The U is Silent; We Aren’t – S2,E8
The Ingredients of Grit
Chef Laura Fonner’s career is one movies are made of. As a teenage mother, self-taught cook, and woman in a male-dominated industry, she faced challenge after challenge on her path to becoming a two-time Food Network winner and Executive Chef of Zynodoa.
From leading one of Virginia’s premier farm-to-table kitchens to using food and feelings as a language of service, competing on national television, and mentoring the next generation of culinary talent, Laura shares the lessons she’s learned about resilience, purpose, and the power of showing up. Season 2’s candid finale is a masterclass in grit, growth, and what happens when talent meets relentless determination.
About This Podcast
The U may be silent, but Staunton has a lot to say. Join Visit Staunton as we sit down with inspiring individuals at the top of their craft. We’re chatting about what drives their passion, the actions behind the impact, and a little about the place where they’re making it all happen.
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TRANSCRIPT
0:09
Welcome back everybody to the The U Is Silent, We Aren’t podcast right here in Staunton, Virginia. Guys, we are here season
0:17
finale of season two. I can’t believe we are already at this point. We started this last season um just to kind of try
0:25
it out and see what it could be. and we knew we had great stories to tell, but thank you guys so much for supporting it and loving it and sharing your own
0:33
stories and and telling uh your journey with this podcast. Keep listening because there will be more. Stay tuned
0:40
because one thing I’ve learned very quickly is there is never a shortage of stories and amazing people here in Staunton and we’re excited to be a part
0:48
of this journey with them. This is such a fun episode coming up to perfect way to close out this season. Um she has
0:55
been making waves certainly throughout the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia um and the nation as a whole in the kitchen and
1:03
in the restaurant she’s been serving. Um you guys have been talking a lot about her so it only made sense to bring her on. Laura Fonner, thank you so much for
1:11
being here. Brand new executive chef of Zynodoa. Yeah, thank you for having me.
1:16
Welcome to Staunton. I know it’s been a few months, but welcome.
1:19
The sweetest, most welcoming city. Welcome to Staunton I could imagine. you know, I’m not only from across the mountain.
1:25
So, but it’s it’s unbelievable how lovely this little city is. So, yeah. Well, we are so excited to have you. I know. I know all of my friends in
1:33
Charlottesville are like, “Ah, no. Our loss is your gain.” And I know there’s still so much love for all of Charlottesville.
1:38
They’ve had me for 27 years. So, it’s about time share the love in another city. [laughter] Thank you so much for being here, though. How’s the journey been so far in Zynodoa?
1:47
Uh, it’s been wonderful. you know, uh, when I take on any kind of new job, it’s always a huge challenge, especially, uh, this is my first one outside of Charlottesville, so hiring pool is different. Uh, the vibe is different.
1:59
Uh, I it’s it’s it’s been awesome. Uh, I’m known to be an extremely hard worker, so that that is not any different when I come
2:08
over here. Uh, I feel like I’m working harder because I am not This isn’t my hometown, right? Uh, so I’m I’m I’m definitely
2:15
being more thoughtful about my choices and my my motivation behind it. Uh, but it it’s it’s basically my dream job and
2:23
it’s gotten me to the point where I’m probably going to move here in the fall. Do it. Do [laughter] it.
2:28
It’s amazing. I um I’m just now getting to know you a little bit more and and I heard so many great things before we got
2:35
to chat before. Um, and I I feel like I connected to you in so many ways. on you saying that of like coming here dream job and how you’ve connected to the
2:43
community and the mission but also when I first spoke with you and I was learning about your history uh you shared so many people if you’ve been
2:50
listening to any episodes grew up in southeast Kentucky central Appalachia and you shared you’re like yeah you know I grew up on a hauler in Virginia I’m like they did I’m from the holler
2:59
you’re the first person I’ve talked to that said they grew up in a holler and I’m like a lot of people don’t even know what I’m I connected [laughter]
3:07
I will tell you the way I describe What a holler is, it is basically uh the uh country version of the hood, right?
3:14
[laughter]
3:15
A lot of things happen in the holler. Yeah.
3:17
Not a lot of things out there to do. So, you got to uh you know not not get in trouble basically.
3:23
Have you ever heard the legend? I know it’s different every region probably, but have you heard the legend of how like the term hauler came to be? I haven’t actually. So, technically it’s a hollow, right?
3:32
But we say holler, right?
3:33
Um but the legend is so everywhere is a little bit different. Sometimes it’s more rural area, but often a holler is a
3:41
community built between mountain valley spaces to each other with, you know, often a water stream in between. But as
3:48
generations would settle, the the oldest generation would um would would they would settle at the the head of the
3:55
holler, right, the furthest point in and then the generations would gradually grow out. And so the legend is that um
4:03
you know when there would be a large outing or whatever and and everybody would go back home um you wouldn’t go inside until the eldest was inside. So
4:10
they would each stand on their porch and holler out. I’m home.
4:14
That’s amazing. Yeah. I grew up on a farm where they had one of the old-fashioned triangles, right? And my parents had it hanging on it and you know
4:23
well I mean where was I going? There were not even lines on the roads.
4:27
It’s only so far in the tree line you could go. not walking anywhere but through the woods, right? But they would ring it to for everybody to come inside,
4:34
right? Where I hope you’re within hearing distance basically.
4:38
Yeah. You know, my family, what did my mom have? I guess it was the the chime, our wind chime. She would knock that and that was like Yeah. Yeah. It’s funny, you know, it’s
4:46
funny because I grew up half of the first half of my life in Charlottesville in in the city like right off Rugby Avenue. Uh, so I went to city schools
4:54
and then then moved to the Holler, but it was in the most pivotal moments of my life, right? So I’m like this hybrid of like I always say that I’m
5:02
part hippie, part uh hillbilly, and mostly gangster, right? And it’s just like a mixture of my upbringing, you know?
5:09
Yeah, that makes sense. The more I get to know you, that makes sense. So, I am so excited to talk with you because I I think I shared this when we were
5:16
first chatting and and talking about the potential of you coming on of u you know, I think I I went in and we’re going to talk about, you know, the nuts and bolts of of restaurants [snorts] and
5:25
and the work that you do, but you are such an incredible story of perseverance and grit and just like
5:33
putting brains and grit together and what happens and so like I’m just so excited to journey through that and um
5:40
you you have shared you are you are taught through fire, right? So, you’re you’re self-taught through kitchens,
5:47
through restaurants versus a traditional culinary school. Um, for you in particular, what what did that pathway bring to you?
5:56
Uh, anybody that’s ever worked in a restaurant understands the atmosphere, right? So, the fact that I started working in a restaurant at 14, I
6:03
basically was raised by restaurants. Yeah.
