April 16, 2025 • 45 mins
Anastasia Ganias-Gellin was a thriving actress, appearing in iconic shows like Dexter, True Blood, Desperate Housewives and more. But when her father fell ill, Anastasia left Hollywood behind to return to New York to care for him and intentionally build her family. During that time - and after her father passed - Anastasia turned to cooking, her Greek-American family’s love language, to heal. That personal connection to cooking turned into more than a hobby when Anastasia decided to launch Fancy Peasant, the household pantry staple you can now find in stores like Erewhon. In this episode, Anastasia opens up about the grief of losing her father, learning to embrace her heritage with open arms, and the nuts and bolts of the business.
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She Pivots was created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight women, their stories, and how their pivot became their success. To learn more about Anastasia, follow us on Instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast or visit shepivotsthepodcast.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:00):
Hey, she Pivots listeners at Emily. Before we hop into
today's episode, I have some very exciting news. She Pivots
has been nominated for not one, but two Webvy Awards.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:14):
These are a huge deal in.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:16):
The podcast world and the best part the winners are
decided by you.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:22):
That means we need you to help us win.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:24):
And we're up against some pretty big names, just some
little old guys named John Stewart and Anderson Cooper, and
I think I could retire early if we beat them, so.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:36):
Every vote counts. Here's what you can do to help.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:39):
Head to the link in our show notes and click
on both the links, hit vote on she Pivots, enter
your infoh and bloom.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:46):
You're done.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:47):
Then, if you have time between school drop offs or
your next meeting, share it. Share it, Please post on social,
send to a friend, add it to your newsletter, whatever
helps spread the word. And before we jump into today's episode,
I want to just.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (01:00):
Say thank you.
Emily Tisch Sussman (01:02):
You are what makes the show happen and why women
feel compelled to share their stories. I'm beyond grateful for
this honor and hope we can show the world just
how powerful these stories can be. It's all for now,
go vote.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (01:22):
Welcome back to she Pivots. I'm Anastasia.
Emily Tisch Sussman (01:35):
Welcome back to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk
with women who dare to pivot out of one career
and into something new and explore how their personal lives
impact these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. I
(01:55):
don't know about you, but I am ready for some
warm nights, fresh meals, quality time. And there's no better
person to have on than Anastasia ganyas Gellen, the genius
behind the household pantry staple, fancy Peasant. You may know
her for her incredible recipes and cooking videos on Instagram
(02:17):
and beyond.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (02:18):
I met Anastasia.
Emily Tisch Sussman (02:20):
Dooring school drop off, and she immediately became one of
my mom friends, and boy am I glad that our
kids brought us together. Her energy is infectious and I
love how she puts her whole self into everything she does,
So you can imagine my delight when I found out
she made a massive pivot from acting into entrepreneurship after
(02:41):
a series of deeply personal choices and circumstances. She began
her career chasing a dream many of us have imagined
at some point acting. She spent years grinding to make
it in Hollywood and landing iconic shows like Dexter, True Blood,
Desperate Housewives.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (02:59):
And more.
Emily Tisch Sussman (03:00):
But like so many women who join us on, she pivots.
Her story took a powerful and personal turn when she
decided to move back to New York City to intentionally
build her family and be near her ailing father. Food
had always been a love language in her Greek American household.
It was how her family gathered, how stories were passed down,
(03:22):
how culture was preserved, and when her father eventually passed cooking,
the dishes she'd grown up with, dishes her father loved,
became her way of healing. Soon it became something bigger,
so she leaned into that. What started as a personal
home cooked comfort grew into a full blown brand, Fancy
(03:45):
Peasant that is now in thousands of stores, including Airwan
and World Market. With Fancy Peasant, Anastasia is sharing the
warmth and simplicity of Mediterranean home cooking, making it accessible, beautiful,
and rooted in heritage. From olive oil to pantry staples
to recipes that feel like they've been passed down for generations.
(04:06):
She's turning tradition into a brand that brings people together.
They're so simple that I was even able to make
one on her instead. Be sure to check out that
for a duet of us singing. This episode is about
so much more than a career change. It's about grief
and resilience, identity and joy and the courage it takes
(04:27):
to start over, not just for yourself, but for your
kids and your friends and your community.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (04:34):
Enjoy. My name is Anastagia Gania Skevin, and I am
an actor and an entrepreneur. I have a company called
Fancy Peasant, so I make Greek clean pantry essentials. So
we're gonna wind back, Sure, can you tell us about
little Anaesthesia? Like? What was she like? I, interestingly enough,
(04:58):
came from a family where everyone was like super linear,
really good at sports, and really really smart, and I
was a little bit of a wild card. My family
was such an anomaly because all of my dad's fronts.
My dad was born in nineteen forty three years later
the Greek Civil War broke out. He was sent to
a concentration camp and separated from his entire family. And
the fact that I'm even sitting here in this chair
(05:18):
talking to you is like a miracle, which I talked
to the boys about this a lot, like do you
know where you came from? On both sides were Greek
and Jewish, and the fact that we're even here is wild.
But Dad did something interesting because all of his friends
went into like the pizza business or just service write
more service industries, and my father got a full ride
through medical school, like washing dishes, and didn't even start
(05:41):
practicing until he was in his forties like my age now,
and did things a little differently, And he was really
really hard on us growing up because of that. He
was kind of like the mentality was like you're standing
on the shoulders of a giant. You have every single
opportunity I never had, you better perform. And he was
not on us at all. But he brought back the culture,
(06:03):
like all the good things. Like a lot of people
that came back from Greece after the Greek Civil War,
they never wanted to go back to Greece. It was
just like so much atrocity, and he just brought back
the food and the language and like the love of
everything being Greek. And my mother did the same. So
like my grandparents came here when they were eighteen, didn't
speak a look of English, so I was, you know,
(06:24):
always around the language, and then I was around just
all my fairy godmothers cooking these beautiful meals from Greece,
and I was like, it was all Greek growing up.
We didn't really steer from that. It's wild. Like I
remember going to school on the first day and everyone
was eating peanut butter and jelly, and I was like
whipping out a spinacopita. So were you in a Greek
(06:45):
community growing up or you guys were like the Greek family. Yes,
so I'm first generation Greek American and most of my
best friends were besides the people I went to school with,
and it was like we went to church every Sunday,
and that family there was really the foundation of you know,
my big fat Greek family. All around Worcester, Massachusetts. A
(07:06):
lot of people like came from Ellis Island and a
bunch of them went to Worcester, where I'm from, and
everything was Greek to me. And I look at that
now and think what a blessing, because it really it
really defined everything for me. And I think when you're young,
these formative years, I remember it feeling crazy. When I
was younger, I was like, why does everything have to
(07:27):
be so fucking Greek? And now it's like, especially because
I'm in an inter faith marriage and all these things,
it's like, it's cool to teach people where they come
from and then you let them fly and do what
they want to do. But it is a very special thing,
and I do think we're like we live in a
(07:47):
melting pot and we're losing a lot of that. So
to me now it feels even more precious to teach
the boys the language and to go there every summer
and to introduce them to their cousins and to tell
them the story about who they are and where they
come from. And I always tell people there was something
that happened having this foundation for me where it really
alleviated peer pressure for me, because I remember asking people
(08:11):
would be like like what are you and I'd be like,
I'm Greek. And there was something about like knowing who
I was where it gave me confidence. Let's say anything
like drug sex and rock and roll. I'd be like, no,
I don't do that, but like I know who I am,
I know where I come from. So I think whether
it's a spore or religion, like whatever your foundation is,
like it's like I know where I come from, and
I remember meeting people being like I don't think they
(08:31):
know who they are and where they come from. And maybe,
like in retrospect as an adult, I was like that
really gave me something powerful. There was confidence in knowing
like where I came from.
Emily Tisch Sussman (08:44):
Anna Stasia joked about her life being like my big
fat Greek wedding throughout our conversation, and just like Tula,
Anastasia didn't always embrace her Greek heritage with open arms.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (08:56):
Yeah, I mean my parents, and I'm doing the same
to my children, like that line in the Breakfast Club,
Oh my god, are you really going to be like
her parents? Like I am doing the same thing. My
parents ran a very tight ship. It was militant and
honestly it was like a little ridiculous. Like if I
wasn't home exactly on time, my mother would be like
waiting outside like in her robe, Like if I wasn't
like didn't make curfew or something. It was like very
(09:18):
different than what I would call then my American friends.
I'd be like, it's they'd get to eat mac and
cheese and go to KFC. Nothing's Greek and why is
everything so Greek, and why can't you speak English when
they're around? And now I'm like Grayson's friends will come over,
my kids friends, they'll be like, that's so cool, you
guys speak another language. I guess I'm doing it in
a little bit of a different way where it doesn't
(09:40):
feel so suffocating to my children, more like a celebration
of where mom and dad are both from this beautiful
Jewish culture and this beautiful Greek culture. Like what a
privilege that you get to be part of it and
learn so much from it and explore it. And so
I think I don't hold on to it as tight,
and I just try to kind of show them the
cool stuff, you know that that surrounds the culture. Knowing
(10:05):
another language is really first of all, it's mandatory now,
like everyone needs to know four languages in order to
be different. Also, another cool thing about like learning these
languages from young Like now languages, all this stuff comes
very easy to me because Greek is like Mandarin, it's
totally different alphabet. Like if you don't learn when you're younger,
you're never learning it. Yeah, it's just impossible. That takes
discipline when the other parent doesn't speak the language. So
(10:27):
like up until three, my kids barely spoke any English
because I was driving the whole Greek thing so hard. Yeah, okay,
so you went to college for theater. I went to
college for theater. Did you know what kind of acting
you wanted to do? Like were you always trying to
get to acting or where You're like, I'm in my
moment right now, and I'm just trying this out to
get to something else. So that was like my extra thing.
