Sarah Wilson on building (and ultimately giving away) her I Quit Sugar empire and the dishes that have shaped her life

Desert Island Dishes

My guest today is Sarah Wilson

Sarah started I Quit Sugar in 2011 as a lifestyle experiment for a column she was writing. This led to an e-book, then three New York Times bestsellers and a business that saw 1.5 million people signing up to an eight-week nutrition programme. But as time went on, Sarah wasn’t enjoying it anymore. She says, ‘The business got to a point where it had gone from being a joy – creating, inventing, connecting with people – to a business concern. It felt soul-destroying. It felt wrong.’ And so in February 2022 she sold off the business and its assets and gave everything to charity. She now donates the money to carefully researched charity projects that target inequality, indigenous issues and the climate crisis.

Sarah consumes essentials only, has never owned a handbag and doesn’t own a car. Her career has been extraordinary, she became the editor of Cosmopolitan Australia at 29, hosted the most-watched TV series show in the nation’s history -the first season of Masterchef Australia – and wrote the international bestseller First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, which Mark Manson described as “the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read”. Her most recent book This One Wild and Precious Life, is also a prize winner and Sarah has been ranked in the top 200 most influential authors in the world (two years in a row).

Thank you very much to Nestlé Carnation for sponsoring this weeks episode. Head to their website www.carnation.co.uk for lots of recipe inspiration and there’s even a free downloadable recipe book waiting for you there too.

You can find me @desertislanddishes and the website at www.desertislanddishes.co

Thank you for listening!

Margie x

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