Hometown Pride?
We spend a lot of time on her Kentucky professing our love for the Bluegrass state and our respective hometowns/adopted homes/regions. I thought I'd mix things up and republish a post from my blog Salt + Nectar that deals with the other end of the emotional spectrum.
YOU'RE FROM WHERE?
I love Paducah. I was born here. I grew up here. I got married here. I love seeing familiar faces on my daily errands and driving the same tree-lined streets every day. I love it so much I uprooted my entire existence to move back here and start a family.
So, imagine my surprise when I recently realized a shocking truth.
I'm also a little bit insecure about living here.
There was a certain cache to living in DC. People's eyes would light up when I told them where I lived. It was a total ego stroke to be asked questions about the best restaurants or how to get around on the metro. It was a beautiful city so full of excitement. Even if my life there wasn't always exciting, it sure seemed that way to other people.
No one gets excited when you tell them you live in Paducah, KY. If they know where it is, there are no questions about upcoming visits. In fact, we have a difficult time getting anyone to visit at all. To those who do come, I feel like I'm always in the midst of a sales pitch. "See, we have good food!" "Isn't downtown charming?!?" "We're the quilt capital of the world!"
I'm not sure why I care. What does it matter what anyone else thinks? I guess there's a little part of me—a little part of all of us—that wants to belong to something exclusive. And there's definitely something exclusive about living in a big city, even if it's with hundreds of thousands of other people.
But the truth is it shouldn't matter. My family and I are happy here. Paducah gave me a safe, loving community in which to grow and now it is providing the same space for my two boys.
Plus, we do have great food and charming streets and a shit ton of quilts.
~ Sarah Stewart Holland
HerKentucky Business: Carolyn Gilles
The HerKentucky team is thrilled to present HerKentucky Business, a monthly spotlight on female entrepreneurs in the Bluegrass State. I recently sat down with Carolyn Gilles of Bourbon and Beans and The Wholesome Chef to talk about business, the Bluegrass, bourbon and beans.
Carolyn, a Kentucky native, recently moved to Lexington after spending several years in New York City, where she earned degrees from both the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts and The New School . She founded Bourbon & Beans, a full-service marketing, strategy and design firm targeting small businesses and non-profits. In her "spare time", Carolyn is a cooking instructor and owner of The Wholesome Chef, and is an MBA candidate. In addition to being smart, ambitious and insightful, Carolyn is extremely warm and gracious. She provided wonderful advice for prospective Kentucky businesswomen, as she answered HerKentucky's questions, as well as the delightful interview questions that she asks clients on Bourbon and Beans' own blog. -- HCW
HerKentucky Q&A:
1. What brought you back to Kentucky from NYC?
The promise of a washer, dryer and a porch to sit on. No, really. These three things had me extremely nostalgic for my home state. Once the homesickness really set in, I had convinced my native New Yorker boyfriend that he needed these three things, too. So he applied to UK Med School and the rest is history. And there's not a laundry day that goes by that I'm not grateful that I don't have to clean my dirties out in public.
2. What is the most rewarding part of entrepreneurship/small business ownership?
Flexible schedule and the riddance of silly rules that come with larger companies! I'm a pretty tough boss on myself, but I also seriously enjoy the freedom to "make it happen" on my own time. Also, my heart warms each time I walk into my office. It's work, but it's got my personality all over it. No cubicles or TPS reports here!
3. What was the hardest part of starting a new business? What do you wish someone had told you before you started Bourbon & Beans?
Hmm...it wasn't "hard" per se because I knew what I was getting myself into...no rose colored glasses. I knew I'd be doing it all myself and that that is very demanding. That being said, the hardest part of starting a new business is losing time to socialize with friends. My top priorities are my businesses and my relationship with my boyfriend. Once those are met, I have very little time for meeting up with friends and that's tough.
4. What suggestions do you have for women (particularly locally) who want to start their own business?
Add a good housekeeper to your budget....build a network/support system to help you with all facets of your life. You can't do it all.
5. How has your personal business path allowed you to combine your interests in good food and business marketing?
I believe that work should not be a place you go to everyday to make money, but rather an action you do everyday that expresses your passions and goals in life that fortunately pays your bills. I'm passionate about working with entrepreneurs (Bourbon & Beans) and I'm passionate about helping people learn to cook and eat better (The Wholesome Chef). I wouldn't have it any other way!
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| Photo courtesy Megan Hile Photography |
Bourbon & Beans Questionnaire:
Name: Carolyn Gilles
Location: Lexington, KY
Occupation: Chef Instructor, Small Business Consultant
Approximate Age: 31
Favorite bourbon? Basil Hayden's
Favorite bean - why? Garbanzo (aka ChickPea). It's awesome prepared in so many different ways!
Were you born in Kentucky? I sure was. Daviess County Hospital.
