Carla Hall Had A Surprising Career Before 'Top Chef' Fame

Fans of "Top Chef" and "The Chew" know Carla Hall for her cooking skills and her energetic personality. However, Carla says there's one thing most people don't know about her: She used to be an accountant.

"I hated it! And I think at some point I looked up and I said, 'I don’t want to be 40 and hate my job,'" Carla says in the above clip from "Oprah: Where Are They Now."

Tipping her toes in an entirely new career, Carla began moonlighting as a model. When she met some fellow models who were moving to Paris, Carla decided it was time to quit her job and go, too.

In Paris, Carla found her passion for food -- but it wasn't from a Parisian chef. It started with a Tennessee woman and her Sunday brunch parties.

"This is when I fell in love with food," Carla says. "So here I am in the kitchen, and everybody's going, like if they're talking about macaroni and cheese, Well, my mother puts an egg in it. Well, my mother doesn't put an egg in it, she just does a lot of cheese, and she does cream cheese, And I'm soaking this up. And all of the socialization that takes place in the kitchen -- I was drawn to it."