Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Jeremy.
[00:00:00] Speaker B: I'm Jeremy Rivera, your unscripted podcast host. I'm here with Rachel Smallling. Why don't you give yourself an introduction and we'll learn more about you.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Hi, my name is Rachel Smalling. I am so happy to be here today.
I suppose I was invited because I have a couple of different small businesses around town and up on Dale Hollow Lake. So I'm here to talk about those today.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Yeah, let's get into it. So how long have you been in the area?
[00:00:30] Speaker A: I grew up in Knoxville, but I moved to Cookeville to go to Tennessee Tech. I started in 2010, and I've been here ever since. I fell in love with it and didn't want to leave.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Have you always been an entrepreneur? Is it something that you started really early, something your parents encouraged you in? Or do you think that when you went to Tennessee Tech, I'm going to get a degree and immediately then jump into apparently multiple different businesses?
[00:01:00] Speaker A: No, not at all. In fact, I think my parents, like, don't understand at all, like, what I do or really what happens in that. And you wouldn't unless you were totally immersed in small business or small business owner yourself.
But, yeah, it just kind of evolved kind of naturally over time. When I met my partner Alex, about four, five and a half years ago, we kind of delved into that role. But before this, I was the executive director of the Bryan Symphony. So we have a professional symphony in Cookeville. Shout out to them. But I was in that role for almost 10 years before I branched out to do this.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Awesome. So let's talk about a couple of your different projects. Which one do you want to start with?
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Let's start with the motels.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Okay, so what does that look like? Is it all ownership on the front end? Managerial? Like, what's your process?
[00:01:58] Speaker A: What's my role? Yeah, so all of the above, I guess.
They're small businesses. Up in Birdstown, Tennessee. We are really close to Sunset Marina on Dale Hollow Lake, and the first motel, the Lakeside, that we bought in 2020 was kind of a. I don't want to say an accident, but kind of like we jumped into that. It was the middle of COVID It was September of 2020.
So, you know, I was working from home a lot. We had a lot of extra time. We spent a lot of time on the lake because you couldn't do anything indoors, so you're outdoors a lot. So we kept driving by this sad little motel on the side of the road that had closed down a year prior and needed kind of a Lot of work and a lot of tlc. And we just kept joking about it all summer. We were like, we should buy that. We should buy that. Well, then the next thing I know, like, we're looking into the asking price, and then we've made an offer, and then now we have a motel. So we closed on that, I think, in September of 2020 is when we closed on that property and we opened it to the public with all the renovations in April of 2021.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: And what's the name of that motel.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: That is called the Lakeside Inn at Dale Hollow. It was formerly the Obee River Inn and we rebranded as the Lakeside Inn.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: So was that a full demolition on the inside? Was it just good bones or was there a lot more to work off of? And what would people expect from the experience of going there? And also because it's a podcast format, if people are listening to this outside of the Cookeville area, where is the Dale Hollow area in respect to Cookeville and Nashville? So give us a little more context.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. So Dale Hollow Lake is beautiful. It's one of the cleanest lakes in Tennessee. Kind of totally submersed in the mountains up there. And in reference to Cookeville, you're only going to be about 25 miles north on 111. So instead of going down to Sparta, you go up north past Livingston about 10 miles, and it's right there.
It's kind of a remote area, but it has a cute little town nearby. And Livingston on the square down there has lots of stuff. So you. You kind of feel like you're tucked in the middle of nowhere, but you're only 10 minutes from restaurants and shopping and all of that. So it's kind of the best of both worlds up there.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Yeah, we went up there with our local AHG Girl Scout group and had a camp out on Dale Hollow.
So it's definitely a unique space.
I loved it, having that camping spot right next to the water.
So is there lake access for your guests? Is it something where there's boating involved as well, or is it just scenic access? Swimming?
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah. So, interesting thing about Dale Hollow Lake is it's actually monitored by the Army Corps of Engineers, so you actually cannot have lakefront property or a private dock on Dale Hollow Lake. So where you probably say the Obi River Campground down there that's actually owned by the federal government is the one that runs that.
So, yeah, so they actually have access to that through the Army Corps, because they're obviously a government branch. And then all of those marina owners that you see down there work very closely with the Army Corps of Engineers. Unless there are a couple of properties up there that were kind of grandfathered in and do have that direct lake access. But. But as for my property, the Lakeside Inn is just about three quarters of a mile from the Sunset Marina. So we're really close.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: Got it, got it.
So you said multiple businesses. Is there anything else that you think people should know about that business model?