Do you consider yourself to be sassy? When I need to be ;)
What type of cuisine influences you most? Farm to Table.
What’s your all-time favorite food? The potato. Any which way.
What’s your current favorite food? Raw celery and carrots.
What food do you dislike? Sweet potatoes. I'll eat 'em, but I don't love 'em.
Do you have professional culinary training? Indeed, I do!
Who do you cook for? My students and my boyfriend.
What is/was your favorite cooking job? Chef/Owner at The Wholesome Chef by far!
Can you share one of your cooking secrets with us? Keep it simple. Bake it, sautee it, steam it and add garlic, salt and olive oil.
There's No Place Like Home(s).
Over the past decade, my fiance and I have called three different cities "home."
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| Louisville Skyline. |
It's odd, really. When school, work, and life take you to various places, it's only natural to pick a favorite place. The place where you're the happiest, the place where you're the most successful, the place where you're the most comfortable -- there's no place like home. I find that I think of all three of "our cities" -- Lexington, Louisville, and Nashville -- as home. I love all three -- the river town bustle of Louisville, the glitzy Southernness of Nashville, and the small-town grace of Lexington. Each city holds dear friends and happy memories. I never really consider myself to have a favorite; each, in its own way, is home.
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| A Lexington landmark peeking through. |
The trouble with that mentality is that I often wish that I could blend aspects and amenities of each of my hometowns together into one super-awesome city. I'll find myself on a lazy Saturday, wondering if a trip to Louisville's Wick's Pizza is worth the trip. (A free piece of advice: Wick's Pizza is always worth the trip!) I'll crave coffee from my favorite little cafe just off Vanderbilt's campus, along with my favorite tuna dish, which can be found off Bardstown Road. I'll wish I could hit the Green Hills Nordstrom and make it back to Lexington in time for dinner at Ramsey's and the basketball game. These plans are always just a little too ambitious to work out, but that doesn't stop me from wishing that my favorite East Nashville-made hot chocolate would magically appear on a cold Bluegrass night.
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| Tennessee State Capitol, Nashville. |
Maybe I love my three hometowns because they're fundamentally similar -- mid-sized Southern cities, located on or near a river, with a commitment to sports, horses and universities. Maybe I've created similar experiences for myself in each city -- I've joined all three Junior Leagues, volunteered with my local sorority chapters, and scoped out the best restaurants. Maybe I've just been blessed to call three awesome cities "home."
But, it sure would be nice if I could find a way to have Wick's Pizza and Marche Hot Chocolate in the same evening.
A Kentucky Girl In Paris
In the summer of 2005 I spent a semester abroad in Paris, France. I considered myself a traveler of sorts, but I had never set out on a journey completely alone. This was a first for me and I was very excited, nervous, and optimistic all at the same time.When I arrived in Paris I was immediately on a high from being totally alone in this city of millions. It was such a surreal feeling to travel abroad alone. For this Kentucky girl, it was an amazing experience and one I wouldn't trade for anything.
Here are some things I miss about Paris:
1) The Anonymity: You Kentuckians know how it is; everywhere you go in Kentucky you see someone you know or run into someone who knows someone's cousin who married so and so's best friend. I have to say that the anonymity traveling abroad was an amazing feeling. I could do what I wanted and wear what I wanted without fear that I would run into someone from high school. I would be walking along alone in the city and would think to myself that no one else in the world knows where I am right now. There's something surreal about that feeling.
2) The Croissants: Yes, they are as good as everyone makes them out to be and they cannot be replicated. Every morning I would stop by a local patisserie and get a pain au chocolat and a diet coke. This would be my breakfast on the way to class.3) The Metro System: Coming from Kentucky I wasn't used to a public transportation system as complex as a subway system. I had to learn the metros and the very confusing color-coded maps, but once I got the hang of it, I was a professional city lady! Looking back on it, it was so easy and convenient to just be able to hop on the metro and travel across the city within minutes.
4) The Eurorail: Again, this is unlike anything even in the United States. Europe has such a complex and amazing Eurorail system. It makes traveling for the weekend super-easy and convenient. We would hop on the Eurorail and take a weekend trip to the coast.
5) The Scenery/Architecture: While Kentucky is beautiful in its own right, the scenery and old world feel in Paris was amazing. I am so fortunate to have taken tons of pictures so that I can keep these memories forever.
Kentucky Places: Old Morrison
Old Morrison is the centerpiece of Transylvania's campus. Over its storied past it has been a Civil War hospital, a crypt, been consumed by fire TWICE, and housed administrators for the college.
It is one of my favorite places in Kentucky but not because of its amazing history. I love it because it has served as the backdrop for so much of mine.
Turning into its driveway on my first campus visit, my friend and I were involved in a car wreck because we confused North Broadway for a two way street...it is not.
