Meet Valley mom who won $10K on ‘Nailed It!’
Lisa Chambers lives in Avondale with her wife and their three foster children. When Chambers’ three grandchildren come over, the whole family loves to watch “Nailed It!,”a Netflix show featuring notoriously bad bakers who are challenged to create cake masterpieces.
Little did her grandchildren know, they would soon be watching their grandmother compete to win the show’s $10,000 prize.
“I watch the show all the time,” Chambers says. “You just have to be the best of the worst.”
And that’s exactly what Chambers was. Her Green Eggs & Ham cake and Roast Beast Feast Cake on the Dr. Seussthemed holiday episode proved to the judges that Chambers did, in fact, nail it.
How Chambers landed a spot on the show
Chambers loves to bake for her family, and with three foster children and three grandchildren, it’s always someones birthday. One day, as a backhanded compliment, Chambers’ wife suggested she should compete on Nailed It!
In an effort to prove she’s actually a good baker, Chambers submitted an application to the show.
One of her granddaughters’ birthdays was coming up so Chambers decided to make a cake inspired by the children’s TV show PAW Patrol. Her wife filmed the whole process start to finish. They sent in the tape and didn’t expect to hear back.
Chambers couldn’t believe she was picked, she says, and was beyond excited. To avoid getting too nervous, she kept telling herself it would be just like baking at home — except in a different kitchen with more equipment.
Chambers says the judges Nicole Byer, Jacques Torres and guest judge Jillian Bell helped put her nerves at ease.
Chambers, who wants to learn how to work with chocolate, was most excited to meet Torres, an acclaimed pastry chef and chocolatier.
“Nicole Byer is the most funny, friendly and personable person,” Chambers says. “It was like we were friends before, they just don’t make you nervous. And Jacques was just so much fun.”
What it was like to compete on ‘Nailed It!’
Once the show began filming, after a brief intro from the judges, the contestants rolled right into the first challenge: The cake was revealed and the contestants got a look at what they are tasked with making. Then competitors have to rush to collect ingredients and formulate a plan to recreate the cake in a limited amount of time.
“When the first door opened, my first thought was ‘How many cakes are layered under there?’” Chambers says.
She immediately started figuring out how to build a cake to match the Green Eggs and Ham confection on the table. The cake, which looked like a holiday ham wrapped in green fondant, stood quite a few inches tall. Trouble hit when Chambers’ third cake didn’t bake. But considering the struggles the other two bakers were experiencing, Chambers started to pull ahead.
“Sunny didn’t even make a cake and Jason didn’t even put butter in his,” Chambers says, “so I was feeling pretty confident.”
Chambers won the first round, giving her a boost of confidence for the second challenge: creating a Roast Beast Feast Cake complete with the Grinch, table settings, chairs and a table, entirely made of dessert.
“The time restraint is the hardest part,” Chambers says. “The time goes by so fast and I kept looking at the clock.”
In the second round, one contestant had a button to delay the others. Chambers had to stop baking and read from a Dr. Seuss book for three minutes. But, luckily, she says, her buttercream was in the mixer and in the extra three minutes, it whipped up light and fluffy.
“They said the buttercream was too sweet,” Chambers says, “But I like my frosting sweet and it was good.”
Too sweet or not, Chambers captured the judges attention with her cakes and was crowned the best baker of the episode, winning $10,000.
Here’s how her family is going to celebrate
Chambers says one of the reasons she was able to focus under pressure is thanks to her previous jobs. Chambers is a veteran who served in the Navy, worked in an emergency room and currently is pit manager at a local casino.
“I can’t get upset when someone lost all their money or is drunk and screaming,” Chambers says. “My jobs helped me stay calm and cool during the competition.”
But after winning, that calm was gone and Chambers couldn’t wait to celebrate with her family, she says.
“My grandchildren, they just had a ball seeing grandma on TV,” she says.
Chambers’ first experience as a foster mom was with her nephew, who has Down syndrome, three years ago. Then after getting her foster certification, she decided to help more children who needed a home. She’s now the foster mom of two sisters, ages 2 and 3, and a boy age 4, all whom have special needs.
One of the large family’s favorite things to do together is bake, Chambers says. When she got home from competing on the show, the children were so excited Chambers hosted her own version of “Nailed It!” The kids made cake pops. Her wife taped it and Chambers was the judge.
“Everyone won,” Chambers says. “Everyone’s was amazing.”
With the prize money, Chambers asked her kids where they wanted to go. So the whole family — grandchildren and foster children — is going to Universal Studios in California to celebrate.
Chambers’ advice for those who love the show is simple.
“If you’re a home baker, I say go for it,” she says.