What are some of the challenges in it? Is it maintaining gas? Is it reaching out and getting enough bookings? Is it maintenance? Like what was a surprising challenge that you had to overcome as a small business owner for a niche motel?
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I would say as far as the guest side and the hospitality side, I had actually been running Airbnbs in Cookeville for several years prior, so I kind of had my foot in the door into that aspect. But obviously running a 10 room motel is a totally different, bigger scheme.
I really like it, I really enjoy it. I love that we were able to create something that previously didn't really exist in the area in terms of a slightly nicer yet affordable location to stay really close to the lake. There are tons of big cabins up there and things like that. But that's only really affordable if you're coming with a large group. If you're just coming down as a couple or single or, you know, a family with one or two children, I really think that we're kind of the most affordable option. Close.
As far as challenges or most surprising thing about being a small business owner, I think is, and you can probably relate to this, that you're pretty much always on like it doesn't matter if it's two in the morning, it doesn't matter if it's your weekend, it doesn't matter if you're abroad in another country.
You are. The buck stops with you. So that that mental aspect of it can be kind of exhausting when that's 24 7.
I think that my way of success in the past couple of years has been to build a really good team and to have management that I trust up there who can take care of those things, you know, if we aren't available to do so. So, yeah, that's definitely the biggest mental hurdle.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: I absolutely hear you on that. Because you'll probably also wake yourself up in the middle of the night with an idea of or a problem solving solution suddenly comes to you for this business and then you have to figure out between actually running it, implementing that next thing.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Yep, there's always. I also operate on a Like, what's on fire currently is, you know, with managing three businesses. That's kind of my day to day is like, what has to be done today.
And I had to do a lot of personal work because I'm a very type A personality that likes to have everything done and put in neat little boxes. And so I had to do a lot of work on myself to kind of let certain things go that, you know, yes, they need to be done, but they don't need to be done today. So, like, you're never, you're never done with your small business. There's always that next project or that next, you know, strategic planning session with your staff, or there's always that extra thing that needs to be done or the storage room that needs to be organized for the past year or just hasn't gotten to like, there's always something.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: So moving on to what you say was your next business.
Tell us a little bit about it, its name and how it came about.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Are we referring to the Sportsman's Lodge, the second motel up there? Yeah, sure. That one was actually a much kind of easier decision in procurement because it was already a running operating business that my partner and I, Alex, his parents and us, went in and bought that property together. We wouldn't have been able to do it without them. And they're kind of like our, basically our silent investing partners. But I think that's something I also like to be very candid about, is that, you know, we're in our early 30s and we were in our late 20s when we started these projects. And Alex has the skills in terms of contracting and building trades and know how to do all of that work, that we were able to do a lot of this ourselves.
Looking at it from a position of somebody who wants to start something or start a small business, knowing that having help and having those resources is essential and, you know, it would be really, really difficult to start where we have without all of that help. So that's kind of like, I like to be really transparent about that is essentially we wouldn't be able to do it or would have. Wouldn't have been able to buy that second property without Alex's parents investing with us. So that was a huge help. And then I run the property and manage it, and we have staff up there that help us as well. But yeah, the Sportsman's Lodge was, I think, 1986 Fisherman's Lodge. I say, like, if you love the show Schitt's Creek, you would love that motel property.
We have done some, some Smaller renovations to it since we bought it. The rooms are a little nicer. We got rid of all the carpet, thank God.
But yeah, it's still very classic. Fisherman's lodge from the 80s. That's most of our clientele as fishermen or people driving through in the middle of the night need a classic motel room. So that's what that property stands as. And still a lot of work to be done up there. I just, you know, we just started that business in 2022, I think is when we bought that April of 2022.
So, yeah, it basically was up for sale. And we were looking at it and thinking about it and saying, like, either we buy it or somebody else buys it and they become our competition.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: So.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: So that was the decision with that. And luckily Alex's parents were on board. You know, we looked at the cost of that and the return, and essentially owning the only two properties up there that aren't cabins or aren't marina properties is pretty helpful because we can go off of both those businesses and they can work off of each other.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: So it's as much about looking at market share as much as. As like the individual business itself and understanding what the demand is for that. How has the Internet or digital marketing played a role in those two properties? Because I know interacting with Google as a small business owner has its own special challenges, its own difficulties. You know, creating digital marketing, looking at multiple channels and making sure, you know, you have everything listed.
What's been your strategy on the digital side?
