This week, iLean-Pan was named one of The Story Exchange’s “15 Brilliant Business Ideas from Bold Women”. People see the frying pan. I see the years before it. The frustration. The noticing. The tiny irritation that most people walk past without questioning. Why does cooking one meal require juggling temperatures, moving food around, and managing…
Category: Featured
Why I Finally Hit “Launch” (and Why This Pan Took So Long)
I haven’t written here in a while. Not because I ran out of things to say — anyone who knows me knows that’s never the problem — but because I was living inside a question that wouldn’t leave me alone. Why does cooking still feel harder than it needs to be? Not “hard” in a…
build Your Kitchen Sanctuary
By Ilene Marcus Originally written on April 1, 2025 and released on SixtyandMe that you can link to here. In this age of instant gratification, where a meal can be summoned with a tap on a screen, I often forget the simple pleasure of being in my kitchen. I find myself standing before the fridge,…
WHERE HAVE I BEEN?
Short Answer: Managing Annoying People: Solving Everyday Challenges with Bold Ideas and a Sense of Humor and creating the Ultimate Solution for Home Cooks the ilean-Pan. And I talk about it all on my podcast appearance with Robert Plank. Robert asked great questions, here is a quote from the show that I said: I have…
The Right Hook to Flavor: Lessons from George Foreman
George Foreman wasn’t just a boxing legend—he was a master of the pivot. After dominating the ring, he stepped into kitchens everywhere and changed the way we cook. Not by accident, not by luck, but by seeing an opportunity and running with it. Like so many people, my first George Foreman Grill was a game-changer….
A Podcast Here and a Podcast There
Why I Love to Speak and Why I Guest on So Many Podcasts on Managing Annoying People You know that feeling when you’re stuck in a conversation with someone who just won’t stop being… well, annoying? Yeah, I get it. And that’s exactly why I’m passionate about speaking and why I love being a guest…
Every day is a chance to do better.
The world is more complicated than ever before. Every day is a reminder that hurt people hurt people. Relationships are hard. We struggle to find our balance and our purpose. There is a truth. Through peace or war, personal or professional, today or tomorrow, someone will annoy you. Even though we want to react in…
Do You Know How Annoying You Are?
Click this Link to See – How My Personality Annoys My Co-Workers! Information is power. This quiz is created to give you intel. It is an oldie, but a goodie. It will provide feedback about how others perceive you. If you find yourself often saying: It‘s not me, it’s them; your quiz results may surprise you….
Retire or Re-fire?
Eventually, we all smack into this question: Retire or Re-fire? At first it sounds really great, no early meetings, endless days to catch up on my “life” and time to do all the things I put on the back burner while I opted for one more project, one more season, one more year to earn…