Meet S.helby A.nne O.ates (SAO) | Small Food Business Owner & Operator

We had the good fortune of connecting with S.helby A.nne O.ates (SAO) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi S.helby A.nne, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
*querencia* is defined per Wikipedia as a metaphysical concept in the Spanish language and often described as simply a certain place in an arena where a bull will stand to fight. *querencia*, for me however, is an affirmation I discovered when reading Hemingway’s ‘Death in the Afternoon’. The author discusses how a bull uses the fight to actually create a space in his mind where he simultaneously has his back against the wall leaving him vulnerable, but where said space, his *querencia*, also becomes where he is his most powerful, his strongest, where, in his mind, he cannot be killed. Being a Taurus in perpetual search for constellation and constantly searching for the balance of grounding like a bull kicking up dirt, this deep and layered concept more than intrigues me, it feels like it defines me, like I had been searching for a way to describe all that is me, in my personal life, in business, in my celestial journeys, and *querencia* finally revealed itself to me.

This concept, typically only being used in association with the bull, has become everything to me. *querencia* is often used as a term to describe a bull’s “home”, one he designs in response to each specific fight he enters. But, the bull can also fall victim to the comforts of “home” becoming too confident in the power he establishes there, so he can become predictable to a matador who is studying closely, properly for the one place the bull returns to not only when he feels weakened, but also when he feels victorious. As I began dreaming the dream of running my own food business years before ever taking real solid steps on the stones that would get me there, I realized I too had found certain spaces within each uphill battle where I felt the most confident, only to soon and consistently in each instance become complacent, fearful, too safe in my self-created comfort zone to notice that my own self-doubt or even the often overwhelming advice/reactions/feedback of others were targeting my safe place causing it to become a place where my believed power was easily shifted into my downfall. The thing about *querencia* for me is though, that a bull, the bull, myself as a bull innately can create a new “home” specific to each fight and if he believes in his own power there, if he pays enough attention to the matador like playing chess and finding paths not around, but because of how your opponent thinks they will beat you, then his *querencia* is his most authentic self. Once one can account for, reconcile with, accept and believe in her most authentic self, then she has the power to not only know her own power, but to also recognize where she is the most vulnerable so she can reach beyond comfort zones. *querencia* is not one place; it is not a static concept–it is self-designed and ever-changing making the search for one’s authentic self fluid and applicable to each and every challenge.

The Greenhouse by SAO, SAO Cooks and Catering, LLC is the most authentically me I have been professionally and personally; and, I have only begun to even define and recognize what that really means. *querencia* helps me to understand that as soon as I do recognize my most authentic self and this business, it will change and that I have the power to establish myself in that arena and all new arenas. I continuously speak/think/feel *querencia* to acknowledge that power, but also because I do not want to get so comfortable in my own space that I give up the fight.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an off-the-cuff cook, most of my creativity sparks on the fly and my overall inspirations always root in sitting on the counter with my Mama while she cooked when I was younger or watching my grandmothers in their kitchens in East Point on the weekends and holidays. So, southern freestyle is most definitely what sets me apart, especially in Maine where my business is based. I find the most excitement when I drive around to my local farms to restock inventory; there is nothing more exciting to me than driving to Pine Root Farm to clip fresh herbs, collect baskets of farm fresh veg right out of the fields and shucking corn fresh off the stalk to prep for a gig. The difference in taste and profile layers, the aromatics and local goodness with each bite gives me a foodie buzz each and every time someone smiles with the shine of realizing what I’m trying to serve up.

I am a former educator of almost 13 years ending my career in the school system in 2016; while teaching I began trying to sell baked goods and would always be the friend/family who showed up with bags of ingredients ready to spend the kick back in the kitchen makin’ plates. I had worked in restaurants here and there, even right after I closed my teaching contract for the final year, and I just knew that a traditional brick and mortar was not for me, so my dreams of living my professional life in food felt unreachable. And then, I moved to Maine, found Grillin’ Brazilian food truck, applied and got hired; within a couple of seasons they allowed me to use their first food cart for a trial run because they believed I belonged in the local food network. After crying inconsolably for a minute lol, I jumped in head first and haven’t stopped hitching up ole Shirley food cart since, who I purchased shortly after said trial. It most definitely was not and still is not easy. Without my first investors, Chris and Rose of Never Not Vegan, helping to launch and without my husband being willing to hold down shifts with me and work even harder than he already does to help fund my dreams, I would not still be popping up today. And while these and many others make up my team, I still manage the majority of business solo and it can feel like an island in need of a crew very often. But, I overcome each challenge knowing that I must remain fluid and flexible, I must ask for help if I need it and I must believe that I can do whatever needs to be done to grow resourcefully regardless.

