PAULA DEEN
As a young girl growing up in Albany, Georgia, Paula Deen never dreamed she would become an American icon. As a young mother, Paula was living the American dream—married to her high school sweetheart, raising two adorable boys—when tragedy struck. Her parents died, her marriage failed, and she began a prolonged battle with agoraphobia. With her boys in their teens and her family near homelessness, Paula took her last $200, reached deep inside her soul, and started The Bag Lady, a home-based catering company that marked the start of Deen’s professional cooking career. With sons Jamie and Bobby delivering “lunch-and-love-in-a-bag,” beginning in June 1989, Paula turned around her life by sharing what she knew best—traditional Southern cooking.
The Bag Lady brought out Paula’s strengths and stabilized her family. She moved her catering company to a small restaurant at a Best Western motel in Savannah and finally opened her first restaurant, The Lady and Sons, with Bobby and Jamie five years later. The restaurant was a hit, and the popularity of Paula and her cooking led to her first cookbook, 1998’s The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. This gave her fans the opportunity to try Paula’s recipes at home and led to her first television appearance on QVC. Paula’s genuine warmth and folksy personality made her a natural for television. In 1999, USA Today food critic Jerry Shriver named The Lady and Sons “International Meal of the Year.”
Deen’s first business, The Bag Lady, brought out Paula’s strengths and stabilized her family. She moved her catering company to a small restaurant at a Best Western motel in Savannah and finally opened her first restaurant, The Lady and Sons, with Bobby and Jamie five years later. The restaurant was a hit, and the popularity of Paula and her cooking led to her first cookbook, 1998’s The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. This gave her fans the opportunity to try Paula’s recipes at home and led to her first television appearance on QVC. Paula’s genuine warmth and folksy personality made her a natural for television. In 1999, USA Today food critic Jerry Shriver named The Lady and Sons “International Meal of the Year.”
In addition to The Lady & Sons, Paula has five other restaurants, including Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Branson, Missouri; and Nashville, Tennessee; and The Chicken Box in Savannah, Georgia.
Ever grateful for all she has been blessed with, Paula and her family continue to give back to the community. In 2012, Paula launched The Bag Lady Foundation, supporting issues of hunger that affect women and families across the country.
For more information, find Paula Deen on her website at PaulaDeen.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/PaulaDeen, on YouTube at YouTube.com/PaulaDeen, and at her Instagram handle, @PaulaDeen_Official.
Press Contact:
Jaret Keller
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