My Journey to the Natural Gourmet Institute- Part One

After working on the Rachael Ray show for most of the first season, I had my first child and never went back to work. The first year was amazing, but after a couple of years, and a second child, I felt totally trapped.

My husband was doing well. He had amazing experiences, and was meeting exciting people. Meanwhile I was home. Taking care of the kids. Taking care of my husband. Taking care of the house. Taking care of the dog. And occasionally even getting a moment to brush my hair. When I finally got to attend some fancy event with him, I felt my response to ‘So what do you do?’ was lackluster.

I wanted something amazing for myself, but I also wanted to be the main person in my childrens’ lives. It seemed I couldn’t do both, and I was frustrated by both my situation and my feelings. It was a soul-searching time for me, and I decided to work on both my physical and mental well being. But I wasn’t sure where to go from there. 

One day the answer just came to me…follow your passion. A few years earlier my grandfather had battled, and succumbed to esophageal cancer. After that experience, I had been educating myself about the power of food. That was it! I researched schools and found that the best place to learn about health supportive cooking was the Natural Gourmet Institute. When it all came into focus for me, it felt so right. Like the clear next step. I jumped in with both feet and enrolled in the Chef’s Training Program. ‘That’s so exciting! What are you going to do afterward?’ people would ask me. Now that... I wasn’t so sure of.

I was nervous, but excited to see where following my passions would take me. The vision wasn’t clear yet, but I felt there was an exciting future ahead of me. A future where I felt more fulfilled and complete. I was happy to be feeling encouraged again and recognized that something important was happening. This wasn’t just a step that I was taking for myself, but it was for my children as well. I finally saw the importance of providing my children with a mom who believes in herself, who follows her passions, and gives 100%. Just what I wanted for them.

Read Part 2 of my Journey to NGI