i8tonite

Tag: Media

  • I8tonite: Media Maven Jennifer Magley & Her Grandmother’s Delicious Rolls

    I8tonite: Media Maven Jennifer Magley & Her Grandmother’s Delicious Rolls

    When I first met Jennifer Magley at an event, she offered huge smiles, genuine warmth, displayed a brilliant fashion sense all while listening to an old fart (me) prattle on about nonsense. That very morning, her company downsized leaving her without work. To her credit, she showed grit and resilience by coming out to make new acquaintances instead of staying cooped up, feeling sorry for herself, which is what I would have done. 

    Born in Kansas, Magley attended the University of Florida and was a scholarship athlete at IMG Academy under the direct tutelage of renowned tennis coach Nick Bollettieri. While in college, Magley became the number one ranked NCAA Division, Singles player in the country, a four-time All-American, and the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar recipient. As a member of TEAM USA, Magley represented the United States in over 14 countries. After graduation, she competed professionally on the WTA Tour before being named Associate Head Coach at Wichita State University. With many accolades and recognition, she became the nation’s youngest NCAA Division head coach at Florida Gulf Coast University. 

    She has written two books, with her debut novel Division I, released in 2014, spotlighting issues that affect female collegiate athletes and, in 2021, How to Be Queen-A Leadership Fable, about the power of imperfect leadership. 

    Today, with national media coverage, from USA Today, CNN, ESPN, Foundr Magazine, and US News & World Report, she is a successful Keynote Speaker and High-Performance Coach, having spent over a decade as a recruiter and helping successful people become their best. Additionally, she started Magley Mass Media, where she promotes women, including her mother, Evelyn Magley, the first Black woman to head a men’s professional basketball league. Her father, a former pro player with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dave Magley, was the former commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada and now is the president and chief operating officer for the North American Basketball League. 

    Between her sold-out luncheons, writing, speaking, and being just a media superstar, Magley graced us with answers to i8tonite questions and a time-honored yeast rolls recipe.

    Why did you start Magley Mass Media? 

    In March, my full-time role as a technical recruiter laid me off and launched Magley Mass Media. I just looked at my phone and it says I started doing my thing on April 18th full time.

    What gives you the greatest joy in working in this space? 

    For most people, the reality is that no one knows your name; I help change that through 90-day Media Mastermind Groups. My greatest joy is seeing the folks I partner with land more media, connections, and onstage opportunities. People need to know you exist and that you have expertise.

    What is your favorite thing to do around your company? 

    Finding new ways to surprise and promote the people I work with. I deeply believe that over-performing is such a gift. It’s a joy to be able to see my clients light up.

    Could you tell us about your favorite inspirations? 

    There have been a lot of people who have sacrificed in my bloodline for me to be where I am today. I have descended from slaves and slave owners, immigrants, and orphans. That’s positive motivation. On the flip side, there are a handful of men that have taunted me with their money and arrogance. Hard to say which inspires me more.

    What are your favorite things about the Midwest? 

    The people. Indiana has been rated by the IEDC as one of the best places in the country to begin a business. That proves to be true. I was born in Kansas, so that’s why I probably say the people. Secondly, cost of living.

    What is your favorite regional city and why? 

    This is unexpected but Cincinnati, that counts right? They have done so much to develop their downtown, especially Over the Rhine, with restaurants and shops. They have a bit more elevation than Indianapolis and it really is such a lovely place, and the food is fantastic.

    Where is your favorite place to eat and why? 

    VIDA. (It’s a) Cunningham property, however it is a chef’s restaurant, so it is not a chain. This is where we go for special occasions because of their four-course dinner. Chef’s kiss. I’ve had literally everything on the menu and their consistency is unmatched for fine dining in Indy.

    What do you have in the fridge currently?

    Oatmilk. Organic Eggs. Champagne. Organic Greens. I want to be bourgeois.

    Jennifer Magley’s Grandma’s Yeast Rolls 

    Ingredients

    4 – 5 cups all-purpose flour

    2 cups hot water

    ⅔ cup sugar

    ½ cup of liquid Crisco or any liquid cooking oil

    3 eggs

    2 packages yeast, Rapid rise or day (3 if you are in a hurry)

    Cupcake pans, greased and floured

    To Make: 

    Pre-heat oven to 375° to 400°depending upon oven. Mix hot water, oil, sugar and eggs. Stir until sugar is dissolved. If you use rapid rise yeast, sprinkle in liquid, then let it dissolve waiting a few minutes. Stir. Add about two cups of flour and stir adding more flour on the right consistency for kneading. You may put a kneading board on the counter-top. 

