Emily Shaw was born and raised just outside of Atlanta, in Chamblee. She attended Chamblee High School, and went on to study art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York before returning to Georgia and earning a degree in Biology at the University of Georgia. After graduation, she decided to pursue her love for…
Ally Smith
Ally Smith was born in Tucker, Georgia, and raised in Hampton, Virginia. After high school, she moved to Athens and attended UGA, where she studied Anthropology and Advertising. While she was working in various service industry jobs, she was at a dinner party with some other Athens foodies and met Daniel Ray, who told her…
Michael Greig Thomas
Michael Greig Thomas was born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, a post-industrial town in the North of England. After being accepted into Columbia University in New York, he moved to Barcelona, where he worked in finance for three years, saving up money for his move to the US. Once at Columbia, Michael crafted an interdisciplinary major…
Amelia Herb
Amelia Herb, though Georgia born, moved across the Midwest and Southern U.S. throughout her childhood. She attended cosmetology school during her high school stint in Indiana. Graduating both from Carroll High School and beauty college, she went straight into the hair industry. Amelia, a single mom, was let go from her job during the COVID-19…
Von Kidd
Von was born in Thailand and grew up in Oconee County, graduating from Oconee County High School. She studied Business and Entrepreneurship at Athens Tech, in pursuit of her dream of owning a restaurant. She moved to Montgomery, Alabama to run two restaurants there before deciding it was not the life for her. She spent…
Kirsten Hindes
Kirsten was born in Kentucky, and grew up in Columbia, SC where she graduated from AC Flora High School. She attended two years of college at the University of South Carolina and two at the University of Georgia where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in History. She attended the New England Culinary Institute in…
Dani McCall
Dani was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School. She went to Edinboro University in Pennsylvania where she earned a bachelor’s degree in International Finance. Dani came to Athens in 1996 to attend the University of Georgia, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Health Promotion. After a stint…
Jason Dean
Jason was born and raised in the small, rural farming community of Carroll, Ohio and graduated from Bloom-Carroll High School. He graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s in Fine Arts and Graphic Design. Following college, Jason worked at an advertising agency in Ohio, before moving to Florida while his wife attended graduate school. They…
Carole Black
Carole was born and raised in Charlotte, NC and attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Science. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Computer Science from DePaul University in Chicago. As she was preparing to change careers she…
Ryan Doss
Ryan Doss was born in Athens, Georgia and raised in Jackson County. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in accounting, and later completed a MBA. Ryan worked in public accounting at a CPA firm for seven years before becoming the CFO for a 34 unit restaurant group. From these experiences, he…