The Evolution of a Culinary Career with Sarah Mastracco

In this episode, Emmy-nominated Culinary Producer and Entrepreneur Sarah Mastracco discusses her journey from high-pressure kitchens like Le Bernardin to a culinary producer for Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg, and Emeril. Sarah shares how she transitioned to wellness-focused ventures, integrating food as medicine, and her advice for navigating major career shifts.

Highlights:

• Transitioning from top-tier kitchens to culinary media and entrepreneurship
• The transferrable skills she used moving from top kitchens to producing food content
• Why she integrated her culinary expertise with holistic wellness
• How Storytelling influences the development of food content
• Taking the entrepreneurial leap and launching two wellness brands
• Advice for pursuing a career in culinary arts, wellness and entrepreneurship

Mentioned on the Show:
The One Health 30-day Challenge kicks off on September 30, 2024. The following challenge will start on January 6, 2025. Learn more HERE

Show Guest
Sarah Mastracco began her culinary journey in San Francisco before advancing her skills in Italy and New York’s prestigious kitchens, including Le Bernardin and Eleven Madison Park. Transitioning to food media, she worked as an on-air chef and culinary producer for shows like Martha Cooks, Trisha's Southern Kitchen, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, and Pati’s Mexican Table, earning multiple Emmy and James Beard nominations. With a passion for wellness, she studied at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, which led her to co-found One Health, an Integrative Culinary Medicine platform, and launch Flavor Fork, a meal prep service offering locally sourced, whole-food meals in North Fork, Long Island, NY

Chapters

• 0:00 Culinary Producer's Journey to Wellness Entrepreneur
• 11:22 Transitioning From Restaurants to Culinary Producing
• 18:48 Culinary Development and Wellness Integration
• 23:59 Holistic Wellness and Culinary Entrepreneurship
• 37:00 Entrepreneurial Evolution and Mindset Shift
• 46:57 Media Transition in Culinary Career

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey, I'm Jill Griffin, your host of the Career Refresh. Today I'm introducing you to my friend and former colleague, emmy-nominated culinary producer and entrepreneur, sarah Mastraco. Sarah discusses her journey from high-pressure kitchens in New York City like La Bernardin and Mesa Grill to a culinary producer for Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg Do you remember the Martha Stewart-Snoop Dogg potluck dinner party? Yeah, sarah was the producer and also her ventures with Emeril. She shares how she transitioned from culinary producing to a career in wellness focused ventures, integrating food as medicine, and she also shares her advice for navigating these major career ships. We talk about her experience transitioning from top tier kitchens to culinary media and now to entrepreneurship, the transferable skills that she used moving from those top kitchens to producing food content and now being an entrepreneur. Sarah talks about why she integrated her culinary expertise into holistic wellness. She also shares an insight she learned.

Speaker 1: 1:07

So I know you're going to want to grab your notes app to take down some of the wisdom that Sarah is sharing in her own personal journey. We discuss how storytelling has and always will influence the development of food content and how to make it rich and have some fun along the way. And then, lastly, the taking that entrepreneurial leap, moving from employee mindset to entrepreneurial mindset what was that like for her? And then, ultimately, she shares about the two brands that she has subsequently launched. Lastly, we round out with Sarah sharing her thoughts and advice on pursuing a career change and, in this case, going from wellness to entrepreneurship, and some of the things that she learned about herself and the process along the way.

Speaker 1: 1:51

And if you are listening to this, when it drops in September of 2024, sarah is about to launch her next 30-day challenge. It is four weeks of a online wellness challenge focusing on key physical and emotional aspects of health. Everything is about well-being, from nourishment to movement, to connection, to reflection, to rest. So I'm going to put all that information in the show notes and definitely check it out. All right, friends, here's Sarah. Sarah, welcome. I'm really glad that we're doing this today.

Speaker 2: 2:31

Me too, so good to see, you Good to see you in this capacity?

Speaker 1: 2:35

Yes, All right. So all of our longtime listeners know that I ask everyone this question and that is what did you think you wanted to be when you grew up?

Speaker 2: 2:44

question, and that is what did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? Well, I studied psychology when I was in college and I always was sort of drawn to learning about how people think and what makes people tick and all of those things. So I think I kind of thought I was going to go into something more psychology related.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Okay, all right. So tell us, take us through a bit of your journey. Right, when you left school, left your undergrad degree, we know you obviously went to culinary school and we're going to talk a lot about that today. But tell us a little bit about that journey, because there was a space between your undergrad and then coming back to your culinary work.

