Quick-Fire Quips is a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the State of Alabama!
Today, Alabama Public Radio host Baillee Majors talks with digital content creator and food reviewer Jasmyne Baylor a.k.a. Yo Baylahhh.
She also runs Get to the Yard (GTTY). The platform is putting on several events for Stillman College's Alumni weekend and 150th celebration, set for November 12-15th. Get your ticket's here and check out the full list of events!
Baillee: Hi! How are you? How's it going?
Jasmyne: I'm well. How are you doing?
Baillee: I'm doing great. Very excited to chat with you today! For people who haven't come across you on social media, just tell me about your content.
Jasmyne: First, thank you so much for having me. As a local creator, my goal is to kind of shine light on those local mom-and-pop shops and those little secret places and things to do in the city that people may not be familiar with or know about. That is my primary focus with my content. That's my scope: to find those little gems and to share.
Baillee: What made you want to start doing food reviews?
Jasmyne: Oh my goodness. So, who doesn't love food? I'm a foodie! What I would call a foodie means I am someone who just feels like food can be almost like an art. I enjoy shows like The Bear and everything on Food Network. I've always called myself like a fake chef, I was the home cook.
I'm from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and when I came to Tuscaloosa through college—I'm a graduate of Stillman College—I did all the things. I started working in my big-girl job, I got married, I had my wonderful son, and I found myself just needing a little bit more me time, figuring things out.
So, I would take myself on my little self-dates, and I would start talking to myself and recording myself, and I would always put it on my stories. People were like, "I didn't know where that was at," and they would start asking and engaging more with just my stories.
So, I was like, I should probably start posting it on my regular feed and timeline. As soon as I did, it went way further than I had expectations. I think the very first food review or food content video I did was Catfish Heaven. It's a Tuscaloosa staple. I'm thinking everyone knows Catfish Heaven and loves it. I started getting a lot of people that are from surrounding areas, or were coming to visit in Tuscaloosa, and they were just saying, "Oh, I have to go, I have to go."
So, that was kind of my start-up. I saw that people were engaged and were interested, and I just enjoy eating. I don't mind eating on camera and kind of showing people the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, that was my start-up.
Baillee: Not only do you do food reviews, but you also run Get to the Yard [GTTY]. Tell me about that account.
Jasmyne: Get to the Yard—oh my goodness, I just smiled. It's my platform baby!
Get to the Yard is an alumni, HBCU-led platform that engages and hosts experiences as well as events. As a Stillman College grad, I found myself always being the planner of the group.
As we graduated, getting the alum back to the yard, just emphasizing what our goals are as alum, many were like, "Well, look, if I'm taking off work and I'm doing all this, we're going to work, but I want to have fun." And Get to the Yard was kind of born from that.
It launched this year in February at our spring homecoming. Since Stillman doesn't have a football team, we need a little bit more of a push to kind of get our alums to come and community to support.
GTTY allows events to kind of be that breeding ground for connection, networking, fellowshipping, and all the fun that comes with just getting back with those familiar faces that you probably haven't seen in a while... If you ever see #GTTY, that is reminding you to get to the yard.
Baillee: Stillman College has a big alumni weekend coming up. Tell me about some of the events that you're putting on.
Jasmyne: GTTY is kind of spearheading a lot because we have never had an alumni weekend. We normally would only come back for homecoming.
So, in an effort to touch the grass a little bit more, reconnect a little bit more in between 365 days a year, alumni weekend will be held our Founder's Week. Stillman College will be turning 150 years old the week of November 14th.
And on that specific day, we will be having an alumni flag football game, which is a fundraiser because Stillman has two football programs that they are currently bringing to light. They have a new flag football team, and they are bringing the traditional football program, which has been gone since 2015.
So, Founder's Week is going to be full of celebration, full of life. We do have events stemming from karaoke night on Thursday. On Friday, we're going to have a bit of a day party, just kind of get everybody who's touching down on Friday to come together. And that will be held at Twelve:25, right on University.
