Brad Schmitt-Columnist-The Tennessean-

00:00Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, a podcast for and about the people of the Nashville restaurant scene. Now here's your host, the CEO of New Light Hospitality Solutions, Brandon Styll. Hello Music City and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host and today we've got a great show for you ahead lined up. We've got Mr. Brad Schmidt on the show and he is the Inside Nashville columnist for The Tennessean and he has been covering Nashville for 30 years and he does something similar to what I want to be doing with this podcast but he does it on paper so I'm really excited if you get to hear us talk. We talk about all kinds of things happening in Nashville. He is a ten, he's celebrated ten years sober this year so we talked about recovery for a little bit. I do this because it's been something that's heavy on my heart and it's something that is big to me and it's not gonna be an everyday show thing but I happen to have two people on in a row who are both in recovery and it's something that I want to talk about because I know that there are people out there that are curious about it that are curious about what's going on and I really just it's a personal decision something I've done it's worked out really well for me so far and I wanted to share I wanted to share what my experiences are because if you're wondering out there you're wondering if that's something for you if you need something like that in your life I wanted to be as somebody that you could you could hear. So it's a little tough being that vulnerable on a podcast but we did it today. So tell you a little bit about Springer Mountain Farms chicken. They are amazing

02:00Springer Mountain Farms chicken. They're a family-owned business nestled in the hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with over 50 years experience in raising chickens. They exercise great care in all they do and dedication providing their chickens with a quality of life and healthy diet that results in a healthier more delicious chicken for you and your family to enjoy. Try Springer Mountain Farms chicken today by locating a store or restaurant near you or ordering online. You can do these things at SpringerMountainFarms.com. On the home page there's a find us tab and you can find any grocery store or any restaurant in the whole area everywhere that they serve you can find them all so you can go make sure you get the best tasting chicken the best chicken for you every time that you go out. Also we have an advertisement in the middle of this show for our sponsor Trust 20. They are extending their free audits so they will come to your restaurant. There's 20 criteria that they come in and they will tell you whether or not you're doing everything you possibly can to keep your guests and your staff safe. So while we're all online trying to figure out what to do and just kind of winging it they will come in and go over the 20 things to help keep your staff safe. It is free y'all. They will come to your restaurant and help out. If you're a guest and you go to a restaurant ask them if they're Trust 20 certified. Once you become Trust 20 certified they will give you signage and stickers for your door to let your guests know that you are independently certified as a safe place for people to go dine. As safe as we can get it. So check them out Trust20.co. That's Trust the number 20 dot co. I hope you guys enjoy this show. We're gonna jump right in and check us

04:01out. We are now on iHeart radio and as well as YouTube. If you go to our website you can watch a lot of videos. I keep adding videos. You can see Jeremy Lister perform the songs that he sang on the show the other day and wow! I listened to those again on the airplane today and I just was blown away. That guy's just got the best voice. He's so amazing. Find any of his music on iTunes and that's what we got to the show today. All right with much excitement I'd like to welcome in Brad Schmidt to Nashville restaurant radio. Welcome Brad. Delicious. I'm excited. Brad you are a columnist for the Tennessean and I have kind of been following you for I don't even know how long. I mean I used to read the Brad about you section every day. I've been a journalist in Nashville for 30 years. So you're the perfect person to be on the show today. I did a podcast yesterday where I talked about kind of Nashville and what's happening in Nashville during this pandemic and how I feel like over four months our entire city has changed and I want to get into that with you but first I want to I want to let people know kind of why I feel like you're the perfect guest for this show. Fantastic. I can't wait to hear myself. It's coming up I promise. It's gonna so if you look up on the Tennessean face on the Tennessean page and you look up Brad Schmidt the Inside Nashville columnist you say I'd love to ask community leaders to tell me intensely personal and funny stories about themselves. Stories of redemption, overcoming, transformation. I want you to find something you didn't know about someone you might know. I've come to appreciate these stories from my own