(10:49):
Like everyone has their sport and their instrument, I was
like part of it was musical theater for like six years,
I remember, like seventh, seventh through twelve, like I really
focused on that. I was always in the fall show,
in the spring show, and then I was just doing
it locally and thriving, which I was not used to
doing in my family unit like everyone else was like
thriving sports and thriving. And I started thriving and I
(11:12):
told Dad, you know, I want to go to like
a phenomenal theater program. And he was like, I'm not
sending you to college for theater, Like you've got a
double major, You've got to pick something else, Like that
is not happening. It was always a huge struggle to
be an artist in my family. It was a struggle.
It was a full blown struggle. And I think even
saying that out loud right now, I don't think I've
even said that. But you can send this right to
your therapist if you need to give a lot background.
(11:36):
But so I knew. I auditioned for a bunch of
theater programs and then I was told I had to
double major in order to go to any of them,
and I did, and I had a really phenomenal experience
in a it wasn't It was a musical theater program
with like a concentration kind of in classical theater studies.
(11:57):
So it was really fantastic. And I had no idea
that I wanted to work in television and film at
that point. I was like, I'm going to go to
New York City after this, and I'm going to audition
for like off Broadway and Broadway and you know, all
that kind of jazz. But you ended up in La.
I ended up in La. How did that happen? It's
so funny, right, It was working at a bar at
(12:20):
the time, going to more school. I was just studying
my first two years in New York City after I
had graduated college with like all of the girl like
great people that I wanted to work with, and really
getting like a fringe New York City theater experience, which
was so awesome when I think about how like juicy
and invaluable it was to just really grind it out,
(12:41):
like those hours in the theater, those one on ones
with like these incredible professors and people that had worked
in Broadway forever. Anyway, I met my manager like at
a bar that I was working at, a Greek restaurant
of course, Milos the Athility, of course, truly, because I
have to pick that restaurant to work at. And she
I was like, you can't just be auditioning for theater.
(13:02):
You have to like audition for you know, TV shows
and stuff like you want to make money. And I'm like,
I never even thought about it. It never occurred to me,
and I did. I started putting myself on tape and
one of the first things I booked took me to Hollywood.
It was for a pilot that actually never got picked up,
but I went there to film that pilot thinking it
(13:24):
would be like a week and I stayed for seven years.
Oh my god, because it's like that Hollywood's like that,
and I need it more really, once you get the bug,
like you're like, I just thought that, like this is
it and another huge thing, like my family was not
supportive of that move. Wow. My dad's a statistic person.
(13:46):
So I remember before I got on the plane to
move to LA he was like, so you do understand statistically,
for you to even make a co star or guest
star or any type of recurring part, it's one in
a million. And I looked at him and I said,
you do understand. I don't believe a statistic. I was like, Dad,
I'm a fucking actor. Do you think I believe in statistics?
(14:07):
Like you have to be so crazy out of your
mind thinking about it in retrospect to get on a
plane and move to Hollywood to actually think you're going
to become an actor. And I felt the same thing
going into the all of oil space. It was blind,
but there was no thought in my mind that it
wasn't going to happen. I knew I was going to go.
And you get there and you're filled with confidence. It's
(14:29):
not until you're like testing against superstars and in chemistry
tests against like big names where like imposter syndrome starts
to what am I doing here testing against like amberhard
right now? Like I faked everyone out and my dad everyone,
and now I'm here this moment. But like at that
point when I went to Hollywood, I was thinking, oh
I got this, Yeah what I do? So can you
(14:50):
tell us about that? I mean, it's such a hard industry,
like it is by definition all rejection. It is not
for the week at heart. I remember I had a
really good initial first run and I think that really
set like set up the foundation for me. I remember
I had met this new agent. She's like, we'll hip
pocket you, which is a very common thing. They're like,
(15:11):
we'll hippocket you for like a month. If you don't
produce for us, then like we drop you, right, and
it's crazy like I had that kind of luck. I
remember my very first show was called The Game. It
was on the CW and the breakdown was for like
a Hawaiian girl named Asia. And I walked into the
room and it was like thirty girls that looked like
(15:32):
they were like born in Honolulu, and I got the part,
but the part wasn't even the breakdown was like the
description was not me and that was such a big
thing in my head. I was like, they literally wrote
a breakdown for some of that they didn't pick, and
they picked me instead. There's no rhyme or reason as
to how you work in this career or what happens.
Producers just kind of like fall in love with Emily
(15:55):
or you know, Anastasia for the part. And so I
had a really good first run. I started booking Kose Stars,
which is like where you start, and those are like
two to ten lines, right, but you've got like you're
auditioning hundreds of people for those lines, and you're getting
used to the studios and navigating, and you're reading your
scripts and you're making fans and casting, which is really
important because you see the same person you know twice
(16:17):
a month, and you show up for them and you
show them good work every time, and eventually they do
give you a part. Okay, So at this same time,
let's bring your personal life into this. Sure you were
dating someone in New York? Yeah, my husband. So I
met my husband my thirty year in college. I was
a junior. We broke up very quickly after we started
(16:38):
dating because I was in a show and I saved
a seat for him in the front row and he
never showed up, and I was I was Electra. Do
you remember what show was that? Oh that was Gipsy. Yeah,
so I was Electra and I remember being he never
showed up. It was in a big theater in Boston
and I was graduating. It was a big deal for me,
and I was like, that's garbage. I can't believe you
just stood me up. And I didn't speak to him
(17:00):
actually until senior year, like mid midway senior year, we
reconnected again. I was in New York for like a
year or two before I went to LA, and he
stayed and came to LA to visit me like twice
a month for seven years until I was like career peaking,
and he was like, you need to say, this is
(17:21):
your dream come true. We can no longer do this
relationship long distance. It's like getting so weird. It's been
seven years and he had started dipping into his side
side hustle, which is he's in a hotel business now.
But like, we really pushed all the limits, but we
let each other really grow. And I think that's so
important even now because I think I've been with Hunter
(17:42):
now longer than I haven't been with him, and I
think two people really do need to grow on their
own in order to like, they need to be thriving
individually before they can really come together, I think, and
I think we're both like experts in that.
Emily Tisch Sussman (18:00):
Something we've touched on and various other conversations is the
conscious decision to start a family. I think for so
many driven women it can feel like this big question
mark that is looming over you until one day you
wake up and suddenly things have changed and what you
want has changed.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (18:17):
And for Anastasia it was no different. But I do
remember one of the last shows that I did when
I was there, I had a recurring part on True Blood,
and I remember talking to someone who was like one
of my heroes and I was like, oh my god,
show me some pictures of your kids, and she was like,
oh no, I missed the boat on that, but I
have like fifteen cats, and she like whipped out the pictures.
(18:40):
There's nothing wrong with that. But I remember thinking, coming
from this Greek family where I have hundreds of first cousins,
I was like, I'm about to miss the boat on
like the most important thing in my entire life, Like
the work will come, and I've already proved that to myself,
but like I need to like start to hone in
on the family because now I'm like in my late
twice about to turn thirty, and I remember turning a
(19:02):
corner thinking, I really want this too, I really want
this too. I'm a huge gut person. Always go with
your gut, and I knew when I had to leave.
I actually picked up and moved out of LA within
like twenty four hours. I alwaysay, I committed like career suicide. Wow, okay,
So did you know that you were committing career suicide
when you did it? Yes? Because of what I'm doing.
(19:22):
It took me seven years to make really strong relationships
and casting. I had worked on every single network, every
network I had worked on it. But I knew if
you go back to New York City, You're going to
have to start from the beginning. Even though you've worked
on all these great shows and you've done all this
great stuff. It was ballsy for me to get on
a plane and leave.
Emily Tisch Sussman (19:42):
Life intervened, the personal took over the professional, and she pivoted.
When we returned, Anastasia opens up about how this pivot
and ultimately the death of her father had a profound
impact on what she decided to do next.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (19:57):
Stay tuned. Shortly after moving.
Emily Tisch Sussman (20:09):
Back, Anastasia's dad, who had dealt with the chronic illness
for years, started to take a turn for the worst.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (20:18):
So my dad had gotten sick. And that's why I
actually always talk about divine timing that whatever happened with
Hunter made me get back because I got to spend
the last like two years with my father when he
was going through the worst part of his disease. He
was diagnosed I think fifteen years before he passed away,
and he had non Hodgkinson foma, and which you know,
(20:40):
my dad was like the healthiest man I've ever still
probably to this day. Like he was just he was
a real like naturalist, and he really still lived his
life like he lived in like a blue zone in
the mountains of Greece. He walked every day. He wanted
to walk everywhere. He didn't want to use a vehicle
a lot. He like ate everything from the earth. He
didn't eat too much meat, like all these blue zone rolls.
He was like that. So when he got sick, and
(21:01):
he was a physician, we were like, what the fuck,
what do you mean? You have cancer, Like, you know,
we just didn't have We were so lucky. We didn't
have anyone in the family that had dealt with it,
and for him to have it was really confusing because
he was just the doctor and like our whole Greek community,
and interestingly enough, he was like always really excited about
(21:22):
the evolution of medicine. So no matter what happened, he
was like, yeah, I've had like three or four treatments
so far, like they're going to come out with like
three more by the end of next year. He always
had this like really great attitude about his sickness. But anyway,
I came home, I got to spend a lot of
time with him, and I got to get married, you know,
and have both of our families kind of witness that
(21:43):
and be part of my first child's birth. So Dad
got to have the experience of having two grandchildren. But
it was pretty devastating for all of us. You know.