The lessons are perpetual and it would be hard to name them all, especially as they continue to avalanche over me every day. Some of what I have learned that helps keep me going is to continue to take risks, but calculated ones so I can use experiences as data to inform the knowledge of what events and venues and networks to continue with in collaboration. I have learned to find “my people”, if you will–to do my best to pop up where people understand and want my delicious plant based love or are at least open to its potential. I have learned that in those moments where I feel I just might actually throw in the towel, I need to take said towel and clean the kitchen for next menu designs instead.

I want the world to know that I have always had a sense of service and that feeding people makes me feel connected, universally connected to the WE of us. I want to feed everyone and I want to do the best I can to contribute to an environment safe and healthy for all creatures with locally sourced rustic plant based love. I want to invite you, all of you, to my table so we can break bread and celebrate growth.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I actually do have my Atlanta friends and family coming in town in September and I am SO EXCITED! I will be working to prep for a big festival at the time, but in between that prep and even as result of that prep I can’t wait to show them/take them to:

– MAIZ in Portland, ME (MOST AMAZING Columbian cuisine w/ great vegan options!)
– the Eastern Prom to showcase some of the best food trucks around and to explore the coastal city
– Pine Root Farm & Market in Steep Falls, ME to help select my inventory and to experience one of the most beautiful and
empowering places for me that helps to keep my business plan and vision in focus
– Apple Acres Farm, Hiram, ME, where we will pick our own apples for my SAO Squash & Apple Soup and where I will pop up for
their September blue grass festival so my friends and family can experience one of the most gorgeous views walking
through apple trees and orchard rows listening to some of the best blue grass you can find, while watching the sunset in the
mountains on horizon (to me one of the most “Maine” experiences there is)
– And of course, we will drive around searching for some of the best views on the East Coast, while we hunt
for mountain trails to hike and light houses to experience

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would be remiss if I did not first, thank my husband, Corey, for his unfaltering support. I would not be able to stand on any foundation to grow my business without him as my husband, my friend, my partner, my investor and my biggest fan. My immediate family: Mama, Daddy, Courtney, my sister, all of my nieces, my BIL and SIL, Nathan and Corinne, and my husband’s son, Josh, his wife, my DIL, Jill and our grandson, Reid along with Jill’s parents and family have all encompassed me with so much encouragement and unconditional support even during the toughest times; I would be lost without each of them individually and all of them collectively. My ATL sister friends, Stephanie and Heather, my Maine sister, Kim, who remain some of my first major clients and venues as well as my top endorsers; they are forever making me feel successful and loved. The Newmans at The Local Gear and Ruby and her family and crew from Pine Root Farm and Market, my home base Maine venues, who all have always welcomed me and supported me and still help establish me as a serious business. Avery Kamila at The Portland Press Herald for featuring The Greenhouse by SAO. I must also express the humblest of gratitude to Rose and Chris Stanley of Never Not Vegan and Natalia and Brooks Dyer of the former Grillin’ Brazilian, LLC/Sampa Kitchen–these are the first professional mentors, guides and investors who believed in me in this food cart venture/small food biz of mine and I know I never would have taken the risks I have so far, the risks I am so proud of, if it weren’t for them. I am still fortunate enough to call each of them my family. And, without Dillon of Full Plate Fam Productions in East Point, Ga., where I was born, I would never have had this opportunity with Voyage ATL.

Website: thegreenhousebysao.com

Instagram: sao_cooks_and_catering

Facebook: SAO Cooks and Catering

Other: saocooksandcatering@gmail.com

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SAO Cooks and Catering, LLC (c) 2022