Guy Fieri once had 'nothing else to sign' on the beach but postcards — now he's built a food TV empire

Twenty years ago, a contestant named Guy Fieri on the second season of what was then called "The Next Food Network Star" showed up at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival with little more than spiked hair and ambition.

"He came to that festival that year and was walking around signing postcards because he had nothing else to sign," recalled Lee Brian Schrager, founder of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and its New York City counterpart.

Today, Fieri is one of the most recognizable faces in food on television.