Christmas cookies – seven years ago the sugar-laden favourite was the thing that inspired Diana Yen to give up her job in home product design to pursue her passion in baking and good styling. It all started with a batch she made for a Martha Stewart craft fair with best friend and former business partner Lisel Arroyo. The pair sent the batch over and didn’t think twice about it until the phone rang. The cookies went down so well that Stewart’s team invited them back to do a demo on her show. The catch? They wanted to the pair to provide the cookies for sale. In order to take part, they needed to become a registered business so within a couple of weeks they managed to build a website, nab a business licence and partner up with a bakery to make the cookies so they were ready to go. Moments after going live, their cookies sold out and the rest, as they say, is history.
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The delicious recipes Diana creates are more than trailblazing baked goods we’ll have you know – they’re the personification of what it means to be unapologetic about what you believe you in. Of course, trusting her guy played heavily into her success story as a chef and entrepreneur too. First when she took a gamble with that Martha Stewart opportunity but also when took a leap into the unknown, leaving her senior design job behind, but again when she decided to drop the catering side of her business (despite it being the most profitable part of her work at the time) to focus on food styling and recipes for magazines and online titles way before the whole foodie movement became the phenomenon that it is today.
After parting ways with her friend and deciding to move forward alone, she’s launched a hugely successful cookbook, full of the kind of easy, seasonal recipes she’s become known for and has amassed a roll call of clients like MAC, Kinfolk and Cherry Bombe magazine, operating under her multidisciplinary creative studio, The Jewels of New York. Today she shares the journey of founding her successful studio and pursuing the work (and lifestyle) that satisfies her most.
LIFE BEFORE FOOD: I graduated from CCA in San Francisco with a degree in Product Design. I’ve always loved everything in the home, so I pursued furniture design and textiles for six years until I found the path to food. New York had more opportunities in the design world, so I naturally gravitated towards it. I interned for a couple summers at design studios and fell in love with the vibrant energy there. I moved to NYC with very little money after college and my cousin agreed to let me crash on his couch for a while until I found work. I was thrilled. I remember dragging a huge portfolio around town and going on a ton of interviews until I landed my first design job. I continued to work in design for years until I began to cook on the side. I always loved that food was immediate pleasure and that anyone could enjoy it no matter what his or her age is or background. It was intuitive and sensual.
WHERE HER LOVE FOR COOKING BEGAN: My mother is great at cooking Chinese food; growing up she would cook us multiple courses at each meal. It was what brought everyone together at the end of the day; I felt how important that was for my family. She would meticulously shop for the freshest produce and seafood, plan our meals and pack lunch every day. Asian parents can be very formal with their children and food was a quiet way to express their love. I remember thinking recently that all the other kids in school were eating processed packaged foods, like Lunchables and I always had something home cooked. At the time, I probably just wanted to fit in and eat fast food like the other kids, but now I’m really thankful that my mom made cooking a priority for us. I didn’t think about it much when my mom took care of it, but once I moved to college in San Francisco I was panicked. I knew that if I wanted to eat healthy, delicious food I’d need to learn how to make it myself. After I visited the Ferry Building Market a couple times, my curiosity grew around all the beautiful produce I was seeing. I started picking up food magazines and experimenting with all kinds of produce. San Francisco is the place where I fell in love with fresh produce and cooking seasonally. Natural, lush and colourful became my style.
ON THE WOMAN & MAGAZINE THAT INSPIRED HER: [Chef and restaurateur] Alice Waters pioneered the movement to eat organic and local in the US. It seems like a very normal thing now, but it was at a time when people were eating a lot of frozen dinners, canned and processed foods. Her philosophy was about taking your time, doing things slowly and mindfully. It helps you remember that food really comes from the earth. Her recipes are written like poetry and they really celebrated the ingredients. Stepping into her restaurant is heavenly; every detail from the arts and crafts architecture of the building to the polite and informative service, and copper cookware in her open kitchen is mind blowing. Gourmet magazine was a pioneer in lifestyle, before bloggers and Instagram existed. I remember seeing a summer issue with a group of friends in a country house, swimming and eating lobster rolls. I just wanted to live inside that world. It wasn’t just about cooking a recipe; it was about the whole story that surrounded the dishes. It invited you into another world. The magazine celebrated the art of entertaining.
THE MARTHA STEWART MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING: I began my studio with my best friend Lisel Arroyo. We worked at a design studio together and loved cooking for friends on the weekends. Some of our friends happened to work at magazines and invited us to participate at Martha Stewart’s craft fair. We freaked out because we could only make 2 dozen cookies in an hour, in my tiny apartment oven. I was distressed over the idea of having to make hundreds of these. We also both weren’t morning people and decided we probably wouldn’t be great bakers. You have to wake up at 4 or 5am for that type of career, definitely not my thing. My parents suggested we partner with a cookie factory to produce them. Everyone rejected us because our minimum was too low but finally someone agreed and we were in business. We designed our own branding and packaging and built an online shop to sell them. After many baking failures, we ended up staying awake all night baking these ornament cookies. We thought they would be a total flop but to our surprise the editors loved them. They asked if we wanted to come on the show to make them. We were over the moon at the chance of being on television. They didn’t make it easy though, we had to have a business and be able to sell them on TV so we rushed to get our business license and website built in two weeks! Just to impress Martha Stewart.
