The Nash Biz Podcast

Emily Bruce is the CEO and Founder of Determinism, LLC, the developer of the platform PeerKnect. She is a Board Certified and licensed Behavior Analyst (BCBA, LBA) in the State of Tennessee with an M.S., in Psychology. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two children and was educated at both David Lipscomb and Tennessee State Universities. She is currently in the final dissertation year as a doctoral student in the field of behavior analysis at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Prior to committing to PeerKnect as the CEO full time, she owned and operated a small Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) practice in Nashville where she applied her therapeutic skills and scientific knowledge of behavior to work with children and families of children with special needs. As a BCBA, she worked in schools, clinical settings, the community, and homes of individuals on the Autism spectrum and individuals with special needs.

Sarah Beth Perry is the Founder and CEO of With the Band, a premiere fan engagement company. Perry has grown With the Band from an idea in her dorm room to captivating packed out arenas with her creative and collaborative fan projects. Some of her most notable experiences include her fan engagement activations at the Jonas Brothers’ highly-anticipated HAPPINESS BEGINS TOUR and Kacey Musgraves’ OH WHAT A WORLD TOUR s old-out concert in Nashville, Tennessee. Upon seeing her concept come to fruition, Perry was encouraged to continue exploring other fan engagement avenues. Being a music fan herself, she realized there was a big opportunity to create better relationships between an artist and their fans.

Taylor Duncan was born and raised in Chicago. He went to University of Wisconsin to play Football and Track & Field. Transferred to University of IL and graduated with a degree in Finance. He had a taste of entrepreneurship in college in a house painting leadership program. Ended up buying the IL division when he graduated and eventually ran the national company with ~1000 sales people annually. Sold his shares in 2020 and moved to Nashville to enjoy an open state with his amazing wife and 5 kids. And in 2021 joined forces with his former mentee in the Tech recruiting space and are growing Nxt Level in Nashville. They have hired a dozen people in Nash in the last 6 months and plan on doubling that in the next year. During that they have launched Founders Live in Nashville as an event based entrepreneurial pitch competition, but really it is just a big party with founders pitching their respective start ups in mid-TN. In his free time he is active at church, try to work out and volunteer in the local youth sports programs.

Chad Frey is a newcomer to Nashville, originally from the middle of nowhere (Nebraska), and having traveled to over 30 countries, he recently relocated from Washington, DC, and he's here to spread some education, information, and cannabis culture throughout the Southeast. Chad has held a multitude of roles throughout the hemp/cannabis industry and one that he is focusing his energy and passion behind is as the Founder of flowerz. - a hemp-derived CBD company that offers products that you can feel.

Prior to the cannabis industry, Chad worked as a business consultant for seven years successfully launching two beta platforms for lucrative fortune 500 companies throughout 11 major markets in the United States. He has extensive knowledge of business development, sales/marketing, startups, food & beverage, agriculture, supply chain, and construction management.

Chuck Moyer has more than 45 years of transportation experience and has served as a member of the CLDA Board of Directors since 2006. Chuck came to the customized logistics industry with nine years of regional trucking and airfreight experience. His 37 years’ experience in the same day sector ranges from operating as an independent contractor to all positions up to CEO for Express Courier International, Inc. (Nashville, Tennessee).

Chuck started his career in the courier industry with Priority Dispatch (Cincinnati) in 1983 and joined Express Courier (Nashville) in 1993. He has served as President for Pace USA, the CLDA and currently has joined ROVA, a platform same day delivery company based in Boston, MA. Chuck resides in Franklin, TN and advises some of the industry’s top shippers, carriers and vendors alike.

Brandon Cobb is a local RE investor based out of Nashville, TN and his company The HouseBuyinGuys does about 40+ transactions a year, mostly New construction and rehab while their other company HBG Capital focuses on large multifamily acquisition. Prior to getting into real estate, Brandon sold medical devices. After losing his job in medical device sales, he transitioned over to the real estate. Brandon found his unique sales skills sharpened by the world of medical device sales gave him a unique edge in the real estate industry. Brandon built his company based around that sales approach, something the real estate industry lagged.

The House Buyin Guys LLC is a reputable house buying company in Nashville. Since the beginning, the focus has been on helping people by providing a fast sale of a home. This opens up a lot of options for people that have felt stuck and unsure of what to do or who to turn to.

Janet Ivey, Creator and CEO of the award-winning children's series Janet’s Planet is committed to enriching the lives of children via education and live performances, TV, and online programming. With over 29 years in the children’s entertainment/education and space science outreach sector, Janet has captivated Nashville and beyond with her work. She has received 12 Regional Emmys and five Gracie Awards, for her children’s series Janet’s Planet that airs on 140+ public television stations nationwide. Her first TEDx Talk was in 2014 entitled, AWE,(Art, Wonder, and Experiential) Inspired Science, her second TEDx Talk entitled, “How To Inhabit Your Very Own Planet, #PlanetYou” was recorded in April 2019.