6:07
That’s kind of scary. [laughter] Yeah. There’s there’s a lot of grit involved with that, you know. Uh it’s a you got to have tough skin and I learned
6:14
that at a very very early age, but I was also very fortunate to realize at such a young age that that that atmosphere I thrive in chaos,
6:23
right? And it and it lit up fire in me and I and I’ve known since I was 14 that this is what I’m supposed to do, right?
6:29
I always joke around I don’t know I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.
6:32
I hope I never grow up and I’m 41 so I’m like I’m doing really well so far.
6:37
Yeah. But I I I I want to do this forever. It’s it comes so naturally and so easy and it’s my my version of storytelling.
6:45
Uh but uh most people don’t ever find what they’re meant to do their entire lives. So it’s been a a big blessing to be able to have figured that out so early. Also a curse, right?
6:55
Because it’s such a hard industry and and you know, I’ll throw the card out there. I’m a female, so it was definitely more challenging, especially being a teenage girl to uh make a name for herself, right?
7:06
Uh, but I I got the opportunity to uh make pastries at a little place on West Main Street in Charlottesville called Bluebird Cafe. Yeah.
7:14
And my mom knew the general manager at the time. And so that’s how that job came along. Uh, but I learned the hard way. I learned in the fire. I learned
7:23
how to mess things up. I learned how not to mess things up. You, you know, pressure is on you. You come in and you read a recipe at 15. Don’t get it wrong or you won’t have a job tomorrow.
7:32
Yeah.
7:32
Because, you know, everybody’s replaceable, but especially when you’re a teenager, right? you know, and working in a in a atmosphere full of adults.
7:40
Yeah. [laughter] They say adults cuz again, if you ever worked in a kitchen, you know what I’m talking about,
7:46
right? Do you feel like growing up and and being so young and also learning as you go, do you feel like that changed how you lead a kitchen now?
7:56
Absolutely. Uh I it gave me the opportunity to learn that one of the most important aspects of being someone in a leadership position in a kitchen is
8:05
you need to learn how to speak to people.
8:07
And I mean that in a way where uh you know you have 20 different people on your staff and you say the same thing but everybody’s going to hear it different, right? So you need to take the time to
8:15
be able to get to know the people to understand how they hear things and how they listen and the words you need to choose for them
8:23
to do the best job they want to do that day. Right? Because you are if you’re angry with somebody and you you say negative things to them because you
8:30
don’t know how else to vocalize it, they’re only going to give you like 10% of what they actually walked in with that day. And it’s never really 100% that they’re walking in with, right? We
8:39
all try, but it’s a very grueling and exhausting job. And uh it’s fast and it’s generally uh it’s super satisfying,
8:47
but it’s it’s not that we don’t get thanked every day. Yeah.
8:50
You know what I mean? So you my favorite thing about having grown up in the industry like I did is I I’ve I’m really good with people
8:58
and and and having them be heard. So that’s that’s the most important thing in a kitchen.
9:04
Communication, right? You’re only as strong as your weakest link. So it’s probably why you’ve been able to to have such a long career.
9:12
Sure. And I’m crazy. So that helps. You know, we’ll throw that in there.
9:16
But in a really wonderful way, like unhinged. [laughter] I knew I would love this episode so much. So, uh I don’t even know how to transition into this question, right?
9:27
But dumplings. Yeah.
9:29
You have become um really known for your your take on dumplings. What is it one
9:37
that drew you to dumplings, but also like what do what is it about your recipes on this that you think connect?
9:43
That’s such an important question when it comes to me. Um, I grew up in a household uh that my birth father cooked
9:50
a lot before before he moved out. Uh, and so I’d like wake up to smells like ginger and garlic and and I could just smell food, right? And it was wonderful.
10:00
And the more I got into cooking, even though I started in an American diner and then went to Duners after that, uh, Duners had that global aspect on
10:09
their menu where it wasn’t uh, confined to uh, Italian, right? uh strictly American food. And so I got to dabble in a lot of different cultures and foods
10:17
and the dumplings reminded me of those smells from my house, right? So I took the time and did the research and I
10:24
spent probably eight years perfecting my dough recipe and and it’s flour, salt, ice, water, and love, right? So how do
10:32
you translate that to somebody else? You know, knead it until it feels like a cloud. Well, I’ve never touched a cloud.
10:37
I’m like, me neither, [laughter] but I’m pretty sure that’s what it would feel like, right? Um, so once I got that and I realized it’s and I’m also a very
10:45
hands-on person, right? Uh, I find the most my my world is chaotic, so I find the most peace when I’m focusing on something and it’s truly from scratch handmade.
10:54
Dumplings did did that for me.
10:56
Uh, and then I realized that in every culture there’s different version of a dumpling, right? Uh, I’m part Polish, so there’s perogis, right? Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes inside a dumpling? Yes.
11:06
Right. So then I got uh going on my journey of all the different cultural dumplings, but the Asian ones are probably the my favorite, right? The
11:15
flavors uh Asian cuisine on its own is just it’s my it’s the most exciting that there’s so many different flavors
11:22
and and colors and it’s healthier. So I I started putting them on my menu uh and they just took off, right? Because
11:30
they’re you can taste they’re homemade. Yeah.
11:33
Right. I don’t buy wonton wrappers. I I make my own fillings. Most times I have to butcher the animals down in order to do that. Sure.
11:40
So, it’s an act it’s a a labor of love is what I would call it. Every step.
11:45
Yeah. So, yeah. My my son’s one of his favorite books that we read, it’s dumplings around the world, right? So, it’s all these different dumplings and it’s so
11:52
fun to go through all the different um names and what it is. My only qual with the book is that there’s not chicken and dumplings in it.
12:00
Chicken and dumplings like No, there’s not like a dumpling. Yeah.
12:04
Yeah. little Appalachian hearts like wait a second but the rest are but it’s yeah talking about all the different versions around the world is is amazing
12:12
it’s it’s awesome there I mean in all in almost any dish it’s just a cultural difference right uh which food’s the international language you love
12:20
yes right uh easiest thing to translate so it’s it’s uh dumplings are just I I love them yes any any way you have them great
12:28
I spent a couple years there I had a food food truck uh and when I started the food truck it was dumplings and for about a year I had that imprint of the cutter like embedded in my hand.
12:38
Oh my gosh. [laughter] Like one day one day when you retire eventually you’ll have to get like tattooed on your hand of this is what’s my literal stamp, right? That’s amazing.
12:48
So going all the way back. So we’re we’re far from retirement, right? But going all the way back, I know you’ve shared you really got into cooking as a
12:56
way just to like stay out of trouble and stay busy during the summers, right?