Speaker 2: 3:27

Yes. So I went to school in Virginia, I went to University of Virginia and after school I decided, with a group of friends, to move to California. I had never been west of Colorado, so I don't really know, I can't really get into that mindset at this point, but it was amazing. And once I got to California, I started working in nonprofit marketing and I was sort of just going through life thinking, okay, you know, this is something, but like it wasn't really sparking my passion and so I'd always loved cooking.

Speaker 2: 4:04

I always loved food, and especially out in San Francisco. It's such a focus and it really sort of sparked my interest. So I decided to go to culinary school and then, once I was in culinary school, I was also working while I was in school and I was working on the line at a restaurant and I just completely was like this is it? Like it's amazing, this is so crazy. I cannot believe how hard this job is like for so many reasons. But the adrenaline was something that like really got me and every day was something new and I was learning a lot and I just like fell in love with it. So I decided to move to Italy and work there for a little bit.

Speaker 1: 4:51

I mean that that part's amazing, but what it was making me think as you were talking is when you see content like the Bear and shows like that.

Speaker 2: 5:00

Oh, oh, I can barely watch it. I mean, sometimes I'm just like I leave the room, I'm like I can't, I can't.

Speaker 1: 5:07

That's amazing. I mean not as a chef, but I also worked in hospitality for many years and understand that rush.

Speaker 2: 5:14

And watching something like the Bear is equally fun, amazing and also like, oh my God I mean, I think everyone, no matter what you do, if you, if you have that experience that, um, that adrenaline and the pressure and you know a lot of different careers, experience those things, um, so I think you're either drawn to that or you're not, and so I, just at that time in my life, was really drawn to that. I just thought that that was super cool and fun. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:49

So then you find yourself looking for opportunities. You head to Italy. Was that for further education or were you already starting, like your internships?

Speaker 2: 5:57

So that was a what they call a stage. So it was after culinary school. I went and worked in Tuscany and it was room and board. That sounds terrible.

Speaker 1: 6:07

I know.

Speaker 2: 6:09

Well, in fact, I thought, you know, I took in college a couple of courses in Italian and I thought, oh, I'll be fine. And I arrived and not one person spoke English. And so I'm now showing up for work and we were literally like drawing pictures. You know, they'd say something in Italian go downstairs and get the side of pork. And I'd come up with like strawberries you know, because I just didn't know what they were saying. It was exhausting. I was totally in over my head with the language.

Speaker 1: 6:36

And of course this is pre. Like Google Translate, you can't just pop on your phone.

Speaker 2: 6:39

Oh yeah, no, I was writing faxes and sending them to my parents. I like I was writing faxes and sending them to my parents. I didn't have a full conversation for three weeks, it was one word. I'd have a book. It was something I did not expect, but the experience of the cooking and I studied a lot of Italian and by the time I left I did speak Italian, but the cooking was something like I had never experienced before. I mean you literally have like the guy down the street bringing you a bag of truffles, the woman down the street bringing her fresh tomatoes from the garden, I mean it was so like legitimately farm to table and it it was.

Speaker 1: 7:21

It was amazing that that that part's incredible. So for our listeners, while Sarah and I did not know each other, we both worked at Martha Stewart at the same time, where I was on the marketing and the business side and she was obviously on the culinary and creative side. Yes, so take us then a little bit fast forward, so you leave Italy and you do what.

Speaker 2: 7:41

I moved to New York and I was working for about three weeks at an Italian restaurant and the management was not what I was expecting and so I decided not to do that. And I was asking my parents what do you think they're like? Well, there's this place that we went. That was really good. This guy, bobby Flay, he has a restaurant. I'm like Bobby Flay, I've never heard of that guy before, but great that he has a good restaurant. So I went to Mesa Grill, um, and met Bobby Flay and ended up working at his restaurant for, uh, about a year and a half, okay, and I mean that was insane. It was a very busy New York restaurant. We're doing 450, 500 covers a night with a, with a team of about five people on the line, and that was um. You know, learning a lot about like moving quickly, being really organized, having a plan, you know all of those things.

Speaker 1: 8:40

Where was Bobby and his trajectory of like publicity and notoriety? Was he just starting to come into that?

Speaker 2: 8:47

just starting. I had food network was like this was in 1998, okay, so he had a show I think it was grilling and chilling or something, and and I, like I said, I'd never watched any food tv that wasn't something that was available to us when we were in culinary school as an option for a career Like that just didn't happen.

Speaker 1: 9:08

So how did experience and high intensity kitchens right Like Mesa Grill, which again part right, no longer in existence, or LaBerna Down, which I know you also worked out, how did it prepare you, you think, for some of your jobs later I would say more corporate jobs, even though you were still in the culinary science, part of things being in a discovery, working for a food network, working for a Martha Stewart right how do you think those jobs and those transferable skills prepared you for that?