Then on Saturday, that's the big game. That's the community event; that's family-friendly. We're going to have a kiddie corner with some awesome, fun activities. We have alumni football players coming back. They'll be competing against actual students, so that's always fun to watch!
We're going to have a lot of vendors, community partners that will be set up. It's a full day. It will be starting at 12:00 at Stillman Stadium. I'm going to have tailgating vendors—everything that we love about football, it's going to be right there at Stillman Stadium, starting at 12:00 p.m.
And then Sunday, we'll be doing our farewell brunch, saying our goodbyes and see-you-soons. That will be held at Stillman College. They'll be having one on campus, and then we'll do a little after-shindig at Spades on that Sunday afternoon.
Baillee: We'll talk more about that coming up. But now that introductions are done, let's get you warmed up to answer the questionnaire! And to do that, I want you to say "Quick-Fire Quips" three times fast.
Jasmyne: Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips!
Baillee: Awesome! Here's the first question.
Jasmyne: Ready!
Baillee: What comes to mind when you hear Alabama?
715 23rd Ave in downtown Tuscaloosa.
Jasmyne: Roll Tide!
Baillee: What is your favorite local spot?
Jasmyne: I don't want to make any enemies, but I have to say it. My favorite local spot a lot of people do not know is Hatcher's Pool & Games.
It is an arcade downtown, close to the parking deck downtown. It's an arcade with all of the classics like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Pac-Man, and it's only $5 an hour, and you can play as many games as you want to play.
Baillee: Oh wow, that's so cool!
Jasmyne: It's a gem. I love it. Favorite hangout.
Baillee: What is your favorite thing about living in Alabama?
Jasmyne: The southern hospitality. There's nothing that equates to it. You will always have someone as soon as you walk past a stranger, "Hey, how you doing?" And they genuinely seem like they care.
You could be in Publix, and you could ask someone who's looking at the same item you're looking at, and next thing you know, you'll leave with a new recipe. I just love that about Alabama. I feel like I never meet a stranger. I'm a social butterfly, and I always land in good places. So that's one thing I just love about living in Alabama.
Baillee: What's a bad stereotype or something that people get wrong about Alabama?
Jasmyne: That the state is slow in things of development. I really feel like there's an expectation that I think Alabama has on other Alabamians where they meet that expectation. I feel like when people look into it, they kind of may think that, "Oh, that state is slow," but I do feel like they have different what they prioritize.
I feel like that kind of plays into the hospitality of we prioritize our connection, our relationships, making sure our families are taken care of, our friends and those close groups, those close communities. I feel like that is more of the focus, and I think that sometimes that may get misconstrued to others that don't understand Alabama.
Baillee: Yeah, I would agree with that. What is one thing that Alabama is missing that you wish we had here?
Jasmyne: Maybe more accessible things to do. There are smaller cities, and they do want to stay quaint in that way. But I do think more metro cities are growing, like Tuscaloosa is growing, so I don't have to visit Birmingham as often to do so many things.
But more family-focused specifically in Tuscaloosa. I know we have a lot of young adults, but the goal is for these young adults to stay and flourish and have fruitful families. So I think having just more things for children to do, children-friendly activities, like indoor parks, more trampoline parks, just things like that that you can take the little ones to.
Baillee: Yeah. I think that's a good answer. Okay, let's talk more about your food content! Why do you focus on mom-and-pop restaurants over the big chains?
Jasmyne: There's a lot of mom-and-pop restaurants, honestly. I personally like going into a restaurant, and I can see the owner, I can see the connection of the people who are working there. Majority of the time when I'm walking into that mom-and-pop shop, they're literally asking me my name. It's a feeling that you really can't compare.
I also feel like they get a harder part of the deal because they have to compete against franchises and these huge corporations, and they just don't have that manpower to get everything right 90% of the time. So mom-and-pop shops, I give them a lot more grace because they have to fight more to sustain their success.
