Beyond the Easy Button
Valuing Your Time, Talent, and Hard-Earned Brand
TL;DR – Real Talk for Creators
Value your time: Your energy isn’t unlimited. Spend it wisely.
Set boundaries: Say no so you can say yes to what matters.
Execution > Ideas: Consistency builds credibility.
Know your worth: Don’t let compliments confuse you.
Protect your brand: It’s your reputation, your legacy, your IP.
Honor your roots—don’t be ruled by them: Culture evolves. So can you.
Hey friends,
If you're out there building something from scratch—late nights, early mornings, unpaid hours—this one's for you.
You’ve seen the polished highlight reels. But behind the scenes? It’s grit, strategy, and an unrelenting commitment to the work. Today, I want to talk about something many creators and entrepreneurs overlook: truly valuing what you bring to the table—and making sure others do, too.
🔍 It Doesn’t Just Look Easy
I get this a lot:
"Mai, you make it look so easy!"
"You’re so talented! How do you do it all?"
Here’s the truth:
I don’t do it all. I drop balls all the time. What you’re seeing? That’s 20 years of experience, thousands of hours, and a mountain of mistakes behind every smooth video or caption.
Stop comparing your Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 20. Mastery isn’t magic—it’s showing up over and over again.
💸 From Guilt to Growth: Investing in My Future
Last fall, I bought access to Passion.io, a platform that helps me deliver coaching, memberships, and culinary resources. Did I feel guilty? Yes.
I hadn’t even launched the program yet.
But now? That investment is the infrastructure behind my coaching—serving people like Joe on their prediabetes journey and setting the stage for Cooking with Mai Tai to grow into something sustainable and scalable.
The best investments don’t always give instant returns—sometimes they quietly build your future behind the scenes.
⏳ Your Time, Your Energy, Your Dreams
One of the hardest boundaries I’ve learned to set:
I can’t keep pouring energy into someone else’s vision when I’m working so hard to build my own.
Yes, I share generously on YouTube and Instagram—hundreds of food experiments, tips, and lessons. No gatekeeping here. But sharing free knowledge does not mean I’m open for unpaid consulting, collabs, or “just pick your brain” coffee dates.
Ideas are free. Execution is everything. Don’t confuse inspiration with entitlement.
If you're passionate about your idea, great—run with it. But please don’t expect me to bring it to life for you. Respectfully: that’s not my job.
🛡️ Protecting the Brand That Feeds You
Cooking with Mai Tai isn’t a trend or aesthetic—it’s me.
No chef whites. No culinary school badge. Just a Vietnamese-American woman who beat gestational diabetes (twice), loves bold flavors, and refuses to eat boring food.
My brand isn’t just content—it’s my lived experience, my values, and my promise to make health feel joyful and delicious.
Your brand is more than a logo. It’s your lived truth, your earned trust, and your cultural blueprint.
And because it’s working—because it’s real—I have to protect it.
You should protect yours, too.
Vietnamese Roots, Modern Wisdom
I’m deeply proud of where I come from—my Vietnamese culture, my family, the food I grew up eating. But here’s the thing: just because something’s “always been done that way” doesn’t mean it works for us today.
This isn’t about dieting or chasing some unrealistic ideal. It’s about learning to eat for your health, not from guilt, not from toxic tradition, and definitely not from blind loyalty to the past.
Honoring your culture doesn’t mean repeating everything without question. Evolution is not betrayal—it’s survival.
The recipes and approaches I share aren’t stripped of culture—they’re a reflection of evolution. Of honoring the spirit of the food while adapting it to serve our bodies and lives today.
This is a way of life.
Not a diet. Not a trend. A choice to live with joy, balance, and intention.
🔥 Let’s Be Clear About Something
If you’re here expecting me to stay neutral or apolitical, this isn’t the space for you.
My life is political by default—I’m an immigrant, a woman, and a person of color. I don't get the luxury of opting out of the conversation. So if my lived experience, my advocacy, or my fire makes you uncomfortable, then we’re not aligned—and that’s okay.
I’m not here to make you comfortable. I’m here to tell the truth—mine.
I won’t dilute my message to make it more palatable. My work is deeply rooted in community, justice, and cultural reclamation. It’s consistent with who I am and what this brand stands for.
If you’re here for that—welcome. If not, no hard feelings. Let’s not waste each other’s time.
I’ll always be here to share what I’ve learned. I’ll show you where to look, but I can’t do the lifting for you. And that’s okay. You’ve got your own path to walk—and cook.
Let’s build businesses that bring us joy, that serve our purpose, and that align with who we really are—not who the algorithm tells us to be.
What lessons have YOU learned about valuing your time, energy, and cultural wisdom?
I’d love to hear your reflections—drop a comment.
With joyful eating,
Mai
Cooking with Mai Tai