Behind The Work by Jessica Santana

Derrell Smith is a former NFL player and advertising executive turned food entrepreneur and food personality. As the CEO of 99Eats, he has built a meatball brand called Amaze Balls and is currently the Host & EP at Reach TV Network and Taste Made. After leaving his corporate job, he founded and grew a successful catering business serving 20,000+customers globally to date. Catch him at your local food festival, cooking for his family and friends or just chilling at home with his lady Shey and his new born baby Deli. 🎧 Tune in to learn:✨ Derrell's journey from pivoting from the NFL into the advertising field ✨ How the women in his family shaped his love for cooking and food ✨ How his company has created a portfolio of creative services through food ✨ His career as a food personality on TV networks across the country ✨ General thoughts on food, entrepreneurship and the creative industries … and a whole lot more!✨ Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more episodes._____Follow us:⭐ Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5KU29jHzfDHpIOmKnLhZQ8⁠⭐ Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-work-by-jessica-santana/id1801349168⁠⭐ Instagram: ⁠http://instagram.com/jessworldwide⁠⭐ YouTube: ⁠http://youtube.com/behindtheworkshow⁠⭐ Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/behindtheworkshow

Show Notes

Derrell Smith is a former NFL player and advertising executive turned food entrepreneur and food personality. As the CEO of 99Eats, he has built a meatball brand called Amaze Balls and is currently the Host & EP at Reach TV Network and Taste Made. After leaving his corporate job, he founded and grew a successful catering business serving 20,000+customers globally to date. Catch him at your local food festival, cooking for his family and friends or just chilling at home with his lady Shey and his new born baby Deli. 

🎧 Tune in to learn:
✨ Derrell's journey from pivoting from the NFL into the advertising field 
✨ How the women in his family shaped his love for cooking and food 
✨ How his company has created a portfolio of creative services through food 
✨ His career as a food personality on TV networks across the country 
✨ General thoughts on food, entrepreneurship and the creative industries 

Connect with our host, Jessica Santana:
  • Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter: https://jessworldwide.substack.com/
  • Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessworldwide
  • Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow
  • Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide
  • Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindthework
About Behind The Work: Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career, and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.

What is Behind The Work by Jessica Santana?

Jessica Santana is a business and leadership coach for entrepreneurs and executives. She specializes in teaching founders, entrepreneurs and executives how to build strong businesses, careers and lives they love.

Behind The Work is the podcast show for ambitious executives and entrepreneurs looking to build businesses that scale and careers that leave an impact. Hosted by Jessica Santana, each episode features in-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and executives who are building companies from the ground up and are succeeding in their career fields. Discover the real successes, honest failures, pivots, and the vision behind the most successful people reshaping industries.

Some episodes, we’ll sit down with some dope guests and hear about their journeys. Other times, it’ll just be us—breaking down the lessons, strategies, and real talk that I have learned as an entrepreneur and executive – It will be everything you need to keep pushing forward and you’ll always walk away with something tangible and practical.

This show will provide answers to questions like:
- What does the real journey from zero to success actually look like—beyond the highlight reel?
- How do I turn my business idea into a profitable, scalable company?
- How do successful founders navigate failure, pivots, and setbacks without giving up?
- What's the difference between entrepreneurs who scale to millions and those who stall?
- How do you secure funding, and what should you know before approaching investors?
- What does it actually take to build product-market fit?
- How do you build a high-performing team and company culture from the ground up?
- What blind spots do first-time entrepreneurs have, and how do you avoid them?
- How do you balance growth with profitability and sustainability?
- What's the real behind-the-scenes strategy that successful founders use?
- How do you stay motivated and resilient through the tough seasons of building?
- What's the path to building a company that can scale beyond you?
- How do you know when to double down on your vision versus pivot?
- What does leadership actually look like when you're building something from scratch?
- How do the most successful entrepreneurs think differently about risk, money, and opportunity?