So that is what gives me more to supporting local, which I feel like you support local so local can grow. You'll see it quicker than supporting bigger corporations that are not head here in Alabama. I feel like my supporting money and resources actually circle back to my community and to our betterment, supporting local.
Baillee: What would you say is the most rewarding part about knowing that you brought a new customer into a family-owned business?
Jasmyne: That I made them aware, because sometimes we simply don't know. I don't take the credit from the restaurants because they really are doing the hard work. If I can go in there and I can point my camera and yap and say, "Just go give it a try," I get so excited from that because I always run into people and they're like, "You told me to go, and now I go all the time."
It's simply because a lot of people don't know, or people get used to what they do know. You kind of get stuck in a routine and familiarity. If I can invoke you to just try something new, then I feel like I've done way more than what I was even expected to do. And especially if you return and return, then that exceeds the goal.
Baillee: How do you usually decide where to go or how do you find these local spots?
Jasmyne: I now have a little scheduler that I do. Finding local spots, I take suggestions, I drive past places that I just see a sign and maybe not a lot of cars, I go to popular places that kind of have a little buzz around them so people can see my point of view from them.
Baillee: What are a couple of mom-and-pop restaurants or local businesses in Alabama that you think people need to support right now that they may not know about?
Jasmyne: The Brown Bag in Northport. I recently visited there. First of all, they have a love story on the menu, super beautiful. It's Brown Bag because the owner, him and his wife, would make him brown bag lunches. I think they would be so good that he would share.
20/59 Restaurant & Bar is a restaurant that I feel like does not get its just due.
Baillee: Yes! 100%!
Jasmyne: It is high-quality food. It is a really nice restaurant. They have awesome drinks, the ambiance. I don't think people talk about 20/59 enough for me. If I get a chance to be loud about them, I'm going to be loud about them.
Then one more, one more, one more. My favorite taco place in the city. I get sad when people talk about them because I don't like to wait on my tacos, but I don't mind. It's Antojitos off Hargrove. Have you had them before?
Baillee: So, so good! I love their chorizo tacos, and I love the different salsas. Every time I go in there, the people are so nice. You can tell that there's a lot of love in that food.
Jasmyne: I just go in and I immediately... just like I'm in heaven. The smells, the aromas—they're cooking from scratch every day, all day.
Those would be my three: The Brown Bag, Antojitos, and 2059.
Baillee: What is one food that you could eat every single day for the rest of your life?
Jasmyne: Oh, tacos. Easy. That's easy! I like street tacos—carne asada or al pastor, extra onion, extra cilantro, lime it up, green verde salsa. Happy girl.
Baillee: I love it. What is the biggest food red flag in your opinion when eating out?
Jasmyne: Oh my goodness. Red flag when eating out... the cleanliness of the restaurant, that can be a red flag.
If the customer service isn't warm... I understand people have ups and down days, so I don't take everything personally, but if it just doesn't have that warm feeling from anyone, that's normally a red flag because a fish normally rots from the head. That lets me know maybe something's going on a little higher up in the chain. So that's a red flag.
Then once I get my plates, maybe it doesn't look like I expected it to look or smell. That may be a red flag. Like, "Can I see the menu again?" Maybe something's not quite right. So those would be my red flags.
Baillee: Gotcha. I know being on social media, I'm sure you've seen so many different food trends or viral videos of stuff... What is a food trend that you can get behind?
I saw you reviewing some of the viral fruit ice creams. I've gotten some from Mr. Chen's, and I thought they were pretty good. But is there another one or even that one that you can get behind?
Jasmyne: Ooh. So, yeah, they're actually called beautiful desserts, where they have different custards or cakes or different fillings, so not even just the ice cream.
There's Mi Casita... They have some beautiful desserts where they have it filled with different things, and they call it beautiful desserts because they're normally created in a replica of a fruit. I know they have the mango there, I think they have banana there... and they were adding more.
I really do like that trend. I think that it shows a different side for the creator as far as the restaurants, and I think that's just so cool because restaurants and chefs put a lot of effort in what they're creating for you to buy. Of course they want you to enjoy it, but sometimes it's so beautiful to look at that you don't even want to eat it. It's so pretty.
