter, Lindsey.
"He cooks dinner, like every single night. So I was like, we should just make, like a video. Like, just for fun. I thought it would get no views," she said.
"I said no because I'm not on any social media other than LinkedIn," Darryl said. "And, I just kind of fodder on it, and she begged, and then I ... she gave the words. What did you say?"
"It's something that we can do together," Lindsey said.
It was their second video that catapulted Cooking with Darryl to viral status.
"It just like kept going up in views like a thousand, 4000, 10,000. I like kept texting him, and I was like, oh my god, this is crazy," Lindsey said.
"Don't know if it was the authentic of I don't care, I'm just making chili or if it was, the fact that I probably did a lot of things wrong. My chopping skills aren't great, and people probably made fun of my chopping skills. And yeah, who cares?" he said.
"I'm not a chef, I never went to chef school, culinary school. So, to me, it was just having fun with it and trying new recipes and making things i've made for years."
In the nearly four years since those first videos, Cooking with Darryl has become an unexpected second wind for Postelnick
"Just as I would run, you know, the home video group over at Disney or the Xbox team at Microsoft, I run it just like a business. So, to me, it's kind of keeping my head in the game," he said.
Most recently, Postelnick's business expertise has been incorporated into his videos, with food as a backdrop to seasoned career advice.
"I want to do something where I can use all of my business knowledge, things that I've done and kind of pay that forward. I call it business 101, where I actually, to me, I feel I'm giving back."
From corporate to his kitchen counter, postelnick's found a way to merge them both and create a massive following while doing it.
"I remember, when I was leaving Microsoft, people were asking me, "What are you going to do?" and I said, I want to take cooking classes. I never did, but look what happened," Darryl said.
He says he thinks the reason he's gotten to be so popular is because he's super relatable and has a dad-next-door energy. he's even got a new book called "R U Kidding Me", with all his recipes for folks to try at home.
