The 25 buildings that impacted the city’s landscape
We’ve spent the last 75 years serving our communities and helping our customers reach their financial goals. If you think that’s something, just wait ‘til you see what we do with the next 75. Learn more about our services and see what United Community can do for you at ucbi.com/why-united Three quarters of a century. And we’re just getting started.
29 MAJOR INFLUENCE
The Post profiles the city’s 25 of the most noteworthy leaders from the past 25 years
53 FAMILY DYNASTIES
Meet Nashville’s most influential and philanthropic clans
POWER DUOS
Duetschmanns, Goldbergs put their stamp on Music City
70 GROWTH MINDSET
Natalie Dickson helps prep Tennessee Oncology open $120 million Midtown facility 72
ON THE RECORD
Charting
National media’s spotlight of
GROUNDBREAKING
The Post selects the top real estate developments of the
SANDBOX
THE STATE
Nashville has weathered 25 years
Titans, Predators — and their facilities — have helped transform city’s downtown
United Record Pressing stays nimble in changing market
AD-VANTAGE
The Mayor advertising firm takes its talents to the Super Bowl
ACT II
Daughters of TomKats founder take helm as Sa re returns to The Factory
IN CHARGE
The Post presents its annual list of Nashville’s most influential individuals
29
Governor Bill Haslam
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A quarter-century
Nashville Post has been around for 25 years — meaning I was only 5 years old when this publication got its start. For this 25th anniversary edition of Leaders, I learned of, like many of you have witnessed, the Post’s trailblazing start in online reporting. (Read more about the history of the Post on page 7)
In this special edition of Nashville Post Leaders, we honor that history with nods to the real estate projects (page 20) and families (page 53) that made the city what it is today. We also study the very journalistic coverage that made Music City boom (page 14) and the athletic happenings that alerted the outside world to Nashville’s clout.
This time, our cover story of sorts is a list of the top 25 leaders of the past 25 years (in no particular order). You can find that story on page 29
While we honor the past, we’d be remiss not to mention some of the current leaders who will lead the charge for the next 25 years of business. We have features on the ever-growing Tennessee Oncology (page 70) and an ad agency whose name you may not know, but I promise you’ll know their ads (page 74). We point out leaders in the restaurant industry (page 76) and the record industry (72), two things that make Nashville great.
I hope you’ll take the time to read some of our 17 feature stories on your way to see if you made the cut in the In Charge section on page 79
This will be the Post’s only print o ering this year, and we hope it will earn a spot on your co ee table for the months to come.
Lipscomb University proudly welcomes Dr. Allison Duke as the new dean of its College of Business .
An accomplished leader in higher education and human resources, Dr. Duke brings over 25 years of experience in the corporate sector and at Lipscomb, where she has contributed to developing flexible and student-focused programming with a values-based education that is responsive to job readiness and advancement.
Lipscomb offers a unique blend of academic excellence, faith-based values and real-world experiences. Consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top business programs and the best in Tennessee (Poets&Quants), Lipscomb’s College of Business prepares students to flourish in the marketplace and make a meaningful difference in their communities.
CASTILLO
FROM LEFT: DAVID FOX, GEERT DE LOMBAERDE, TOWNES DUNCAN
On the Map
Charting the Post’s trailblazing genesis to its place in today’s media landscape
BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS
hose 25 years went fast.
e Nashville Post started as a boutique publication launched as a primarily online entity when printing newspapers still made some economic sense. e quarter-century was marked by noteworthy personnel changes, signi cant challenges and an almost rapid- re movement from one form to another. Yet, somehow, much is the same.
And perhaps that’s the “genius” of the Post It has evolved — but not too much. It has seen journalists come and go while remaining anchored by a handful of folks with multi-year tenures. It has maintained relevance while facing challenges that most contemporary online news publications also must battle.
Let’s take a look at the past 25 years, chronologically.
In mid-1999, former Tennessean business reporters Bill Carey and David Fox began nashvillepost.com. e duo soon would meet with Townes Duncan, the then-co-owner of local venture capital rm Solidus, to seek funding.
“It was already evident by then that the revenue model for traditional media was irreparably broken,” Fox recalls. “Large media companies were ‘harvesting in place’— losing classi ed ad revenue to the early digital publications, cutting costs to protect their pro ts, thus diminishing the quality of their publications, which lowered
readership, which then hurt ad rates, which then spawned more cost-cutting. Rinse and repeat until Chapter 7.”
Fox says he and Carey decided to create a media service that would appeal to the local business and political communities while giving readers access to a publication with Wall Street Journal-esque sensibilities.
Solidus initially funded the Post with about $200,000 to $250,000. e venture-capital rm, Fox and Carey were the three owners. e company rented space in downtown’s e Arcade for Carey to use as an o ce to conveniently cover Capitol Hill, while Fox worked from an o ce in Green Hills. e team enlisted Jack Massari at ICG Link in Brentwood to build the rst nashvillepost.com website. e Post bought space on several billboards and bus benches around town to introduce the concept of an online, local breaking news service.
“By January 2000, we were publishing content — though not many people saw it the rst few months,” Fox recalls. “We knew we were early in trying to build an online publication at a time when everyone still got all their news in hard copy. Since our core demographic was professionals in the legal, investment banking, business and political communities — not early adopters of technology — we knew they wouldn’t just nd their way to our website.”
To acquaint targeted readers with the Post’s digital content, Carey repurposed the publication’s online articles and laid them out as a print publication, which he distributed free at downtown restaurants and large employers. By 2000’s end, he was printing 5,000 copies, many of which were mailed to prospective subscribers.
Carey also managed to sell some ads for
both the print issues and the website. For most of the Post’s early advertisers, the publication was their rst medium for digital advertising. e Post then began sending email alerts when an important story broke, which drove viewers to the website. At that time, the publication charged $96 for an annual subscription (the cost is $180 today).
“ e timing of our launch was excellent, as far as the local news cycle goes,” Fox says. “In our rst year, we were able to break and then ‘own’ multiple big stories for readers unaccustomed to intensive local press coverage: the sale of [brokerage rm] J.C. Bradford, the demise of SunTrust Equitable Securities, the local dot-com bust, turmoil at Gaylord Entertainment Co. and lots of lawsuits.”
Fox remembers Carey buying a bus bench ad on Broadway across from the since-razed building housing e Tennessean and touting nashvillepost.com as the de nitive source for Nashville business and political news.
“When the bench itself mysteriously disappeared a few days after our ad was on display, Bill tore into someone on the phone, and the next day the bench was back.” Fox says.
After a year of working countless hours — breaking stories, laying out and distributing the print version, selling ads — the intense but talented Careywas exhausted. He left the Nashville Post in late 2000, at which point his book about the history of Nashville business, Fortunes, Fiddles & Fried Chicken, was published.
To bolster the publication, Fox hired Russian-born Alexei Smirnov. A then-recent Belmont University graduate, Smirnov began covering the tech community for the Post.
Veteran Nashville Banner reporter Nicki
“In our first year, we were able to break and then ‘own’ multiple big stories for readers unaccustomed to intensive local press coverage.”
DAVID FOX
Pendleton Wood joined in October 2001, as did o ce administrator Jenneth Kellett, “who was the ‘mom’ our ragtag group needed,” Fox says.
Molly Cate joined the Post in 2001 and “instantly owned the Nashville health care business beat,” Fox says.
In November 2001, Fox recruited Drew Ruble to join the Post.
e Post parent company acquired Business Nashville in 2001, delving into the print magazine business. e magazine was rebranded Nashville Post in 2002 and then was converted in 2003 into a statewide quarterly titled Business TN. With that transaction, the Post picked up a partner and publisher in Chris Stovall, reporters Brian Courtney and Paige Orr Clancy, editor Michael Burgin and designer Brent Meredith.
In 2005, political operative Ken Whitehouse — a bulldog type who enjoyed the thrill of the hunt for a story — joined the editorial team.
e Post was humming along — at least in terms of talent and in uence.
But by mid-2005, Fox and wife Carrington had a 6-month-old son and a 2-year-old son — and a third child on the way.
“I felt a sudden urgency to put our family into a better nancial situation, so I left journalism to return to the nancial markets,” he says.
A few years passed, and the aforementioned Duncan decided to “sta up a bit,” Fox says. e Post hired E. omas “Tom” Wood, Milt Capps and Geert De Lombaerde, who expanded the breadth of coverage while securing its status as a publication written with insider knowledge.
In January 2008, Solidus announced the Post had been acquired during a signi cant acquisition spree by SouthComm Inc., a then-regional niche media company that was majority-owned, coincidentally, by Solidus. At that point, De Lombaerde was named NashvillePost.com editor. A former Nashville Business Journal editor, De Lombaerde eventually would bring on Erin Lawley to cover health care.
De Lombaerde says the Post focused on maintaining the insider approach Fox and Carey had birthed, “while keeping up with the torrent of events owing” from the Great Recession.
“We had our hands full with investment fraud cases, bank distress and corporate implosions, but we also tracked exciting startups and pushed ahead with new projects such as Tom [Wood] with Headline Homes,” De Lombaerde says.
In the months after the SouthComm acquisition, nashvillepost.com received a second facelift and launched a daughter product
called Post Politics, which was helmed by political insider A.C. Kleinheider and devoted to time-sensitive coverage of local, state and occasionally national politics. e team also launched Post Business, a successor to the Post’s popular Morning Links feature that aggregated locally relevant news nuggets and perspectives throughout the day.
In mid-2008, SouthComm acquired e City Paper, a topical daily paper that was founded in late 2000 (and would cease operations in August 2013 after a nearly 13-year run). At that point, veteran local commercial real estate reporter Richard Lawson was added to the team.
In late 2009, SouthComm acquired the Nashville Scene, the city’s alternative weekly, with the three publications (and sister pub Nfocus) to eventually consolidate in a Gulch o ce space.
In March 2010, Nashville Post magazine — under the leadership of the aforementioned Ruble and Burgin — was relaunched with a circulation of 15,000 copies (the magazine adopted a thematic coverage approach in 2013 and is now published three times annually, with one of those printed). However, Ruble and Burgin left in late 2010, Wood departed in early 2011, and Lawley moved on in mid-2011. Change
BAKER GROUP STRATEGIES
had impacted the Post once again.
With the personnel losses, in October 2011, De Lombaerde named this writer (a member of the original sta of 2000-founded e City Paper) as Post managing editor. Prior to that point, I had contributed to the Post (both in a freelance capacity and via e City Paper) since late 2008.
In 2013, then-City Paper Sports Editor David Boclair joined the Post (as e City Paper was ceasing operations), giving the publication a full sports coverage thrust for the rst time in its history. From the start, Boclair was a hit (sports pun intended).
“In addition to his great coverage of the city’s sports teams, David also added tremendous value because we could, for the rst time, properly explore Middle Tennessee’s booming sports business sector,” De Lombaerde says. “Case in point: His 2015 magazine cover story of then-Predators CEO Je Cogen. at’s a good example of how the team continually pushed to grow the Post’s scope.”
From 2013 to mid-2018, the Post continued to evolve, with various younger journalists teaming with the veteran trio of de Lombaerde, Williams and Boclair to cover health care, government and technology, among other sectors. ere was steady growth, too, as the website’s tra c was moving toward a gure ve times the mark prior to 2010.
In May 2018, the Nashville Scene and the Nashville Post were purchased by FW Publishing, a company co-founded by the late Bill Freeman and the late Jimmy Webb. FWP is a sister company to Freeman Webb Co., a giant Southern real estate rm.
March 2019 saw the Post break the news that
David Fox
Townes Duncan
Geert De Lombaerde
technology titan Oracle was planning a major presence in Nashville. But celebration soon gave way to a loss as Boclair left the Post in August of that year to work for Sports Illustrated
And more change loomed.
In April 2020, then-FWP President Frank Daniels III named veteran Post employee Heather Cantrell Mullins as publisher. e evolution of Mullins’ job dates to 2005, when she joined e City Paper as a sales and marketing rep.
De Lombaerde, after a 13-and-a-half-year run as editor, left the Post at the end of August 2021 to pursue work with local specialty publications and business-to-business company Endeavor Business Media, with then-state government and legal sector reporter Stephen Elliott assuming the role of interim editor.
At the time, the Post also o ered art director Christie Passarello, health care and technology reporter Kara Hartnett, sports reporter Michael Gallagher and versatile administrator Gary Minnis (subscriptions, subscriber relations and magazine distribution), among others.
Elliott would go on to hire health care reporter Hannah Herner (now Post associate editor) in early 2022 and veteran sports journalist John Glennon a year later before eventually (in February 2024) stepping down as Post editor to take a position with the resurrected Nashville Banner
In mid-2024, FW Publishing and company president Mike Smith relocated the Post , Scene and Nfocus (along with sister publication the Williamson Scene ) to East Nashville.
As of early 2025, the Post consisted of (in addition to this journalist) art director Mary Louise Meadors (who replaced Passarello after she changed roles at FWP), contributors
Nicolle S. Praino, Julianne Akers and Logan Butts, Mullins, Minnis, Herner and Glennon.
e aforementioned Duncan, who went on in 2018 to co-found with Charlie Gerber Nashville-based venture capital company Invergarry Holdings, says a highlight for the Post in its early days was the publication’s breaking of the news in 2002 that then-Montgomery Bell Academy head football coach Ricky Bowers planned to leave for e Ensworth School to serve as athletics director and football coach.
Another key development, Duncan notes, was the 2008 hiring of then-web designer Freddie O’Connell, now Nashville mayor, to overhaul the Post website.
Duncan says the Post’s rst few years — during the rise of the internet — meant building an e ective business model had to be an “iterative a air.”
“Which sounds better than, ‘Try ve or six things and keep doing the two that work,’” he notes with a chuckle.
“Ultimately, we survived the ‘information wants to be free’ era of the early internet and developed a subscription model that worked and gured out how to sell ads,” Duncan adds. “But the real key to the Post’s survival was successfully executing the original vision of breaking stories that the Nashville business community talked about around the water cooler.”
Fox says the Post of 2025 is considerably di erent compared to the Post he left in 2005. Today’s version of the publication focuses more so on meat-and-potatoes coverage of local business, politics and sports — much like, to an extent, the former City Paper did.
But changes notwithstanding, Fox says the 25-year-run has been interesting to both
participate in and watch from afar.
As to his highlights those rst ve years?
“For me, this was practicing journalism at its most gratifying and fun level,” Fox notes. “ e eagerness of people to not just read our content — and to email us if we had gone too many hours without a breaking news alert — but also to become our sources, allowed us to raise the quality and breadth of our coverage. Nashville business people were not accustomed to that much attention from the press, and they were generous with their words of appreciation.”
Fox says the Post received robust nancial support from the business and legal communities.
“While I know they appreciated the content, we also understood they were doing it as a civic gesture to support local media,” he says.
A highlight, Fox recalls, was researching Gordon Gee in 2000 after the Post learned he was to become the next chancellor at Vanderbilt University.
“ is was at the very moment that journalists were beginning to be able to shake their sole dependence on libraries and hard copy archives,” he says. “ e amount of info we were able to quickly assemble from online research about Gee enabled us to produce a reasonably in-depth prole in just a couple hours, versus what just a year or so earlier would have required days.”
Fox also remembers speaking to a local entrepreneurship group in mid-2000. During the question-and-answer session, he was asked how the Post researched and found information.
“I told them we were using something called ‘Google,’” he says. “Much of the audience looked at us quizzically. Ultimately, I had to spell it out: www.google.com.”
Stories that sold Nashville
National media’s spotlight of Music City has yielded valuable cachet
BY LOGAN BUTTS
ashville’s explosive growth over the past quarter-century can be attributed to many factors – the boom of industries like health care and tech, the arrival of multiple professional sports franchises, the lack of a state income tax, downtown having completely transformed into a major tourist attraction, the growth of Music City as an entertainment hub beyond just country music –too many to name here.
But those are just the quanti able, tangible reasons for the city’s rapid expansion. ousands of people have moved here over the past 25 years, and it hasn’t solely been for nancial reasons. One of Nashville’s most important transformations over this time period has been its cultural makeover, graduating from a sleepy, Southern afterthought to a major American city. For better, and for worse, Nashville became hip.
A city’s “cool” factor is something that can’t be measured, at least not with the traditional metrics. ere was no single moment that brought Nashville into the public consciousness; rather, it was a series of notable events. But there were a number of stories that sold Nashville to the rest of the country.
Perhaps the most notable was Kim Severson’s New York Times article cleverly titled “Nashville’s Latest Big Hit Could Be the City Itself,” which was published on Jan. 8, 2013, a little more than 12 years ago. When talking to
locals, people still refer to this piece as the moment Nashville’s public perception skyrocketed. It was when we fully became the nation’s “It City,” a vague moniker given to non-coastal cities that break through with attention from nationally prestigious publications. e piece even mentions other examples of previous “It Cities” – Austin, Portland, Dallas, Las Vegas. We were the next in line.
Severson, who still works at e New York Times as a food reporter, touched on the convening of the cultural and economic factors that can cause a boom like this:
“Di erent regions capture the nation’s fancy for di erent reasons,” Severson wrote in the piece, “Sometimes, as with Silicon Valley, innovation and economic engines drive it. Other times, it’s a bold civic event, like the Olympics, or a cultural wave, like the way grunge music elevated Seattle.
“Here in a fast-growing metropolitan region with more than 1.6 million people, the ingredients for Nashville’s rise are as much economic as they are cultural and, critics worry, could be as eeting as its fame.”
Imagine telling readers at the time what the city would look like a bit more than 10 years later.
e New York Times wasn’t the rst national publication to chronicle Nashville’s change in the public’s estimation at this time. Six months earlier, on July 2, 2012, GQ published an eightpage spread on Nashville titled “Nowville.”
All kinds of notable Nashvillians, including musicians, Tennessee Titans, architects, barbers and novelists, were featured in the accompanying photo gallery showcasing the breadth of what Nashville had to o er.
Rolling Stone bestowed Nashville with the honor of the country’s best music scene on May 2, 2011, citing the recent proliferation of non-country acts such as Jack White, e Black Keys, Ke$ha, the Kings of Leon, and Taylor Swift (who, at the time, was just beginning her pop takeover), and listing several must-visit
venues, bars, restaurants and retailers.
e Observer, the Sunday edition of the U.K.based newspaper e Guardian, took a look at Nashville’s garage-rock scene on March 24, 2012. Reporter Michael Hann noted the genre’s many artists coming out of Eash Nashville in a piece titled “Why the garages of East Nashville are now American rock’s hottest property,” mentioning local favorites such as Be Your Own Pet, Je the Brotherhood and Turbo Fruits.
Garden & Gun was one of the rst national publications to report on Nashville hot chicken, as Jed Portman spoke with Prince’s proprietor André Prince Je ries on March 7, 2013. “Catching Up with the Queen of Hot Chicken” checked in with the hot chicken innovators after the James Beard Foundation honored Prince’s with the organization’s America’s Classics Award.
Nashville native Rachel Louise Martin dove deep into Nashville hot chicken’s history in e Bitter Southerner for a piece titled “How Hot Chicken Really Happened.” She eventually turned her reporting into a book titled Hot Hot Chicken: A Nashville Story. e spicy local food item became something of a cultural ambassador for Music City, like the Philly cheesesteak or Chicago deep-dish pizza.
Perhaps the rst serious view into Nashville’s potential rise by a national publication came on May 21, 2009, when e Atlantic’s Richard Florida wrote the rst of a series of look-in’s titled “ e Nashville E ect.” Florida examined the city’s growth through a cultural and economic lens. Two years later, he would continue the series with an essay on what he deemed the city’s “music business saturation.”
And this, of course, doesn’t account for the major ctional story that propelled Nashville into the national spotlight around this time. Nashville, a drama series centering on the country music industry, debuted on May 22, 2013. e show starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere ran for four seasons on ABC and two seasons on CMT, producing 124 episodes.
It’s hard to measure the impact of having a network TV show watched weekly by millions of people airing in and around your city, not just chronicling the industries and lives of ( ctional) people there, but actually shooting on real locations in town, not just in New York or Los Angeles. e show, which was created by longtime Nashvillian and Oscar winner Callie Khouri, was a hit with critics and audiences. It was nominated for a pair of Emmys, three Golden Globes and three Critics Choice awards, among other honors. And although ABC ultimately
canceled the show after four seasons – leading to its pickup by CMT – the show is still beloved by fans to this day; there has even been talk of a Broadway adaptation.
In a Forbes article that ran on Oct. 28, 2015, and titled “ e Real-Life Impact of ABC’s ‘Nashville,’” Butch Spyridon, then-president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, said, “ e ‘Nashville’ show has had a tremendous impact for this city on many levels. It has been huge as a marketing asset, it has put an important spotlight on our songwriter community and the cast members have
been incredible advocates for us as well.”
As the piece points out, the show had an economic impact beyond fans visiting Music City as tourists. e show’s successful soundtracks, which spawned concert tours and helped kick-start country music careers for its stars, featured nearly 200 songs written mainly by local songwriters.
Nashville was able to forge its current status through many di erent-but-concurrent avenues over the last 25 years, and the impact that the stories others told about our city bears mention when discussing Music City’s explosive growth.
Welcome to the big leagues
Titans, Predators fuel Nashville’s boom
BY JOHN GLENNON
OCTOBER 10, 1998
The Nashville Predators play the first home game in franchise history at Bridgestone Arena, falling 1-0 to the Florida Panthers.
hen Deana Ivey moved to Music City to take a job with the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp in 1997, the city was a di erent place.
Downtown was far less populous, less vibrant and less thriving compared to the Nashville of today.
But only a few months after she arrived, Ivey witnessed one of the early steps in what would become professional sports’ massive impact on Nashville overall — and on downtown in particular. She attended the rst Tennessee Oilers (now Titans) NFL game at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Within two years, the Titans and NHL’s Nashville Predators were anchored on either side of the Cumberland River, the Titans playing in what is now known as Nissan Stadium and the Predators in what is now Bridgestone Arena.
Over the next quarter-century, the Titans and Predators would play huge roles in Nashville’s transformation as a city, in part because of the attendance and worldwide attention surrounding the teams, and partly due to all the other events drawn to the franchises’ respective facilities.
e Titans, for instance, reported that the organization and Nissan Stadium generated $4.1 billion in direct spending between 19982021, which, in turn, led to a total economic impact of $6.7 billion in the Nashville
economy. at impact supported 1,609 annualized full-time and part-time jobs and generated $1 billion in state and local taxes, per the Titans.
e Predators haven’t recently compiled long-term economic impact statistics , but they reported in 2019 that the team and Bridgestone Arena had created an economic impact of $676 million in the city that year, a huge jump from the reported gure of $410 million in 2012.
e eye test may be just as convincing an argument as the monetized gures when it comes to analyzing how major pro sports have helped change Nashville’s civic and cultural landscape.
Who can forget the throngs of wildly enthusiastic gold-clad fans who packed downtown street parties to watch the Predators make their historic run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017?
Who can forget the 600,000 football fans who jammed one city block after another on Broadway in 2022, when the NFL held its annual draft here?
Who can forget — on a lighter note — the thousands of visiting Chicago Bears fans who helped drink a number of Nashville bars out of beer during a 2012 visit to Music City? ose bars undoubtedly made a tidy pro t that weekend.
“You look back at what [Nashville] was and what it is today, and the growth and change and development is unbelievable,” Ivey, who is now the Nashville CVC president and CEO told the Post
SEPTEMBER 12, 1999
The Tennessee Titans play their first home game at Nissan Stadium, defeating Cincinnati 36-35.
“ at’s what spurred it. Having those professional teams, between the Titans and the Predators, changed the pro le of Nashville. We were always before considered a small-tomedium market, and now we’re considered a much larger market because of the professional teams. … It’s elevated us in a lot of ways.”
Change came quickly
How did Nashville go from a city with zero major pro sports organizations to one with both an NFL and NHL team in just over a year’s time?
Phil Bredesen played a signi cant role in the arrival of both the Titans, who moved to Tennessee from Houston in 1997, and the Predators, who became the NHL’s 27th franchise in 1998.
Elected mayor of Nashville in 1991, Bredesen wasn’t necessarily a huge sports fan, but he did have a vision to revitalize a downtown that, back then, was hardly the pulsing, three-ring circus it is today.
It was Bredesen who began pushing for a downtown arena in the early 1990s. At the time, the then-mayor was simply desirous of a concert facility that could compete with Murfreesboro’s Murphy Center, which had for decades been the primary site for major musical events in the area.
“ ere was always the hope that [the arena] would become an economic engine for the city,” Bredesen told e Tennessean in 2016.
DECEMBER 29, 1999
Music City Bowl
“When I rst became mayor, I was trying to nd some kind of anchor round which you can rebuild downtown. We needed a place where musicians can play in a big concert. e sports thing really came along a little bit later.”
Sure enough, NFL and NHL representatives were soon sni ng around Nashville — intrigued by the potential of future facilities, by Music City’s enviable demographics, and by Bredesen’s willingness to work deals to realize his long-term vision for the city.
“You could feel that there was movement, a vitality in Nashville at that time,” says Ralph Schulz told the Post. He announced in November he will retire (once a replacement is found) after serving 18 years as the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO.
“[Bredesen] was aggressive,” Schulz says. “He had this idea of creating civic furniture that would start a process of revitalization to Nashville — building an arena without a tenant, but then aggressively seeking tenants.”
Bredesen and former Oilers owner Bud Adams rst signed an agreement in 1995 to bring the team to Nashville, but it would be another year before the NFL approved the move and the city approved construction of a new stadium.
While the new stadium was being built, the Oilers played in Memphis during the 1997 season and at Vanderbilt during the 1998 season, nally moving into their current facility —and changing their nickname to the Titans — in 1999.
JANUARY 8, 2000
The Titans defeated Bu alo 22-16 in an AFC playo game thanks to the “Music City Miracle,” when Kevin Dyson returned a kicko 75 yards for the winning touchdown in the closing seconds at Nissan Stadium.
On the other side of the river, businessman Craig Leipold was initially interested in buying the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings and moving them to Nashville to play in the new arena that opened in late 1996.
But when those e orts didn’t pan out, Leipold turned his attention to hockey.
In June 1997, the NHL granted Leipold and Nashville an expansion team, and the Predators hit the ice in 1998, playing their home games at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway.
“You can’t overstate how much of a momentum builder that was, either of those moves,” Schulz says. “It’s not only about providing that outlet for sports entertainment. It’s about creating a community spirit that centers around those teams and their fans.
“But it also says a lot to the rest of America and really the world, that Nashville’s got a marketplace that’s bigger than they thought. And now people start to look and explore Nashville as a place. Whereas before, they might have just discounted it as a nice place to visit but not necessarily a place to be.”
Fans fill downtown e rst and most obvious impact of the pro sports teams came in the form of fans, thousands and thousands of them, piling into downtown for home sporting events.
Starting in 1998, the Predators played 41
MARCH 8-11, 2001
home games per season at Bridgestone, which seats more than 17,000 supporters. Starting in 1999, the Titans began playing eight home games per season at Nissan, which can seat just over 69,000 fans.
Music City residents were accustomed to seeing tourists by the thousands swarm Nashville in the summer, especially for the CMA Music Festival, which had soared in popularity from its grassroots start in the early 1970s.
But the massive number of fans downtown during the fall and winter months represented quite a welcome change for businesses.
“I don’t think you can understate the branding and the consistent activity [that pro sports brought],” says Scott Ramsey, president of the Nashville Sports Council. “Let’s go back to the [mid 1990s], and let’s be honest, there wasn’t much going on on a Tuesday night in January. But now that the Preds are playing, I mean, you’re shutting o the street after a game because you’ve got 20,000 people owing out in the street.
“Same thing on a Sunday in December. ere wasn’t much going on down here. But now if you ll up Nissan Stadium, you’ve got a pretty active situation. So it wasn’t just that they created the regular-season attendance average, but you took a period of time where there really wasn’t a whole lot of replacement business.”
e construction of the new facilities also allowed Ramsey and the Nashville Sports Council to seek other sporting events, which
The first
is played at Nissan Stadium, with Syracuse defeating Kentucky 20-13.
The first SEC men’s basketball tournament is played at Bridgestone Arena, with Kentucky defeating Ole Miss in the championship game.
