Grief, Curiosity, and Renewal: Why I Changed My Business Name

A lot has happened in these few weeks - some heavy, some beautiful, most of it still settling in my bones.

After 30 years teaching cooking to 50,000+ students, I've learned that the most important transformations often come from the hardest moments. 

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My sister's death and a powerful retreat led me to change my business name from Gather Culinary to Nourish and Gather - reflecting what I actually do.

A lot has happened in these few weeks—some of it heavy, some of it beautiful, and most of it still settling in my bones. 

My sister passed away Thursday after being ill, and I’ve been moving through grief and reflection.

I wasn’t sure whether or not to share this here, but this community means so much to me—and part of nourishment, part of gathering, is being willing to share truthfully. 

Just a few days before that, I led a retreat in Virginia. It was heart-opening. We cooked, we talked, we slowed down. We rested in stillness—and we traveled inward through sound. The sound journeys were powerful reminders that healing doesn’t always come through words. Sometimes it comes through resonance, through vibration, through letting yourself be fully supported by sound. 

I watched people step out of fear and into curiosity. These shifts are why I do this work.

So here I am—sitting in the in-between. Loss and love. Pain and purpose. March into April. And maybe you’re feeling some of that too.

Spring break is coming up. Spring renewal. It’s not all sunshine and daffodils. But it is an invitation—to pause, to plant seeds, to begin again. 

You might notice I changed the name of my business. Gather Culinary is now Nourish and Gather. It felt like time. We don’t just cook here. We connect. We care. We feed ourselves and each other—through food, yes, but also through presence, through sound, through stillness. This new name holds more of what I actually do.

That’s the heart of it all.

Thank you for being here. 

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