Probably my biggest learning experience in business was my first restaurant, Giada, at the Cromwell Hotel in Las Vegas. I went from being a television chef who worked in restaurants and went to culinary school — but had never opened a restaurant — to having a restaurant on the busiest corner in Las Vegas with 275 seats. I don’t know that I created the opportunity, but I think the opportunity sort of created itself. When I jumped in, I realized, Oh God, I think I’ve bit off way more than I can chew, and I had many times where I felt like I should back out and give this to someone who had more experience.

But in doing that, I would have been letting go of a dream and also an opportunity that I felt was once in a lifetime, because there aren’t many opportunities in Las Vegas to build a restaurant from scratch. I relied on my partnership with Caesars Palace and I relied on my team. Together they picked me up and kept me going. The secret is having a team that supports you and having a group of people around you that you can lean on. Don’t be afraid to ask for support.

What was at stake for you in this moment?

The opportunity was such a big one. I realized that especially in Las Vegas, there really weren’t many female-branded chef restaurants and I was going to be one of very few. I felt like I was part of a very small group of women that could sustain a business on the strip. What keeps a lot of us from doing what we really want to do or from making our dreams come true is the fear of failure. I had to overcome the fear of failure.

I just thought, if I fail, I failed big, and I’ll realize that this is not my world and that I should go back to what I’m good at, which is television. But every once in a while you have to risk something in this life or you don’t move forward. I never want to look back and have regret. So I did my best and put out a good product. I still work at it every day. It’s been four years and I would say that we’re very successful. We are at a very small hotel and yet we do great business. It’s hard work and truly I think we have to persist. You have to have that ability to move forward regardless of your fears and face them.

What personal traits or strategies do you rely on to identify opportunity for yourself and others?

I go with my gut and I rely a lot on my family in the sense that I always realize that this job is not just me in it, but it’s my entire family in it. It’s probably because my grandfather built a very big business in the entertainment world and the first time I started on Food Network, he warned me, please don’t do anything that is going to disparage the name or or make it less than it is.

In the back of my mind, every decision I make it is based on whether my grandfather and my family would be proud of that decision. It’s also determination. I feel like I’ve been given an opportunity and I need to basically grab hold of it and make the best of it. I have a drive within me to keep going and to pick myself up even when it’s a difficult time. A lot of times that strength comes from the people around you.

When you experience a setback, what do you do to keep going? How do you get unstuck?

As much as I’d love to say that I try to avoid as many setbacks as possible by doing my homework, things happen and it’s impossible sometimes to avoid them. But that again depends on who you’re in business with. The reason I’ll have three restaurants open with Caesars Palace is because over the past four years, I feel like our relationship is one where we both look out for each other. That’s really important. I also rely heavily on my own personal team to go through all of the pros and cons of decisions that we make and setbacks that happen.

I tend to sweat the small stuff sometimes and then I started to realize over time that I need to let go a little bit. And also that I need to start to prioritize what I fight for and what I don’t. My daughter has taught me this as well. You have to pick your battles with your children. You can’t fight them on every single thing. It’s the same in business. You just can’t fight everybody and every single thing. Figure out what really means something to you, fight for those big things and let the little thing fly.

People who want to advocate for themselves don’t know always know how. What are actionable steps they can take to make themselves heard? What steps do you take?

Hopefully you’ve picked something that you truly are good at and that you can figure out whatever your niche is in that business and figure out what sets you apart from everyone else. What gifts and talents do you have that you don’t see in your area, and then highlight those things. A lot of it comes from self-confidence that you can do what it is that you say you can do. You’ll see that people who believe they can do something regardless of whether they can do it or not, they somehow convince others they can do it. No one will sell you the way you do. And work your tail off.