My surprise cousin, Kat Lieu, took the bold step of hanging up her white coat in 2020 and trading it for an apron. She started Subtle Asian Baking on a whim and turned it into a thriving community of hundreds of thousands of people, all discovering and celebrating the culture and rich flavors of Asian cooking.

To call her “queen of the pivot” would be apt.

What impresses me most, though, is how she doesn’t treat her journey as a pivot at all. Instead, she sees each step as a natural progression of the last. New directions aren’t detours, they’re callbacks. Off-script opportunities aren’t side quests, they’re next up on the GPS. No regrets, no “should haves”.

I hope in 2026, we all feel emboldened to be fearless (in the kitchen, and in life) like Kat.