Melissa d'Arabian
Melissa d’Arabian, UVM Class of 1990, knows what she’s talking about when it comes to making career shifts. She’s gone from the corporate world to being a stay-at-home mom with four pre-schoolers to landing her own cooking show after winning the 2009 “The Next Food Network Star” competition. d’Arabian recently completed shooting the third season of her “Ten Dollar Dinners” program. A talk by d’Arabian on making bold career moves promises to be a highlight of the UVM Reunion weekend. In an interview in today’s Burlington Free Press, she told reporter Melissa Pasanen that knowing—and celebrating—your strengths is a key to success.
“A lot of people are so afraid of celebrating who they are. They try to be what other people want them to be. And you’re not going to win that way. An example was my knife skills when I was on “The Next Food Network Star.” I couldn’t compete with all those professionals on knife skills, so I didn’t even try. I mean I worked on them, but I wasn’t going to get to their level. But nobody on Food Network knows how to put dinner on the table with four screaming kids better than I do. I’m the best one to do that. I need to celebrate those strengths, and that’s a game I can win. We all have 20, 30, 40 games we can win based on our strengths—but it has to be something people are looking for.”
Melissa d’Arabian’s talk at UVM is free and open to the public. 11 a.m., Saturday, June 5, Livak Ballroom, Davis Center.
Read the full interview in the Burlington Free Press: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100604/LIVING06/100603030/1004/LIVING/Food-Network-star-to-share-secrets-at-20th-UVM-reunion
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