From California sidewalks to Tennessee backroads, my career has always centered around one thing: bringing people together through food and community.

Over the last 13+ years, I’ve built businesses rooted in hospitality, from catering and private chef work to owning a café and bagel shop known for creative, scratch-made foods and community connection.

After moving to Tennessee and opening my own farmstand in Leipers Fork, I discovered something special happening across rural backroads: local farmstands were quietly becoming gathering places again. What started as sharing nearby stands with customers quickly grew into a Facebook community, hand-drawn local maps, and eventually the launch of Local Farmstand Finds, a nationwide map helping people discover local farmstands, makers, bakers, and farmers.

That momentum led to the creation of the American Farmstand Association, an organization focused on supporting, promoting, and preserving the growing farmstand movement across the country.

Today, the map includes nearly 500 farmstands across all 50 states, helping connect communities to local food, local stories, and the people behind them. My work blends hospitality, storytelling, grassroots marketing, and community building, with a deep belief that some of the best things still happen around kitchen tables, roadside stands, and shared meals.