How Tabitha Brown is building an entertainment empire based on joy
Sometimes all you need to find your purpose is to eat a good sandwich.
Back in December 2017, Tabitha Brown had been uploading videos to Facebook charting her journey in going vegan, a decision she made after developing chronic pain and fatigue. While trying to get her acting career off the ground, Brown drove for Uber on the side and was actually between rides when she posted an exuberant review of Whole Foods’s “TTLA” (tempeh bacon, tomato, lettuce, avocado) sandwich from her car.
By the time she got home, she was a viral star.
That one video snowballed into a brand ambassador deal with Whole Foods; 5.2 million followers on TikTok; her Emmy-nominated YouTube children’s show Tab Time; a New York Times-bestselling memoir and cookbook; her hair care line, Donna’s Recipe (affectionately named after her afro); her own seasoning blend with McCormick; acting roles in The Chi and Will & Grace; hosting the Food Network’s It’s CompliPlated; and collections with Target spanning food, homewares, and clothing.
But let Brown tell it and she’s just getting started.
“I’ve done a lot, but there’s so much more to do,” Brown says. “I know that I’m alive, so that means that God still has purpose for me.”
For starters, she’d like to expand her footprint in fashion, leaning further into the vibrant colors and bold designs and patterns that have become synonymous with her style. She also has talk-show host on her vision board, as well as being the star of a sitcom featuring an everyday family “more people can relate to.”
As with all of Brown’s projects, she wants the root of that project’s purpose to be spreading joy. “I wake up with that intention,” she says. “My intention is to love people, be good to people. My intention is to make someone smile. My intention is make someone feel loved and seen and heard.”
To wit, Brown’s latest project: Seen, Loved and Heard, a guided journal meant to be a companion to her bestselling memoir Feeding the Soul.
“They read [Feeding the Soul], but they still needed some type of guidance,” Brown says of her readers’ feedback. “I always tell people it’s got to be a personal journey. I can’t tell you how to get to your freedom, but I can tell you what I did, and I can give you some of the same tools that I used.”
It’s little wonder why Brown has earned the nickname “America’s Mom.”
There’s absolutely no dearth of amateur cooks on social media. But Brown feels she’s been able to connect the way that she has because people recognize the sincerity behind her infectious joy and warmth—not to mention her manner of speaking that’s produced a number of catchphrases: “Like so, like that,” “because it’s my business,” “have a good day—and even if you can’t, don’t go messing up nobody else’s.”
“I lead in love and I root everything in that—and I think that’s what draws people in,” Brown says. “I’ve never claimed to be like an expert. Honey, I ain’t a chef. I ain’t been to nobody’s chef school, Cordon Bleu, yellow, green, or purple. I am just a woman who cooks for her family and now it has become a thing.”
A recent lesson that Brown has learned is that showing up as herself is equally important as being physically present.
Given Brown’s string of successful business endeavors, it would seem that she never misses. But in 2021, she announced she was going into business with Nemanja Golubovic, founder and CEO of Chicago-based vegan restaurant Kale My Name. Brown was set to co-own a location in Los Angeles but announced last September that the restaurant wouldn’t move forward due to building issues. Aside from what was out of her control, Brown realized that she wasn’t as present as she would’ve liked to be with such a major endeavor as opening a restaurant.
“If I’m gonna have a restaurant, it has to be mine and I would want to be there,” Brown says. “Not being able to really be there and learn the business in and out every day—to me, that’s how I work. With all my other businesses, I am in the know.”
No matter where Brown decides to take her business next, the through line connecting all her endeavors remains the same. “I’ve branded myself on just being myself,” Brown says. “I don’t change who I am because I’m with children. I don’t change who I am because I’m at a board meeting. I’m the same Tab. I show up completely free, completely me.”
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