Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Salter Sliger.
Shannon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my career as a model agent in NYC helping the world’s most beautiful women stay healthy and trim. I learned about juicing during this time and began creating recipes of my own. I also became a registered yoga teacher with ISHTA in NYC. Meaning Integrated Science of Hatha Tantra and Ayurveda, I began learning about this ancient Indian tradition of using food to create balance.
I then moved to ATL to start a family and started teaching yoga at various clubs around town. The untimely death of my dad in a detox facility was the impetus to start detox juice. I felt passionate about sharing the connection between food and mood and compelled to make something good come from something bad. I continued my training in Ayurveda and became a certified wellness consultant. After a Thai yoga massage and meditation training, I began doing wellness weekends called Cleanse Camp. Designed to relax, reboot and rejuvenate, the wellness weekends gathered the ATL’s best healers in one spot for a camp style retreat at the Loews Hotel.
After selling dtox in 2016, I started on my next wellness concept called {SAMA} Food For Balance. {SAMA} is an Ayurveda inspired wellness cafe complete with a meditation studio. We like to describe it as mind, body, bowl and a nice mix of east meets south-eastern influences on southern cooking. We offer balance bowls made with organic, seasonal ingredients such as cauliflower rice with turmeric and ghee, salmon, mango chutney, fermented vegetables and nondairy, superfood dressings. We also do organic, fresh to order juices, superfood lattes, smoothies and espresso. We offer (2) 45-mintue classes per day that vary in styles. The {SAMA} Class, taught by me, is a mix of yoga, breathwork and meditation.
When I’m not at {SAMA}, I am busy with my 3 children on our farm, Green Juice Acres in Powder Springs, Georgia.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
NO! Not smooth at all, very bumpy. I’m currently writing a book called “Why Not To Start a Business.” But my husband and I are a great team and we enjoy a challenge. I come up with the ideas, he builds them out into fruition while I hold down the fort. He gives the keys to me and says, “Go get ’em. I believe in you” and then he holds down the fort. Our kids are still little.
The biggest struggle is finding help that will treat the business as if it were their own. It’s rare to find those that will work as hard as you do and so you end up doing most things yourself. It takes time to establish the right team but it can come together if you persevere.
Please tell us about {SAMA} Food For Balance.
I am known for being on the forefront of health and wellness in Atlanta. I brought glass bottled, organic juices and cleanses to Atlanta in 2011. I’m introducing Ayurvedic principles of eating to find balance for your personal constitution to the marketplace. This concept is edgy for LA. I opened the first meditation-focused studio in Atlanta.
I’m proud that our customers know they can trust us and come to us seeking balance and answers for beauty, health and wellness.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing. I take the good with the bad. It was all meant to be. And I’m under an NDA, I’m not allowed to say. So, better attorneys. Ha!
Pricing:
- Mediation Class First Class $10
- Meditation 10 Class Pack $125
- Meditation 20 Class Pack $200
- Kitchari Cleanse 1 Day $55
Contact Info:
- Address: 56 E Andrews Drive Suite 17
Atlanta, Georgia 30305 - Website: samafoodforbalance.com
- Phone: 404.500.3550
- Email: hello@samafoodforbalance.com
- Instagram: @samafoodforbalance
- Facebook: SAMA Food For Balance
- Twitter: @SAMA4Balance
Image Credit:
Raftermen Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
