Meet Sue Snape | Chef Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sue Snape and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sue, how do you think about risk?
If you ask me what my definition of RISK is, I will say it is the possibility that you may lose something or have to give something up with the potential of getting something better in return. More often, though, I think the word RISK has a negative connotation. There is uncertainty and a percentage of “danger” involved. I think about RISK in terms of a see-saw. If I can stand to lose whatever those things are that may be lost, then there is only positive to gain from the RISK. I took a huge RISK when I quit my first creative career of 16 years to attend Culinary School. That doesn’t seem that risky in itself, but when I tell you I was working full time with health benefits and my husband was a stay-at-home-dad at the time to our two young children, the amount of RISK seems much more “dangerous”, doesn’t it? But I quit my job that was no longer bringing me joy and walked away. There was a great potential for many negative things to happen. For one, I was the bread winner at the time. How would we survive? The opportunities for me to be happy again and to make a fresh start definitely outweighed the potential negatives. People that cared about my family did not see the positives and only saw negative RISK. Taking RISKS has been exhilarating, exhausting, scary, rewarding and certainly fantastic. My life and my career path changed drastically once I made the choice to quit my job. The amount of joy and happiness that have come from this have certainly outweighed so many things that were left behind. In order to advance my business and try new adventures, there has always been a bit of RISK involved.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business is one of a kind and there is nothing like it out there. I go into schools, churches, farms, homes and other locations to teach kids about nutrition, eating more real food and we have a really great time doing it! Up until this year my classes have always been in person. My personality definitely helps set me apart from others when it comes to teaching culinary related classes. There is no homework, you should just experiment and play in the kitchen! I am the most proud of how creative, inventive and fun my work has been, but as of late, I am really proud of how I’ve been able to reframe my business to an online model and still find the positive aspects of this new way of teaching. Growing my business has not been easy. I have never taken out a business loan and that aspect of my business will always remain a cash basis. My business was growing really strong, I opened a brick and mortar classroom in October of 2019, after saving and looking for a space for 6 years. Then in June it made the best business sense to close that space and so I had to reframe my business again. Soooo many lessons along this journey! 1. be flexible. 2. be more flexible than you thought you could be 3. never give up 4. believe in yourself and your business 5. lean on your community when you need a boost 6. keep yourself physically, mentally and spiritually healthy 7. don’t be afraid to try new things. experiment. 8. hire an accountant 9. be flexible again, but maybe bend a different way than in #1 and #2. 10. be grateful. always. I want the world to know that I believe in my program, my work and the past 6 years I have invested in it. I will not let the current state of our world get in the way of me keeping this program moving forward, whether it is online or live. Being online allows me to reach more children all over the world and I want to do just that. I want to continue to motivate, educate and inspire kids of all ages to eat real food.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
DAILY SCHEDULE 6 EXERCISE at home 8 SHOWER AND EAT a great breakfast at home. Smoothies, Ezekiel Bread toast with avocado, fresh berries, salads 9 ADVENTURE. kayak, swim in a lake or outdoor pool, hike Stone Mountain, hike Kennesaw Mountain, visit animal sanctuaries, go to the humane society and hold puppies, visit unique food places like HMart, Krog Street Market, Dekalb Farmer’s Market, get food for dinner with a cooler in the car. 12:30 LUNCH. Nori Nori for sushi. Visit really great restaurants all over Atlanta that I’ve never been to. Indian, Japanese, Thai, Italian, BBQ 2:30 NAP 3:30 SIT on my deck with a beverage of choice and chat 5:30 DINNER at home with local and fresh fruits and vegetables from farms I can drive to 7:30 MOVIE 9 SLEEP Do this every day. 🙂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I absolutely have to give a shout out to my husband, Jason. Without our teamwork and commitment to each other and our family, I would have never been able to quit my job to change careers. In addition, our parents, siblings, friends and church family all played a HUGE part in supporting our efforts and cheering me on. My tribe is amazing and I would never have been able to come this far without them. I owe them everything.

Website: www.FunWithFood.FUN or www.leafandloaf.com
Instagram: sue.snape.leaf.and.loaf
Linkedin: suecoraggiosnape
Facebook: Leaf and Loaf & Fun with Food

Image Credits
all photos copyright Sue Coraggio Snape