Why Doing Nothing for a Year Was the Best Career Decision Food Network Star Ina Garten Ever Made

By Jenna Goudreau

Type A people think they can figure out what they want do next while they're doing something now. But they can't. It's impossible.

> Find a food job
> Find a writing job

That's the advice that Ina Garten, 67, the best-selling cookbook author and host of Emmy Award-winning Food Network show "Barefoot Contessa," got when she was at a standstill in her career.

After spending 20 years building a specialty food store in Westhampton Beach, New York, she suddenly felt unfulfilled. "I worked very hard to build that business," Garten told interviewer Moira Forbes at the Forbes Women's Summit in New York on Wednesday. "Then when I was 50, it wasn't stimulating to me anymore."