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As a young girl, Stewart would take the Nancy Hanks train from the Cherry Street station up to Atlanta, where her grandmother (and namesake) lived. "She doted over us," Stewart says. "She only raised one son, so she loved having granddaughters. She was an inspiration to me in so many ways – she loved to entertain, loved sewing, bridge club, garden club. Everything she did was just so very, so much so that her friends called her Very Vera. I made her nickname my business name." Stewart's mother's influence is also a fundamental part of the work she does. "Even though she worked, she still made a point of managing all the different meals of the day. Breakfast would be a half grapefruit, sectioned out – she taught me what a grapefruit spoon was, and why you use a different spoon to eat your cereal," Stewart says. "My favorite part of entertaining is setting the table, and that comes from her. If she made a sandwich at lunch, she'd cut the crusts off or garnish it with one of those toothpicks with the frill, even if it was just for my brother and me. It's a comforting moment for me when I'm doing those things. It makes me feel like I'm with her." During her senior year of high school, Stewart met the woman who would steer her toward the path she's been trailblazing since. Her homeroom class at Central High (where she was a member of the inaugural graduating class) was helmed by Catherine Dupree, who taught Home Economics. As a student on the college prep track, Stewart wasn't required to take Home Ec, but she became increasingly fascinated with the goings-on in that classroom, and soon began showing up early to help Mrs. Dupree set up that day's project. Stewart hadn't yet considered her college major. "I graduated in 1971, when schools weren't co-ed yet, so all I knew is that I wanted to go to UGA where there would be some boys," she says, laughing. Mrs. Dupree, seeing Stewart's genuine interest and ability, gently suggested that she might do well as a Home Ec major. Learning to lead Stewart held a job at the three-story downtown location of Belk Matthews throughout her high school years, and Bill Matthews was her first boss. e impression he made was significant and long-lasting. She admired the respect and care he had for his employees and she was impressed by his work ethic. "He could've just sat up in the office and let the store run itself, but he was hands-on," Stewart says, "and he always kept that brand very active in Middle Georgia. He recognized that Belk needed to move into the Macon Mall back when it was first built. He's always been one of my cheerleaders, and I've kept up with him for all these years." In 1974, Stewart graduated from the University of Georgia with a Home Economics Education degree and spent four years as a Home Ec teacher, following in Mrs. Dupree's footsteps. She left that job to stay home with her firstborn son, but, not wanting to leave the workforce altogether, she transitioned into catering. "Most people my age were intimidated by throwing a dinner party, but not me," she says. "My friends would say, 'I'd have people over if I could do it like you,' and I'd say, 'Well then, let me do it!'" At that time, Stewart and her family lived in Cartersville. In 1982, when native son Joe Frank Harris won the race for governor, he chose Stewart to cater his inaugural luncheon. "at was huge for me," Stewart says. "at launched my business from a little cottage industry to a legitimate opportunity. It gave me the self-confidence that I could take on something so large and succeed, and it gave me a very solid reference for my resume that spoke well of my qualifications as a young person in the catering business." Shortly thereafter, Stewart and family relocated to Augusta, the city she still calls home. At the time, her sons were small – ages 2 and 4 – and she felt some initial worry about making herself known as a reputable caterer in this new city. Her business took off thanks to her combination of talent, tenacity, confidence and creativity – and her prescient ability to put herself in the position to be mentored by a culinary icon, long before that icon was a household name. Becoming Very In 1985, Martha Stewart wasn't, well, Martha Stewart just yet. Back then, she was a talented caterer who had just published a well-received cookbook and was beginning to enjoy some widespread success, and she had placed an ad in the back of Country Living magazine offering cooking lessons. Vera Stewart knew a good thing when she saw one. "I'm pretty sure that the overall cost of getting in a plane and flying to Westport for these classes totally wiped out my savings account," Stewart says, "but it was worth it. She knocked it out of the park, and it really opened up a lot of doors for me." CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: VERA, FIRST DESK ON THE FRONT ROW BY THE CHALKBOARD, IN THIRD GRADE AT WINSHIP SCHOOL; THE BEVERLY PLACE CHILDREN'S CHOIR, WITH VERA AT TOP RIGHT; VERA'S GRANDMOTHER AND MOTHER. 44 maconmagazine.com | APRIL/MAY 2021