The Tamil Creator Podcast (Ep.30): Suresh Doss – Leaving A Successful IT Career To Becoming A Well-Known Food Writer

Podcasts

Sep 27, 2021

Business Owner

Toronto, Canada

Suresh Doss is a household name and an OG in terms of the food scene in Toronto. He's about to launch a food section for a national newspaper, has a segment called “CBC Food Guide” in CBC Radio’s Metro Morning and he has helped pioneer the street food movement in Ontario for close to 20 years. He joins Ara on this week’s episode to discuss why he left the financial security of his IT job to pursue his passion, how the opportunity for the "CBC Food Guide" came about, how you can develop your voice and why picking a niche is underrated, the best food spots in the city, and many other appetizing (pun intended) topics.

"The Tamil Creator" is a podcast started by me (Ara Ehamparam). As someone who is extremely inquisitive by nature, I created the podcast to chat with, spotlight, and learn about brilliance among creators in the Tamil community - and among creators in general from all over the world.

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Timestamps
00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Suresh Doss
03:21 - How Suresh’s upbringing lead to his passion for food; experience in Nigeria and Toronto
06:57 - Suresh’s view on food growing up versus now; not wanting to return to Sri Lanka, entering a cooking competition, the concept of takeout food
14:53 - Suresh’s favourite Tamil spots in the Toronto; Scarborough’s incredible food scene, mutton curry pizza, and more
26:47 - Working in IT before Suresh made the switch to his current career
38:04 - How Suresh’s family and friends reacted to his decision to dive head first into content creation
40:47 - CBC Food Guide, dealing with rejection and struggling to find opportunities, leveraging the power of Twitter
46:03 - How Suresh gets compensated for his work
47:52 - The leverage Suresh holds during his negotiations now versus when he first started
49:13 - The power of the internet for content creators; developing your voice, suresh’s future plans for the stories he wants to tell
54:57 - Suresh is working on his memoir, focusing on the trauma he dealt with growing up and the journey he’s been on since
56:52 - How COVID impacted the industry and what the future holds
1:06:59 - Personal legacy; how Suresh wants to be remembered by his friends / family
1:08:19 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self
1:10:05 - Advice Suresh has for fellow creators
1:11:24 - Creator Confessions
1:26:58 - The Wrap Up