He died too young, which you know, comparatively to some
friends that I have that are even struggling with disease
right now at you know, seventy eight feels old. But
(22:04):
my dad was the type of person that would have
lived to like easy be a centenary and if like
this shit hadn't destroyed him.
Emily Tisch Sussman (22:09):
So I struggle a lot with that. And so you
said that after he passed, you went on this eat,
pray love journey.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (22:16):
I feel actually a lot of like entrepreneur stories come
from this, like you. It's kind of like the classic
hero story, like person comes up with crazy idea, everyone
thinks they're nuts for the idea. Then they like go
away on this journey to get what they want and
they've run into every single like obstacle ever and then
(22:37):
they fall into the abyss and come out on the
other end. That that's kind of where we are now,
at fancy peasant, like where in a really special place.
But initially I had been talking to my dad about
writing a Greek cookbook when he was dying, and I
was like, I want to make a cookbook that's for
someone like me, because Greek cooking is very overwhelming, like
if you're going to make a Spina copy doar a
(22:57):
black la vah, you think there's like a hundred steps.
And I never liked to read things and cooking. I
always wanted a visual So I told my dad, I'm
coming out with a cookbook. I thought that was going
to be the first thing, and still I haven't made
the cookbook yet. That's coming, but it's going to be called,
you know, Fancy Peasant, and it's going to be named
off of you know me and you kind of I'm
like the fancy version of you. Never had any of
(23:17):
these things that I had, but they all come from
like this peasant village where we're from. And so I
started cooking online as a way to stay like I
couldn't relate to anybody when my dad died. I was like,
my husband doesn't know what it's like to lose a parent.
My friends have no idea what it's like to lose
a parent. I don't want to fucking talk to anyone
(23:37):
right now. But I was cooking online and I was
meeting strangers that were like, meal time is the hardest
for me. I lost my son. I'm a chef, and
now I'm meeting frozen food because it's too painful to
cook because like I'm thinking about his favorite meals. And
there was this like good grief community forming around me,
like cooking these recipes and just talking about dad, And
(24:00):
eventually that kind of morphed into the cornerstone of all
these Greek recipes that you're cooking is olive oil, like,
and it's Greek, and you always just talk about all
this great Greek food, like can we get some? And
so I called my two best friends that are also
green olviously, and I said, guys, do you want to
go to Avoodio with me and like find I'm looking
(24:20):
for like some olive oil to give some of my
followers that are asking for And my supply had died
when dad died, and so I knew what I wanted.
I went to a bunch of like trusted family firms
that I knew, and I knew I had a little
bit like of a mommy audience following me. So I
needed it to be like stuff that I felt really
good about, saying, give this to your child three times
a day. You can cook with it. And we found
(24:42):
this product that just it was so perfect because you know,
in Greek cooking, there is no other cooking fat we do.
Our eggs are avocado toast, me mariny are salads. It's
not a fancy, peppery, over powery product. So I found
this liquid gold that I fell in love with. I
came back I it had this vision board of kind
of my whole Like for a decade before I came
(25:03):
out with the product, I had this really amazing vision
board and on Pinterest, and I came back and started
putting it together and came up with the packaging for
a fancy and then the pandemic hit and I was like,
oh my god, I've got hundreds of bottles of olive
oil in my garage and the country just shut down.
I mean, I'm going through a whole change at this point.
Why did I even get the olive oil? And now
(25:25):
the country shuts down? And the magic and that was
that it was when everyone was cooking online and so
I was so lucky to have this network of celebrity nutritionists, actors, models, doctors, athletes.
I said, would you mind getting on line with me
cooking a fancy peasant recipe and like pumping out the
product with me? Just then have fun talk about your
Achilles heel, like to keep this in line with how
(25:47):
we started. I was talking about grieving and dad making
people feel a little less lonely, like Jamie Sigler, can
you talk about what it's like having multiple sclerosis while
we cook this fita and like just help people a
little bit. It was really weird. It took on a
life of its own, really Fancy Peasant. The way it started,
it started by accident. I didn't come into this business
(26:07):
because I wanted to. It found me, right, and so
we did. And then slowly different people like buyers I
didn't even know, like Blooming Gills and Sex and all
these places. They have these people that scour Instagram. Can
we sell it? We have a fancy food department, can
we You know? That's how we started kind of gaining
traction at brick and mortars, and that is how we started.
(26:27):
We started up by accident.
Archival (26:30):
I am stating on this government there filming the first
episode for The Fancy Peasant at a dollop of Fancy
Peasant Greek extra virgin olive oil book that beat us
two to three minutes on both sides until they turned
golden brown.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (26:45):
And you stop them. Whatever vegetable with whatever meat, with whatever,
dippy moors.
Archival (26:49):
They are all made with our liquid gold our ganic
extra virgin olive oil.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (26:58):
But I started the business totally by accident when my
dad died, mourning over food, right and really missing him,
and I think staying connected because I was like making
a meal that him and I used to share together,
so I'd be making like a corn meal beta and
it made me feel closer to him. The food made
me feel closer to him. He was no longer here,
(27:19):
but I could eat something that felt like, you know,
I'm connected to Dad right now. And so many people
have that experience over food, And of course the grief
evolved into just this wonderful audience that really wanted olive
oil and cooking again is also is just such a
natural expression of like of who I am, where I
(27:40):
came from, what I like to do, how I lose myself.
I think cooking is very like transformative. It's been a
very transformative part of my healing process. I think whenever,
whether it's like running or cooking or putting all your
energy into something, it really helped me through the grief process.
And cooking with the kids and telling them about the
(28:00):
recipes and where the recipes came from. And I used
to cook these with ma Ya yan Babu and now
you're cooking them with me, and you're going to teach
your kids how to make them. I mean, it's tradition
is so awesome like that and keeping it alive is
so much a part of what we're doing, I think
at fancy, but we are doing something a little different.
We're like a lot of these recipes. We've taken these
(28:21):
old school recipes that are like a real beat that
is made with like pounds of butter. We're making them
with like all of that. We've kind of like modernized
all these Greek recipes and made them a little bit
more like I hate to sit lighter and figure friendly,
but you know, we're making them a lot more nutritious
because we're kind of like we're using all clean goods
and we're super heavy on the vege and the whole
(28:43):
foods and there's nothing processed. And we all know what's
happening with the longevity movement. I mean we're seeing it,
and it's a really exciting thing that I hope we
can actually figure out how to educate people much younger
and make it part of a school curriculum. How do
I eat? What do I do with cale? What do
I do with all this waste? How do I use it?
(29:05):
You know, I think we're really starting to gain an
education on like food and wellness and health. It's so important.
No one knows how to cook and it's cheaper to
get like really shitty food. So I love what we're
doing with teaching people how to bring people back to
like whole foods very simply. It's super simple.
Emily Tisch Sussman (29:26):
After the break, Anastasia gets into the nuts and bolts
of the business. How do you source olives and get
them shipped to the United States? Did she take outside funding?
Who helped her on this massive task?
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (29:39):
More soon? So how did you build a business?
Emily Tisch Sussman (29:52):
I mean, importing of food feels very complicated to me
and selling food?
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (29:57):
Was it just you?
Emily Tisch Sussman (29:59):
This was also during the pandemic, right, I know your
sister moved in with you. So my sister was living
with me at the time. She had just had her
first baby, and she had worked for a few startups,
and she logistically helped me get everything over here, her and.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (30:15):
I and No, we were it was the blind leading
the blind. I mean we were working with different graphic
designers to send the templates to Greece, and this family
I was working with really had this great attitude and
they were pretty educated. So like communication, Like right now
I'm dealing with like our honey producers, which like don't
(30:37):
speak a lick of English, And I think about like
if it had been vice versa and never would have
worked that way. Like our olive oil producers, the family
that we work with, they just they had been like
educated in the States and in London, and it really
made the process really special and seamless. And there's so
many logistics emulata that are such a navy. You're right,
(30:57):
I mean, importing stuff is a wild a specially right
now with everything going on in the ocean and delays
and the economy and you know, importings. I've learned a
lot from it. But so you guys, is during the pandemic,
your sister and her new baby, everyone is living with you.
There's nine of us, nine of you. We're cooking three
(31:17):
meal and I don't know why I did this, but
we were cooking like three meals a day for like
ten people, as if we were a restaurant. But I
was pounding the I had a Greek I call her
my fairy godmother woman living with me, helping me, and
she was trapped with us on nfortunately for her, yes,
so like fifteen babies running around. My mom had just
lost her husband, so she was there, thank God. But
(31:39):
like Maria and me got into this, my fairy Godmother
got into this rhythm of just waking up and recipe
testing every day, using Fancy Peasant and pumping out recipes.
I still do not have any marketing. I still do
not have any pr Everything we've done is organic like marketing,
we're just hopping on the badwagon with like meta and
(32:00):
all that stuff. But like the only reason I have
a business is because of Instagram. I started cooking. I
started using my acting skills to pump out my product.
So the way Fancy Peasant works is Anastagia teaches people
how to make longevity recipes using her products, and then
people buy them, and whether you ken or cannot buy
them doesn't. The cool thing about what we're doing is
(32:22):
like we're teaching people how to cook really delicious, beautiful
food that's really nourishing, whether you can afford our product
or not buy it somewhere else or use another oil.
