What is your vision for Knoxville 10 years from now?
My vision for Knoxville would be to continue to invest in safe, well connected neighborhoods, where strong families and institutions thrive, and where folks of all incomes can prosper and realize the American dream. I envision a place where people can have conversations regardless of political affiliation, and where we look for solutions rather than retreat to extreme positions as is happening on 2021-style social media.
What is Knoxville's best kept secret?
So Melton Hill Lake separates Knox County and Anderson County (and the rowing course is across the line), but it is my best kept secret. It is a top five rowing venue in the United States. The NCAA National Championship was to be held there in 2020 (until COVID). The 2021 Masters Rowing nationals will be held there in August. It is an amazing venue and a financial driver for area hotels and restaurants that few know about.
What would you do to strengthen Knoxville?
I think we need to continue to invest our time and money in institutions. These days, many folks get on social media and "like" things or criticize things, but that is actually not doing anything. Strong schools, strong churches, and strong youth programs, (just to name a few) these things are what truly move the needle. We need our institutions to be healthy.
What is your favorite Knoxville memory?
Dogwood Regatta, May 2021. My kids are rowers and rowing is a big part of our family's life. The Dogwood Regatta is one of the largest spring regattas in the country, certainly in our region. The pandemic basically shut down an entire year of regattas. Dogwood was the first large one that we had been able to attend since fall of 2019. My kids, having trained for a year and a half without much of an opportunity to compete, were finally able to get out and race.
What is your favorite book or what book is currently on your nightstand?
Favorite: The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
What is the best advice you have received from a mentor, and who was that mentor?
No man is an island, you need to have a small group of guys that you trust and meet with regularly. Dudes often think we can "figure it out," and we are embarrassed to admit that we have difficulties, problems, etc. Having a small group of guys (first through Christian Leadership Concepts, now just a small subset of those guys) has made all the difference. This advice would probably first be attributed to my first boss, Steve White...but my small group of guys all mean the world to me, and they know who they are.
What advice would you give to your 16 year old self?
My Sunday School teacher surely shared this with me, but I wished I would have listened: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
Connect With Us