Peggy Sweeney-McDonald grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She received a BS in speech and theatre from Louisiana State University and was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. A member of the Screen Actors Guild, she worked in theatre, television commercials, print, and film for more than thirty years. One of her most memorable roles was that of Miss Alma in Tennessee Williams’s Summer and Smoke at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre and at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. As president of Superstar Events-LA, she produces unique red carpet, non-profit, and corporate events for prestigious clients across the country. She has been recognized by Meeting Professionals International with nominations for a Rising Star Award and a Shining Star of the Year Award.
On a visit to her family in Louisiana during Thanksgiving, a friend relayed a hilarious story of “Coconut Pie and a Bottle of Red Wine”. After many retellings, Sweeney-McDonald realized that here was the perfect idea for an event—a celebration of the universal stories about food and life. The idea snowballed, and soon she was scheduling events in venues around the country. As her husband said, “Everyone has their own Café Du Monde, as it is a metaphor for the place you always go to, your own comfort-food place.”
Sweeney-McDonald has continued to capitalize on the universal love of food by collecting and supporting food stories at live events and developing a pilot for a television show. She is also on the committee for the Louisiana Bicentennial 200 Years of Taste. Sweeney-McDonald frequently visits her family in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and resides in Los Angeles with her husband, James McDonald. |