(gentle music) - There's so much confidence and situational awareness that's required to be alone in nature and to know where to look for all of these beautiful pieces of shellfish.

You look at different soil textures and different grass and the way the mud smells and looks.

I've learned so much being alone out there, looking at the moon and the tides and the wind direction.

You just get to witness so much beauty.

You have to be so in the moment and it takes you out of your own mind.

Spending time every day, sometimes all day in the wild, it's completely changed my life.

It can be really, really challenging, but it's a safe place too and no one's judging me.

I still judge myself, but I'm in control and that feels really, really good.

My name is Anna Shellam and I own Shellam Seafood Company and my home is Wrightsville Beach.

We live at a marina here and I work at Masonborough Island, which is about five miles that way.

I've got some really wonderful chefs that I get to work with here and in town and it's a beautiful place to live.

I ended up in North Carolina.

Actually, I came to shoot headshots and comp cards for actors.

I was kind of burnt out where I was and they put me up at this beach house with the waterfront view and I was like, "Why am I not living here?

"I have to live here."

So I applied at a restaurant and got the job that day.

I ended up meeting John when I was bartending and just thought he was a dream.

When I met him, I had no idea how to drive a boat.

He was living on a boat at the time.

So I'd come here and he would drive the boat to go harvest with me just for fun, like day dates, and we'd come back and cook it together.

I've always loved nature, but the connection I felt with the marsh, it was hard to get me back on the boat to come home.

So I was, of course, bartending and working in fine dining and just needed a change.

And at the time, John was able to say, "Well, just figure out what makes you happy and go do it."

- Hey.

- Hey, beautiful.

- It's so good to see you.

- It's so good to see you.

- And it's a beautiful day.

- Oh my God, it is gorgeous.

- It's so pretty.

- I think we're gonna dive into some tulip snails, fan clams, whelks.

- Well, you had me at tulip snails, so I'm ready.

- This is gorgeous.

It's such a beautiful day.

- Such a pretty day.

- Ooh, we got a dolphin up there.

- Oh, I saw it.

Oh, there's two.

- Every time I get so excited.

- Oh my God, that's exciting.

Everything's so weather dependent.

When you're dealing with a quantity that you need, how do you work around that?

- Mother Nature's always in charge and it's a different day every day.

And sometimes it's a really hard day.

Yesterday was a really hard day.

I had those thunderstorms approaching me.

- What keeps you coming back out here after really bad days?

- When I come out here and feel lost, I still come home with abundance and that feeling of accomplishment, that work and that effort is absolutely so rewarding.

- Sustainability and zero waste is super important to me.

I go out with exact orders that my chefs ask for.

And so there's never a time where something comes back that isn't going into hands that are excited and passionate about using that product.

- There's a whelk right there.

- That whelk is waiting for you.

- It is for me.

- It is absolutely waiting.

- This whelk is a PBS whelk.

- The my home whelk.

We're gonna grab it.

- When I see a whelk, I often know that it's having like its last meal.

- Oh my gosh.

- 'Cause it's probably, they eat clams and they eat things.

So I bet this guy is eating a clam.

I guarantee.

Oh!

- What is that?

- But I bet there's a clam.

- He's not happy.

- I bet there's a clam.

- There is a clam.

There is a clam down there.

So the whelk was eating the clam.

The clam can stay.

We probably saved that clams life.

And this whelk is gonna go to-- - He's beautiful.

- Seabird.

He is.

- In a dish, this is something that you could do in a stew or some type of seafood.

- This would definitely be like a stew or like a crudo.

The chef definitely needs to know how to handle the product, which is why I work with specific chefs that know what to do with the strange things that I find out here.

Like Dean does a whelk shell and stew and you do have the most killer name for a seafood company.

I mean, it's just amazing.

- That's crazy, right?

- I mean, it could not be more perfect.

- This transition has been the greatest gift of my life and the last name just worked out.

Solitude has always been something that I've thrived in.

I spent so much time alone, even as a child.

I started doing professional theater when I was eight and I went on tour with Disney when I was 12 and I went alone.

I was the only kid without a mom or a chaperone.

That tour launched my acting career.

My mom's like, "Oh my God, you're gonna do great now.

"We're gonna send you to New York."

So I went to New York for the first time at 13 and I was just by myself in the city.

It was so not my dream, but I was good at it.

I think it was so exhausting having to sell myself 'cause that's just auditioning.

You're constantly selling yourself and constantly rejected.

And I'd call my mom and she'd say, "Well, what did you do wrong?

"What's wrong with you?

"Do we need to dye your hair?

"Are your teeth white enough?"

I think that that's made me super, obviously hard on myself, but able to work hard and keep my chin up.

And even though those times were really hard, they've definitely given me a lot of strength.

We are on our way to Alavero to see my friend Lauren and deliver some wild mussels for her.

And then we'll go see Dean at Seabird and it's gonna be fun.

They are wonderful folks.

Want me to get in or you wanna hand them?

- I will hand them off to you.

- The camaraderie that I share with my chefs is why I'm successful.

And we help each other succeed.

Yay!

- Stuff.

- Yes, thank you dear.

They put my name on the menu.

They involve me in every dish they make.

That mutual support really, really means a lot.

Good to see you.

- Hi, Dan.

- Good to see you too.

Had some fun out there, found some whelks for you.

Again, which always makes me happy.

And some tulip snails too.

Those mussels I brought you yesterday, how are people liking that?

- Love 'em, I absolutely love 'em.

We're steaming them in beer and then we're doing a little fennel and carra-carra orange and some toast.

It's really good, people are loving it.

- When I see my name on a menu, I feel pride and respected and you feel seen.

You know, it's just nice.

It makes the hard work feel worth it instead of just having it fizzle into something that people don't really need to know about or care about.

- It is such an honor to be able to get all of this from you and to be able to cook it.

And conversations I'm able to have with guests here, that's not every restaurant.

You know, it gives people a sense of place.

It makes the food taste better.

And we wouldn't be the same without you and what you're doing out there.

(gentle music) - As much as I thought being alone was so uncomfortable, it's such, I find so much strength in it.

Like being alone out there is, it just makes me really proud of myself.

John's just, he always reminds me like, you built this from nothing.

When I think about not being able to drive a boat and not even understanding the industry and just falling in love with the fishing world.

And it is playtime out there.

I love not having to look perfect.

Like being muddy and messy is medicinal.

This job is more to me than money and how successful I could be financially.

Instead it's successful for my heart and my brain.

I see Shellam Seafood just passing with me.

I think when my body physically can't do it anymore, then I'll stop but I always want to be a part of that world.

(gentle music) ♪