JUNE 21-22, 2003
could be scheduled for when the Titans and Predators were either out of town or in their respective o seasons.
e rst Music City Bowl was played in 1998 at Vanderbilt, but the event moved to Nissan Stadium in 1999, where it is still played annually. It’s the kind of event that draws thousands of out-of-town supporters to Nashville for multiple days, lling the local hotels, restaurants and bars.
e Southeastern Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments have regularly been held at Bridgestone Arena over the years, and in 2018, an agreement was reached that either the SEC men’s or women’s tournament would be played in Nashville through 2035.
At the time that deal was secured, the Nashville Sports Council estimated the extended contract would yield $350 million in economic impact to the Nashville community over the life of the agreement, with an estimated 3.2 million fans lling more than 200,000 hotel rooms.
“I think we went through [the early years] where we tried to get every event we possibly could, to try to create a reputation and hopefully a results-based package that allowed us to kind of build upon that résumé,” Ramsey says. “We needed the facilities and places to play to start with. And then obviously over the 25 years have added a lot of resources and a lot of destination elements like downtown, the
JANUARY 31, 2016
hotels, convention center, the restaurants, the bars — just the whole environment to be able to host at a level that is parallel to any city in the country now.”
An economic engine for downtown
Myriad sporting events have been held at the homes of the Titans and Preds over the past quarter-century or so.
Bridgestone has hosted two NHL Drafts (2003 and 2023) and an NHL All-Star game (2016), while Nissan Stadium served as the site for a Stadium Series outdoor NHL game between the Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning.
e Predators estimated the impact of the all-star game at $25 million, while the Stadium Series game impact was estimated at between $15 million and $20 million.
e biggest sporting event ever held in Nashville was the 2019 NFL Draft, which wouldn’t have been possible without the Titans’ presence.
Over a three-day period in late April, the draft drew a then-league-record 600,000 fans to Nashville, resulting in $133 million in direct spending and the third-best month ever for Music City in terms of hotel rooms sold.
e economic impact was estimated by the league at $224 million, a 79 percent increase
JUNE
2017
over the $125 million impact for Dallas during the 2018 draft.
“ e NFL Draft in Nashville outperformed even our lofty expectations and set the bar for future NFL events,” NFL Executive Vice President Peter O’Reilly said at the time.
It’s not only the sporting events that have helped pour money into downtown co ers over the past couple of decades, but the hundreds of concerts that have been held in Bridgestone Arena and Nissan Stadium.
Bridgestone Arena, for example, ranked seventh in the nation for ticket sales between November 2023 and May 2024, selling 458,998 tickets and grossing $40,457,300 in total revenue on show and concert tickets.
Meanwhile, the Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan concerts at Nissan Stadium fueled the biggest hotel-demand weekends in Nashville in 2024, with more than 92 percent of the city’s hotel rooms occupied during each of those weekends.
“I think the real bene t [of the Titans and Predators] has been the facilities turning into an economic engine for downtown,” Ramsey says. “And then downtown has kind of catapulted that with the hotels and convention center, the bars and restaurant scene, to really accelerate that.”
Bridgestone Arena hosts its first of two NHL Drafts.
The Predators reach the Stanley Cup Final, playing three games at Bridgestone Arena in a 4-2 series loss to Pittsburgh.
Bridgestone Arena hosts its first NHL All-Star game.
APRIL 25-27, 2019
JANUARY 22, 2022
Eyes on Music City
Some bene ts of the pro sports teams are harder to measure in dollars and cents, but are extremely valuable, nonetheless.
How much great exposure did Nashville get, for instance, when NBC cameras revealed the massive outdoor party that was the Predators’ run to within two games of capturing the Stanley Cup in 2017?
What about the wall-to-wall coverage ESPN provided of the NFL Draft here in 2019, when broadcasts panned out to droves of football fans looking like they were having the times of their lives?
at draft was viewed in a record 115 countries by a record 47.5 million television viewers.
ink a few people might have planned trips to Nashville based on what they watched and heard during those kinds of events?
“Professional teams absolutely help in marketing the city,” Ivey says. “When we are able to host things like the NFL Draft and the NHL Draft and Awards, that puts a spotlight on the city we wouldn’t have otherwise. When you look at the exposure that those events have given us … we can’t
buy that. It’s a great selling point for us.”
It is hardly a stretch to think the arrival of the Titans and Predators has helped transform downtown Nashville and is part of the reason why Music City business has exploded over the past couple decades.
Is it also possible that pro sports organizations — and the domino-like bene ts that have followed their arrival — might even have played a role in luring some of the larger corporations to Nashville in recent years?
“From a business perspective, it just becomes another magnet,” Schulz says. “I will say this: Most of the growth from inside of Nashville comes from businesses that are already here. But when you get those headliners like an Amazon or an Oracle, and they are drawn to a place because of its vitality — and sports entertainment is part of that vitality — then it gives you the opportunity to create a whole new sector of jobs.”
e big sporting events in Nashville — and the high-pro le events held at Nashville sports facilities — should only increase in the years to come.
One reason is that a third major
FEBRUARY 26, 2022
professional sports team, Nashville SC, joined the party in 2020 when it began competing in Major League Soccer. In 2022, the club moved into Geodis Park, a state-of-the art soccer facility that can hold 30,000 fans — ideal for rooting on the home team or attending one of the many outdoor concerts that have been scheduled there.
ere’s also the impending big cash cow, the New Nissan Stadium, where the Titans will begin play in 2027.
e nature of the enclosed stadium will allow Nashville to bid for the biggest sporting events in the U.S., such as the Super Bowl, the NCAA College Football Playo and the NCAA Final Four.
It’s getting harder and harder to believe that a little more than 25 years ago, Music City didn’t have a single major pro sports team.
“I certainly think that Mayor Bredesen’s vision of re-creating downtown from when I came here in 1995 has just way exceeded expectations,” Ramsey says. “It’s been a pretty incredible 25 years or so, when you think about really having no facilities at all to now being one of the real premier sports destinations in the country.”
The Titans host the AFC Championship game at Nissan Stadium, falling 19-16 to Cincinnati.
Nissan Stadium hosts a Stadium Series outdoor NHL game, with Tampa Bay defeating the Predators 3-2.
The NFL Draft comes to Nashville, drawing an estimated 600,000 fans to downtown Music City.
Ground breaking
The Post selects education, arts, sports, government buildings that made an impact
BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS
he past 25 years saw signi cant growth and development in Nashville — as a quick drive throughout the city will attest. Skyscrapers were constructed, as were grand civic and cultural buildings. Sports stadiums were high on the design-and-build agenda. Ditto for multi-building mixed-use developments. Hotel, condominium and apartment high-rises proliferated during the time span — moves that were not surprising given the city’s population growth and popularity with visitors.
What was considered by many a painfully mid-major place at the turn of the century has transformed into a decidedly vibrant and bustling city with multiple urban districts, neighborhoods and nodes of note. In fact, Nashville has become a model of sorts for contemporary cities in the South to emulate in its transition to a more urban city.
Gary Gaston, chief executive o cer of Nashville-based Civic Design Center, tells the Post in a statement that the previous 25 years of local development projects “demonstrated an incredibly important shift in priorities and impact from the previous 60 years of suburban sprawl. at shift prioritized a more human-scale, dense and walkable built environment, resulting in the reinvestment of our urban heart.
Gaston says that when the Post began publishing in 2000, it was nearly impossible to imagine that Nashville would look like the city it has become.
“But it also re ects much of what the Civic Design Center founders were striving to achieve,” he says, recalling how the design center of today traces its roots to the mid1990s. “I think we’re only at the beginning of Nashville’s global renown for high-quality urban development.”
Mark Hollingsworth, president of the local chapter of international city-centric web bulletin board urbanplanet.org adds that Nashville’s physical appearance can now rival — at least in scale and sheer number of buildings — those of some much more populated U.S. cities, including Phoenix, Tampa, San Diego, Minneapolis and Detroit.
“ e scope and impact of these projects since 2000 vastly outshines the top project of the previous quarter-century in aesthetics, as well as with practicality,” says Hollingsworth. “Some will be icons of the cityscape for many decades to come.”
Following is an overview of the Post’s top 25 projects of the century’s rst 25 years.
A
Power
Foursome of Cultural Attractions
Of the four buildings in this category, the Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame boasts the top annual attendance and is best known by out-of-towners. e Schermerhorn Symphony Center is a SoBro crown jewel that o ers the most European avor, and the Ascend Amphitheater, with its cutting-edge design and prime riverfront location, delivers an element of sexiness. But it is perhaps e Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University that might be the most impressive project of this quartet, as its European concert hall vibe and elegant visuals rival those of the aforementioned Schermerhorn.
Few mid-sized U.S. cities (those with metropolitan statistical area populations of between 1.5 million and 3 million people) offer a one-two punch that can compare with
that created by Nashville’s two art music halls.
Civic Duty Calls
Metro government, the state of Tennessee and the U.S. government variously delivered some outstanding local developments from 2000 through 2024. ese include (but are not limited to) the Fred D. ompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Nashville Public Library’s Main Library, the Music City Center, the Nashville International Airport update and the Tennessee State Museum Worth noting: e Main Library opened on Church Street downtown in June 2001, rendering it one of the “oldest” projects on this list. Perhaps more than any other entry, the library symbolized a “new Nashville” that, prior to the facility’s opening, remained in its nascent stage. Designed by New Yorkbased Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the building is likely now far larger than needed — given that books and bound reading and research material are not as popular or critical as they were prior to the turn of the century. Still, the Main Library stands proudly, is hugely popular with families with young children (due to its puppet shows and massive youth readers section) and anchors the epicenter of the city’s central business district.
The Power of Higher Education
In addition to the aforementioned Belmont University Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Nashville landed two campus projects that drew attention: the Belmont University omas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine building sitting in a stately manner on Wedgewood Avenue and the multi-building Vanderbilt University Residential Colleges — designed in the gothic collegiate style and highlighted by a 300-foot-tall residential tower rising near the intersection of West End and 25th avenues.
Some may contend that the med school
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Fifth & Broadway
Geodis Park
Nashville International Airport
building is a bit too much like the nearby Belmont buildings that front Wedgewood Avenue. However, the building — whether one prefers its neo-traditional design aesthetic or would have desired a more cutting-edge exterior — is noteworthy in that it encapsulates the robust rise of Nashville’s colleges and universities on a national scale (and, of course, that the city is now home to three schools of medicine alongside Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine).
Take Me Out to the Ballpark
e previous 25 years saw the opening of two major stadiums of note in Nashville: First Horizon Park and Geodis Park (Nissan Stadium opened in late 1997, while Bridgestone Arena saw construction completion in 1996). e duo delivers a strong one-two punch with distinctive designs and fan-friendly amenities and features.
As an honorable mention: Nashville also welcomed three collegiate sports facilities between 2000 and 2005, with the opening of Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in 2001, Vanderbilt University’s Hawkins Field (for baseball) in 2003 and Belmont University’s Curb Events Center Arena in 2003. Had those three been unveiled during the 20th century — when the signi cant manmade additions to the city came with less frequency and rather modest overall aesthetic impact — they might have found their way onto a similar such list.
Mixed-use Districts Dominate
Few mid-sized U.S. cities experienced the development — from scratch, no less — of ve or more multi-building mixed-used projects during the century’s rst quarter. Nashville saw work start on eight, highlighted by downtown’s Nashville Yards (home of Amazon and the Grand Hyatt hotel).
Downtown also landed Capitol View, Fifth & Broadway and Paseo South Gulch. Not to
be outdone, Midtown enjoyed the creation of Broadwest and One City (stylized as oneC1TY). Germantown countered with Neuho District. Even suburban Green Hills found itself in the mix with Hill Center Green Hills. More such multi-component mixed-use developments are planned, including MidCity (on the ex-Beaman Toyota site) and the former Reed property — both in Midtown — the Oracle campus at River North and the forthcoming mammoth East Bank project.
Soaring Towers
During the rst 25 years of the 21st century, Nashville saw the construction and completion of 28 high-rises of 300 feet and taller. For context, the city entered the
2000s with a mere seven such towers having opened in the previous 25-year span. Of those 28, it is challenging to determine the “best of the best.” But the Post tapped four — 505, Alcove, the Four Seasons Hotel Nashville and Omni Nashville Hotel — for this list.
Alcove, courtesy of local development company Giarratana, landed the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 2024 award for Best Tall Building in the 100-199 meter (328 feet to 652 feet) category. Giarratana was also behind the Church Street site with mixed-use skyscraper 505. e Four Seasons stands as the tallest tower in SoBro, while the nearby Omni was a major driver of the Music City Center.
Four Seasons Hotel Nashville
The sandbox of the state
Nashville has weathered 25 years of political winds locally and on Capitol Hill
BY NICOLLE S. PRAINO
Bill Purcell says there are three main keys to a city’s success: education, safety and quality of life.
“In the rst part of the century, certainly, we made very clear to people what the priorities of the city were then, and we ultimately hoped they would remain,” he tells the Post
Purcell was elected mayor of Nashville in 1999 after he had already served several terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
e city has undergone steady growth over the past 25 years through intentional policy making, he says, while staying relatively insulated from games between political parties.
“I believed that if we did what we needed to do as a city, that we should continue to grow at a strong but moderate rate,” Purcell says. “It’s also a big ‘if.’ … Other cities have been unsuccessful, and so the burden was on me as a mayor and then on us as a people to make sure that we did what we needed to do.”
Purcell was elected to a second term in 2003, and during that time, current Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell was in the early years of his professional career. It would be about 12 years before he joined Metro Council in 2015.
“It’s an interesting thing to think about 25 years in the rearview mirror, because 25 years ago is actually when I returned to Nashville,”
Bill Purcell
says O’Connell, who represented the council district encompassing downtown Nashville.
“District 19 in particular was a pretty remarkable front-row seat to not only growth, but its impacts.”
Enacting policies and setting aside funding to address a dire need for a ordable housing have been among O’Connell’s priorities, but they were also things his predecessor dealt with.
Strong business interest in Nashville brings an “opportunity to be more intentional” about deals and incentives for companies that benet the city, the mayor says.
For Purcell, a ordable housing was part of his focus on improving Nashvillians’ lifestyle.
“We hadn’t paid attention to a ordability in the ’80s and the ’90s, and we looked up in the beginning of this century, and we had an a ordability crisis, so we focused on it,” Purcell says.
However, when the city faced the 2008nancial crisis after Purcell left o ce, it had to pivot to focus on economic development. He says the city “looked away” from a ordability in 2008 to instead focus on becoming more attractive to businesses, and now there is an a ordability gap.
“ e lesson is clear,” he says. “It has to remain a critical part of the planning and the vision of the city, and you can’t ever look away from it.”
roughout the city’s growth, its relationship with state legislators has seen di erent phases. Purcell says the legislature is in a di erent place than during the 10 years he served, and today it is much more directly a ected by national political winds.
“ e tradition in Nashville has been largely upheld that the parties have not become involved in our local Metro elections, and when they have tried, it has been ine ective and
resented,” Purcell says. “We understood that cities had their own unique challenges and opportunities, and we also understood that there were times when we would not agree about social or larger political issues, but the basic notion that we’re all in it together … was never misunderstood or disregarded.”
Purcell has not overlooked the past few years of tug-of-war between the state and Nashville. He likened the experience to kindergarten.
“It’s like most things that happen in a sandbox. It doesn’t really matter who rst threw the sand. What’s important is, when did you stop throwing the sand and get back to playing in the sandbox like you’re supposed to?” Purcell says. He said enacting change will take a willing-
ness to “work and play well with others.”
e O’Connell administration and the state appear to have that mindset today.
“We’ve maintained very productive channels of communication with both executive branch leadership and legislative branch leadership,” O’Connell says. “I think that has been a good approach to preserving local authority on select topics where we can, I hope, reduce appetite for preemptive activity to the extent possible.”
Sen. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) was rst elected to the legislature as a member of the House of Representatives in 1978. Now the ranking senator, he holds the most seniority of any member of the General Assembly today.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell
“Back when I rst served, there were some liberal Republican legislators and conservative Democrat legislators,” McNally says. “Now I think most of the Republicans, if not all, are conservative, and most of the Democrats are liberal. at doesn’t mean we can’t work together on things, but it is a little bit more polarized than it has been in the past.”
In the House, Rep. Larry Miller (D-Memphis) holds seniority, having rst been elected to the 1993-1994 General Assembly. At that time, Purcell held the majority leader title, with Democrats in control of the House.
Miller re ected on a pivotal moment at the turn of the 21st century, when former Gov. Don Sundquist, who was a Republican, proposed an income tax.
“His party turned against him,” Miller says. “Current Sen. Marsha Blackburn, I think that propelled her from that point. At that point, she became known, almost famous in Tennessee politics — or certainly in her House district — because people were so opposed to the income tax that they literally circled the Capitol. Every day that we were here in session, the senator would let the public know … ‘Here’s what the legislators are doing now,’ in reference to the income tax.”
McNally re ects on the same period, which ultimately led to the legislature’s decision to raise the sales tax instead of an income tax.
It was that nancial ashpoint, Miller reects, that led to the election of Phil Bredesen as a Democrat following Sundquist in 2003.
“He took advantage of the fact that a majority of the public did not want that income tax,” Miller says. “We did the sales tax. … Phil Bredesen was promoting that during his cam-
paign — increasing the sales tax. And when he was elected governor, it happened.”
Miller continues, explaining that Democrats lost control of the House when Jimmy Naifeh lost the 2009 speakership. He says that’s when Kent Williams, a Republican, became the speaker, calling it “an exciting time” in the legislature, because the Democrats backed Williams over the Republicans’ choice of Jason Mumpower.
“[Williams] appointed both Democrats and Republicans as chairs of certain committees,” Miller says. “And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s the way it needs to be done.’ If I was speaker, I would do it that way — good government, balanced government — and that’s what he did.”
McNally explains that around 2005 to 2007, things shifted in the Senate and chairmanships became solely that of the leading party. ough dynamics have shifted in Republicans’ favor, he says he hopes the party is seen as more transparent and as guardians of taxpayer money.
“We respect the Democrat members that they serve a district and they represent their people and they do it very well,” McNally
says. “It’s just that, in some cases, their view of things is not the view of the majority of Tennesseans. And so we certainly like to work with them and try to [help them] when we can, and if I can help them, I try to help them.”
Miller says there is a di erence in the way the Republican Party operates today compared to when he rst took o ce in the 1990s.
“When Republicans got into control, they began to change their entire philosophy about their conservatism,” Miller says. “Not only do they want to control state government, they want to control local government as well. … It’s really not a government that cares more about our constituency, our state as a whole, as opposed to their little power, their little in uence.”
Purcell looks out of a large window on the 19th oor of an o cer tower that o ers an expansive view from Broadway to Capitol Hill and over the Cumberland River to East Nashville — and he leaves leaders with this piece of advice.
“Stay focused on the fundamentals. Never look away,” he says. “Anytime you let any piece of that puzzle go, you begin to fall back.”
Sen. Randy McNally
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The Post highlights professionals who have shaped Nashville since the turn of the millennium.
NASHVILLE
Scott Borchetta
In 2005, Scott Borchetta left Universal Music Nashville to start Big Machine Label Group. e rst artist he signed, a local artist from Hendersonville, would become not only the most impactful musician to come out of the Nashville area in the past 25 years, but arguably the most important musician in popular music during the time frame. Borchetta inked future megastar Taylor Swift for his then-new label, but that is just the start of his impact on Nashville.
Big Machine is home to Grammy winners, chart-toppers and music legends including Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Martina McBride. Big Machine imprints like Nashville Harbor Records and
e Valory Music Co. feature rosters that include Riley Green and Sheryl Crow. e company has even ventured successfully into the liquor business with Big Machine Distillery, which recently purchased the popular Nashville-based brand Pickers Vodka.
Borchetta, a lifelong motorsports fan, was also instrumental in bringing major professional racing back to Nashville with the arrival of the Music City Grand Prix in 2021. Although the event is moving away from downtown and to Nashville Superspeedway during the construction of the new Nissan Stadium, the Big Machine-sponsored race now acts as the season nale of each IndyCar Series. LOGAN BUTTS
Jack Bovender
Leader, mentor and advocate are all words that have been used to describe health care executive Jack Bovender. A 40-year industry veteran, Bovender spent 32 of those years with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), which would help lead Nashville to its future as a hub for health care innovation.
Tommy Frist Jr. asked Bovender to return to the company during a tumultuous time in its history. Bovender accepted the role of Eastern group president in 1987, and the company — and industry — never looked back. During his tenure, Bovender is credited with creating a patient- rst culture throughout the company and
was a staunch advocate for the under-insured and the uninsured. He established HCA’s charity care and underinsured discount policy long before the creation of the A ordable Care Act.
Bovender’s leadership and compassion took a national stage when, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Working with leaders on the ground just hours after Katrina made landfall, Bovender and the team began evacuation plans, saving thousands of patients and employees.
In addition to charting the trajectory of HCA, Bovender also helped found the Nashville Health Care Council. JANET KURTZ
Phil Bredesen
Former Gov. Phil Bredesen has had an impact on Nashville well beyond the past 25 years. During his mayoral terms spanning 1991 to 1999, he recruited the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators to make the city a premier pro-sports destination. e addition of both an NFL stadium and an NHL arena would shape the development of the city for years to come. During his tenure, he also expanded the library and parks system and funded the opening of several new public schools.
Bredesen was also an entrepreneur in the
health care and technology sectors, serving as the founding chairman of Clearloop and Silicon Ranch, the latter being one of the largest independent energy producers in the country. He is also the founder of e Land Trust for Tennessee, a conservation nonpro t organization that operates more than 450 projects in 76 counties.
at said, even acknowledging what he did in the 2000s as the 48th governor of Tennessee is enough to consider Bredesen one of the top in uences in Nashville. Bredesen is praised for his scal manage-
ment, leading the state through the 2008 recession and earning an AAA bond rating just two years later. He also established a statewide pre-K program and increased teacher salaries. Bredesen is credited with redesigning the TennCare health insurance model and establishing a children’s health insurance program. Under his tenure, the state recruited Volkswagen’s manufacturing operations and Nissan’s North American headquarters and invested millions of federal dollars into jobs for renewable power production. NICOLLE S. PRAINO
Hal Cato
When it comes to the nonpro t world, Hal Cato is one to whom leaders look for advice. He has worked at ve nonpro ts during a career spanning three decades — typically at the helm. e University of Mississippi alum started his career ambitiously as the founder of Hands On Nashville, a nonpro t that organizes volunteers for other nonpro ts. After seven years, he pivoted to child care provider Bright Horizons Family Solutions (it was later acquired by Bain Capital Partners).
He then founded Oasis Center and served as its president and CEO for 10 years, growing the organization that provides support for LGBTQ youth. He took a small break from the nonpro t world in 2012 to run Zeumo, a health care communications company, but didn’t stay away for long. In 2015, he began leading istle Farms, a nonpro t and social enterprise for women recovering from drug use and sex tra cking, where he served as the CEO for six years. After leaving istle Farms, he contemplated a run for may-
or but ultimately set it aside. ese days, Cato can be found at Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, where he’s worked as CEO since 2022. e 30-plus-year-old community fund manages charitable gifts and distributes grants for nonpro ts, among other supports. Cato continues to be called upon for a range of leadership roles, including recently with the East Bank Development Authority and Nashville Early Education Coalition.
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Agenia Clark
Agenia Clark has spent the past 25 years helping shape the future of young Nashvillians. Prior to becoming the 18th president — and third female president — of Fisk University, Nashville’s oldest historically black college, Clark spent 19 years as the chief executive o cer for the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. A University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University graduate, she serves on the corporate board of directors for FirstBank Financial Corp. as well as on the boards of trustees for Belmont and Simmons Universities. She is also a trustee emerita on the board of the University of Tennessee Haslam School of Business. In 2021, Easterseals Tennes-
see named Clark the Nashvillian of the Year, citing her guidance and mentorship of more than 10,000 Girl Scouts and 5,000 adult volunteers across 39 Middle Tennessee counties during her tenure at Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee.
As Fisk prepares for its future, the university has empowered Clark to lead its “Fisk, the next 150 years” plan. e plan outlines not just the institution’s academic and social justice missions, but its cultural ones as well, including growing recognition for the world-renowned, Grammy-award-winning Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Fisk Gym Dogs, the nation’s rst HBCU gymnastics program. LOGAN BUTTS
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Mike Curb
Mike Curb is in it for the long haul. Curb Records, founded in 1964 by then-California-based Mike Curb, is the nation’s oldest record company that is still being operated by its founder. e Music Row entity has been home to an array of some of the nation’s most successful artists, especially in the country realm. Roy Orbison, Jo Dee Messina, Hank Williams Jr., Gloria Gaynor, Sammy Davis Jr., Natalie Grant, e Righteous Brothers and Wynonna Judd are just some of the music legends who have graced Curb’s roster. But that’s just the secular music. With the addition in 2016 of faith-based entertainment company World Entertainment and its music division World Records, Curb’s roster grew to include
popular Christian artists including For King & Country.
e Musicians Hall of Fame honoree was a Grammy-award-winning producer and Billboard Producer of the Year winner himself, and he has used his experience in the music business as a guide for his foundation’s charitable ventures. e Mike Curb Family Foundation helped the purchase and restoration of the Johnny Cash Museum and the historic RCA Studio B. One can also nd his name on local college buildings, including the Curb College for Music Business at Belmont University and the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University — not to mention Belmont’s Curb Event Center. LOGAN BUTTS
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Karl Dean
While many people have had a hand in making Nashville what it is in 2025, Karl Dean’s tenure as mayor from 2008 to 2016 was a turning point for the city. During that time, the Music City identity grew, and Nashville became a star of national media as the country’s next “It City.”
A staunch supporter of the music industry, Dean helped create the partnership between the Mayor’s O ce, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp for the Music City Music Council. e council studied the industry’s economic impact and built up the music education program for Metro Schools. Nashville’s convention center giant Music City Center as well as the rst a ordable housing set aside for musicians and artists were also built under Dean’s administration. ere is one time in particular that Dean is remembered for leading the
Marty Dickens
Even if you don’t know Marty Dickens personally, you likely know his name. It’s all over town. If you’ve been to the Music City Center, you’ve taken a breather on the Marty Dickens Terrace. At Belmont University, there’s a 300-bed residence hall, Dickens Hall, named for Marty and his wife Betty.
at’s because Dickens has been instrumental in helping to build both Nashville’s business and nonpro t communities. In 2003, he became the founding chairman of the Music City Center Coalition, the engine behind building the city’s $623 million convention center. He served as the president of BellSouth/AT&T Tennessee for nine years, retiring in 2007. However,
he did not slow down. Dickens became chairman of the Convention Center Authority in 2010, tasked with nancing, constructing and operating the new Music City Center, which opened its doors in 2013. Over the years, he has also served on the boards of Avenue Bank, Pinnacle Bank, Genesco, Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Tennessee, Lee Company and investment banking group Harpeth Companies, as well as the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. In 2023, Dickens received the Jack C. Massey Leadership Award from Mental Health of America of the MidSouth. MARGARET LITTMAN
city: during the 1,000-year ood in 2010 that claimed several lives and left billions of dollars in damages. He was both praised and criticized for the response at the time — depending on who asked. But overall, the cleanup and response are remembered as a united moment by many Nashvillians.
Dean helped Nashville through a recession that could have crushed the city but instead gave way to its rise. His administration preserved funding for schools during the downturn in the economy, and by the end of his second term, had allotted about $150 million in economic development incentives for businesses that brought more than 9,000 jobs to the area.
In his nal State of Metro address, Dean said improvements throughout the city would be investments that would stimulate the economy for years to come. It appears he was right.
NICOLLE S. PRAINO
Bob Fisher
Ask Nashvillians familiar with the history of the city’s colleges and universities and most will rank Robert “Bob” Fisher among the ve most in uential and e ective gures of all time.
Fisher, who retired as president of Belmont University at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year, receives high marks for several reasons. e school underwent a physical transformation during his 20-plusyear tenure, with the campus seeing the addition of multiple handsome buildings. Belmont also increased its number of degree programs and hired high-caliber professors.
Under Fisher, Belmont’s endowment grew from $42.8 million to more than $278.2 million. Similarly, the university’s enrollment increased from about 2,975 students in 2000 to more than 8,200 upon Fisher’s retirement, making Belmont one of the country’s largest
Tony Giarratana
ere is something compelling — even sexy — about a city characterized by its sheer number of tall buildings. Veteran Nashville-based developer Tony Giarratana seems to believe so.