So, I've been enjoying that trend of beautiful plates.
Baillee: What is something that you wish more people knew about when it comes to content creation?
Jasmyne: The time that it takes to make a video. Oh my goodness, I wish I knew that before I committed to it.
A 90-second reel could take a solid hour or two hours depending if you're doing voiceovers, if you're doing quality control on the editing, if you've added in, maybe you got to speak with the owner or the chef, so you want to make sure that they look good and sound clear.
You're checking a lot when you're actually filming—you're checking the quality, the lighting. So it takes a lot of time to create what you kind of just scroll to and scroll from very quickly.
Baillee: Are you the kind of person who likes a sweet or a savory late-night craving?
Jasmyne: Savory.
Baillee: Do you have a go-to?
Jasmyne: Oh my goodness, a chip. I love a crunchy, salty chip at night; it's my downfall. My go-to chip is Baked Barbecue Lay's. It finds me every night, and I hate it. I'm like, "No, don't call me tonight."
Baillee: That's so funny. I love a salt and vinegar chip, even when they make my mouth hurt, you know? There's a limit to that, but that's probably a good thing.
Jasmyne: Yeah. I'm like, I could finish the bag of my barbecue.
Baillee: Same. What was your ultimate comfort meal growing up?
Jasmyne: Salmon patties and rice.
Baillee: Yes! My grandmother would make salmon probably once a week when I was growing up. We had those a lot, and they were really good. A lot of people, I don't feel like they know about them.
Jasmyne: No, they don't, and it makes me upset because that was my comfort meal. I enjoyed it so much. My godmother would make it for me, and I would ask for it so much. She said, "You're going to learn how to cook it," and she made me learn how to make it because she's like, "That's your favorite meal, you need to know."
I'm so happy she did because now I feel like I make the best salmon patties, and they're just so good. Anytime I feel like I need that reminder of Chattanooga, Tennessee, I'm making some salmon patties and rice.
Baillee: If you had to pick your last meal ever, what would it be?
Jasmyne: Oh. I would say my last meal ever... I could be cliché and say the salmon patties because I would not be mad at that. That would probably be my first answer.
But my second answer, this is so mannish of me, but I would love a tomahawk steak smothered in mushrooms and onions, some garlic potatoes, and a Caesar salad.
Baillee: Let's talk about Stillman Alumni Weekend. Stillman College is celebrating 150 years. What are you most excited about?
Jasmyne: I am most excited about the football game. There's just a lot of energy and excitement around it because football is coming back to Stillman. Like I said, it's been gone since 2015, and people are just missing it.
It took a lot of the morale with it when it left. A lot of people felt like, "What are we rallying around?" So I believe that this game, November 14th, is going to bring that spirit back, that nostalgia, that community.
Because in West Alabama, Stillman homecoming was like the place to be. We call it a classic game, the Westside Classic, because it will bring the entire city out and it will be a focal point where we could come enjoy, have fun, be safe. And I believe November 14th is going to bring that back.
So we're going to have tailgating. We're going to have the tiger come out. We're going to have bands. Again, we got actual teams of alumni that used to play football, so it's going to be fun to see them thinking they are still in their heyday. Hopefully no one has any serious injuries. But yes, that's what I'm most looking forward to: November 14th.
Baillee: What makes Stillman's alumni culture unique compared to other colleges?
Jasmyne: Oh, Stillman is so unique because of how small we are. To others that may be to our demise, but that's actually to our benefit. We're able to connect in ways that others can't.
So we know many people have sororities and fraternities, and sometimes sororities and fraternities don't get along. But at Stillman, you have to, because that person who's in another sorority, well, you're in chair with them, or you may be in the choir with them, or at some point you're meeting and mixing in a way more connected way versus just passing by at other schools. You may just see each other on the calf, but at Stillman, you're going to run into the same people over and over and over again.
