About From Hell to Challah: Rising from Fragile to Fearless, One Grain at a Time:
When COVID-19 hit, Shari Wallack knew it would take a toll on her mental health. A long-time sufferer of generalized anxiety disorder, she also knew her current mix of meds wouldn’t even scratch the surface of the depression she experienced as her award-winning travel business came to a screeching halt. The pain of cancellations and clients demanding refunds, combined with having her adult children suddenly home from college, and a subsequent all-out panic attack resulted in an involuntary stint in a mental health facility. Once released, and not wanting to face the reality of her situation, she did what so many have only dreamed about during the stress of 2020: She ran away from home.
In her hilariously raw and unflinchingly honest memoir, From Hell to Challah: Rising from Fragile to Fearless, One Grain at a Time (Radius Book Group, July 13, 2021, Hardcover / eBook) Shari takes us on her unusual voyage of self-discovery and healing. With her iPhone filled with personal and professional contacts and a carry-on bag packed with a weekend’s worth of clothes, she unexpectedly ends up on a three-month journey across the country couch surfing, baking challah bread and cooking Jewish food creations with anyone who would let her. Along the way, Shari charms her way through the kitchens and taste buds of friends, family, and a zany cast of new-found characters.
Filled with photos and recipes, From Hell to Challah is a unique combination of food, travel and self-help memoir full of inspiration, passion, and courage.
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Author Bio:
Shari Wallack started her professional career working for Club Med in New York City, and relocated to Fort Lauderdale, FL, in 1993 to work as an incentive sales executive for multiple cruise lines. The sale of Celebrity Cruise Line to Royal Caribbean International in 1997 led Shari to become an “accidental entrepreneur.” She later founded Buy the Sea, which has become the largest and most decorated cruise and all-inclusive brokerage company in the industry.
Her extensive network in the United States enabled her to take the journey that led to this inspirational book. Shari challenges everyone to do the right thing, put people before profits, never take away anyone’s dignity, and find the humor in almost any situation.
Shari is most proud of her children Rachel and Jake. She shares her time between her home in Plantation, FL, her “retreat” in New York City, her tiny mobile home that resides in Salt Lake City, UT and any cruise ship anywhere in the world.