Cooking Changed My Life

Yes, chef! How the Food Network star found her calling

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Carla Hall has had quite the culinary journey. The 59-year-old Food Network star started out as an accountant and then worked as an  international model before becoming a professional chef. “I didn’t know what I was looking for, and it turned out to be food,” says the Holiday Baking Championship judge, who competed on Top Chef in 2008 and finished fifth on Top Chef: All-Stars in 2010. “Food has become an unexpected part of my life and my success.” Here, the Nashville native, who currently hosts Chasing Flavor on Max, talks to In Touch’s Fortune Benatar about her unconventional career path, her Food Network family and the motto she lives by.

How did you get into cooking?

CH: I always loved food, but I was the diner not the maker. When I was a model, I would make recipes for the people who allowed me to sleep on their couch. Then I created a lunch delivery service as a fluke. I did that for five years before going to culinary school.