WOMAN OF THE WEEK, January 3, 2011: Nadia Giosia (aka. Nadia G)

By Anastasia Tubanos

Often hailed as the Julia Child of the Net Generation, when you first chat with Nadia Giosia – better known as Nadia G to her viewers – you quickly realize she’s more than a leopard-print wearing, wise-cracking food vixen. She’s an A-type, hustling perfectionist who is a digital and new media expert in her own right.

Giosia is often recognized for her successful show on Food Network Canada, Bitchin’ Kitchen, which has exploded in popularity over the last year, and just launched in the US in October on Cooking Channel.

But Giosia - who seems to be finding her successes based on her fearlessness to think out-of-the-box in the kitchen and within media – has not only racked up accolades like the 2007 Wave Award for favourite mobile comedy series (beating out Conan O’Brien), or winning nextMedia’s Interactive award for the ‘Hottest Emerging Digital Brand in Canada,’ and most recently ‘Digital Media Woman of the Year,’ but was one of the first web producers to successfully turn her online property into an award-winning prime time television program.

“We hope it’s inspiring for digital producers everywhere” says Giosia. “Don’t get me wrong, you need to hustle and more and more people are consuming content online. But it’s a new age of getting to hustle yourself and grow your business. Whether its Web imitating TV or TV imitating the Web, there’s a certain aesthetic online that is appealing to people that television should be looking for.”

Giosia began in 2001 doing skit comedy and supporting herself by running her own boutique 2.0 design and branding studio. By 2007, she decided something was missing in the comedy scene: Food. So she combined her two passions – food and comedy – to create Bitchin’ Kitchen as a three-minute mobile show.

The show launched on mobile networks like Telus and Verizon and after the first season, Giosia and her Bitchin’ team were contacted by an American publisher who wanted to do a cookbook with her. Thus came her bestselling book in 2009, The Bitchin’ Kitchen Cookbook: Rock Your Kitchen and Let the Boys Clean Up the Mess.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Giosia is she’s completely self-taught. Giosia did everything around the brand of Bitchin’ Kitchen, down to the nitty gritties like the layout of her cookbook.

“Not unlike Martha Stewart wanting all her napkins to be perfectly folded into swan shapes, I’m like that with Photoshop,” says Giosia. She downloaded Photoshop and InDesign and taught herself how to use them because she wanted to manage all the fine details behind her cookbook.

After they hit a couple of bestseller lists in Montreal, Giosia pitched the show concept to Food Network Canada, who thought it was a fresh concept. It launched as a TV program in 2010 and has been winning the hearts of the young and old alike since then.

“Originally we were targeting a young generation of foodies, between 25 to 35,” says Giosia. “But when we started getting fan mail, we’d get letters and emails from women saying it’s the only show their kids or husbands would watch with them. It has really become Bitchin’ Kitchen family time, which is meaningful because it reminds me of watching Golden Girls with my family and having a good laugh. I’ve always enjoyed spending time with my family so it’s good to know we’re doing the same for our viewers.”

As for what’s next for this ragtag crew of colourful food personalities?

“We’re very excited about taking a vacation,” jokes Giosia. “We think 2011 is going to be a fantastic year for us. We’re working on new comedy songs, which I’ve always loved doing, new merch and cool stuff for Valentine’s Day.”

For more information on Nadia and Bitchin Kitchen’ you can:

Check her out on BitchinKitchen.TV
Buy some swag here
Follow on Twitter
Join the Facebook Group