TAKING CALCULATED RISKS AND BEING OPEN TO CHANGES IN DIRECTION: The Martha Stewart experience made me take a leap into the unknown. It’s not always easy to make a job out of your passion but we trusted our intuition when we had this opportunity. I’ve never planned very far ahead; I see my career as stepping-stones. If you get good feedback in a particular area, take it as a sign to jump ahead to the next step. It’s all about taking calculated risks. We took what we were doing seriously when we started Jewels of New York, but knew we could always go back to product design if things went south. I don’t think a career is a straight path, the more experience you have in other worlds, the better it is. My background in design actually helped out a lot. I was able to present myself in a professional light and had a sense of business that I learned from working in studios.
BEST PIECE OF ADVICE SHE RECEIEVED WHEN STARTING OUT: Don’t quit your day job right away. It actually took my three years to dedicate full time to my business. It takes a lot of money streaming in to start a business, so you’ll need a source of income from the start. Once your service becomes a demand you can slowly wean yourself from your day job. Most people I know quit a job they hate and suddenly want to start a creative business. They have so much pressure to succeed in a short amount of time and they can easily become lost in the process. That’s why I suggest testing your business to find that there’s a need for it before you dive headfirst. You need time for little failures that gradually build into knowledge, and that leads to success.
ON TAKING THE PLUNGE: The hardest part is working your way up to finally getting a well-paid day job, and suddenly feeling like you are throwing it away to pursue a dream career. But there is something about sitting in an office and staring into a computer screen and knowing that if you just stay there, you’ll be in the same spot in another five years. It’s great but not totally rewarding because it’s not your own vision. There’s this inner desire and thrill to dive into the unknown, to see what you’re fully capable of. I think that part of me needed to see what my studio was capable of if I dedicated to it full time.
IT TOOK EIGHT YEARS TO BE AN ‘OVERNIGHT SUCCESS’: I decided to quit my day job once we had three house clients that needed material monthly. I found a studio share with a friend and decided to go full time on my own. It was the most stressful time because I wasn’t sure if I could make it happen. I had never even heard of a food styling/food consultation before! I have close friends and family that still don’t understand my job. But after eight years, I’m finally seeing the results of all the hard work.
STAYING STRONG DURING TOUGH TIMES: Surround yourself with supportive, inspiring people. Maybe it’s a mentor, someone you admire in the field. It may seem creepy to reach out to a stranger for a cup of coffee but if you’re polite and professional you’ll be surprised at how many people will actually want to help you succeed. If you’re passionate about something, people can sense it. It’s contagious. If your field is pretty narrow like mine was in the beginning, you can seek out other women that have creative businesses. Everyone has goals at different stages of their business, stories of successes and failures. It’s really nice to be able to share experiences no matter what your occupation. Also if you happen to be a good cook, offer to host a brunch party gathering! Community is super important for small businesses.
ON LEARNING FROM FAILURES: When we cooked for events it was very stressful. I was under staffed for a 150-person party and the food was ready to go out, but I realized there were no utensils to eat with! The rentals never came. It was a moment of extreme pressure and I decided to pull all the food back in, give the guests more booze until we shopped for more flatware. I learned that I don’t act quickly during chaos. I’m not meant to be the boss of more than 25 employees and need to bring in a manager for those moments. I knew that catering wasn’t for me after that. I was much better in controlled environments and cooking in smaller quantities. It wasn’t easy to quit doing big catering jobs to make editorial work, but after a couple years I found that I was more in demand for styling. It gave me more happiness, so I decided to go down that path instead.
PARTING WAYS WITH HER BUSINESS PARTNER: She decided she wanted to go back to design and have a stable lifestyle (and pay check). I didn’t blame her, at the time we could barely pay our rents and weren’t sure how to engage new clients. We left our cushy design jobs to stand on our feet for 10 hours a day in a kitchen. It didn’t make any sense. I was pretty heart-broken because I thought we were on to something, I could sense something was there even though we hadn’t had a huge breakthrough. Over a coffee, my friend told me that she wanted to see me continue to grow the business on my own. That it was my vision to begin with from day one. I was shocked because I had always seen it as a full collaboration, but eventually I took ownership of it. I was lucky that she supported me to go on.
