Meet J. Davil Deevo” Haralson | Founder & CEO Food & Lifestyle TV Streaming Service”

We had the good fortune of connecting with J. Davil “Deevo” Haralson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi J. Davil “Deevo”, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The Television industry is going through fundamental transformation. Transformative change creates big opportunities. However, when attending industry conferences, I noticed there are very few Black executives, decision makers or network owners. Without participation at the highest levels, Black people won’t be able to fully benefit from the financial or creative future of the industry. So the thought process was to build a network where Black and Brown creators can authentically and unapologetically be the main characters. We wanted to build professional physical and digital platforms that would allow creators to shine. Specifically, we wanted to focus on a combination of a youthful, trendsetting vibe, executed with excellence at all levels from culinary to production. And we wanted to serve as a bridge for brands to safely reach this elusive audience. We therefore leveraged the founders’ corporate experience and matched it with the youthful talent and enthusiasm to create Food & Lifestyle TV.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story? Food & Lifestyle TV is a food and lifestyle streaming service with a VIBE! Home to vibrant, sexy, food & lifestyle experiences, featuring cooking competitions, Chef Showcases, relationship advice, travel & entertainment.

We founded Food & Lifestyle TV to showcase talented Chefs and Lifestyle Creators. We built a Media Kitchen Studio featuring first-class Viking appliances, along with professional sound and lighting. We are proud to have become the studio home of the new wave of chefs. By successfully building a physical studio and launching a streaming service, we created a virtual space where a young adult audience can enjoy their talented culinary and lifestyle peers; where creatives can express themselves in their authentic voice and where brands can reach elusive young adults. All on a platform managed by veteran corporate executives.

Our home is www.foodandlifestyle.com. Food & Lifestyle TV is available as “Food & Lifestyle” on Roku and Amazon Fire TV Stick streaming platforms, on mobile from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and on connected TV platforms Samsung, LG, and Android TV. Food & Lifestyle TV is available on social as “@FoodLifestyleTV” on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We continue to add distribution platforms.

Please tell us more about your business. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others.

What sets Food & Lifestyle apart is that the company was built from the ground up specifically for today’s trend creators. We’re a Black owned and operated network, so we’re able to authentically center Black and Brown creators as main characters. But we are welcoming of everyone who passes the vibe check. We create original content and we also feature curated content.

Operationally we fuse the capital and experience of management with the extraordinary talent and enthusiasm of today’s creators. We partnered with a major NY based tech stack operator so that we can provide a “Netflix” style interface. Customers sign up for membership at our website and with that one sign-up, they can access Food & Lifestyle across multiple distribution platforms.

Commercially, we welcome sponsors who are interested in our tastemaker audience. We have a large percentage of chefs, foodies and hospitality industry followers. For our clients, we are able to create custom programming, as well as virtual activations and product placement opportunities.

Put all together, Food & Lifestyle offers creators a professional space to be their authentic selves on a modern distribution platform which allows Members to enjoy exciting and unique programming directly relevant to their interests and experiences while providing a safe bridge for brands to reach this elusive youthful audience.

what you are most proud of or excited about.

We were very intentional when building the culture and we are most proud of the community we’ve built. We created a safe space, which means people give grace in order to receive it. As a result, people are both open and vulnerable with each other and helpful and supportive in return. Chefs are still competitive, so there is the desire to do better and be better. But we do it in an encouraging way. The result is lifelong bonds have formed and everyone on the team is constantly growing and improving.

How did you get to where you are today business-wise.

Business-wise, I am where I am through many years, days, hours and minutes of experience at a high level in corporate organizations (corporate folks will understand that I included minutes because sometimes minutes seem like hours, Lol). As a management level attorney for a Fortune 15 company, I had the benefit of top-level training and continuing education. And a front row seat to executive decisioning. I match that with lived experience as an industry-aware media consumer.

Was it easy?

Was it easy? Ha! We built a streaming service from scratch. There was no precedent. There was no blueprint. So no, it wasn’t easy. But it has absolutely been a pleasure creating opportunities for so many people.

If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

We work to overcome challenges on a daily basis. Our brand represents excellence. So we have an absolute focus on excellence, from recipes, to culinary execution to filming, editing and production. We pay attention to the human elements. Encourage creativity. Remain open minded. Take a professional approach to problem solving. And just keep pushing.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Not so much learned lessons, but rather we’ve validated our belief that you don’t have to be evil to be successful. My business partner Jay Young and I decided from the very beginning that we wanted to enjoy the work and the people. So we try to do the right thing by our contributors, our vendors, our collaborators and our sponsors. And happily, they match energy because the community hungers for business to be run with this approach. It’s easy to sleep at night with a clear conscious.

So come to our website, get your membership and then on the platform of your choice, experience all that Food & Lifestyle has to offer!!


Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Cheesecaked
Continent
Dolos Pizza
`El Valle
Farmed
Farsi Kitchen
Fellaship
Habitat
Love at First Bite
Ms Icey’s Kitchen and Bar
Nouveau Bar and Grill
Oreatha’s At The Point
Rock Steady
Salt & Pepper
Sea Salt Seafood
Toast on Lenox
Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours
Zaddy’s ATL

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I dedicate this Shout Out to Geri Morgan Haralson, my Mom. In addition to raising me, protecting me, guiding me and all the things that a great mother does, she has always been a big supporter. She leaned into whatever my ambition of the moment was and supported me. Gave great advice.

Recommendations of books to read. Links to source information. Encouraging words just when I needed them. Even now, I get What’s App messages, FaceBook Posts, Twitter and IG DMs, and even TikTok messages!! So this is dedicated to my Mom.

Website: www.foodandlifestyle.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/foodlifestyletv

Twitter: www.twitter.com/foodlifestyletv

Facebook: www.facebook.com/foodlifestyletv

Youtube: www.youtube.com/foodandlifestyle

Other: TikTok: @foodlifestyletv

Image Credits
Food & Lifestyle TV, LLC