Thursday, June 23, 2011

Gals We Admire: Laura Calder


This Canadian career gal has the best of both worlds—she gets to work alone at times, and as a team during other times. Find out what Laura Calder, the witty and charming host of Food Network Canada's French Food at Home, has to say about her career as a writer and TV personality.


Name: Laura Calder
Profession: Food Writer and Television Host
Twitter handle: @LauraCalder

Describe your typical work day, from start to finish
My preference is for a very early start. I get up and respond to e-mails with tea in hand. Then, if I’m writing, I get right at it because my energy is best early. Early afternoons are my time for a long walk or yoga. Then I go buy food and come home and cook (often this involves recipe testing). If I’m on a television shoot, it’s a different story: my start to the day is even earlier, hair and makeup gets thrown in, and I don’t see daylight. Luckily that schedule only ever lasts a matter of weeks.

When you were a kid, what did you want to grow up to be?
A diplomat.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I like the balance between physical and cerebral activity and I like the balance between working alone (writing) and working with teams (television).

What do you find to be the biggest challenge in your profession?
With a job like mine, there’s no way to be anonymous and that can be difficult to manage. Public people often get objectified and treated accordingly, which is no fun, and there is a constant demand to do things for free which, after a certain point, becomes impossible (plus, it’s insulting).

Do you believe you had a "calling" for your profession?
I think I do.

What are the most important pieces of career advice you would give to other Canadian Career Gals?
Be true to yourself.

When people tell you you can’t do something, prove them wrong.

3 comments:

  1. I love reading about successful Canadian women! Great post CCG!

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  2. Thanks for the compliment, Nancy! There's no doubt our country is filled with many amazing accomplished women worth admiring, and we're happy to share their stories with our readers--all of whom are gals we admire, too!

    By the way, if you have suggestions of women to feature on our site, please send us an email to let us know about them!

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  3. I agree with Nancy - it's great reading about successful, career minded CANADIAN women. And, I have an awesome Laura Calder Apple Tart recipe that I make all the time! I think she is great!

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