Portraits of Nashville

It’s more important to understand someone than to judge them. We think the first step to understanding someone is asking them the fundamental questions about who they are and how they became the person they are today. Understanding and empathy are essential building blocks for a better, more compassionate world. We’re incredibly fortunate to be able to ask these questions each week through our interview series. Below you’ll find inspiring interviews from in and around Nashville.

Lila Gordon

As an artist I am always trying to improve my work. While its important to sharpen your skills, it would often cause me to compare my work to others and become frustrated. I realized that I needed to go back to my roots and find what caused me to love making art in the first place. Read more>>

Mannere Hussein

Nashville-born. Ghanaian raised, with a total of six siblings ( 3 brothers, 3 sisters), and an Islamic atmosphere that I still maintain in my life today. I lived in Ghana for almost 11 years. During my amazing and eye-opening time there, I fully tapped into my innate creativity, and it presented itself in the form of acting and illustration. Read more>>

Brandon Brindley

A lot has transpired that got me here today. Most importantly, I got a guitar when I was about 15 years old and its been the main constant throughout my whole life. I was a wrestler growing up and went to college to pursue that. After graduating from college, I was presented with a great opportunity. Read more>>

Josey Clay

Mom had a piano she played in the house quite a bit as I was growing up. Dad pastored a little country baptist church so Mom also played the piano for church service every time the door was open. These are my first fond memories of music. Read more>>

Saylor Brasseaux

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I first fell in love with performing at my 3rd grade talent show in Carencro, Louisiana. While most of the other kids wanted to dance, I wanted to sing. I chose ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift and walked onto that stage without an ounce of fear. Read more>>

Kasie Shelnutt

I always knew I wanted to be a professional musician and have been studying and composing music since I was 6 years old. Read more>>

Janaysha Garbutt

I’ve always been drawn to the beauty industry, starting from the moment I saw my mom and grandmother doing hair out of their homes. Hair to them was a means to an end, but for me, I saw the confidence, beauty, and transformation it inspired in their clients. Read more>>

Wayne Stump

I almost got kicked out of grad school. 2012 I was is grad school- a small school in a small town in Huntington, WV. Marshall University. In pursuit of my MFA. The school had two requirements. Maintain a 3.8gpm and meet with the whole faculty every 6 weeks to discuss pursuing work- this was nerve racking to say the least. Read more>>

Mattie Rose

Growing up in Texas, I tried just about everything. I played sports, discovered I had a knack for math, and even spent time riding horses. But no matter what I was doing, music was always where I felt the most like myself. While a lot of kids thought it was ‘cringe’ to care about choir or music class, I was the one diving in headfirst. Read more>>

Megg Farrell

I started out as a songwriter in high school. I grew up in Jersey across the river from the city so my first musical experiences/performances were all NYC. I started performing in the village around 16 with my ukulele and my angsty songs. Read more>>

Jennifer Beam

I’ve always loved creating beautiful spaces and making a home feel warm, welcoming, and collected. Long before I officially started my business, I was constantly rearranging rooms, helping family and friends with their homes, and dreaming about design. In 2018, I took a leap of faith and started Grace By Designs. Read more>>

Harkena Pigg

Eye of Rah Beauty Academy was born from seeing a need in my community. I realized there were so many talented people who wanted to braid professionally but didn’t know where to start or how to meet Tennessee’s requirements. I wanted to create a place where people could learn the craft, understand the business side of beauty, and build something that could change their lives. Read more>>

Jordan Owens

I’ve always been passionate about serving my community and creating opportunities for young people and families to thrive. Growing up in Nashville, I saw both the strengths and the challenges that exist within our communities, which inspired me to pursue a career in social work. Read more>>

Billy Driscoll

I was born and raised in the outer suburbs of Bristol, Uk and for over a decade, I’ve built a name for myself in the South West music scene. But my journey as a songwriter truly began on the other side of the world. Back in 2012, a backpacking trip to Australia took an unexpected turn—I was broke, jobless, and for some part homeless. Read more>>

Madison Olivia

I grew up in Flint, Michigan, and music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started singing when I was five years old, inspired by my Gran Gran, who was a singer herself. Read more>>

