Kardea Brown Recalls Not Taking 'No for an Answer' from Food Network While She Was a Social Worker

“This is what never giving up looks like,” the Delicious Miss Brown star wrote in an emotional post about the start of her career

Kardea Brown's career on Food Network was not the simple transition she had initially expected.

On Thursday, the host of Delicious Miss Brown and former social worker, shared a throwback photo of herself at the front desk of Food Network's office in 2015, along with a story behind the photo taken eight years ago.

"This was my first pitch meeting at @foodnetwork 8 years ago! I remember that day distinctly…..I was so nervous but excited at the same time. This was my big break….I just knew I would leave that meeting with my very own cooking show," she said.

Brown, who dropped her debut cookbook last year, admitted in the caption that she was a "little naive" and didn't understand the inner workings of the entertainment business quite yet.

"You just don't show up as a social worker and get a green light for your very own cooking show that same day 😅," she added. "I walked away from the meeting without a show but what I did gain was motivation…. I didn't take no for an answer…. I took it at as 'no…not right now.'"

Brown clearly made a good impression on the network's executives, who would give her her own show just four years later.

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Despite not getting a gig at the initial meeting, Brown had confidence in herself. She said she went back to her job at nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters — but put in her resignation the next day.

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"I was and still am a FIRM believer in divine timing. I just knew in my heart that it was going to happen but when it was SUPPOSED to happen. March 16, 2015 wasn't the day for me," she said. "But God kept his promise and on November 3, 2018 I was back home in Charleston filming a pilot. And on July 28, 2019 Delicious Miss Brown season 1 premiered!"

Brown then shared some inspiring wisdom with her followers.

"This is what never giving up looks like. I could've walked away from that meeting 8 years ago and never looked back. I can't imagine where I would be right now had I given up that day," she wrote. "All it takes is one opportunity to change your life forever ❤️."

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Last year presented another big milestone for Brown — she released her first cookbook. The Way Home is part autobiography and part cookbook, which comes together in a celebration for Brown's family and the Gullah Geechee people.

Packed with over 100 recipes, each dish in the celebrity chef's cookbook combines West African flavors and traditional Southern cooking.

In January, she also made her first appearance at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, where she joined other Food Network stars like Guy Fieri, Alex Guarnaschelli and Antonia Lofaso.

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