Ina Garten: White House Worker To Cookbook Queen

Ina Garten, by her own admission, didn’t have any particular goals in life growing up. Despite what her current profession may imply, she was barred from cooking as a child by her mother, who insisted she focus on studying. Though she was happily married as an adult, she found she had nothing to do during the day, and was warned by her husband that if she didn’t find something to occupy herself, she would become unhappy.

Garten worked a brief stint for the White House’s Energy Department, but realized she was just mimicking her husband and father’s careers rather than doing something that appealed to her. On a whim, she took up ownership of a specialty foods store in Hampton, which under her guidance became quite successful.

After selling her stake in the business years later, she was once again without direction. Using her newly acquired knowledge of food and cooking, she wrote a quick cookbook, which ended up becoming a smash hit that led to 10 more cookbooks.

Today, Ina Garten works from home, managing her new book business, growing her own fruits and vegetables, and tinkering with recipes in the kitchen.