But like what's really cool about it is I never
felt this in my acting life. I don't want to
say there's like a service part involved, but like when
people are like, no, you don't understand, Like I cooked
(32:43):
with my daughter and it's our favorite recipe tonight, and
like it's a tradition now, Like that is amazing. Yeah,
that is such an amazing thing for me because it's
like my roots, right, it's culture building based off of
your great experiences. You're helping them replicate it and build
their culture. It's phenomenal. So what do you think your
(33:07):
versions of success have been as you've gone through these
different phases? Like you went through like three pretty extreme
different phases, you know, from the acting to building a
family while still acting in there and now creating the business. Like,
what is your version of successmen in each one? Your
definition of success for yourself. I never worked as a
(33:28):
full time person until I had my third child. I
struggle with that a lot because I feel like I
kind of missed out on my on my third guy,
who's like turns out to be like the easiest out
of all of them. It's fine, but like if I
stopped the business today, just this new skill set that
I have learned and gained, entrepreneurship for me has been
(33:49):
just as hard as being a mom. I struggle a lot.
I don't like managing five people at my company and
then five people at my house, and I don't think
anyone can do all of it and I think being
a woman is really difficult because we are literally like
supposed to hold it all together. And for me, as
(34:11):
we grow and as we scale our business, it's become
very obvious to me, just like I think my children
need two parents that like fancy Peasant needs more than
just like me, right, And to be fair to like
how much the business is growing and all that, you
need a lot of support. You need to have a
really good team behind you. I struggle a lot with
(34:33):
you know, we're at a tipping point in our business,
and I struggle a lot with like I have such
a big vision and I wish I was okay with
like just being where we're at, Like we could very
much survive in the space that we're in. We're in
like you know, three hundred brick and mortars, But I
just know the potential. And when you know the potential
of something, you've got to like push all the way.
(34:56):
So I'm at that really scary phase in my business
where I know it's like now or never, and it's
critical for me to find like probably the number one
strategic partner that wants to play with me. And I'm
become this very like cutthrow animal at work. Because you know,
I only have so much time and I'm giving so
(35:16):
much away, and I don't know. Sometimes I don't feel
I'm being successful in any of it. I think that,
you know, I think it's really hard to be a wife,
a mom, a daughter, a sister, and then to own
your own business. My business is my fourth child. I
didn't want four fucking children. It's so hard, Like it's
(35:38):
really hard to do all of it, and then to
try to maintain friendships. And by the way, I think
I'm at the point of my life where like my
friendships possibly mean more to me than anything, Like I
really feel the need to be like, wow, I really
need to unload to like another woman right now and
talk to them about how I'm feeling. And I'm getting
older too in this business, and how much do I
(36:00):
want to give to the business because my kids are
going to be out of the house in ten years,
So should I give to the business in five years
from now? Or should I just give it all I've
got now so I can enjoy them in three years.
I just go back and forth about a lot. But
then I look at my family and I know I'm
succeeding because they are citizens of the world. They're not
just like living in this little bubble. And I do
(36:20):
think we're doing a really good job at being parents,
and that, to me really is success, just setting up
these these birds to fly and be successful in what
they want to do. I feel like when I hear
you articulate this and like your version of success right now,
it's more than just building a business. It's the underlying
(36:42):
culture piece of it. It's educating the public on the recipes,
on the dinner table, conversation, on the experiences, on the
nutritional aspect of it. Like, I feel like that's a
part of your success metric right now too. It is.
It is. I would not be in doing this anymore
if it wasn't. It's too hard, this entrepreneur thing. It's
(37:06):
with you. It's the idea is with you. You sleep
with it, you wake up. I'm at the gym. I
have a notebook at the gym because all the ideas
come when I'm at the gym or in the middle
of the night, and I write them all down. Oh
my god, spicy chili oil. Where am I going to
import the chili is from? They need to be from grease?
What part of grease if I'm coming out with the
chili oil desamming. The balsama glaze has to follow up next.
Like these are the thoughts going around. That's how I
(37:29):
know I'm supposed to still be doing it. I'm obsessed
with it. Yeah, I'm obsessed with this idea of like
just creating more amazing things that like food. Like food,
clean products are something people are always going to need,
and I just I love expressing myself through food right now.
That relaxes me too.
Archival (37:50):
Tonight we will be making a tried and true recipe
that I am obsessed with. My children and their friends
are obsessed with. You will not find somebody that doesn't
like it, and that's they're off poultry or bird.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (38:05):
It's fabulous. It's less than sixteen gredis.
Archival (38:07):
We're making butter or not squash bee that with feta,
something salty, something sweet.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (38:13):
So get on your happy dance and feet. You've talked
about the art of living slowly, which is the opposite
of what you are doing right now because you're throwing
yourself into everything. But what does that mean to you?
And how are you incorporating living slowly into your life?
Meal time for me is everything right? So my dad
(38:34):
did this too. He came home late hours. He was
a doctor on call all the time. We eat dinner
together almost every night. I do have two shifts three
days a week because my eldest son plays soccer and
doesn't get home until very late Tuesday Wednesday. Thursday. Meal
time is when we sit down, there's no devices at
the table, and we get to connect. We cook a
lot together, and we kind of travel a lot together,
(38:57):
and we do things as like a clam and that
really keeps us connected. And a lot of it is
like reminding each other to slow down. Hunter and I,
I mean, my husband is working too, like a few
different jobs as well, and so I don't know, we're
in the thick of it. You're in the thick of it.
You're never going to be as busy as you are
right now. My one on one experience is on them,
right with them, right now. They take me out. Nothing
(39:20):
takes me out of the busyness I'm in than being
present with my children. I want to get back to
like I'm like, I want to be you. I come
back they're so free, like even as an actor or
as an entrepreneur, we always try to get back to
that place that free space of like nothing's affecting me.
I'm not jaded. I'm just free and I'm playing and
(39:42):
I can be myself and like, that's what I love
about being a mom that I know I'm going to
miss so much because they're going to get to a
point where they're conscious of themselves and their actions, and
right now it's all just like this love hormone of
just it's so wonderful to be around. When my dad
was sick, we would put the baby in his arms
and all of his vitals would change. It's real when
(40:05):
you're around children and they're like flooding you with dopamine.
That is like a gift, you know, and it's really important.
You have to make an effort to be like, slow
down and enjoy it. I feel it slipping away and
I have like I'm almost in double digits. In August,
I'll be in double digits with my oldest and I'm like, wow,
I better, like I better become present. So I asked
(40:27):
this question of all my guests, But what is something
that at the time you saw is a low point
and now you see it as having really changed your
perspective and launch you to who you are hmm. I
guess I would have to say a low point for
me was when I was career peaking in Los Angeles,
doing really well as an actor, probably on my way
to like some huge success, having to pick up and
(40:50):
leave it all to come and be home with my
father who was on his way out and starting my family.
It was the biggest gift. There's no greater gift than
what that transition was for me, and it was as low.
I had never been more angry or felt more like displaced.
(41:12):
When I got back to the East Coast, I had
really been in a Hollywood state of mind, and coming
back to New York was it was a rough shift. Yeah.
I feel like specifically your version of success around your
relationship to your acting has changed a lot. Like when
you were in LA it was traditional Hollywood success, big
parts being called, and now your version of success in
(41:35):
acting is being able to do something that fits your
timeline and having a small block and then being able
to check in, check out. Like I feel like that's
changed too totally, something really different from my acting career
to this career that I'm really proud of. I never
thought I was good enough to make a lot of
money as an actor, and I am going to sell
(41:58):
this business that I have on day for like I
want to sell it like I want I want to
make money from it. And I never thought. I don't
know what happened to me in my childhood, but I
never thought I'm going to make so much of my
own money. And that's not to sound like an asshole.
That's because like I'm proud of myself or finally being
like your worth is you're working to make money. It's
(42:19):
okay that you're working to make money, Like you know,
you get really confused in Hollywood. You're like living paycheck
to paycheck, like I want to, like I want to
do something really big with this company. And I never
I don't know why. I never thought I was worthy
enough to like make as much money that I want
to make on my own, without anyone else's help, without
(42:40):
my father's help, without my husband's help, like they help
emotionally and all that, but like this is mine. I
created it from the ground up on my own. I
put in a blood, sweat and tears. I gave up
a lot, I gained a lot, but it's mine. It's
on my own, and like it's so special to be
able to share it with with the world because it's
(43:01):
been really hard to build. You'll know, like you'll be
able to really own that success, can be able to
see I don't think I've ever felt that way before.
I feel that way about being a mom, and I
feel that way about Fancy Peasant. I'm like, I did
these two things pretty well on my own, and they're
really fucking hard. Yeah, which is like the best feeling.
Do you think you'll pivot again? I hope so. Of course.
(43:22):
I had told you my favorite people in the world
have had two, three, four, four different careers. I want,
you know, I want I see a cooking TV show,
I see a really great book. I see so many things.
I see brick and mortars. I see so much, and
I hope I don't even know yet what the next
thing is. Oh, thank you, Anastasia. Yeah, you're so wonderful.
(43:44):
This is so awesome, This is so great. Thank you.
Emily Tisch Sussman (43:49):
Anastasia is still growing Fancy Peasant and sharing her incredible
recipes on Instagram on her account at fancy Peasant. I
cannot recommend her product or her recipes enough, so be
sure to go follow and buy and hey, maybe host
a dinner party with you and your loved ones, just
like she does with her community.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (44:08):
Thanks for listening.
