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Recipe for Success S ally J ackson ’ 9 6
F
ood writer and actor Sally Jackson ’96 combined her passions to create her career. The broad range of activities that were part of her Nobles experience prepared her well for the multifaceted nature of her work today. “Being encouraged to try new things at Nobles taught me to be open to all experiences and, by extension, to all career paths,” she says. “I learned from my teachers to discover what you love and to make it into a life for yourself.” Jackson graduated from Connecticut College in 2001 with a degree in English—and dreams of becoming an actor in New York City. She moved into an apartment with classmate Vanessa Raptopoulos ’96 and joined the repertory theater Eastcheap Rep. Over the next nine years, the group wrote, directed, produced and starred in a series of off–Broadway plays that included Friction, Natalie and Jumper. Jackson remembers it as one of the busiest periods of her life. “At one point, we were putting on six shows a week for a month straight—and that was on top of my day job!” At that time, her “day job” consisted of hostessing at Bolo, a Spanish restaurant owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay. A foodie herself, she had spent her college summers in a restaurant kitchen. She enjoyed the work at Bolo but had no intention of making it a career, so she was surprised when, in 2003, she was invited to interview for a newly opened position as Flay’s personal assistant—and even more surprised when she got it. She took the position without hesitation and has not looked back.
What began primarily as an accounting, scheduling and research job quickly expanded when she was asked to write a proposal for Flay’s cookbook, Grilling for Life. The Food Network star loved the proposal and asked Jackson to join the book’s fulltime team of writers. Grilling for Life was published in 2005 and was an instant seller. Since then, Jackson has been a contributing writer for three more hits: The Mesa Grill Cookbook (2007), Grill It (2008) and Burgers, Fries, and Shakes (2009). A fifth book, The Bar Americain Cookbook, comes out in October. These days, Jackson considers food
and writing to be her primary pursuits, but she continues to act on the side. She still performs in one Eastcheap Rep show a year—A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters, a play that she first heard Erika Guy and Bill Bussey recite from in Assembly. Looking back, Jackson is still surprised at how her career has unfolded. While she could never have predicted where she is now, she is delighted with the direction her passions have taken her. “My job combines two of my favorite things: food and writing. I can honestly say that I love what I do.” —Megan Ryan
Sally Jackson ’96 and her husband Luke Rosen at their wedding in Zihuatanejo, Mexico
Spring 2011 l th e N ob les Bulletin l 3 5