Photos show what 7 celebrity chefs looked like at the start of their careers compared to now

Stewart worked with clients from Unilever to Chanel, and she said she could sometimes make up to $50 an hour through modeling.

In addition to modeling, she babysat the children of Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra and went on to become a stockbroker for a boutique firm after receiving a bachelor's degree from Barnard College in art, European history, and architectural history.

She worked on Wall Street until 1972.

In an interview with People in 2020, Stewart spoke about how her five-month prison sentence — after she was convicted of three felony charges in 2004 — made her "very strong" and motivated her to continue working after she was released.

"I had opposition, and that kind of opposition to a woman-built business was really outrageous," she said. "Even my own lawyers were negative about the possibility of success. I remember one lawyer sending me an orchid, saying, 'Oh, you did it. Wow. What a surprise.' What a piece of garbage that guy is."

Ramsay almost pursued a career in professional football, or soccer, but didn't due to an injury. He later received a vocational degree in hotel management before starting his culinary career.

In his early culinary career, Ramsay apprenticed under Marco Pierre White, Joel Robuchon, and Guy Savoy, among others. At just 27 years old, however, Ramsay began his own career as a master chef. In 1993, he became head chef of the newly opened Aubergine restaurant in London.

In just three years, Ramsay earned the restaurant a two-star Michelin rating, and in 1995, he was named Newcomer of the Year at the prestigious Catey Awards.

Ramsay is now incredibly successful, largely due to his television shows including "Hell's Kitchen," "Kitchen Nightmares," "MasterChef," "Hotel Hell," and "Faking It." According to Forbes, Ramsay earned $70 million in 2020 alone.

Ramsay's shows account for more than $150 million yearly in ad sales for Fox. In addition, Ramsay owns 35 restaurants across the world.

After dropping out of high school at age 17, Flay began working at a local restaurant in New York City, where his father was a part-owner. He started as a busboy after the restaurant's resident busboy needed two weeks off to care for his sick grandmother.

After the two weeks were up, the chef asked Flay if he wanted to work in the kitchen.

"I said, 'Sure.' It was because I had nothing else to do that day. If I had plans with friends, I probably would have said no. I wasn't desperate to work in the kitchen," Flay said.

Flay opened his first restaurant Mesa Grill in New York City in 1991. In 1993, Flay received the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year award.

Flay has reportedly won more Iron Chef competitions than any other competitors in his tenure on the TV show. According to The Recipe, Flay has a win percentage of 72.1%. Of the 61 Iron Chef battles he competed in, he has won 43, lost 16, and tied two.

Throughout his career, Flay has hosted 17 different cooking shows and specials on Food Network and the Cooking Channel. His most recent credit is another food show based in Italy with fellow celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis.

Bobby Flay has also written 16 cookbooks.

Giada De Laurentiis attended the University of California Los Angeles but didn't study cooking until after she graduated. Before launching her TV career, she ran her own catering company, GDL Foods. Among her clients, she reportedly cooked for director Ron Howard.

De Laurentiis got her big break after writing an article for Food & Wine Magazine about her Italian family's Sunday dinners. After she did, she was contacted by a Food Network executive about having her own cooking show.

"He said he had seen my recipes and seen me but didn't know how I'd be on camera, so he asked me to put together a demo. Nine months later I did it, and 'Everyday Italian' was born—purely accidentally," she told Food & Wine in 2016. "I really thought I'd become a food stylist and then went in a completely different direction."

In 2008, she took home the Emmy for outstanding lifestyle host for her first show, "Everyday Italian." Years later, in 2020, she also received the award for outstanding culinary host and outstanding culinary series for "Giada Entertains."

The chef told Insider in 2019 that cooking for the royals at a polo charity event in Santa Barbara, California, in 2011 was one of the highlights of her career. However, she had no idea it was even happening beforehand.

"I had no idea the royal couple would be attending," she told the "Today" show. "And when I finally found out, it was actually kind of a bummer. I couldn't tell anyone — I had to keep it hush-hush until their California itinerary was released."

"I'm not usually star-struck, but I'll admit I was pretty anxious meeting them," De Laurentiis added to Insider. "It was nerve-racking cooking a meal for actual royalty, but I kept reminding myself that I was in my element."

Ina Garten fell in love with cooking while visiting Paris with her husband, Jeffrey, in the 1970s and later opened her own cooking store in East Hampton, New York.

"When I told [Jeffrey] I wanted to move to New York and open a food store, he said, 'Let's move to New York!'" Garten told People in 2018. "That he would not object to moving to a different state for my career was so unusual, particularly 40 years ago."

The store, which a previous owner named "The Barefoot Contessa," became her new passion project and would be the key in launching her to superstardom.

The first initial 5,000 copies of "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," plus an extra 15,000 the publisher ordered in advance because of strong press engagement, sold out almost immediately.

The celebrity chef has since won four Emmy awards as outstanding culinary host for "Barefoot Contessa" and "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics." In 2018, she also won a James Beard Foundation Award for "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics."

After going to school for hospitality management, Fieri opened his first restaurant focused on Tex-Mex food in Santa Rosa, California.

Fieri joined the cast of season two of the "Food Network Star" in 2006. He was later crowned the winner and given his own show on the network, "Guy's Big Bite," which ran for 13 seasons.

Shortly after his win, Fieri also began working on his second series, "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," for which the chef has received six Emmy nominations.

According to Forbes, the show generated more than $230 million in 2020 ad revenue for the Food Network. A recent deal that Fieri struck with Food Network also now makes him the highest-paid chef on cable television.

In May 2021, Forbes reported Food Network will pay the celebrity chef $80 million over the next three years, which is a $50 million raise from his prior agreement with the network.

Oliver got his start in cooking by helping out at his parent's pub-restaurant in Clavering, Essex, according to Britannica. After discovering that he wanted to pursue cooking, a 16-year-old Oliver entered the Westminster Catering College and later continued his studies in France.

Oliver got his first job as head pastry chef at the Neal Street Restaurant in London and later became sous-chef at the River Café. After appearing in a documentary about the restaurant, Oliver was approached by a television network about having his own cooking series.

Jamie Oliver also opened a number of different mid-tier restaurant chains, including Jamie's Italian and Barbecoa, a steakhouse chain.

However, in 2019, it was announced that 22 of the 25 restaurants in Jamie Oliver's restaurant group had closed as a result of a lack of funding and investments, with the celebrity chef saying he was "devastated."

"I would also like to thank all the customers who have enjoyed and supported us over the last decade, it's been a real pleasure serving you," he said in a statement.