Guy Fieri is exactly, and in some ways, nothing like what you’d expect. He’s absolutely the guy you see on Diners, Drive-Ins, And Dives and Guy’s Grocery Games — a bold jokester who’s food-obsessed and always down to have a good time. But what I didn’t expect the first time I spoke to him was how observant he is, and how attuned he is to the world around him. Charity work — be it through Make-A-Wish, Best Buddies, or cooking meals for people recovering from disasters — is a huge part of who he is and what he does. He’s not the type to broadcast it, though.

When his team set up a cooking trailer in a parking lot in Santa Rosa, CA, cooking for wildfire evacuees last summer, he asked his team not to tell the press. (Indeed, when the news did leak that he was there, I reached out to his publicist for an interview, and she declined at the time.) It’s something Fieri was honest about when we spoke during the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, as part of a feature story for Delish. “It’s not about me,” he said. He told interviewers who approached him to talk to the evacuees, people who lost everything and approached his trailer, not for food but to see if they could help cook for others.

“Oh my god, are you kidding me? You want to help, in the middle of all that you’re going through?” he said.

Fieri’s quietly known for inviting Make-A-Wish families to tapings of his shows, where his team hangs a “welcome” banner, lets kids operate the cameras, cook their favorite meal with Fieri, and everyone has lunch together, talking. It’s something close to his heart, since his family was once helped by Make-A-Wish. At age 4, his little sister was diagnosed with cancer. She overcame it, only to battle cancer again in her late 30s and early 40s. Her death forever shaped his life, teaching him to adopt a “namaste” mentality toward everyone he meets.

“Namaste means ‘the god in me sees the god in you.’ There’s different ways people say it, but the way I recognize it is acknowledging the power in somebody,” Fieri explained. Later, he elaborated further: “If people would just let each other be instead of trying to control them, just imagine.”

When two boys, 10 and 11 years old, crashed our shoot to ask for a photo, he paused for a selfie break. That’s part of honoring someone and seeing their power, he said. It’s acknowledging those boys’ bravery in going after what they want, and remembering that just because you’ve been asked for a couple dozen photos that day — or that you’re on a tight schedule — doesn’t discount that it’s their first photo.

You can reinforce them and build them up, or you can choose yourself. Sometimes, it’s okay — and even necessary — to choose yourself so you’re not spread too thin, but often, the best part of your day can be giving a little of yourself away. Not for the accolades, likes on Facebook, or recognition. But for how it transforms the people around you, and in turn, transforms you. That’s what I took away from the interview, at least, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

 

Top Photo: Chelsea Lupkin/Delish.com