Emily Tisch Sussman (44:11):
Thanks for listening to this episode of she Pivots. I
hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, leave us
a rating and tell your friends about us. To learn
more about our guests, follow us on Instagram at she
pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our newsletter, where
you can get exclusive behind the scenes content on our
website at she pivots thepodcast dot com. Special thanks to
(44:38):
the she pivots team, Executive producer Emily eda Velosik, Associate
producer and social media connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson,
Events and logistics coordinator Madeline Snovak, and audio editor and
mixer Nina pollock I endorse she Pivots
Hey, she Pivots listeners at Emily. Before we hop into
today's episode, I have some very exciting news. She Pivots
has been nominated for not one, but two Webvy Awards.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:14):
These are a huge deal in.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:16):
The podcast world and the best part the winners are
decided by you.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:22):
That means we need you to help us win.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:24):
And we're up against some pretty big names, just some
little old guys named John Stewart and Anderson Cooper, and
I think I could retire early if we beat them, so.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:36):
Every vote counts. Here's what you can do to help.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:39):
Head to the link in our show notes and click
on both the links, hit vote on she Pivots, enter
your infoh and bloom.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (00:46):
You're done.
Emily Tisch Sussman (00:47):
Then, if you have time between school drop offs or
your next meeting, share it. Share it, Please post on social,
send to a friend, add it to your newsletter, whatever
helps spread the word. And before we jump into today's episode,
I want to just.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (01:00):
Say thank you.
Emily Tisch Sussman (01:02):
You are what makes the show happen and why women
feel compelled to share their stories. I'm beyond grateful for
this honor and hope we can show the world just
how powerful these stories can be. It's all for now,
go vote.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (01:22):
Welcome back to she Pivots. I'm Anastasia.
Emily Tisch Sussman (01:35):
Welcome back to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk
with women who dare to pivot out of one career
and into something new and explore how their personal lives
impact these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. I
(01:55):
don't know about you, but I am ready for some
warm nights, fresh meals, quality time. And there's no better
person to have on than Anastasia ganyas Gellen, the genius
behind the household pantry staple, fancy Peasant. You may know
her for her incredible recipes and cooking videos on Instagram
(02:17):
and beyond.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (02:18):
I met Anastasia.
Emily Tisch Sussman (02:20):
Dooring school drop off, and she immediately became one of
my mom friends, and boy am I glad that our
kids brought us together. Her energy is infectious and I
love how she puts her whole self into everything she does,
So you can imagine my delight when I found out
she made a massive pivot from acting into entrepreneurship after
(02:41):
a series of deeply personal choices and circumstances. She began
her career chasing a dream many of us have imagined
at some point acting. She spent years grinding to make
it in Hollywood and landing iconic shows like Dexter, True Blood,
Desperate Housewives.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (02:59):
And more.
Emily Tisch Sussman (03:00):
But like so many women who join us on, she pivots.
Her story took a powerful and personal turn when she
decided to move back to New York City to intentionally
build her family and be near her ailing father. Food
had always been a love language in her Greek American household.
It was how her family gathered, how stories were passed down,
(03:22):
how culture was preserved, and when her father eventually passed cooking,
the dishes she'd grown up with, dishes her father loved,
became her way of healing. Soon it became something bigger,
so she leaned into that. What started as a personal
home cooked comfort grew into a full blown brand, Fancy
(03:45):
Peasant that is now in thousands of stores, including Airwan
and World Market. With Fancy Peasant, Anastasia is sharing the
warmth and simplicity of Mediterranean home cooking, making it accessible, beautiful,
and rooted in heritage. From olive oil to pantry staples
to recipes that feel like they've been passed down for generations.
(04:06):
She's turning tradition into a brand that brings people together.
They're so simple that I was even able to make
one on her instead. Be sure to check out that
for a duet of us singing. This episode is about
so much more than a career change. It's about grief
and resilience, identity and joy and the courage it takes
(04:27):
to start over, not just for yourself, but for your
kids and your friends and your community.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (04:34):
Enjoy. My name is Anastagia Gania Skevin, and I am
an actor and an entrepreneur. I have a company called
Fancy Peasant, so I make Greek clean pantry essentials. So
we're gonna wind back, Sure, can you tell us about
little Anaesthesia? Like? What was she like? I, interestingly enough,
(04:58):
came from a family where everyone was like super linear,
really good at sports, and really really smart, and I
was a little bit of a wild card. My family
was such an anomaly because all of my dad's fronts.
My dad was born in nineteen forty three years later
the Greek Civil War broke out. He was sent to
a concentration camp and separated from his entire family. And
the fact that I'm even sitting here in this chair
(05:18):
talking to you is like a miracle, which I talked
to the boys about this a lot, like do you
know where you came from? On both sides were Greek
and Jewish, and the fact that we're even here is wild.
But Dad did something interesting because all of his friends
went into like the pizza business or just service write
more service industries, and my father got a full ride
through medical school, like washing dishes, and didn't even start
(05:41):
practicing until he was in his forties like my age now,
and did things a little differently, And he was really
really hard on us growing up because of that. He
was kind of like the mentality was like you're standing
on the shoulders of a giant. You have every single
opportunity I never had, you better perform. And he was
not on us at all. But he brought back the culture,
(06:03):
like all the good things. Like a lot of people
that came back from Greece after the Greek Civil War,
they never wanted to go back to Greece. It was
just like so much atrocity, and he just brought back
the food and the language and like the love of
everything being Greek. And my mother did the same. So
like my grandparents came here when they were eighteen, didn't
speak a look of English, so I was, you know,
(06:24):
always around the language, and then I was around just
all my fairy godmothers cooking these beautiful meals from Greece,
and I was like, it was all Greek growing up.
We didn't really steer from that. It's wild. Like I
remember going to school on the first day and everyone
was eating peanut butter and jelly, and I was like
whipping out a spinacopita. So were you in a Greek
(06:45):
community growing up or you guys were like the Greek family. Yes,
so I'm first generation Greek American and most of my
best friends were besides the people I went to school with,
and it was like we went to church every Sunday,
and that family there was really the foundation of you know,
my big fat Greek family. All around Worcester, Massachusetts. A
(07:06):
lot of people like came from Ellis Island and a
bunch of them went to Worcester, where I'm from, and
everything was Greek to me. And I look at that
now and think what a blessing, because it really it
really defined everything for me. And I think when you're young,
these formative years, I remember it feeling crazy. When I
was younger, I was like, why does everything have to
(07:27):
be so fucking Greek? And now it's like, especially because
I'm in an inter faith marriage and all these things,
it's like, it's cool to teach people where they come
from and then you let them fly and do what
they want to do. But it is a very special thing,
and I do think we're like we live in a
(07:47):
melting pot and we're losing a lot of that. So
to me now it feels even more precious to teach
the boys the language and to go there every summer
and to introduce them to their cousins and to tell
them the story about who they are and where they
come from. And I always tell people there was something
that happened having this foundation for me where it really
alleviated peer pressure for me, because I remember asking people
(08:11):
would be like like what are you and I'd be like,
I'm Greek. And there was something about like knowing who
I was where it gave me confidence. Let's say anything
like drug sex and rock and roll. I'd be like, no,
I don't do that, but like I know who I am,
I know where I come from. So I think whether
it's a spore or religion, like whatever your foundation is,
like it's like I know where I come from, and
I remember meeting people being like I don't think they
(08:31):
know who they are and where they come from. And maybe,
like in retrospect as an adult, I was like that
really gave me something powerful. There was confidence in knowing
like where I came from.
Emily Tisch Sussman (08:44):
Anna Stasia joked about her life being like my big
fat Greek wedding throughout our conversation, and just like Tula,
Anastasia didn't always embrace her Greek heritage with open arms.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (08:56):
Yeah, I mean my parents, and I'm doing the same
to my children, like that line in the Breakfast Club,
Oh my god, are you really going to be like
her parents? Like I am doing the same thing. My
parents ran a very tight ship. It was militant and
honestly it was like a little ridiculous. Like if I
wasn't home exactly on time, my mother would be like
waiting outside like in her robe, Like if I wasn't
like didn't make curfew or something. It was like very
(09:18):
different than what I would call then my American friends.
I'd be like, it's they'd get to eat mac and
cheese and go to KFC. Nothing's Greek and why is
everything so Greek, and why can't you speak English when
they're around? And now I'm like Grayson's friends will come over,
my kids friends, they'll be like, that's so cool, you
guys speak another language. I guess I'm doing it in
a little bit of a different way where it doesn't
(09:40):
feel so suffocating to my children, more like a celebration
of where mom and dad are both from this beautiful
Jewish culture and this beautiful Greek culture. Like what a
privilege that you get to be part of it and
learn so much from it and explore it. And so
I think I don't hold on to it as tight,
and I just try to kind of show them the
cool stuff, you know that that surrounds the culture. Knowing
(10:05):
another language is really first of all, it's mandatory now,
like everyone needs to know four languages in order to
be different. Also, another cool thing about like learning these
languages from young Like now languages, all this stuff comes
very easy to me because Greek is like Mandarin, it's
totally different alphabet. Like if you don't learn when you're younger,
you're never learning it. Yeah, it's just impossible. That takes
discipline when the other parent doesn't speak the language. So
(10:27):
like up until three, my kids barely spoke any English
because I was driving the whole Greek thing so hard. Yeah, okay,
so you went to college for theater. I went to
college for theater. Did you know what kind of acting
you wanted to do? Like were you always trying to
get to acting or where You're like, I'm in my
moment right now, and I'm just trying this out to
get to something else. So that was like my extra thing.