12:59
Yeah. Well, my mom wanted me to stay out of trouble. I was fine with it.
13:02
[laughter] you’re like, I actually enjoy it.
13:03
She was a single mom of three kids and we were all very very loud.
13:08
It’s a really nice way to put it. Um, and so during the summer and she she’s an ultra synographer or was she’s retired now.
13:16
Uh, during the summer she worked night hours and like all these weird hours and so she’s like keep us out of do something with us. Right. So KEK is
13:23
Charles Almor Technical Education Center over in Charlottesville.
13:27
A lot of people only know it for evening classes for adults for uh trade work.
13:31
Right. Or or the high school, local high schools have a collaboration and you can spend half your day there do and it counts as credits. But during the summer they
13:40
offer cooking classes or classes of all sorts. Yeah.
13:42
Uh I ended up doing a cooking one. It was only a week long, but I came home on day two and I’m like you loved it.
13:48
I loved it. Yeah. I um I I didn’t cook much. This is really funny. My mother will tell you the same thing. Uh my
13:55
first dish I became famous on as a child was called a chewy cheese sandwich. Tell you how I made it. put two pieces of bread in the toaster. You toast it
14:02
first, right? Then some cheese. Make a grilled cheese essentially, wrap it in wet paper towel and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and it was chewy because it was 2 minutes in a microwave.
14:12
[laughter]
14:13
She ate every bit every time I made it.
14:15
Yeah. Then there was a couple years later, this is all before the classes, right? Uh I was at home and making ramen noodles. We all we all eat them.
14:24
uh and left the pan on the stove after I did it and the stove was on and I went back upstairs like a half an hour later and picked it up and it melted the metal
14:32
on it was so hot and it dripped through the kitchen floor and let lit the basement on fire. So right then and there I knew this is what I was going to
14:39
be good at. Right. I I have found my would have had a very different No, the metal actually burnt like went
14:46
on one of my toes and one of my toes is flat from having been burnt and my it was only me and my brother home at the time and my brother’s like you idiot.
14:54
I’m like I know. And he made me hop to my friend’s house like a mile away with like toe covered in metal and the floor on fire like Dag you’re it you call mom
15:02
then. [laughter] And I love that you were like this is going to be my career. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. This is exciting.
15:09
What’s going to happen next? I haven’t burned any places down yet, obviously, or I would have made the news for that, right? [laughter] No mug shots out there yet.
15:17
Yeah. So, it sounds like your family was really like behind you in this also. You know what I mean? [laughter] Literally.
15:23
Well, and the funny part is none of them really cooked, right? And I didn’t grow up remembering my mom cooking anything other than like Thanksgiving meals. And then as soon as I started in this
15:31
industry, they were they’re like, “Oh, oh, you going to cook? We’re going to cook, too.” And I’m like, “You going to battle me? Are we battling here? It’s amazing. Not competitive at all, right?
15:41
No, not at all. Never. I wasn’t until I guess this this career. Really?
15:46
Yeah. No, I I I didn’t stay under the radar, man. And then uh I when I went and did Food Network, though, that’s really really when it really sparked it up.
15:55
Well, it very much worked out for you, too. Yeah, a little bit.
15:57
Yeah. Going back a little bit more because something that’s um talking about perseverance. So, you were a mother very young, right? And you were
16:05
also not only in the early parts of your career, but I know you’ve shared like that was when you made the decision fully of like I’m I’m in this. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it.
16:15
So, but I started at 14 and worked at Bluebird Cafe until I graduated high school. And right out of high school, I ended up getting pregnant, right? Uh single mom. I did not move back home.
16:25
Uh and I decided that Bluebird Cafe was not supportive enough. So, I just woke up one day with a, you know, me and my
16:32
baby and I’m like, I’m gonna quit and I did. This is how long ago it is and I think we’ve talked about this before.
16:37
Uh, I picked up the newspaper and I found an ad in it for classified.
16:42
Yeah. Get your highlighter out and maybe I’ll call them.
16:45
Uh, and I and I responded to an ad at Duners in Ivy and went there and went in for my interview. uh you know was as
16:52
professional as a a 19-year-old girl could be and they hired me and I took a copy of the menu home and I went home and Googled it because I didn’t know any of
17:00
the words on it. I didn’t go to school so my words for things and the way I describe sauces are the common man version and then you go to a higher
17:08
class restaurant and it’s the technical version and I’m like I can’t even pronounce that. Right.
17:14
Yeah. Yeah. So, I went home and I studied and I studied and went in with a good attitude and absorbed everything I could from all the people that had been veteran employees there.
17:23
Uh, and started on my journey there at Duners. Yeah.
17:26
You know, on that because you’ve shared you’re like, I had to learn this menu, right? Like you’re hired, learn it all.
17:33
Young mother going in teaching yourself this entire new menu, entire new atmosphere, and then going on to being there 17
17:42
years. What do you feel like that like your attitude and your mindset during that time like what do you think that was and how do you think it it how do you think it it set up your success?
17:53
Well, it okay. So, I didn’t go to culinary school. Uh, and it and it made looking in hindsight, it it it’s a
18:00
blessing because I didn’t get taught this box of rules, right? I like I there I didn’t have rules, but the rules were make it work, right?
18:10
Uh, and and with culinary school that what a lot of students get taught is that there’s only one way to do something. There’s a handful of ways to get to the same point, right? But you
18:18
got to you got to go through the experience of trying all those ways to see what works best for you. Uh and and so that that really has helped me shape
18:28
my own career and my own my own self as a chef.
18:31
Uh not being comfortable was really hard first walking in to do nurse, but then I realized that I thrive in in chaos
18:40
again. And I I want to challenge myself every day and be comfortable being uncomfortable. Yes. because that’s when you grow as a person or grow as a chef, right?
18:50
Uh and and so that has really helped me in my career wanting to be a sponge and absorb everything and not that you know
18:57
a lot of people think chefs are arrogant. Well, we are for most of the part because think about if you think about it like this, you open up a
19:05
restaurant and you expect people to come give you their money, right? But you have to offer something that they can’t find somewhere else, right? Uh or else
19:13
you’re just fooling yourself. So there’s a level of arrogance to it, but uh when you break it down at the end of the day, there are a lot of good people in kitchens.
19:20
Yeah, they are artists, right? This is the way that they are being heard in the world.
19:25
And uh you can choose to fully absorb everything or you can choose to kind of be like, I know everything. I know what I’m doing. I
19:33
didn’t know anything. I still don’t know anything. Uh so just being so flexible and I have patience. I have the patience of a saint. Sometimes it gets me in
19:41
trouble because uh uh it it gives me the theory in life where I I will take extra long to respond about something or to
19:48
something because you only have one chance for someone to hear your response.
