To give you a sneak peek at the personalities of Team Alton, Team Bobby and Team Giada, we’re introducing a finalist per day leading up to the bigger-than-ever Food Network Star premiere on Sunday, May 13, at 9pm/8c. Don’t miss the casting special on Saturday, May 12, at 9pm/8c for a behind-the-scenes glimpse at each finalist’s road to Star-dom, including footage of their final one-on-one auditions with their respective team leaders.

Today we meet Team Alton's quirky retro gal, 29-year-old Emily Ellyn. Emily grew up on a farm, trained at the Culinary Institute of America and Academie Internationale de Management in Paris and is now pursuing her Ph.D. in hospitality management.

• Claim to fame: She's expanding Georgia-based Sublime Doughnuts into a worldwide franchise. She's working on opening shops in Bangkok and South Korea.
• Dream-show concept: "What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?", a show about cooking for loved ones. She grew up on a Christmas-tree farm and is very family-oriented.
• Secret ingredient: Bacon. She finds a way to put it in everything, including the crust for her pecan pie.