Juliette Britton
Peru native Juliette Britton has a made a career of combining her passions: culinary and fine arts with business. Her entrepreneurial spirit has guided her continuously down a path of supporting creative and community-minded organizations both in Vermont and Massachusetts. For the past several years, Juliette has focused that passion and her business experience towards the reinvention and reinvigoration of a community landmark in Peru, the J.J. Hapgood General Store and Eatery.
Before moving back to Vermont 15 years ago with her husband Tim, Juliette had already amassed an impressive career supporting venture capital firms: Highland Capital Partners, First Light Capital and Lang Ventures LLC; non-profit organizations: Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Operation Frontline, and A Taste of the Nation; as well as the start-up and execution of her own successful private catering business: Juliette Idora Gates Chef Services. Juliette’s BA degree in Fine Arts from the Maine College of Arts has influenced the type of work that she has pursued and infuses her creativity at J.J. Hapgood General Store today.
Today Juliette draws on her experience of running her own catering company and at the Venture Capital firms in Boston to plan and develop a successful business in Peru while also keeping an eye on opportunities to give back to her community. That entrepreneurial and community-minded spirit drives many of the business decisions that Juliette is faced with daily at J.J. Hapgood. “It became really clear to me and to Tim that the thing we really accomplish in rebuilding this space is restoring the store’s historical function—giving the community back its gathering space.”
The Britton Family
Juliette and husband, Tim Britton who was originally from Cleveland, OH, enjoy life in Vermont and can frequently be found sailing on Lake Champlain. In addition to running the store, they are raising identical twin boys who are avid soccer players and exuberantly full of enthusiasm for their future roll at the store as soon as they are able. The youngest Britton, Josie Kai, is an animal lover and artist like her mom.
Vanessa Davis
New to the J.J. Hapgood team is Vermont native Executive Chef Vanessa Davis. She may be a new face at the store but she knows her way around a kitchen, after working her way around New England at acclaimed restaurants such as, The Essex Resort & Spa, Kimpton Taconic Hotel’s Copper Grouse restaurant, and Highfields Restaurant at the Eagle Mountain House & Golf Club in Jackson, New Hampshire. A graduate of the Lincoln Culinary Institute in Suffield, Connecticut, Davis credits most of her inspiration in the kitchen to her mother who was also in the food industry. At J.J. Hapgood, Davis is excited to fine-tune her focus on seasonal, sustainable and local ingredients.