Padma Lakshmi will speak at the Inspiration Conference on March 18 at Harrah’s Resort Southern California. Denise Visconti of Women’s Week Partner Littler Mendelson, shares this spotlight:
Padma Lakshmi is best known for her role as a model and as the host of “Top Chef.” But she is and has done so much more. Padma was born in Chennai, India. After her parents divorced when she was two years old, her mother left India to escape the stigma of divorce and came to the U.S. Padma followed two years later.
At the age of fourteen, Padma was in a serious car accident that broke her pelvis and shattered her upper right arm. The injury required surgery that left a seven-inch scar on her arm – a scar that later became her “brand statement” as a model for Armani, Versace, Ralph Lauren, and others. Her career in modeling led Padma to acting and then – after she had to gain and then lose 30 pounds for a role – to an interest in food.
Padma since has published two cookbooks, Easy Exotic (a collection of low-calorie recipes incorporating the flavors of Southeast Asia), and Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet (recipes for fusion dishes that blend cuisines with intriguing results combined with short but highly personal essays). She also hosts “Top Chef,” and has her own lines of Indian-inspired jewelry, spices, teas and bakeware.
Most recently, Padma authored Love, Loss and What We Ate, a memoir that traces her life from a child shuttling between continents to her place at the “Top Chef” table, sprinkled with recipes from her journey along the way.
Padma joins us for Women’s Week’s Inspiration Conference on Friday, March 18. We hope you will, too.
Denise Visconti
Office Managing Shareholder
Littler Mendelson
501 W Broadway, Suite 900
San Diego, CA 92101