[00:12:02] Speaker A: Yeah, first of all, Jeremy, I'll say that like, I know you're SEO guy and into all of that back end stuff, and if you've looked up my digital footprint for the Sportsman's Lodge, I'm so, so sorry.
It's a hot mess. So if you want to reach out to me about contracting with that, let me know.
Yeah. When we bought this property, I'm not kidding, the entire property was running off of. But we have a big paper calendar in the main desk and we write down reservations on a paper calendar. So there is no online booking at that hotel. And I thought, this is crazy. Like, this is ludicrous. There's no way we're gonna be able to run a profit margin with just like you call and you book a room, like, no one's gonna do that. And it was insane. Like, we were so busy, we couldn't keep up with our first couple of years of bookings. And I was hiring more staff and it was, yeah, it was pretty wild. If you had told me that I would have laughed you out of the room that we were going to be that busy with a paper book. Now we're kind of a little bit further into the process. Of course we have a website with information, and of course we have, you know, a Google profile and all of that.
But what I found up there on that property specifically is that kind of the age of the property and the notoriety of it being there so long, we. We kind of just coasted off of that. Now, the lakeside was a bit of a different story because that was kind of a start from scratch.
So we run those only through Airbnb and vrbo, which honestly probably leaves money on the table for us because if we had our private bookings through our own website, that might attract more people that don't want to set up an Airbnb account or aren't super tech savvy with the apps and all of that. So I realize that, however, in the position that we are right now, specifically me managing, like, all of that website and the online bookings outside of those other platforms and having to, like, answer phone calls or, you know, constantly be answering emails about bookings, I'm just not in a position right now where, like, where I can do that because I'm spread so thin. But that is a future goal for future growth. So don't look at my books for the Sportsman's Lodge. Jeremy, you'll judge me so hard.
I did my best. Okay?
[00:14:18] Speaker B: I won't judge you out loud. I'll just do it in my head quietly.
But I honestly have a lot of sympathy and empathy for small business owners because there are so many advances of digital marketing and fractures now. You have now miniature ecosystems of, you know, Facebook is its own ecosystem, which then has Threads, and then you have Instagram, and then you have TikTok, and then you have X and you have LinkedIn. So, like, as a small business owner, you know, determining, okay, do we make a social media channel? Do we try to be active there? Do we, you know, how much time do we spend trying to post and be visible there versus, you know, doing any content creation strategy, taking pictures, you know, filling out our Google business profile as much as possible. Like, those are hard decisions because it's all down to, like, when it's. Your small business owner is between that and, oh, hey, there's one of the toilets is clogged and I need to go fix it. Or our contractors.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. The main line of the septic system snapped in half on Labor Day weekend. That happened to us our first year. We were Literally, it was actually the first weekend that I had opened the bar too. So, like, my partner was up there in his knees, like, literally up to his knees and crap on the phone with, like, any septic company desperate to try and get them to come out and fix it because it's Labor Day weekend and we have a full motel, so. So, yeah, it's, you know, one of the joys.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: Banana, go nuts. So you said three properties or three projects. So what's your third baby?
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Yeah, my third baby, which truly is my baby. It's a lot more hands on. Who knew that a bar restaurant would be more hands on?
No one told me. No, I'm just kidding.
Is 1854 cocktail bar and lounge, which is on the square in Cookeville.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: That's the speakeasy.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: That is the speakeasy that it is.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Was that inspired? Was it always meant to be like your dream to set up a speakeasy, or did you have an idea? I'm going, you know, do something in the. In the bar cocktail restaurant space, and then just kind of got pushed into it. Was it an idea in a whole cloth that you executed or did you fall into it? What's the story?
[00:16:50] Speaker A: Everything over here is just winging it. Jeremy. We're just doing our best.
I just tried to survive day to day. I will say that for pretty much my whole adult life, I've been a major foodie and really into cocktails. And I just, you know, my background is I'm a musician. So I love the artistry in that aspect. I love that, you know, food is art and cocktails are art. And that's really kind of something I'm very into.
My. Say my. My first or second passion on the line with that is creating something for other people to enjoy.
So what I felt like a niche in Cookeville is we have great local restaurants, we have great local bars, but we didn't have anything specifically in the cocktail scene, and we didn't have anything specifically on that. That high end of ambiance when you. When you walk in and just kind of a cool, unique vibe is what I was going for in that aspect. So, yeah, it kind of started with an idea, and my partner and I like to go to New York one or two times a year, and we are sitting in this little tiny cocktail bar called the Rains Law Room at the William. If you've ever been. It probably looks pretty familiar to 1854, but we're sitting there looking around and I'm saying, like, you know, I think Cookeville needs something like this, Like, I think that we could do this. And my poor, sweet, dear partner, who now looks at me and says, absolutely not anytime I have an idea, but at the time was still willing and still had energy.
