What Ina Garten has said about Barefoot Contessa

Garten recalls that after a first day with $87 in sales, her husband calculated the store would not succeed.

“Jeffrey had a calculator and he multiplied 87 times the number of days in the summer. And he said, I don't think you're going to make it here”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Reinvent Yourself At Any Age: Ina Garten Shares the Secret to Transforming Your Life (Oct 15, 2026) · Listen from 18:02

Garten says wearing a gold necklace changed how customers treated her, showing one can change interactions by changing oneself.

“I thought it was so interesting to non-verbally change my relationship with the customers. We could change the conversation by changing ourselves”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Reinvent Yourself At Any Age: Ina Garten Shares the Secret to Transforming Your Life (Oct 15, 2026) · Listen from 25:50

Garten concluded from experiments that customers wanted simple food at home rather than fancy dishes.

“people have elegant taste, but they don't want fancy food at home. They want to go out for something fancy”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Reinvent Yourself At Any Age: Ina Garten Shares the Secret to Transforming Your Life (Oct 15, 2026) · Listen from 27:11

Garten says she sold the store to her chef and manager on her accountant's suggestion, financing the sale herself.

“And she said, why don't you sell it to the employees? And so we figured out a way to sell it to the chef and the manager”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: Reinvent Yourself At Any Age: Ina Garten Shares the Secret to Transforming Your Life (Oct 15, 2026) · Listen from 34:06