Meet Shannon Sanon | Tea Party Host & Chef

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

Hi Shannon, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am from a small farm town called Salters in South Carolina. We did not have the luxury of many things like cable TV, super markets and gas stations; however, we had values and morales. I grew up on a large piece of land, down a mile long dirt road. We owned a pig pen. We never named them because they were considered Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I watched my parents and grandparents worked very hard to make sure we had everything we needed and most of want we wanted. That hard work and determination put me in a business mindset. My mother worked and attended school. She wanted us to have the best in life. She made sure food was always prepared and we wore the latest and best clothes. Nevertheless, she did not play about our education. There was no failures in our house and if we were struggling with a subject, she found a way to help us. That’s why education has always been a top priority in my life. My grandfather use to rent out his farm land and he worked a full-time job. As a kid, I watched him receive checks for land rental and thought that was so cool. He was a boss and I wanted to be just like him. I knew I needed to be well educated and well versed in business. I was always told, hang around people that are where you want to be. As I got older, I surrounded myself around people that were smarter and wiser than myself. I worked a full-time job, but I’ve always had a hustle like my grandfather. I believe that not having much access to luxury growing up gave me that drive to want more and to learn more. Because we didn’t have cable TV, I would use my imagination from books and dreamed about places I wanted to visit or live. As an adult, I have accomplished those dreams.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love cooking. Coming from a Black household, food always brought our family together. It didn’t matter the occasion, food was there. As a kid, my mother hosted dinner parties. She loved to decorate and pulled put the nice China. She had me in the kitchen cooking at an early age. I started creating dishes and cooking became fun. Once I was an adult, I started experiencing with different herbs to create new favors that I didn’t grow up tasting. Once I figured out people enjoyed what I was serving, I started having dinner parties of my own. As a kid, I would host Tea Parties for my dolls, so it was a no brainer to incorporate both talents into a business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was visiting, she would want me to cook dinner instead of eating out. Therefore, the first day would be a home cook meal by me, The Cast Cook Queen. The next few days I would take her to a jazz lounge, visit the State House grounds, the museum, the Charleston market, historical plantations, the African Village and we would check out some mom & pop restaurants downtown.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mother is my hero and the reason I work so hard. I want to be able to give back to her what she was given to me. She has instilled the greatest values in my life and I’m extremely thankful for her guidance.

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