Speaker 2: 9:41

Well, one of the things that you really have to be in, like you say on the, you said the bear the organization is the most important part of the job, because once the service starts, you have to know what's going on. So when I started working for Martha Stewart, it was on her live TV show, and so live means you have two minutes to set up a demonstration, talk to the talent, talk to Martha, tell them what they're doing, and then they're starting. So we would do a segment that was seven minutes long. She would do a segment on television live. We would rush in at two minutes, take everything off the counter, put everything that they needed to finish that demonstration and do another one. So you had to. It was like so buttoned up and you had to be really on top of your you know your game so that you're not standing there when the, when the cameras start rolling.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Right. So our listeners just to picture basically when they're going to a commercial break is when Sarah and her colleagues are like rushing onto the set. Rushing, running, lots of running and the live audience is probably laughing and being like what the heck is happening yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:55

The live audience is like whoa, this is crazy. But if you're a viewer watching the TV show, you have no idea what just happened. It just all seems very sweet. Yeah, you think. Well, even maybe you think they had 10 minutes, but it's literally the commercial. So that was that organization making sure that you have everything, the scripting is right, you know what's coming up, you know what's next preparation, all of those things. So that really did tap into a lot of the lessons that I learned working at restaurants. So that kind of I took that Okay. So like what's next, you know?

Speaker 1: 11:32

And then did you enjoy? You know cause? I know, between all the different places that you worked, did you enjoy more of like the food styling versus the food preparation, or were you doing both, or did you find yourself having a favorite between the two?

Speaker 2: 11:47

I really enjoy both. I mean, I love cooking. Food styling's fun. It's not. I wouldn't say that's my focus. I'm very much of like the operations, the logistics, like how are we going to make the X happen? What are all the steps that need to happen in order for that to really be tight and to work well? So I like the planning of it. It's almost like project-based. So that then transfers into into sort of what happened next after I, after I left Martha which was producing. So culinary producing, which you know is. It takes that production, say setting up a segment or talking to talent, making sure they understand what happens. But it takes it a step further.

Speaker 1: 12:35

So if you were to sort of recap some of those skills that you then use. Right, so, still, the organization, it sounds like storytelling, it sounds like having talent. What would be some of the other skills that you found yourself using?

Speaker 2: 12:49

So I feel like, yes, storytelling is one of them. Thinking about what would be interesting. Are we teaching anything? Why would somebody engage with this? You know that kind of thing. So it's more of like you're thinking broader than you are, just like we're going to make you know this dish, this, whatever it is. It's like why are we making this dish? What can we talk about that's interesting about this? What are some of the elements that maybe people don't know intuitively? So, starting to you know, and it's more fun. It's more fun to just start telling the story about, about why you're doing something.

Speaker 1: 13:29

Right, because you can see, in a restaurant, while there's an art and a passion to creating the experience for your customer, then the customer is kind of having a single experience. It's between them and the food that they're eating, whereas when you're producing a show, you now need to think about the audience who is not tasting the food that they're eating, whereas when you're producing a show, you now need to think about the audience who is not tasting the food.

Speaker 2: 13:48

Right.

Speaker 1: 13:48

How are you bringing them into that?

Speaker 2: 13:50

Right, right, really like staying pivot in that. Yeah, like what's captivating about food? And so, again, like I started, there was no food TV. We didn't have videos. We didn't have the you know Instagram and TikTok and these things, so this is a new sort of thing that's emerged, and it's a big deal if you're in the food industry, because it's a completely different career Right, right Then, preparing and working in a restaurant versus. Yeah, which is what I trained for, right, right.

Speaker 1: 14:25

Right, and then finding the way that the content that you're creating is not only interesting, but how it moves across devices and screens. How is it now interesting on the large screen, we'll say, in the main room in your house, versus, you know, the two inch screen that you're holding?

Speaker 2: 14:56

And so how is that transition for you? What's notable about that for you is it's not unlike working at a place like LaBernadette or working for a Martha Stewart. Like I want to be with the best, I want to create things that are the best, and so when I'm on a project, I'm really focused on, like, what is going to be unique about this, what is unique about the talent that we're working with. And so I don't know it just it just kind of like brings in maybe the psychology of like going way back. It's more, you know, it's more layering of my skill sets, right?

Speaker 1: 15:33

I guess no. If in, because I honestly don't know the answer to this. Do you know, in culinary school and culinary training today, are they taking an eye towards this? So it's not just learning about the craft but it's learning about the marketing, the promotion and the business? Oh sure they are Okay.

Speaker 2: 15:50

I mean because food television and food media is just as important these days to someone who's in this culinary world as a restaurant is or anything else. And now with the crossover, so chefs are famous and because of this medium Right.