(10:49):
Like everyone has their sport and their instrument, I was
like part of it was musical theater for like six years,
I remember, like seventh, seventh through twelve, like I really
focused on that. I was always in the fall show,
in the spring show, and then I was just doing
it locally and thriving, which I was not used to
doing in my family unit like everyone else was like
thriving sports and thriving. And I started thriving and I
(11:12):
told Dad, you know, I want to go to like
a phenomenal theater program. And he was like, I'm not
sending you to college for theater, Like you've got a
double major, You've got to pick something else, Like that
is not happening. It was always a huge struggle to
be an artist in my family. It was a struggle.
It was a full blown struggle. And I think even
saying that out loud right now, I don't think I've
even said that. But you can send this right to
your therapist if you need to give a lot background.
(11:36):
But so I knew. I auditioned for a bunch of
theater programs and then I was told I had to
double major in order to go to any of them,
and I did, and I had a really phenomenal experience
in a it wasn't It was a musical theater program
with like a concentration kind of in classical theater studies.
(11:57):
So it was really fantastic. And I had no idea
that I wanted to work in television and film at
that point. I was like, I'm going to go to
New York City after this, and I'm going to audition
for like off Broadway and Broadway and you know, all
that kind of jazz. But you ended up in La.
I ended up in La. How did that happen? It's
so funny, right, It was working at a bar at
(12:20):
the time, going to more school. I was just studying
my first two years in New York City after I
had graduated college with like all of the girl like
great people that I wanted to work with, and really
getting like a fringe New York City theater experience, which
was so awesome when I think about how like juicy
and invaluable it was to just really grind it out,
(12:41):
like those hours in the theater, those one on ones
with like these incredible professors and people that had worked
in Broadway forever. Anyway, I met my manager like at
a bar that I was working at, a Greek restaurant
of course, Milos the Athility, of course, truly, because I
have to pick that restaurant to work at. And she
I was like, you can't just be auditioning for theater.
(13:02):
You have to like audition for you know, TV shows
and stuff like you want to make money. And I'm like,
I never even thought about it. It never occurred to me,
and I did. I started putting myself on tape and
one of the first things I booked took me to Hollywood.
It was for a pilot that actually never got picked up,
but I went there to film that pilot thinking it
(13:24):
would be like a week and I stayed for seven years.
Oh my god, because it's like that Hollywood's like that,
and I need it more really, once you get the bug,
like you're like, I just thought that, like this is
it and another huge thing, like my family was not
supportive of that move. Wow. My dad's a statistic person.
(13:46):
So I remember before I got on the plane to
move to LA he was like, so you do understand statistically,
for you to even make a co star or guest
star or any type of recurring part, it's one in
a million. And I looked at him and I said,
you do understand. I don't believe a statistic. I was like, Dad,
I'm a fucking actor. Do you think I believe in statistics?
(14:07):
Like you have to be so crazy out of your
mind thinking about it in retrospect to get on a
plane and move to Hollywood to actually think you're going
to become an actor. And I felt the same thing
going into the all of oil space. It was blind,
but there was no thought in my mind that it
wasn't going to happen. I knew I was going to go.
And you get there and you're filled with confidence. It's
(14:29):
not until you're like testing against superstars and in chemistry
tests against like big names where like imposter syndrome starts
to what am I doing here testing against like amberhard
right now? Like I faked everyone out and my dad everyone,
and now I'm here this moment. But like at that
point when I went to Hollywood, I was thinking, oh
I got this, Yeah what I do? So can you
(14:50):
tell us about that? I mean, it's such a hard industry,
like it is by definition all rejection. It is not
for the week at heart. I remember I had a
really good initial first run and I think that really
set like set up the foundation for me. I remember
I had met this new agent. She's like, we'll hip
pocket you, which is a very common thing. They're like,
(15:11):
we'll hippocket you for like a month. If you don't
produce for us, then like we drop you, right, and
it's crazy like I had that kind of luck. I
remember my very first show was called The Game. It
was on the CW and the breakdown was for like
a Hawaiian girl named Asia. And I walked into the
room and it was like thirty girls that looked like
(15:32):
they were like born in Honolulu, and I got the part,
but the part wasn't even the breakdown was like the
description was not me and that was such a big
thing in my head. I was like, they literally wrote
a breakdown for some of that they didn't pick, and
they picked me instead. There's no rhyme or reason as
to how you work in this career or what happens.
Producers just kind of like fall in love with Emily
(15:55):
or you know, Anastasia for the part. And so I
had a really good first run. I started booking Kose Stars,
which is like where you start, and those are like
two to ten lines, right, but you've got like you're
auditioning hundreds of people for those lines, and you're getting
used to the studios and navigating, and you're reading your
scripts and you're making fans and casting, which is really
important because you see the same person you know twice
(16:17):
a month, and you show up for them and you
show them good work every time, and eventually they do
give you a part. Okay, So at this same time,
let's bring your personal life into this. Sure you were
dating someone in New York? Yeah, my husband. So I
met my husband my thirty year in college. I was
a junior. We broke up very quickly after we started
(16:38):
dating because I was in a show and I saved
a seat for him in the front row and he
never showed up, and I was I was Electra. Do
you remember what show was that? Oh that was Gipsy. Yeah,
so I was Electra and I remember being he never
showed up. It was in a big theater in Boston
and I was graduating. It was a big deal for me,
and I was like, that's garbage. I can't believe you
just stood me up. And I didn't speak to him
(17:00):
actually until senior year, like mid midway senior year, we
reconnected again. I was in New York for like a
year or two before I went to LA, and he
stayed and came to LA to visit me like twice
a month for seven years until I was like career peaking,
and he was like, you need to say, this is
(17:21):
your dream come true. We can no longer do this
relationship long distance. It's like getting so weird. It's been
seven years and he had started dipping into his side
side hustle, which is he's in a hotel business now.
But like, we really pushed all the limits, but we
let each other really grow. And I think that's so
important even now because I think I've been with Hunter
(17:42):
now longer than I haven't been with him, and I
think two people really do need to grow on their
own in order to like, they need to be thriving
individually before they can really come together, I think, and
I think we're both like experts in that.
Emily Tisch Sussman (18:00):
Something we've touched on and various other conversations is the
conscious decision to start a family. I think for so
many driven women it can feel like this big question
mark that is looming over you until one day you
wake up and suddenly things have changed and what you
want has changed.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (18:17):
And for Anastasia it was no different. But I do
remember one of the last shows that I did when
I was there, I had a recurring part on True Blood,
and I remember talking to someone who was like one
of my heroes and I was like, oh my god,
show me some pictures of your kids, and she was like,
oh no, I missed the boat on that, but I
have like fifteen cats, and she like whipped out the pictures.
(18:40):
There's nothing wrong with that. But I remember thinking, coming
from this Greek family where I have hundreds of first cousins,
I was like, I'm about to miss the boat on
like the most important thing in my entire life, Like
the work will come, and I've already proved that to myself,
but like I need to like start to hone in
on the family because now I'm like in my late
twice about to turn thirty, and I remember turning a
(19:02):
corner thinking, I really want this too, I really want
this too. I'm a huge gut person. Always go with
your gut, and I knew when I had to leave.
I actually picked up and moved out of LA within
like twenty four hours. I alwaysay, I committed like career suicide. Wow, okay,
So did you know that you were committing career suicide
when you did it? Yes? Because of what I'm doing.
(19:22):
It took me seven years to make really strong relationships
and casting. I had worked on every single network, every
network I had worked on it. But I knew if
you go back to New York City, You're going to
have to start from the beginning. Even though you've worked
on all these great shows and you've done all this
great stuff. It was ballsy for me to get on
a plane and leave.
Emily Tisch Sussman (19:42):
Life intervened, the personal took over the professional, and she pivoted.
When we returned, Anastasia opens up about how this pivot
and ultimately the death of her father had a profound
impact on what she decided to do next.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (19:57):
Stay tuned. Shortly after moving.
Emily Tisch Sussman (20:09):
Back, Anastasia's dad, who had dealt with the chronic illness
for years, started to take a turn for the worst.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (20:18):
So my dad had gotten sick. And that's why I
actually always talk about divine timing that whatever happened with
Hunter made me get back because I got to spend
the last like two years with my father when he
was going through the worst part of his disease. He
was diagnosed I think fifteen years before he passed away,
and he had non Hodgkinson foma, and which you know,
(20:40):
my dad was like the healthiest man I've ever still
probably to this day. Like he was just he was
a real like naturalist, and he really still lived his
life like he lived in like a blue zone in
the mountains of Greece. He walked every day. He wanted
to walk everywhere. He didn't want to use a vehicle
a lot. He like ate everything from the earth. He
didn't eat too much meat, like all these blue zone rolls.
He was like that. So when he got sick, and
(21:01):
he was a physician, we were like, what the fuck,
what do you mean? You have cancer, Like, you know,
we just didn't have We were so lucky. We didn't
have anyone in the family that had dealt with it,
and for him to have it was really confusing because
he was just the doctor and like our whole Greek community,
and interestingly enough, he was like always really excited about
(21:22):
the evolution of medicine. So no matter what happened, he
was like, yeah, I've had like three or four treatments
so far, like they're going to come out with like
three more by the end of next year. He always
had this like really great attitude about his sickness. But anyway,
I came home, I got to spend a lot of
time with him, and I got to get married, you know,
and have both of our families kind of witness that
(21:43):
and be part of my first child's birth. So Dad
got to have the experience of having two grandchildren. But
it was pretty devastating for all of us. You know.
He died too young, which you know, comparatively to some
friends that I have that are even struggling with disease
right now at you know, seventy eight feels old. But
(22:04):
my dad was the type of person that would have
lived to like easy be a centenary and if like
this shit hadn't destroyed him.
