Kristen Kish: Restaurateur, Author, and Host of Top Chef

Second Life

Clique Media, Female Founder, Entrepreneurship, Career Change, Career Pivot, Fashion & Beauty, Hillary Kerr, Personal Journals, Who What Wear, Clique, Career, Arts, Business, Careers, Second Life, Career Advice, Self-made, Entrepreneur, Mydomaine, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kristen Kish is a chef, restaurateur, author, and host of the hit Bravo cooking competition show Top Chef. She briefly studied international business in college before dropping out to pursue culinary school. After finishing her training, she worked several jobs in the restaurant industry in Chicago and Boston. In 2012, Kish was cast in—and won—the 10th season of the legendary culinary competition show Top Chef. Since then, she has opened the Austin-based restaurant Arlo Grey, released a cookbook, and founded a line of aperitifs. She also returned to the world of TV, becoming the host of several food shows, including 36 Hours and Restaurants at the End of the World. In 2024, Kish rejoined Top Chef for its 21st season as the new permanent host of the program. The newest season, Top Chef: Destination Canada, premiered in March 2025. This April, she released a memoir, Accidentally on Purpose, a frank, insightful look at her life and career thus far.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. I'm Hillary Kerr, the co-founder and chief content officer of Who What Where, and this is Second Life, a podcast spotlighting women who have truly inspiring careers. We're talking about their work journeys, what they've learned from the
0:22.2	process of setting aside their doubts or fears, and what happens when they embark on their
0:27.8	second life. Today on the show, I'm chatting with the chef, author, and host of Top Chef,
0:35.4	Kristen Kish. Kristen briefly studied international business in college before
0:40.8	eventually dropping out and pursuing culinary school instead. After finishing her training,
0:47.0	she pursued a series of culinary jobs in Chicago and Boston, building up her skill set and gaining
0:53.5	some important life experience as well.
0:56.6	In 2012, she was cast on the 10th season of the legendary culinary competition show Top Chef
1:03.0	and ended up winning the whole thing. In the years after her win, she founded the Austin
1:09.5	restaurant, Arlo Gray, released a cookbook,
1:12.9	and became the host of several food shows, including 36 hours and restaurants at the end of the
1:19.3	world. Then, last year, Kristen rejoined Top Chef for its 21st season, but this time, she was hosting the show. And in addition to adding
1:31.3	Top Chef hosts to her resume, this April she released her memoir, accidentally on purpose, which is such
1:39.1	a frank, insightful, and beautiful look at her life and career. This was such a great conversation for many
1:46.9	reasons, not the least of which is Kristen's amazing wit. But what I love is that when looking
1:53.3	back, she could see how all of the pieces of her winding career, no matter how difficult or
1:59.1	draining, added up to where she is today. I hope you all enjoy
2:03.5	it as much as I did. Now, on Second Life, it's Kristen Kish. All right, are you ready to start?
2:12.9	I am so ready. Okay, good. So, on this podcast, we like to start at the beginning. So what did you study in
2:21.1	school? Much more importantly, what did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
2:26.5	Let's see. I studied a lot of things in school, depending on which school we're talking about.
2:30.8	But assuming post high school, my first year of college, I was going to Grand Valley State
	...

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