Aarti Sequeira

Aarti Sequeira was born in Bombay, India, on 19 August 1978. She has two sisters, When she was still an infant, her family moved to Dubai due to better job opportunities for her father. She participated in music-related activities at school, including choir and playing piano. She called her grandmother an "incredible, incredible cook". Sequeira's mother started keeping a recipe journal after her own mother died, which inspired Sequeira to start her own recipe journal starting at age 10. and she was nicknamed "Showcase" because she enjoyed dancing and performing for people. with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, with an adjunct major in International Relations. She worked at the school's student-run radio and television stations as a student, and spent a short time in Washington, D.C. covering the United States Congress for a local news station in Fargo, North Dakota. Sequeira described Medill as a challenging school, but said it helped make her feel tougher, more prepared for challenges, and "like I had something to offer". ==Early career==

Two weeks after her graduation from Medill, One year later, she transferred to CNN's bureau in New York City, Sequeira began working on the production of Sand and Sorrow, a documentary about the Darfur crisis. as well as a food blog called AartiPaarti.com, She felt comfortable working in front of the camera because she felt cooking segments were less pressure than some of the journalistic stories upon which she previously worked. She said these skits helped attract viewers from different demographics to her show, including teenage boys. Sequeira also hosted cooking segments for the website GoodBite.com for about one year. Sequeira initially doubted whether a cooking show was the best use of her education and training instead of something more "serious", but a friend and producer at NBC News encouraged her and "(made) me feel like a cooking show career could impact people just as much as a good news story could -- it can inspire, it can relax, it can inform". Sequeira said she experienced imposter syndrome in her early years making cooking videos because she had not gone to culinary school or worked in restaurants for a long period of time. Sequeira said she occasionally felt she was "not the best person for this job because I'm not your quintessential Indian", not having grown up in the country, and she described her early videos as "almost like doing an experiment; I was doing it because something in me was compelling me to do it". Sequeira openly discussed her struggles with self-doubt on her blog, which she later said helped her grow her following. ==The Next Food Network Star==

In part due to encouragement from her husband Sequeira auditioned to be a contestant on The Next Food Network Star, a Food Network reality television series in which the winner is awarded his or her own culinary show on the network. The Houston Chronicle described her as an "early fan favorite". though they repeatedly commented upon her admitted lack of self-confidence. Sequeira participated in 18 challenges over 10 weeks during her time on the show, During the season finale on August 15, Sequeira was tasked with shooting a pilot of her possible television series. Sequeira's pilot was Aarti Party, the title and style of the show were based upon her previous online cooking show, Aarti Paarti. Sequeira felt more confident about shooting the pilot compared to some of the other challenges, because there was no time limit and it did not involve cooking for celebrity judges. Entertainment Weekly writer Michael Slezak called Sequeira's pilot "thoroughly engaging and casually informative, while managing to present a dish that looked equal parts unique and delicious". Sequeira was selected as winner of The Next Food Network Star, defeating fellow finalists Tom Pizzica and Herb Mesa. This show represented a series of historic first in representation. It was the first female-led transition of a webseries into a network series. Sequeira became was the first Indian woman to be the on-screen lead on a U.S.-made broadcast television series on U.S. national television. Her preceding win on NFNS made Sequeira the first Indian person and first Immigrant, non-citizen to win a U.S. reality competition series. 'Aarti Party' also made Sequeria the first Asian woman to host her own cooking show series on Food Network, the first chef to host an Indian-cuisine centric series on cable television and the first immigrant, non-citizen to host their own recurring series on an English-language U.S. cable network. Tuschman said of Sequeira: "Aarti has that all-too-rare combination we seek in our stars: a passionate food expert who is warm, radiant, fun, and relatable." Slezak said of her victory: "the right person took home the crown". ==Food Network career==

The Food Network launched Sequeira's six-episode cooking show Aarti Party on August 22, 2010, one week after her victory on The Next Food Network Star. She was also featured in Food Network Magazine and appeared at the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival that October. In September 2012, Sequeira was a headliner at the Savor the Central Coast, a culinary festival in San Luis Obispo County, California. Since 2021, Sequeira has appeared as a judge on the holiday-themed cooking reality shows Holiday Wars, and Halloween Wars. Sequeira published a cookbook called Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul, In 2015, Sequeira began writing a recurring food column for the Associated Press, 'World's Fare,' making her the first Asian woman and first immigrant, non-citizen to become a nationally syndicated AP columnist. 1st IMMIGRANT, Non-Citizen to have a Nationally Syndicated AP Column. Sequeira was working on a new cookbook as of August 2022. Sequeira also released a book My Family Recipe Journal: With Prayers and Scriptures, inspired by her recipe journals previously made by herself and her mother. She intended for the book to allow others to document their own culinary traditions and flavors. Sequeira has been a guest on several talk shows, including The Today Show, The Talk, The Dr. Oz Show, The Nate Berkus Show, and Home & Family. == Personal life ==

Aarti Sequeira has been married to actor Brendan "Bren" McNamara since 2003. The two met when they were both attending Northwestern University, where McNamara majored in theater studies. They lived in Mid City, Los Angeles as of 2013, and the family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2020. Sequeira and her husband have two daughters, Eliyah and Moses Marigold. She suffered from post-partum depression after giving birth to Eliyah, and the experience led her to become an advocate for women suffering from post-natal mood disorders. She has been involved with the organization Postpartum Support International. Sequeira is a Christian and is devoutly religious. In addition to cooking, Sequeira likes improvisational theatre and has taken classes for it, which she said helped give her the courage to post her original cooking videos online. She also enjoys music, Middle Eastern dance, and visiting art galleries. She is active on the social media network Instagram. == Filmography ==