19:52
So, it’s very important for me to gather all of my my thoughts and opinions and really think about it before I do it.
19:57
I’m not an instant person in that aspect.
20:00
In a kitchen, you have to right. You have to be able to pivot. You have to you. So, not going to culinary school and learning at
20:09
Duners like that was probably the best thing that probably could have happened to me because I I I can change things in minutes, right?
20:17
I’m flexible. I’m creative. I am patient.
20:21
You know what I mean? My lack of arrogance. I don’t care. People might think I’m I’m not everybody’s cup of tea, right? It’s because I’m a cup of black coffee. [laughter]
20:30
So, you’re saying that I And this is a huge thing about the whole world. You don’t you don’t like me. There’s a whole lot of other porches you can sit on. You
20:37
know what I mean? Goes back to the holler, too. We’re porch sitters, aren’t we?
20:41
Yes, we [laughter] are. Nothing better than a little front porch front porch sitting session.
20:45
Oh, my mom had the best porch swing, too. Oh, so pretty. So great.
20:49
Yeah. But, uh, Duners was absolutely amazing. I worked with so many different people that I got so many different versions of what kitchens can be run
20:56
like before I was able to run it there myself. Yeah.
20:59
Right. Uh, and so and I learned a lot of what not to do, you know, because you how do you know if it’s a good idea for you if you don’t
21:07
try it for yourself, right? Because a lot of things you a lot of people look at things in in a negative way before they look at it in a positive way,
21:14
thinking what could go wrong. Everything can go wrong. Any moment in life, everything can go wrong, right? Uh, but if you go in in with a positive
21:21
attitude, then you’re more than likely going to get a positive outcome, right?
21:25
So, yeah. How what you expect to happen. And you know I always say that how do you how do you define what your version of success is if you don’t experience
21:33
failure right? That’s the truth.
21:35
And failure comes in so many different forms and fashions that it’s not always like a negative thing. You just don’t see it in the moment that it’s going to enhance your life at some point.
21:44
Yeah. And also takes me back to my patience.
21:46
Right. I’ll wait 20 years for something to come around full circle. Yeah. Yeah. Just wait it out.
21:51
I I learned when I was in sales I’m like what’s the worst that’s going to happen? I’m told no. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Try something else.
21:59
It’s actually I don’t want I don’t want to I don’t want to wonder what if. Right. So I’m a I’m a yes lady as well.
22:06
I’m that’s I’m unhinged. [laughter] I I want to try everything. I don’t want to just exist. I want to live. Right.
22:13
And that and living is is hard and it’s fun, but it’s exhausting and it’s also dangerous, right? in in a way where if you don’t have tough enough skin, then
22:21
the smallest criticism, the smallest thing will really tear you down and put you in a place where you shouldn’t be, you know. Yeah. And don’t deserve to be. I agree.
22:30
Looking back at your younger self and your younger version when you were just trying to figure it all out.
22:39
And not to go overly deep, but I am curious like what what you would say or think of the younger person because man, you really like you’re like, “Yeah, my
22:47
baby and toe.” I mean, Wilson Phillips says it best. Just hold on for one more day, right? Yeah. Yeah.
22:53
Oh, no. That’s a great question. Um I I don’t know what I would tell myself, my younger version of myself. I I constantly think about that, right? Uh
23:02
because growing up, I uh think and I think a lot of us growing up in a generation because I’m 41, right? Um, we
23:10
we’re not I say bread. God, I’m so weird. Uh, we are raised to think that we’re supposed to go to primary school,
23:17
right? Go graduate, go to uh college, pick a job, get married, have kids.
23:24
That’s what the majority of us think is what life’s plan is supposed to be. And I didn’t really have another version of that growing up. Yeah. And I was married for 15 years, right?
23:32
And I have three kids, 23, uh, almost 14 and 11. And when I decided to leave that marriage, uh, it reopened up that
23:41
mind of my younger self, right? Well, there now what? Cuz I did what I was supposed to do, supposed to do. And now I got to figure
23:49
out what I want to do, right? That doesn’t make me selfish. That doesn’t make me less of a mother, right? That just made me realize that there was more to life than what I was doing.
23:58
And u then I got to go out there and explore it, right? And that takes you back to how do you know what success is if you don’t know what failure feels like?
24:07
You you you do the work, you know, you go out and you find the world is so big and there’s so many cool things that you can do like weird little things every
24:16
day, you know? I want to I want to change the world every day in some form or fashion. Even if it’s just one kind gesture to one person, right? Um but I
24:24
I am very ambitious. I have like goals and I didn’t they got unlocked re-unlocked, right? when I having a
24:31
child so young really restricted anything other than making sure I was a good mother and taking care of my child and getting my career off the ground,
24:40
you know, and committed to it. And now I feel like I’m on the other side because my kids are old enough to appreciate my absence sometimes, right?
24:48
Uh and my presence even more. Yeah.
24:50
Uh and they they what I’ve done in my career really has shown them that it’s something because it’s a a viable visible thing. they can see it on TV in
24:59
in articles because I’ve done charity programs and stuff, you know, uh I don’t know. It’s I’m a hippie. I’m sorry. I’ll go on for hours about this.
25:08
No, it’s amazing. And um you talked about TV. I it’s something I respect even more about you is
25:19
your your cooking certainly, but something that really connected you to the national scene and and drew attention to you is not only your your skill in your cooking, but also um the
25:27
work that you were giving back through through um feeding the unhoused, feeding shelters throughout the Charlottesville area and beyond, serving people and also
25:35
helping people. I know you’ve shared like get up off their feet and get them in the kitchen when when you can and trying to make that connection and just working on it only takes one person to say yes and give you a chance to change your life.
25:46
You know what I mean? Uh I I would love to be that person. I’m not that person for everybody, but given the opportunity I you know there’s a people are always like, “Thank you for
25:54
giving me a second chance.” Well, it’s not a second chance if it’s my first time meeting you, right? So, uh that that’s how I view
26:03
my charity work, right? my uh my ability or my uh I don’t even know the right word for it. Uh how I want to help people get back on their feet, right?