Giarratana and the employees at his eponymously named company have developed since 2000 urban sites with seven towers of 200 feet and taller, including Alcove, Viridian and Encore (among others). Today on-site construction is fully underway downtown on Paramount, to rise 750 feet and stand as the city’s tallest building.
Giarratana’s genius is easily explained. First, many of his employees have tenures of ve years and longer and are dedicated to both the man and his vision. ey are given lots of leeway and entrusted to deliver results.
Second, Giarratana has devoted signi cant time to studying architecture and urban design in other cities, particularly Chicago, providing helpful context.
ird, Giarratana often hires a core of architects, builders and engineers with which he has worked frequently. at familiarity breeds trust and consistency.
Lastly, the thick-skinned Giarratana is unfazed by criticism. In fact, he uses any negative energy directed his way to motivate himself.
Mark Hollingsworth, local chapter president of online urban place-making message board urbanplanet.org and a 30-year observer of Nashville’s transition to a city of national note, says few locals have helped Music City become more cosmopolitan and urbane than Giarratana. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
ecumenical Christian universities. However, perhaps the single-most noteworthy contribution from the former academician might have been mindset: Belmont can be more than it historically has been. With Fisher running the show, the Belmont community believed bigger and better things were in store for the school. In the “old days” of Belmont, and prior to Fisher’s arrival in 2000, adding a degree program in, say, hymnology would have been major deal. Under the man known for his calm demeanor and comprehensive vision, the announcement of a planned school of medicine seemed expected.
In many respects, Fisher was to Belmont what former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen was to Music City. Both men dreamed far bigger than their predecessors. Both were low-key and unassuming. And both were hugely successful. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
PFEFFER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
COMPANY PROFILE
Lipscomb University Pfeffer Graduate School of Business equips professionals with the skills to drive business and the values to lead with integrity. Our students gain knowledge and build relationships to propel their careers and find success in every endeavor.
Location One University Park Drive Nashville TN 37204
Equipping students to change the landscape of business.
•Master of Business Administration (Online or In-Person)
•Master of Health Administration (Online)
•Master of Accountancy (In-Person)
•Analytics Certificate (Online)
who lead strategically and with integrity.
Through mentoring relationships with seasoned faculty professionals who bring industry experience to the classroom, our students receive leadership training that equips them to support people and processes with unparalleled access to Nashville’s diverse business landscape. Lipscomb’s faith perspective encourages a peoplefirst approach that produces trustworthy leaders. Students prepare to succeed through innovative, high-touch programs.
Master of Business Administration
Offered online and in-person, Lipscomb’s MBA program can be completed in one year. The inperson MBA meets on Lipscomb’s campus in Nashville with the choice of a specialized concentration or a 10-month directed work experience that matches students with a partner employer, ideal for young professionals or career changers to gain on-the-job skills and training concurrent with their coursework.
The online MBA program’s asynchronous format provides flexibility for the demands of life while pursuing a graduate degree. Students in the online MBA have access to optional inperson professional development, networking opportunities and synchronous class sessions with faculty.
The MBA program features concentrations in analytics, finance, human resources and supply chain management.
Master of Health Administration
Lipscomb’s CAHME-accredited Master of Health Administration program equips students to lead in the evolving health services industry. Coursework can be completed online with immersive on-campus experiences required each semester, giving students access to Nashville’s robust network of health care leaders.
Master of Accountancy
With a curriculum sequence designed for students to sit for and pass the CPA exam prior to graduation, the Master of Accountancy program instills the qualifi cations and confi dence to become an expert in the fi eld. For career changers, the Accounting Boot Camp prepares students to enter the program.
Certificate Programs
The analytics certificate develops proficiency in industry-standard tools and teaches skills to analyze, visualize and present data to drive meaningful insights. The accountancy certificate helps students gain the hours they need for CPA eligibility. Both can be combined with an MBA for specialized expertise.
Website lipscomb.edu/graduatebusiness
Facebook facebook.com/ LipscombBusiness
LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/ LipscombCOB
X/Twitter @LipscombCOB
Instagram @LipscombBusiness
Alumni Network
6,000+
Phone 615.966.5950
Email gradbusiness@lipscomb.edu
SPECIALTIES
Relevant Degree Programs
Pfeffer Graduate School of Business offers MBA, MAcc and MHA degrees along with certificates in analytics and accounting. These credentials create opportunities in highly demanded areas for professionals seeking to advance their career.
AACSB Accreditation
Lipscomb’s Pfeffer Graduate School of Business is AACSB accredited, making it part of an elite group of business schools internationally— only six percent of institutions worldwide earn this prestigious accreditation.
SCAN TO LEARN MORE
Dr. James Hildreth
While he’s long been known in Nashville, the rest of the nation might have been introduced to Meharry Medical College President and CEO James Hildreth when the school stepped up to take a key role in mitigating the e ects of the COVID-19 pandemic for people of color. During that time, Hildreth was appointed by the Food and Drug Administration to review vaccines for approval and to serve on then-President Joe Biden’s health equity task force.
A longstanding infectious disease expert
and former director of the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry, he is also known for his research on HIV. Hildreth spent much of his career at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, as a student, post-doc, professor and later, associate dean. Hildreth earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University — where he was a Rhodes Scholar — an M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins, and a Ph.D. degree from Oxford University. Before leading the historically Black medical school for the past 10 years, Hildreth served as a dean at the
University of California at Davis.
Hildreth has made several legacy moves in recent years, including establishing what is touted as the nation’s rst School of Global Public Health, and his pet project biobank, the Diaspora Human Genomics Institute, which will address a lack of African ancestry in genetic research. e Arkansas native was spurred to enter the medical eld by his father’s death from renal cancer. He has helped organize programming to encourage young Black men to consider a career in the medical eld. HANNAH HERNER
Bill Haslam
Following the tenure of Phil Bredesen, Tennessee experienced continued growth under Gov. Bill Haslam, who led the state for two terms from 2011 to 2019. He was reelected with the largest victory margin of any governor in modern state history. During his tenure, Haslam saw honors from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce for his work in education, infrastructure and job creation. Nashville itself saw an increase of more than 83,400 jobs from 2016 to 2019, according to the chamber’s 2018-19 annual report. During his nal months in o ce, he announced the largest jobs commitment in state history — the Amazon foothold in Nashville.
During his time as governor, Haslam started Tennessee Promise, and the state became the rst to o er free community and technical college to recent high school graduates. He also introduced Tennessee Reconnect grants to help pay tuition for adults
returning to higher education. Haslam passed the IMPROVE Act, which increased the gas tax to fund transportation infrastructure and authorized local governments to fund transit projects through public referendum — a law that Nashville just took advantage of in November. Already successful through the family gas station business, Pilot, before he became governor, Haslam was the mayor of Knoxville for two terms. After leaving public o ce in 2019, he returned to the private sector and is a visiting professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and a professor of practice at the University of Tennessee. Haslam and former Gov. Bredesen share a mic co-hosting the political podcast “You Might Be Right.” Haslam is the chairman of the Nashville Predators and is heading e orts to bring a WNBA team to Nashville. NICOLLE S. PRAINO
ERIC ENGLAND
André Prince Je ries
In the past 25 years, Nashville has become something of a global brand. As the Post highlights in this issue, many people, businesses, trends and institutions contributed to the city’s rapid rise. But if one piece of culture were to be considered the face of this now-worldwide brand, it would not be cowboy hats or neon bar signs — rather, it is Nashville hot chicken. And if one person were to represent hot chicken as a concept, it would be André Prince Je ries, also known as Ms. André. e niece of founder James ornton Prince and the matriarch behind hot chicken originator Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, Prince Je ries took
over the business in 1980.
Now, 45 years later, Prince Je ries functions as Music City’s “cultural ambassador.” At least that’s how Post sister publication the Nashville Scene succinctly put it when it named her the 2022 Nashvillian of the Year. Every global city needs an instantly recognizable food item. With Nashville hot chicken popping up across the country and as far away as Seoul, South Korea, and Melbourne, Australia, it’s safe to say Music City has found its dish. Prince’s has come a long way from its origins as the BBQ Chicken Shack on the corner of 28th and Je erson, but it’s still a family a air. Ms. André has made sure of that. LOGAN BUTTS
Doug Kreulen
Janet Miller
What Janet Miller, CEO and market leader for the Nashville o ce of commercial real estate rm Colliers International, is most proud of in her career is her work to serve the people in her hometown. Miller had spent more than two decades with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce when she made her move to Colliers. Both roles o ered her the opportunity to work with the community in addition to her roles serving on the boards of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (now WeGo), the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, Leadership Nashville, and the Rotary Club of Nashville.
As chief economic development o cer for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce from 1993 to 2014, Miller was at the forefront of the city’s expansion. Miller led the 10-county region’s top agency for
Businesses moving to Nashville consistently cite the proximity of the airport for their decision. e airport’s expansion plans will allow for the addition of even more international and local ights that will certainly attract more companies to Middle Tennessee.
Doug Kreulen has been with the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority since 2012, becoming president and CEO in 2017. He has made it a goal to attract those international ights, adding nonstop options to three new countries scheduled to start this year. Kreulen oversaw the implementation of the BNA Vision plan, which launched in 2017 and completed in 2024. at plan added six new gates for international arrivals, the ability to
economic development, working with over 400 corporations on major job-creation projects during that time, including Asurion, HCA, Beretta, Mars Petcare, Nissan, Bridgestone, Dell, BNY Mellon and UBS.
Miller moved to work alongside Bert Mathews to grow Colliers, where she still collaborates — in a di erent capacity — with companies moving to Nashville. For Miller, the key to the o ce’s success has been building a strong culture.
Another of her accomplishments in shaping Nashville was contributing to the founding of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center almost 17 years ago. In her work there, she assists other Nashville leaders in creating a task force to evaluate the start-up ecosystem in Nashville and identify gaps. e Nashville Entrepreneur Center continues to support business owners today. JANET KURTZ
accommodate larger planes and a new Customs and Border Protection zone that allows 800 passengers to pass through per hour. e airport also expanded its garage parking, added an on-site hotel and made signi cant improvements to its lobby and marketplace o erings.
Before he came to Nashville, Kreulen was the director of operations for the Huntsville International Airport. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force for 27 years and earned the rank of colonel.
In 2022, BNA announced its New Horizon plan to expand Concourse D, rebuild Concourse A, improve the terminal roadway and upgrade the baggage handling system. It is slated for completion in 2028. NICOLLE S. PRAINO
Rosetta Miller-Perry
At 90 years old, Rosetta Miller-Perry has been making an impact on Nashville for more than the past 25 years. In her storied career, she has logged more bylines than one can count and is still a regular contributor to the Nashville-based African American newspaper she founded in 1991 — the Tennessee Tribune. Preceding that, she published an arts and lifestyle magazine called Contempora
A true renaissance woman, Miller-Perry has studied in a variety of elds. e Pennsylvania native and organ player started her career by joining the United States Navy. en she attended Herzl Community College and Cortez Peters Typing School in Chicago. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Memphis and earned her DMS from John A. Gupton School of Mortuary Science in 1957. While working for Southern
Funeral Home, she attended Tennessee State University and Meharry Medical College to train as a nurse. A civil rights activist, she was brought into the United States Civil Rights Commission (USCRC) in Memphis in 1960 as a clerk typist, then as a eld representative, working closely with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Z. Alexander Looby.
She would go on to found the Greater Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce and to serve as the Nashville-area director of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Miller-Perry created the Anthony J. Cebrun Journalism Center in Nashville to prepare young people for journalism careers. A force in Nashville’s black community, Miller-Perry is also credited with increasing voter turnout. She’s honored by a University of Memphis scholarship bearing her name.
HANNAH HERNER
Brian Moyer
Brian Moyer has established himself as an authority in Nashville’s burgeoning technology industry. Most notably, he was the Greater Nashville Technology Council president and CEO from 2016 to 2022. During his tenure, the region’s tech workforce grew by 51 percent. He led several launches that made that growth possible, including the recruiting campaign Tech into Nashville. Moyer also led college partnerships and the Tech Coach Program and Apprentice Tennessee. Under his guidance, the council secured grants of nearly $3 million for workforce development and tech education. With a targeted approach, Nashville began to get its recognition for the ourishing industry, including a 2021 report
from CBRE that named Nashville the fastest-growing tech workforce in the nation since 2016.
In addition to his pivotal time at the NTC, Moyer founded his own tech companies focused on software for health care companies. He’s taken that experience to create e Innovation Studio. Moyer serves as CEO and co-founder alongside fellow tech entrepreneurs Peter Rousos and Tim Estes. e company provides a pathway for startups working on arti cial intelligence projects to validate their idea, gain capital and scale a business. Moyer sees Nashville for its creative entrepreneurial spirit and believes the AI companies that will come out of e Innovation Studio will be able to solve big problems.
NICOLLE S. PRAINO
Ann Patchett
One thing celebrated author Ann Patchett never imagined herself doing was owning a bookstore and, through that, championing local book shops everywhere. But in 2011, after partnering with Karen Hayes and sifting through copious amounts of well-meaning advice that small bookstores — and bookstores in general — were dead, she opened the doors to Parnassus Books.
For decades, Nashvillians found their books at the beloved local bookstore Davis-Kidd. Opened in Green Hills in 1980 and before online discount outlets and big box stores, Davis-Kidd Bookstore was the trusted go-to for Nashvillians in search of summer reading material, books by popular authors and even reference and resource materials. After the closing of Davis-Kidd in 2010 and the shuttering of the chain Borders, Nashville found itself with a book-
shop void that needed to be lled.
From the beginning, it was clear that Parnassus was a di erent sort of bookstore. e kind and caring team — including a crew of shop dogs — not only helped guests nd the ideal book for any occasion, but they were also ready with the ever-helpful, “If you like this book or author, you should really try this.” Patchett and Hayes developed book readings with opportunities to engage with authors. Parnassus o ers programs to expand literacy and foster a love of reading in children, too.
rough Patchett’s work as a writer, she has helped shine a light on the importance of small bookstores. As the world has become more tech-weary, a love of the tactile has emerged as a concurrent trend, keeping Parnassus Books very much alive. JANET KURTZ
EMILY DORIO
Stephanie Silverman
Nashville may be known to the world as Music City, but there is much more to the local arts scene than just country tunes. One of the area’s most important artistic e orts of the past 25 years has been the revitalization of the Belcourt eatre, Nashville’s only independent arthouse theater.
Stephanie Silverman, who took over as the Belcourt’s executive director in 2007 having previously worked for a live entertainment promotion
company, has been the charging force behind the institution’s resurgence. Silverman’s e orts led her to being named one of the Post’s CEOs of the Year in 2022 as well as Nashvillian of the Year in 2016 as voted by Post sister publication Nashville Scene. As the theatrical model continues to shrink and the prevalence of streaming has changed the lm industry forever, the Belcourt continues to thrive thanks to its wide-ranging, expertly
curated programming and savvy business sense. e state of Tennessee even awarded the Belcourt with a Governor’s Arts Award in 2017, citing its status “as a leader among the country’s art houses.” e business blueprint Silverman has helped lay out is one that independent theaters nationwide are using as a reference point to succeed. In addition, culturally speaking, the Belcourt makes Nashville a better place to live. LOGAN BUTTS
Q&A WITH TOM STUMB, CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF TRUXTON
2025 Nashville Post In Charge Honoree
Q: What makes Truxton different from traditional financial institutions?
A: We operate with a family office mindset, meaning we provide hightouch, customized financial services typically reserved for ultra-high-networth families — but for a broader range of clients. We provide the full spectrum of financial services to our client families; we integrate estate planning, tax strategies, investment management, treasury management, personal and business banking, business advisory, and more. Additionally, we keep our client-toadvisor ratio low so we can build meaningful, long-term relationships across generations.
Q: What are some of the biggest risks for individuals who take a DIY approach to wealth management?
A: One major risk is exposure to blind spots. Wealth planning isn’t just about investments or constructing a good will — it’s about understanding tax law
changes, estate planning strategies, risk mitigation, and adapting to evolving personal circumstances. Without a coordinated approach, key details often get overlooked, leading to potential tax inefficiencies, investment mismatches, or even legal vulnerabilities. Another risk is the lack of accountability—without a central advisor, different specialists (accountants, attorneys, investment managers) may not be working in sync, leading to conflicting strategies or missed opportunities.
Q: Truxton has been consistently recognized among top-performing banks for over a decade. What’s behind that success?
A: Our success stems from a relentless focus on our clients. We answer the phone at Truxton. Our clients are not to relegated to robotic responses online or over the phone – truly a differencemaker in today’s automated world. We build long-term relationships and tailor solutions to each client’s needs.
Truxton is unique because of equal focus on wealth management and banking services. Rather than focusing more on one side of the business, our equal minded approach drives singular results for our clients and shareholders — even through market turbulence. We take a strategic, disciplined approach that prioritizes resilience, service, and results.
Q: Truxton is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new headquarters. How will this impact your clients?
A: Our new headquarters represents our growth and commitment to the future. This move allows us to strengthen the client experience, improve convenience and safety, and continue expanding our services. In the last few years, we have added expertise across our teams while incorporating new technologies to enhance operational efficiency and improve client service. While the location is new, our dedication to personalized, high-quality financial counsel remains the same.
Our compassionate and dedicated medical team is redefining inclusive, culturally competent, comprehensive sexual healthcare delivered with compassion, dignity, and respect healthcare with compassion, innovation, and excellence.
CEO of Nashville CARES for leading the charge in
inclusive community
Renata Soto
Renata Soto describes herself as a social entrepreneur — a title that sums up her impact on Nashville well. She is perhaps best known as the founder and longtime executive director of Conexión Américas, a nonpro t serving Nashville’s Latino and immigrant families. She also created Casa Azafrán, a nonpro t that houses (physically and on the business side) Conexión and eight other partners serving immigrants and refugees.
A native of Costa Rica, Soto completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the Universidad de Costa Rica and studied for an
additional year at Kenyon College in Ohio. Following her 17-year tenure with Conexión and Casa, she returned to her studies as a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and as a fellow at the German Marshall Fund.
In 2020, Soto was ready to move on to her next venture as the founder and president of Mosaic Changemakers, a nonpro t focused on supporting leaders of color. She caught the attention of the nation and was appointed by former President Joe Biden to serve on his advisory commission for the Hispanic
Initiative on Educational Equity and Economic Opportunity.
Soto has served on the board of directors for the Nashville Civic Design Center and the Belcourt eatre, in addition to serving as the longtime chair of UnidosUS. She was also tapped to serve as cochair of Imagine Nashville, a $1.2 million yearlong city planning project. With all of her experience in pushing the city to be equitable for all, she can advise the next generation of leaders of color through the newly formed pet project, the Mosaic Fellowship. HANNAH HERNER
Rick Schwartz
Rick Schwartz arrived in Nashville from North Carolina in 1990 with an understanding of how to care for exotic animals.
At the time, Schwartz — now president and CEO of the Nashville Zoo — set about creating what would be a temporary facility located in the hills of Cheatham County. Despite its less-than-ideal location, the Nashville Zoo shone with surprisingly nice exhibits and a rather robust animal roster.
By the late 1990s, the zoo was operating in both Cheatham County and at the former Grassmere Wildlife Park in South Nashville. In 1998, the transition to Davidson County was complete, and Schwartz and his team were transforming the site to its current high-pro le status. ough few Nashvillians likely would recognize the 65-year-old Schwartz were he to walk past them
at the zoo, in uential people in the nation’s nonpro t sector know the man well. Schwartz has earned major accomplishments within his profession and has garnered respect in his eld. For example, he is widely considered one of the world’s top three authorities on clouded leopards. In addition, his knowledge of giant anteater breeding has yielded North America’s largest collection of that South American mammal, located in Music City, no less.
A Schwartz workweek typically involves seven days, countless hours and extreme weather. As the nonpro t’s president, he is keenly aware that a zoo is a place ripe for injuries, lawsuits, deaths of beloved animals and uncertainties in funding. e stress and time demands would overwhelm the average person, but Schwartz is unfazed as his passion keeps him focused. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
ERIC ENGLAND
“I
I
I do. This isn’t
to me. This is a passion.” – Thurmeisha White, Youth Villages employee
Butch Spyridon
In 1991, when Butch Spyridon arrived to lead the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (then Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau), the city’s tourism landscape looked very di erent than it does today. All visitors that knew of Nashville was concentrated near the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and the since-razed Opryland USA theme park. In those days, the city’s biggest competitor for tourism was Branson, Mo. After a visit to Branson with then-leader of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce Mike Rollins and Opryland executive Alan Hall, Spyridon knew he had his work cut out for him. Referring to the di erence between the musical legacies of each city, Spyridon famously told a Branson-area news crew “Nashville breeds them and Branson buries them.”
Spyridon worked through the rst decade of his tenure to transform the
Colin Reed
In April 2001, Colin Reed took over as president and CEO of Gaylord Entertainment. e company was in ux, having shuttered Opryland USA — the local beloved theme park — just four years before. In its place, Gaylord opened Opry Mills mall in May 2000. In October 2001, the Opryland Hotel was rebranded as the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, becoming a crucial asset for the company and aiding Nashville’s standing as a tourism destination. Reed worked to strategically overhaul the company’s holdings, including the addition of more hotel assets under the Gaylord Hotels brand. With his tenure at Gaylord Entertainment, Reed ushered in a new era with an overhaul of the company and its operations.
During the ood of 2010, the hotel was immersed in several feet of
water, resulting in a six- month shutdown of the property for massive repairs and renovations. e evening of the ood, Reed rose to the occasion by leading not only his team, but thousands of guests, to safety. Today, Reed serves as executive chairman of the board of directors for Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. RHP operates Opry Entertainment Group as its entertainment segment.
In 2022, with then-Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp President and CEO Butch Spyridon, Reed co-founded the Nashville Tourism Strategic Planning Group to create the Music City Plan. e plan outlines opportunities for improvements and changes for the tourism industry to serve continued growth in the city and the popularity of Nashville as a top tourism destination. JANET KURTZ
trajectory of tourism in Nashville. From 2003 to 2004, a tourism-dedicated focus group collaborated for a year to create a master plan for the city focused on big events. at plan took hold when, in 2011, Nashville began courting the National Football League to be the host city for the NFL Draft. e hard work paid o and in May 2018, when the NFL announced that the 2019 draft would take place in Nashville.
Spyridon learned during 9/11, the 2008 recession, the 2010 ood and even through COVID to never stop selling. e city continues to see growth within the hospitality space, and each year, executives from other cities come to Nashville to study the tourism e orts. e message Spyridon gives them is: “We collaborate, cooperate and let Nashville try to win rst. If we’re not [acting] as one city, then we’re not going to win more opportunities.”
JANET KURTZ
Terry Turner
Terry Turner is 24 years into his Pinnacle Financial Partners run — and the man shows no signs of slowing.
As president and chief executive o cer since the company’s founding in 2000, Turner has molded Pinnacle into a local nancial sector behemoth of sorts, with Pinnacle Bank reporting about $39.6 billion in total deposits in early 2024. For U.S. banks, that gure ranks Pinnacle 47th nationally, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statistics.
Pinnacle is now home to more than 2,200 employees and operates sites in more than 100 locations. e future will bring continued growth and change, as Turner recently moved the Pinnacle Financial Partners team from SoBro building e Pinnacle at Symphony Place to Nashville Yards, in what is called Pinnacle Tower.
A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he
Mimi Vaughn
When Mimi Vaughn was named president and CEO of Genesco in 2019 (and a year later a director), she already had 16 years of experience with the company. So it made sense that the company tapped her to oversee its next phase of reinvention. Genesco is more than a century old, and over the generations, it has changed and adapted for the times. First a shoe manufacturer, the company then became a retailer of its own brands and then of other brands.
Genesco (with $2.32 billion in net sales in 2024) now sells wellknown goods including Levi’s, Dockers and Bass through licensing agreements, as well as legacy brand Johnson & Murphy. e stock price dropped in early 2020 (people wore shoes less often when home during
the pandemic) then rebounded when pandemic funding kicked in and spending increased. Workfrom-home trends have continued to change buying habits.
In 2024, Vaughn led the team to close 94 Journeys stores in malls, with another 50 planned for 2025. Today the focus is on omnichannel retailing and making it easier for customers to buy online and return in person, and Wall Street is bullish on its prospects under Vaughn’s governance. In addition to guiding Genesco and solidifying Nashville’s apparel retail business, Vaughn serves on the boards of the University School of Nashville and Five Below and previously served on the board of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. MARGARET LITTMAN
received his bachelor’s degree in industrial management in 1976, Turner went on to work for Arthur Andersen & Company as a consultant in Atlanta. He later joined one of his clients, Park National Bank in Knoxville, in 1979, serving in various management positions before Park National was acquired by First American National Bank in Nashville. ere, Turner worked as First American president and as president of the company’s investment services group.
Turner has served as chairman of the board of the Nashville Sports Council, advisory board chairman for the Salvation Army, a member of the board of trustees of Belmont University, a member of the board of governors of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and a board member of the Nashville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. WILLIAM WILLIAMS
Adventure Science Center is Celebrating 80 Years!
Adventure Science Center has a history of longstanding service to the Nashville community as a destination for entertainment and education. As the center approaches its 80th anniversary this year, it is continuing to drive forward, introducing a range of exciting additions for visitors of all ages.
The newly opened Solar Station exhibit, developed in partnership with Everybody Solar, offers an in-depth look into solar energy. Visitors can examine the engineering behind solar panels, view the 72.32 kW solar array installed on the center’s rooftop, and engage with interactive displays that illustrate how weather conditions influence solar energy production.
Another recent addition, the Fossil Frontiers gallery, invites guests to uncover the world of paleontology and explore fossils from across Middle Tennessee. This exhibit provides a fascinating look into the region’s prehistoric past, showcasing significant fossil discoveries and interactive elements that bring history to life.
Coming this summer, Early Explorations will become the new home for learners ages five and under. This exhibition will consist of exciting, ageappropriate activities for early learners, including a brand-new space dedicated to children who are still crawling.
Looking ahead, the center is preparing for its most extensive renovation: PEAK Performance: The Science of Health. Scheduled to open in 2026, this nearly 10,000-squarefoot gallery will explore human body systems, health science discoveries, and medical advancements that enhance our capabilities. Fundraising efforts are underway, with collaborations involving both local and international experts to bring this cutting-edge exhibition to life.
Through these additions and enhancements, Adventure Science Center reaffirms its commitment to delivering engaging and educational experiences. By integrating interactive exhibits with realworld applications, the center continues its mission to inspire curiosity and foster a deeper understanding of science and technology among visitors of all ages.
For over 75 years, Adventure Science Center has brought science to life for students, teachers, and families in Middle Tennessee and beyond through hands-on, interactive exhibits, innovative programs, unique events, and full-dome productions in the state-of- the-art Sudekum Planetarium.
Address: 800 Fort Negley Blvd., Nashville, TN 37203
WHERE FASHION, STYLE AND EXCITEMENT MEET. WHERE FASHION, STYLE AND EXCITEMENT MEET.
Nashville’s
First Families
The Frists, the Ewings, the Ingrams, the Turners, the Hills or Grandberys — you’ve undoubtedly seen those names around town.
In the following pages, Nashville Post has chosen five broods who made an outsized impact on the city in the past 25 years. We’ve explored their origin stories and the contributions that live on today.
FAMILY DYNASTIES:
The Frist Family
ack when e Frist Foundation was established at HCA Healthcare in 1982, it was not typical for a corporation to have a charitable arm.
But Dr. omas F. Frist Sr. and his son, Dr. omas F. Frist Jr., two of the founders of HCA, wanted to bake in giving back to the Nashville community as part of their success in the health care industry. e family members later split o into their own organization, the Frist Foundation, while the HCA Founda-
tion continues to serve the many communities that o er HCA hospitals.
e Frist family’s prominence started with omas Sr., who earned his medical degree from Vanderbilt University in 1933 and gained respect as a cardiologist who served as the personal physician to seven Tennessee governors and other community leaders.
