Why Ina Garten Decided To Sell The Legendary Barefoot Contessa Store

In the journey of life, you can either stay on the road you've chosen or redraw the map. Ina Garten's decision to sell her beloved gourmet market, The Barefoot Contessa, and move on to a new challenge is proof positive that changing course can lead to greater happiness. In her new book, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens," Garten reveals that she decided to sell the store she spent 18 years building into her signature brand because she grew weary of the day-to-day issues of managing her employees and dealing with shoplifters. She writes, "What I didn't like about running Barefoot Contessa, was overshadowing what I used to love."

It was a "Portrait of Dorian Gray" scenario in that the beautiful exterior of the business didn't match the interior reality. As those feelings piled up, Garten found she was ready to move on. She writes, "I felt like I wasn't doing anything new, and I certainly wasn't bringing any creativity to my work." Running a gourmet market takes commitment. For Garten, it partly entailed stocking her store weekly in a grueling way. The process involved being up at 3 a.m. to make her rounds to suppliers. So, the celebrity chef decided to do something scary. Garten sold the market to her manager and chef. She also created an office above the store where she spent her time overseeing the sale of the store and designing a website for it.

The path forward was not straightforward. Ina Garten writes, "One day I was running a store with fifty employees and sometimes baking a thousand baguettes, and the next day, I literally had nothing to do." That year, 1996, was not easy, but she soon began writing her first cookbook, which was published in 1999 and provided plenty of tips to help you up your cooking game. Fast forward to 2002, and the "store-bought is fine" chef had published two more cookbooks and landed herself a show on Food Network called "Barefoot Contessa."

While her story contains many ups and downs — Garten totally failed her first party — it is also filled with growth and achievements. If she had not had the courage and a little bit of chutzpah to take that leap of faith, she would not have won five Emmy Awards, a James Beard Award, and become a New York Times bestselling cookbook author. Nor would modern cooks might not be privy to all of her wonderful recipes and tips. Thanks, Ina.