If you were worried that you'd spend this entire list reading about women born into wealth, worry no longer. Tory Burch is the name that bucks the trend. She may be worth more than a billion today, but once upon a time, Tory Burch was just the same as everybody else. She's made her money the hard way - from the ground up. And she's done it fast.
It all started in 2004 with one fashion retail store in Manhattan. Fifteen years later, there are over 250 Tory Burch stores in locations right across the globe. Perhaps because she knows what it's like to come from nothing, Burch is big on the idea of giving back. She opened the 'Tory Burch Foundation' in 2009, which provides financial and strategic assistance to young women wanting to find their own way in the world of business. Burch wants to see more female entrepreneurs in the world. If you're an aspiring one, you couldn't wish for a better example than her.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.