With its 186 hospitals and 2,400 sites of care, HCA has grown exponentially since it was founded in 1968. In its latest quarterly
HCA Healthcare founders bake philanthropy into the business BY HANNAH HERNER
Dr. Thomas E. Frist Jr. (center) surrounded by family for the grand opening of the Frist Art Museum
earnings report, the for-pro t hospital company generated a net income of just over $1.4 billion.
omas Sr. and his wife Dorothy instilled in their children that they should give back to the community. With records dating back to 1997, e Frist Foundation has awarded nearly 10,000 individual grants, with a total value of $419 million. is does not include individual donations from family members, points out Corrine Bergeron, CEO of e Frist Foundation.
e foundation’s best-known grantee likely is the Frist Art Museum, a cultural facility the foundation helped create and continues to fund. However, organizations like St. Luke’s Community House, Nashville Rescue Mission, e Nashville Food Project and Conexión Américas have also bene ted from the foundation’s support, be it providing ongoing operational support, paying for a strategic plan and/or
funding a technology grant.
“We focus on those organizations that are addressing broad community challenges, so housing, food insecurity, access to child care,” says Bergeron. “ ose are three areas that we really work to get more in depth with, and then we talk to [nonpro ts] about what their needs are.”
Nashville Rescue Mission’s recently opened women’s shelter in North Nashville was made possible by a $3 million capital grant from the Frist Foundation.
“Capital is always challenging, because it requires a lot of funding up front in order to open up a new building or facility,” Bergeron says. “We work hand in hand with organizations, because a lot of times when they’re expanding services, what has to go with that is an increase in operational needs and support. We have a lot of conversations with nonprofits that are embarking on capital campaigns
to say, how can we help support you?”
e foundation has a general application process, and the foundation board meets quarterly to review them. e board today is, well, Frist-heavy, consisting of Dr. omas Frist Jr. (director emeritus), Trisha Frist Elcan (chair), Chuck Elcan, Lauren Elcan Ingram, omas F. Frist III, Julie Frist, William (Billy) Frist and Jennifer Frist.
omas Jr. and Patricia Frist had three children. William (Bill) is known for having served as majority leader of the U.S. Senate, as co-founder of Frist Cressey Ventures, as founder of NashvilleHealth and, most recently, as chair of e Nature Conservancy Global Board. Patricia (named for her mother, who died in 2021 at age 81), along with her husband Chuck, are owners of e Loveless Cafe and Barn. She is also a member of various boards including secretary of the board of trustees of Ensworth School. omas III is the founder and managing principal of Frist Capital, an investment rm.
e latest place you’ll see the Frist name is the omas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University, which opened in 2024. e College of Medicine’s naming rights weren’t purchased, but rather, it was an honorary naming. Retired HCA chairman and CEO Milton Johnson and retired Belmont president Bob Fisher had approached Dr. Frist.
e family has, however, given some scholarships to the school.
“I think it was a testament to Milton’s relationship with Dr. Frist and seeing how he believed caring for patients needed to be done, and kindness and thoughtfulness and medical care,” Bergeron says. “In seeing that in action, it felt like this would be a great way to honor and recognize that contribution to the community.”
Hill Family at YMCA Camp opening in May 2018
Hill and Granbery family at The Nashville Food Project Truck donation May 2015
COURTESY OF HILL AND GRANBERY FAMILY
FAMILY DYNASTIES:
The Hill and Granbery Family
Grocery owners turned real estate moguls make a name with mixed-use projects
BY LOGAN BUTTS
he H. G. Hill Realty Co., which ranks among Nashville’s oldest and bestknown companies, has been operating in Music City since the late 1800s. Founded in 1895 by H.G. Hill Sr., the company was originally focused on grocery stores. Following success in that industry, Hill Sr. incorporated the H.G. Hill Realty Co.in 1926.
Over the past 25 years, the Hill family has evolved to include Nashville’s Granbery, Jackson and Caldwell families, remaining as in uential in the city as ever by contributing to projects that have helped the area ourish. e company, which focuses on o ce and retail buildings located in both urban and suburban settings, has become perhaps best known for mixed-use developments during this time period.
Some of the successfully completed projects have the company’s name baked in, including Hill Center Green Hills, Hill Center Brentwood, Hill Center Belle Meade, Hill Center Five Points (which was rebuilt following the 2020 tornado that devastated East Nashville)
and, most recently, Hill Center Greenwood in East Nashville, which was completed in 2021. Current ongoing projects include Hill Center Germantown and a 15-story mixed-use building on West End Avenue.
Jimmy Granbery has served as Hill Realty Co.’s chief executive o cer for most of the past 25 years. Granbery took over the position in 2002 following nine years as the company’s vice president of development. In the 127-year history of the company, Granbery is just the fourth person to hold the position of CEO, following H.G. Hill Sr., H.G. Hill Jr., and John Hardcastle, who retired as president after a 13-year tenure prior to Granbery assuming the position.
When it comes to Hill Realty Co.’s lengthy experience with mixed-use developments, Granbery previously told the Post that, although they “approach every deal and lease agreement di erently based on the development’s location,” a residential component is key to a successful, exible project.
Singling out your company’s most in uential or important project can feel a bit like selecting which child is the family favorite. Each is integral in di erent ways. But when asked
recently what he felt was H.G. Hill Realty’s most impactful 21st-century project, Granbery had this to say:
“We’ve been fortunate to deliver many impactful projects over the past 25 years. Our agship lifestyle center, Hill Center Green Hills, is recognized for excellence in urban and landscape design, and sustainability practices. Now-common best practices, when we opened in 2010, elements like water harvesting, bioswales, wider sidewalks, structured parking, planters and street furniture were initially unfamiliar concepts. In fact, some were skeptical. Our continued emphasis on connectivity and walkability are key features that we bring to all of our projects. Our next 25 years will bring even more focus on these best practices and innovations, including transit-oriented and projects designed to enhance public health and wellness.”
One of the signs of true in uence is the ability to not only thrive in the present but to simultaneously be able to look ahead and see what’s coming around the corner in your industry. It seems like the Hill family has that covered.
Hill Center Green Hills
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Thanks for joining us in celebrating 25 years of Nashville Post coverage with an insightful discussion from The Mentors!
FAMILY DYNASTIES:
The Ingram Family
Industrial owners support arts and education, Vanderbilt University
BY JANET KURTZ
or almost a century, Nashville’s Ingram family has been at the heart of the city’s economic and philanthropic community.
e Ingram family legacy began with Orrin Henry Ingram Sr., who laid the groundwork for the business empire by moving to Nashville to run a textile company with his wife’s family in 1928. Orrin Henry later sold half of his shares in the textile company and moved on to acquire Wood River Oil and Re ning, the company that would eventually be known as Ingram Industries.
His son, E. Bronson Ingram II, born in 1931, further expanded the family’s enterprises. After graduating from Princeton University in 1953, Bronson served as a naval o cer before joining the family business in 1955.
In 1958, Bronson married Charleston, S.C., native Martha Robinson Rivers. e couple settled in Nashville, where they raised their four children: Orrin H. Ingram II, John R. Ingram, David Bronson Ingram and Robin Ingram Patton. Martha’s passion for the arts complemented Bronson’s business sense, setting the stage for the family’s future philanthropic endeavors. With Bronson at the
helm, the company diversi ed into various sectors, including Ingram Barge Co., which became a leading inland waterway carrier, and Ingram Book Co., which was a leader
in the wholesale book distribution market in the U.S. the 1980s.
Following Bronson’s death in 1995, Martha assumed leadership as chairman and CEO of
E. Bronson Ingram and Martha Ingram
F
Ingram Industries. Beyond her corporate role, Martha emerged as a key philanthropist in the city, impacting Nashville’s cultural and educational institutions.
In the 1970s and 1980s, she worked tirelessly through three governors to propose and build the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. In 1985, Martha co-founded the Tennessee Repertory eatre — today the Nashville Repertory eatre. Over the past 45 years, TPAC has welcomed more than 14 million audience members and served more than 2 million students across the state through its arts education program, solidifying its importance to the city.
Martha also co-founded the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which opened in 2006, providing a world-class venue for the Nashville Symphony and enriching the city’s performing arts scene. In addition, she sits on the boards of Nashville Opera and the Nashville Repertory eatre, and on the advisory board of Nashville Ballet.
Like her late husband, Martha was involved in assuring the success of Vanderbilt University. She served as chairman of that institution’s board of trust and, under her leadership, the university received substantial support, including a notable donation of Ingram Micro company stock valued at $300 million to fund multiple initiatives across campus. In addition, the Ingram Scholars Program has o ered
numerous students nancial aid.
In recognition of her philanthropic e orts, Martha has received numerous accolades, including a special award from the Kennedy Center in recognition of her lifetime of achievements. She was inducted to the Music City Walk of Fame in 2017.
e Ingram family’s tradition of philanthropy was passed down to the younger generation.
Martha and Bronson’s eldest son, Orrin, serves as CEO of Ingram Industries and as chairman of Ingram Marine Group, while leading the charge for the family in creating and supporting the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. Orrin is also known for his love of polo and hosts the annual Chukkers for Charity polo match, which raises funds for e Rochelle Center and Saddle Up!, organizations
that help children and adults with disabilities.
John serves as the chairman of the Ingram Content Group and is the owner of Nashville SC, the city’s Major League Soccer team. His investment in the team has elevated Nashville’s pro le in the athletic arena and expanded community engagement with sports. He has also provided early leadership on a number of philanthropic e orts over the years including Limitless Libraries, Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Imagine Nashville.
In 2017, John, along with his siblings David, Orrin and Robin, honored their late father by donating $20 million to Vanderbilt University. is generous contribution led to the naming of the E. Bronson Ingram College, further cementing the family’s enduring relationship with the institution.
FAMILY DYNASTIES:
The Ewing Family
Nashville’s oldest Black family became education, business leaders
BY HANNAH HERNER
BHistorian David Steele Ewing is a ninth-generation Nashvillian, boasting a length of lineage that many of the city’s most notable families cannot. e oldest Black family in Nashville, the Ewings were part of a group of original Nashville settlers in 1779.
However, the rst three generations of Nashville Ewings were enslaved.
ings began to shift with David’s great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert Ewing, and his twin brother Taylor, who were born in 1849 and enslaved by the Overton family. His great-greatgrandmother Isabella spent the rst part of her life enslaved at e Hermitage. When Prince Albert was emancipated, the Overtons paid for him to attend Fisk University.
e change from being property of another person to having an education was a turning point for his family, David tells the Post
“We have a lot of families in this town that support scholar-
ships and send people to college … but what they usually don’t realize is they’ve changed that person’s family tree,” David says.
“Because my great-great-grandfather was sent to Fisk University, that made life di erent and better for my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father and me and my brother, too.”
Following his graduation, Prince Albert worked as a teacher at a newly formed school for African Americans. He later become one of the rst Black lawyers in Nashville and would go on to be elected to judge. Taylor also studied law, and the pair practiced together at a rm for some time. However, Taylor had other pursuits — he founded a shirt factory and worked with the R.H. Boyd publishing company. Taylor was also one of nine African Americans who helped fund the One Cent Savings Bank, known as Citizens Bank today.
Escaping from the Overton plantation during the Civil War to hide behind Union lines, Taylor had a bit
Isabella Ewing
Taylor Ewing
Prince Albert Ewing
of a head start on his twin brother. He ed to Nashville and helped build Fort Negley. He also joined First Baptist Church on Broadway, where the family still attends today.
During the Civil War, Black families in Nashville were able to wield a certain amount of power, David says.
“When the Union army came here in 1862, if you were Confederate, you were either arrested or you ed, because we were kind of a Union stronghold,” he says. “Back during that time, African Americans exerted a lot of power, especially in the church.”
He continues: “You had a very tight, educated African American business community back then, all formerly enslaved, and they just really were the leaders of Nashville.”
e Ewing family history has breadth. Another of David’s relatives was the rst clerk of the city of Nashville, Andrew Ewing. He is credited with changing the city’s name to Nashville, rather than Nashborough. e historic Alexander Ewing House on Buena Vista Pike is the same Ewing family, too.
Prince Albert had nine children, including Richard Albert Ewing, David’s great-grandfather. A teacher by trade, he also was principal of a school in the Hermitage area. Richard later opened an insurance company, and he and his wife Cornelia coordinated paper routes for e Tennessean and Nashville Banner in Black neighborhoods. Cornelia went on to become very involved in the su ragist movement.
Richard’s oldest son, Richard Jr. (Ewing’s grandfather) attended Pearl Cohn High School and graduated from Fisk University. en he returned to his high school alma mater to teach math.
David’s father (Richard Albert Ewing, III) went to historically Black Christian college Saint Augustine’s University, before attending
Meharry Medical College to become a surgeon. David’s mother attended Fisk University.
During the past 25 years, David sat on the board of the Nashville Symphony when it opened the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in 2006, after becoming the youngest person on the city’s historical commission in 1995 at the age of 25 when he was appointed by then-Mayor Phil Bredesen. He’s proud of his work helping to name Rep. John Lewis Way, Anne Dallas Dudley Boulevard and Josephine Holloway Avenue.
Richard Albert Ewing IV, David’s brother, now works at Oracle, and his wife is District 34 Councilmember Sandy Ewing. David says
he and his immediate family are experiencing a Nashville that his ancestors couldn’t have dreamed of.
“ e legacy of these old Nashville families is you love your city, you love your family,” David says. “ e reason that Nashville is this great, thriving city is because these old Nashville families, going back many generations, decided that they were going to raise people to not just leave the city and go somewhere else.
“ ey would raise people to be good citizens of Nashville and leaders, and even if you went away to school somewhere else, you return to Nashville because this was your home, and Nashville will always be my home.”
David Ewing
FAMILY DYNASTIES:
The Turner Family
Dollar General founders pour into higher education, music
BY JANET KURTZ
he Turner family has had tremendous impact — not only in Music City, but throughout rural America. With the establishment of Dollar General, Cal Turner Sr. both forged a legacy of business acumen and in uenced Nashville’s philanthropic landscape. Over the years, the next generations of Turners have followed suit.
Cal Turner Sr., born in 1915 in Macon County, Tennessee, co-founded wholesale business J.L. Turner and Son with his father
in 1939. In 1955, they launched the rst Dollar General store in Spring eld, Ky. Basing the business model on the “dollar days” sales he had seen advertised, Turner introduced a retail model in which all items were priced at $1. is concept revolutionized the retail industry, making a wide range of products accessible to many, while also creating jobs in rural communities.
Under Cal Sr.‘s leadership, Dollar General expanded rapidly. In 1977, his son,
Cal Turner, namesake of Turner Theater, cuts the ribbon to o cially open Studio Tenn’s permanent home.
Cal Turner Jr., became president, assuming the role of chairman and CEO in 1988. During his tenure, Cal Jr. continued the company’s growth trajectory, solidifying Dollar General’s position as a leading discount retailer in the United States. Today, Dollar General boasts 20,000 locations in 48 states.
e Turners also have a longstanding tradition of philanthropy, with signi cant contributions from both Cal Turner Jr., his brother Steve, and Steve’s wife Judy Turner. Steve died in February 2025 as this issue was going to press, following the passing of Judy in 2023.
Cal Turner Jr. serves on the board of trust at Vanderbilt University, and in 1994 he endowed the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
is program aims to promote ethical practices across various professional elds. In 2015, the Cal Turner Family Foundation committed $1.2 million to establish the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures at Vanderbilt, fostering market-based solutions to alleviate poverty.
Beyond Vanderbilt, Cal Jr. has supported other institutions, including serving on the boards of Lindsey Wilson College and Fisk University, re ecting his commitment to advancing education. rough the Cal Turner Family Foundation, he donated $3 million to build the Cal Turner Family Center at Meharry Medical College, providing a space for conferences and community events.
Steve and Judy Turner made signi cant contributions to Nashville’s cultural and urban development. Downtown dwelling pioneers, Steve and Judy worked to change zoning ordinances to allow for residences — including their own — in the downtown corridor. After two decades with Dollar
General, Steve co-founded real estate development company MarketStreet Enterprises in 1999, playing a pivotal role in transforming e Gulch, a former industrial area, into a vibrant urban neighborhood. eir philanthropic e orts included supporting the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where Steve served as chairman of the governing board. In 2006, through the James Stephen Turner Family Foundation, they funded commissions by major contemporary composers for ensembles at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music. In 2007, Steve and Judy were on hand for the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which they helped fund, and dedicated the performance to Steve’s mother, Laura Turner.
In addition to their business endeavors, the
family established the Turner Family Scholarship Fund in 2000, providing nancial assistance to deserving students.
e next generation of Turners continues the family’s legacy of community involvement and philanthropy. Jay Turner, Steve and Judy’s son, was named CEO of MarketStreet Enterprises in 2024 after joining as managing partner in 2007, overseeing ongoing developments in e Gulch and other urban projects.
e Turner family’s legacy in Nashville is marked by entrepreneurial success, transformative urban development and unwavering philanthropic e orts. From the establishment of Dollar General to the revitalization of urban spaces and support for educational and cultural institutions, the Turners have profoundly in uenced the city’s landscape. ”
Turner Theater
POWER DUOS
Mark & Sherry Deutschmann
Two entrepreneurial heavyweights aren’t afraid to talk shop
BY NICOLLE S. PRAINO
In 2004, Sherry Stewart found Mark Deutschmann’s number on a condo ad in the bathroom at the now-defunct Mafiaoza’s. A year later when they were at the closing table and she was no longer his real estate client, he finally asked her out.
When they began dating, Sherry had started health care patient statement company LetterLogic a couple of years prior (she later sold it) and Mark had just expanded Village Real Estate Services (which became a part of Central Real Estate in 2019) and added Core Development.
“We were really still fairly newbies in the entrepreneurial world,” Mark says. “That was fun because we were both growing our businesses, and as we were dating, it was part of our courtship language.”
When it comes to talking shop at home, Mark and Sherry say it’s like a love language of theirs. However, that does not mean they are necessarily seeking advice from each other.
“I’m starting to tell her, and she’ll say, ‘Do you want my advice on this?’” Mark says. “Sometimes it’s, ‘No, I just need to
download it. I can’t take advice right now. I just need to let you know.’ And then sometimes, it’s like, ‘Absolutely, I don’t really know what to do with the situation, so give me some thoughts.’”
Sherry says the couple has helped each other grow their businesses tenfold. She says the “balance” part of work-life balance doesn’t really exist. Now Sherry’s growing her company, BrainTrust, which she launched in 2019 to help female entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
“It’s not really work to me. It never has been. … I really like work, and I’m much happier working on any kind of project than I am leisure time,” Sherry says. “Over the last couple of years there’s been a lot of talk and speakers about the anti-hustle culture, and I would say you’d be hard-
POWER DUOS
Ben
and
Max Goldberg
Strategic Hospitality brothers want to see Nashville’s culinary scene grow BY
CAITLIN BURKE
Benjamin and Max Goldberg, brothers and co-owners of Nashville-based restaurant company Strategic Hospitality, have been key figures in shaping the city’s thriving food scene. Since founding their company in 2006, they’ve helped create
some of Nashville’s most beloved spots, including The Patterson House, The Catbird Seat, Bastion, Henrietta Red, Locust and Kisser, among others. Through their work, the Goldberg brothers have played a significant role in elevating Nashville’s reputation as a culinary destination on par with foodie cities like New York, Austin and New Orleans.
In a recent conversation with the Post, the pair discussed their journey, insights into Nashville’s evolving food scene and key moments that contributed to their success.
At Strategic Hospitality, Benjamin explains, the goal has always been to open places the brothers themselves would enjoy visiting.
“We want to create spaces that make people feel warm and welcome, places that feel authentic to us and the city we love,” he says. Max echoes his brother’s sentiment,
underscoring their commitment to being good stewards of the community where they live, work and raise their families.
“From the beginning, we’ve been intentional about creating spaces that bring something new to Nashville, foster local talent and become meaningful parts of people’s stories,” Max says. “For us, it’s always been about giving back to the city we grew up in.”
Although balancing a business partnership with family can be challenging, the Goldbergs credit their deep trust and shared values for their enduring success.
“I think the fact that Benjamin and I have remained best friends through this whole process is something I’m incredibly proud of,” Max says. “When we opened The Patterson House, I gave him a pocket watch engraved with, ‘We are best friends, brothers, and
business partners. Never let us forget that order.’ I don’t think we ever have. We laugh a lot, and our aligned values create trust. We push each other, and that leads to better results.”
As Nashville’s dining scene continues to diversify with the city’s rapid growth, the brothers see new opportunities and evolving challenges. Benjamin hopes to see the addition of comfortable places that customers can visit multiple times a week without becoming predictable, whereas Max is looking for more intentional, long-lasting concepts.
Well-known chefs like couple Will Guidara (who also serves as co-producer of The Bear) and Christina Tosi (owner of Milk Bar) choosing to move to Nashville shows momentum in the scene, Max attests.
“Seeing the diversity of talent, new cuisines and new passions come into the Nashville market is nothing short of incredible,” Max says. “I believe Nashville is the most exciting city in the world at the moment, and it’s our responsibility as folks who have been operating here for almost two decades to ensure people coming here with the right intentions are supported and can find generational success.”
Looking at the next 20 years, Max and Benjamin say their vision for Strategic Hospitality is to build upon what they’ve grown together, continuing to create spaces that benefit the
community while supporting the dreams of others.
“Part of our growth includes partnering with people who share our values and vision, helping them bring their ideas and passions to life,” Max says. “We’re also in a fortunate position to expand into real estate, with a focus on protecting and enhancing hospitality e orts.”
Benjamin’s perspective is a quality-over-quantity approach.
“We’re being very intentional about how we grow,” he says. “It’s not about how many concepts we can open — it’s about ensuring the ones we do open feel thoughtful, authentic and aligned with what Nashville needs.
“We’re always asking ourselves how we can do better, how we can serve the city in new ways and how we can keep pushing the boundaries of what hospitality looks like here. That commitment to intentionality and creativity is what keeps us excited about what’s next,” he adds.
The brothers are also inspired by their peers in the industry, particularly local chefs like Pat Martin of Martin’s Bar-B-Que and Kahlil Arnold of Arnold’s Country Kitchen, who exemplify the sense of community that makes Nashville’s dining scene distinctive.
“Those of us who have been doing this for a while all genuinely love and support one another, and that sense of community is something rare,” Benjamin says. “We can’t ever lose sight of how special that is.”
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Growth Mindset
Tennessee Oncology’s Natalie Dickson talks scaling, survivorship, social services
BY HANNAH HERNER
uring Natalie Dickson’s time with Tennessee Oncology, the Nashville population has boomed — and the company has grown along with it.
Tennessee Oncology (TN Oncology) will have no problem lling up a $120 million cancer center, which is set to be completed in Midtown this year.
In 2024, TN Oncology added 20 new physicians — in part, due to the acquisition of the Nashville Breast Center. Earlier this year, it added 42 surgeons with the acquisition of e Surgical Clinic. On top of that, the organization is slated to hire at least 20 more physicians this year. at makes a total of 180 physicians — a jump from its 116 in 2024. (Management services organization OneOncology has also seen signi cant growth since
Tennessee Oncology joined in 2018, expanding from three to 26 practices.)
At just over 25 years at the company, it’s tting that the Post is highlighting Natalie Dickson in this particular issue as she completes her rst year as president and CEO.
Dickson says the organization prides itself on having retained a core group of people (including herself) who have worked at Tennessee Oncology upwards of 20 years. ere are even generations of families that work for the entity. e secret to retaining people is remaining true to the organization’s mission and keeping the mindset that “each person has something to contribute,” she says.
Dickson clari es that the combining of the Midtown and Centennial o ces to make a Nashville hub does not mean that all patients will have to come to Music City for treatment. But if they do, they’ll enjoy an ultramodern new facility — in technology and aesthetics.
“We just wanted to have a state-of-the-art building to not only anchor all the practices in one area and allow for increased collaboration, but to upgrade our spaces to make it special for patients,” Dickson tells the Post. “As the information in medicine just explodes, you nd that many of us are becoming more sub-specialized. But at this site, because it’s going to be the main o ce for
our research clinic, we’ll have all our disease thought leaders located here.”
One of the latest innovations in cancer treatment is T-cell therapy, which uses a person’s own immunity cells to ght cancer. Tennessee Oncology has served as a trailblazer in this realm, as the rst independent practice to provide such therapy on-site. e treatment is o ered in downtown Nashville, with plans to replicate it in other areas, starting with Chattanooga, Dickson says. Tennessee Oncology also boasts the only proton therapy center in Middle Tennessee, o ering highly targeted radiation that spares critical or delicate tissue.
“Whatever we do, we want to scale, and we want to make it easy for patients who get treatment not to have to travel far from home and stay away from their families,” Dickson says. e research aspect of Tennessee Oncology has taken several forms in the past 25 years.
e organization was actually the founder of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in 2004, and its principal investigators stayed involved even after it was sold to HCA in 2012. When HCA formed a joint venture with McKesson in 2022, Tennessee Oncology and HCA split.
Greco-Hainsworth Centers for Research — named for two researchers who were founders of Sarah Cannon — is the next evolution of Tennessee Oncology’s research program. However, the organization had already been one of the country’s most signi cant enrollers of oncology patients for clinical trials for years, Dickson says.
“We’re leveraging our broad reach across the state to ensure that we’re providing research at all our clinics, so that patients have access to the cutting-edge trials, cutting-edge treatments close to home,” Dickson says. “Eventually, all our clinics will have research.”
Dickson is proud of the company’s focus on social work o erings. Tennessee Oncology
Natalie Dickson
now has more than 30 people who work to help patients obtain insurance coverage and nd nancial help. e operation also hosts a large palliative care program as well as four board-certi ed palliative care physicians, with 12 or 13 palliative care nurse practitioners, four psychologists and a dietician.
“Something that I’ve seen develop over the years, which I’m so very proud of, is the com-
prehensive services,” Dickson says. “Patients, as they’re getting these treatments — which may result in a lot of side e ects that a ect their quality of life or a ect their productivity — now we have services to help mitigate those side e ects.”
e newest initiative through e McKay Institute (named for Tennessee Oncology’s rst CEO Charles McKay) is survivorship, in part-
nership with Boston startup OncoveryCare. e program centers on helping people with short- and long-term side e ects after they’ve successfully completed cancer treatment.
“Cancer treatments have improved so much in the past years, and people are living longer,” Dickson says. “Now we need to look at these folks and see how we can make them live better as survivors.”
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Jonathan Skeeters Legal
Jay Hardcastle Healthcare
On the record
United Record Pressing’s
BY MARGARET LITTMAN
hen Mark Michaels bought United Record Pressing in 2007, things looked a lot di erent for the vinyl record industry than they do now. At the time, CDs and digital downloads were killing record sales. e market for vinyl was anachronistic, limited to the hardcore music fans (a group that de nitely includes Michaels), collectors, DJs and rap artists.
Even so, URP turned 75 in 2024. Since he took the helm, Michaels has navigated
the company through a changing industry. His accomplishments include overseeing not one, but two, facility expansions – and as a result, solidifying its position in Nashville for the long term. When the company celebrated its 75th anniversary in the fall of 2024, it did so with a party where Mayor Freddie O’Connell DJed, illustrating just how intertwined Nashville and URP are.
When Michaels, a former consultant with McKinsey and Co., joined URP, the company was still respected, but a lot of its highlights were in the past. For example, in the 1960s, it was URP that pressed The Beatles’ first U.S. single: “Please Please Me / From Me To You.” It had later been buoyed by musicians like Jack White — URP pressed The White Stripes’ first release. Vinyl record interest had gone through some ups and downs.
As vinyl started to see a comeback, Michaels
strategically led URP through the changes. It remains North America’s largest historic pressing plant.
“As vinyl found its place in a world and in a generation that had grown up on digital music and streaming, a generation that valued something tangible and tactile and something to engage with indie rock was a leading segment in terms of the artists really wanting their music on vinyl and the fans responding and appreciating it,” Michaels says.
“It’s gone way beyond indie rock today. e biggest selling artist on vinyl today is Taylor Swift. Any new release will have multiple color variants that are o ered to various fan clubs and direct-to-consumer options and di erent packaging options. Now hiphop, heavy metal, Americana and roots — you would be very challenged to nd a new release of any genre that does not include vinyl as part of the artist release strategy.”