26:12
Yeah. I have never been in that position and hope to never be, but uh it it it’s really sad because it sucks the soul out of people, you know, and people some of
26:21
these people that I’ve worked with in my charity uh program, I you know, that they had amazing careers and it’s like one little thing happened and then now
26:28
now we’re here we are, you know. Uh but I had the way I got started in that is I had a group of friends that were uh working with their local church and they
26:36
were signed up to do one of the dinners in the program already and I and they asked me if I’d come serve it and so I did and I got put on like the main dish
26:44
thing which was like oh man I didn’t cook any of this food right and I’m like oh I this is what we’re feeding people you know what I mean I understand that they’re unhouse and they’re they’re
26:53
happy to have anything to eat but we can do so much better so with my job I have all sorts of chef friends that own restaurants and a big
27:02
voice in my community. And so I decided to start a charity program with Patchum, which is uh uh run through the Haven and they house the homeless in
27:11
Charlottesville through different churches all through the cold season, right?
27:15
So they have people uh sign up and bring meals to these people. It’s women’s shelter and a men’s shelter, so 120ish people and then maybe 70 in women’s.
27:24
This is back when I was doing it a couple couple years ago. Uh, and I did a whole like Batman signal out like who
27:31
wants to help? And obviously everybody wants to help if they can. They just don’t want to put the work in, right? Do the physical work cuz we’re all really busy. And I was like, I’m crazy. I’ll do it, right? I’ll be there.
27:40
So I would get uh donations from my chef friends and from whoever companies and whatever whoever wanted to do it. I’d pick everything up on Sunday and then I
27:48
repurpose it all and split it into two shelters and feed uh the men’s and the women’s every week on Tuesday.
27:55
Right. Uh and that that was for like three months out of the year and for at least three years before the pandemic hit and the regulations changed. Uh but
28:03
I had to sign up genius in the community where I would have families come help me serve. It was a beautiful way to get to know the entire my kids helped me you
28:11
know but it’s it started because food is one of the basic necessities in life and it’s not always available for everybody
28:18
and not just not always available but not the quality right. So, I was very thoughtful and you know the first time I rolled into the men’s shelter and I had a quinoa salad, boy, you should have
28:27
seen the looks on their faces like what is that?
28:31
It’s good. [laughter] So, you working with the same people week after week, right?
28:37
I I’d be like, “Cool, I’ll bring the pizza ranch next time.” You know what I mean? But I would ask them, “What would you guys like to eat?” And I had this
28:45
whole list of things and I would, you know, like, “Who’s got this this week?
28:48
Who’s got this this week that I can get?” and I actually tried to accommodate it. They were, you know, it was a really satisfying thing and it was
28:55
not there were very very few negative moments in that, you know, but working with any kind of program like that, you’re going to have negatives and positives to it because it’s such a sensitive subject, right?
29:05
Well, food, you know, that’s the interesting thing about food and and I love your take on it because it is personal. like food is personal and um
29:15
when you talk about your charity work it reminds me so much of um one I think in any region it’s always interesting to
29:21
how culturally like how people say things but also um what it means really and you know growing up in central
29:28
Appalachia the the phrase have you eaten um it was really it was you heard have you eaten but really what was said is um
29:37
how are you today right do you feel love today can I love you better. And it was truly a thing. And it and it drove home for me. Um oh my gosh, I’ll try not to get emotional about it.
29:46
But when we our region had just a thousand-y year flood, devastating flooding. There were so many deaths around the state in the region and um
29:54
just towns leveled and and we were serving food one day and I remember a gentleman came up with his kids. His kids were getting stuffed together and
30:02
um I had asked him, I said, “Have you eaten today?” And he immediately was like, “Yep, my kids are good. They’re over there.
30:07
they’re sitting and and thank you guys for taking care of them. Started thinking I said I I’m so glad that they’re they’re taking care of it. I said, “But have you eaten today?” Right?
30:16
And big man covered in mud, right?
30:18
Because he was trying to clear up his property. And I immediately saw like tears hitting his eyes because we knew what that question meant. And also the idea of like let’s take care of each other.
30:28
Um and you have seen it from so many different perspectives from a kitchen and a family coming together and they have a night out, right? and like the
30:36
specialness of that when they come into the restaurant, but also getting off your feet and you’ve seen you you see it and approach it from every side of humanity.
30:45
I try to, right? I don’t want to live blindly. Uh u I I I wouldn’t say that I came from any bit of privilege at all.
30:53
Right. I’ve worked very hard for everything that I’ve ever gotten or don’t have. [laughter] Chef, we don’t have anything, right?
31:01
We’re poor, but we’re semi happy. I don’t know, right? It’s working out like Alanis Morissette that song. One hand on my pocket. I I hear that I’m like that’s me.
31:10
That’s me. She knows me.
31:11
I’m sick but I’m pretty [laughter] right. Yes.
31:17
But it’s been such a great way to see the world though. You know what I mean?
31:20
You hear the stories. I I live off stories. I love I like I’ve said it. I cook with my feelings. Like you can taste my feelings and
31:27
and and music is a big part of my world, right? Um I’ll tell you a really good story. It’s one of my favorite uh career moments. I was part of this really big
31:36
celebrating women and food event outside of DC and I had my the restaurant that I owned was open and the event was on a Sunday
31:44
and it was very fancy and it was very expensive for people to go. So I took it very serious. Uh but I had to work the night before and so after I cleaned my
31:52
kitchen at my restaurant, it was like midnight and I started working on all the food for the next day. So, here I am at 4:30 in the morning cleaning my
32:00
kitchen up and this Chris Stapleton song comes on and I’m like tasting all my sauces. I’m like, “My food tastes like this song.” I’m like, “Oh, it’s going to sound
32:08
really crunchy if I go there tomorrow and say that, right?” But, you know, lack of sleep and driving to DC, here I am. And I show up to the event and it’s
32:15
in this beautiful historic u uh mansion that uh was turned into a brewery. And so all the chefs were put into different rooms and I was in the library and here
32:23
I am cooking 2 oz portions of uh wild rockf fish on a pancake griddle in the library where the windows were like nailed shut and I’m like sorry about you
32:31
[laughter]
32:32
right but I asked everybody or I told them the story about how I’d cooked all night.
32:37
Yeah. Uh, and so I asked them all to look up a song on their phone and the the sauce I served with that wild
32:45
rockfish tasted like that song and everybody tasted music in that moment and it was the most satisfying fulfilling thing. So I’m like, “Oh, you
32:54
you taste my crazy drink for right that if you think about it um, you know, I go
33:02
in I go into work with a different mood every day. Either I’m tired and I’m a little shorter or I’m like refreshed and let’s ready to go. Mostly refreshed and
33:09
ready to go. Might not always look like it, but but life continues happening that we have to respond for anything.
33:16
Um but you can taste my emotions.
33:19
Yeah, I understand. I have recipes, right? But recipes are just guidelines.
33:23
Uh I can give one the same recipe to 10 people and get 10 different things.
33:26
Yeah. And and it’s not just because they don’t know how to read it, right? But it’s because every jalapeno pepper is a different kind of heat.
