In her memoir Going There, Katie gives behind-the-scenes insights into her iconic career — but she also ruminates on the ups and downs of her personal life. She delves into detail, explaining how she moved up the media ladder, and how family, friendship, and romance contributed to her success.

If you were grateful for Katie’s reflections on achieving serious professional advancement (and, since we’re all human, occasional failure) while also dealing with love and loss, we’ve got more where that came from. For those of you who love to read about how the best and brightest in their fields have gotten where they are today, Katie started her video series Getting There. In each video, Katie spends the day with a successful woman to learn how she got to where she is and the advice she has for others. Each interview is a blend of solid career advice and a candid look into the silly, funny, sometimes upsetting parts of life that they navigate as they achieve their dreams.

We originally whipped up these because we love learning about how successful women grapple with challenges to become their best selves. And since we all need a little extra inspiration these days, we wanted to remind you all that overcoming adversity can be its own reward.

Up next is coastal chic icon, Ina Garten. Because of her unconventional career trajectory, Garten first began gracing our television screens only after years spent running a specialty food store in the Hamptons (and that wasn’t her first gig, either). Curious about Garten’s nontraditional rise to fame, Katie visited Garten’s typically elegant (yet simple) kitchen to talk about what it takes to change your life. Watch them chat while also baking a particularly delicious-looking fig and ricotta cake (if you’re inspired to bake one yourself, here’s the recipe).

Katie Couric: Growing up, you weren’t really encouraged to cook at home, right?

Ina Garten: I wasn’t allowed to cook at home. My mother used to say, “You study, I’m doing the cooking.” Maybe that’s why I do it.

When it came to cooking, you were a late bloomer.

I’m from a generation of women that didn’t grow up expecting to do something with their lives. I owe it all to [my husband] Jeffrey. He came home one day as I was watching TV. He said, “If you don’t do something, you’ll be really unhappy.” That’s when I got a job at the White House doing nuclear energy policy.

I was part of the group that oversaw the budgets of the department of energy and nuclear regulatory commission.

Did you know pretty quickly that it wasn’t for you?

When I was younger, I thought my role models were men. There weren’t a lot of women that were working. I wanted to grow up to be my father. At some point I thought, That’s not me at all. I love cooking. I want to make a career out of that and I want to have my own business. And I was literally 30 years old and was sitting in my office when I saw an ad for a business for sale in a place I’d never been — the Hamptons. It was a specialty food store. After the first weekend, I said to Jeffrey, “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I will never ever figure out how to run this business.”

What were the most important lessons you learned about running a business?

It took me a little while to figure out that I wanted to hire happy people. You can’t teach somebody how to be happy, but you can teach them about cheese.

How did you make the transition from small business owner to national culinary icon?

One day, after 20 years of running Barefoot Contessa, I decided it wasn’t a challenge anymore. I decided I wanted to sell it. A year later, I thought, Oh God, I’ve got to do something. I thought, I’ll write a cookbook while I’m figuring out what to do.

I’ve learned so much from watching professional cooks work. Like how to cut the corn off the cob or how to cut a cauliflower without getting it all over the kitchen. They’re really simple things that will make people feel like they know they’re doing it the right way. Then they can cook with confidence, which makes it fun.

Do you have a favorite recipe from all your books?

[The fig and ricotta cake] might be it actually. I’ve made this so many times. I think there’s something about the ricotta with lemon and vanilla. They’re all great flavors together.

Usually, you do the wet ingredients first, then you do the dry ingredients. Then slowly mix them in. This is actually a great base cake because you can do it with any kind of really flavorful fruit on top.

How does it make you feel when you’re cooking? Because obviously, it’s your passion.

I haven’t said this to anybody else, but I’m terrified. I’m the most nervous cook you’ve ever met.

Where did you get your confidence?

I think I’m a bundle of insecurity. But about certain things — like how to write a cookbook — from somewhere deep inside, I know exactly the way I want it to be. A lot of people try to pull me off my game and I just don’t let them.

What’s your advice to somebody who feels confused?

I have this philosophy that if you stand at the side of the pond and think about whether you should jump in or not, you’ll never jump. I never would’ve started writing cookbooks if I hadn’t just done it. Once I jumped into the pond, I found it was the most interesting thing I’d ever done.

How would you translate that advice to young women?

Think about what you used to do when you were eight or 10. That’s what you probably love to do. Make a career out of it. The rest will just happen.