School’s out for successful home cook...
A MISSOURI-based self-taught cook has had so much success online that he’s given up his teaching job to become a full-time influencer.
Luke Brown taught both history and social studies, a career he thought he’d have for life when he started posting videos of the dishes, he was creating for his family dinners.
But the incredible reaction to his easy-to-create and home cooked meal has led to Luke making the huge decision to create content full time.
Luke has 1.8m followers on TikTok, with people tuning in to see his quick, no-nonsense videos where he showcases the food he prepares for his family.
And now his Cooking in the Midwest dishes are being served up to a wider audience after Luke published his first cookery book.
Tonight’s Dinner Is…includes a whole host of family favourites, which have widespread appeal because they are quick and easy to make – perfect for anyone short of time.
Luke works alongside his wife Kelli – who is also about to give up her teaching role – so that the couple can work together.
“When I first started it was something that I was just doing for fun,” said Luke.
“Then I posted a video of my smash burgers, and I couldn’t believe it got nearly a million views and it just went on from there.
“Last year I shared my recipe for Marry Me Chicken and that got 20 million views and it’s just kept growing from there.”
Luke believes being a teacher has helped him in creating engaging content and in posting recipes that are easy to use.
“I think our food appeals because it’s things that all the family can eat and it’s usually made of ingredients that most people will have at home,” he said.
“It’s not stuff that you have to go buy something fancy for and then the rest of it sits in the cupboard for every because you’re never going to use it again.”
Luke’s cookery book has been produced through a unique company called Found, which works with online creators to help them turn their content into cash.
Found uses their recipes to create books and the only commitment for the creator – who gets a percentage of every book sold – is to promote the book via their platforms.
“Working with Found has been fantastic,” said Luke.
“I couldn’t believe how simple it was and how amazing the interest in the books has been, so much so that I would definitely do a second one.
“This has given me and my family so many exciting opportunities that we can’t wait to see what comes next.”