Aarti Sequeira on Courage, Parenting and More

We recently spoke with Aarti Sequeira, host of the Food Network's Aarti Party. She shared with us her insights about following your passion, becoming a parent and switching careers.

Was there anyone growing up who saw something in you that you didn’t see in yourself?

Wow what a good question. I was probably 7 or so when I transferred out of the primarily Indian-attended school in Dubai to a primarily-British attended school. I felt like something of an outsider, having never spent that much time with, frankly, white people -- and many of them had never spent much time with an Indian person. I had a hard time making friends until a girl named Suzanne Wynn kindly answered the teacher's request to the class to be friends with me. She was my first best friend. I suppose she saw something in me that I wasn't sure was in myself -- someone worth befriending!

You began your career at CNN. What encouraged you to switch to a career in cooking? How did you make the transition?

I was about 11 when the first Gulf War started, just a few borders away from our home in Dubai. It was what first put the bee in my bonnet about becoming a journalist, because the local TV station started broadcasting CNN. I watched what those men and women were doing, reporting from the field, and I knew that was what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to be just like Christiane Amanpour! So when, at the age of about 25, I realized that the passion for journalism had died out in my heart, it was a very hard for me, because it felt like my very identity had vanished. I had moved to LA from New York to be with my husband who was pursuing an acting career here -- I couldn't find work, I couldn't drive (the stick shift scared me!) and I knew I couldn't keep sitting on the couch. So, I cracked open a wedding gift, The Joy of Cooking, walked to the grocery store every day, bought fixin's for dinner, then walked back home and cooked for my husband who was working. I slowly started to throw myself into cooking, learning its ABCs.
 
What advice would you give to women who might want to make a career change but aren’t sure about taking the risk?

Consider why you want the career change, then talk to someone who is in that career that you have your eye on. Working in restaurants was in actuality much more back-breaking than I had imagined. Rewarding yes, but it helped me realize that owning and running a restaurant is a calling. And while I admired it and enjoyed it, it probably wasn't mine.
 
Earlier this year, you blogged about the post-partum depression you experienced after giving birth to your daughter. What has helped you handle it, and what would you say to others going through the same thing?

A few things. My husband has been incredible. He helped me accept that something was wrong when I didn't want to, held me as I cried and spoke truth and encouragement into the confusion and hopelessness that takes over. He helped me feel like this wasn't my fault, and that it was something I needed to get help for. He basically took the stigma out of it for me, and that's what I want to do for other women in my position. New mothers are fed all kinds of expectations -- that you will be the perfect picture of joy, that your maternal instinct will kick in and you'll know exactly what to do, that you and your baby will bond instantly. None of this was true for me. And so I felt like a freak! I would tell other women that if, after the first week or so of baby blues, you're still feeling the shadows closing in on yourself, talk to your family. Go to the Postpartum Support International website and call the toll-free number to find a support group in your neighborhood. This is not going to last forever.

What are the qualities you hope to instill in your daughter?

My hope is that she will learn through me, that courage is not the steely-eyed superhero we see in the movies or read in fables. It's someone who knows very well what they're walking into and is quite afraid of it and who walks onto the battlefield anyway.

What advice would you give to your younger self, just starting out?

Be more humble. I was a bit cocky I think, having just graduated from a tremendous journalism program at Northwestern. It's good to be confident, but realize that you don't know everything yet. You're just starting out. Have a humble heart, and people will be willing to teach you everything you need to know.