Speaker 1: 16:10

I guess I'm just thinking like no one taught you and me how to do it. We learned by doing it, messing up, trying it. Oh, that worked, that didn't right, like in our market days. So I just think the whole transition is super fascinating. So you've worked again with the top brands from Emeril. You know both Emeril for Roku, discovery Channel, food Network. I would be remiss and I know people would be like how come you didn't ask her about Martha and Snoop's potluck dinner bar?

Speaker 2: 16:38

Well, I was actually a culinary producer for that and I went with team Martha, but I was Snoop Dogg's culinary producer, so I was helping him, I was creating the recipes for that I would. I mean, he was essentially my talent, so he and I would, you know, I'd be on helping him beforehand, telling him what to do and, you know, working with his guests and working with Martha, and we had a.

Speaker 1: 17:05

We had a blast, we had what was more, what was easier than you thought it would be in doing that work between Martha and Stu.

Speaker 2: 17:17

Well, I mean, martha was so supportive, honestly, and she wanted him to succeed, and you know he's not a chef, and so to put them in that position where they're both cooking something, and then they turned it into a competition by the last season, and so, you know, she, she just was so supportive and she and I have such a nice relationship and we're friends. I mean, at this point, I've been working with her since 2007. Yeah, and I can really say, hey, listen, I'm not sure that he, he's never made this before, so I'm going to tell you what he needs to do and so you can help him when the cameras are rolling, and can you guys can do this together and she sure, great, you know, and it was just like such a nice, um, sort of teamwork situation and um, and I think that that just makes everybody feel good and it's better on TV, yeah, yeah, which is part of it too, Right Right With making, with good TV.

Speaker 1: 18:26

And then how would you compare something like you know I know you also worked for um william, sonoma, right? So while they you know if anyone's familiar with any of their physical magazine content or their online content they are weaving in recipes right next to the various uh tools. We'll say how did you find something like that, working in something that's much more physical product focused versus being in the end product which you know TV, the TV show. What would be some thoughts there?

Speaker 2: 18:48

So with Williams, sonoma, a lot of it was development because we were they'd say okay, we want to make finishing sauces, we like these flavor profiles, finishing sauces, we like these flavor profiles. So we the we had there were three of us would create finishing sauces based on what they wanted. And then they would. We would have these big tastings and all of the executives would come down to our kitchen space and taste what we had made and then they would kind of zone in on what they wanted and then we would send that out to different vendors to try to recreate that.

Speaker 2: 19:23

So that's kind of how they work with product development. So product development was basically what that was, and then equipment testing, so loaf pans, this, that so you would also be creating recipes. So it's a lot of that was development Okay. And learning how to write was development Okay, and learning how to how to write a recipe.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Okay.

Speaker 2: 19:44

I mean, like these things that are all have all become a part of producing.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Right, I mean it's it's again. It's so fascinating and sitting next to it through the marketing and business lens from my time at Martha, I saw a lot of this, but having not, I don't, I didn't do it right, I've been in my house, but I wasn't cooking at that. So for anyone that's listening, that's thinking about even a career change and wants to get into culinary development or even the production side like, what advice would you give them?

Speaker 2: 20:15

I mean a lot of people ask me should I go to culinary school? And sure it's an option, but also start cooking and start developing your own recipes. See how that feels. Read recipes. Culinary school is great, but if you want to really know how to cook, you have to. You kind of have to work at a restaurant.

Speaker 1: 20:45

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:46

Cook for yourself. But then if you really want to get into it, you, you gotta just you gotta do it, you gotta have to put in that kind of work, in my opinion, at some point, even if it's just short term or whatever, because the methodical, the repetition, the learning, the organization, seeing how that works, is crucial when you're talking about doing the next step, which is you know whether you're developing or doing whatever you're doing. Um, it's, it's an important step. An important step, okay.

Speaker 1: 21:23

Okay and then yes, obviously, if you are skilled on the production side, because you have a a firsthand experience and knowledge of using social media and you know photography, all of that will help too.

Speaker 2: 21:36

But if you want to be like cooking and developing that's, that's more. I mean, there are a million different ways to get into the culinary field at this point. But if you want to do this, this kind of work like that I've been doing I have found that the people who have even the smallest amount of restaurant experience get it at a different level. Yeah, they just do. It's just a different beast. So it doesn't mean you can't do it at all and it doesn't mean you can't do it really well, because some people like just totally get it. But it is a nice little thing to have if you can do it. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1: 22:15

So, taking us forward, can you walk us through your journey of integrating the culinary expertise with holistic wellness? Because you've taken it today is what you know you and I have been talking about more recently and it's super exciting and I'd love to take us through that.

