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Page 14 — Wednesday, March 16, 2022, The True Citizen
Peggy White inspires healing and hope through sharing
through life.
stories of her own personal journey
Sharing stories of faith and healing
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Editor’s note: March is
Women’s History Month. This
year’s theme “Promoting
Healing, Promoting Hope,”
is a tribute to caregivers and
frontline workers during the
pandemic and also recognition
of the thousands of ways that
women of all cultures have pro
vided both healing and hope
throughout history.
Peggy White, owner of
Waynesboro Emporium,
spreads hope for healing by
sharing personal stories.
White, 70, is a 4-year survi
vor of breast cancer. Diagnosed
in 2018 during a routine mam
mogram, doctors found the dis
ease in its early stages. White
had a lumpectomy followed
by chemotherapy and radiation
treatments.
“Chemo was first, and I was
not sick at all,” she said. “It
was very easy on me. I had to
go every week. I would go to
the therapy and then go straight
to work. Then I drove myself
to radiation once-a-week for 30
days. I would go at 8 a.m. and
be at work at 9 a.m.”
A follow-up mammogram
indicated that the cancer was
in remission.
“I have had my mammo
grams every year since then,”
she said. “I am still good.”
White takes every opportu
nity to inspire hope in others.
Through church and business,
she receives many referrals.
“You would be surprised
how many people have can
cer,” she said.
White said overcoming can
cer is in large part determined
by attitude and faith. A cancer
diagnosis doesn’t necessarily
mean the end of life, she said.
She understands the tendency
to meet a diagnosis with denial
and to begin thinking about
death. White said she didn’t
think that way because she
believed whatever she had to
go through, God had her back.
“It’s a beginning,” she tells
others. “It’s no more than what
you make it to be. Your faith
can make a big difference.
How you receive it and how
you handle it mentally can also
affect your outcome.”
White said some people
tend to give up the fight upon
the initial diagnosis. She en
courages them that they can
overcome it. White also shares
her stories with people who
have lost loved ones. When
customers come in to purchase
flowers for funerals, she knows
how they feel as well. She has
lost her husband, her parents,
two siblings and nieces and
nephews.
“Each one is a different
hurt,” White said. “Each one
is a process and it gets better,
but not overnight.”
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www.thesouthern.bank
*The annual percentage yield (APY) assumes that interest remains on deposit until maturity. APY accurate as of
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Effective Date: March 7, 2022
Member FDIC
Mixing business with pleasure
Juan and Julie Vasquez work together 24/7.
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Couples around the county
manage businesses together.
Juan and Julie Vasquez are a
young couple who manage
their businesses by commu
nicating and thinking outside -
the-box.
Juan, 26, Julie, 25, have
been married for six years.
They juggle two children and
two restaurants. However, the
ambitious couple has another
child and another restaurant on
the way. Currently, the couple
manage El Toro Taqueria res
taurants in Waynesboro and
Grovetown. They will open
one in Sylvania next month.
They intend to create a chain
of the Mexican food eateries.
At the tender ages of 21 and
19 years old, the couple first
tried their hand at a restaurant
in Augusta that failed after only
four months. It taught them
that location was everything.
The couple did not give up,
but instead began running a
food truck business in Juan’s
hometown of Millen.
“That was during our first
year of marriage,” Julie said.
Julie gave birth to their first
child a month before the first
entrepreneurial endeavor be
gan. Juan signed a contract
while Julie was in labor.
“Hold on, I have to go sign
some paperwork and I will
be right back,” Julie recalled
her husband saying to her. It’s
something they both laugh
about.
“On the way back, I was
trying to hurry,” Juan said and
pointed out that he made it
back to the hospital in time for
the birth.
After the business failure,
the food truck path led them
to Waynesboro and eventually
to the North Liberty Street
location where their restaurant
now sits. Opening restaurants
in Waynesboro and Grovetown
during a pandemic, the couple
became essential workers.
“We didn’t shut down,” Julie
said. “We continued working.”
Juan’s dad operated a restau
rant, so he was familiar with
the lifestyle that often demands
a heavy workload. Julie never
worked in the food business be
fore and was hesitant to take on
the sacrifices that running a res
taurant takes. She worried that
the couple would give up fam
ily time and a social life. Now,
the couple works together 24
hours a day, 7-days-per week.
“We basically take our work
home,” Julie said. Juan nodded
in agreement. “There is always
something to do,” he said.
They divide responsibili
ties, they said in unison. She
focuses on the administrative
tasks. He handles the opera
tions. They both claim they
have overcome the challenge
of spending so much time to
gether by communicating. The
couple has also learned to talk
to each other about obstacles
they face and work out the
solutions together, rather than
“bumping heads.”
“We have our good days
and our bad days,” Juan said.
“But it all boils down to com
munication.”
Julie also learned to be re
sourceful in creating social
events that also contain an ele
ment of work benefit. She used
the Wimberly House’s recent
“A Taste of Burke County”
event as an example. The event
functioned as a date night for
the couple, while they net
worked and gained exposure
for their business.
They both agree that being in
business has strengthened their
relationship. With a tendency
to be introverted, Julie had to
learn to break out of her shell.
She has begun the catering side
of the business, that presents
the couple opportunities to
attend events outside of the
restaurant building.
“I learned to involve our
work with our social life in a
way that could help the restau
rant grow,” Julie said. ‘I have
also learned to be comfortable
with people.”
The couple intends to own
and operate four restaurants
before they begin offering
partnerships.
“My biggest vision, is to
offer opportunity for people
within our company that show
potential and growth to have
their own restaurant so that
they elevate themselves and
create something for their fu
ture,” Juan said.
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