For Reals Meals hosted by Melissa Pierce of Everpurse

I mean, the blue glasses sort of give away what a fun host Melissa Pierce was for the the latest For Reals Meals. She’s the COO of the super-cool Everpurse, so I was really excited to meet her and have her host. She wanted to have her lunch at RM Champagne Salon, which I was pretty excited about, for a few reasons. (1) Because they are an OPP partner. (2) Because I love the sweet coziness of the space. And (3) Jared Van Camp (chef and partner at RM) is a master veggememelier (I just made up that word…you can blame it on the documentary Somm).

Melissa’s guests included Gina Doctor, Rachel Taylor, and Jess Lively. A crazy-talented group of women that I learned a lot from at the lunch…in fact, a major AHA moment happened that day for me (I’ll get to that in a minute). For the menu, Jared really showed off his plant skills and wowed us with his menu: Roasted carrot salad with arugula and almond vinaigrette, Black quinoa and roasted beet salad with watercress, Warm Brussels sprouts hash with farro and tofu, and Pommes Bon Femme (roasted apples, nuts and honey). 

So about that AHA moment. Throughout lunch I listened to Gina talk about how she was an actress in LA and then worked for a very famous designer and now she works for MNML. Melissa also shared her work history, from being a life coach, entrepreneur, coder, and event organizer – to now, the COO of Everpurse. And Jess, who had a successful line of jewelry, transitioned to a business, interiors, and life consultant (and soon, author). I listened to all of these women and thought about how gifted and talented they were. They were just so good at so many things. Which is the opposite of how I’ve sometimes felt about my career path.

I’ve been a store owner, designer, publicist and marketer, bar owner, creative director, assistant, and a consultant. And now, here I am…a plant-vangelist. And with all of these experiences, I’ve oftentimes worried that I didn’t have a specific “thing”. One thing. Like most people out there. Did this crazy range of jobs make me flighty and unfocused? Or was I just a curious person? That day, listening to all of these women, it all clicked. You don’t have to have a “thing”. Maybe your thing is having lots of things. And maybe all of these things lead you to the big one you’ve been waiting for (like OPP). I sorta already knew this. I can even hear my Dad saying “told ya so” as he reads this, because he’s said this exact same thing to me a million times. But sometimes you have to hear other people’s stories to understand your own. And this day, I finally got it. Thank you Gina, Melissa, and Jess for giving that to me.

Have you been lots of things too? What have you learned from it? Share it!