Speaker 2: 22:32

Okay. So while I was working in TV I was also sort of gravitating towards wellness. I went to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Speaker 1: 22:43

Right, we both went there. That's funny.

Speaker 2: 22:46

Yes, so that was the online nutrition course that you do. I think it was an 18-month program, super interesting, learning a lot about just wellness and how food is related, you know to, to your overall well-being, and, and so after that, I also did a well coaches school of training, which is really about coaching and how you sort of you know, active listening and things about talking to people around their diets and their habits. In the meantime, I was still working on TV shows and always kind of having this feeling and I've written like I don't know 15 different ideas about how do I transition from what I'm doing to this wellness and cooking. Finally, when I moved to the North Fork, I moved here in 2020 from New York and here we have access to local farms I mean, everything is just like grown here and so I started cooking differently.

Speaker 2: 23:59

Another thing that happened is I did a wellness challenge and this randomly like triggered something in me. As much as I've been around food I mean I've been cooking for 25 years or something professionally and so when I did this challenge, I realized, okay, I've been saying I'm eating a certain way, but when I'm actually like responsible for clicking a box about really what my habits are. I'm actually I'm not doing what I think I'm doing.

Speaker 2: 24:30

And there was well, it was something about this accountability that changed my viewpoint, because once I realized I think, oh, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, Okay. And then I'd say, did I eat for some? Like, did I actually eat a lot of fruits and vegetables today, or did I just like skip a meal and eat something? Like, am I, am I really doing this or is this in my head? And once I had to be accountable and say I actually did do this or didn't do that, it made me really realize that I didn't have a lot of control over how I was eating or what I was eating. I didn't have the habits developed around my day-to-day diet.

Speaker 1: 25:14

And when you started to then make those habit changes, what did you notice?

Speaker 2: 25:20

Just a complete transformation in my body, and I had a knee pain that wouldn't go away. And then all of a sudden, the knee pain's gone. I started paying attention to also my movement, and so part of this challenge was you had to exercise 10 minutes a day and stretch 10 minutes a day. So doing that, I'm like, oh wait, I actually don't do this either. I thought I did. It was almost just those little things, and so it just triggered a thought for me and it had already started.

Speaker 2: 25:55

But I really liked this idea of transitioning my knowledge about food and cooking and trying to help teach people and help people cook, cook more with whole foods and see how that feels, and just be more instructional about it. Because a lot of times people are like I don't know how to. I don't know how to make those things, I don't know how to cook grains, I don't know how to, I don't know how to make vegetables taste delicious, you know so, I don't. So so it's like how do I use that skillset that I have of like making food taste good and look pretty and bringing it to other people's tables, and so that was sort of this idea. And and you know, long story short.

Speaker 2: 26:44

I met my neighbor, who is wonderful. She has a daughter the same age as as my daughter and she's a doctor, and she is a holistic medical doctor and we started talking about something. She had a culinary medicine series going on here in the North Fork and asked me to do a hands-on cooking class. Once we started talking about that, we started taking it a step further, like what if we could get a community together to do a challenge together nourishment and these other elements movement, rest, reflection and connection and saying how can we help people engage with these things for even if it's a short time, and see if it will help them feel better? And so we created a platform where people can go on for 30 days and do a challenge. And as a part of that, I said well, let me go one step further and make it even easier for people to eat well. And so I created a prepared food company called Flavor Fork and that helps support people in a whole foods diet and just helps bring delicious you know, healthy items conveniently to your kitchen.

Speaker 1: 28:05

So there's so many nuggets of what you've said, but for our listeners who are thinking about career transition, I would love for you to think about and share with us. Going from being an employee and even though you were technically contract in some positions, it was working for someone else. It was important, like mindset right Versus doing it for yourself. What were some of the biggest things that you noticed in those differences?

Speaker 2: 28:27

One thing is I'm wearing a lot of hats that I've never worn before. I mean, a lot goes into launching a business, things that you think you knew and things that you just didn't know. I mean it runs the gamut, but it's so fun because I get to create what I want. What's important to me is what matters, and I think that those things that are important to me are going to, if I present it correctly, be important to other people and really make an impact, and that is something that is really important to me. And so that I already knew I've done the work.

Speaker 2: 29:09

I've done a lot of, you know, just like self exploration and writing things down and like what is my life view, what is my work view, how do these things connect? And I do that a lot. I try to go back to that every year and update it and just keep evolving, but keeping in mind what my strengths are like, keeping in mind what I love to do and my passion, and then saying what can I do? That is, you know, one step further like towards what I really want out of this career.

