Relationships that feed you
Ivonne Karamoy
I came across this article on Medium by Shuna Lydon, a pastry chef in Brooklyn. The article is a piece about Gina DePalma, the renowned pastry chef of Mario Batali's Babbo restaurant in NYC, and one of Shuna's first mentors. Gina has worked with Mario Batali for many years at Babbo and before that with Claudia Fleming at the Gramercy Tavern. The article talks about Gina's passion for and adherence to the integrity of Italian cooking throughout her career. I love food and I love anything Italian - the food, the culture, the land, the people (I married an Italian) but this isn't about Italian food or anything related to food really - that will be for another post maybe... In the article Shuna quoted Gina as saying this about working with Batali:
“When you have a strong, creative relationship with someone, you feed off that energy; you can’t wait to share your own ideas and get more from your colleagues... in the beginning years he inspired me with just his energy and excitement about food and ingredients, and our mutual love of Italian cooking.”
It reminded me of the importance of surrounding yourself with people and relationships that inspire you. I've learned through my career, through school, through personal relationships that nothing can replace a great relationship. Whenever I've lost my heart or my motivation I can always relate it back to relationships that drain me of energy. Whether that relationship is with people, with work, with my surroundings, whatever. Finding relationships that are truly great means finding relationships that inspire you, excite you, motivate you, challenge you, and even scare you (in a good way). And if you can find relationships with people that do all that, then that's the best kind.