Running around its front on Bid Day, I joined my sorority and gained friends I will have for life.
Two years later, I ran down its steps to rejoin that sorority after spending a long (long) couple weeks as a Rho Chi.
Laying on its lawn for class after class over four years, I learned that nature really is the best classroom...and distractor.
Sitting in its shadow on graduation day, I ended the best four years of my life and faced a life full of possibility.
In the spring of 2001, I sat on its portico and took this picture. I sat there in tears and looked at those impossibly beautiful trees. My college boyfriend had just told me he had been accepted to law school at Duke. He was moving away and it seemed like the end of my world. I was trying to decide if I really wanted to stick with it and be in a long distance relationship for two years. I came to Old Morrison to get some peace and hopefully some wisdom.
Ultimately, I decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. That college boyfriend is now my husband of eight years and the father of my two children. I can't say Old Morrison made that decision for me but its presence in the background - solid and strong - made it a little bit easier.
Her Kentucky Charities: God's Pantry
The holidays are over and most watercooler chat is about how much weight people gained over the break and how they need to lose weight.
Not everyone had the luxury of overindulgence.
God's Pantry is a Lexington-based food pantry that has been serving 50 central and Eastern Kentucky counties for over 50 years. Their mission is simple: to reduce hunger in Kentucky.
Some facts:
- The typical person visiting a pantry is a white female in her 40's with a family of three. She may have finished high school and if she is working is likely earning minimum wage. She doesn't own a car so she must walk, ride a bus or arrange for a ride to the pantry with family or friends.
- 50% of parents needing assistance skip meals so that their children can eat
- 1 out of 6 report skipping meals daily
- 40% of all those served are children
- For every $10 donation, God’s Pantry Food Bank can distribute 45 meals to a family in need. A donation of $19 can provide a a family of four with a week’s supply of food.
- 161,000 pounds of food is needed MONTHLY to stock the pantries in Fayette County (Lexington) alone
- In 2011, God's Pantry distributed over 22.9 MILLION POUNDS of food, yet the demand is still growing faster than resources can meet.
Learn more about God's Pantry on their website, or on Facebook. Next time you sit down with a full belly, please consider donating to this great organization.
My 2012 Kentucky Resolutions
Earlier this week, Sarah posted a brilliant list of her 2012 Kentucky Resolutions. Her list got me thinking about my own goals for the New Year. How can I find new ways to enjoy being a Kentuckian in 2012? I wondered. I've already perfected my own beer cheese and bourbon ball recipes. I've seen the Commonwealth's major tourist sites, I've been to Derby and Oaks, and I've joined in the frenzy following a National Championship win.
But, of course, there are always new ways to enjoy the Bluegrass State. Here are a few goals I came up with for the upcoming year. I tried to keep them realistic; I'm probably not going to become BFF with Mark Badgley and James Mischka this year (but I'm not going to stop hoping for that...)
- Shop(and Eat) Kentucky.I lived in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood for years. Now, when you live in the heart of the Keep Louisville Weird movement, it's pretty easy to have locally-sourced meals and locally-crafted products within your reach. But, recently, I've found myself gradually backsliding into more suburban, mainstream purchasing habits. Over the holidays, I was reminded how delightful local products can be when my aunt gave me a sampler of coffees roasted in-house at Lexington's Coffee Times Coffee House. The Big Blue Blend was so bright and sunny, but with a spicy bite -- it started sweet, like mocha ice cream, but finished with almost a chicory note. I was instantly smitten, and reminded that good things are often made just around the corner!
- Tour the Bourbon Trail; learn to place Box and Wheel bets. Yep, I resolve to do some sinnin' this year, but I want to learn to do it well. I want to see where my favorite bourbons are made -- I've driven past the distilleries hundreds of times, but I've just never taken the time to stop for the tour. And, I want to learn to make the kind of sophisticated bets that yield high payouts -- the kind that come from a deeper knowledge of horses and wagering. It's been a long time since I took a statistics class, but I think this will be a fun skill to acquire.
- Get involved with Kentucky politics. It's been way too long since I contacted a Congressman about an issue I believed in, volunteeered with a campaign, or generally gotten involved. I kind of miss it.
- Publish a story or essay set in Appalachia. As a writer, I've frequently struggled with how to include my hometown in my work while preserving my own experience. I love so many cultural elements of Appalachia, but I really hate some of the imagery of poverty and ignorance that so often emerges in Appalachian fiction. This year, I want to write a piece that is set in Eastern Kentucky, but which doesn't involve bad stereotypes, trips "to the Walmarts", or exploitative dialogue.
- Finally see Western Kentucky. To be a lifelong Kentuckian, I've spent an embarrassingly brief amount of time west of I-65. I need to visit The Quilt Museum, eat some barbecue, and visit Abe's house.