What are we talking about when we talk about “reinventing” ourselves? Our conversation with writer, teacher and Japanese home cooking guru, Sonoko Sakai, reveals how failure is a pathway to discovering long-standing passions and new opportunities. After two decades as a successful film buyer and producer, Sonoko confronted financial and career loss. To heal, she discovered “putting my hands in flour was the most therapeutic way.” In 2008, she took a noodle-making class in Japan and went on to teach Japanese home cooking in her house in California. Her reputation grew, her soba noodles were celebrated, her classes were sought after for birthdays, corporate events and by individuals, she developed a community project to preserve heirloom grains, and wrote a popular cookbook. Then, in 2020, COVID hit. At 65, she shifted again and brought her classes online, grew her audience fivefold, brought in young women to co-create with her, and built what is becoming a women’s cooperative venture. Sonoko keeps learning and innovating, proud that, at 65 she’s got more energy than most millennials and hopes to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and live to at least 100. Try her cookbook recipes, shop at her online store, and listen to our delicious conversation with Sonoko to get a flavor of the joy that reinvention evokes.