
Ray credits the concept of 30 Minute Meals to her experience working at the store, where she met people who were reluctant to cook. From there, she became a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in Albany. Moving back to The Adirondacks, Ray managed Mister Brown's Pub at The Sagamore, a hotel on Lake George. When Macy's tried to promote her to a buyer in accessories, she moved to Agata & Valentina, a specialty foods store. She worked first at the Macy's Marketplace candy counter. Her mother managed restaurants in New York's Capital District, including the Lake George Howard Johnson's restaurant, located near the former Gaslight Village amusement park, which attracted many of the entertainers. When Ray was 8, her family moved to Lake George, New York.


Her mother's ancestry is Sicilian and her father's is French, Scottish, and Welsh. Rachael Domenica Ray was born in Glens Falls, New York, the daughter of Elsa Providenza Scuderi and James Claude Ray.