Emily Tisch Sussman (22:09):
So I struggle a lot with that. And so you
said that after he passed, you went on this eat,
pray love journey.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (22:16):
I feel actually a lot of like entrepreneur stories come
from this, like you. It's kind of like the classic
hero story, like person comes up with crazy idea, everyone
thinks they're nuts for the idea. Then they like go
away on this journey to get what they want and
they've run into every single like obstacle ever and then
(22:37):
they fall into the abyss and come out on the
other end. That that's kind of where we are now,
at fancy peasant, like where in a really special place.
But initially I had been talking to my dad about
writing a Greek cookbook when he was dying, and I
was like, I want to make a cookbook that's for
someone like me, because Greek cooking is very overwhelming, like
if you're going to make a Spina copy doar a
(22:57):
black la vah, you think there's like a hundred steps.
And I never liked to read things and cooking. I
always wanted a visual So I told my dad, I'm
coming out with a cookbook. I thought that was going
to be the first thing, and still I haven't made
the cookbook yet. That's coming, but it's going to be called,
you know, Fancy Peasant, and it's going to be named
off of you know me and you kind of I'm
like the fancy version of you. Never had any of
(23:17):
these things that I had, but they all come from
like this peasant village where we're from. And so I
started cooking online as a way to stay like I
couldn't relate to anybody when my dad died. I was like,
my husband doesn't know what it's like to lose a parent.
My friends have no idea what it's like to lose
a parent. I don't want to fucking talk to anyone
(23:37):
right now. But I was cooking online and I was
meeting strangers that were like, meal time is the hardest
for me. I lost my son. I'm a chef, and
now I'm meeting frozen food because it's too painful to
cook because like I'm thinking about his favorite meals. And
there was this like good grief community forming around me,
like cooking these recipes and just talking about dad, And
(24:00):
eventually that kind of morphed into the cornerstone of all
these Greek recipes that you're cooking is olive oil, like,
and it's Greek, and you always just talk about all
this great Greek food, like can we get some? And
so I called my two best friends that are also
green olviously, and I said, guys, do you want to
go to Avoodio with me and like find I'm looking
(24:20):
for like some olive oil to give some of my
followers that are asking for And my supply had died
when dad died, and so I knew what I wanted.
I went to a bunch of like trusted family firms
that I knew, and I knew I had a little
bit like of a mommy audience following me. So I
needed it to be like stuff that I felt really
good about, saying, give this to your child three times
a day. You can cook with it. And we found
(24:42):
this product that just it was so perfect because you know,
in Greek cooking, there is no other cooking fat we do.
Our eggs are avocado toast, me mariny are salads. It's
not a fancy, peppery, over powery product. So I found
this liquid gold that I fell in love with. I
came back I it had this vision board of kind
of my whole Like for a decade before I came
(25:03):
out with the product, I had this really amazing vision
board and on Pinterest, and I came back and started
putting it together and came up with the packaging for
a fancy and then the pandemic hit and I was like,
oh my god, I've got hundreds of bottles of olive
oil in my garage and the country just shut down.
I mean, I'm going through a whole change at this point.
Why did I even get the olive oil? And now
(25:25):
the country shuts down? And the magic and that was
that it was when everyone was cooking online and so
I was so lucky to have this network of celebrity nutritionists, actors, models, doctors, athletes.
I said, would you mind getting on line with me
cooking a fancy peasant recipe and like pumping out the
product with me? Just then have fun talk about your
Achilles heel, like to keep this in line with how
(25:47):
we started. I was talking about grieving and dad making
people feel a little less lonely, like Jamie Sigler, can
you talk about what it's like having multiple sclerosis while
we cook this fita and like just help people a
little bit. It was really weird. It took on a
life of its own, really Fancy Peasant. The way it started,
it started by accident. I didn't come into this business
(26:07):
because I wanted to. It found me, right, and so
we did. And then slowly different people like buyers I
didn't even know, like Blooming Gills and Sex and all
these places. They have these people that scour Instagram. Can
we sell it? We have a fancy food department, can
we You know? That's how we started kind of gaining
traction at brick and mortars, and that is how we started.
(26:27):
We started up by accident.
Archival (26:30):
I am stating on this government there filming the first
episode for The Fancy Peasant at a dollop of Fancy
Peasant Greek extra virgin olive oil book that beat us
two to three minutes on both sides until they turned
golden brown.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (26:45):
And you stop them. Whatever vegetable with whatever meat, with whatever,
dippy moors.
Archival (26:49):
They are all made with our liquid gold our ganic
extra virgin olive oil.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (26:58):
But I started the business totally by accident when my
dad died, mourning over food, right and really missing him,
and I think staying connected because I was like making
a meal that him and I used to share together,
so I'd be making like a corn meal beta and
it made me feel closer to him. The food made
me feel closer to him. He was no longer here,
(27:19):
but I could eat something that felt like, you know,
I'm connected to Dad right now. And so many people
have that experience over food, And of course the grief
evolved into just this wonderful audience that really wanted olive
oil and cooking again is also is just such a
natural expression of like of who I am, where I
(27:40):
came from, what I like to do, how I lose myself.
I think cooking is very like transformative. It's been a
very transformative part of my healing process. I think whenever,
whether it's like running or cooking or putting all your
energy into something, it really helped me through the grief process.
And cooking with the kids and telling them about the
(28:00):
recipes and where the recipes came from. And I used
to cook these with ma Ya yan Babu and now
you're cooking them with me, and you're going to teach
your kids how to make them. I mean, it's tradition
is so awesome like that and keeping it alive is
so much a part of what we're doing, I think
at fancy, but we are doing something a little different.
We're like a lot of these recipes. We've taken these
(28:21):
old school recipes that are like a real beat that
is made with like pounds of butter. We're making them
with like all of that. We've kind of like modernized
all these Greek recipes and made them a little bit
more like I hate to sit lighter and figure friendly,
but you know, we're making them a lot more nutritious
because we're kind of like we're using all clean goods
and we're super heavy on the vege and the whole
(28:43):
foods and there's nothing processed. And we all know what's
happening with the longevity movement. I mean we're seeing it,
and it's a really exciting thing that I hope we
can actually figure out how to educate people much younger
and make it part of a school curriculum. How do
I eat? What do I do with cale? What do
I do with all this waste? How do I use it?
(29:05):
You know, I think we're really starting to gain an
education on like food and wellness and health. It's so important.
No one knows how to cook and it's cheaper to
get like really shitty food. So I love what we're
doing with teaching people how to bring people back to
like whole foods very simply. It's super simple.
Emily Tisch Sussman (29:26):
After the break, Anastasia gets into the nuts and bolts
of the business. How do you source olives and get
them shipped to the United States? Did she take outside funding?
Who helped her on this massive task?
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (29:39):
More soon? So how did you build a business?
Emily Tisch Sussman (29:52):
I mean, importing of food feels very complicated to me
and selling food?
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (29:57):
Was it just you?
Emily Tisch Sussman (29:59):
This was also during the pandemic, right, I know your
sister moved in with you. So my sister was living
with me at the time. She had just had her
first baby, and she had worked for a few startups,
and she logistically helped me get everything over here, her and.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (30:15):
I and No, we were it was the blind leading
the blind. I mean we were working with different graphic
designers to send the templates to Greece, and this family
I was working with really had this great attitude and
they were pretty educated. So like communication, Like right now
I'm dealing with like our honey producers, which like don't
(30:37):
speak a lick of English, And I think about like
if it had been vice versa and never would have
worked that way. Like our olive oil producers, the family
that we work with, they just they had been like
educated in the States and in London, and it really
made the process really special and seamless. And there's so
many logistics emulata that are such a navy. You're right,
(30:57):
I mean, importing stuff is a wild a specially right
now with everything going on in the ocean and delays
and the economy and you know, importings. I've learned a
lot from it. But so you guys, is during the pandemic,
your sister and her new baby, everyone is living with you.
There's nine of us, nine of you. We're cooking three
(31:17):
meal and I don't know why I did this, but
we were cooking like three meals a day for like
ten people, as if we were a restaurant. But I
was pounding the I had a Greek I call her
my fairy godmother woman living with me, helping me, and
she was trapped with us on nfortunately for her, yes,
so like fifteen babies running around. My mom had just
lost her husband, so she was there, thank God. But
(31:39):
like Maria and me got into this, my fairy Godmother
got into this rhythm of just waking up and recipe
testing every day, using Fancy Peasant and pumping out recipes.
I still do not have any marketing. I still do
not have any pr Everything we've done is organic like marketing,
we're just hopping on the badwagon with like meta and
(32:00):
all that stuff. But like the only reason I have
a business is because of Instagram. I started cooking. I
started using my acting skills to pump out my product.
So the way Fancy Peasant works is Anastagia teaches people
how to make longevity recipes using her products, and then
people buy them, and whether you ken or cannot buy
them doesn't. The cool thing about what we're doing is
(32:22):
like we're teaching people how to cook really delicious, beautiful
food that's really nourishing, whether you can afford our product
or not buy it somewhere else or use another oil.