And that has bred an alumni connection almost like a Rolodex. You need anything specific, you know who to call because that was that person in college, or you know they have that degree, and you can lean on them no matter if they're in California, New York, Georgia—they're a call away.
And our alumni, we talk so much. My closest friend group are who I went to college with, and it's crazy to see that we now have children and our children know each other. So I just think that small way of connection to tradition breeds our culture. So we lean into that a lot with our alumni group.
Baillee: What does it mean to you to be able to put on these events for alumni weekend?
Jasmyne: Well, hosting events is fairly new for me. Like I said, GTTY, Get to the Yard, launched in February after me just feeling like we had a need for a specific demographic—for a younger alumni group.
So being able to host these events and see them come to life, and being at the event and seeing all the connections and the people just having a really good time, it's the best feeling ever. You feel like you won the Super Bowl. All the stress, all the practices and everything was worthwhile.
So just seeing how everyone else is enjoying that moment and that experience that they're going to have memories from, it's the best, most fulfilling feeling.
Baillee: For the alumni coming back after years away or even just one year away, what do you hope they take away from that weekend?
Jasmyne: Oh, that they're needed—that they're needed at Stillman. We are a really close school in the means of personal relationships, but I really do hope that we just soak our feet in the soil when we get to the yard and understand that our imprint on that yard is needed more than ever.
Our alumni have to support in ways of in-kind donations, support monetarily, just coming back to donate their time, linking with the students that are on campus. So we do have a big ask of our alumni who haven't been back, and understanding that you're needed.
Baillee: Do people need to buy tickets?
Jasmyne: Yeah. So tickets are available for presale. You can go to Eventbrite and just simply put in the search "SC150" or "SC 150." All of our events will pop up.... And we'll be selling tickets at the gate and at the front door.
Baillee: Okay, here's some miscellaneous questions and the last part of our questionnaire. If there were an alien invasion, what would you feed the aliens?
Jasmyne: Do I want them to stay or do I want them to go? Ooh, that's a good question. Because I'm not afraid of aliens; I think they're out there. I may already have a few as friends.
I would probably treat them to some good soul food, you know, put a little weight on their belly, make them fall asleep or something. So, I'm going to go with a good catfish plate, probably from Catfish Heaven. Let them get some of that good food in them.
Baillee: Speaking of food, is there a place for a vinegar-based Carolina sauce in the South? Or is that kind of where you draw the line?
Jasmyne: I like a vinegar base.
Baillee: Me too. I lived in Charlotte for two years, and I really like the vinegar base.
Jasmyne: I actually think I lean more to the North Carolina twang, and I'm from Tennessee. But a dry rub. I need a little bit of sauce. I need just a little bit.
Baillee: What do you think about people who put sugar in their grits?
Jasmyne: I don't think about them; I worry about them. What is wrong with them? Why would you do that? We need to seek care.
Baillee: I'm someone who likes a savory grit. But growing up, my grandmother would make like strawberry and fig preserves from her garden. Sometimes she would put a little sugar, a little butter, a little bit of the preserves on top.
Jasmyne: Growing up as children, my brothers would do it, and I would be like, "Who taught you that? Where did that come from?" I would be the cook in the house, and I would almost hide the sugar, because don't you do that to the grits that I made! So I understand there's a place for a sweet sugar bowl; it's just not near me.
Baillee: What is your go-to dish if you're making a potluck or something like that?
Jasmyne: Oh, I got a few of them. Especially in the office, they love when I make my barbecue meatballs. My secret to those is the Chick-fil-A Polynesian sauce.
I make a really good spicy Rotel dip. Very spicy. I'm really good with the party foods.
And then a pasta salad with angel hair. It was a recipe given to me. It's the simplest recipe ever, but it's so, so good.
Baillee: What is a dish that you can't get behind?
Jasmyne: This is maybe controversial. I'm very particular when it comes to buffalo chicken dip. I don't know why. I've only had probably one that I really was like, "Yes, I would." I don't see the hype. I don't like it.