Mark Michaels stays nimble
Mark Michaels
In 2017, Michaels orchestrated a move from URP’s location on Chestnut Street in Wedgewood-Houston, where it had been since 1962, to four miles away on Allied Drive. At the time, then-Mayor Karl Dean cited the expansion as an essential piece of Nashville’s continued Music City strength. e new space was six times larger than the original facility, including room for more equipment. At the time, lots of folks thought URP should relocate south of the border. It would have been cheaper to build and operate in Mexico, Michaels concedes. But he wanted to stay in Nashville because of the brand’s history and because of the relationships born in Music City.
e move was a good one. en, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. While that was terrible for the live music and the touring industries, a lot of people who were stuck at home with their turntables chose to
listen to records, Michaels explains. Demand for records from consumers skyrocketed. In addition, just before the pandemic, Target and Walmart had started carrying vinyl, giving consumers more places to buy records, and labels more places to sell them. URP wanted to deliver on that increased demand, which was about 30 to 35 percent higher than the gure before the pandemic. Michaels oversaw an $11 million expansion at the Allied Drive space, nearly tripling capacity.
Growth is at a healthier pace now that pandemic trends have dialed back, but still growing at about 14 percent annually on a national level, a pace Michaels believes is more sustainable. ere’s a lot more competition, particularly from international companies that also tried to meet the pandemic- and big box-era record demand. But Michaels has proven that he is tuned in to industry trends and can be nimble.
While Allied Drive is accommodating artists and labels who need new vinyl, Michaels and his investment partner have turned an eye back to Chestnut Street. e building is beloved for its mid-century architecture and its music history. In the 1960s, the Chestnut Street space was not just somewhere to make records. At the time, there were limited places in Nashville where Black travelers could stay. URP built an apartment on the second oor and opened it to Black artists and executives who came to town. at space became known as “the Motown Suite.”
e building, which sat largely vacant or was used as storage for years, recently got a new roof and is being preserved and renovated. Michaels hopes to allow artists to record there again soon. And he hopes to open the Motown Suite for tours, too.
“ is is home, and this is our corporate home,” he says. “So we stayed here.”
Ad-vantage
Culturally relevant work is the driving force at Nashville’s newest ad agency
BY LENA ANTHONY
om Hamling will be the rst to admit that nobody likes advertising. Super Bowl commercials — people generally enjoy those. But everything else?
“Nobody wakes up wondering what TV commercial they’re going to see that day,’” says Hamling, founder and chief creative ocer of advertisement agency e Mayor. “It’s not lost on me that entire industries are built around helping people skip advertisements. People are trying to actively not engage with what I do for a living.”
And yet, Hamling has spent his entire career working in the industry.
Born and raised in Nashville, Hamling left his hometown in the late 1990s to work in New York, then Los Angeles and nally Austin before returning to Music City in 2016.
His creative genius has contributed to memorable, award-winning campaigns for brands like Farmers Insurance, Pizza Hut, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Avocados From Mexico. (Yes, he created the jingle for the latter.) Hamling’s work helped boost brand awareness — and sales — for the companies his agencies represented. But for all the successes, there were also mounting challenges that became impossible for him to ignore. In 2022, Hamling resigned from his position as executive creative director at Austin-based GSD&M to start e Mayor in late 2022.
“Budgets are shrinking, timelines are shrinking — so much has changed in the ad
industry since I started as a junior creative in New York,” he tells the Post. “I loved my job, but the consolidation of advertising agencies under a few large holding companies has made it harder and harder to give brands the attention they deserve.”
At his last job, if Hamling wanted to hire someone for his team, he couldn’t because of a hiring freeze. If he sought to give his team a raise for doing a quality job, he couldn’t because of a pay freeze.
“It got to where it was hard to be in control,” he says.
And so, Hamling did what many disillusioned professionals do — he started his own agency to free himself of the operational and creative constraints that had become commonplace in the age of ad agency consolidation.
“It’s called e Mayor, because it’s a mayor’s job to serve the people,” Hamling says.
In advertising, that translates to making advertisements people actually like, he adds.
Today, the company has a stylish o ce in 12South and nine full-time employees (with plans to add another soon). It counts Consumer Cellular, Famous Footwear, Hilton Hotels and Vanderbilt University among its clients.
We de nitely say no more than we say yes,” he says. “Chemistry checks are always important. It needs to be a good t, and that’s a two-way street.”
According to Hamling, creating Super Bowl spots is “obviously awesome” ( e Mayor’s team has six to their name, including Radio Shack and Avocados From Mexico.), but he gets more excited to work with brands that aren’t quite ready for the big-game spotlight.
“Helping an invisible or forgettable brand become culturally relevant is a thrill I may never tire of,” he says. ”Our team here has a pretty good track record of making brands rich and famous.”
But the path isn’t always smooth. Hamling acknowledges the inevitable rejections and setbacks that come with the territory.
“Your ideas get rejected constantly,” he admits. “You need thick skin and a short memory. We try not to have feelings around here. Really, the meanest thing a client can do is be too nice.”
TOM HAMLING, FOUNDER OF THE MAYOR
On set for Adidas with David Beckham
At e Mayor, Hamling eschews the title “president” for the more egalitarian “chief creative o cer.” To be able to create the kind of culturally relevant advertising that gets people talking, he underscores the im-
portance of team collaboration.
“Advertising is a total team sport,” he says. “It takes so many people to get something across the line, and no one person is more important than another.”
Not to mention, it would be
impossible for any one person to stay current on all social trends.
“I have two teenagers, so that helps,” Hamling says, while also declaring (at press time, at least) that crewnecks were the new hoodies.
On set for Mr. Mayor with Ted Danson
Act II
Morales daughters
take the
helm as Sa re returns to The Factory at Franklin
BY JAYME FOLTZ
n a city that thrives on reinvention, the late 2024 return of Sa re to e Factory at Franklin is a satisfying addition.
Once a beacon of Southern hospitality and cultural creativity, the restaurant had long been shuttered, leaving a vacant space in both the Morales family’s legacy and the hearts of its local patrons. Enter sisters Kendall and Lauren Morales, who have not only reopened Sa re, but are taking the reins of leadership in their family business.
It’s impossible to talk about Sa re without mentioning the man who started it all: Tom Morales, the Nashville hospitality sector icon behind e Loveless Cafe, Acme Feed & Seed, e Southern Steak & Oyster and others. Morales launched TomKats Catering in 1986 and quickly became known for creating dining experiences rooted in community and Southern charm.
At the time, Lauren was just 2 years old, and Kendall wasn’t far behind. From the beginning, it was a family a air, with Lauren and Kendall tagging along to movie sets and events.
“I was in tow the whole time,” Lauren recalls with a laugh. “ ey’d give me jobs like making tea and lemonade — things a 6-year-old could do. I would clean trays and do just about anything to help.”
Sa re was TomKats’ rst venture into brickand-mortar dining when it opened in 2002.
Lauren took a winding path to nd her
place in hospitality, earning her degree in microbiology before realizing she craved the connection only hospitality can provide, she tells the Post. Kendall, on the other hand, always knew it was where she belonged.
Reopening in its original building came with challenges, but it was a familiar process for the Morales family. Lauren described the reopening as surreal, especially when regulars began returning.
“Back when we closed Sa re around seven years ago, I think there was always hope maybe this could happen,” Kendall says. “When e Factory’s new ownership reached out to us, it was a no-brainer. We all knew we had to bring the restaurant back.”
Both sisters credit their father with instilling a deep appreciation for Southern hospitality, storytelling and preserving Nashville’s history. While Tom himself has taken a small step back from daily operations, he remains a guiding presence.
“He still pops in and throws some wild cards from time to time, but he’s not gone yet,” Kendall says with a smile.
“One thing I’ve learned from him through the years and [something] he was great at was not having blinders on,” Lauren adds. “He’s always absorbing what’s going on in the community around him and listening to team members, most of the time younger, to make sure we’re not stuck in our ways and adapting to the changing industry to stay relevant.”
As they take the reins from their father, and as women in a male-dominated industry, Lauren and Kendall bring fresh perspectives to leadership, focusing on issues often overlooked — particularly in creating safe and inclusive environments for both employees and customers.
“We serve men, serve women, serve all dif-
ferent races and ages, and our team re ects that as well, to ensure at the end of the day that we’re giving everyone the best experience” Kendall notes.
Ask restaurateurs what their biggest challenge is, and they’ll likely say labor. For TomKats, it’s no di erent. e business prioritizes the team by o ering full health bene ts (even for their part-time sta ), maternity leave and an open-door policy to encourage meaningful conversation with the employees.
“Labor has been one of the hardest parts of running a restaurant probably for more than 10 years now, but we’ve found our biggest success in overcoming that challenge is just listening to your team,” Lauren explains.
e sisters have approached Sa re’s revival with a clear vision: to honor the restaurant’s history while remaining relevant to today’s diners. Before reopening, they worked with local farmers and artisans on a menu serving traditional Southern cuisine with a modern twist. From mocktails for non-drinkers to dishes catering to a variety of diets, they kept in mind how to better serve the local clientele.
Sa re’s reopening may just be the beginning for Lauren and Kendall, but they’re thinking about the future. eir vision is as much about preserving their father’s legacy as it is about making their own mark.
“It feels good to be a Franklin original in Franklin,” Lauren says. “ is is where Kendall and I both grew up, and it’s so wonderful to be back in our roots.”
“We’re de nitely going to live this dream for a while, but whatever we do next will be something for the community because that’s what we’re most passionate about,” Kendall adds.
For now, they’re both savoring the joy of seeing Sa re thrive again.
CONGRATULATIONS!
One of the mainstays of the Nashville Post magazine is our In Charge list. Each year, we highlight the people that make our city work. Be them newly minted or seasoned veterans, we have trimmed this year’s list to the best of the best.
Arts
Micah-Shane Brewer
Artistic Director, Nashville Repertory Theatre: Named regional theater’s fifth director in 2023 after joining as teaching artist in 2020.
Patrick Cassidy
Artistic Director, Studio Tenn: Son of award winners Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, the veteran producer and director began his tenure at the Franklin nonprofit theater company in 2019. In 2023 Studio Tenn opened a permanent home — Turner Theater — at The Factory at Franklin.
Seth Feman
Executive Director and CEO, Frist Art Museum: Photography expert and Nashville native, Feman spent his early career at the Chrysler Museum in Virginia. Since taking the helm in 2022 he has focused on community outreach by implementing new programs like Art on Wheels.
Martha Ingram
Chairman Emerita, Ingram Industries: Longtime stalwart of local philanthropic and arts communities, Ingram helped fund construction of Schermerhorn Symphony Center and regularly supports Nashville Symphony, TPAC, Nashville Opera and Nashville Repertory Theatre.
Daniel Jones
Producing Artistic Director, Kindling Arts Festival: Curates and markets yearly performance art festival since 2018. Also serves as manager of artistic programming at OZ Arts.
Wesley King
Artistic Director, Nashville in Harmony: Experienced composer and minister leads choir for LGBTQ community founded in 2004. Also serves as chair of faith caucus of Tennessee Democratic Party.
Cori Anne Laemmel
Managing Artistic Director of The Theater Bug: In her time with The Theater Bug, Cori has written and produced 10 original plays and directed six Theater Bug productions.
Jane MacLeod
President and CEO, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens: Has led sprawling gardens and event center for more than 10 years with art gallery inside its historic mansion and occasional outdoor installations. In recent years introduced four-season and evening programming.
Elisheba Mrozik
President, North Nashville Arts Coalition: Tattoo artist and muralist also known as Queen Bee Ink specializes in watercolor and realism designs on skin, as well as public art and canvas paintings. Founded One Drop Ink Tattoo Parlor and Gallery in 2010.
Nick Mullikin
Artistic Director and CEO, Nashville Ballet: Trained dancer and teacher replaced Paul Vasterling in 2023, overseeing all company productions. Former school director rose in ranks after joining company in 2015.
Mark Murphy
Executive and Artistic Director, OZ Arts Nashville: West Coast transplant and decorated teacher and director was named leader of contemporary art and performance center after brief run as artistic director in 2021.
Jamaal Sheats
Director and Curator, Fisk University Galleries: Alumnus of local HBCU and accomplished repoussé artist manages school’s permanent collection of more than 4,000 items.
Celebrates
Stephanie Silverman
Executive Director, Belcourt Theatre: Began leading one of state’s oldest arts institutions in 2007. Nonprofit indie theater has seen facility facelifts while maintaining its themed series.
Isabel Tipton-Krispin
Executive Managing Director, The Nashville Shakespeare Festival: Former Nashville Ballet executive took over in 2022 for longtime leader of yearly public festival Denice Hicks, who stepped down in September.
Jennifer Turner
President and CEO, Tennessee Performing Arts Center: Has led organization that hosts Broadway touring acts and other performances since 2019. In 2023 was promised $200 million from lawmakers to build new home as part of East Bank redevelopment, if matching private funds are realized.
Alan Valentine
President and CEO, Nashville Symphony: Decades-long leader has overseen growth of Grammy Award-winning institution, including fundraising for its 2006-built home.
Education
Adrienne Battle
Director, Metro Nashville Public Schools: Head of city’s public school system since 2019. Led through pandemic and funding challenges. Has spent more than 20 years with system.
Dan Boone
President, Trevecca Nazarene University: Leads Church of Nazarene-a liated institution as it earns grants to support initiatives ranging from environmental e orts to support for preachers in school of theology. Has led university for nearly 20 years.
Christiane Buggs
CEO, PENCIL: Took over head role at education nonprofit in 2024 after founder Angie Adams announced her retirement. Former Metro Nashville Public Schools teacher and board member, first elected in 2016.
Kimberly Clay
Founder and CEO, Play Like a Girl: Head of organization that supports girls in sports who have STEM interests. Former public health expert and professor.
Agenia Clark
President, Fisk University: Former CEO of Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee took over as 18th leader of HBCU in November 2023. Also previously worked for Tennessee Education Lottery and Vanderbilt.
Katie Cour
President and CEO, Nashville Public Education Foundation: More than 20-year veteran of education, political and nonprofit industries now head of group that aims to support Nashville public schools. Former MNPS o cial and consultant.
Daniel Diermeier
Chancellor, Vanderbilt University: Leading multibillion-dollar fundraising initiative as part of school’s sesquicentennial celebration. Former University of Chicago administrator and Guggenheim fellow took over on West End in 2020.
Rachael Anne Elrod
Chair, Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education: Reelected to board and chosen as chair in 2022, former teacher has spoken out against legislation for a statewide school voucher program. Has called funding among her top priorities, along with teacher recruitment and retention.
Jason Golden
Superintendent, Williamson County Schools: Head of top-ranking school district was elevated to current leadership role in 2019. Contract runs through 2026. Has been with WCS since 2006.
Shanna Jackson
President, Nashville State Community College: Began at NSCC in 2018 after associate vice president role at Columbia State’s Williamson campus. Oversaw opening of community college’s Madison campus in 2022. Opened new building for school of health sciences in 2024.
Greg Jones
President, Belmont University: Leads growing school, which plans to welcome students to new medical school in fall. Replaced Bob Fisher in 2021.
Watechia Lawless Mitchell
Director of Children and Youth: Initiatives, O ce of the Mayor: Former executive principal at Napier Elementary who moved to take community superintendent job for Hamilton County Schools. Returned to Metro at invitation of Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
Candice McQueen
President, Lipscomb University: Took the helm of Church of Christ-a liated university in 2021. Previous CEO of National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. Former state education commissioner under Gov. Bill Haslam and dean of Lipscomb’s College of Education.
Sidney McPhee
President, Middle Tennessee State University: Head of one of state’s most important educational institutions for more than 20 years. Has overseen expansion of online course options. Led openings of health sciences and construction management buildings along with groundbreaking for future student-athlete performance center.
Lizzette Reynolds
Finance
Rajeev Amara
CEO, Arcline Investment Management: From Nashville, oversees private equity firm with additional o ces in New York and San Francisco. Closed $4.5 billion fund in 2023. Former managing director at Golden Gate Capital.
Teresa J.W. Bailey
Nashville President, Waddell & Associates: Was promoted in 2023 to lead Nashville o ce of investment firm with further presence in Memphis and Aspen. Maintains wealth strategy and professional services practice.
Thomas Bates
President and CEO, Legends Bank: Leads Clarksville bank founded in 1998 in Montgomery County and also with a presence in Cheatham, Davidson and Williamson counties.
Sam Bennett
Managing Partner, KPMG: Has worked with firm for most of his career. Oversees Nashville and Knoxville o ces of Big Four firm and focuses on clients in consumer, retail and industrial manufacturing sectors.
Seth Bernstein
President and CEO, AllianceBernstein: Moved asset management firm from New York to Nashville. Previously worked 32 years at JPMorgan Chase, most recently as managing director and global head of managed solutions and strategy at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
David Briggs
President, Fifth Third Bank (Tennessee): Former market president for Capital Bank and longtime Bank of America o cial (27 years) joined Cincinnati lender in 2018.
Chuck Byrge
Managing Partner, Nashville Capital Network: Leads 22-year-old early-stage investment firm. Dozens of companies have raised more than $100 million via the platform. They envision and work toward a
Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education: Sworn in June 2023. Previous vice president of policy for ExcelinEd. Served as deputy legislative director under then-Gov. George W. Bush and was chief deputy commissioner at Texas Education Agency.
President and CEO, Harpeth Capital: Leader since 2005 of middle market investment banking firm. Previously worked in M&A, capital raising and led FTN Financial’s i-banking team.
Sid Chambless
Lindsey Cox
CEO, Launch Tennessee: Returned to public-private entrepreneurial organization in 2022 after stints at The Company Lab in Chattanooga and U.S. Economic Development Administration. Holds two degrees from Tennessee Tech University.
John Crosslin and Justin Crosslin
Co-Managing Principals, Crosslin: Brothers jointly lead CPA firm that was founded more than 30 years ago by relative Dell Crosslin. Team with Bryan White as co-managing principals for Crosslin Technologies, the information technology and managed services arm of the company.
Aaron Dorn
Chairman, President and CEO, Studio Bank: Co-founded bank in 2018 after stints with Avenue. Opened o ces in Clarksville and Williamson County for the company with assets near $1 billion. Company added local banking industry veterans Rita Mitchell and Steve Uebelhor in senior leadership roles in August 2024.
L.A. Galyon IV
Managing Director and Partner, Brentwood Capital Advisors: Oversaw move of 1999-founded investment bank from Williamson County to Midtown.
Chase Gilbert
CEO, Built Technologies: Co-founded construction loan software management company that achieved “unicorn” status in 2021. Has laid o some workers and hired a CFO with experience in taking companies public.
Tony Gregory
Chairman, President and CEO, Volunteer State Bank: Founded Volunteer State Bank in 2021. Oversaw 2023 merger with Fourth Capital, owned by investor Gaylon Lawrence Jr.
Parker Gri th
Southeast Market Director, Robert W. Baird Private Wealth Management: Nearly 30 years of experience at Morgan Stanley and, since 2012, Baird. Opened Franklin branch in late 2024.
Robyn Hari
Nashville Managing Principal, Diversified Trust: Veteran financial planner has, since 2016, been local managing principal for regional firm.
Chris Hight
Chief Manager, KraftCPAs: Was named head of company in November 2024, having joined the accounting and advisory firm in 2004. Replaced Vic Alexander.
Chris Holmes
President and CEO, FB Financial: Chief leader at FirstBank parent for past decade. Bank is naming sponsor of Vanderbilt football stadium. Board recently added former HCA chief Milton Johnson.
Denise Horvath
Market Director for Tennessee and Alabama, JPMorgan Chase: Previously in Atlanta and Indianapolis. Oversees regional retail growth for country’s largest bank.
Matt Jernigan
President and CEO, Ascend Federal Credit Union: Last year assumed leadership role from longtime head Caren Gabriel. Tullahoma-based credit union has expanded within region during recent years.
Mike Johnson
Regional President and Head of Corporate Banking, PNC Bank Tennessee: Has led Pittsburgh-based bank’s local operations, including retail expansion, since 2018. Previously spent 17 years with Wells Fargo.
Kelley Kee
Tennessee President, United Community Bank: Brought on last year to run Tennessee operations for bank that in 2022 acquired Reliant. Previously an EVP at Regions, at which he worked for 25 years. Succeeded John Wilson in role.
Kevin Lavender
Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Banking, Fifth Third Bancorp: Former state banking o cial joined Fifth Third in 2005. Part of group that acquired and moved Nashville City Club.
Gaylon Lawrence Jr.
Owner, F&M Bank, Volunteer State Bank: Has ownership in various local financial institutions. In 2023, oversaw merger of his Fourth Capital and Volunteer State banks.
Charlie Martin
Founder and Chairman, Martin Ventures: Former HCA, HealthTrust and Vanguard Health exec serves as chair of technology and health care investment firm focused on technology that he founded in 2009.
John McDearman
CEO, Wilson Bank & Trust: Leads suburban-based bank with assistance from President John Foster. Company o ers 31 locations, including one in Chattanooga.
Chuck McDowell
Founder and CEO, Wesley Financial Group: Runs company that has relieved more than $525 million collectively of timeshare mortgage debt, helping approximately 40,000 clients cancel their timeshare. MTSU graduate started career in timeshare sales.
Je McGruder II
Chief Relationship O cer, Citizens Savings Bank & Trust: In role since 2020. Helps lead Black-owned bank after stints at Pinnacle, BB&T and Regions. Holds an MBA degree from Trevecca.
Rob McNeilly
Middle Tennessee President, Bank of Tennessee: Former SunTrust and Synovus o cial was tapped in 2023 to lead regional operations for Kingsport-based lender. Brings more than 40 years of industry experience.
Jim Meade
CEO and Managing Shareholder, LBMC: Has more than 25 years of accounting and auditing experience with LBMC. Serves on board of directors for Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and on advisory board for Nashville Capital Network. Member of Leadership Nashville. Culture-forward leader recently hired Anna Maddox as chief people o cer.
Jennie Menzie
CEO and President, Cumberland Trust: Succeeded Pepe Presley in leadership at company. Attorney who has held several Cumberland Trust positions since 2012.
Tyson Moore
Market President, Bank of America: Runs Nashville-area operations for Bank of America. Also serves as market president for Merrill Lynch.
Tom O’Connor
Market Executive, Synovus Bank: Banking veteran joined Synovus to grow the robust commercial industry in Middle Tennessee.
Jim Regnier
Managing Partner, Forvis Mazars: Oversees national tax specialty services unit for Top 10 accounting firm. Relocated to Nashville 12 years ago to assist BKD (later Forvis) in establishing a local o ce.
Jim Rieniets
President and CEO, INSBANK: Chairs Tennessee Bankers Association. Joined bank upon its inception twoplus decades ago.
Jim Schmitz
Nashville Market Leader, Elliott Davis: Joined accounting and advisory firm in 2019 after leading Nashville operations for Regions Bank.
Tim Stadthaus
CEO, Asurion: Was promoted in late 2023 to top job at tech insurance and repair company, succeeding Tony Detter. Longtime employee was previously president of growth and chief revenue o cer.
Tom Stumb
Chairman and CEO, Truxton Trust: Has served as member of Truxton’s board since firm’s inception in 2004. Worked as company president from its inception until 2016, when he became board chairman. One of company’s 20 founding organizers. Works closely with Truxton President Derrick Jones.
Clif Tant
Nashville Market President, Old National Bank: Joined Indiana institution shortly before its acquisition of CapStar was made public in 2023. Worked at CapStar upon its founding in 2008 and later held SVP role at ServisFirst.
Josh Trusley
O ce Managing Partner, Ernst & Young: Promoted in 2023 to local leadership role at powerful accounting firm. Has worked at company for 20-plus years and serves as Adventure Science Center board chair.
Terry Turner
President and CEO, Pinnacle Financial Partners: Original and only leader for largest Nashville-based bank. Teams with Pinnacle Chairman Rob McCabe to oversee most significant (based on assets and revenues) Nashville-based bank.
Bradford Vieira
Regional President and CEO, ServisFirst Bank Nashville: Belmont grad led Alabama bank’s expansion into Tennessee in 2013. In 2021, company moved operations to Midtown’s Broadwest.
Cameron Wells
Nashville Market President, Truist: Has served in role roughly eight years and has been with company for about 22 years. Holds degree from N.C. State University.
John West
Audit and Assurance Managing Partner, Deloitte: Firm veteran oversees Middle Tennessee team, a role the audit and assurance practice leader has held since 2020. Graduate of MTSU.
Ryan McLaughlin Wood
Market Executive, UBS: Leads company’s wealth management businesses in Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. Previously oversaw UBS o ce in Greenville, S.C. and held various roles for company New York City area. Has been with UBS since 2009.
Carol Yochem
President, Central Region, First Horizon Bank: Leads Middle Tennessee operations for bank. A former Post Most Powerful Women honoree.
Food
Craig Barber
CEO, Restaurant Growth Services LLC: Has since 2017 led company known for its O’Charley’s, 99 Restaurant & Pub and Coop & Run brands.
Bob Bernstein
Owner, Bongo Productions: Veteran contributor to city’s cafe and co ee culture with his Bongo Java and sister businesses. Company’s Fido has been a Hillsboro Village mainstay since 1996.
Nick Bishop Sr. and Nick Bishop Jr.
Co-Owners, Hattie B’s: Father-son tandem founded hot-chicken restaurant in 2012 in Midtown and have since opened locations in Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Dallas, Las Vegas, Memphis and Huntsville.
Matt Bodnar
Partner, Fresh Hospitality and Fresh Capital: Part of group involved with Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Biscuit Love and Taziki’s, among others. Company’s real estate holdings are numerous and include Hunters Station food hall in East Nashville.
Sean Brock
Restaurateur: James Beard Award winner and Southern food specialist formerly served as partner for Husk and founded Joyland and Audrey restaurants in Nashville.
Will Cheek III
Partner, Adams and Reese: Leads law firm’s alcoholic beverage group, providing licensing and regulatory compliance advice to restaurants, hotels, art venues, bars and clubs. Key legal sector player related to Tennessee liquor law.
Craig Cli t
Owner, Midtown Cafe: Assumed ownership in September 2024 of the longstanding Southern cuisine restaurant following the death of friend and business partner Randy Rayburn. Also co-owns Elliston Place Soda Shop.
Mignon François
Founder and CEO, The Cupcake Collection: Launched bakery business in Germantown in 2008 has since opened shops in South Davidson County and Hendersonville. Also operates outpost in her native New Orleans.
Benjamin Goldberg and Max Goldberg
Co-Owners, Strategic Hospitality: Brothers lead company known for acclaimed restaurants including Bastion, Locust, Henrietta Red, The Catbird Seat and recent James Beard Award finalist, Kisser. Made Josh Habiger partner in 2023.
IN CHARGE – LEGAL Lieff
Mark P. Chalos MANAGING PARTNER, NASHVILLE OFFICE
Securing justice for individuals, classes and groups of people, businesses, and public and private entities across the U.S. and globally for over five decades.
Clint Gray, Derrick Moore and Emanuel “E.J.” Reed
Owners, Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria: Former TSU classmates have grown pizza and beer restaurant empire beyond North Nashville to locations in Memphis, Atlanta and Sacramento. Opened Franklin location, closed California location in 2024.
Howard Greenstone
Restaurateur and Co-Founder, Red Pebbles Hospitality: Former CEO of Emmy Squared pizza founded firm that manages Adele’s, Bajo Taco, Nashville Sundae Club and Sadie’s. Also serves as partner for The 404 Kitchen.
Cordia Harrington
Founder and CEO, Crown Bakeries: Former McDonald’s franchisee launched baking business in 1996, which has since grown to nine locations across the South and Midwest.
Julio Hernandez
Founder, Maiz de la Vida: Mexico native launched food truck located outside of Chopper bar, then opened brick-and-mortar location in 2024. Also manages a tortilla shop in North Nashville. Formerly worked for Hillwood Country Club, Nectar Urban Cantina.
Doug Hogrefe
Partner, 4Top Hospitality: Teams with Paul Schramkowski, David Conn and Ben Brock to operate multiple restaurants in Huntsville, Memphis and Jackson, Miss. Nashville fixtures include Amerigo, Etch, Etc., Jasper’s and Char. Etch added Franklin location in 2024.
Leina Horii and Brian Lea
Owners, Kisser: Married couple heads up East Nashville Japanese restaurant that opened in 2023. Establishment is the lone James Beard Award 2024 finalist from Nashville.
Vui Hunt and John Hunt
Co-Founders, Vui’s Kitchen: Husband and wife team founded casual Vietnamese-inspired restaurant in 2016 and manage four locations in Nashville area. The pair also owns Vui’s Juice Cafe.