Speaker 1: 29:41

Okay, so I would imagine, in addition to a lot of those mindset related tools of really reflecting on your values, your goals, what do you want your day-to-day life to look like for a mother? How are you present for your husband, your family, but still running a business and all those various things that juggle? But I would imagine then going back to some of your previous experience the operations experience, the organization experience, the strategic experience, the listening all those different things are still being used and they're transferable skills that you need so much in all of this. Yes, it's a really important note because, you know, I hear from a lot of people. They find it's hard to make a transition. Now, your transition went from being working for somebody else to working for yourself, but the idea that I could be in one field and want to go into another and really finding the way to have those transferable skills shine Right Because, to your point, you're the business owner now, so you're definitely flexing additional muscles or using in a different way, in addition to still being the culinary expert.

Speaker 2: 30:46

Right, the culinary expert is who I am. That's what I'm bringing to the table. I've done the work, I know what I'm talking about and that's feels great. So that part, like I've got I feel like it's the other things about building a business that I, you know, I'm I'm working through and everything is in, you know, it's it's happening in real time, it's it's evolving, and so I just need and I I'm really cognizant about being, um, open to all kinds of feedback I'm I'm open to pivoting, I'm open to, you know, expanding sort of my mindset about what this is. Yes, and that's super fun. I mean, I'm, I'm having a really good time with it. So that's another thing. This is what I've always wanted, so like I don't want it to bog me down and I don't want it to ever make me feel too stressed out or like this isn't fun because I built this, like I'm building something that I wanted.

Speaker 1: 31:52

Yeah, it's. You know what. I'm just even watching your face for anybody that's listening and not watching the video. You know you see your face. For anybody that's listening and not watching the video, you know, you see your face and just like there's a smile, there's a brightness there, but you're doing this. You're also accountable, so if something is not working, you're the one who's accountable to like am I going to do this differently or needs to change about this, which is a high level of, you know, self-awareness, in addition to the business efficiency of making those changes, in addition to the business efficiency of making those changes.

Speaker 1: 32:25

When we think about the work you're doing now, I want you to go deeper and explain to everybody about One Health and also Flavor Fork. So let's do that first. Tell everybody both about. You know, because I'm a huge fan of the food out of Flavor Fork, Thank you. So explain to them what those are.

Speaker 2: 32:39

Okay. So One Health is a platform that sort of encompasses holistic wellness, lifestyle medicine and the culinary arts, and so that is something that Dr Emily-Anne McDonald and I created to have a place where people could come and be informed. So a lot of it is educational and a lot of it is about answering the question like why should I do this? And that's Emily. She has, I mean, even a very short time. I have learned so much from her and I learned so much about microbiome and gut health and all of these things. Men, you know, what do you do about when you're in menopause or postpartum, or it's a lot of women's um, not issues, but women's um, health related, uh, related things that, um, that food can actually make a huge impact on and lifestyle can make a huge impact on, and so it's not always about, like you know, what's the medication that's going to help me feel better.

Speaker 2: 33:44

The medication often is food and lifestyle and so you know, helping um and we're really kind of zoning in on action oriented prescription for how do you make change? Because it's not easy.

Speaker 1: 34:04

No, it's not easy.

Speaker 2: 34:05

It's not easy.

Speaker 1: 34:05

Well, you know how hard it is to change your own behavior and you have your own awareness, so now you're helping somebody else change their behavior. It's not right.

Speaker 2: 34:14

Yeah, and the thing is like I'm evolving and this has been great because even we've done now three challenges. So a challenge is a 30 day challenge where you try to eat a whole foods diet as much as possible. You 15 minutes of exercise a day, you determine amount of sleep that you want to get and try to aim for that. You make connections, so making sure that you're, you know, reaching out to friends, family, maybe going on a walk with someone, just thinking outside of the box on ways to stay connected to people, and then reflecting and and thinking about gratitude and you know ways that, even if it's a hard day, what is the one thing I can be really grateful for today? And if you do that for a month, you, no matter who you are, you're going to feel a little bit better than you were like beforehand.

Speaker 1: 35:08

So you've run three of the challenges in our local community. Can someone also join if they're remote or do they need?

Speaker 2: 35:16

to Absolutely. This is actually an app that anyone can join, so my sister in Richmond has done it a couple of times. Friends in California. This is an app Wonderful.

Speaker 1: 35:29

So we will put all of that information in the show notes, so people can absolutely join that. But what's been some of the feedback? I mean again, you've run this now three times what's been some of the most notable pieces of feedback that you've heard?

Speaker 2: 35:44

So some of the feedback. A lot of people have actually said that and they didn't understand how easy it would be if you just take little steps every day. So one of the things that has happened to most of the people that really do it is they say I've been trying to lose weight. That's one thing and that's just like so concrete. I want to lose weight, so the weight comes off. But one thing that happens along with that is the grace that people are giving themselves.