I've worn that out of him, bless his heart. But, yeah, so we said, let's, let's explore. Let's look into it. And that was, you know, about a year of market research and really diving in and, you know, talking to some local restaurant owners and sitting at the bars of cocktail bars and watching and learning and kind of figuring out, like, what. What is the scope of this? If we dove into this and yeah, I kind of mentioned the idea in a very early idea phase to my then landlord, J.D. parks, who owns that or owned that building on the square down there at a symphony event, because I was working for the symphony at the time, and I just kind of pitched it as like, here's. Here are my needs. In terms of a space, you probably don't have anything. If anything opens up that meets that gambit, just send me a text or let me know. And I was expecting maybe six months, maybe a year from now, maybe I'd hear from him and we'd keep doing market research. Well, he texted me the next day and said, I have this space. I want you to come see. So that kind of expedited the dream and the idea. And we went and we saw the space and the layout was absolutely perfect. The location was great. And two months later, we were signing a lease. So.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: So on the square, that was office space, and you are on the second floor. So if you're listening to this, the speakeasy setup, it's just like an office building. And there's poets there. I think there's a. Either a bank, I think it's a bank underneath you. And there's just a normal door. You go upstairs and through the door and it's just a room, and then the wall opens and voila, you're transported to this beautiful speakeasy. I love the wood bar.
It's incredibly carved. It's like such a set piece for the room.
So I do want to hear about that, but I'm curious because, you know, it was. I would imagine that was at most office space. So did you have to put in a half kitchen, full kitchen into that in the process? And how did that. That. Was that already built in?
[00:20:23] Speaker A: No, none of that was built in the space. Actually, it's on the main floor of that building.
We're on the same floor as that financial and poets and the bank in the front, we're on the same level, but the building's on a hill. So we're on the back end of that building, which jumps up a little bit. So, yeah, we're technically on the main floor, just up about five steps, I think.
Yeah, it was an empty blank slate when it was shown to us. It was actually our landlord's kind of extra storage workshop. That's what he was using it as.
So, yeah, the space was perfect. I wanted something very small. I'm sure. You sound like you've been in before, so it's funny. People kind of wander around and like to look and they're like, is this it? Like, where's the rest of it? We're like, this is it. We're a 42 seat house. It's intentionally small because it's. I didn't want to totally lose my mind and do a massive restaurant. And it's, you know, that's part of the. Part of the appeal is the intimacy. But, yeah, no, we built everything in there.
In fact, I think we did absolutely everything in that space except for the countertops on the bar.
So, yeah, being given that the bar back that you're talking about is, I believe it's early 1800s, French or Italian, hand carved. It's still stunningly beautiful.
But it was a gift from my landlord at the time who said, you know, if you want to use that in this space and then you're welcome to. So I was given a piece like that and kind of designed my whole bar around that because it was a great kind of inspiration piece. So.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: Most people would look at, you know, jumping into the hospitality space is challenging, and then jumping into the restaurant space is challenging, and doing both seems quite a bit. What have been the differences and challenges that you've had to overcome in figuring out running a restaurant? I know that you said that you went and sat in. Did you have friends who had launched businesses or were part of an entrepreneur group where you got advice that helped you in, you know, creating your process to keep sanity, you know, keeping up staffing, keeping up orders, the flow out and lay of your kitchen? You know, I know there's a lot of decisions that you have to make there. What was that process? Did you have any mentors or did you just wing it?
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Yeah, the process was very long and like you said, a ton of decisions to the point of like, you know, just being overwhelming down to, oh, my gosh, how many different kinds of glassware do we need, like to fill out this. This menu that We've created, like, down to the minutia. And how do I set up a bar with the best flow?
So, yeah, I definitely had a lot of help on that and asked a lot of questions in terms of, like, a network of entrepreneurs. I didn't really find that until after I'd really, you know, opened and started and then started looking for those groups of people. The Biz Foundry has been great for that, as well as a few other chamber groups and boards that I'm a part of. It's just really helpful to have other people in town to be able to pick their brains and who also care about our community.
But, yeah, no, I just kind of dove in, and when things came up that I really had no clue about, I just kind of found that person in the community that I knew that would have the answers. I had lots of questions about liquor licenses, which is a very arduous process.