In 2020, Janet was named a second-round citizen astronaut candidate for Space For Humanity and is awaiting news if she will progress in the process and get a chance to go to space. Janet is currently the president of Explore Mars, an advocacy group for the human exploration of Mars, is a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador, is on the Board of Governors for the National Space Society, is the Educational Co-Director of the Midsouth Chapter of NATAS, (National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences), the recipient of the New World’s Institute’s inaugural Permission to Dream Award in 2016 and has won a STEM-FLORIDA Award for “Exploring Microgravity,” an educational video about gravity and microgravity that Janet wrote and produced for Space Florida. In 2020/2021 Janet's Planet did outreach under a NASA NextGEN STEM grant and shared NASA curriculum with students all over the world Janet’s Planet travels at the speed of thought focuses on science, space, history, and the future of human space exploration. Janet's Planet can be seen on streaming sites, e360TV, YouTube, BatteryPop, Minnow, and HighBrow in the UK. Janet is a guardian and shepherdess of the next generation of space explorers and encourages students worldwide to stand in their inherent magnificence.

Brian Heinrichs is proud to say he carved out a career that keeps him focused on what is most important in life. He believes that it is possible to have a successful career while treating people with respect, not profiting off the backs of others and still maintaining healthy relationships at home. At Fourth Capital, he enjoys planning and working with his clients and co-workers to develop solutions with long-term benefits for all stakeholders. Outside of work, you’ll find Brian seeing Broadway shows with his family or attending a Pearl Jam concert (he’s seen them almost 60 times in 8 different countries!).

Fourth Capital is based in Rolling Mill Hill’s Peabody Plaza building and also runs offices in Green Hills and Cool Springs. The bank was founded as a division of Lawrence’s Farmers Bank & Trust and has been steadily building out its team since becoming a standalone institution. Fourth Capital finished the third quarter of 2020 with $339 million in assets — up 27 percent from the mark of a year earlier — and a year-to-date net loss of nearly $2.6 million, due mainly to much higher salary and benefit costs.

Vinny is the CEO if Creative Innovations, LLC, the owner of The Spark. He is the founder of Indie Connect and Indie Connect TV.  He is an artist manager and consultant, as well as a strategic planner, grant and business plan writer, author and more. Some of his projects include:

School Tour – 16 artists will be performing and speaking on social acceptance at schools across the IS, Canada, the UK and Brazil!

Top 4M Entertainment  and Pinstripe Entertainment (CEO) – TV/film production; owner of 3 TV channels.

Indie Connect (CEO and Founder) – Artist management, consulting and training. We help musicians how to turn their talents into a stable career.

Co-author of the #1 best seller, ‘LEVERAGE: Achieve a Lot with the Little You’ve Got’  and ‘CEO Secrets‘, plus hundreds of published business and music industry articles, books and eBooks.

LeaderBridge – Consulting and training for small business owners and leaders.

Jerry Rollins began his professional career began as a Major League hockey “enforcer”—a team’s tough guy. After leading 5 successful companies as CEO, partner or owner leading to several successful exits, he now coaches hundreds of entrepreneurs and CEOs—with revenues ranging from $1 million to $3 billion—on how to improve their businesses. He believes in two life-altering things: 1.) Studying extraordinary people to learn how they became the best in their fields and 2.) Writing down all their invaluable advice and insight throughout my own journey to the top.

He is currently the CEO of Sage Executive Group, a peer advisory group which mentors business executives, guiding them to become the best in their fields. Jerry is passionate about leadership and sharing his knowledge with up-and-coming companies. It’s the wisdom he acquired not in a graduate school business class, but in the day-to-day challenges of drawing the best from available talent, whether from the sales force of a company striving to meet profit goals, or a professional hockey team hustling to score victories.

Tricia Benitez has gone from homeless to being the CEO of Sweet Tea Blankets. As a young child, she survived an inner-city orphanage in New Orleans where despicable things happened. She learned her skill there, and it is now her life‘s mission that no child should ever be cold again.

Sweet Tea Blankets was launched during the pandemic, and she is a firm believer that some of the most amazing things are created in the most unlikely times.

Stephen is the Founder of Pathway Search, a Nashville-based search firm focusing on permanent placement and consulting-based hiring needs in the areas of Accounting and Finance. He started Pathway Search in 2020 after 8 years of working for 2 large recruiting agencies, with the goal of being a more agile company able to adapt more quickly to the changing economic and employment markets.

Blake Hogan served as an Officer in the Marine Corps from 2008-2012. Following the Marines, he helped develop markets for Sage Glass, a green tech construction product that was acquired by Saint Gobain.

Blake is passionate about the military-connected community and is a serial entrepreneur. His first company, a video interviewing company connecting employers to veterans, led him to co-found Bunker Labs Austin and Nashville after experiencing the challenges of growing a professional network after transitioning . Bunker Labs, now a national not-for-profit, helps the military-connected community launch and grow businesses across the country. After serving Bunker Labs from its earliest days and at all levels of the organization, he has taken over as Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Blake’s goal is to ensure that the American dream can be a reality for the military-connected community and, in doing so, we build a truly inclusive economy.

