Community Entrepreneur Profile: Shana Whitehead, Muddy Creek Cafe and Music Hall
Profile on Shana Whitehead of Muddy Creek Cafe and Music Hall
Allie Hubbard
You never know what can come from a dilapidated shed. For Shana Whitehead, it turned her dreams into a reality. From the first time she drove past it, her vision was born: “I just kept looking at the little side building that’s now the cafe and thinking it would make a perfect little sandwich shop, something like that.”
Working in natural food cafes throughout high school and college in Florida, Whitehead always felt passionate about food and cooking. Whitehead dreamed of opening a cafe of her own, even admitting to doodling menus in her spare time. But for many years in Winston-Salem she earned her living as a yoga instructor and preschool teacher before she spotted the shed in Bethania, a historic village a few miles down Reynolda Road from Wake Forest.
With the help of volunteers and lots of sweat equity, the shell of a building —located next to the recently restored 19th century grist mill known as Bethania Mill and Village Shoppes and a few hundred feet from the cafe’s namesake stream— was turned into a place suitable for serving food by scrubbing inches thick of dirt and bird poop.
In August 2011, Whitehead opened Muddy Creek Cafe to the public. Quickly it became known for its live music, homemade pimento cheese and pressed panini sandwiches. While her vision for the cafe has evolved over time, one thing that remains constant is the importance of community, the original reason why Whitehead felt so passionately about her endeavor.
However, not everyone supported Whitehead’s new venture. Mentors, like Mary Hagland of Mary’s Diner, strongly questioned her decision to open the cafe in Bethania. Ultimately, Whitehead felt passionately that there would be a strong sense of community at this location. It all came down to instinct.
“You can do your best business plan, A to Z, but what it really comes down to is your gut feeling,” Whitehead said. “If it doesn’t feel right, there is no sense in doing it.”
Muddy Creek originally started off selling breakfast and lunch. Whitehead came in at 6:30 am every day to whip up muffins, scones, and quiche. It later evolved to lunch and dinner. Music was not even a part of the original equation until Whitehead was approached by musicians.
“I had friends coming to me after I opened asking if they could play music at Muddy Creek on Saturday nights,” Shana said.
One of these musicians was Bill Heath, Whitehead’s now significant other and co-owner. Their love story is central to the story of Muddy Creek. The two first met when Heath contacted Whitehead about his band playing at Muddy Creek and the rest, as they say, is history. Heath became an integral part in the success of Muddy Creek and even led the effort to expand Muddy Creek to include a music hall in 2015.
“We started to outgrow the cafe, we wanted to expand that great sense of community the cafe exhibited, we learned people really had a desire for local music,” Whitehead said. “There is so much talent in North Carolina and genres specific to this area. We wanted to create a home for this type of music.”
Heath credited Whitehead’s dedication and enthusiasm for the success of Muddy Creek Cafe and Music Hall: “Shana will think of an idea and I’ll always question her, ‘Well how’s that going to happen?’ But that never stops her. She always figures it out.”
Muddy Creek has energized the tiny town of Bethania: “I really wanted to add value to the community,” Whitehead said. “Muddy Creek solves the problem of what to do on a Saturday night, the problem of musicians in our community having no place to showcase their talent.”
“We are creating a sense of community in a very disconnected world these days, when you’re here you are talking with people and engaging with friends, family, kids, music, there are no TV’s in these places,” Whitehead said. “I love the way people connect to live music. It is so rewarding to see and get to experience joy, happiness, even tears, and to hear the stories of the musicians.”
Elizabeth Ottenjohn, a WFU alumni and now Winston-Salem resident attested to this sense of community: “I know when I step into Muddy Creek I can always count on seeing multiple people I know, whether that be neighbors, co-workers, or friends. I love the community here.”
However, opening and running Muddy Creek as a woman entrepreneur has not come without challenges for Whitehead: “It is very much an old boys’ network. There is a lot macho sexism that exists. I try to turn my head and move forward, just keep moving forward.”
Whitehead recalled one sexist incident that happened just days before Muddy Creek Cafe was set to open. Despite multiple prior inspections, one inspector seemed to be determined to give her a hard time. He went into the bathroom, took out a tape measure, and measured to see if the toilets were the correct distance from the wall. That really bothered Whitehead.
“I wondered if I was man if he would really be doing this,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead’s tenacity and resilience is shown through the triumph of Muddy Creek, whose success story has been written about and televised across the Triad area. So much so that Whitehead and Health will be opening a second location in Sparta, North Carolina within the next year to provide place for community, just as they are in Bethania.
