FINDING CAREER ROLE MODELS

I’ve found unexpected bedfellows in Martha Stewart and Ina Garten this week. This comes as a particular surprise since I barely cook. But, in a week filled with work stress and pressure (if you work in Ecommerce/Retail/Fashion… you know) it just so happened that my library hold for Ina Garten’s new memoir came in. This will be an easy listen, I thought. Similarly, on Friday night when my mind was mush, I turned on the new documentary ‘Martha’ on Netflix expecting to just sort of zone out…

Wow, was I mistaken. Garten’s memoir ‘Be Ready When the Luck Happens‘ is the recounting of her life with a particular focus on her career path. An incredible example of hard work and passion being met with the courage to try new things, determination to chase big dreams and a fierce commitment to following her gut instincts. I hate to admit that I’ve never watched an episode of her hit cooking show the Barefoot Contessa.. but no matter. Without any other context, I’ve been enraptured hearing her tell her story (she narrates the audiobook) and have been finding so much about her journey that feels inspiring to my own fledgling path. She was 51 when she published her first cookbook!

And Martha’s documentary… well, I already want to rewatch it. From my vantage point, she’s a brilliant business woman, a master of reinvention, an unapologetic perfectionist, and extremely savvy when it comes to filling gaps in a market and understanding her audience. She really was the original influencer – and all these years later she’s still defying expectations.

Both were repeatedly underestimated, dismissed by men in positions of power, and met with skepticism for their big ideas. Sound familiar? It’s because it’s every great career woman’s story. But Stewart and Garten both kept moving, letting their work and success speak for itself, and have maintained incredible career inertia over decades.

Both of them inspire me to trust my gut, dream bigger and focus on working hard, learning more, and surrounding myself with a great team and support system. Reassurance from their stories has felt like very welcome company in a week when I feel very much out on a ledge.

Do you have career role models? Just for fun – a few other famous career women, across a range of industries, that I’ve always admired: Tina Fey, Julia Child, Dolly Parton, Joan Didion, Mindy Kaling, Iris Apfel. Each one forged new paths, has/had an incredible work ethic and defied the odds in spite of barriers, rejection and criticism. And, perhaps most importantly, each one remained true to themselves while doing it.