There’s this playful trend on TikTok that started with wives and girlfriends looking into the camera, aggressively demanding the viewer listen to their shy significant other talk about their nerdy interests. Known as the “better be nice” trend, people have since expanded the videos to include other relationship dynamics, such as friends, siblings, to kids hyping up their parents.
Chicago entrepreneur Allysohn Beasley and her daughter, Makyah, got in on the trend.
“My momma wanna show you her salt-free, Chicago-based seasonings, and you better listen. OK?! Go ahead, momma,” the daughter says in the video. Beasley shyly walks up to the camera with her box of Taste of Chi seasoning blends and explains each one while Makyah stands behind her, alternating between angrily looking into the camera and affirmative nods.
Each blend pays homage to Chicago with names such as “Let Me Get Extra Lemon Pepper,” “Summer Time Chi,” “Stony Island Seafood,” “Jeffrey Jerk” and more.
“My sales increased by, like, 300% for sure,” Beasley told The TRiiBE. They posted the video on June 30 and it went viral. Today, it has nearly 27,000 likes on TikTok. On Instagram, where they shared the same video a day later, it has 22,200 likes.
She didn’t expect the video would lead to a boost in business for her kitchen lifestyle brand, Ally a’ la Carte Gourmet Kitchen. After the viral moment, Beasley said she had to list the blends as “out of stock” on her website so that she could keep up with the growing demand for them; it gave her a grace period to restock.
@allyalacarte y’all gon buy some… RIGHT?!? #foodtok #chicago #momanddaughter #foryou ♬ original sound - Allyalacarte
“To be honest, I was kind of ill-prepared, because I’m not used to getting a lot of sales at once,” Beasley said, referring to her business as a “one-man show.”
“You know, there’s some sales here and there. A lot of it is [from] friends, family, just out networking. Sometimes I do pop-ups, but in terms of online sales, I’m not getting a lot of those,” she continued.
Beasley, a lifelong Woodlawn resident, officially launched Ally a’ la Carte Gourmet Kitchen in 2020. Through the brand, Beasley also provides recipes, in-home chef services and meal prep, which coincide with her mission statement of embracing a “flavorful, balanced lifestyle. One meal, one story, and one shake of seasoning at a time.”
Beasley said her love for cooking started in her childhood. She described her father’s side of the family as a bloodline where everyone knows how to cook. Her paternal grandmother, Louvenia Beasley, was inspirational; she never looked at a recipe and “cooked straight from her soul.”
“I just wanted to honor her, and honor my family, Beasley said. “ I know that I wouldn’t even be able to cook if it wasn’t for her.”
The idea behind Beasley’s salt-free seasoning blends began as a healthy alternative for her mother to remedy her high blood pressure.
“We had a conversation about her diagnosis and how she needed to cut back on her salt intake, but she felt like her local grocery stores didn’t have seasonings that were flavorful,” Beasley said. “I was like, OK, well, let me see. Let me try my hand at this.”
Beasley, who works in the healthcare field, understood the seriousness of her mom’s situation and said her love for cooking was a way she could help. She began creating seasoning blends that she would give to her mom; in turn, her mom would ask for different flavors.
“This is how it really kind of grew into a business,” Beasley said. “It was never my intent. It was just to do something for my mom. And then, of course, she was telling people about it. So now people are like,’ Oh, can I buy some?'”
Since going viral on social media, Beasley has appeared on the WGN morning talk show, “Daytime Chicago,” where she did a cooking demonstration with a couple of her seasonings from her Taste of Chi line.
The most popular seasoning from her line is an everything seasoning called “G. Herb. Oh. Everything.” The blend is named after Chicago-born rapper G Herbo and his 2017 hit song “Everything.” Beasley and Makyah’s video led to a small cosign from the rap superstar, who commented on the Instagram video with flame emojis.
“I just recently realized that G Herbo himself commented,” Beasley said. “But my phone was just going crazy, so I had my daughter turn my notifications off because it was so many notifications, and so I missed it.”
For now, the Taste of Chi salt-free blends can only be purchased online and shipped. Eventually, though, Beasley wants to have a physical store where visitors can stop by and pick up a bottle.
Beasley sees the brand becoming a Chicago staple or souvenir, much like when tourists come to the city and leave with deep dish pizza and Garrett’s Popcorn.
“My goal is to be a part of that mix of things that you feel like you want to do, or make sure that you purchase when you come to Chicago,” Beasely said.
Beasley remains humble but said she is grateful for the recent success. Her daughter describes the Taste of Chi blends as “Blessed and highly flavored.”
