Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who've made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear's parent company, Clique Brands, each episode will give you a direct line to women who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on iTunes, and stay tuned—we'll be releasing new episodes on Mondays.
Everyone has interests outside of work, but not everyone knows how to turn their side hustle into a successful business. But it's safe to say that Sierra Tishgart, co-founder of cookware brand Great Jones, knows a thing or two about the transition. In the newest episode of Second Life, Tishgart tells Hillary Kerr how she went from being a Teen Vogue intern to becoming an entrepreneur in home cookware (along with her childhood best friend).
While in college at Northwestern University, where she studied journalism, Tishgart achieved the ideal scenario: having her dream job already secured before graduating. At the completion of her Teen Vogue internship back in 2012, she was offered a position as an online features editor, which she did part-time at first while finishing school. While writing about everything from the presidential election to the Olympics, Tishgart was developing her side interest: food.
"I was realizing that the food world was really quite antiquated [in regards to] how they spoke about women and the opportunities that were available for women," Tishgart told Kerr. "It was right at the height of that moment that men got to be these sexy restaurant chefs," she said, adding that female chefs didn't seem to be getting the same attention.
Head to iTunes to subscribe to Second Life and find out how Tishgart made the transition to food writing at New York Magazine's Grub Street and eventually launching Great Jones.
Next, find out how Kendra Scott built a billion-dollar business.