Episode 2391: Ralph Rolle ~ of Chic with Nile Rodgers, Celebrity Percussionist, CEO of Soul Snacks Cookie Co. in Hilton Resorts, Kroger Walmart. Worldwide!!

Chic with Nile Rodgers, People, CNN, ABC, BET, FOX

Music & Munchies is My Show Theme This Week: Soul Snacks Cookie Company!

Music for this Segment: CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers - Let's Dance
(Live At The House Sídney 2013)

Everyone wants to be a leader in a world where people don’t often possess the experience or expertise to be in the lead. That is gained from mastering the skills and learning to follow. Ralph Rolle is a prime example of learning to follow becoming born to lead.

Ralph followed his older brother in learning the drums, but that he led him to becoming a premier musician, who has created music with everyone from super producer Nile Rodgers and his iconic disco/R&B group Chic, pop legends Sting and Bono, the 1st woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Aretha Franklin, hip-hop giants Biggie Smalls and Queen Latifah, jazz superstar Chris Botti, the queen of Neo-Soul Erykah Badu, Vanessa Williams, soul crooner D’Angelo, songstylist India Arie, Lady Gaga, Dolly Pardon, Bono, Roger Daltry, John Legend, Joss Stone, Elvis Costello and playing in the resident band for N.B.C. ‘It’s Showtime at The Apollo’ for over 15 seasons. Ralph has also served as the musical director for syndicated “The Caroline Rhea Show” and he served in the same role for Japanese R&B/soul superstar Toshi Kubota. Ralph stepped out into the world of music because he was following his brother, who was following the lead of his mother, who brought a set of drums into the house to keep her rambunctious sons out of the streets and out of trouble. Ralph’s brother Howard told him that he couldn’t disturb the set-up of the drums, even though Ralph was left-handed and his brother was not. But they both listened to every kind of music, from gospel and jazz, and for Ralph, Motown’s heyday of music, with the Supremes and the Miracles and the brilliance of the Temptations blew his mind and lead him on a path that took him around the world, playing on stages and in clubs that were the site of some of the greatest moments in music history. He followed him passion around the world and then followed his heart when a new dream, a new vision, rose up in him and began to change his course in life.

Ralph took the time, any time he had the time, to stop and cook and enjoy life. It helped him to come down from the tension and time on the road that was always in motion. Cooking, another gift he received from his mother, gave him the peace of mind he needed to slow down and breathe. And in learning his way around the kitchen, he started to bake. He followed his grandmother in and around the kitchen while she cooked but being a smart young boy, Ralph paid attention. He watched the details of making his favorites, including rushing to lick the bowl after she mixed her famous cake and over time, he mastered baking. It soon became his happy place, but also his calling card. If he liked a girl, he didn’t sing her a song or show off his drumming skills. He would bake for her. That stayed with him and when he was hanging out with his musician friends, he would have his signature cookies. At first they laughed, but quickly the request became “please bring those cookies with you!”

Over time, his cookies found their way into the hands of clients such as Westside Market, Franks Market, and many more. Good Morning America host chose Soul Snacks for her holiday gifting in 2011. In 2015, Bette Midler and Ralph met when Nile Rodgers and Chic were the guest artists and Ms. Midler’s annual Hulaween Charity event. Ralph had his “cookie calling card” with him. Ms. Midler loved Soul Snacks so much that she placed orders for her family and friends. Soon, he was selling his cookies at Melba’s, a legendary soul food restaurant in Harlem. That arrangement became a business that quickly took off because one night someone from BET’s YSB Magazine did a story of this musician who worked at the Apollo Theater and was also a baker. The only number he could post was his sister’s pager number. She didn’t think he would get too many calls to handle. They were both wrong. The orders poured in and soon, he was featured in CNN, BET, ABC and FOX networks, in New York Times newspaper and in The Source and Vibe magazines. From there, Ralph gave birth to “SOUL SNACKS.”

SOUL SNACKS offers a variety of delicious cookies such as Georgia Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Peanut Butter, Down Home Double Chocolate Chip, Ebony and Ivory Almond Cookie, Grampy’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie, French Cocoa Chocolate Chip, Miami Raisin Walnut, Chunked Up Chocolate Walnut, Cranberry Oatmeal Raisin, Joyful Gingerbread and the most recently added, but now #1 seller, Sweet Potato Cookies. “Inside of every cookie is years of heart, soul and lots of pride that has been the main ingredient of SOUL SNACKS Cookies for over a decade.” The company has recently upgraded into a new and larger facility and is now being sold in nearly 800 Walmart stores. Soul Snacks have also satisfied customers in Japan, Europe, Africa, The West Indies, Canada, and throughout The United States.

“There is no expiration date on passion and there is no Plan B!” Ralph offers, with a smile on his face, realizing that it takes a lot to maintain the business while still loving music and working on new and innovative ideas, like a history project that is becoming his newest passion. “Passion is not predicated on how much money you make. Passion is about whether you finish the thought. The completion of the task and making it happen is the truth of passion. Making it happen. You’ve got to learn from where you failed and get up and keep going from here.”

Now, he speaks to entrepreneurs and creatives in his Master Class series and empowers them to dream and keep dreaming, even when they are already working on their gifts. “When people get in their own way, when they build their own wall, I am trying to get people to see the value in (YOU). I am always talking to people about getting out of the way. That is when they start to see the world and the possibilities of everything. I’ve got 24 hours in a day and this is all Plan A!” The music journey is Ralph Rolle’s peace place, a creative thing that he gets to do from the seat of the drummer, on his own. As the CEO of SOUL SNACKS, Ralph gets to bring others forward, including his wife Hiromi and his community. “SOUL SNACKS is about my wife and my manager and my P.A. who believe in the work and we work collectively on the dream! SOUL SNACKS was never done alone and cannot be.”

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