    Knead very little, just enough to roll out and cut. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, use a cup to cut out two circles and a half. Fold the circles in half and add the half-circle into the greased and floured cupcake pans. Pinch the edges together. Brush with melted butter and let rise until they look right for baking. (Forty-five minutes to an hour). 

    “This makes for the rolls to be very lovely in shape and fashioned to pull apart.”.

    Jennifer Magley

    Bake for 10 minutes or until brown, brush with butter again when removed from oven. 

    Cinnamon Rolls: Simply roll out as you do for rolls. Brush with butter. 

    Mix brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, raisins and nuts. Roll up the dough into a log. Let rise.

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  • Food, Media & Food Media: My Opinion

    If you read my posts through my social media, I love food. Not just eating it but all of it. The business of it. The cooking of it. The exploitation of it. If there is one thing that we can all agree on concerning food ….it’s not a want but a need. Yes, there are expensive food items that we might want such as foie gras or white truffles but we all need access to fresh food, produce and clean drinking water. Dining out is a luxury.

    I bring this up because of food and media. There are food writers and food reviewers just as there are a variety of culinary newspapers, food magazines, and cooking blogs. Each covering the prospective news with a different angle and format for particular audience.

    I’ve been following the Dallas Morning News brouhaha regarding the restaurant critic, Leslie Brenner. I’m throwing my two cents into this. (Not as if someone asked.) However, I feel strongly that a newspaper has the right to freedom of speech. For anyone to censor a publication because the restaurant doesn’t like it…well, is wrong. It brings up some of the most terrifying news events. If the chef and his crew are already doing $150,000 worth of business then good for them….nothing to worry about. (Most journalists, in contrast, may not even make that in 4 years of writing for a newspaper.)

    Coming from a consumer and not a marketer, I love food reviews but they don’t determine my willingness to dine at a certain restaurant even if it’s from a Michelin guide. My selection is dependent on a couple of things such as does the owner/chef have more than one restaurant? I don’t want to go to restaurant where I’m supporting an empire. (Hence, I won’t eat at Guy Fieri’s or Mario Batali’s places.) I still love the romance of a neighborhood European bistro/ brasserie/ trattoria serving up delicious regional cuisine by one chef who owns the place; not by one chef who hires a multitude of chefs to cook under his/her name.

    In today’s day and age, no one is depending upon one source of medium. We have Facebook, Instagram and Twitter explaining, photographing everything before there is a printed word. Even if the food isn’t liked by one critic, there is always another critic who will love it. It’s the nature of the beast.

    Furthermore, I rely on the food reviewers. I want them and their publications to shell out the $200 or $300 tab before I get there….and tell me their thoughts. It’s incredibly expensive to dine out and I want to know that I’m getting a really good meal. It’s not coming back up the way it went down. However, I find a reveiwer who’s tastes run towards mine. LA Times’ critic Jonathan Gold is really towards far-flung, Asian foods. San Francisco’s Michael Bauer (from the Chronicle) prefers European based fare. (This doesn’t mean that they don’t like other cuisines but we all have personal preferences.)

    When there is a chef/owner, who puts up too much of a fuss about a reviewer coming in to dine or eat, it makes me feel uncomfortable….as if my freedom of speech is being taken away. The now-defunct Red Medicine “outed” Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbilia and I sort of found it heartbreaking. I personally felt she was doing her job. No one, not even a restaurant reviewer, deserves to be treated without respect. They are after all a paying customer. And she was a paying customer…regardless of who was paying for it.  Unlike the entertainment media, who get to view free movies and theater, then give a bad review; restaurant writers from major outlets publications pay for it such as “Bon Appetit”, “Food + Wine”, “Saveur” and other major newspapers. It’s paid for with journalistic integrity even if it costs an arm and a leg.

    Former New York Magazine restaurant critic, Gael Greene, and Ruth Reichl, former New York Times restaurant critic, would both dress up in costumes to review dining establishments. Maybe it needs to go back to that system so that a consumer and critic can get what they rightly pay for? Ultimately, the reason a critic gets to pay for the food is to determine if they will…or won’t…review the establishment. And it’s done anonymously so that the kitchen and staff are serving up just as if they were regular customers paying a bill.

    It’s not about taking sides. No one wants to be powerful enough to shut down an establishment that’s putting people to work. But at the end of the day, being a consumer, I want to know that the price tag for my meal will be worth the money I’m spending. It’s not cheap to eat out, nor am I saying that it’s inexpensive to own a restaurant…but there is always a better way than mean-spiritedness.

    To the media: I know so many restaurants and chefs who need to be reviewed, want to be reviewed and would love the attention…give it to them and ignore anyone who doesn’t want it. Tell me the news, don’t become it. (Listening up “The Today Show”….my opinion.)