AN AVERAGE DAY: Lately, I’ve been traveling a lot so I’m bringing inspiration from all the places I’ve visited. I’d love to recreate dishes using local ingredients. When we are coming up with recipes, I start the morning at the markets to check out what is in season. I pick out anything that looks and tastes amazing and use it as a starting point for recipes. We’ll draft out recipes, test them and photograph everything along the way. We are lucky that most clients trust me to showcase food in the best light; I have a lot of creative freedom.
HOW HER COOKBOOK CAME INTO BEING: When we started our business, we thought how fun it would be to make a cookbook together. Obviously, we didn’t have many clients in the early days so we put together a book sample during a slow time. After we became busy, we forgot about it. It wasn’t until two years later, when my partner decided to leave the business that I found the sample and I asked her if she wanted to work on the book together. She agreed and I began shopping it around. We were happy that we found a publisher that was a fan of ours and wanted to help us bring it to life. The book is inspired by seasonal activities and entertaining. There are menus for different occasions, for example in the fall, we went apple picking and made recipes that feature different ways to use apples. It a very playful book that showcased all the wonderment I felt when I first moved to the city.
FAVOURITE FOOD MARKETS IN NEW YORK: Once a week I like to visit the Union Square Market, where I check out whatever happens to be in season. It’s a great place to find local produce and to learn more about the farms that grow your food. The spring and summer seasons are incredible, but it definitely slows down in the winter. Besides the farmers’ market, I enjoy going to Eataly (Mario Batali’s joint) and Chelsea market. The quality of the produce is high at both of these places, plus you’ll find delicious specialty product there. And if you’re not in the mood to shop, you can always grab a bite to eat at one of their restaurants.
THE INGREDIENTS SHE ENJOYS USING MOST: I love cooking with in-season produce. It doesn’t usually need much and if it’s peak season, you can trust that it’s going to taste amazing. I’m also a big fan of spices, there’s nothing quite like pan roasting and grinding up fresh spices in a mortar and pestle. I’ve been into Middle Eastern dishes; it’s fun to explore new flavours and areas that I’m less familiar with.
THE COOKING TOOLS YOU NEED: The microplane is incredible for zesting lemons and grating garlic. Mincing garlic is my least favourite thing and it gets my fingers smelly. With the microplane, you can grate directly into the pan. It’s easy and less dishes to wash. I also love my knives. My favourite one is Japanese Damascus steel and I bought it from a special knife store called Korin. When you purchase a knife, they have a Japanese knife expert show you how to use a water stone to sharpen it by hand.
FALLING INTO PHOTOGRAPHY BY ACCIDENT: I never planned on being a photographer; it came from necessity because I needed photos for my recipes. I was never formally trained, so luckily digital photography existed at this time. There was a lot of trial and error early on and it would have been so difficult to rely on film. I’ve always loved food photography and began collecting inspiration tears to use as reference. I think that prop styling can play a big part in making a good composition, so I started collecting table top pieces as well. I referenced my mood boards whenever I got stuck and would look at it whenever I was styling a plate. We are lucky to live in a time where you don’t necessarily need fancy equipment to take great photos. Some of the best photography I’ve done is from my iPhone.
HOW TO NAIL THE ULTIMATE FOOD SHOT: Shooting in natural light is always the key for me. Food always looks best this way, earthy and delicious. Also going to the market and getting fresh, colourful produce makes a big difference too. Food on camera is usually macro and close up, so I prefer buying baby produce. I think it looks more delicate and doesn’t overwhelm the shot. The second thing is using different surfaces to play up the mood. You can use linens, wood, slate and marble, anything you can find to mix things up. Collect tabletop props like plates and flatware whenever you see a flea market. I always find that flowers add an extra layer of decadence and life to the shots.
THE PROJECTS SHE’S MOST PROUD OF: I love the recipes and styling I’ve done over the years for Kinfolk Cherry Bombe and Epicurious magazines. In a digital world it can be really nice to see your work in print. One of my biggest clients has always been MAC Cosmetics; I do food concept style guides for their caterers globally to go with every make up collection. They like their desserts to match exactly to the make-up colours. It’s pretty crazy but the challenge is part of the fun. I’m currently working on the Cherry Bombe Cookbook that I’m super excited about. Their magazine is empowering and all about women in the food industry. They’ve built a huge community around them and I’m so happy to be part of it.
THE DECLINE OF PRINT WORKING IN HER FAVOUR: Even though I initially fell in love with the romance of print magazines, when I started my studio I found that there was more opportunity in producing digital content. Most of the online shoots had smaller budgets and needed high volume with quick turn around, and no one wanted to work on them. So I had the idea of doing big batches of online content for clients. I keep the propping minimal and often only work with one other assistant. Now we are flooded with that type of work and it’s what pays the bills. We easily do 100-200 recipes a month on average. Keeping the overhead low has allowed me to weather my business through slow times.