Reinvention Is Power
Watch Kristen Hess in Women in Power TV series on Inside Success Networks! I’m so happy to share this amazing journey and the show with you all as there are so many other amazing and inspiring women on the show and each story, including my own is heartfelt, and full of lessons for life and business. My episode goes into how I built a life shaped by creativity, resilience, and reinvention.
Growing up in Rochester, New York, I was inspired early by art, ambition, and the electric energy of New York City. Years later, that childhood dream carried me through careers in graphic design, advertising, and ultimately into entrepreneurship as the founder of The Artful Gourmet.
As a food stylist, photographer, writer/recipe developer and creative entrepreneur, I help brands make their food beautiful while sharing mindset lessons with creators and small entrepreneurs through my Artful Gourmet Podcast series. When personal loss and unexpected challenges shake my world, I face a defining choice. Through food styling, photography, cooking, podcasting, video, and storytelling, I began transforming pain into purpose, proving that creativity, determination and resilience can reshape a life – and that your past doesn’t define your future.
Kristen Hess joins the Cast of ‘Women in Power’ on Inside Success Networks
Kristen Hess builds a life shaped by creativity, resilience, and reinvention. Growing up in Rochester, New York, she was inspired early by art, ambition, and the electric energy of New York City. Years later, that childhood dream carries her through careers in graphic design, advertising, and ultimately into entrepreneurship as the founder of The Artful Gourmet.
As a food stylist, photographer, and creative entrepreneur, Kristen helps brands make their food beautiful while sharing mindset lessons with creators and small entrepreneurs. When personal loss and unexpected challenges shake her world, she faces a defining choice. Through food styling, photography, and storytelling, Kristen begins transforming pain into purpose, proving that creativity and resilience can reshape a life. Watch this inspiring interview about creativity, reinvention, storytelling, and turning passion into purpose.
📺 Watch the full episode on Inside Success TV:
Women in Power Episode
🌐 Websites:
The Artful Gourmet Blog | Food Styling + Photography Portfolio
🎙 Listen to The Artful Gourmet Podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music & iHeartRadio.
📺 Watch the full episode on The Artful Gourmet YouTube Channel
✨ Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE & SHARE with fellow creatives and entrepreneurs!
Key Takeaways
- Building a successful creative brand from scratch
- Transitioning from advertising into food media and entrepreneurship
- The evolution of The Artful Gourmet brand
- Food styling and photography as storytelling tools
- Reinvention, resilience, and creative confidence
- Expanding into podcasting, TV, and multimedia content creation
Timestamps / Chapters
00:00 – Intro + Welcome
01:12 – Meet Kristen Hess & The Artful Gourmet
03:40 – From Advertising to Entrepreneurship
07:18 – Discovering Food Styling & Photography
11:05 – Building a Multimedia Brand
15:42 – Podcasting, Storytelling & Creative Content
19:10 – Advice for Creatives & Entrepreneurs
22:30 – Women in Power Closing Thoughts
24:00 – Where to Follow & Watch More
“At the end of the day, if you’re excited about whatever it is you’re selling, people are going to buy from you because they like you and your enthusiasm.”
If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been diving deeper into storytelling across platforms—and it’s been such an exciting ride.
New episodes are live across all of my podcast series:
- #UNFILTERED — real conversations with creators, tastemakers, and innovators
- Into Focus — mindset, clarity, and building a creative life with intention
- Groovy Eats — where food, music, and nostalgia come together in the most fun, retro-inspired way
Each one is a different lens… but all rooted in the same idea:
living creatively, boldly, and sharing that journey out loud.
✨ “The more I create, the more I realize—this isn’t just content, it’s a conversation.”
Coming Home
And maybe the biggest shift of all…
I’ve finally moved back to New York. I’ve been planning this move for quite a while now, and the process has been a brutal one (getting out of a lease, and moving out of a huge apartment/photo studio that I’ve been in for almost 5 years. (How, just HOW do we accumulate SO MUCH STUFF???)
For now, I’ll be staying in Upstate NY helping out family for a little while in Rochester… then I’ll be moving back to the NYC full swing later in the year and I can’t wait!
It feels like a full-circle moment—returning to my roots, my creative foundation, my people. The city where so much of this journey began.
There’s something about New York that sharpens your edge, expands your vision, and reminds you what you’re capable of.
I’m beyond excited to step back into that energy, reconnect with friends and family, and open the door to what’s next.
And speaking of Rochester, I wanted to share a link to my delicious Rochester-Style Famous Chicken French (Francaise) Recipe that landed me on the front page of the NY Times Food Section a few years ago when I was interviewed by Julia Moskin, Staff Food Writer for the story… The recipe and styling suggestions of mine were quite the hit! In fact, it was their #1 most popular recipe for ALL OF 2018. You have to try this, you guys, it’s absolutely amazing. And one of my proudest moments in my culinary career – EVER.
News + Events
Download my free resource guide “The Art of Food Photography”
Sign up for my free LIVE DEMO coming in June
I’ll be showing you my basic food styling tips and tricks, and an easy natural lighting setup you can do at home with just a few tools and a camera. The demo will be about an hour and a half, with Q+A the last half hour.
Don’t miss it!
New Episode of Groovy Eats coming soon!
Stay tuned for my next episode of Groovy Eats coming soon!
We’re going all the way back to 1978 – for Disco Night with Donna Summer, retro cocktails, a groovy playlist and a few late night bites from a famous Tiki bar, The Islander, on Restaurant Row in LA.
So get ready for lots of sparkle, fun retro eats and drinks, lights, groovy tunes and a #disco party waiting to happen…You guys, it’s going to be SO. MUCH. FUN.
🍽️ Follow Us for More
👉 Read more stories, essays and recipes on Substack
💌 Subscribe to my Kit community page and newsletter for seasonal recipes, creative inspiration, and behind-the-scenes from The Artful Gourmet
👉 Follow The Artful Gourmet blog for more stories + recipes
👉 View our food styling + photography packages – you can now book a photoshoot or food styling session with Kristen online!
Check out our Amazon Store and ShopMy store with our curated favs from fashion, beauty, cooking and baking items, books and cookbooks, photography gear and more. Plus many of the brands I partner with offer special discount codes for 10-45% off their items on my shop! I’ll be posting all the specials and goodies on my Instagram, Facebook and TikTok pages so keep an eye out for these!
That’s all for the news and updates for now, stay tuned for more later this month..and thanks so much for being here! Your readership and support means so much, and keeps me motivated to keep creating fun content for all of you!
If you enjoy what you’re reading and watching, feel free to share this post and our blog with your followers and friends too. Hopefully the show inspired you all to keep believing in yourself, in your dreams and to never, ever give up!
And if you’ve already watched my episode, tell me in the comments below:
What inspired you MOST from this episode of Women in Power with Kristen Hess?
🔘 Building a creative business from scratch
🔘 Food styling + photography insights
🔘 Reinventing your career path
🔘 Personal branding + storytelling
🔘 Expanding into podcasting + media
🔘 The overall entrepreneurial journey
Cheers until next time!
xo Kristen
The Artful Gourmet | Kristen Hess
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