Maria Hines: Cuisine, Career Change and Keeping Your Spirit Alive Artwork

Happy When Curious

My name is Brady Ryan and I am a sea salt farmer on San Juan Island in Washington State. Ever since I was a child I have felt like my main skill was not that I was smarter or stronger or harder working or braver than anyone else, I was just a little more curious than the average cat. Since becoming a parent and trying to be a good husband and small business owner have taken so much of my energy and attention, I feel like this one superpower I have has fallen by the wayside. This podcast is my attempt to rediscover curiosity through conversation and contemplation. I will be alternating conversations with guests one episode with a short musing of my own the next. The musing episodes will allow me to try to explore ideas that I've heard or that I've come up with in an open ended way. My theory is that exploration is worth much more than answers and hopefully the interviews and the musings can live up to that principle.

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Happy When Curious

Maria Hines: Cuisine, Career Change and Keeping Your Spirit Alive

March 29, 2024 • Brady Ryan

What role does curiosity play in a restaurant? What is the connection between mountain climbing and cuisine? How do you maintain a throughline of values during a major career change later in life?

Join me as I ask these questions and more of the amazing Maria Hines!

Maria Hines was a Seattle restaurateur and Award-winning chef for many years, being recognized with the 2009 James Beard Award Best Chef Northwest. She is also the co-author of the cook book Peak Nutrition: Smart Fuel for Outdoor Adventure.

Maria cooked professionally since age 17, opening only the 2nd certified organic restaurant in the nation in 2006-which wasTilth in Seattle WA. Tilth which was quickly recognized as one of the top 10 new restaurants in the nation by the new york times. Since moving on from running restaurants she has been using her entrepreneurial experience to work with a variety of food and beverage operations, consulting, developing retail products and building storytelling content for companies aligned with her values.

You can learn more about Maria and her work at her website and support her non profit Blue Sky Minds here.

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Brady Ryan

Host