Speaker 2: 36:20

So like I've been beating myself up over being on, like I need to go on a diet and lose weight. That's not what this is. They're like I didn't even it didn't even feel like I was on a diet. It just felt like I was giving my body things that made it feel better and by doing that, all this other stuff started happening, and so it's kind of like it's it's not you know, it's. It's more about grace and kindness towards it. It's almost like you're doing yourself a favor for a month, and that's the feedback we're getting. People are like I just feel calm, I feel less stressed out and like I'm beating myself up less Okay About the little things.

Speaker 1: 36:59

So what's interesting? Just as you're talking, it's making me even think about any of our listeners that are looking for new professional opportunities. Right, if you're putting the pressure on yourself or maybe it's real, you do need to find a job but you're only thinking about the end result of I need to find the job In your case, I need to lose the weight versus what are the things that you might do along the way. Right, you're walking more, you're exercising, you're connecting. In this case, if you're finding a job, maybe you're expanding your network. Maybe you're approaching looking for a job in a different way. It's measuring. What I'm hearing you say is almost it's like measuring the smaller steps that are of importance as much as, yeah, you want the end result, we get it, but the smaller steps along the way that's going to keep you motivated to keep doing that.

Speaker 2: 37:49

Right, it's incremental change. It's incremental change because that's how it sticks. Yeah, if it's too big, it feels too big. Yeah, a lot of times you're like I'm doing this thing, it's going to be over in five days. I can't wait to go back to doing what I was doing.

Speaker 1: 38:05

Going back to my old, which, again, is not that, not creating?

Speaker 2: 38:08

It's kind of like not the point and it may take a long time it may take. You know, maybe you focus on like the one thing. So for this next challenge, we're really going to do a deep dive on nourishment and and think about things like little things that you can do one new recipe a week, or, um, cleaning out your cabinet. You know something like that, like what are actionable steps that I can take to kickstart a change, and so I think what you're saying is exactly true. It's. The same goes for anything you're doing. I mean, if you're talking about your career, like, is it taking an online class? Is it watching videos that are inspirational?

Speaker 1: 38:57

Is it talking to people like networking, you know what is the little thing, one of the smaller little things that you can measure and then see you're making progress or you're not.

Speaker 2: 39:05

And it should be different than what you've done in the past Exactly Right. So different so that it's triggers a new response. Yes, because we've all done the thing where it's like I'm just going to go back to, to looking at you know jobs online or whatever it is. Yeah and great. Do that too. But maybe add the one other thing, that incremental change. I love it. Tell them about flavor fork. Okay, so flavor fork Fork is my baby Not my actual baby, but Right.

Speaker 1: 39:38

There's an actual baby. There's an actual baby. We're not talking about her right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:42

So Flavor Fork is a company that I created. I'm doing weekly prepared meals grains, soups, salads and sauces, so it's kind of all those little things that are the convenience meals you can add proteins on, you can do whatever, but you order online, pay online, come pick it up. I have a barn and I've got a cute little refrigerator in there, so I cook on Mondays and people come and pick it up on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I cook on Mondays and people come and pick it up on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and it's just amazing and I'm working with local farms and they're sending me their lists of you know the produce that's coming up this week, so that you can weave that into what you might be making?

Speaker 2: 40:27

Yeah, so I'm like Regional and local, exactly. So that's how I'm designing my menu For our listeners that aren't in the area.

Speaker 1: 40:33

You also have shelf-stable product that you're making.

Speaker 2: 40:36

I do. Yep, I have a chili crunch, a chili peppercorn crunch that is. Jill has tried it Peaculously delicious.

Speaker 1: 40:45

It's like on my oatmeal. It goes on everything.

Speaker 2: 40:49

It's the umami it gets in your head, so I'll be shipping that. Yes, so that starts shipping November 1. Okay, just, and you can order that online on my website. So that's exciting. And, yeah, it's really about you know how can I create something that makes eating healthy, more fun and delicious. It shouldn't be boring food, it should not feel like a daunting task and I know it's not and so it's just about sharing that information and helping people, you know, feel, feel better is really what the bottom line is.

Speaker 1: 41:25

Yeah, so when you're looking ahead between um one, health and flavor. Four how have you thought about how you want to continue to evolve those two?

Speaker 2: 41:35

Yes, I have. So Emily and I have been talking about.

Speaker 2: 41:41

And Emily is Emily McDonald, who is your business partner within One Health the challenge because we are populating it with so much information and it's a combination of sort of this like lifestyle, medicine, perspective and delicious recipes, and so bringing those two together and publishing a book is something that we're working on. And with Flavor Fork, I mean, I have this idea that why couldn't this work in other communities, where I have a set of recipes and there are chefs in other locations that could also participate and cook those meals for people in their community?