Valentín Palombo

I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read more>>

Alexander Bo Miller

I was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 2000. My parents started me in sports and piano class very early on, as well as learning how to run a farm/ranch and ride horses and 4 wheelers. Read more>>

Ben Flournoy

Growing up in the small town of Quincy, Florida, I picked up a guitar at 12 years old and immediately became obsessed. By seventh grade, I made the decision to homeschool so I could fully dedicate myself to teaching myself music. I spent countless hours learning through YouTube, studying everyone from John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. Read more>>

Jessie Phillips

My career has never been about a single industry. It’s always been about solving complex problems and building organizations where people and businesses can thrive. I’ve worked alongside some of the most influential executives, entrepreneurs, and family offices, leading operations, strategy, finance, human resources, marketing, and organizational growth. Read more>>

Bob Fawcett

My path to photography wasn’t exactly linear, but every step prepared me for the quality and scale of the work I do now. I actually started my career in investment banking before transitioning into reality TV production in Los Angeles, working on shows like Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Read more>>

Johnny Queso

My story started in Shelbyville, Tennessee, a small town where I was born to a 16-year-old mother and a 19-year-old father. My beginnings were humble, and like many families, we faced our share of challenges. When I was three years old, my mother made the decision to move us to Nashville as a single parent in search of better opportunities and a brighter future. Read more>>

Jenny Grace

I grew up with a deep love for music and storytelling, but my career first led me into serving the country. I served at 17 and later built a career supporting complex defense and aerospace programs. While engineering became my profession, songwriting was always my passion. Eventually, I decided to pursue music with the same dedication I brought to my engineering career. Read more>>

Matthew Johnson

It all started back in high school. After not making the baseball team. I had a lot of free time, so I started going to the gym. Started running into the same group of people. We started joking around saying we’re on the Grind. We all had different goals but the hard work was what we in common. Read more>>

Ryan Nelson

Born in Jacksonville, FL. Raised in Switzerland, FL (outside of St. Augustine/Jacksonville). Started playing guitar when I was 13. Started playing shows when I was 15. Played in regionally successful bands until I was 21. My 2nd of those bands broke up very suddenly, on the brink of a 3 month tour we were about to embark on and a potential record deal. Read more>>

Khamarckus Reynolds

When I was younger I used to love fast and furious and going to drag strip. Then I used to hustle working at uncle tire shop In my hometown so I was always around cars. Then I did an automotive class my jr and senior year in high school. Went to a technical college in Mooresville NC called NASCAR Technical Institute. Read more>> 

Brenda Harrington

My story is really a story of a second chance — at art, at purpose, and at calling. I fell in love with painting as a girl and went on to study commercial art in college. But when my professors dismissed realism as ‘uncreative,’ I left doubting my gift and set art aside for nearly thirty years. Read more>>

Joshy Pellerin

I’ve always been drawn to art and nostalgia. Growing up in Vermont as a Child of a Deaf Adult (CODA), I saw the world a little differently and learned early on that communication can happen in many forms. Art became one of mine. Read more>>

Bekah Russom

My husband and I have been self employed our entire marriage, and building businesses together has always been part of our story. The Steel Pony actually started with a Facebook Marketplace listing. When we saw it, something clicked. Read more>>

Luminous Path Claudia Peralta & Jason Latham

We’re Claudia and Jason, the hearts and visionaries behind Luminous Path, and our story together began in 2022 when we fell in love. From the very beginning, there was a shared current running beneath everything. A desire to create more beauty, more goodness, more light in the world. But the roots of this work that we offer together go back much further than that. Read more>>

Kelly Riley

Like a lot of kids, my story starts with family road trips and singing for hours alone in the basement. But things got serious at 13 when I hijacked my brother’s guitar. The second I started playing, the songs just started pouring out of me. I eventually traded my basement stage for the classrooms of Berklee College of Music, where I studied composition and voice. Read More>>

Jazmine Taylor

My journey into Human Resources started with a deep curiosity about people; how they think, how they work, and how workplace environments shape their well-being. Read More>>