Finding Founders

Before Carla Hall was a Top Chef legend, she was an accountant miserable at accounting. One day she got a chance to move to Paris and pursue modeling full time. Desperate for a change, she said yes, abandoning her dull yet stable career for the notoriously competitive and fickle fashion industry. Despite her lack of language skills and threadbare safety net, she transformed herself into a successful Parisian runway model. During her modeling journey, Carla discovered her passion for cooking. When she returned to the U.S., she dove into the culinary world, first as an executive chef at high-end D.C. restaurants and then as the head of her own catering company. Then Carla said yes to another risky opportunity and joined Top Chef season 5. The chaos and public scrutiny of reality T.V. challenged her culinary skills and business acumen, but it also led her on an adventure with countless possibilities. Saying yes ultimately gave Carla the freedom to express herself across disciplines and mediums as a chef, T.V. Ho