738. Katie Stilo, Today Show Food Stylist & Culinary Producer

"The energy is just so palpable. Even though it's the crack of dawn, we are all abuzz and going. You have to be able to get it going."

The next time you're watching the Today Show and you see the anchors eating or drinking something delicious, that's the work of Katie Stilo. As Today's food stylist and culinary producer, it's Katie's job to prepare segments, write scripts based on guest-submitted recipes, cook those recipes (often from world-renowned chefs), and artfully arrange all the food and tablescapes on screen. Plus, she's often on camera, whipping up masterpieces for Savannah, Hoda, Al, Craig, Carson, and the crew. In this conversation, Katie talks about her Emmy Award-winning career, and about the road to landing her dream job. She also talks about becoming a runner two years ago. Katie's goal to see if she could finish a 10K turned into seeing if she could finish a half marathon, which turned into seeing if she could go sub-2:00 in the half marathon. (Spoiler: She did, running a 39-minute half-marathon personal best at this year's Brooklyn Half.) Katie is currently training for this year's TCS New York City Marathon.

FOLLOW KATIE @katie.stilo

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What you'll get on this episode:

• On *not* being in Paris for the Olympics with the Today team (2:30)
• What, exactly, Katie's job entails (8:00)
• On cooking for the Today anchors and feeding their preferences (15:45)
• Katie's most memorable live television bloopers and mishaps (17:50)
• How Katie got her dream job (27:00)
• How Katie became on-air talent for Today (43:45)
• Katie's favorite Today guests (49:00)
• What it was like being a food stylist for M&Ms (51:45)
• How, when, and why Katie became a runner (53:25)
• How Katie is feeling at the start of New York City Marathon training (1:01:10)

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