If you're going through a stage of your career where you wonder if it's too late to do something completely new and different? If you're feeling like your dreams are just too big and too far away to possibly reach? Then Liz's story of founding a museum - yes, an actual museum - at a time when she could have been looking ahead to retirements, is for you.

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

I was interested in food - really the intersection of food and culture - all of my conscious life.  But I knew that I did not want to work in a restaurant or on a farm or in food manufacturing.  I did not realize that I should have studied anthropology, (I graduated from high school in 1967 and the only thing that resembled food studies in college was Home Economics) so I became a lawyer.  What other choice was there?  Food and its study became an avocation.  I read all about food cultures and tried to eat everywhere.  Finally, while in my 50s, I said, 'I want to found a food museum, write books about food, and really help ensure that food is an intellectual pursuit.'

How did you get your current good food job?

I founded the Southern Food and Beverage Museum!

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

I feel that everything that I have done has prepared me for what I do now.  My travels, working as an attorney, putting deals together, teaching, having a BA in English, and lots of eating.  And I grew up in New Orleans, in a Sicilian family, so I was surrounded by food.

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?

I bit off a lot.  Creating a museum, major websites, a stand-alone library and archive.  I often think that I was crazy to try to do this.  Often.  But then I remember how fun it is, how exciting, and ask myself what else could I ever do?

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

The greatest opportunities are in government/policy work, artisanal foods, specialty farming.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

More great experiences and meeting exciting people and the opportunity to travel.