The day after her daytime talk show, Rachael Ray, ended, it didn’t even occur to the host and cook to take a break: She was on her way to Lviv, Ukraine, where she has been bringing key supplies to the country’s largest orphanage, a children’s hospital and a rehab center, whether by raising funds to acquire them or by buying them herself. She’s planning a fifth trip to the country in June.
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When Ray speaks about these efforts, her passion rings out. “I will keep going as long as these people need me,” she said. “These people are protecting democracy for the entire planet. There are children with no limbs, grandmothers who are building Molotov cocktails. All of the men, daddies and grampas, are working on the front lines. Our freedom is what we owe these people.”
Superhuman Energy
Ray’s energy is daunting even to her peers. “People like Rachael are what I call superhumans,” Sunny Anderson, TV chef, frequent guest on Rachael Ray and co-host of Food Network’s The Kitchen, said. “She’s able to do so much more in 24 hours than I can even imagine. To see it up close, you just see it’s like an engine.”
Janet Annino, who executive produced Rachael Ray throughout its entire 17-season run, noted how the war in Ukraine sparked something in Ray. “She’s smart as a whip and she has ideas coming out of every pore,” Annino said. “She gets so excited about things in a way I find very refreshing.”
Rachael creates recipes that almost anyone can cook at home and her bubbly and friendly personality is magnetic. She connects with people and what you see is what you get.”
— Emeril Lagasse, TV chef/restaurateur
Ray started in TV after being discovered by CBS affiliate WRGB Albany-Schenectady, New York, while she was working for gourmet market Cowan & Lobel. She had created a course teaching “30-Minute Mediterranean Meals” to shoppers that became a signature segment on the local evening news, then a show on the Food Network and finally a line of cookbooks. In 2006, she launched her daytime talk show with CBS Television Distribution in association with Harpo Productions, Scripps Networks and Watch Entertainment.
“Rachael is incredibly humble and relatable,” Emeril Lagasse, famed TV chef and restaurateur, said. “Rachael creates recipes that almost anyone can cook at home and her bubbly and friendly personality is magnetic. She connects with people and what you see is what you get. There isn’t anything fussy about Rachael.”
All of that is why Ray succeeded as a daytime host, Steve LoCascio, president of CBS Media Ventures, said. “Rachael Ray is like your girlfriend teaching you how to make a meal every day,” he said.
Brand Builder
Ray’s brand has grown into cookware, furniture and home design, pet food and care and, of course, philanthropy. All of the profit from her line of premium pet food and treats, Rachael Ray Nutrish, goes to The Rachael Ray Foundation, which she founded in 2016 and helps animals in need and other causes she cares about. She also launched nonprofit organization Yum-o! in 2006. Named for one of her signature phrases, it helps kids and families develop healthy relationships with food and cooking. All of that has allowed her to donate more than $100 million in the U.S. alone.
Now she’s expanding those efforts to Ukraine and beyond.
Even with all of that on her plate, Ray already is planning her next content empire, with several shows in development. One thing is sure: wherever she is, Ray will keep on working.
“My grandfather taught me all of the most important lessons in life,” Ray said. “If I came home crying from kindergarten, he would say, ‘What are you crying about? You have 10 fingers, 10 toes and a brain.’ He gave me no excuses for not enjoying the gift of life itself and taught me to appreciate the privilege and joy of work. We all must learn, we all must work, we all must try — there’s no excuse for not trying your best at these basic things.”