Speaker 1: 42:25

So almost like it could be like a licensed model, where someone that wants to start this, you've already done a lot of the pre-thinking for them and they can implement what you've done and then potentially use their own local ingredients in different ways. Exactly, I love both of that. Okay, last few questions, which are more of like rapid fire. What advice would you give to someone? Right, you know, you went from someone else giving you a paycheck to now you have to create your own, and anybody that's thinking about that that's like amazing and can be scary. So what advice would you give to people who might be thinking about that?

Speaker 2: 43:03

I would say, the one thing that's happened with me is I've I've put the blinders on and I've tried to just stay really focused. A lot of um of people will say, well, you have to do this first, or you have to do that first, or you shouldn't do that because and I'm just trying- my brain goes.

Speaker 1: 43:21

thank you for sharing, yeah.

Speaker 2: 43:24

So it's the blinders and just putting my head down and doing the work and, and because a lot of preparing is talking about it, planning it, et cetera, and then, when it becomes time to do it, just do it and it's-.

Speaker 1: 43:38

But to get super tactical on you, did you have a number in mind that when I save X amount of dollars, that will give me a runway to do it? That's, I think you don't have to share your numbers, I'm just saying but did you think about some of that stuff also? I?

Speaker 2: 43:53

did. I did think about that kind, that kind of stuff, but that also slowed me down, quite honestly. Tell us more about that. So it slowed me down because it was a roadblock and and it felt like I know what I want to do, but if I'm just going to wait for this number to hit, I'm never going to do it. I'm not. I'm going to always think of an excuse. It's going to, something's going to keep me from doing it and I'm done with that. It's so. I'm so tired of it.

Speaker 1: 44:22

I was so tired. So what I'm hearing you say is you just decided to bet on yourself. You know, you're like. You know what I'm doing my excellence for 20, would you say 20 some odd years as culinary expert, Like I'm betting on myself.

Speaker 2: 44:35

I'm just. I'm just going to do it. I'm just, I'm done. I'm done with not doing it, okay.

Speaker 1: 44:42

So a question I often ask people is like how do they keep their career fresh? That's what this entire conversation has been is like how you reinvented Absolutely, but are there media or content or inspiration practices, anything that you can share with people, that you're reading or doing right now that are giving you inspiration?

Speaker 2: 45:03

Well, a lot of building one health was about finding things that motivate change and motivate people to feel good, eat better, move, all of these things and so honestly, like there's a lot of there's a lot to motivate us out there in the in the world. And so trying to listen to podcasts your podcast, um and other career podcasts and things that, like, really teach you sort of about changing careers and changing attitudes and changing trajectory and things like that so gear, you know, amping myself up to do the thing and that's part of it, you know, champ, being your own champion, but also listening to what people who have done this before or who are motivating what do they have to say?

Speaker 1: 45:54

So that's what applies and what you're like. No, it's not going to work for me. Yeah, awesome, awesome, awesome. How do you structure your day now that the time is yours? Versus reporting?

Speaker 2: 46:06

to somebody else. Okay, so it's very, very much of like a producer's mindset. I have days that I know I have to do this in the morning mindset. I have days that I know I have to do this in the morning. That's next because I'm cooking everything too. So it's it's like what am I going to do for the week? Making sure that the website reflects that, taking orders, connecting with farmers and shopping, cooking. You know, it's the. It's that same sort of so every week is a project, yes, but again, it keeps it.

Speaker 1: 46:37

I mean for my brain. It keeps it fresh. It's like okay so we're moving into the next season. What's fresh? What am I going to make? How am I using recipes? How am I keeping them easy and simple for people to enjoy them? And I'm sure there's probably some ingredients that you need to think about, obviously, with people with allergies and doing all of that so it keeps it really fresh and like learning different things. I love it Exactly.

Speaker 2: 46:57

And social media. You know videos, so I'm gearing up to shoot a series of videos as well. So sort of these like other ways of getting out there and presenting what I'm doing, and so that's like a whole nother level. You know, and that's something I feel great about because I have that experience. So it's, you know, transitioning that and I like that, I like using media. So that's another part of this.

Speaker 1: 47:26

Awesome, Awesome, Sarah. This was so helpful. I think any of our listeners that are thinking about career change, whether it's in the culinary arts or in another field just hearing kind of how you went about it, how you use transferable skills and how you are creating what's next, is really helpful. And if you have questions you can email us at hello at Jill Griffin coachingcom. We will put all of Sarah's information in the show notes so you can get that super yummy chili crunch, which I'm completely addicted. Thank you for being to Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much. This was fun.