33:32
Yeah. every everything. There’s so many variables. I I actually had at one point when I thought I was going to have time in life, I uh bought the rights to a
33:39
copyright book for a book, a cookbook called It’s Situational because everything’s pretty situational in the world and you have to you have to understand that, right?
33:48
Um so by me saying that I cook with my feelings, that just means that I I I you know, I’ll be baking. I’m a pastry chef,
33:56
too. And I’m like, I’ll just put enough vanilla in here until the vanilla says to stop, right? And and it’s perfect, right?
34:02
Because I don’t I never I don’t I’ll be I’ll be honest. I don’t ever measure salt or vanilla and bake it. I’m like a little bit of this, a little bit. Yeah.
34:09
I know what it’s supposed to look like, you know? At this point in my career, but it’s uh you let it talk to you and you become that that it’s a better
34:16
product because you’re putting a piece of yourself into it, right?
34:19
I’d love to say I put a little bit of myself in every dish, but I I would have disappeared by now.
34:24
That’s a lot of me. Well, that is of you know, I know there’s not a lot of work life balance in your field, but like there is that that level of personal but
34:33
also still like protect your heart along with the product too. Yeah, absolutely. Um, but food is just such an
34:40
artistic way for me to be heard in the community and in the world. And I think that’s probably why uh [sighs and gasps]
34:48
sounds arrogant like back here she is a chef. Uh why I’m so special as a chef, right? I You know what? I heard something once. It’s not bragging if it’s true.
34:56
Oh, thank you. Yeah. Well, I just I run kitchens different. I do things different. I’m not like I’m not for everybody. I’m a hard person to work for
35:04
cuz you know, you come in and I’m like, “How about we like work with our feelings today, you know?” And I’m like, “Oh, I don’t like that feeling.”
35:12
[laughter]
35:12
Right. It’s a hard thing to unlock in somebody. Yeah.
35:16
And once you do, it’s beautiful to watch them blossom. But a lot of people don’t have that kind of um looseness in their in their soul and their personality to
35:24
really put it in there, you know. But I when they’re a little discouraged about it, I try to remind them that you you
35:31
generally can’t control anything in your life, right? When you come to work, it’s your safe space and you can control almost everything there. Obviously, there’s variables. It’s always situational.
35:41
Um but but like this is your time to be you. I want to see who you are, right? When I ask my new line cooks, I’m like, “Hey, I got
35:49
some homework for you. Why don’t you go home and come back to me with like a dish you might want to put on the menu, right? Because I don’t want to be the
35:56
only one thinking of things. It’s there’s so many brains in a kitchen. Why are you all going to suck mine dry?” Right? So, I ask for team advice and um
36:06
when they come back to me with what they want to put on, I it it’s a good sign to see whether they just Googled something or whether they really have a thoughtful response to it. You know what I mean?
36:16
So, I’ll take that and we’ll run with it after that. But it’s I’m I’m a very unique person to work for.
36:22
Uh I I believe in having fun and happy people make happy food, right? If you feel like you’re forced to be there and you know, I want them to want to come to work.
36:31
Yeah.
36:31
Right. Because I’m I’m going to be there regardless. And if we’re going to spend all this time together all day long, I don’t want I’m not saying I want to be your friend. Don’t ask me over for
36:38
dinner, but like I want to know spend as much time as, you know, more time often than you do with your family at some point. point of
36:47
being around these people all the time if I don’t get to know them and understand them, you know, and that goes back to being able to talk to people correctly. Yeah.
36:54
And and and having to being a good leader in a kitchen. Yeah. Yeah.
36:59
I know uh you you shared when the Food Network first called, right? Like I it felt like a joke and I think you thought
37:06
it was a joke, right? Like you’re cold calling me. What? Um, what was it like though to go from that moment of confusion all the way through winning?
37:16
Uh, terrifying. I have anxiety. You wouldn’t believe it. You wouldn’t think it because I’m professionally confident, right? But, uh, I I I get so nervous
37:25
because it’s like I I try so hard at everything, right? I don’t Nobody likes to fail, right? But so this was me
37:32
saying yes to going all the way across the country for the first time by myself. I signing for the first time by myself to a state I’d never been to by
37:40
myself to realizing that I’m going to go do this thing on national TV and if I lose it’s going to be on national TV, right?
37:47
Like what like so but again that goes back to being comfortable being uncomfortable.
37:52
Yeah. And and as soon as I went through that first process and realized like, oh, that’s it reminded me of being 14 and realizing I found something that I
38:00
wanted to do and I’m good at and it just lit a fire in my butt and and it is that has probably been the
38:08
most beautiful experience to build my confidence. Grocery games, right?
38:14
Yeah, guys. Grocery games. The Food Network. Yes.
38:17
Don’t say it’s wrong. [laughter] Don’t do it.
38:22
Don’t do it. Yeah. But you feel like it really was a a pivotal time for you. Re It really is because, you know, I like to I spent a lot of time in my life
38:29
trying to surround myself with people that make me want to be the best version of myself, right? That don’t want to steal my light to make theirs bigger because they don’t have enough. and going into that atmosphere.
38:41
A lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do competition cooking, but it’s a beautiful family of of of
38:49
people that work for these companies, right?
38:51
So, they make you want to be the best version of yourself. They’re this particular show, I can’t speak for others, right? Uh they don’t want you to look bad, right?
39:00
Right. And even if you do something wrong or mess up, they’re they’re going to not not highlight that. They’re going to highlight you in the best form and fashion. And I’m like, you are my people, right?
39:10
Yeah. I’ll come back anytime. Where’s my suite? [laughter] Do I get a trailer? Bring me out.
39:15
So, on that, cuz you did you went on to win twice.
39:19
Um, we do have to talk about though little Skittles in the house. Oh, little Skittles. I She’s still here.
39:27
Did you Right. She’s still here.
39:28
She’ll never go away. Did Did you have any idea that your um off-the-cuff
39:36
improvised rap as Lil Skittles would catapult you to like national attention?
39:43
No. No. No. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have sent I’m not sure I would have sent that in to him. No. I walked into work one morning and my drive to work was only
39:51
seven minutes, right? So, I had about seven minutes to be like, “Today’s the day. Little Skittles is here, right?” My whole tagline now is like taste the
39:58
rainbow. I’m such a nerd. This is a really fun one though. [laughter] But so I get to work and my pastry chef who’s been at Duners forever and it’s
40:06
still there actually. Um was like hey good morning. I’m like hi. No. And I like hand my phone. I’m like tape this.