So Jay Albrecht over at Seven Senses and Chad Combs over at the Putnam Room kind of answered my frantic Facebook message, emails, and phone calls and kind of helped me out with that stuff as well, which is one of the reasons that this idea and this concept I don't think that I would have had the courage or been brave enough to do in a place other than Cookeville, because we truly do have such a great small business network and a sense of camaraderie. And it really is like, I want to support everyone and see everyone thrive, and it feels that way both ways.
So it's been super helpful to see that Nashville, I feel like, is a little bit. They are very cohesive in their cocktail bar scene, but it's a little bit more cutthroat, obviously, because there are a million cocktail bars. So this was something that. Because it was the first in Cookeville, I felt like it was a little bit of a safer bet. Of course, restaurants and bars are never a safe bet or a safe employee, so you have to have a little bit of a plan. A, B, C, and D and E.
So, yeah, no, we just kind of dove in, and we had a truckload of friends help us, you know, move in furniture and move in coolers and, you know, relying on your already built community. And, you know, one of my friends helped me launch the kitchen menu, and I found Trey, my head bartender, through a mutual friend. And, yeah, he's been with me from the beginning, and he's.
Yeah, it was a lot, as you can hear from me talking about it, it's just like thinking about the whole process again is like, oh, my gosh, that was so overwhelming. That was a crazy year.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: I think there's a lot there in restaurants, too, because there's also the price management aspect of setting up your own kitchen and making small, even layout decisions. Like, where do we manage our fry oil? Like, what is the. Like, do we need this type of fume hood or this type of grill if we're going to be providing this type of food and then finding, you know, proper sources that are sustainable, that are affordable, that you can make good margins on. Did you have anybody that had that kitchen management experience that you could rely on? Was that something your partner had? You know, I believe you said he was in the construction space. Was that on the commercial side or residential? Or did you get someone else to help with the decision making on the layout for the kitchen?
[00:26:22] Speaker A: Yeah, so I kind of went into this with a very narrowed scope of what I wanted to offer.
Unfortunately, I have other friends with small businesses who encourage me to focus on that narrow scope. Because your mind is like, if I can't offer everything to everyone, then people are going to be disappointed and you can't approach it with that aspect. You have to go in with what you know and what you're passionate about, which was the cocktail aspect. And I had my creative partner in that, Trey, Trey Taylor, who is super knowledgeable and passionate about that. So I had him on that aspect. And then I had my friend Lauren Swift, who used to run the Swiftwich out in front of what was Hicks Brewery, Meg's Bread, she used to have that food truck out there. So she switched super knowledgeable on, like, food palates, and how can we do something in a really small, limited space that's still really high quality? So she helped me a lot with that and kind of launched recipes and helped train in staff on that, on the beginning side. So, yeah, I did not approach this as like, I want to open a restaurant. I approached this as I want to open a small cocktail bar. Because I had never even worked in a restaurant or bar before I opened this place.
No restaurant experience whatsoever. So I relied heavily on my staff and we kind of learned together. And we started in a scope that was like, when we first opened, we did ticketed releases so that we knew exactly who was coming when and we could kind of crowd manage.
And we also kind of slow rolled the social media before we opened. So, like, for about 10 months before we opened, we were kind of releasing updates and, you know, kind of building that excitement and building that brand before we even opened, which was fun to have that base to Kind of then get kind of weird and build on and build your niche off of that. But yeah, kitchen is very simple. It is a 10 by 10 room and I have a toaster oven and an espresso maker and a fridge. And so that is our limitation in there. We are currently talking about expanding that maybe a little bit just into some additional appetizers. But yeah, that's our limitation. I did not want a full kitchen.
We do a three course dinner on Valentine's Day, which we just did this past Friday, and it nearly kills me every year. So I have no jealousy of those. Run a full kitchen. No, thank you.
[00:28:49] Speaker B: You did a three course meal with a toaster oven?
[00:28:53] Speaker A: Well, no, I cook every. That's the other thing is you have to be super. You know, we have 77, 78 people on Valentine's Day. So I cook everything at home. I have a beautiful home kitchen, fortunately, that can kind of handle that scale. But yeah, everything at home and then everything that you'd make has to be basically, is this going to be really good in a crock pot? You know, like, that's the essential of. And then whatever is not good in the crock pot. Can I pop that in the toaster oven for five minutes before it goes out? Like, you don't want to sacrifice quality for your limitations. So you just have to. When people are like, you don't have 10 different options, it's like, no, because I want it to be really good. And so these are our limitations.