But like what's really cool about it is I never
felt this in my acting life. I don't want to
say there's like a service part involved, but like when
people are like, no, you don't understand, Like I cooked
(32:43):
with my daughter and it's our favorite recipe tonight, and
like it's a tradition now, Like that is amazing. Yeah,
that is such an amazing thing for me because it's
like my roots, right, it's culture building based off of
your great experiences. You're helping them replicate it and build
their culture. It's phenomenal. So what do you think your
(33:07):
versions of success have been as you've gone through these
different phases? Like you went through like three pretty extreme
different phases, you know, from the acting to building a
family while still acting in there and now creating the business. Like,
what is your version of successmen in each one? Your
definition of success for yourself. I never worked as a
(33:28):
full time person until I had my third child. I
struggle with that a lot because I feel like I
kind of missed out on my on my third guy,
who's like turns out to be like the easiest out
of all of them. It's fine, but like if I
stopped the business today, just this new skill set that
I have learned and gained, entrepreneurship for me has been
(33:49):
just as hard as being a mom. I struggle a lot.
I don't like managing five people at my company and
then five people at my house, and I don't think
anyone can do all of it and I think being
a woman is really difficult because we are literally like
supposed to hold it all together. And for me, as
(34:11):
we grow and as we scale our business, it's become
very obvious to me, just like I think my children
need two parents that like fancy Peasant needs more than
just like me, right, And to be fair to like
how much the business is growing and all that, you
need a lot of support. You need to have a
really good team behind you. I struggle a lot with
(34:33):
you know, we're at a tipping point in our business,
and I struggle a lot with like I have such
a big vision and I wish I was okay with
like just being where we're at, Like we could very
much survive in the space that we're in. We're in
like you know, three hundred brick and mortars, But I
just know the potential. And when you know the potential
of something, you've got to like push all the way.
(34:56):
So I'm at that really scary phase in my business
where I know it's like now or never, and it's
critical for me to find like probably the number one
strategic partner that wants to play with me. And I'm
become this very like cutthrow animal at work. Because you know,
I only have so much time and I'm giving so
(35:16):
much away, and I don't know. Sometimes I don't feel
I'm being successful in any of it. I think that,
you know, I think it's really hard to be a wife,
a mom, a daughter, a sister, and then to own
your own business. My business is my fourth child. I
didn't want four fucking children. It's so hard, Like it's
(35:38):
really hard to do all of it, and then to
try to maintain friendships. And by the way, I think
I'm at the point of my life where like my
friendships possibly mean more to me than anything, Like I
really feel the need to be like, wow, I really
need to unload to like another woman right now and
talk to them about how I'm feeling. And I'm getting
older too in this business, and how much do I
(36:00):
want to give to the business because my kids are
going to be out of the house in ten years,
So should I give to the business in five years
from now? Or should I just give it all I've
got now so I can enjoy them in three years.
I just go back and forth about a lot. But
then I look at my family and I know I'm
succeeding because they are citizens of the world. They're not
just like living in this little bubble. And I do
(36:20):
think we're doing a really good job at being parents,
and that, to me really is success, just setting up
these these birds to fly and be successful in what
they want to do. I feel like when I hear
you articulate this and like your version of success right now,
it's more than just building a business. It's the underlying
(36:42):
culture piece of it. It's educating the public on the recipes,
on the dinner table, conversation, on the experiences, on the
nutritional aspect of it. Like, I feel like that's a
part of your success metric right now too. It is.
It is. I would not be in doing this anymore
if it wasn't. It's too hard, this entrepreneur thing. It's
(37:06):
with you. It's the idea is with you. You sleep
with it, you wake up. I'm at the gym. I
have a notebook at the gym because all the ideas
come when I'm at the gym or in the middle
of the night, and I write them all down. Oh
my god, spicy chili oil. Where am I going to
import the chili is from? They need to be from grease?
What part of grease if I'm coming out with the
chili oil desamming. The balsama glaze has to follow up next.
Like these are the thoughts going around. That's how I
(37:29):
know I'm supposed to still be doing it. I'm obsessed
with it. Yeah, I'm obsessed with this idea of like
just creating more amazing things that like food. Like food,
clean products are something people are always going to need,
and I just I love expressing myself through food right now.
That relaxes me too.
Archival (37:50):
Tonight we will be making a tried and true recipe
that I am obsessed with. My children and their friends
are obsessed with. You will not find somebody that doesn't
like it, and that's they're off poultry or bird.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (38:05):
It's fabulous. It's less than sixteen gredis.
Archival (38:07):
We're making butter or not squash bee that with feta,
something salty, something sweet.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (38:13):
So get on your happy dance and feet. You've talked
about the art of living slowly, which is the opposite
of what you are doing right now because you're throwing
yourself into everything. But what does that mean to you?
And how are you incorporating living slowly into your life?
Meal time for me is everything right? So my dad
(38:34):
did this too. He came home late hours. He was
a doctor on call all the time. We eat dinner
together almost every night. I do have two shifts three
days a week because my eldest son plays soccer and
doesn't get home until very late Tuesday Wednesday. Thursday. Meal
time is when we sit down, there's no devices at
the table, and we get to connect. We cook a
lot together, and we kind of travel a lot together,
(38:57):
and we do things as like a clam and that
really keeps us connected. And a lot of it is
like reminding each other to slow down. Hunter and I,
I mean, my husband is working too, like a few
different jobs as well, and so I don't know, we're
in the thick of it. You're in the thick of it.
You're never going to be as busy as you are
right now. My one on one experience is on them,
right with them, right now. They take me out. Nothing
(39:20):
takes me out of the busyness I'm in than being
present with my children. I want to get back to
like I'm like, I want to be you. I come
back they're so free, like even as an actor or
as an entrepreneur, we always try to get back to
that place that free space of like nothing's affecting me.
I'm not jaded. I'm just free and I'm playing and
(39:42):
I can be myself and like, that's what I love
about being a mom that I know I'm going to
miss so much because they're going to get to a
point where they're conscious of themselves and their actions, and
right now it's all just like this love hormone of
just it's so wonderful to be around. When my dad
was sick, we would put the baby in his arms
and all of his vitals would change. It's real when
(40:05):
you're around children and they're like flooding you with dopamine.
That is like a gift, you know, and it's really important.
You have to make an effort to be like, slow
down and enjoy it. I feel it slipping away and
I have like I'm almost in double digits. In August,
I'll be in double digits with my oldest and I'm like, wow,
I better, like I better become present. So I asked
(40:27):
this question of all my guests, But what is something
that at the time you saw is a low point
and now you see it as having really changed your
perspective and launch you to who you are hmm. I
guess I would have to say a low point for
me was when I was career peaking in Los Angeles,
doing really well as an actor, probably on my way
to like some huge success, having to pick up and
(40:50):
leave it all to come and be home with my
father who was on his way out and starting my family.
It was the biggest gift. There's no greater gift than
what that transition was for me, and it was as low.
I had never been more angry or felt more like displaced.
(41:12):
When I got back to the East Coast, I had
really been in a Hollywood state of mind, and coming
back to New York was it was a rough shift. Yeah.
I feel like specifically your version of success around your
relationship to your acting has changed a lot. Like when
you were in LA it was traditional Hollywood success, big
parts being called, and now your version of success in
(41:35):
acting is being able to do something that fits your
timeline and having a small block and then being able
to check in, check out. Like I feel like that's
changed too totally, something really different from my acting career
to this career that I'm really proud of. I never
thought I was good enough to make a lot of
money as an actor, and I am going to sell
(41:58):
this business that I have on day for like I
want to sell it like I want I want to
make money from it. And I never thought. I don't
know what happened to me in my childhood, but I
never thought I'm going to make so much of my
own money. And that's not to sound like an asshole.
That's because like I'm proud of myself or finally being
like your worth is you're working to make money. It's
(42:19):
okay that you're working to make money, Like you know,
you get really confused in Hollywood. You're like living paycheck
to paycheck, like I want to, like I want to
do something really big with this company. And I never
I don't know why. I never thought I was worthy
enough to like make as much money that I want
to make on my own, without anyone else's help, without
(42:40):
my father's help, without my husband's help, like they help
emotionally and all that, but like this is mine. I
created it from the ground up on my own. I
put in a blood, sweat and tears. I gave up
a lot, I gained a lot, but it's mine. It's
on my own, and like it's so special to be
able to share it with with the world because it's
(43:01):
been really hard to build. You'll know, like you'll be
able to really own that success, can be able to
see I don't think I've ever felt that way before.
I feel that way about being a mom, and I
feel that way about Fancy Peasant. I'm like, I did
these two things pretty well on my own, and they're
really fucking hard. Yeah, which is like the best feeling.
Do you think you'll pivot again? I hope so. Of course.
(43:22):
I had told you my favorite people in the world
have had two, three, four, four different careers. I want,
you know, I want I see a cooking TV show,
I see a really great book. I see so many things.
I see brick and mortars. I see so much, and
I hope I don't even know yet what the next
thing is. Oh, thank you, Anastasia. Yeah, you're so wonderful.
(43:44):
This is so awesome, This is so great. Thank you.
Emily Tisch Sussman (43:49):
Anastasia is still growing Fancy Peasant and sharing her incredible
recipes on Instagram on her account at fancy Peasant. I
cannot recommend her product or her recipes enough, so be
sure to go follow and buy and hey, maybe host
a dinner party with you and your loved ones, just
like she does with her community.
Anastasia Ganias-Gellen (44:08):
Thanks for listening.
Emily Tisch Sussman (44:11):
Thanks for listening to this episode of she Pivots. I
hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, leave us
a rating and tell your friends about us. To learn
more about our guests, follow us on Instagram at she
pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our newsletter, where
you can get exclusive behind the scenes content on our
website at she pivots thepodcast dot com. Special thanks to
(44:38):
the she pivots team, Executive producer Emily eda Velosik, Associate
producer and social media connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson,
Events and logistics coordinator Madeline Snovak, and audio editor and
mixer Nina pollock I endorse she Pivots
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