Chris Hyndman
Jay Jenratha
Owner, Degthai: Street truck-turnedSouth Nashville brick-and-mortar serves Thai street food-inspired cuisine. Bangkok-born owner began in 2011 and established permanent location in 2020.
Wesley Keegan
Founder and CEO, TailGate Brewery: Oversees one of state’s largest brewing operations with locations in Music Row, North Capitol, Hendersonville, East Nashville, Bellevue and in Chattanooga. Added two new locations in Antioch and Murfreesboro in recent years.
Philip Krajeck
Owner, Chef and Managing Member, Rolf & Daughters, Folk: Was lone James Beard Award finalist from a Nashville restaurant in 2023. Plans to open Junior Restaurant and Wine Bar at Dickerson Pike site of former Piggly Wiggly building have stalled.
Andy Marshall
Owner and CEO, A. Marshall Hospitality: Runs Franklin-based company’s restaurant locations, including Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant, Deacon’s New South and Scout’s Pub. In 2024 closed three of its locations.
Pat Martin
Owner, Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint: Started business in Nolensville retail strip center and now o ers Nashville, Louisville, Birmingham and Charleston spots. Also owns Hugh Baby’s burger chain. In 2024 starred in barbecue series Life of Fire.
Julie Felss Masino
President and CEO, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: Former Taco Bell executive o cially took the role of CEO in late 2023, replacing former CEO Sandra Cochran. Will oversee remodeling, menu changes.
Teresa Mason
Owner, Wilburn Street Tavern, Mas Tacos Por Favor: Began operating Mas Tacos in 2014 and jump-started dive bar Wilburn Street Tavern in 2018.
Claire Meneely
Owner, Dozen Bakery: Nashville native started business as pop-up in 2009 before finding brick-and-mortar location in Wedgewood-Houston in 2015. Company plans move to Woodbine in early 2025. These
CEO, President and Founder, MStreet: With real estate investor Jim Caden, helped reinvent McGavock Street (aka MStreet) in The Gulch with Virago, Moto, Saint Anejo and Kayne Prime.
Margot McCormack
Chef and Owner, Margot Café and Bar: Previous James Beard semifinalist oversees Five Points restaurant that helped fuel Nashville’s culinary scene and culture. Formerly managed nowclosed Marché Artisan Foods.
Trevor Moran
Owner, Locust: A 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist, the Ireland-born restaurateur and former Catbird Seat chef opened dumpling joint Locust in 2020 and pared down menu and hours in 2024.
Andy Mumma
Founder, Barista Parlor: Founded cafe chain in 2012 which has since grown to nine locations including one in the Nashville airport, and locations in Indianapolis and Louisville. Also manages Chopper Tiki Bar and Moto Moda.
Arnold Myint
Co-Owner, International Market: The 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist operates reprised Belmont Boulevard Thai restaurant with sister Anna Myint. Competed in season seven of Top Chef and known for drag character Suzy Wong.
Catherine Newman and Will Newman
Owners, Edley’s Bar-B-Que and 12South Filling Station: Wife-andhusband team operates eight barbecue locations in the Nashville area including, most recently, Gallatin. Couple also owns Pancho & Lefty’s Cantina.
Deb Paquette
Executive Chef, Etch: Local restaurant scene stalwart for more than 32 years. Involved with Etch in SoBro and Etc. in Green Hills. Also heads up West End’s Jasper’s in 2020 and a second Etch location in The Factory at Franklin in 2024.
André Prince Je ries
Owner, Prince’s Hot Chicken: Matriarch of original hot-chicken purveyors added locations downtown, at Tanger Outlets and is planning a Je erson Street location in 2025.
Austin Ray
Founder and President, A.Ray Hospitality: Operator of seven M.L.Rose neighborhood pubs, Von Elrod’s Beer Hall & Kitchen and Melrose Billiards (which has been open for 80-plus years). Closed Rambler, The Sutler and Sinema in recent years.
Michael Shemtov
Co-Principal, Honest to Goodness Hospitality. Teams with fellow principals Bryan Lee Weaver and Jake Mogelson to operate parent company of Butcher & Bee, Redheaded Stranger and most recently, Fancypants on Dickerson Pike.
Tandy Wilson
Chef and Owner, City House: Ranks among Nashville’s most respected chefs, having captured prestigious James Beard Award as 2016 Best Chef Southeast. Opened Germantown restaurant in 2007 and is credited with kickstarting the city’s dining scene.
Sarah Worley
Co-Owner, Biscuit Love: Began operations in 2012 with Airstream food truck. Operates with husband Karl Worley four Biscuit Love locations in Nashville area and one near Birmingham, plus a new Cincinnati location.
Health Care
Ralph Alvarado
Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health: Kentucky legislator was appointed by Gov. Bill Lee in 2022. Alvarado has encouraged COVID-19 vaccination, state abortion ban and worked to expand programming for Alzheimer’s disease.
Hal Andrews
CEO, Trilliant Health: Founded data and analytics venture that produces yearly trend report in 2017. Lawyer turned serial startup entrepreneur previously led Digital Reasoning, Aegis and Shareable, among others.
Sanmi Areola
Director, Metro Public Health Department: Was named to the director role in 2025 after Gill Wright retired, but had been with the organization on and o since 2002. Toxicologist has also served as Meharry Medical College professor.
Richard Ashworth
President and CEO, Amedisys: Took the helm at Amedisys in 2023 after serving as Tivity CEO. Home health provider Amedisys agreed to be acquired by UnitedHealth for $3.3 billion months later.
Cindy Baier
President and CEO, Brookdale Senior Living: Took top spot in 2018 and since led company through restructuring. Company is now striving to own more of its rented facilities.
Je Ballard
President and CEO, Delta Dental: Former president and CFO replaced longtime CEO Philip Wenk in 2023. Company headquarters are set to relocate to Midtown in 2025.
Je rey Balser
President and CEO, Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Has served as the medical center’s chief executive since 2009, expanding patient visits and net revenue. Also serves as dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Brian Barnes
CEO, Blakeford Senior Life: Was promoted to top spot in 2018 for company, which o ers independent living locations and at-home care for seniors. Company concluded Green Hills expansion and formed Blakeford Foundation in 2024.
Katina Beard
CEO, Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center: Has led 55-yearold institution focused on a ordable health care since 2015. Manages three area clinics and mobile unit.
Adam Boehler
CEO, Rubicon Founders: Former director of Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in Trump administration started fund in 2021 and launched its first company, Evergreen Nephrology. Brought in $1.18 billion for second health care fund in 2024.
Marty Bonick
President and CEO, Ardent Health Services: Hospital operations veteran oversees Ardent’s 30 facilities in six states. Launched health care innovation studio SwitchPoint Ventures in 2023 and announced plans to take Ardent public in 2024.
Devin Carty
CEO, Martin Ventures: Co-founder of Wellvana Health and Reimagine Care has led investment firm focused on health care technology since 2018.
Stu Clark
CEO, Premise Health: Has served as CEO since the company’s start in 2014. Brentwood-based direct health care provider has locations in 46 states and recently released data claiming a 30 percent health care cost savings for users.
Apryl Childs-Potter
President, Nashville Health Care Council: Took the helm in 2022 and launched council’s first national conference, Nashville Healthcare Sessions, soon after. Former CMO for Greater Memphis Chamber.
Nancy-Ann DeParle
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Consonance Capital Partners: Former White House sta er during Obama administration manages health care private equity portfolio. Also serves as a director at CVS and HCA.
Natalie Dickson
President and CEO, Tennessee Oncology: Was promoted in 2024 to CEO after serving as chief strategy o cer since 2022. Oversees Midtown headquarters slated for 2025 completion.
David Dill
Chairman and CEO, Lifepoint Health: Longtime employee took the helm at national hospital chain in 2018. Partners through joint venture with Ascension Saint Thomas to manage some Tennessee locations.
Delta Dental of Tennessee congratulates Je on being recognized in the Nashville Post’s In Charge list and for his many years of dedication to spreading smiles across Tennessee—and beyond.
TheChoice forSeniors inGREATER NASHVILLE
Bill Frist
Co-Founder and Partner, Frist Cressey Ventures: Serial entrepreneur and former U.S. Senate majority leader with transplant surgery background founded venture capital firm in 2016. Also founded health equity nonprofit NashvilleHealth and holds a special partner position at private equity firm Cressey and Company.
Bobby Frist
Chairman and CEO, HealthStream: Co-founded health care workforce development company in 1990 and has served as CEO since. Company has seen several recent acquisitions.
Michael Asselta
James Hildreth
President and CEO, Meharry Medical College: Took the helm at one of nation’s oldest and largest historically Black academic health science centers in 2015. College recently opened School for Global Public Health, saw substantial investments in clinical trial diversity, scholarships.
Brent Hill
Partner, Holland & Knight: Serves as chair of firm’s health care section, focusing on acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures, and specializing in physician practice management.
Tim Hingtgen
A.J. Kazimi
President and CEO, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals: Founded publicly traded company in 1999. It is best known for intravenous ibuprofen, Caldolor, which is undergoing research and testing.
Richard MacKinnon
Executive Director, Music City PrEP Clinic: Co-founded organization that opened two locations in 2022. East Nashville location is also connected to LGBTQ-focused primary care clinic and pharmacy.
Sean Narayanan
CEO, Community Health Systems: Originally joined company in 2008 and took top spot in 2021. Company saw DOJ investigations, divestitures in 2024.
Angela Humphreys
CEO, Emids: Former Apexon and Atos exec succeeded co-founder and longtime leader Saurabh Sinha as CEO for data management and AI health care and tech company in 2023.
Amna Osman
CEO, Compassus: Replaced David Grams in early 2024 to lead Brentwood-based home health care, infusion, palliative and hospice services provider. In recent years forged partnerships with Ascension Saint Thomas, Bon Secours Mercy Health.
David Guth
CEO, Centerstone: Co-founded the nonprofit behavioral health provider in 1992. The company assists in 988 suicide prevention calls, in addition to o ering inpatient, outpatient, addiction and specialized military services.
Brian Haile
CEO, Neighborhood Health: Formerly worked as TennCare deputy chief of sta and at Jackson Hewitt before taking the helm in 2017. Nonprofit community health care clinic o ers primary care and social work support on a sliding scale.
Jay Hardcastle
Partner, Bradley: Veteran partner and director works with clients in M&A, joint ventures, Medicare/Medicaid issues and whistleblower defenses, among other health care-related matters.
Sam Hazen
CEO, HCA Healthcare: Began leading locally based hospital giant in 2019, covering 183 hospitals and roughy 2,000 care sites nationally. Local a liate TriStar is set to build a hospital in Spring Hill and freestanding emergency room in East Nashville.
Chair, Healthcare Practice Group, Bass Berry & Sims: Works on health care mergers and acquisitions, operational matters and finance as leader of firm’s health care practice group. Previously spent 20 years exclusively on health care M&A.
Christopher Hunter
CEO, Acadia Healthcare: Former Humana, Onlife and BlueCross BlueShield exec took the helm at Franklin-based behavioral health company in 2022. In 2024 acquired several facilities following SEC and DOJ fines.
Shubhada Jagasia
President and CEO, Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown and West Hospitals: Former VUMC adult hospital chief of sta took the helm in 2021. Oversaw $300 million Midtown update completed in 2023 including gynecology emergency department, surgery and critical care tower and spine institute.
Michele Johnson
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Tennessee Justice Center: Co-founded statewide organization with attorney Gordon Bonnyman in 1996 and has since advocated for TennCare expansion and improved services for people with disabilities, among other causes.
CEO, Nashville CARES: Public health leader introduced mobile clinic and will oversee new o ce location for organization while fielding state HIV funding changes. Was granted opioid abatement funds for more harm reduction programming.
Jason Owen
President and CEO, Envision Healthcare: In April 2024 replaced Jim Rechtin, who announced departure during company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Tasked with leading company split in two — Envision Healthcare and Amsurg — following restructuring.
Michaela Poizner
Shareholder, Baker Donelson: Former public information o cer joined firm in 2013 and was named chair of its health law group in 2023. Works on privacy concerns, fraud, licensure and Medicare enrollment for health care companies.
Michael Renfrow
Interim Executive Director, Tennessee Valley Health Care: Leads local arm of Veterans A airs government-sponsored health care center with location on Vanderbilt University’s campus. Organization also o ers social services to veterans.
Katie Richards
President and CEO, Siloam Health: Development professional and creator of Next Generation young professionals board took the helm of nonprofit focused on providing care for uninsured and immigrant populations in 2023.
Tim Scallen
CEO, Bailey & Company: Was appointed to the role in 2024, working closely with founders Je and Jack Bailey. Joined middle market investment bank in 2020.
Je Snodgrass
President and CEO, AmSurg: Tasked with leading ambulatory surgery company’s next chapter following post-bankruptcy split from Envision Healthcare in late 2023.
Dee Anna Smith
CEO, Sarah Cannon Research Institute: Longtime leader and entrepreneur also served as CEO of the cancer institute of HCA Healthcare, Sarah Cannon until 2022. Oversaw joint venture with US Oncology Research in recent years.
Robin Shah
Co-Founder and CEO, Thyme Care: Former OneOncology exec has led oncology care coordination company since 2020. Company raised $95 million in 2024 Series C round.
Brad Smith
Founder and CEO, Russell Street Ventures: Serial entrepreneur and former Trump administration Medicare and Medicaid exec is also CEO of Main Street Health. In 2024 agreed to sell CareBridge Health for roughly $2.7 billion.
Stephen Smith
Deputy Commissioner and Director, TennCare: Former chief of sta for Haslam administration took over state health insurance agency in 2020. Oversaw rollout of TennCare waiver program and post-public health emergency disenrollment of hundreds of thousands of members.
Anderson Spickard
Dean, Belmont College of Medicine: Former VUMC exec became lead of the city’s newest medical school in 2023 ahead of welcoming its first class of students in fall 2024.
Ute Strand
President and CEO, UnitedHealthcare: Manages state and community partner relationships for insurance giant’s Community Plan of Tennessee. Former Amerigroup, Cigna and Anthem exec was named to lead role in 2021.
Fahad Tahir
President and CEO, Ascension Saint Thomas: Former chief strategy o cer took lead role in 2023. In 2024, hospital weathered EHR hack and announced West campus renovations.
Anne Hancock Toomey
President, Jarrard Inc.: Co-founder of health care communications firm was promoted to CEO in 2023, succeeding inaugural president David Jarrard. Firm launched health technology practice in 2024.
Brent Turner
CEO, Summit BHC: Former Acadia president began leading Franklin-based addiction treatment and behavioral health network in 2020. In 2024, company grew outpatient services line, branded Everest Outpatient Services.
Michael Uchrin
CEO, Monogram Health: Co-founder of kidney care organization focused on in-home treatment options formed in 2019 by Frist Cressey Ventures. Named third-fastest growing company in 2024 by Inc. magazine.
WHERE CAPITAL MEETS COACHING
Kyle Wailes
President and CEO, Wellvana: Former SmileDirectClub CFO began leading Martin Ventures-backed startup in early 2022. Wellvana creates networks of independent health care providers.
Karen Winkfield
Executive Director, Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance: Experienced radiation oncologist leads strategic partnership between Vanderbilt and Meharry. Also serves as director of outreach at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
Jillian Wright
CEO, Onsite Women’s Health: Took the helm in late 2023 of breast imaging services company that recently moved its headquarters from Massachusetts to Nashville.
Mark Yancy
CEO, NashvilleHealth: Took the helm of Frist-founded nonprofit in 2022 and since served on White House advisory board for health equity. Organization has released data on hypertension, “workforce wellness” and the city’s COVID-19 response.
Legal
David Anthony
Founder, Exo Legal: Banking and creditor’s attorney launched boutique o ce after more than a decade at Bone McAllester Norton.
Gail Vaughn Ashworth
Founding Member, Wiseman Ashworth Trauger: Litigator and mediator with decades of experience in Nashville legal industry. Past president of state and local bar associations.
Albert Bart
Managing Partner, Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison: General corporate and commercial transactions attorney with over 25 years of experience. Former SVP and Associate General Counsel for Ceridian Corp., now Dayforce, and parent of Brentwood-based Comdata.
Charles Robert Bone
Managing Director of Real Estate Development, Southwest Value Partners: Left the top spot at Spencer Fane in early 2025 after leading Bone McAllester Norton’s merger in 2021. Continues to work on Nashville Yards.
Ross Booher
Co-founder and CEO, Latitude Legal Solutions: Oversees growing company that provides on-demand legal services to companies and firms. Former Bass partner.
Laura Brown
Executive Director, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services: Former Legal Aid and state attorney succeeded Ann Pruitt at nonprofit legal services provider.
Walt Burton
Partner and Co-founder, Thompson Burton: Commercial real estate-focused attorney co-founded Nashville-area firm in 2012 after stints in Atlanta and the Navy.
Mark Chalos
Nashville Managing Partner, Lie Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: Veteran litigator and leader of plainti s firm’s local o ce. Past president of Tennessee Trial Lawyers’ Association.
Lisa Ramsay Cole
President and Managing Shareholder, Lewis Thomason: Civil litigator with experience in labor and employment sector. Leads both firm and its Nashville o ce.
Wally Dietz
Director, Metro Department of Law: Longtime Bass Berry & Sims attorney joined Metro in 2021. Remained in post after Freddie O’Connell became mayor and is now tasked with managing city’s ongoing litigation against state, among other matters.
Gri n Dunham
Member, Dunham Hildebrand: Co-founded firm in 2016. Manages bankruptcies and financial restructuring. Former JAG attorney.
Wen Fa
Vice President for Legal A airs, Beacon Center: Promoted to VP in May 2024 at conservative think tank to expand litigation e orts aimed at government relations and other priorities.
Aubrey Harwell, Jr.
Founding Member, Neal & Harwell: Veteran lawyer involve in several cases garnering national attention including at the U.S. Supreme Court focuses practice on white-collar criminal defense and major commercial litigation.
Daniel Horwitz
Founder, Horwitz Law: Takes cases of First Amendment law and speech defense as well as post-conviction and innocence litigation. In 2024, filed a federal lawsuit against Middle District of Tennessee for attorney gag order rule.
Tricia Herzfeld
Founding Partner, HSGLaW: Along with several partners, split from Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings. Plainti s attorney with experience in high-profile litigation. Member of Davidson County Election Commission.
Jamie Hollin
Principal, Law O ce of Jamie R. Hollin: Plugged-in with Metro and state decision makers. Varied practice includes niche work related to Metro regulations and zoning.
Sam Jackson
Nashville Managing Partner, Spencer Fane: Promoted to top spot in 2025 to firm with 36 attorneys in Nashville. Focuses on labor and employment law as well as education law.
Lauren Jacques
Nashville Managing Partner, Bradley: Recently oversaw o ce move to new Gulch high-rise. Health care attorney has led local o ce since 2021.
Holly Kirby
Chief Justice, Tennessee Supreme Court: Elected in 2023 to lead high court that is experiencing significant turnover. Appointed to Supreme Court in 2014 after nearly two decades as appeals court judge.
Andrew Kitchen
Nashville Managing Partner, Maynard Nexsen: Founded the San Francisco o ce of Maynard Nexsen in 2014. Moved to Nashville in 2019. Practice mostly focuses on representation of investment sponsors, real estate funds and developers and also advises athletes, artists, high-networth individuals, family o ces and hospitality companies.
Jay Knight
Nashville Partner-in-Charge, Barnes & Thornburg: Former Bass partner helped establish new local o ce of Indianapolis-based national firm. Also co-chairs national securities and capital markets practice.
Bill Koch Jr.
President and Dean, Nashville School of Law: Former Tennessee Supreme Court justice has led local law school since 2014. Awarded membership in prestigious American Inns of Court.
Tom Lawless
Founder, Lawless & Associates: Active on state boards and as a municipal judge. Specializes in bankruptcy and creditor rights.
Henry Leventis
Partner, Holland & Knight: Returned in late 2024 after serving two years as U.S. Attorney by President Joe Biden. He led an o ce of 85 attorneys and support personnel and oversaw the investigation and litigation of all civil and criminal cases brought on behalf of the United States.
Christopher Maddux
Firm chair, Butler Snow: Focuses on bankruptcies, business reorganizations and distressed transactions. Vanderbilt University graduate.
Ashley Mallard
Executive Director, GSRM Law: Fast-rising former Patterson IP administrator has since 2022 overseen GSRM’s operations, budgeting, business development and other functions.
Ken Marlow
Managing Partner, McDermott Will & Emery: Named to top spot in early 2025 of Chicago-based firm establishing health care-focused o ce in Nashville. Focuses on health care and life sciences company transactions along with private equity funds.
Holly McDaniel
Founder and CEO, H. Lee Group: Former Adams & Reese lobbyist opened government a airs and business development firm in May 2024. Represents groups in education, health care, finance and telecommunications.
Rocky McElhaney
Founder and CEO, Rocky McElhaney Law Firm: Visible and well-known personal injury attorney. Leads eponymous firm founded in 2006.
Mekesha Montgomery
Nashville o ce member-in-charge, Frost Brown Todd: Practice group leader of labor and employment. Serves along with chairman Robert Sartin.
Martesha Johnson Moore
Metropolitan Nashville Chief Public Defender: Serving second term as city’s chief public defender.
Richard Myers
O ce Executive Manger, Stites & Harbison Nashville o ce: Patent and intellectual property attorney named to local leadership title in 2024.
Brian Neal
Nashville Managing Partner, Burr & Forman: The ten-year company veteran practices in the firm’s commercial litigation practice group concentrating on labor and employment disputes in addition to teaching at Nashville School of Law.
Jeremey Oliver
O ce Managing Shareholder, Winstead Nashville o ce: Previously partner at the Nashville o ce of Epstein Becker & Green and at Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis.
Lauren Patten
Nashville Managing Partner, K&L Gates: Former Butler Snow partner joined global fi rm in 2021 and was named leader of local o ce the next year.
John Peterson
O ce Managing Shareholder, Polsinelli: Leader of firm’s local o ce and maintains varied commercial litigation practice, including an expertise in financial services and payment card industry.
Stephen Price
O ce Managing Principal, Jackson Lewis: Helmed employment firm’s expansion to Nashville in 2022. Former Burr & Forman Nashville leader whose practice includes defending companies in employment and labor cases.
David Raybin
Co-Founder, Raybin & Weissman: High-profile criminal defense attorney, represented parents of Covenant shooter. Has defended Nashville police o cers.
Steven Riley
Managing Partner, Riley & Jacobson: Nearly 40 years of experience representing companies and individuals in commercial litigation. Serves as an adjunct professor of law at his alma mater, Vanderbilt Law School.
Allen Roberts
Nashville Managing Shareholder, Baker Donelson: Succeeded Brigid Carpenter in firm leadership role. Joined Baker in 2012 with a practice including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions and private equity and debt o erings.
Todd Rolapp
Managing Partner, Bass Berry & Sims: Corporate and securities attorney who has led local firm for more than a decade.
Jonathan Skeeters
Chair and Managing Partner, Bradley: Practice is focused on the health care industry. Leads the Birmingham-based firm from Nashville, one of its biggest o ces.
Jonathan Skrmetti
Tennessee Attorney General: Top state attorney has not been shy about wading into national political and legal fights. Harvard grad is a former deputy AG and counsel to governor. These
Nancy Stabell
Founder and Managing Attorney, Wood Stabell Law Group: Attorney who helps companies with business strategy. Involved with EO Nashville, Nashville Business Coalition and Hands On Nashville.
Joycelyn Stevenson
O ce Managing Shareholder, Littler Mendelson: Former Tennessee Bar Association leader rejoined employment firm in 2022 as local o ce head. As chair of airport board, weathered contentious year as state sought takeover.
Gerard Stranch IV
Managing Partner, Stranch, Jennings & Garvey: Litigator whose high-profile work includes national opioid cases. Firm that bore his grandfather Cecil Branstetter’s name split in 2023.
Gif Thornton
Managing Partner, Adams and Reese: Connected attorney has run regional firm since 2015. Has served on state and city boards and committees.
James Tucker
Managing Partner, Manier & Herod: Practice focuses on workers’ compensation and civil litigation. Former assistant attorney general for the state. Graduate of Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University.
Geo rey Vickers
Nashville Managing Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: Took over local o ce leadership from longtime boss Larry Papel in January 2023. Co-lead of firm’s technology and procurement practice.
Jack Waddey and Chanelle Acheson
Founders, Waddey Acheson: Started firm focused on intellectual property, corporate and government investigations, and artificial intelligence. Acheson represented Swan Ball Initiative volunteers in litigation against Cheekwood in 2024.
DarKenya Waller
Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands: Has led public service law firm since 2018. Work during pandemic included legal support for renters facing eviction.
Liz Washko
Managing Shareholder, Ogletree Deakins: Nashville attorney who earlier this year took over firmwide leadership at Atlanta-based employment firm. Joined Ogletree Deakins in 2000 and previously spent eight years running Nashville o ce.
Sheree Wright
Executive Director, Tennessee Bar Association: After three-plus decades at Vanderbilt (where she earned both undergrad and law degrees), was picked to lead state bar group in June 2023, succeeding Joycelyn Stevenson.
Tyler Chance Yarbro
Managing Partner, Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella: A litigator with experience in employment, personal injury and criminal law. Has led firm since 2018. Helped organize legal advocacy group focused on reproductive rights.
Management Consulting
Sunny Bray
Founder and CEO, Catalyst Collective: Launched consultancy for nonprofits in 2018. Formerly TechBridge Tennessee community leader and established Nashville chapter of Network Under 40.
Je Jowdy
President, Lighthouse Counsel: Helps nonprofits with strategy for awareness and organization development. Serves across industries like education, health care, professional associations, youth service and faithbased organizations.
John Lowry
Co-Founder and President, Thrivence: Founded Barge Design Solutions-a liated management consulting firm in 2022. Former Lipscomb administrator. Also president of The Lowry Group, which provides negotiation training for businesses.
David Owens
Professor of the Practice of Management and Innovation, Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management: Executive director of VU-based innovation and entrepreneurship hub The Wond’ry. Former CEO of Gri n Technology with major brand consulting experience.
AARON DORN Chairman, President & CEO
Kimberly Pace
Co-Founder and CEO, Executive Aura: Launched firm more than a decade ago with David Furse and Michael Burcham. Has taught at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management for nearly 20 years.
Brian Waller
Co-Founder and CEO, Vaco: Established company more than 21 years ago with Jay Holloman. Via acquisition and organic growth, has since grown firm into a major player.
Manufacturing
Mike Apperson
President and CEO, Resource Label Group: Oversees custom label printing business tied to Ares Management Corp. Company made four acquisitions in 2023, reaching 30 overall. Has grown to at least 28 locations across U.S. and Canada with 2,000 employees.
Mark Cha n
President and CEO, Mitsubishi Motors North America: Promoted in 2022 to lead company’s North American arm in Franklin.
Mark Chou
CEO, Swiftwick: Hired in November 2023 to lead performance sock brand. Former founder of consumer brands consultancy Bradhurst Ventures and executive at luggage company Away.
Steve Cook
Co-Founder and Executive Managing Director , LFM Capital: Leads private equity firm focused on manufacturing. TVV Capital ex-principal and former COO of MFG.com. Ex-Navy lieutenant who holds two MIT master’s degrees.
Jon Cozens
CEO, Aries Clean Technologies: Joined wastewater conversion company in July 2023. Previously president of plastic recycling company Mura Technology’s North American arm.
Scott Damon
CEO, Bridgestone West: Was named CEO of Bridgestone West, group president of Bridgestone Americas and global chief digital transformation ocer in November 2024 in move spurred by stepping down of Paolo Ferrari.
Reagan Farr
President and CEO, Silicon Ranch: Succeeded Matt Kisber at environmental company in 2019. Served as state revenue commissioner for co-founder and then-Gov. Phil Bredesen.
Je Hollingshead
CEO, Smyrna Ready Mix: Oversees concrete company’s organization and acquisitions. Father Mike serves as company chairman; brother Ryan, as president of SRM Materials. Company opened cement terminal along Cumberland River in 2023 and announced acquisition of Vulcan Materials Company’s 82 Texas plants in November of that year.
