E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeWhere were you born and raised? Edison, Ga.
What is your occupation? I am a business owner of Peach Palette since June 2008, which is a pottery painting studio and gourmet cooking studio geared toward groups; the minister of music at Fort Valley United Methodist Church; director of the Peach County Community Choir for last five years, based at the Austin Theater in Fort Valley; office manager for Cleveland Tree Co., my husband’s business; and chairman of the board of Fort Valley Mainstreet/Downtown Development Authority. I am also on the Peach County Tourism and Fort Valley Arts Alliance boards, and am the house manager for the Austin Theater.
How many children do you have? I have four children. Emma is 21 and Tom is 20. Cleve and Will are 17.
What did you do before opening Peach Palette? I worked as minister of music at several churches, had an interior design business in Fort Valley and owned a Benjamin Moore store for 10 years.
What inspired you to get into this kind of business? I love to cook and my kids are artistic, and they love doing pottery painting. We just needed something in Fort Valley for groups. I can seat about 70 people. It works real well with my church background, and I can adapt to their schedules. We do a lot of youth groups.
What is your typical day like? Every day I do something different. I wash lots of clothes, cook, go to my shop and help my husband at our farm, where I go and keep the books. I also usually have some kind of meeting to go to during the day. I usually get home by 6 p.m. to cook supper.
What does your favorite piece of pottery look like? We have pasta and pottery painting, and I do different pasta recipes and customers paint a pasta bowl. It’s fun to see what the ladies come up with after they sit down. My workers and I always rush to see who’ll open the kiln first to see what it looks like. The neatest piece was one for which the art teachers at The Westfield School painted a mug with a mermaid with the tail going up the side.
What is your favorite food? Chicken and dumplings.
Where is the farthest place you’ve ever traveled to? British Virgin Gorda or Belise.
Who do you admire the most and why? My mother, because she had her own business in a small town and was very successful, and when my dad got Alzheimer’s and she had to close her shop, she was very supportive and handled it with much grace and dignity. She was very successful under a very difficult situation. She had customers from all over come in to her shop.
— Compiled by Angela Woolen
@Nyx.CommentBody@