On March 5, Baker Women will host a fireside chat with celebrity chef and "Top Chef" season 16 winner, Kelsey Barnard Clark, to celebrate Women's History Month and International Women's Day.
As a woman culinary entrepreneur with a demanding catering and restaurant business, hectic TV appearance schedules, and the recent release of her second cookbook, "Southern Get-Togethers," Kelsey knows what it's like to juggle a full plate as a working mom.
We look forward to sitting down with Kelsey as she shares what she's learned along the way by staying true to her roots and herself as she blends together a life that prioritizes family time, mental health, and her own career aspirations and dreams. For this issue, we thought that we'd ask Kelsey her thoughts on leaving a legacy:
The theme of our Strive newsletter is "Leaving a Legacy" – whose legacy has inspired you?
Kelsey Barnard Clark: Dolly Parton's focus on helping others, and inclusion and kindness over judgment, is a legacy I hope to model. She also does it all while remaining authentically, unapologetically, and fiercely true to herself which is admirable.
What kind of legacy do you hope to leave?
KBC: My goal has always been to leave things better than I found them. To give, love, care, and empathize with others ferociously. To do what I can to bring beauty, fun, and joy to anything I touch. Lastly, I strive to be remembered as someone who never judged and did my best to let people around me know that they were valued, appreciated, loved, and important.
How do you incorporate that legacy into your books? (I know you are working on your third.)
KBC: My focus for my books has always been a view through the lens of someone who doesn't know, someone who wants to learn. I look at them as another way for me to help people.
What are some traditions, views, or family priorities you hope to pass down to your kids?
KBC: Be kind above everything.