My Year of Ina

I don't really have new year's resolutions. I like big goals or projects instead - one professionally and one personally. On the professional side, I am committed to taking my social determinants of health research from my doctorate and turning it into a book this year. (I am not sure if anyone will read it, much less publish it, but that's not the goal - just organizing and writing it!)

Personally, I have decided to cook through all of Ina Garten's cookbooks and watch her TV shows. (You can follow along here.) At first, I didn't think this had much to do with the LinkedIn side of my life. But when I dug in, there are lots of business lessons here.

When Ina bought The Barefoot Contessa business in the Hamptons, she was a budget analyst in Washington, DC. She had never even visited the Hamptons. She had never owned a business. She had never cooked for anyone besides her husband and their friends. Her husband's advice when she couldn't decide if she should take the plunge to become a business owner? "If you love it, you'll be great at it."

Another interesting tidbit was the friendship between Martha Stewart and Ina Garten. The two met when Martha was a customer at her store. They are two people with very different brands and styles that yet had enough in common to become fast friends. Before her Food Network rise, Ina even did a spec food show for Martha's media empire that was never brought to fruition. (I bet Martha is second-guessing that one, huh?)

It was endearing to see how Martha mentored someone whose cooking and entertaining style was so very different from hers - yet helping her publish her first cookbook and even writing the foreword at a time when Martha was a big name. Mentoring works! But it's also to point out that Ina was not an overnight success. She ran her business for 20 years before her foray into cookbooks and TV. It takes time and curiosity and sweat and toil...and patience. A good reminder for us all in the New Year!