[00:29:30] Speaker B: So I think that's brilliant. Because when everything's an option, the quality can go down. But if you're limited, you know, it's like limiting yourself to a specific art form. You know, you're going to do that one thing over and over and get really good at it. Almost like in the Japanese tradition of like, I serve tea, I serve tea.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: Well, you know, yeah, that's exactly right. And not having, you know, certain things that, you know, people, people come in there, you don't have dinner. It's like, I want to be like, did you not read our website? But you can't say that to people, even though you really want to.
So, you know, you just kind of have to explain like, no, we're, you know, we're a cocktail bar. If you are hungry. We do have these, these five food items. But yeah, no, that's, that's our limitation and just sticking to your guns and your quality. And when we set up the bar menu and the cocktail menu, we were very intentional about the ingredients that we use. You Know you see flutterings every now and then on social media and people say, oh, it's kind of expensive. You know, it's a thirteen fourteen dollar drink. And I'm like, yeah, but you know, your tequila doesn't have any additives in it. Your juice was fresh squeezed this morning. You are using organic cane sugar in your drinks. So, like one, it's gonna taste better, it's gonna be higher quality. Two, you're not gonna feel like crap the next morning after you've had two drinks. So yeah, the dedication to quality I think is something that's really hard to stick to because you look at that profit margin, you're like, oh, I hope this pays off in two years, you know. But I have some friends that kind of stick to those same guns. Anna and Tyler at soulcraft Coffee are very much of that same mind of, you know, we're not going to be everyone's cup of coffee, I suppose, because they are making their house made syrups and their latte is going to be six or seven dollars and not, you know, your four dollars that you could get somewhere else. But you notice in the quality and you know, they've stuck to their guns and now they're growing and they're thriving. And so I hope that that's the future as people see the quality commitment of what we've created.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: So for aspiring restaurateurs, aspiring hosteliers, don't do it.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Run.
I'm only half kidding, but go on.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: What's the piece of advice that would allow them to navigate sanity? Because it is there. There's a thread of sanity in being a small business owner. And part, part of that is acceptance of the insanity.
But there's a calling in some of us to not be an hourly employee, to take a gamble, to gather friends, research things and launch things. So what would be your advice to somebody who's, you know, aspiring? They're coming up in the thinking about doing something crazy.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
I think number one is asking yourself, like, where does that idea come from? Is it coming from your own, your own passion to want to share and create? Is it authentic? That's question one. And then I think question two is, is this the right market for it? Like, are you currently living in the town where that is something that is needed? Like if you're in Cookeville right now and you're like, I'm gonna open this kick ass Mexican restaurant, I don't know, like, there's a lot of competition for that. So you better have something that really sets you apart.
And I Think three. And this is one that, to me, worked personally.
It might not be everyone's solution, but from since the time I was 18 or 19, I took every single opportunity that came my way. Oh, you want me to work stage crew at this random concert? Great, I'm in. You want me to. I worked a summer music festival down in Suwanee for four years where I ran operations for that. That. That big festival. Great. Loved it. Worked my ass off. But it was fantastic every opportunity that came along. Oh, you want me to join this, this board of directors? You want me to join the arts council? Great, I'm in. Let me see if it works for my schedule. So I'm somebody who can handle a lot of stress and a lot of busyness and a lot of output, but the point of those, always say yes, as long as you have the capacity, is that I built such a vast network of people with different skills and people with different knowledge and just having those different touch points in the community of like, oh, I've been involved in the arts, or, oh, I was on that board, so I know those people. Or.
Yeah, that's just been super helpful and feeling like when you go into a venture of you didn't just move here from, you know, la, or if you did, that's great, you know, we're glad you're here, but you didn't just move here three weeks ago and now you're opening this place and you didn't know a soul in Cookeville. Like, I'm not saying that's impossible. I'm just saying, like, having that. That village or those touch points, or even just those acquaintances really helps you. You build that brand.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: I love that. I think there's. There's power and connection for sure. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thank you, Jeremiah.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: Go ahead and throw last plus for all three of those. So anybody who's listening can go and partake of these fantastic businesses.
[00:34:56] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. So if you are wanting to go to Dale Hollow Lake this summer, once it gets warm out, I highly recommend the Lakeside Inn at Dale Hollow or the Sportsman's Lodge at Dale Hollow. We'll take care of you up there. Or if you are in the mood to go out for date night or have a great cocktail or appetizer, come see us at 185054 cocktail bar and Lounge on the Square in Cookeville.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Rachel.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you, Jeremy. I appreciate.