David Johnson
Regional Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, Nissan North America: Head of Nissan’s manufacturing operations in United States, Canada and Mexico. Took role in 2022 replacing Steve Marsh, who served less than 12 months. Has been with automaker for more than 21 years. Works closely with Jérémie Papin, Nissan Americas chair.
Alanna McDonald
Regional President, Mars Pet Nutrition: Directs full operations and brand portfolio including Pedigree, Iams and Cesar. Employs about 4,000 people and has 22 facilities nationwide. Formerly led brand strategy for Maybelline, Garnier and Proctor & Gamble.
Brandon Moss
CEO, Shoals Technologies Group: Appointed in mid-2023 to company that provides solutions for solar, storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Previously group president of Southwire Company with more than 21 years experience in electrical industry.
John Rutherford
President, UAW Local 1853: Leads union that represents employees of companies like Adient, American Food & Vending, Comprehensive Logistics, Leadec, Magna, Ryder and Spring Hill General Motors plant.
Avigal Soreq
President and CEO, Delek US Holdings: Served as COO, chief commercial o cer and EVP at Delek U.S. from 2012 to 2020. Was CEO of El Al Israel Airlines from 2021-22 before assuming current role at Delek. Company’s Big Spring Refinery selected for negotiations on carbon capture project by U.S. Department of Energy in February 2024.
Brad Southern
Chair and CEO, Louisiana-Pacific: Became fifth CEO in company history in 2017 and was appointed to board, becoming chair in 2020. Joined LP in 1999 and led both siding and oriented strand board units before moving up to COO. Holds degrees in forest resources from University of Georgia.
Sam Strang
President, Alley-Cassetty: Leads brick, concrete block and mortar company founded in 1879. Named to role in 2011 when company had just nine locations, now up to 16 and about 350 employees. Previously served as general manager of brick division.
Dean Wegner
Founder and CEO, Authentically American: Founded company in 2017 to create manufacturing jobs in the United States. West Point grad and veteran has served on boards of Nashville Fashion Alliance and Nashville Zoo.
Marketing
Diana Barton
Founder and Principal, Diana Barton Public Relations: Former journalist founded namesake firm in 2021 focused on hospitality clients. Also founder of Slow Food Middle Tennessee.
Gregg Boling
CEO, GS&F: Austin Peay grad originally joined company in 2011 and oversees 1978-founded Cummins Station-based marketing agency with chairman Je Lipscomb.
Julia Bonner
President, Pierce Public Relations: Founded company in 2015 and oversees team focused on financial services, tech, manufacturing and building design sectors.
Jennifer Brantley
Managing Partner, MP&F: Earned role of partner in 2017 after joining company as intern in 1992. Works with partners Kate Chinn, Knight Stivender and Mary Elizabeth Davis to lead firm specializing in strategic planning and media relations.
Clint Brewer
Managing Partner, Imperium Public Strategies: Former Tennessean government and politics editor, City Paper editor and executive director of Beacon Center. Leads company with co-founder Josh Helton.
Je rey Buntin Jr.
President and CEO, The Buntin Group: Leads national firm touted as Tennessee’s largest communications agency. Company celebrated 50 years in 2022 and o ers grants through AdHope charitable arm.
Libby Callaway
Founder and Principal, The Callaway: Previous New York Post writer and editor now oversees communications agency o ering branding, event execution, marketing and PR focused on companies in fashion, beauty, retail and hospitality sectors.
Dave Cooley
Principal, Cooley Public Relations: Former deputy governor of Tennessee under then-Gov. Phil Bredesen spun o from MP&F in 2009. Manages team of 14 in Brentwood o ce.
Beth Seigenthaler Courtney
Managing Partner, Southeast, Finn Partners: Public relations veteran assumed role in early 2019 with what had been DVL Siegenthaler. Teams with Managing Partner Ronald Roberts, former journalist and MTSU o cial, to lead firm assisting large companies.
Shari Day
President and CEO, BOHAN: Became majority owner in 2022 for company that counts Dollar General and City of Pigeon Forge as clients after taking top spot in 2015. Recently launched Fresh Consumables arm for smaller projects.
Jamie Dunham
Founder and President, Brand Wise
Collective: Longtime marketing and branding adviser whose client roster includes HCA and Twice Daily. Previously worked at BOHAN and The Buntin Group before creating Brand Wise in 2010. Also produces Lipstick Economy Podcast.
Monchiere’ Holmes-Jones
CEO, MOJO Marketing + PR: Former Cigna exec founded MOJO in 2014 and serves clients like the Titans, MetroPCS and HCA Healthcare. Works at the helm of Je erson Street Historical Society. In 2023, helped launch Young, Gifted, and Black Political Action Committee.
Jessica Howard
SVP, Integrated Communications, Dalton Agency: Area point person for national organization set to relocate to Germantown facility from East Nashville. Merged with Bradford Group in 2020 and Anode in 2019.
Amanda Maynord
President and CEO, Lovell Communications: Replaced longtime leader Rosemary Plorin in Feb. 2025. Joined the health care-focused firm in 2013, which was acquired by Michigan-based Health Management Associates in 2023.
Mark McNeely and Kelly Brockman
Founders, McNeely Brockman Public Relations: Father-daughter duo created in 2018 boutique PR firm with strong journalism background. Firm spun out of MP&F, which McNeely co-founded in 1987.
Thomas McSweeney
CEO, Hispanic Media Consultants: Led company since 2019 assisting with Spanish-language radio placements in the Southeast. Previously worked for TBLC Media radio network.
Rosemary Plorin
President and CEO, Lovell Communications: Began leading health care-focused firm in 2015 after originally joining in 2000. In 2023 company was acquired by Michigan-based Health Management Associates.
Lauren Reed
Founder and CEO, Reed Public Relations: Nashville native launched firm in Wedgewood-Houston more than a decade ago. Clients include Ford, Jim ‘N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q and The Loveless Cafe.
Jeremy Holley and Laura Hutfless
Co-founders, FlyteVu: Founded media entertainment company in 20215. Hired company’s inaugural general manager Sina Segar in 2023.
Susan Andrews Thompson
CEO, The Andrews Agency: Founder and longtime leader of boutique public relations, event management and advertising firm. Helped open Nashville Ronald McDonald House and has served as president of board of directors.
Abby Trotter and Justin Wilson
Partners, Hall Strategies: Trotter helped found firm in 2004, specializing in economic development, issues campaigns and technology. Wilson became partner in 2020 and leads firm’s public relations work which is highly active in development, hospitality, non-profits, and corporate services.
Deborah Varallo
Owner, President, Varallo Public Relations: High-energy PR sector veteran attends seemingly every local event of note — armed with camera, no less. Known for robust network of contacts.
Robert Lawrence Wilson
Co-Founder and Education Practice Leader, Culture Shift Team: Former Nissan exec specializes in diversity and equity strategy and deployment. Also co-founded Tennessee Diversity Consortium.
Media
Chuck Allen
President and CEO, Parade Media: Former EVP and COO with Athlon Sports Communications, which is owned by company he helms. Was also Division/Publishing Director for AARP magazine.
Michael Anastasi
Vice President, Local News, Gannett: Has worked at The Tennessean since 2015. Was promoted in May 2023 to lead new nationwide Gannett role, vice president of local.
Lori Becker
Market President and Publisher, Nashville Business Journal: Started with NBJ as managing editor in 2008 before being promoted to editor-in-chief in 2012. Has served in current role since 2019.
LaDonna Boyd
President and CEO, R.H. Boyd Publishing: Since 2017, runs family’s 117-year-old nonprofit religious publishing company. Holds doctoral degree in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University.
Steve Cavendish
President and Editor, Nashville
Banner: Along with former WSMV anchor Demetria Kalodimos, in March 2024 brought back to life a title that closed in 1998. A 30-year veteran of newspapers including the old Banner Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post. Cavendish returned to Nashville at The City Paper in 2011 and spent some time with the Nashville Scene before launching the Banner
John Ingram
Chairman, Ingram Content Group: Princeton and Vanderbilt grad also is lead owner of Major League Soccer franchise Nashville SC. Named Ingram Industries chair in 2008.
Justin Kanew
Editor-in-Chief, Tennessee Holler: Oversees online publication that is billed as a “progressive news site.” Holds degree in history from Northwestern University.
Ben Mandrell
President and CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources: Elected LifeWay’s 10th president in 2019. Oversaw LifeWay’s $95 million sale of North Gulch building in May 2021.
Holly McCall
Editor-in-Chief, Tennessee Lookout: Began journalism career covering government and politics in Columbus, Ohio, before moving to Joplin Globe in Missouri and Nashville Business Journal
Rosetta Miller-Perry
Publisher and CEO, The Tennessee Tribune: Local media industry giant who launched the Tribune, generally considered Tennessee’s most influential African-American-owned publication, in 1991. Background includes work with U.S. Navy, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Veronica Salcedo
Editor, Nashville Noticias: Leads Spanish-language media venture (online and broadcasting) that has expanded from Facebook page into timeslot on Univision and news partnership with WPLN.
Erik Schelzig
Editor, Tennessee Journal: Spent 12 years as a statehouse correspondent for the Associated Press before joining the Journal. Co-author of Welcome to Capitol Hill: 50 Years of Scandal in Tennessee Politics.
Mike Smith
President, FW Publishing: Oversees parent company of Nashville Scene, Nfocus, The News, Nashville Post and Williamson Scene. Began working for Scene in 1997 and serves as alt-weekly’s publisher.
Steve Swenson
President and CEO, Nashville Public Radio: Had various manager roles in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. media outlets. Oversees public broadcasting station since being named to role in 2019.
Shannon Terry
Founder, Outsider and On3: Veteran entrepreneur behind Rivals and 247Sports. Terry-founded companies have generated more than $250 million in online revenue during past 10 years.
Bud Walters
President and Owner, Cromwell Group Inc.: Oversees company he began in 1969 and that owns 31 radio stations in six markets in four states.
Music
Kris Ahrend
CEO, Mechanical Licensing Collective: Former Rhino Entertainment and Warner Music Group exec leads organization formed to license and administer music rights under 2018 Music Modernization Act. Been in position since January 2020.
John Allen
President, New West Records: Vanderbilt grad has been overseeing New West, which focuses on indie rock, alternative country and Americana bands, since 2014. Roster included Jason Isbell and James McMurtry, and today includes Emily Nenni and Ben Folds.
Julie Boos
Owner and Vice President, FBMM: Veteran music industry financial adviser holds leadership role in firm with more than 100 sta in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles.
Mike Curb
Founder and Chairman, Curb Records: Former California lieutenant governor and songwriter and producer behind independent record company. Major benefactor of area universities and music-related causes has namesake buildings on multiple campuses. Record label was founded as Sidewalk Records in 1963.
Doyle Davis and Mike Grimes
Co-Owners, Grimey’s New & Preloved Music: Host music events and manage renowned indie record store that moved from Eighth Avenue South to Trinity Lane in 2018. Grimes, along with co-owner Dave Brown, runs live music venues The Basement and The Basement East.
Stephen Eaves
Dean, Belmont College of Music and Performing Arts: Trained conductor manages area school’s programs in music, theater and dance, including 900 students and 160 faculty and sta .
Holly G
Founder, Black Opry: Self-proclaimed “country music disrupter.” Started collective in early 2021 for Black artists in country music and Americana. Signed Jett Holden as first artist of the newly launched Black Opry Records.
Joe Galante
Chairman, Galante Entertainment Organization: Former Sony Music Nashville and RCA leader serves on several boards including CMA and Pinnacle Financial Partners. Key figure of country music history, he was inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
Becky Gardenhire
Co-Head, WME Nashville: Highest-ranking female agent in Nashville, first to be named co-head of an agency. Works directly with country greats including Reba McEntire and BRELAND.
Cesar Gueikian
CEO, Gibson Brands: Named to top spot in 2023 succeeding James “JC” Curleigh, after joining as chief merchant o cer in 2018. Also serves as president and board member of Nashville-based guitar company.
Jed Hilly
Executive Director, Americana Music Association: Helped grow genre’s stature since taking charge in 2007 at advocacy group that hosts AmericanaFest. Former VP at Sony.
Mike Harris
President and CEO, Universal Music Group Nashville: Joined the company in 2013 and served as executive vice president and COO before replacing Cindy Mabe in 2025, with Dave Cobb taking the chief creative o cer spot. Country-focused label works with artists including Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, The War and Treaty and Reba McIntire, among others.
John Josephson
Chair and CEO, SESAC: Longtime leader of licensing organization oversaw its sale to Blackstone in 2017 and currently licenses public performance of 1.5 million songs and more than 15,000 songwriters, composers and publishers.
Jay Joyce
Producer, Songwriter and Session Musician: Seasoned professional transformed East Nashville church into studio and has worked with Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Emmylou Harris and Cage the Elephant. Named producer of the year by ACM in 2023.
Cris Lacy and Gregg Nadal
Co-Presidents, Warner Music Nashville: Nadal replaces Ben Kline, who stepped down in late 2024. Lacy also serves as vice-chair of the Academy of Country Music.
Taylor Lindsey
CEO Sony Music: Nashville native replaces Randy Goodman, who retired at the end of 2024. She was the been head of A&R at Sony since 2021, working with artists like Old Dominion and Luke Combs.
Jonathan Loba
BMG President, Frontline Recordings, The Americas: Industry veteran leads team of executives across the U.S., including Nashville, Los Angeles and Miami, as well as Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
David Macias
Co-Founder and CEO, Thirty Tigers: Founded in 2001 firm that handles marketing distribution and publishing for artists such as Jason Isbell, Alanis Morissette and The Smashing Pumpkins.
Shane McAnally
CEO, SMACK and Co-President, Monument Records: Decorated songwriter who wrote more than 40 No. 1 hit songs for Sam Hunt, Kacey Musgraves and others. Began singing career with album on Curb Records in 1999.
Michael Milom
Partner and Founding Member, Milom Horsnell Crow Kelley Beckett Shehan: Industry veteran concentrates on intellectual property and entertainment and taught copyright and entertainment law at Vanderbilt for decades. Also serves as legal counsel to Country Music Hall of Fame.
Jason Owen
President and CEO, Sandbox Entertainment: Longtime music industry exec left Universal Music to start Sandbox artist management company in 2010. Worked with Shane McAnally to revive Monument Records in 2017.
Jackie Patillo
President, Gospel Music Association: Experienced exec at Sony has led Christian organization since 2011, now preparing for downtown museum to open spring of 2025. Lipscomb board member also helps produce GMA Dove Awards.
John Peets
Founder and CEO, Q Prime South: Seasoned artist manager partnered with longtime client Eric Church to establish Solid Entertainment in 2022. Q Prime opened new headquarters at East Nashville former church the same year.
Shannon Sanders
Executive Director, BMI: Grammy, Tennessee State alum is Dove and Emmy award winner who joined BMI’s Nashville o ce in 2020. Founder and original program director of local soul radio station The Ville 102.1 FM.
Mike Sistad
Vice President, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers: Belmont alum has spent more than two decades with performance rights organizations. Also worked with The Recording Academy, Operation Song and Association of Independent Music Publishers.
Sarah Trahern
CEO, Country Music Association: Former general manager at Great American Country began leading trade group in 2014 and oversees CMA Fest, CMA Country Christmas and CMA Awards, among other events.
Bob Valentine
CEO, Concord: Longtime employee of independent record company served as president and CFO before promotion to CEO in 2023. Represents more than 1 million songs with six additional o ces internationally.
G. Preston Wilson Jr
Director, Fisk Jubilee Singers: Former member of ensemble was named director in 2023. Historic Black singing group thought to have brought “Music City” name to Nashville, and in 2021 marked 150 years and released Grammy-winning album.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MLC’S CEO, KRIS AHREND, AND ALL OF THIS YEAR’S NASHVILLE POST IN CHARGE HONOREES.
Sally Williams
President of Nashville Music and Business Strategy, Live Nation: Came to Live Nation after 20 years with Ryman Hospitality/Gaylord Entertainment. Oversees operations of area Live Nation venues Ascend Amphitheater and Brooklyn Bowl.
Nonprofits
Danielle Barnes
CEO/President, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee: Former state of Tennessee o cial took over for Agenia Clark in late 2023 to lead nearly 100-year-old institution that serves 39 Tennessee counties.
Bari Beasley
President and CEO, Heritage Foundation of Williamson County: Was named first CEO of 1967-established historic preservation agency in 2017. Entity produces PumpkinFest, Dickens of a Christmas and Main Street festivals and most recently began relocation and preservation of Lee-Buckner Rosenwald School.
Corinne Bergeron
CEO, Frist Foundation: Took the helm in 2022 of the organization investing in nonprofits founded by Tommy Frist in 1982. O ers grants to local nonprofits to use for operations, tech and general expenses.
Hal Cato
CEO, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee: Former Thistle Farms and Oasis Center CEO began leading 1991-founded organization focused on distributing funds to nonprofits in 2022.
Glenn Cranfield
President and CEO, Nashville Rescue Mission: Oversees SoBro-based Christian operation that can house up to 745 unhoused Nashvillians nightly. Nonprofit annually lands more than $20 million in public support and opened new women’s campus in early 2024.
Supporting Creators in Music City and Beyond
The MLC is proud to serve music creators in Nashville and around the world by ensuring songwriters receive the royalties they’re owed.
As a Nashville-based nonprofit, we handle the collection and distribution of mechanical streaming royalties from U.S. digital services like Spotify and Apple Music. With over $2.5 billion in total royalties distributed, we’re dedicated to making sure all creators are paid accurately and on time.
Learn more about our mission at themlc.com.
Sam Davidson
CEO, Nashville Entrepreneur Center: Former CEO of Batch Gifts was appointed to lead role in 2023, replacing Jane Allen. O ers accelerator services for health care companies, diversity scholarships and other services for aspiring business owners.
Tina Doniger
Chief Executive Director, Community Resource Center: Took the helm in 2019 for organization that facilitates donations for more than 300 nonprofit agencies in nine Middle Tennessee counties, including hygiene products and disaster relief services.
Marsha Edwards
President and CEO, Martha O’Bryan Center: Longtime leader of anti-poverty organization oversaw center’s move into charter schools and, most recently, a child care center. Martha O’Bryan is located within James A. Cayce Place public housing complex.
Meagan Flippin
President and CEO, Center for Nonprofit Management: Former United Way of Rutherford and Cannon County lead moved to 1986-founded Nashville organization management agency in 2024, succeeding retired CEO Tari Huges.
Andrew Freeman
CEO, Safe Haven: Former YMCA executive director was named to top spot, replacing Jim Shulman in 2023 after joining organization in 2022. Nonprofit focuses on ending family homelessness.
Rachel Freeman
President, Sexual Assault Center: Began leading organization in 2018 after starting there in 2001. Agency provides free assistance to survivors of sexual assault, including rape kits and counseling.
Jenny Hannon
President, Friends of Warner Parks: Oversees nonprofit arm of parks system, dedicated to preservation and conservation of Percy and Edwin Warner Parks spanning more than 3,000 acres in Bellevue area.
Clifton Harris
President and CEO, Urban League of Middle Tennessee: Former Metro homeless commission exec took the helm in 2016 for nonprofit focused on economic empowerment for Black population including education, job training, housing, entrepreneurship and workforce development.
Tim Henderson
Executive Director, Humanities Tennessee: Tenured leader of organization that presents history and culture programs statewide, including Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books. Celebrated 50 years in 2023.
Danny Herron
President and CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville: Veteran leader of 1985-founded organization that builds a ordable homes and manages social enterprise ReStore.
Nancy Keil
President and CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank: Leads 1978-founded organization fighting food insecurity in 46 Middle and West Tennessee counties. Agency served 38.9 million meals in 2023 through grocery rescue program, emergency food boxes, mobile pantries and afterschool meal program.
Tasha Kennard
CEO, Thistle Farms: In 2022 took the helm of organization founded by Episcopal priest and entrepreneur Becca Stevens. Nonprofit manages social enterprise and cafe business benefiting women in recovery.
Liz McLaurin
President and CEO, The Land Trust for Tennessee: Former actor took over in 2016 for conservation nonprofit founded in 1999. Oversees nonprofit that has permanently conserved more than 136,000 acres in the state through 455 projects.
Steve Mur
CEO, Dismas House: Former Educare executive took the helm at the nonprofit focused on the formerly incarcerated in early 2025, replacing Kay Kretsch. Dismas House celebrated 50 years of service in 2024.
Sharon Roberson
President and CEO, YWCA Nashville and Middle Tennessee: In 2016, began organization that o ers programs for women and girls, including state’s largest domestic violence shelter, Dress for Success, housing and advocacy services.
C.J. Sentell
CEO, The Nashville Food Project: Vanderbilt Ph.D. with agriculture background replaced founder Tallu Schuyler in 2021. Organization gardens, cooks recovered and donated foods and shares meals with other nonprofits while growing farming opportunities in Nashville.
Martha Silva and Tara Lentz Co-Executive Directors, Conexión Américas: Duo took lead in 2021 for nonprofit that focuses on serving Nashville’s Latino families through economic empowerment, home ownership and civic engagement, among other services.
John Tumminello
President, Centennial Park Conservancy: Longtime leader of organization oversees nonprofit dedicated to preservation of the Parthenon and Centennial Park, which recently ramped up art and music programming for the public.
Politics
Kim Adkins
Principal, Capitol Strategy Group: Former TVA and TDEC o cial now represents clients including Pfizer and Tennessee Broadband Association. Board member for Nashville Sports Council and Metro Sports Authority.
Ward Baker
Founder and President, Baker Group Strategies: Former NRSC o cial has become go-to strategist for Tennessee Republicans. Maintains other campaign and corporate work around country.
Marsha Blackburn
U.S. Senator: Tennessee’s senior senator, now serving a second term. Continues to focus on immigration and support for Donald Trump.
Will Brewer
Legal Counsel, Tennessee Right to Life: Lobbyist for anti-abortion group at Capitol. Involved in debates over loosening state’s abortion ban.
Michelle Brown
Senior Manager for Public Policy, Amazon: Former legislative attorney and Nashville Chamber o cial now leads Amazon’s government relations in Tennessee, with a focus on Nashville.
John Ray Clemmons
House Representative, District 55: House Democratic Caucus Chair and civil litigator. Vocal leader in minority party despite GOP-controlled legislature.
Yuri Cunza
President and CEO, Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: Former media professional who now leads business group and is frequent presence at community events.
John Drake
Chief, Metro Nashville Police Department: Started with department as a patrol cop. Later assumed top job during contentious 2020 summer.
Glenn Funk
District Attorney General, Davidson County: Top Nashville prosecutor’s disputes with state ebb and flow. Won reelection in 2022 despite competition.
Mark Green
U.S. Congressman, 7th District: Clarksville Republican’s district took on a chunk of Nashville after redistricting. Failed in short-lived bid for speaker but continues to chair Homeland Security Committee.
Scott Golden
Chairman, Tennessee Republican Party: Has led state’s dominant political party since 2016.
Bill Hagerty
U.S. Senator: Trump ally succeeded Lamar Alexander after a career as an investor, state ECD o cial and ambassador to Japan.
Joe Hall
Founder and Partner, Hall Strategies: Former newspaper reporter and Ingram Group partner leads eponymous firm. Prolific Nashville lobbyist’s clients include Bristol Motor Speedway, Greater Nashville Realtors and Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp.
Blake Harris
CEO, BHA Strategy: Former chief of sta to Gov. Bill Lee launched lobbying and PR firm in 2022. Recently brought on another top Lee adviser, Brent Easley. Clients include Ford and Vanderbilt University.
Estie Harris
Principal, Harris Frazier Government Relations: Longtime Tennessee lobbyist maintains practice with clients including HCA and St. Jude.
Angie Henderson
Vice Mayor, President of Metro Nashville: Former Green Hills-area councilmember bested incumbent Jim Shulman in last year’s election. Now tasked with running Metro Council meetings, appointing key committee leaders.
Greg Hinote
Partner, Jigsaw: Longtime Nashville politico. Teams with Sam Reed and Beecher Frasier. Clients include Titans, Ryman Hospitality and Oracle.
Tom Ingram
Founder and Chairman, The Ingram Group: Veteran political strategist who helmed several statewide Republican campaigns over the decades. Has represented Google and Ballad Health.
Darren Jernigan
Manager, State and Federal Legislative A airs, O ce of the Mayor: First elected to state House in 2012 from Old Hickory. Now helps guide Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s relationship with state.
Jack Johnson
Senate Majority Leader: Franklin-based GOP leader survived primary challenge in 2022. Now a contender to succeed Lt. Gov. Randy McNally.
Tequila Johnson
CEO, The Equity Alliance: Started civic engagement and Black empowerment group with co-founder Charlane Oliver in wake of 2016 election. Has advocated for voting rights and civil rights issues.
Kim Kaegi
Fundraiser: Longtime Tennessee political fundraiser has worked with top Republicans statewide and for Nashville mayors.
Bill Lee
Governor, State of Tennessee: Now in second term and focused on extending taxpayer-funded private school scholarships to Tennessee students. Unsuccessful in pushing his fellow Republicans for action on guns in wake of Covenant shooting.
Katie Lentile
CEO, The Lentile Group: Founded digital marketing agency and has worked on campaigns for historic sites, fashion and design companies and nonprofits while beginning Metro lobbying work. Also COO at IV Studio. Former communications o cer for John Cooper’s campaign and o ce.
Lisa Sherman Luna
Executive Director, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition: Has led advocacy and support group since 2020. Work includes support for New Americans and political campaigns.
David McMahan
Principal, McMahan Winstead & Richardson: Long list of lobbying clients includes Tennessee hospitals and alcohol industry. Firm in 2020 expanded to Washington.
Bob Mendes
Chief Development O cer, O ce of the Mayor: Former high-profile Metro councilmember. Ally of Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who tapped him to lead city’s work on East Bank.
Je Morris
Executive Director, Nashville Moves: Led successful transit campaign to push for dedicated funding. Former campaign manager for Vice Mayor Angie Henderson and deputy campaign manager for Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
Freddie O’Connell
Mayor, Metro Nashville: Transit-focused Metro councilmember beat crowded field in 2023 election. Entering the second year on the job as city faces development, housing, other challenges.
Charlane Oliver
State Senator, District 19: Equity Alliance co-founder succeeded Brenda Gilmore in state legislature. Senate Democratic Caucus vice chair and key opposition voice in GOP-dominated state government.
Justin Owen
President and CEO, Beacon Center of Tennessee: Helms conservative think tank that advocates for taxpayer-funded school vouchers and regulatory reform.
Patrick Sheehy
President, Tennessee Business Roundtable: Since 2016 has led statewide business organization after stint as political adviser to Cracker Barrel and other roles.
Kathy Sinback
Executive Director, ACLU of Tennessee: Former court administrator and public defender was in 2022 tapped to succeed Hedy Weinberg, longtime leader of civil rights organization.
Tori Venable
State Director, Americans for Prosperity: At helm of state chapter of prominent political organization. Leads support for school vouchers and criminal justice reform and opposition to economic development deals for big companies.
Real Estate
Todd Alexander
Principal-in-Charge, Director of Real Estate Services, Southeast Venture: Belmont grad began SEV career as real estate broker in 1999. Receives support from Wood Caldwell, fellow SEV principal who joined the company in 1985 and is considered its public face. Company also leans on principal and managing broker Greg Coleman.
Allen Arender
Chief Development O cer, Holladay Properties: Key local face of Indianapolis-based Holladay. Focused on work at The Factory at Franklin, Donelson Plaza and 100-acre business park Airport Logistics Park.
Jessica Averbuch
CEO and Owner, Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty: Florida native launched real estate career in 2001. Holds degree in anthropology (she once sought to study primates in the wild) and psychology from Washington University. Operates company with husband Sam Averbuch.
David Bailey
Principal, Hastings Architecture Associates: Teams with William Hastings and David Powell to lead firm that designed Rolling Mill Hill’s Peabody Union and Virgin Hotel in Midtown, among many others. Has been with company since 1996.
Luca Barber
Managing Director, Mill Creek: Oversees local operations of Boca Raton, Fla.-based company that has done work in Germantown and Pie Town. Mill Creek’s Modera McGavock tower is nearing completion in The Gulch. Partners with Jim Beckner to run local Mill Creek o ce.
Jenni Barnett
CEO, Onward Real Estate. Launched company in June 2024 after having previously worked at Parks, which became one of the largest residential real estate firms in Tennessee. Has nearly 30 years of experience in real estate, including 25 years with Parks, serving some of that time as CFO and COO.
