Rachael Ray on Catching Her Big Break
The home chef impresario and endlessly expanding brand icon recalls how leaving New York ignited her career
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I had always wanted to live in New York, and by 1995, I was managing gourmet markets at Macy’s, back when that meant something. I was getting paid $100,000, which felt like millions. I thought I had arrived. I thought I could finally move out of Queens.
I’d work from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and at night my boss and his wife would drive me home. One night, a kid followed me to my apartment and tried to mug me. He stuck a gun in my back, and I freaked out and sprayed him with this little pop-top of pepper spray. His friend dragged him away, but a few days later the same guy mugged me again.