40:12
And she’s like what is going on? And I’m like you got just shut up. You got like 30 seconds before I change my mind. So she turns it on and I just start
40:21
spitting out this freestyle rabbit. It was like three or four verses. like the linen man’s coming in and he’s like, “What is happening?” [laughter]
40:28
Yeah. And I became little Skittles. I thought it was hilarious because I like I laugh at myself all the time. Uh so I posted it on my Facebook and I I think I
40:37
tagged it with uh if you don’t have fun like this at work, then you need a new job, right? And then it went viral and here I am this little little skinny little mini
40:45
d minivan drive-in rapper, right? Little Skittles. And I take little Skittles because M&M, right? M&M’s is a candy.
40:53
And I’m like, so if Little Skittles or M&M’s can be Eminem, I’m Little Skittles, right?
40:57
Yeah. And I won’t say all the bad words that go along with that, but uh she’s pretty tough. [laughter] But I sent that and when Food Network
41:06
called and uh they were like, “We’d like for you to compete.” They’re like, “You got to go through the application process.” And part of got down to the application
41:13
process uh where it was like, “Please send us a short f up to five minute video.” I don’t think they thought that showing us the best version of yourself.
41:20
So I’m like boop little skittles as it is, you know, cuz I didn’t think that I’d really be going to California. Like 3 minutes after I sent that email in,
41:28
they called back and they’re like, “So the plane is going to be flying out on this day.” And I’m like, “Oh no.” And I walked for TV. This is a lot of people don’t know this cuz they couldn’t play
41:36
it on Food Network because of they’d have to pay for it. Um, after I won that first episode and I’m in at doing my
41:43
like final interview there, I had spit out another freestyle rap and it was to rappers delight. So, they didn’t want to buy the rights to it, right? But it was
41:51
about my experience on the on the show and it was like fire. [laughter] So, then I was dubbed as the rapper with
41:59
all the the the staff on the Food Network. When I went back for the second time and competed in that the tournament, they were like, “The
42:06
rapper’s back.” Like, oh my god. Yes, I am. Do I have to rap every time now? Yeah, I do. I do. Yeah.
42:15
You just have to own it. [laughter] So, I’m like the least likely person you would think to to do that. You know what I mean? Yeah.
42:21
Yeah. Oh, it’s so funny. No, I had no energy.
42:24
Skittles is so popular, right? But here we are. I know you said earlier when we first sat down that Zynodoa in many ways felt like your
42:32
dream job, but what was it about walking into that space and that restaurant that had that connection to you?
42:38
Well, I had the opportunity to open my own restaurant up and renovate it, but I didn’t certainly didn’t have the funds for it, right? Uh I so I did all the
42:46
work myself with my parents uh and some of my friends that taught me how to do some of these things, but walking into Zynodoa was like what I wish my
42:54
restaurant probably would have looked like, right? uh the size of it, the atmosphere of it, uh the concept of it,
43:01
all in my wheelhouse and all, you know, the right time in my life. I walked in at the right on the right day cuz when I
43:08
came to Staunton to do the interviews, right, I got to Staunton, I’m like, why are the roads so little and all up? I
43:16
don’t think I can work here, right? I can’t parallel park. Fun fact.
43:20
And you know, I’m I’m 41 now, so I’m not even going to try. I don’t even like I have no We don’t need to know all the skills.
43:25
Oh, there’s plenty of parking spots everywhere. Um, so I, you know, I walked in, I met the staff, front some of the front of the house staff. Uh, took a
43:34
look at their menu. I liked the size of the kitchen. Uh, I finally decided I was going to return to like the finer dining and cooking because I’ve done gypsy
43:42
chefing for a couple years now, trying to figure out what I truly wanted to do after losing my restaurant. And and this
43:48
was this one hit home. the way that the menu is able to be run is so similar to Duners that it that it just like oh
43:58
comfort zone right and here I go talking about how I like to be out of my comfort zone but it’s also nice to feel safe right especially in your in an atmosphere
44:06
where you’re it’s your career uh so go going into Zynodoa and and seeing how beautiful Staunton is it just
44:13
really was nailed it in for me because I was not looking for a job I had a job previous to this one and and then all of a sudden I’m Oh, okay.
44:21
Let’s go on another adventure. Right.
44:23
And this has been my biggest one in a career move because I’m committing to going outside of my huge comfort zone
44:30
of of Charlottesville and really see what I can do, right?
44:34
Yeah. Zynodoa is, you know, really spearheading um sustainable culinary practices and and there’s a lot of talk
44:42
about farm-to-table and Zynodoa does it so so well and it’s such a high priority and I think one of the reasons you were a great fit for this space but it is I
44:49
know it’s a catchy term and we love it and and the practice of it but it’s not an easy practice farm to table and the relationship with farmers
44:58
it’s a it’s about twice the amount of work right because and I mean that on a sourcing aspect not just on a physical day-to-day, which that can be too because of the butchering aspect of it.
45:07
Sure.
45:08
Uh but building the relationships with the farmers and I was lucky enough to walking into Zynodoa that when they gave me their vendor list basically uh like
45:15
oh my gosh, I’ve known half them for like 20 plus years, right? Met them working through Duners and so it was an instant comfort level.
45:22
Uh been years since I’ve worked with them, right? Because I’ve been doing jobs that weren’t uh that we didn’t use their products.
45:29
[clears throat] So walking in I was like, “Okay, cool.” And then I’m like, “Oh, oh, now I remember. Now I remember how hard this is. If you think about it, most restaurants have maybe like kitchen
45:38
parts. I’m not talking about full facility, but like five vendors maximum, one produce, right? Maybe like a big box truck people, right?
45:46
Uh I’ve got like six produce. I’ve got four or five meat people, right? I’ve got six egg people. Like I’ve got a it’s it’s a lot to juggle.
45:56
And and it’s very seasonal, right? So, you can’t commit, you know, I my the owners of Zynodoa always want me to commit to a Mother’s Day menu or like because I just use that as an example.
46:06
Uh but that’s it’s so far off. I don’t know what I’m going to have that week.
46:10
You know, there are some staples. Yes, I’ll have a Burner beef. Yes, I’ll have Polyface chicken or Polyface uh chorizo and things that I use from them. But I can’t guarantee the produce.
46:20
I can’t gu the weather changes everything. You know, when we had that ice storm at the beginning of the year, it was devastating to so many aspects of
46:28
running a farm-to-table sustainability, right? Um, a farmer’s end, right? They’re working harder in in that kind of weather and things break
46:37
because of that kind of weather, the temperature, right? So then the the product that they normally provide us is not available all the time and so throws
46:44
a wrench in everything. And that goes back to being able to pivot quickly and be able to work with what’s on hand because we’ll have farmers coming out after the farmers market and be like
46:52
this is what I got left and like pull out their trunk, right? Better than like a trench coat. Got carrots hanging on each side, right? [laughter] Spinach like you look in there and like
47:00
you got like it’s just like guys grocery games. 30 seconds to build your menu, right? You know, you got to go shopping and get back in and 30. It’s it’s a wild comparison, but it’s so true.
