Epicurious One's Christmas Short Story 2020
Christmas Family Tradition:
In honor of her mother who has passed, Stephanie sees a movie she has never seen before, or go to the movie theater to see one. Stephanie and her mother used to see movies together all the time. It was their favorite thing to do together, and this tradition keeps her mom close to Stephanie.
Team Real Tree or Team Fake Tree?
“Neither!!” Stephanie “cannot be trusted with the tree”. If she has one, it will be up till next Christmas. So, now she makes Christmas center pieces, and decorates them.
Favorite Christmas Movie?
A Christmas Story because it is so funny! “You’ll shoot your eye out”
What is a must at Christmas Dinner?
“Some kind of dessert. I don’t care what we eat for dinner, I gotta have some dessert and champagne.”
Is there a must, wine or champagne for Christmas?
It is always Champagne, but the type changes every year. She always tries one she has never had before. This year it is a Rose Champagne. Champagne is normally made of three different types of grapes. However, this one is made up of only Pinot Meunier grapes. It is a very rare Champagne.
Favorite Christmas Song?
Donny Hathaway “This Christmas”
What type of “Holiday Shopper” are you?
Black Friday shopper “I want deals”, and “really the day after Christmas, online.”
Anything special your business is doing for Christmas?
“Helping a few corporations host virtual ‘Christmas Parties’ because their staff can’t get together”.
Deanna - Physical Therapist Assistant
In the beginning…
Deanna had her application filled out for nursing school. However, Deanna hurt her knee in karate, and had to do physical therapy to recover. After three months of outpatient physical therapy, Deanna decided that physical therapy was what she wanted to do instead of nursing. Her mom agreed, telling her, “that [she] could never see her as a nurse”. Her dream was to do sports medicine.
Twelve years later…
Deanna is a Physical Therapist Assistant and working with the geriatric population and loving it. To this day she has never worked a day in sports medicine and is okay with it. Deanna has worked mostly in skilled nursing facilities.
One of Deanna’s favorite things to do is…
ask patients that have been married over 50 years, for marriage advice. The oldest married couple she had was married for 74 years. They told her, “not to be critical of each other and to enjoy each other.”
Deanna has had…
a couple of favorite patients over years that she will always remember. When Deanna was pregnant, one of her favorite patients wanted to live long enough to see Deanna’s baby be born. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Another patient, was in multiple times, but recently was in for having an external fixator on for many weeks, and being able to get her home was amazing.
One thing they seem to all have in common is…
they are all sarcastic and curse a lot. Working in a skilled nursing facility some of them live a there a long time and she forms a relationship with them. This is really tough because you end up having to say “bye” to them.
When asking Deanna…
if she ever wanted to switch settings, she said, “No. I really enjoy older people and their stories. Love learning things from them.” However, if she had to switch settings, it would be either acute care (hospital setting), vestibular, or pelvic floor therapy. Deanna would like to stay where she is for now because she likes “seeing that you are giving them a better quality of life.”
Do you ever think about changing careers?
“Nope, but if I did, it would be lactation consulting, if [physical] therapy was no longer able to feed my family, but only out of necessity.” Over the 14 years of knowing and going to school with Deanna, she has never lost her passion to be a Physical Therapist Assistant. Happy PT Month.
Epicurious One (National Black Business Month)
Stephanie’s love for wine started with a sip…
during the holidays with the family at a ‘fresh and crisp’ age of six. However, it was not till Stephanie learned in her European History Class teenagers in Europe are able to drink wine. She decided to take a chance and asked her Grandma if she could have some wine with dinner. To Stephanie’s disbelief her grandmother said “Yes”.
That night…
Stephanie had Chianti with her Grandma’s, pot roast with carrots and potatoes “it was so good you could cut with a fork”. It gave her such a euphoric feeling, and she asked, “Grandma do you think we will have food and wine in heaven?”
Stephanie in her…
30’s, started to learn more about the wine industry and business side of things. At the age of 45, she moved to Atlanta, and worked for Vino Venue. She started taking classes to become certified as a Wine Professional. When she put a wine stopper in Atlanta, Stephanie move to the Tampa area. She realized there was not a place that matched her style and personality, and Stephanie decided to start her own business.
Epicurious One was born (Pop the Champagne)…
with Epicurious meaning a taste and passion for different food, wine and culture, Stephanie is your personal guide through food and wine pairings. She would like people to feel the euphoric feeling she felt when she had her Grandma’s Pot Roast and Chianti.
She wants people to realize…
it does not have to be just for special occasions. Stephanie has put together wine pairings with several different foods; donuts, cakes, BBQ, wings, and chocolate just to name a few. She wants to take food and wine off the beaten path. She wants to “stomp” the traditions.
All of the events hosted are…
a judge free zone, no wine shaming, and no discrimination. She lives by the mantra “Life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured” and “do things that bring joy to other people”. It is a fun learning event for everyone!
Stephanie has worked hard…
to get where she is right now with Epicurious One. She had created different “legs” with every step of her education. She has a certification in Wine and Spirits Education Trust Level 2, completed and graduated from Entrepreneur Academy, Certification in WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council), and earning a scholarship to WeThrive through WBENC.
She is now…
working towards Court of Masters Level 1 Sommeliers Exam (which will take at least a year if not longer to achieve), and starting the process for Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council Certification.
Stephanie is…
and amazing small business owner, and will be make any event special, and fun.
Book your next event by contacting Stephanie by email stephanie@epicuriousone.com or by phone (904) 742-4606. You can also follow her on Instagram @epicurious_one.
Suncoast Organizing Solutions
Some of you…
may know and some of you may not but could guess, Sunkissed Moments is a new small business. I had attempted to start a photography business several years ago, but far less serious about it. When I talked about starting it this time, I wanted to do it right! I took photography classes, and completed the Entrepreneur Academy (EA).
EA is…
a 10-week course put on by the St. Pete Green House and partners with the St. Pete Chamber of Commerce. During this time, I was able to meet several wonderful people during the class. https://stpetegreenhouse.com/ea/
I would like to introduce you to Angela…
she left her 9-5 corporate bank job, to start a business she was passionate about. Throughout class she was very methodical about the decisions she was making and when making them. She was the most organized in the class, and it was to no surprise that on the last night of the course/graduation she announced to us the start of her organizational business.
Angela asked me…
if I would be able to take headshots, and pictures for her website. I was honored and excited for the opportunity. As to speak for her organizational skills, Angela had examples of what she wanted and how she was going to use them. (BTW pictures in this story are the headshots taken for business)
She has helped me with…
organizational tips. She suggested having my photographs on my phone in folders to be able to bring up easier when talking to prospective clients, to show my work. She also suggested when using props, groups of three or five are more visually stimulating.
Angela has officially…
launched her business: Suncoast Organizing Solutions or SOS. Suncoast Organizing Solutions specializes in business, residential, and move management. Also, seeing if it is spring, if anyone needs any help with spring cleaning, but you don’t know where to start call SOS!
Contact…
Check her out:
Website: https://suncoastorganizingsolutions.com/
Instagram: @@SuncoastOrganizingSolutions
Facebook: @SuncoastOrganizingSolutions
Email: angela@suncoastorganizingsolutions.com
Call or Text: 727-266-2440