He is also the co-founder of a safety product company, BreakAway Safety Solutions, which provides emergency exits for outdoor events making it easy to get fans out of fenced in events. BreakAway was developed after the mass shooting in Las Vegas and has now protected more than two million fans at events like the Country Music Association Festival, the Chicago Marathon, and more. Finally, he is a cofounder of a last mile logistics and mergers and acquisition company, Steel Lion Logistics Solutions.

Blake is recent a George W. Bush Institute Scholar in the Stand-To Veterans Leadership Program

John Dunavan builds learning communities. His combination of educational psychology, cognitive science, multimedia production and technology-based delivery experience have helped global audiences achieve personal and professional success. 

John’s career spans state and federal government posts involved in the design, development, implementation and assessment of services for at-risk populations including children, families and senior citizens.

In an effort to expand promising practices to national and global audiences, John became a pioneer in the technology-enabled learning industry. In his role as VP and Executive Producer at Little Planet Learning, a spin-off of the Learning Sciences Institute at Vanderbilt University, John was responsible for bringing learning science research into practice for organizations around the world. 

John has been privileged to collaborate on solutions for a range of government organizations, including the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Defense (Army Intelligence), Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and NASA. 

John’s industry sector experience includes advertising, aerospace, automotive, communications, defense, entertainment, film, finance, food service, grocery, health & safety, healthcare, higher education, hospitality, insurance, intelligence, justice, K-12 education, legal, medical education, pharmaceutical, professional services, real estate, retail, senior care, technology, and television production.

Rachel Sanders, MBA started her career in investment banking focused on the healthcare sector prior to getting her MBA from Harvard Business School. Through both her personal and professional experiences, she recognized the importance of nutrition in improving and maintaining health. A mentor introduced her to Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, PhD, who is a biotechnologist and has spent the last decade building innovation solutions at the intersection of technology, nutrition, and genetics. He shares a similar belief that nutrition really has the power to help people long-term. They joined together to launch Rootine, with the mission of solving nutrition for every individual.

Marshall Crawford is an experienced nonprofit executive and shares THF’s commitment to help individuals and communities create and maintain affordable and healthy places to live and work. As the President and CEO, his responsibilities include organization leadership and management, strategic planning, resource development, management of loan portfolio and lending operations and community external relations.

In 2017, Marshall joined The Housing Fund, a CDFI private nonprofit revolving loan fund located in Nashville, TN. As President & CEO, he carries the full range of responsibilities typically associated with such a position. Reporting to the board of directors, his responsibilities are grouped in five major areas: organization leadership and management, strategic planning, resource development, management of loan portfolio and lending operations and community external relations. Marshall’s leadership also ensures support for community building and housing development to residents to ensure the revitalization of communities.

Since returning to Nashville, Marshall has accumulated several accolades. In consecutive years, Marshall has been recognized as one of Nashville’s Most Admired CEOs by his peers and the Nashville Business Journal. In 2019, he was installed into the Tennessee Affordable Housing Coalition Hall of Fame for his efforts in affordable housing over the last 20 years. In 2018, he was featured on the cover of the Nashville Post BOOM! Magazine for establishing Nashville’s first community land trust model as a solution to addressing a growing affordable housing issue in the city. Also, he is a participant of Leadership Tennessee 2021.

Previously, he served as President of Housing and Multifamily Development for Community Ventures in Lexington, KY. Also, he spent 13 years at NeighborWorks America in various roles in the Southern Region located in Atlanta, GA.

Before joining NeighborWorks, Marshall was a safety and soundness bank examiner for the Office of Thrift Supervision. His banking career started in a management training program for Third National Bank (eventually, SunTrust Bank) in Nashville, Tennessee. He later relocated to Atlanta, GA and worked as a mortgage loan officer with several banks. In 1992, he was honorable discharged from the United States Army after serving five years while being stationed in Germany and at Fort Knox, KY.

After completing his military service at Fort Knox, he attended Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, where he received a degree in finance. He completed a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In 2016, Marshall completed an Executive Leadership Certification at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

Quincy McKnight founded Covenant Pay Partners in 2019, a healthcare driven payment platform that pushes a "All-In-One" platform for their new healthcare providing partners. Prior to this venture, McKnight founded QPay Inc, global payment gateway that assists healthcare organizations, parking facilities, online retailers, restaurants, travel agencies and other chains to process payments more efficiently. The QPay portfolio was sold in 2019 and recently became one of the first online, non-bank processors to transact payments in Africa and China.

In May of 2021, McKnight announced his bid for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District citing his core issues as education, caring for veterans and rebuilding a strong economy.. If elected, McKnight would be the first Black man to represent Tennessee’s 5th District in Congress.

The Nash Biz Podcast is specifically for business owners in Nashville. Whether that involves learning the latest and greatest strategies for growing, seeking networking opportunities, or just plain 'ole entertainment, this podcast is for you!

Hosted by Nashville-native Brady Morgan and his business partner, John Trusty, they seek to bring fresh and eye-opening conversations with successful business owners to the surface. Welcome to the show!

iness owner in Nashville and would like to be featured on our podcast, send an email to hello@nashbizpodcast.com.