Jerry Slater was born in Buffalo, West Virginia and moved to Indiana when he was eight. After taking a year off after high school and working construction with his father, he attended Purdue University Northwest in Hammond, Indiana, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in literature with a minor in philosophy. After considering a PhD,…
Owen Staley
Owen Staley grew up in Battleground, Indiana and moved to Athens in the 3rd grade, attending Alps Road Elementary, Clarke Middle and Clarke Central High Schools. After high school he worked in restaurants, including the Taco Stand on Milledge for a couple of years. After a local electrician came and fixed their microwave, he decided…
Dr. Loretta Duggan
Loretta Duggan was born and raised in Sparta, Georgia. After graduating from Hancock Central High School, she attended Mercer University, where she studied sociology and chemistry, before moving to Atlanta and studying medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine. She received her training in Family Medicine in Spartanburg, SC, before conducting her fellowship training in Adolescent…
Eugene Willis, Jr.
Eugene Willis Jr was born and raised on the east side of Athens. After graduating from Cedar Shoals High School, he went on to study business, marketing and accounting at Athens Tech. In 2022, he founded CreativeSpace, a community art space on West Broad street, along with fellow Athens rapper Lo Down. Eugene is a…
Jo Thomas Wilson
Jo Thomas Wilson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, until moving to Atlanta as a 12-year-old. Jo called Atlanta home through high school and into their twenties, when they decided to go to cosmetology school after years of cutting hair for friends. Jo moved to Athens in 2020, and worked briefly in a salon downtown before…
Emily Shaw
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…