Author: Editor

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Giada De Laurentiis, a 55-year-old chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur, based in Los Angeles. This story has been edited for length and clarity.I’m an Emmy Award-winning chef, cookbook author, restaurateur, and entrepreneur. After studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I worked as a chef and food stylist before Food Network reached out to me. My first show, Everyday Italian, premiered in 2003.I travel often for work, so when I’m home, I try to keep as much structure as possible.Here’s a day in my life in Los Angeles.I set an alarm…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brenda Eicher-Beard, in her 70s and living in Virginia. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I spent most of my career life in Maryland, but I moved to Virginia a decade ago because my daughter lives and works there.We kept our home in Maryland because we intended to return after helping with childcare. However, we ended up staying due to my husband’s health declining, to be near my daughter for her assistance, and for the medical facilities and physicians.When my grandson was in kindergarten, my husband was in good…

In 2021, when I joined Business Insider as a workplace reporter, I noticed something strange about my new readers: They were obsessed with the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement. Week after week, I watched them flock to stories about people who stopped working in their 30s and 40s.Having spent much of the 2010s in San Francisco, I had occasionally heard about high-earning tech workers sharing tiny studios with multiple roommates and subsisting on instant ramen so they could retire young. I never understood why they were killing themselves just to escape what seemed like perfectly good jobs. FIRE, as I…

Mary Steenburgen, 73, says she isn’t haunted by the roles she missed out on because they led her to the life she has now.Speaking on Saturday’s episode of The Daily Beast’s “Obsessed” podcast, the actor said she made “one big mistake” in her career by passing on a role that she “probably should have done.”Steenburgen said she’ll “never tell anyone” which role it was out of respect for the actor who ultimately got the part. However, looking back, she doesn’t really regret the decision because changing that one choice could have changed the course of her life, she said.”I know…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ananya Joshi, a 26-year-old Indian national who lost her job in 2025, had to exit the US because of her visa status, and moved to Germany for a new opportunity. It has been edited for length and clarity.I inherited the American dream from my father, who wanted to go to the US but lacked the financial means.Growing up in New Delhi, we had a little Statue of Liberty souvenir on display in our home. My father saved for years so I could study in America.After completing my bachelor’s degree in India,…

A Walmart Supercenter is a fluorescent palace of American consumption.To US shoppers, it’s a utilitarian one-stop shop where groceries, televisions, tires, and just about everything else sit beneath one enormous roof.To some international World Cup fans, though, it is a viral tourist sensation. Many fans made a point to visit Walmart during their stay in the United States. Even Spanish soccer star Lamine Yamal shopped there between matches.Walmart said it organized the tours to seize on all the attention. Over the past month or so, the retailer has worked with the professional Spanish soccer league, LaLiga, to offer guided store…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lena Koropey, 48, whose mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Koropey’s mother currently lives with her, but Koropey plans to build an ADU in her backyard and move into it. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 10 years ago, and her condition has gradually progressed. It’s definitely getting harder each year.I’m Ukrainian American, and in our culture, there is a strong understanding that family members care for one another. So, although my mother has a live-in caregiver, I oversee her care and well-being —…

Robert Isom, chief executive officer of American Airlines Group Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025.Christian Monterrosa | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has a math problem.The carrier is flying about 6,500 flights per day this year — nearly an entire Alaska Airlines more worth of travel more than its closest competitor, according to Cirium — yet American’s profit gap has grown. United Airlines brought in about $3 billion more than American last year, and U.S. profit leader Delta Air Lines made nearly $5…

My deeply southern family raised me to never talk about money. We were poor, sometimes living in our car, and occasionally hungry. But we never said it out loud.Now, as a single mother of three kids with significant medical needs, I’ve worked several jobs to pay for their childcare and healthcare.Still, I ended up with $100,000 in debt. I was ashamed until I started talking about it with people in my life. My friends’ reactions were surprising — and ultimately brought us closer.My family taught me that poverty was a state of mind”Always broke but never poor” was spoken so…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Cynthia Everett, a ride-hailing customer in New York. Business Insider verified the price differences that she described with screenshots. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.I work in group homes and provide care to people with disabilities. That involves a lot of commuting to visit the people I work with.For a long time, I took Lyft rides, especially coming home from work at night as a safety precaution. The rides were generally 10 to 15 minutes each way and cost up to $20. I also took rides around Brooklyn…