Recently, I watched an interview with the wonderful chef, Ina Garten. 

Ina took a 180-degree career change, in what we could call mid-life. She went from a white house nuclear energy analyst for two presidents, to purchasing the gourmet food shop on Long Island called The Barefoot Contessa. But how did she end up writing cookbooks and become the amazing success we know today? That is what we are going to talk about today because Ina, has shared the details of her career pivots in several interviews. I think all of us, who are ready for something new, can benefit from Ina’s insights. 

Hi everyone and welcome to the extraordinary women magazine podcast. 

I’m Sharri Harmel, editor in chief of the extraordinary women magazine as well as your host for this podcast. 

The Extraordinary Women Magazine is the only international digital and print magazine AND podcast, with the mission to help women like you design, create, and live a fabulous next chapter. 

Ina Garten ran her shop The Barefoot Contessa for over 2 decades. She grew the highly successful business. Ina is an amazing businesswoman. But she then sold the shop to two employees. Then she went home to figure out what to do next. 

Ina said, “it is only in the boredom of doing nothing, that the idea will come to you. She said, Type A people think they can figure out what they want to do next, while they do something else… but you can’t.”

Ina had always loved cooking and entertaining but pursued a degree in economics, subsequently pursuing her first career as a nuclear analyst. 

After selling the Barefoot Contessa, Ina and her husband, Jeffrey, who has had an amazing career himself, jumped into what Ina loved, which was for an entire year, entertaining and cooking. They are a fun couple. I’d love to be invited to one of their dinner parties! 

 Ina has shared that although she was accustomed to being busy, incredibly busy, she held back from jumping into another business. At home and feeling a little bored, it was then that Ina decided she’d write a cookbook while she tried to figure out what to do next. 

Yes, you heard that correctly. Ina Garten started writing cookbooks, just to have something to do. She hired her own publisher, photographers (Ina was one of the first cookbook writers to value photographs). She did all that because she wanted the book to be her book and for that reason, she and Jeffrey took the risk, hired the people, and put all their money into that first cookbook. 

And how did the cooking show happen? Ina said, “I wanted to sell the cookbooks, so I signed up for the television series.” 

So, our first takeaway from Ina Garten, is that when we are thinking of pivoting, trying something new, not sure what to do…. we need to give ourselves time. Don’t rush it, take your time, and don’t assume you can keep doing what you are doing, without giving yourself the space to explore possibilities. 

Not everyone has the luxury of not having a job for an entire year…. not everyone could even relax knowing they have that pressure to find their next job, the perfect side hustle for them…

But you can set aside time each day, quiet time, just you…where you let yourself think about and then mind map or doodle options. 

Ina shared in several of her interviews, that during her year off, she saw a therapist who specialized in helping people find their passions. That therapist asked her “what did you want to do when you were 10 years old?”  Ina answered that she wanted to be in the kitchen…cooking, entertaining, laying out table settings. 

What did you want to do or be when you were 10 years old? That might be around 4^th grade. 

When I think of myself, I was a crazy reader, constantly at the library. I also started my journal that I wrote in every day and still do…. I was running a good size paper route, having already decided I could make more money in a paper route than baby-sitting. In those days, a paper route was a little business…I loved school and good friends….and made yummy baked goods and loved helping my dad cook dinner.

Interesting…all those things I love today. So what about you? What did you love doing when you were 10 years old? Let yourself go to that place. Draw out or doodle everything your ten-year-old self loved doing. You’ll find as you remember one thing, another will pop in…. until you are that little girl again. 

Last, Ina shared the value of trying out all your ideas. When we are young, we try out everything. We don’t analyze things before we try them out. I never talked to another paper boy when I took that route, I jumped in. If you were a baker, you made the cookies probably because you like a photo in the cookbook. 

Well, the same applies to a side hustle or something you are thinking of adding to what you are already doing. 

When was Ina asked where she gets her creative ideas- her answer? Listening, sharing, collecting ideas, traveling…. I collect ideas, likes, interests of other people. 

You can’t sit at home and come up with ideas. You have to go out in the world and try out your ideas. 

Then she said something I totally connected to…and it relates to trying out our ideas. 

Ina said, “we often stay on the side of the pond, talking about it with anyone who walks by. But you don’t really know what is in the pond until you jump in it! You’ll then learn all about the pond because you got in it.”  

What is in the pond? Are there fish? Is the bottom muddy or sandy? Are their rocks that you can’t see from the surface? Is it cool or cold? Does it have a current of some kind? 

The only way you learn about the pond is by jumping in it…Well same for what you are thinking of creating in your life. 

And sometimes, you’ll find you don’t like to being in that pond. Ina shared that initially, she thought she could create and market really good frozen dinners. But it turned out to be impossible to crack the grocery store process, so she got out of that pond. 

Super interesting…. she could have spent years thinking about that frozen dinner idea…but because she jumped into the pond, she realized it was a business or a pond that she didn’t want to be in and moved on. 

For me, after my divorce, I thought I could excel and enjoy working as a career coach in higher education. I was a career advisor in the career centers at MIT, Tufts, and Northeastern University in Boston for almost four years. I loved working with students, doing presentations, running webinars…but the constraints of the hierarchy of higher ed administration drove me crazy. It was a pond I had to get out of. 

Ina, the businesswoman said “you have to love what you are doing but you also have to pay attention to the business side. If you take care of the business, you’ll then be able to do the fun stuff and enjoy doing what you love.”  Being an entrepreneur is hard…whether you have employees, or a team of independent contractors scattered around the world, you have to manage them. It’s one of the hardest aspects of being an entrepreneur but I’ve learned that unless I wear my CEO hat, I won’t have much fun running my magazine. 

The pond analogy so interesting because suddenly, you can start to see that we are in many ponds throughout our lives- both personally and professionally. It also takes away the whole negative connotation that when something doesn’t work out, it isn’t a failure…maybe you are just pond hopping? Pond experimenting? 

Next chapters are sort of like that… and so many women know they have to jump into a new pond…. but let themselves stay standing on the side of the pond, talking about what they want to do. 

Life though is one big experiment in my opinion, just a series of ponds…. we try out so many roles and career paths…. some roles we leave and some just change. 

Kids grow up so we find ourselves jumping from the pond of mom to little kids to the pond of mom to adult kids. 

We might have been in the married pond for a while, and suddenly have to jump into the solo woman pond. 

Same with careers. I’ve been in more career ponds than I can count. 

So, if you have an idea for a side hustle for your next chapter…. Look at it as a pond to jump into…set up calls to talk to people in that pond, get into the business of that idea. Jumping into that pond will give you the answers you are seeking. 

It even works for your personal life. 

If you want to change your lifestyle to be healthier, more fit…talk to people in that pond and then jump in. 

Ladies, the Extraordinary Women Podcast AND Magazine are all about supporting you.

We are a new generation of women who are not going to quietly fade into our next chapters, but instead design a fabulous one. Inside the EW magazine there are articles on side hustles, travel, style, relationships as well as the all-important self-care. 

A subscription to the Extraordinary Women Magazine is free so don’t hesitate, don’t procrastinate… subscribe now. 

Thank you for joining us today… and look forward to our next Extraordinary Women Podcast. 

Have a great week and I look forward to seeing you soon….  Bon Journée. 

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