We’re used to seeing celebrity cooks like Martha Stewart, Ree Drummond and Emeril Lagasse on television, but there’s a down-to-earth home cook who’s taking YouTube by storm. Mama J Rae — whose real name is Jesi Rae Aviles — is a mother of five who prides herself on making “down home” meals for her family. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Jesi and her family moved to North Carolina, where she began videotaping herself making lunches for her husband. She then expanded into cooking videos and videos of her grocery shopping trips. Jesi says she schedules her filming around her busy schedule, propping up her phone while she cooks. The short videos of the various dishes she makes have been very lucrative for the stay-at-home mom. She currently has 723,000 subscribers, which translates to around $40,000 a month in income. That’s not bad for a home cook! Now the 32-year-old can add television to her resume, after being invited to appear on The Tamron Hall Show last year. Who knows what the future holds for Jesi Rae Aviles, but one thing’s for sure……..the people who watch her videos love hearing the words, “Y’all come eat!”