Baillee: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Jasmyne: love binging shows. Like right now, I'm watching Scandal again. I don't know why. I just woke up and said, "I want to watch Scandal." But I have it bad.
I think that's a guilty pleasure because I will cut off all the lights if I get a weekend to just binge
That's my favorite—bed rotting, is that what it's called? My pleasure is being buried with a good show.
Baillee: What is something on your bucket list?
Jasmyne: I want to jump out of an airplane. I want to skydive or bungee jump. It has taken over my timeline. It's somewhere in the mountains, and I'm almost certain I'm probably going to do it for my birthday in March.
Baillee: Well, that couldn't be me! I get nervous in the Galleria in Birmingham. I can't really be in the glass elevator; it just freaks me out.
Jasmyne: I'm definitely afraid of heights! But I don't know, it's just been knocking on my door.
Baillee: That's so funny. Okay, what is a goal for your platform that you want to achieve in 2027?
Jasmyne: I would love for my Instagram to hit a follower amount of 10k. But to be honest, in the sense of goals, I really want to see it grow to a platform that I'm able to use to get more information out in the sense of resources.
I also assist with workforce development, community resources. So people trust me with food; I would love for my content to grow where they can trust me with other parts of their life—listening in that regard, which I want to share more.
So I hope that my platform grows just to be a bit more well-rounded outside of just the food scope.
Baillee: What is a piece of advice that someone gave you that you still think about?
Jasmyne: This is going to be a controversial one, but my grandmother always told me I should care what people think about me.
Growing up, I did not understand it because people use that as a way to hold you hostage, caring about what people think. We say it all the time, like "You shouldn't care what people think."
She gave me that advice in the realm of how to carry myself, because your name will be in rooms that you're not in.
With that, it was more so to be a genuine person, to have character, to be able to have people say, "Well, I don't know her to be like that," if anyone were to ever say something that wasn't true.
So you should carry your name in a way that you do care. That's advice that has followed me in the best of ways because it gives me a marker for how I treat anybody. When I walk into a room, I don't care if you're helping set up or if you own the building, you're going to get that same genuine interaction from me.
I'm teaching my son the same thing. You should care what people say about you, because you shouldn't give them a lot to work with that's not in your favor.
Baillee: Yeah, I agree with that one. What do you want to be remembered for?
Jasmyne: Ah, I want to be remembered... Oh, that's a good one. Oh my goodness, we're getting deep; it's a journal question!
I do feel like I have a purpose in life. It's funny, I say my purpose is to be loud, but I do feel like I share in ways that can impact people. I show the good, the bad, and the ugly in between. I was married, I went through a crazy divorce, I'm a single mom now.
I want to be remembered for always allowing people to be safe around me. Even if they're not in my vicinity, you don't ever have to feel judged. When Jasmyne is around, you're in a safe place. You can be comfortable, you can be yourself, you can be loved.
I hope that is the energy that I breed off to people. So I hope that's what I'm remembered for: being a safe, loving space.
Baillee: Okay, here's our last question. What does Alabama need?
Jasmyne: I think Alabama needs to be more open and accepting in the sense of growth. Sometimes I feel like things that we are not familiar with, an unknown in the sense of community—those that don't look like us, though they may not think like us or even have the same beliefs as us—doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong or we're wrong.
Sometimes being open to a new perspective doesn't mean you have to accept it or change your way of living. I think Alabama could use a little bit more openness with grace, because I think that would create a lot more connection versus division sometimes within the state of Alabama.
Sometimes people are just closed-minded: this is what we were raised to think and raised to feel and raised to do. It's okay for us to learn, and it's okay to just be open to conversations in the way of growth, because you want the state to continue to grow. You want your children to have better than what you had; you want them to experience new experiences. So I think just openness could do great things in the state of Alabama.
Baillee: That's it for today's Quick-Fire Quips, a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the state of Alabama. That was digital content creator and food reviewer Jasmyne Baylor a.k.a. Yo Baylahhh. Find us at APR.org for more Quick-Fire Quips!
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