ABOUT THE WRITER
MADDIE TEREN
Unlike most people who live in Nashville today, Maddie Teren is a native Nashvillian who was born and raised in Music City, Tennessee, and still resides there today. The daughter of a successful songwriter, her father George passed down the writing gene to his daughter, but the desire to put that skill toward music did not, unfortunately, make the generational jump. Instead of writing songs, Maddie found that she enjoyed writing about food and began her first food blog when she was studying in Barcelona during college. Her friends were certain she was going to come home 30 pounds (14 kg) heavier. She did not.
As a kid who was nearly impossible to feed, Maddie’s friends and family found it ironic that she grew into someone who not only enjoyed writing about food, but that she was also a person who was willing to try almost anything—at least once. When she returned from Barcelona to her small, college town of Oxford, Ohio, she continued writing her blog but was constantly on the hunt for exciting, interesting, and delicious food. Fortunately, back at home, Nashville was all the while growing, expanding, and morphing into a food-lover’s paradise, ripe for the pickin’.
Maddie graduated from college in 2012, armed with degrees in both communication and Spanish, and initially had trouble finding a job that she felt was the right fit. So, to bide some time, earn money, and continue furthering her knowledge of food and the culinary industry, she waited tables and kept up with her blog via cooking, baking, going out to eat, and always, always writing. Eventually one thing led to another, and her work paid off.
It was in August 2013 when Maddie completed her first 200-hour yoga teacher training certification, leaving her both a new sense of clarity and confidence. She immediately joined the community at her favorite Nashville studio, Shakti Power Yoga, and as it turned out, one of the owners, Kelly, just so happened to be married to one of the Porter Road Butcher owners, Chris. And voilá! The connection was made.
Maddie transitioned into her new role as the PR and marketing manager at Porter Road Butcher in early 2014, acting as the voice behind all of PRB’s social media, email newsletters, and “Butcher Blog” posts; she plans and helps run events both big and small; and she flexes her organizational muscles to keep everybody’s heads on straight. The role for which she is most fond, however, is clearly being the ghost writer for Homemade Sausage, translating James’ and Chris’ words, recipes, and humor into a real, live book!
Outside of the butcher shop, Maddie loves to be outdoors, whether it’s riding her bike, swimming in any body of water, or drinking a good beer on a sunny patio. She also teaches three to five hot yoga classes per week, and practices almost every day.