One of the best aspects of being in the beauty industry is the fun and fabulous clientele Janet meets. Our blog today focuses on a client whose sweet story Janet loves and wanted to share.
Laura’s story started with strong rural roots in a small Texas town. A seventh-generation Texan, Laura was raised in a family of five. She is the daughter of a Methodist minister and elementary school music teacher, and has two siblings–a brother and sister.
A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Laura’s career as a videographer took flight after completing her internship in Washington, D.C. She began an exhilarating behind-the-camera journey working with Public Strategies, Inc. led by political strategist, Mark McKinnon. Filming the gubernatorial and sequentially, a presidential race with George W. Bush led to projects in Europe, Africa and Egypt, filming for charitable foundations.
Janet met Laura 2014 the same year she married her highschool sweetheart. From behind the chair Janet learned about Laura’s professional creative pursuits across the world and back, and ultimately back home to Austin and the tiny town of Leona, Texas, just off I-45 essentially equidistant between Dallas & Houston.
She was impressed to learn that in addition to filming with her Austin-based agency, Talegate Advertising Laura serves up some of Texas’ most noteworthy steaks every weekend. Just google “Leona Texas” and you can see her poised over smoking and sizable ribeyes for which they are world-renowned.
Patrons line-up early and the restaurant regularly serves more than double–sometimes triple the population of the entire town every weekend thanks to a stellar reputation for grilling enormous delicious steaks.
This side gig happened after her family purchased the 1920s-era Leona General Store back in the late 90s and decided to turn it into a steakhouse. On a typical Friday and Saturday night, you’ll find Laura flipping steaks alongside her father, her mother (who runs the register), her husband (who cuts and preps), her sister (who waitresses), and her brother (who offers prayers from College Station where he serves as pastor to Christ United Methodist Church), this family affair has created quite the buzz creating epic steak dinners. Watch this video, and you’ll be working up an appetite for a road trip.
Not one to rest on her laurels or tarry too long, Laura recently bravely added beekeeping to her impressive resume. Motivated by both a fear of bees and a deep respect for how they help propagate nearly all the food we eat, she delved into learning how to make a hive thrive on her back 33-or-so acres. Thrilled with the success of the first hive and from harvesting the honey bees’ nectar by hand, she’s preparing to expand with five new hives in the coming year.
This taste for tackling creative pursuits is one of the traits Janet loves most about Laura. Janet said, “Laura blends intention, creativity and an amazing ability to beautifully execute her dreams and passions.” Laura attributes this ‘get it done’ ability to her campaign mentality, where the pace was quick and the pressure, high.
The yield of her first bee hive has been impressive. She (and her hive) has produced nearly 600 oz. of Leona-local honey with just a few painful encounters with the business end of the French bees she no longer fears but loves.
The honey is Laura’s latest sweet success. It’s been a hit at the store, as well. If you’d like to savor a sample, visit the Leona General Store in person or online https://leonageneral.com/!