47:10
A lot of parallels though. Yeah.
47:11
Yeah. uh farm to table is it’s beautiful because we want to be able to sustain having all these products for future chefs, right? We overh harvest things
47:20
and we’re really we’re really doing a detrimental work to our own our own business. Yeah.
47:25
You know, and the farmers that we work with are really really good at what they do.
47:29
And my relationships with them are really good and they’re mostly personal, you know. Uh again, you go back to are you hungry?
47:36
Have you have you eaten today? my my uh popular ridge when they get back from the farmers market on Saturdays to and I
47:43
buy whatever she’s got left over or I always try to feed her. You know, have you eaten today? You know, it’s like a love uh a labor of love for both of us. I
47:51
I have to trust them to give me the product that is suitable to sell and they have to trust me to represent them.
47:58
Well, we’re representing each other. Good point. You know what I mean?
48:01
Yeah, it really without them there’s no me and vice versa. Uh and so it makes it a lot harder because if you think about
48:08
uh a regular restaurant where if they got rack of lamb on their menu per se, you can get a whole case of rack rack of lambs or you know what I mean?
48:16
Uh farm to table you get two per animal and you’re butchering these animals. So how many are you going to butcher and what are you going to do with everything else?
48:23
So it’s a lot of thought put into it and it’s a lot of having to utilize every bit of everything that comes in. Yeah.
48:28
Which makes it really hard. Then you’re also managing your staff, right? also managing any kind of issues that pop up just on a daily basis
48:37
that it’s probably the hardest restaurant concept to sustain actually. Yeah. Yeah.
48:42
It’s actually a really great insight because you know from my side I’m just on the consumer side of it and so I’m like oh this sounds lovely this is fresh this is great but the actual ins and
48:51
outs and why uh I think it’s even more important to support the businesses that are in it right that they’re committing to it and and driving it forward. So
48:59
it’s it’s I love it. I think it keeps me on my toes. You know what I mean? I lose sleep at night over Swiss Shard. I’m just kidding. [laughter] I don’t sleep anyways.
49:08
The things that keep us up at night.
49:10
I’ve got a 23-year-old. I haven’t slept in 23 years. It’s [laughter] great.
49:14
Well, on that, I know we are at time and thank you so much for just being so open and just the the energy and the thoughtfulness you bring, but um I I
49:22
know you’ve shared too like you you’ve had a lot of things stacked against you. I mean, from being um a young mother to being self-taught to
49:30
being even just a female in quite much a male-dominated field, right?
49:35
All of those things and then you combine them all.
49:38
What would what would you say to somebody else that’s I I know you’ve shared this before too of um you didn’t really have like a a figure to look at.
49:46
I mean, you had an incredible, you know, support system around you, but to say like, “Hey, this is possible.” You didn’t know that there was something possible in this field. What would you
49:55
to say to somebody else that that has interest in this?
49:58
It’s a wonderful wonderful question. Uh cuz this this career isn’t for everybody. Sure.
50:02
You know what I mean? Uh the the fact that I’ve been able to balance being a mother and a single one at that.
50:09
Uh and this career is like I some sometimes I don’t question how it’s working, right? But I would say that if you want something, you put put the work
50:17
in, right? Because it’s the only thing that that’s going to achieve it. And and not every day is going to be a good day. And this is part of I got what my
50:24
tattoo all you got to get through is just today because you have the opportunity to wake up tomorrow and and and have a whole another fresh start, right?
50:32
Uh it takes grit, it takes uh energy, it takes patience, it takes confidence, it it it’s not easy, but it’s so satisfying
50:41
in so many ways. And if you know that this is what you you want to do, then just just do it. Do the work, right?
50:47
Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t because you can. Uh you you know I I’ve beat a lot of the statistics, right? Got single mom and
50:56
teen teen mom at that. Um female chef like I’ve I’ve already died once. You know what I mean? My last kid, we both died during childbirth. Wow.
51:05
Right. So like that put a new perspective in my life too. Like what?
51:08
Well, I I want to know that if today’s my last day, I’m fully satisfied with everything I’ve done.
51:14
And I would No, I want obviously I want to do more. I’m not doing this grim grim uh comment, but I I just put the work in, right? It’s
51:23
it’s it’s worth every bit of it and as as long as you do it right and you do it for the right intentions and the right reasons, right?
51:30
Because again, it’s not this isn’t for everybody. But it it’s such a beautiful outcome and beautiful feeling when you succeed in something that you’re supposed to be doing in life.
51:40
Yeah. I feel like half the battle is just showing up and you continue to show up.
51:44
Yeah. Because growth growth is hard and it’s uh um it’s scary. Yeah.
51:49
Right. But uh it’s you’re you’re supposed to grow.
51:52
That’s what we’re supposed to do as humans, you know? Otherwise, we’d all just be the same all the time. And that sounds awful. Lots of fun in that.
52:00
That sounds awful. [laughter] Yeah. Yeah.
52:03
Yeah. Laura, I’m so glad you’re in Staunton.
52:05
Yeah. Thank Yeah. I’m so glad to be here. I really, really, really am. And I really appreciate the opportunity to come sit and chat. So, yeah. Well, you’re already making waves.
52:13
You’re doing such great things. We’re thankful to have you here. Thanks for all that you serve up on the plate and also within communities and just all the energy you bring. We’re we’re excited
52:21
for all to come. Hopefully 20 more years at least.
52:24
I hope everybody comes and sees me at Zynodoa.
52:26
Yes. It’s our open kitchen. So you will right. [laughter] But I’m like Beauty and the Beast. So you’ll see the beast.
52:32
People are going to feel like they know you so well. They’re going to see you live. [gasps] No, [laughter] they won’t recognize me. This isn’t my street clothes.
52:38
Just wonderful. Well, guys, thank you so much. I told you this would be the perfect way to close out this season,
52:45
season two. What a journey. So thankful for all of you listening. Thank you to all of our amazing guests that are just um continuing to drive Staunton forward
52:54
every day with so much passion and love and experience and all the things. And so we’re excited for all that’s still to
53:01
come. So stay tuned. Uh share this, like this, tell everybody about it. If you have been listening, we’d love to hear your stories, too. It’s always my
53:09
favorite part is running into people that have been listening to this. So, thank you guys. The The U Is Silent, We Aren’t right here in Staunton, Virginia.
53:15
We’ll see you guys again soon.
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