Ben Bonner
Managing Partner, Magnolia Investment Partners: Leads company that, in December 2023, garnered local headlines for hiring CRE industry veteran, and ex-Highwoods head, Brian Reames as partner. Firm added Warren Smith III, former Avison Young principal and managing director, in 2024.
Sean Buck
SVP, JE Dunn: With local o ce of Kansas City-based builder since 2003. On his seventh title in 21 years with firm. Elevated from VP role in March 2022. Holds degrees from Auburn and Vanderbilt.
Allen Buchanan and Chase Manning
Principals, Dowdle Construction Group: Duo took the reins from founder Glynn Dowdle, who founded the company in 2004 and retired in early 2025. Both have been with the company for nearly 15 years.
Kelly Cathey
Co-Managing Director, Gensler: Teams with co-managing director Christopher Goggin to lead Nashville operations of one of world’s most prominent design firms. Previously worked with Nashville-based Gresham Smith.
Alex Chambers
SVP and Nashville Market Leader, Highwoods Properties: Spearheads company that developed SoBro site on which rises 30-story Bridgestone Americas Tower. Firm seemingly still eyes ex-Tennessean site on Broadway for mixed-used project announced in mid-2021.
Rodney Chester
CEO and Board Chair, Gresham Smith: Has worked at firm for nearly 24 years. Joined company’s board of directors in 2015 and previously served as COO since 2018 before assuming new role in January 2022. Teams with chief development o cer Kelly Knight Hodges and Principal Brandon Bell to lead company.
Hunter Connelly
President, Parks | Compass Real Estate: Teams with principal broker Zach Goodyear to oversee what is billed as state’s largest residential real estate firm. University of the South grad.
Sheila Dial-Barton
Principal, EOA Architects: Leads design firm for which the face remains veteran architect Gary Everton. University of Tennessee grad has been with company since 1997 and named principal in 2019.
Tim Downey
Founder and CEO, Southern Land Co.: Oversees company that developed Green Hills site of mixed-use tower Vertis. SLC in February 2023 paid $9.85M for Green Hills site GBT previously eyed for tower and $33.75 million for east side’s Lincoln Tech property (on which mixed-use project is planned).
John Eakin
Co-Founder and Chairman, Eakin Partners: CRE sector pro co-leads, with dependable president and longtime friend Barry Smith, company that has developed mixed-use mid-rises Roundabout Plaza, Truist Plaza, 1201 Demonbreun and Peabody Plaza.
Tarek El Gammal
Executive Managing Director, Newmark: Ex-JLL and SEV o cial launched local Newmark o ce in 2020 with Vince Lefler. Earned MBA degree from University of Chicago.
Gina Emmanuel
Principal, Centric Architecture: Partners with co-principals Jim Thompson, Justin Lowe and David Plummer to guide design firm. Has been with company since 2002.
Meg Epstein
Founder and CEO, CA South Development: Has undertaken projects in Edgehill, Pie Town and North Capitol. Holds East Nashville site on river and on which large-scale project could be done. Moved company in 2022 to Wedgewood-Houston.
David Frazier
CEO and Owner, Hardaway Construction: Acquired 100-year-old company in 2018 after serving as president and operations manager. Holds two degrees from U.S. Naval Academy and one from Vanderbilt. Partners with president Tracy Cothran to oversee operations.
Bob Freeman
President, Freeman Webb Companies: Leads 44-year-old company with about 450 employees and nearly 15,000 apartment units and 1 million square feet of property under management in five states. Replaced father Bill Freeman, former owner of Post parent company FW Publishing, who died in November 2024. Serves in Tennessee General Assembly as a Democratic representative.
Elam Freeman
Founder and Principal, Ojas Partners: Spearheads local commercial real estate company focused on retail spaces.
Rick French
Principal, French King Fine Properties: Works with Tim King to oversee longtime residential real estate company. Co-founder in 1985 of defunct French Christianson Patterson and Associates.
Steve Fridrich
President and Managing Partner, Fridrich and Clark Realty: Started real estate career in 1979 while a Vanderbilt student and became full partner in 1982 of company founded by his father. Has grown Fridrich & Clark Realty from one o ce with fewer than 10 agents to two o ces with 180-plus agents. Sold Thomas Frist home for $32 million in 2023.
Mike Frohnappel
Nashville Managing Partner, Baker Barrios: Leads local o ce of Orlando, Fla., company (which also operates offices in Chicago and Tampa). University of Arkansas grad oversees approximately 13 employees in Gulch o ce now nine years in operation.
Gary Gaston
CEO, Civic Design Center: Principal contributor to “The Plan of Nashville,” a guide to helping shape the city’s future built environment. TEDx Nashville Fellow oversees 25-year-old nonprofit and holds degrees from both the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Hunter Gee
Principal, Smith Gee Studio: Works with fellow principals Fleming Smith, Dallas Caudle and Greg Tidwell at architecture firm based in Germantown. Now in 15th year with company.
Tony Giarratana
President, Giarratana, LLC: Considered Nashville’s most successful and nationally known developer because of the bold and large-scale nature of his projects. Landed financing last year for his 750-foot residential tower under construction on portion of downtown YMCA site. Unveiled in 2024 plans for project on Elliston Place at building housing Corner Bar.
Elizabeth Goodwin
Senior Managing Director and Market Leader for Tennessee, CBRE: Previously served as firm’s managing director, co-leading the Tennessee business with since-departed Stephen Kulinski and Memphis Managing Director Frank Quinn. Hold master’s degree from Vanderbilt in civil engineering with construction management concentration.
Jimmy Granbery
CEO, H.G. Hill Realty: A veteran within Nashville’s pre-It City development community. Nashville native has overseen projects in 12South, Five Points, Green Hills, Hillsboro Village and Sylvan Heights.
Joseph Gri n
CEO, RaganSmith Associates: Promoted to current role 2020. Joined firm in 1987. Earned engineering degree from University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
John Gromos
SVP, Mid-South, Turner Construction: Oversees Nashville o ce of New York-based Turner. Construction management company has built, among others, Bridgestone Arena, Hill Center Brentwood, Tennessee State Museum and vertical addition to Vanderbilt’s children’s hospital. Works closely with Herbert Brown, Turner’s community and citizenship director.
Roberto Gutierrez
Managing Partner, Jackson Builders: Oversees acquisitions, financing and investor relations for boutique development business that works prolifically on infill homes in Nashville’s urban core. Focuses work on Buchanan Arts District and Bordeaux.
Kristy Hairston
Regional Vice President, Compass: Works in national firm’s Green Hills o ce. Former president of Greater Nashville Realtors and member of CABLE and Nashville Rotary. TSU grad who once served Compass as managing director of Nashville sales.
Kim Hartley Hawkins
Michael Hayes
CEO, C.B. Ragland: Leads development company that finished in 2024 construction of Hyatt Caption project at Gulch site last home to Whiskey Kitchen. Company completed in SoBro in 2021 Hyatt Centric hotel at ex-Listening Room site. Completed with Hines mixed-use 222 2nd in SoBro. Next up: hotel Citizen M.
Je Haynes
Founder and Managing Partner, Boyle Nashville: Oversees firm that worked with Northwestern Mutual and Northwood Ravin to develop Capitol View sites in North Gulch. Partners with Thomas McDaniel, Boyle’s director of o ce properties, and Phil Fawcett, managing partner,
THOMAS V. WHITE
Ray Hensler
Principal, Hensler Development Group: Meticulous developer known for attention to detail. Finishing Peabody Union project in Rolling Mill Hill. Developed Gulch and Midtown sites with condo tower Twelve Twelve and Adelicia.
Evan Holladay
Founder and CEO, Holladay Ventures: Leads company that remains underway, teaming with Evergreen Real Estate principal Aaron White, on east side mixed-use project at Samaritan Recovery Community site.
Jason Holwerda
Partner, Brokerage Services, Foundry Commercial: Joined company in 2014 after spending first 10 years of career with Crescent Communities in leasing and development. Has leased buildings with more than 5 million square feet collectively in transactions that total more than $1 billion.
Tom Hooper
Executive Managing Director, JLL: Teams with co-executive managing director Bo Tyler to oversee local office of Chicago-based CRE behemoth. Washington and Lee University grad oversees sta of about 50 individuals.
Bill Hostettler
Principal Broker, HND Realty; Chief Manager, Craighead Development: Industry veteran (about 44 years of experience) known for clever wit and focused on developing sites with condos and townhomes for young buyers.
Ken Larish
CEO, The Mainland Companies: Oversees Hillsboro Village-based company focused on Germantown work and seeking tower on Eighth Avenue South. O ers more than 20 years of development experience.
Rob Lowe
Executive Managing Director and Partner, Stream Realty Partners: Former Cushman & Wakefield senior managing director teamed with New York entity to overhaul The Arcade. Known for work with Elliott Kyle and McClain Towery. Member of team that gave overhaul to Stadium Inn.
Lisa Maki
Principal and Market Leader, Avison Young: Named top o cial at local o ce of Toronto-based giant in 2024. Has participated in sales and leasing transactions with a collective value of about $1.35 billion during 20-year career.
Bert Mathews
President, The Mathews Company: Oversees development, acquisitions, financing and institutional/investor relations. University of North Carolina grad also serves as partner with Nashville o ce of Colliers International. Teamed with Seattle’s Eagle Rock Ventures on WeHo and SoBro micro-housing projects.
Mack McClung
CEO, Vastland: Co-founded company in 1995 with J.D. Eatherly. Company is under construction at Midtown site of Voce Hotel and Residence mixed-use tower.
Mark McDonald
Partner, Oldacre McDonald: Veteran investor and developer who partners with Bill Oldacre to steer company developing Century Farms site in Antioch. Also serves as senior partner with M Cubed Developments, which is led by Mark McGinley and is finishing work on 12South building.
Janet Miller
Principal, CEO and Market Leader, Colliers Nashville: Former Nashville Area Chamber ECD o cial who joined Colliers in 2014. Nashville native who is highly involved in civic causes. Holds economics degree from University of Tennessee.
Susan Osterberg
CEO and President, Smith Seckman Reid: Oversees 500-employee local engineering design and consulting firm. Has served in roles since 2023. Previously was company’s chief operating o cer, a position she held since April 2021. Joined SSR in 2011 as VP of human resources.
Larry Papel
Partner, Nelson Mullins: Vanderbilt grad focuses work on land-use and zoning. Spends some time as real estate investor who, with Mark Bloom, has been involved with numerous high-profile projects (including W Hotel).
Reggie Polk
Founder and CEO, Polk and Associates Construction: Founded company in 2011 after working as real estate broker with Benchmark Realty. Holds degree from MTSU in concrete industry management.
Patrick Poole
Vice President and Nashville Market
Leader, Merus: Oversees local development e orts for Cincinnati-based company now nearing completion with Midtown apartment building on Patterson Street. Rebranded from Al. Neyer in 2025.
Eric Pyle
Owner and President, Bell Construction: Joined Bell in 2002 and holds degree in construction management.
Jeremiah Pyron
Partner, Sagemont Real Estate: Teams with Trent Yates and Stephen Songy to lead underappreciated boutique company. Holds degree in mass communications from MTSU.
Jonathon Reeser
Partner, Head of Nashville O ce and Head of Acquisitions, SomeraRoad: Teams with Andrew Donchez (head of development) to lead Nashville o ce of company with presence in New York. NAIOP member and board member of Gulch Business Improvement District. Helps lead company known for mixed-use Paseo South Gulch.
Todd Robinson
President, ESa: Has been with local design firm since 1981. Previously held roles of senior designer, principal and executive vice president. Earned degree in architecture from University of Tennessee. Works closely with Eric Klotz, ESa principal.
Ben Rooke
Regional President, Brasfield & Gorrie: Auburn grad started career at Brasfield & Gorrie in March 2000 and works from Franklin o ce of Birmingham-based company. Has held current role since 2021.
Cary Rosenblum
CEO, Elmington Capital Group: Teams with Ben Brewer (partner) to lead company that has undertaken developments in Hillsboro Village and Edgehill. Holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Georgia.
Dave Sansom
Nashville Managing Principal, Cushman & Wakefield: Was promoted to current role at the start of 2024 after joining the company in 2021 and serving as senior managing director and leader of the property management group, overseeing 160 employees.
Carrie Stokes
CEO, Barge Design Solutions: Joined Barge in 1996 as intern following graduation from the Vanderbilt engineering school. Replaced Bob Higgins, who remains as board chair, in late 2024.
Lizabeth Theiss
Executive leadership, DPR Construction: Joined company in 2019 after having served in similar role with Crain Construction. Former Texas resident focuses on marketing, media relations, customer relations and business development.
George Tomlin
President and CEO, GBT Realty: Steers Brentwood-based company known for its One22One mixed-use tower in The Gulch. Sold to Southern Land, for $9.85 million in early 2023, Green Hills site eyed for condo building. Prepping to begin work on mixed-use MidCity in Midtown at ex-Beaman Automotive site.
Jay Turner
CEO, MarketStreet Enterprises: Teams with Dirk Melton to steer company focused on Gulch and Wedgewood-Houston work. Ex-company managing director focuses on strategic direction.
Congratulations
the 2025 In Charge Honorees
Providing Dignity.
David Wells
CEO, Hall Emery: Lead company known, in part, thanks to the late Pat Emery. Company prepping for tower project near Musica Roundabout.
Christie Wilson
President and CEO, The Wilson Group Real Estate Services: Nashville advocate respected for her knowledge of city’s residential west side. Has been active with Greater Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity, The Women’s President Organization, The Nashville Wine Auction and The Fulcrum Society of the YWCA.
Manuel Zeitlin
Owner, Manuel Zeitlin Architects: Oversees company known for 21st century design aesthetic (seen at, for example, Chelsea and the TAR Building) with assistance from multiple principals, including dependable deputy Mark Bixler.
Retail
Norah Buikstra
General Manager, The Mall at Green Hills: Has overseen since 2019 facility that in 2024 saw announcements or additions of luxury shoe brand Christian Louboutin and Diptyque, a beauty and fragrance company that began in Paris.
Crissy Cassetty
Director of Economic Development, Nashville Downtown Partnership: In role since 2008. Has helped downtown land multiple soft goods and food-and-beverage retail businesses. Started career in finance sector.
John Dyke
Owner, The Turnip Truck: Organic and natural foods retailer recently opened location in Midtown’s mixeduse Broadview at Vanderbilt building. Other locations are in West Nashville, East Nashville and The Gulch.
Steven Hostetter
CEO, Tri Star Energy: Oversees company that owns convenience market chain known for more than 150 Twice Daily stores. Company was founded in 2000 and also owns and operates fueling facilities that accompany the convenience markets.
Hal Lawton
President and CEO, Tractor Supply: Ex-Macy’s president leads Brentwood-based farm supply retail giant that recently bought online pet pharmacy Allivet.
Charlie Robin
Owner, Robin Realty: Has been active in local commercial real estate industry since 1976. Replaced father William H. Robin, who founded company in 1947. Strong knowledge of city’s pre-1970s-constructed retail buildings.
Amy Sullivan
President and CEO, Kirkland’s: Named to role in early 2024. Kirkland’s partnered with owners of Bed, Bath and Beyond to open “neighborhood” locations.
Rhonda Taylor
Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Dollar General: One of five female leaders on the C-Suite management team at Dollar General. She is responsible for leading risk and reputation management functions for DG’s legal, public relations, internal audit, government a airs, global compliance, chief compliance o ce function, and corporate social responsibility and philanthropy teams.
Mimi Vaughn
Monika Hartman
Senior General Manager, Fifth + Broadway: Leads soft goods and food/ beverage duties for mixed-use downtown development for Northwood Investors, which paid local record $787 million for multi-building property in late 2022.
Sonya Hostetler
President, Kroger Nashville Division: Worked at Walmart for almost 31 years before joining Cincinnati-based grocery behemoth. Will be key figure in eventual relocation of Belle Meade Kroger to ex-Harris Teeter space.
President and CEO, Genesco: Joined Genesco as vice president for strategy and business development in 2003 and replaced Bob Dennis as CEO in early 2020 after two years as COO. Oversees company that saw its stock value lose more than half of its value by May 2023 before rebounding a bit by year’s end.
Sports
Mikki Allen
Director of Athletics, Tennessee State: Hired Eddie George as football coach, who guided Tigers to back-to-back winning seasons. Took over as TSU AD in 2020 for retired Teresa Phillips, who held position for 16 years.
Ian Ayre
CEO, Nashville SC: Hired B.J. Callaghan as coach in 2024 to replace the fired Gary Smith. Team missed Major League Soccer playo s for first time in five years. Former Liverpool CEO has overseen Nashville’s entry into MLS and building of Geodis Park.
Tim Corbin
Baseball Coach, Vanderbilt: Has produced national championships and first overall MLB draft picks in two decades at program that had previously struggled.
Scott Corley
Director of Athletics, Belmont: Star basketball player during Belmont’s NAIA era oversaw school’s transition to Missouri Valley Conference from Ohio Valley Conference. Hired men’s basketball coach Casey Alexander and women’s basketball coach Bart Brooks.
Mark Elliott
Director of Athletics, Trevecca: Former Vanderbilt athlete led school’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, where Trojans began Gulf South Conference play in 2024-25. Also has upgraded facilities, including basketball floor and baseball lighting system.
Monica Fawknotson
Executive Director, Metro Sports Authority: City government o cial who oversaw debate about replacing Titans stadium, return of NASCAR and other sports proposals. Serving five-year term that began on Nov. 1, 2023.
Sean Henry
CEO of the Nashville Predators: Long Island native and former COO of Tampa Bay Lightning joined the Predators in 2010 and has remained in the top spot since.
Philip Hutcheson
Director of Athletics, Lipscomb: Took current role at his alma mater in 2008. Hired men’s basketball coach Lennie Acu , who has guided Bisons to backto-back 20-win seasons. Was 1990 NAIA basketball player of the year at Lipscomb.
Valencia Jordan
Director of Athletics, Fisk: Had five athletes named All Americans in 202324. Formerly head volleyball coach, head women’s basketball coach and associate athletic director at Tennessee State. Began job in 2023 where she played basketball in 1981-82.
Michelle Kennedy
President, Alternative Governor and Chief Operating O cer, Nashville Predators: Leads franchise’s day-today business operation, while collaborating with CEO Sean Henry on all major initiatives for arena, Sabertooth Sports & Entertainment, team, partners and events.
Chris Massaro
Director of Athletics, Middle Tennessee State: In his 20th year on job. School’s $66 million student-athlete performance center scheduled to open in Fall 2025 as part of $100 million facility improvement plan.
Scott Ramsey
President and CEO, Nashville Sports Council: Responsible for the day-today activities for both the Nashville Sports Council and the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. Helped coordinate e orts to lure events like NFL Draft and NHL Stadium Series.
Mark Reeves
Executive Director, TSSAA: In 17th year with organization and third in this role, he oversees junior and senior high school athletic programs for an estimated 110,000 participants and 426 schools.
Amy Adams Strunk
Controlling Owner, Tennessee Titans: Took part in groundbreaking for new Nissan Stadium, the $2.2 billion enclosed facility on East Bank that will open in 2027. Team got o to a poor start in 2024 under first-year head coach Brian Callahan.
Technology
Rob Bellenfant
Founder and CEO, TechnologyAdvice: Head of B2B technology marketing platform. Former CEO of Thrive Marketing Group. Founder of investment vehicle 615 Ventures. TechnologyAdvice recently bought business publisher Raconteur.
Russ Blattner
CEO, Blattner Technologies: Leader of company exploring AI and predictive transformation services. Company recently earned international recognition for construction management software SuperWise.
Joan Butters
CEO, Xsolis: At the helm for more than 10 years of company that markets machine learning and artificial intelligence tools. Named to Inc. 5000 list for third year in a row.
Alex Curtis
Chief Development O cer, Greater Nashville Technology Council: Developed council’s public policy program and lobbies for tech industry. Has more than 23 years in public policy. Previously was director of Creators’ Freedom Project. Role increased after former president Elise Cambrounac stepped down.
Greg Daily
Chairman and CEO, i3 Verticals: Trevecca grad launched company in 2012. Now, i3 processes billions of dollars in transactions annually.
Wellford Dillard
CEO, Avid: Has more than 20 years of experience in the software industry and, before being CEO of Marigold (2017-24), held CFO roles at vertical software leaders such as Opower and GetWellNetwork, among others.
Tammy Hawes
Founder and CEO, Virsys12: Created health tech firm for providers and payers in 2011 after working in tech positions at HCA, Central Parking and Paradigm Health. Doubled company revenue and headcount in 2022.
Phil Henry
Co-Founder, CodeX Academy: With more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience, started company in 2019 to help provide equal access for software development education. Chair of UpSkill Fund, which provides funding and mentorship to CodeX students.
Kevin Jones
CEO, Celero Commerce: Veteran fintech exec created payment processor in 2018. Made 12 acquisitions since starting company. Finalist for regional entrepreneur of the year award in 2022 by Ernst & Young.
Joshua Mundy
Co-Founder and CEO, Pivot Technology School: Serial entrepreneur formerly owned co-working space The Lab and Music City Cleaners. Started tech school in 2020 and created managed service provider to hire students to help them get job experience in the industry.
Martin Renkis
Executive Director of Global Sustainability Infrastructure, Johnson Controls: More than 25 years of experience in tech sector. Founded and led cloud software and video venture Smartvue, which he sold in 2018 to Johnson Controls.
Aaron Salow
CEO, XOi Technologies: Founded tech company focused on field service technicians named to the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies. Landed $11 million from investor group that includes Nashville Capital Network in 2019.
John Wark
CEO, Nashville Software School: Started nonprofit coding and talent bootcamp more than a decade ago. Former Belmont entrepreneur in residence and professor.
Dana Ward
Founder, Ward Consulting: President of Women in Technology of Tennessee. Formerly IT exec at Wellpath with previous experience at Deloitte, Invoyent and West Monroe Partners.
Marcus Whitney
Co-Founder and Partner, Jumpstart
Health Investors: Longtime health care entrepreneur and investor. Founder of venture fund concentrated on Blackled health care startups, Jumpstart Nova. Also co-founder of Nashville Soccer Club.
Sean Wright
Founder and President, A nity Technology Partners: Business information technology veteran founded consulting company in 2002. Belmont grad started his career with LifeWay.
Tourism
Dion Brown
Executive Director, National Museum of African American Music: Previously chief operating o cer elevated to lead NMAAM in August 2023 after former president and CEO Henry Hicks stepped down. Brown has also held leadership roles at National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, National Blues Museum, B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.
Linda Chambers
Co-Founder and CEO, Musicians Hall of Fame: Opened in 2006 and relocated to Municipal Auditorium-based museum in 2013. Became CEO after death of husband Joe Chambers in 2022.
Stephanie Coleman
President and CEO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce: Veteran of the chamber who previously worked as chief growth o cer and chief talent development o cer succeeded Ralph Shultz in February 2025.
Mark Ezell
Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development: Joined department in 2019. Led Gov. Lee’s economic recovery group in 2020 to restore economic growth in the state after pandemic. Established o ce of rural tourism to assist with marketing, grants and outreach.
Mark Fioravanti
President and CEO, Ryman Hospitality Properties: Became CEO in 2023 succeeding Colin Reed, who now serves as executive chairman. To open entertainment complex in multilevel building formerly home to Wildhorse Saloon in partnership with country star Luke Combs.
Deana Ivey
CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp: Elevated to role when former CEO Butch Spyridon stepped down after more than 30 years as leader of organization. Has been with NCVC for 25 years and was named president in 2022 after serving as executive vice president and chief marketing o cer.
Bill Miller
Founder and CEO, Icon Entertainment & Hospitality: Opened Cash Museum in 2013 and later added downtown attractions Nudie’s Honky Tonk, Patsy Cline Museum and live magic venue House of Cards. In 2018 bought building home to restaurant Skull’s and in 2023 opened Shulman’s in East Nashville as well as Frank Sinatra-themed bar in Printer’s Alley.
Leah Melber
President & CEO Adventure Science Center: Hired in May 2023 to replace Steve Hinkley, who stepped down in 2022. Leads organization as it expands its gallery to include health care and technology with aim to grow conference for young women in STEM.
Sunil Narang
General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Nashville: Took the helm of luxury SoBro property, replacing Richard Poskanzer. Has been with Four Seasons brand for more than 27 years.
Dee Patel
Managing Director, The Hermitage Hotel: Joined hotel 20 years ago, rising from role of rooms executive to current role in 2019. Johnson & Wales grad oversees hotel and its Drusie & Darr and The Pink Hermit restaurants.
Kal Patel
President, COO of Imagine Hospitality: Recently purchased historic Morris Memorial Building downtown with plans to turn it into boutique hotel that pays homage to site’s Black history. Acquired Hotel Preston near Nashville International Airport, which will undergo upgrades and become Marriott brand Delta.
Rob Schaedle
President & Managing Partner, Chartwell Companies: Co-founded hotel development entity in 2003. Opened nine-story Hilton Hotel as first on-site at Nashville International Airport in 2024.
Rick Schwartz
President, Nashville Zoo: Head of exotic wildlife park that sees 1 million-plus visitors annually. Unveiled new Komodo Dragon exhibit in 2023 with plans for new Leopard Forest project and African Safari on horizon. Considered one of zoo industry’s foremost authorities on clouded leopards and giant anteaters.
Charles Starks
President and CEO, Music City Center: Leader of massive SoBro convention facility. Held position since March 2005. Former director of rooms and general manager at Gaylord Opryland Hotel.
Sara Beth Urban
President & CEO, Hospitality Tennessee: Head of nonprofit trade association representing businesses in tourism industry since 2022. Former executive director of Tennessee Whiskey Trail and Middle Tennessee division manager for state tourist development department.
Kyle Young
Director, Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum: Leader of iconic cultural attraction since 1999. Joined downtown-based nonprofit in 1976 before becoming its head of education in 1978.
Transportation and Logistics
Chuck Abbott
CEO, Gray Line of Tennessee: Head of company since 2015, also previously COO and CFO. Holds bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University in Ohio.
Diana Alarcon
Director, Nashville Department of Transportation: Brought in to be first leader of Metro’s DOT in 2022. Previous experience as director in Tucson and Fort Lauderdale.
Steve Bland
CEO, WeGo Public Transit: Leader of city’s public transit for nearly 10 years, overseeing bus and commuter rail operations. Will be a key figure as Mayor’s Freddie O’Connell’s Choose How You Move transit program is deployed.
Jessica Dauphin
President and CEO, Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee: In 2017 joined the organization that works to support funding for regional transit and named leader in 2019. Oversees the Transit Citizen Leadership Academy and other transit advocacy programs. Appointed to WeGo’s board in 2021.
Butch Eley
Deputy Governor and Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner: Has held several leadership roles in the Lee administration. Now pushing road improvements via Transportation Modernization Act. Belmont grad founded Infrastructure Corporation of America.
Tanisha Hall
Founder, Fairpointe Planning: Named as Mayor O’Connell’s director of transit and mobility in December but left the position so company would not lose its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise status. Former TDOT long-range planner now consults on community and statewide transportation planning.
Whitt Hall
CEO, TransCore: Set to replace Tracy Marks, who spent 30 years with the company that operates tra c management and open road tolling systems. Previously chief operating o cer who has been with TransCore for 20 years.
Mike Honious
President and CEO, Americas, Geodis: Succeeded in 2020 Randy Tucker as leader of former Ozburn Hessey-Logistics. Acquired domestic transport business Southern Companies in 2023. Joined Brentwood-based OHL 17 years ago, having previously served as COO. Once held senior level operations positions at Gap Inc. Tapped to serve on board of Nashville branch of Federal Reserve.
Orrin Ingram
President and CEO, Ingram Industries: Head of company that is over inland marine transportation company Ingram Barge and publishing industry services company Ingram Content Group. Vanderbilt grad worked with university’s board of trust.
Doug Kreulen
President and CEO, Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority: Took the helm in 2017, previously COO. With many BNA upgrades now finished, focusing attention on landing international flights.
Michael Skipper
Executive Director, Greater Nashville Regional Council: Previously executive director of Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which became GNRC. UT grad whose more than 20-year career included stops in Austin and Seattle.
CONGRATULATIONS
FOR BEING RECOGNIZED AMONG THE 2025 INCHARGE HONOREES!
