Owner of Sonoma County's Goodness Gracious Catering & Songbird Parlour wins North Bay Forty Under 40 award

“’Follow your passion and the rest will follow.’ My mother told me this when I was about 18 and unsure what to do after high school. I think about her advice almost every day and I pass it on to those around,” reports Lauren Kershner.

That advice proved a guiding light for Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy trained chef who spent 10 years cultivating her skills on the line and in management at fine dining restaurants in both in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County.

She not only pursued a catering business but took on an even greater challenge, she says, in opening a brick and mortar restaurant.

“I navigated through layers and layers of bureaucracy, worked with handfuls of vendors and their complex contracts, and eventually created a seriously stunning space for the world to gather in for epic food, drinks, and conversation.”

In a business sense, what is the greatest thing about being under 40; and then what is the worst?

”All this energy! Creating the kind of work we do and the amount of hours it takes to develop the work takes tremendous amount of energy. To keep up, I wake up early, exercise daily, meditate, and generally stay healthy. I can tell it gets harder year-to-year so I’m harnessing the power of my youth while I can.

“The worst may be the lack of experience that a more seasoned professional would have. There is a lot of ‘learning the hard way’ and ‘learning as you go.’ I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned in just these short five years, and I know I will be so much wiser when I’m older. I just don’t have the collection of perspectives yet.”