The Cheesemaker

Seana grew up in Southern California, where the only cheeses in the house were Velveeta & Kraft singles, along with the occasional commodity block cheddar. At a rather young age, she developed an interest in fine food and cooking. By the time she was in junior high, Seana was cooking meals for the entire family and reading Bon Appetit side-by-side with Vogue and Seventeen magazine while listening to Duran Duran and Depeche Mode. By this time, she had tasted blue cheese, feta, real cheddar, and knew there was a whole cheese world beyond what her mom chose to put in the fridge. Seana spent 15 years in San Diego, attending UCSD and doing administrative work at The Salk Institute and The Scripps Research Institute. Driven by an ever-growing need for more fulfilling work, and the desire to do something involving fine food, Seana left her desk job in the summer of 2008 and immersed herself in all things CHEESE. She began working as a cheesemonger at Venissimo cheese shop in Del Mar, CA and quickly noticed that this work didn't feel like "work" at all. She looked forward to each day in the cheese shop, finding both her mind and taste buds stimulated by all the beautifully crafted cheeses. Within a matter of weeks, Seana realized that cheese is the perfect marriage of edible art & science, and decided that she must create a cheese of her own. Books were read, classes were completed, cheeses were tasted, cheesemakers were visited both here & abroad, animals were milked, and cheeses were made. This whirlwind adventure resulted in bringing cheese to market in August 2009 - less than a year from quitting that desk job. By then end of 2009, Seana had purchased 10 dairy sheep from Wisconsin to be the base for her own sheep dairy. Given the financial demands of starting two new businesses - the cheesemkaing business and then a sheep dairy - Seana had no choice but to return to a day job for a while, working as a Grants Administrator during the weekdays and making cheese on the weekends and some weeknights. As of January 2011, Seana is the owner and cheesemaker of Bleating Heart Cheese, and is one of the 3 partners in Black Oaks Sheep Dairy which currently has about 90 dairy sheep. Both businesses have plans to grow in 2011 and beyond. Seana proudly serves on the Board of Directors of the California Artisan Cheese Guild and is also on the Steering Committee of the Sonoma-Marin Cheese Trail project.

milking some sheep

cleaning the bulk milk tank

working in the aging room