One of the more interesting questions I was asked while pursuing my college degree was, "What are your career goals?" Fifteen years later, I wish I had been asked, "What do you want to do with your life?" as the path I would have taken originally would have been dramatically different. Yet we all know, master plan or not, that we do what we do as a means of learning who we are, what we are passionate about, what lights us up and brings joy into our lives.

I have spent my entire professional career selling some type of high technology solution to senior executives at major corporations around the world. Whether as an individual contributor performing front line sales, or a regional sales director with the mission of guiding, inspiring and empowering a sales team, it was always about all things technical - and all things financial. When I graduated from college, I headed for New York City, because that's what an Ivy educated New Jersey girl did back then. My pride and ego told my parents I was officially and financially independent and the lure of the "technology" dollar was enough to stay my desire to follow my heart into the culinary field.

One opportunity led to another, and before I knew it, I was living in Phoenix, with two beautiful daughters, an incredible husband, and a "career" I didn't want anymore, no matter how lucrative. I started thinking about how many times over the last fifteen years, since I worked in my first restaurant in college, I said, "Someday I am going to have my own restaurant." Then I started thinking about how someday may never come unless I made it happen. I couldn't imagine how incredible it would be to pursue a dream and make it a reality, and thus share with my family, my friends, and complete strangers, my passion for tastes, textures, presentation and atmosphere.

After little soul searching, and much financial management, I realized I could do this. More importantly, I wanted to do this right. I wanted to learn about every aspect of this industry and leave myself open for possibility. My plan may have been to own, operate and manage a restaurant immediately, but after formal training at Scottsdale Culinary Institute, I discovered daily additional passions for a variety of aspects I had not considered to date.