How to Turn a Busy Brain Into a Creative Advantage with Chef Will Gilson

What happens when the brain that fuels your ambition and creativity is also the one constantly pulling you in twelve directions?

Chef and restaurateur Will Gilson, whose Cambridge Street Hospitality Group now includes eight concepts, talks with Catherine about thriving under pressure, self-sabotaging deadlines, and why the chaos of a restaurant kitchen can feel strangely comfortable to an ADHD brain. He shares how seasonal depression led him to seek out projects with a clear beginning, middle, and end—and why learning to delegate was essential as his business grew.

Will gets practical about assessing his bandwidth, deciding what truly needs his attention, building a team he trusts, and using technology to keep multiple restaurants connected without having to be everywhere at once. He and Catherine also talk about unfinished projects, the temptation to say yes to everything, the dangerous ways restaurant workers have traditionally tried to “turn off,” and why sometimes you need to physically leave your environment to rest.

They also dig into what failure can teach you, how Will transformed the debt and emotional baggage of his first restaurant into lessons for the next one, and why travel is still essential to his creativity.

If you’re trying to build an ambitious life without letting your busy brain run the entire show, this episode is for you.