“We are not sure where this community came from. We don’t know if we created it, or if it created us. But when people find us, they come back because of this sense of belonging at Muddy Creek,” Whitehead said.
You never know what can come from a dilapidated shed. For Shana Whitehead, it turned her dreams into a reality. From the first time she drove past it, her vision was born: “I just kept looking at the little side building that’s now the cafe and thinking it would make a perfect little sandwich shop, something like that.”
Working in natural food cafes throughout high school and college in Florida, Whitehead always felt passionate about food and cooking. Whitehead dreamed of opening a cafe of her own, even admitting to doodling menus in her spare time. But for many years in Winston-Salem she earned her living as a yoga instructor and preschool teacher before she spotted the shed in Bethania, a historic village a few miles down Reynolda Road from Wake Forest.
With the help of volunteers and lots of sweat equity, the shell of a building —located next to the recently restored 19th century grist mill known as Bethania Mill and Village Shoppes and a few hundred feet from the cafe’s namesake stream— was turned into a place suitable for serving food by scrubbing inches thick of dirt and bird poop.
In August 2011, Whitehead opened Muddy Creek Cafe to the public. Quickly it became known for its live music, homemade pimento cheese and pressed panini sandwiches. While her vision for the cafe has evolved over time, one thing that remains constant is the importance of community, the original reason why Whitehead felt so passionately about her endeavor.
However, not everyone supported Whitehead’s new venture. Mentors, like Mary Hagland of Mary’s Diner, strongly questioned her decision to open the cafe in Bethania. Ultimately, Whitehead felt passionately that there would be a strong sense of community at this location. It all came down to instinct.
“You can do your best business plan, A to Z, but what it really comes down to is your gut feeling,” Whitehead said. “If it doesn’t feel right, there is no sense in doing it.”
Muddy Creek originally started off selling breakfast and lunch. Whitehead came in at 6:30 am every day to whip up muffins, scones, and quiche. It later evolved to lunch and dinner. Music was not even a part of the original equation until Whitehead was approached by musicians.
“I had friends coming to me after I opened asking if they could play music at Muddy Creek on Saturday nights,” Shana said.
One of these musicians was Bill Heath, Whitehead’s now significant other and co-owner. Their love story is central to the story of Muddy Creek. The two first met when Heath contacted Whitehead about his band playing at Muddy Creek and the rest, as they say, is history. Heath became an integral part in the success of Muddy Creek and even led the effort to expand Muddy Creek to include a music hall in 2015.
“We started to outgrow the cafe, we wanted to expand that great sense of community the cafe exhibited, we learned people really had a desire for local music,” Whitehead said. “There is so much talent in North Carolina and genres specific to this area. We wanted to create a home for this type of music.”
Heath credited Whitehead’s dedication and enthusiasm for the success of Muddy Creek Cafe and Music Hall: “Shana will think of an idea and I’ll always question her, ‘Well how’s that going to happen?’ But that never stops her. She always figures it out.”
Muddy Creek has energized the tiny town of Bethania: “I really wanted to add value to the community,” Whitehead said. “Muddy Creek solves the problem of what to do on a Saturday night, the problem of musicians in our community having no place to showcase their talent.”
“We are creating a sense of community in a very disconnected world these days, when you’re here you are talking with people and engaging with friends, family, kids, music, there are no TV’s in these places,” Whitehead said. “I love the way people connect to live music. It is so rewarding to see and get to experience joy, happiness, even tears, and to hear the stories of the musicians.”
Elizabeth Ottenjohn, a WFU alumni and now Winston-Salem resident attested to this sense of community: “I know when I step into Muddy Creek I can always count on seeing multiple people I know, whether that be neighbors, co-workers, or friends. I love the community here.”
However, opening and running Muddy Creek as a woman entrepreneur has not come without challenges for Whitehead: “It is very much an old boys’ network. There is a lot macho sexism that exists. I try to turn my head and move forward, just keep moving forward.”
Whitehead recalled one sexist incident that happened just days before Muddy Creek Cafe was set to open. Despite multiple prior inspections, one inspector seemed to be determined to give her a hard time. He went into the bathroom, took out a tape measure, and measured to see if the toilets were the correct distance from the wall. That really bothered Whitehead.
“I wondered if I was man if he would really be doing this,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead’s tenacity and resilience is shown through the triumph of Muddy Creek, whose success story has been written about and televised across the Triad area. So much so that Whitehead and Health will be opening a second location in Sparta, North Carolina within the next year to provide place for community, just as they are in Bethania.
“We are not sure where this community came from. We don’t know if we created it, or if it created us. But when people find us, they come back because of this sense of belonging at Muddy Creek,” Whitehead said.
