Good Eats with Alton Brown was certainly a big influence, as well as Iron Chef America, and I can't leave out James Peterson's book Cooking, but what really did it was simply having my own place and my own kitchen

My mother wasn't very fond of cooking, so we often ate out as I was growing up. About a year or so before I moved out of their house, I was itching to get better in the kitchen, but was difficult to go about doing that in that house. Now that I've moved, living with my wife, I've got my own kitchen space to spread out and experiment, and I've been loving every moment of it.
At first, I focused more on Italian dishes and tried perfecting my own alfredo sauce. I got the alfredo down, now I'm splitting my time between Asian and French culinary traditions. If I had a favorite ingredient right now, it would be hoisin sauce.