06:02transformation through entering recovery from substance abuse in 2010. Through these columns I hope to inspire more depth and vulnerability in our community and I read that and I went that's that's exactly what I'm trying to do with my podcast but you do a much better job at it than I do. Listen it's not a contest man. There's a lot of room for everybody. I guess in a roundabout way I'm saying you've inspired me for 30 years to finally pick up a microphone and start talking. Nice. Are you enjoying it? It's been amazing especially through the pandemic being at home being able to connect with people on a deeper level when everybody can't be together. I've done almost 60 interviews with people and got to know people deeper than I ever have. That's awesome. That is really awesome. So the question I get asked is what's the you know is there any did you have favorite episode or is there a favorite story and for you you know you saying that you want to teach somebody something about somebody that they knew something more in depth. Do you have any of those type of stories to share?

07:15What are some things you've learned? Chrissy Haslam was a former first lady Bill Haslam's wife and she shared with me that her sister died when they were teenage girls in a car crash and how that affected who she is an adult and there was a a nice young man named Bill Haslam who helped walk her through that. So there's the as you said earlier for us old people the Paul Harvey rest of the story. You know that's that's how those two bonded. It was really over a tragedy and it was a story that she shared that some of her closest friends didn't really know about and so those are the kind of things that I like like there's a religious leader Bishop Walker Joseph Walker from Mountain Zion Church probably the largest African-American church in Nashville and he was sharing with me how he lost his faith when his first wife died of cancer and then he ended up going to a secular support group called Gilda's Club from old you know Gilda Radner and Saturday Live died of cancer and her husband the famous comedian actor whose name I can't remember. Yes yes. Gene Wilder started this charity started this foundation as a way for people to help others walk through what he walked through which was the you know the tragedy of losing somebody to cancer. Anyway so Bishop Walker was sharing with me you know he actually did lose his faith for a little while and like he sat in a circle like a recovery circle like I do with a bunch of people who didn't know him very well at the start and for once in his life he wasn't Bishop Walker he was Joe. Wow. How he then refound and rediscovered his faith through this secular group. Those

09:16are the kind of wonderful oh gosh just wonderful stories that people are sharing with me. So that's what I get some you know incredible energy and spiritual good juju from that. Do you ever finish kind of doing an article about somebody like that where you feel like they almost had a realization during as you're going through interviewing somebody they they say something and then they kind of go you can kind of see it in their eyes where they realize at that moment that they just said something out loud to you that they really hadn't told anybody else and after the interview they kind of went I felt good like thank you. I have been blessed with that and I'm sure you have too but I've been blessed with that several several times. There's a radio syndicated radio personality and national named Bobby Bones on the side of things and he lost his mom to a drug overdose and we talked for an hour and a half and he's he's talked about this a little bit on the air and he shared some but we got really in-depth about it and he joked afterward like how much do I owe you for that therapy session. So people do I think that people do find a real catharsis in talking to a stranger to a third party that they're able to present like a therapist honestly or a counselor or a church person you know a church pastor or somebody like that when you get somebody who's removed from the situation then you can really process your narrative without fear of my man my cousin's gonna judge me if I say it this certain way or my friend other folks are so invested in you and your story that they might be bringing stuff from the past in and we you and me I'm gonna including you in this Brandon I'm honored

11:19we give people a safe space right to share and to really open up and that is for me in my recovery and my job that is the biggest gift of all. One more quick story on that front I have a story coming up about a young man who was badly badly burned in an industrial accident and his mother was taking care of him and some of the details oof it's it's rough you know it's real rough and raw stuff and she called me and we were on the phone for 45 minutes and she called me the next day to say I want you to know that you gave my boy a gift that he has been in therapy but he processed it with you in a different way than he ever has and he said more about it than he has in the past and she said he stood up taller yesterday like a literal weight had been lifted off of him that he had gotten just a little bit more freedom from the trauma of that event by processing it with a third party who happened to meet me and that's just that's just like the most amazing moment and you know what when you put that article out there and you share that young man's story the amount of people that are gonna read that and are gonna understand a new perspective because if you're doing that work I mean there's that's kind of them that's kind of what this podcast has evolved into is identifying through other people's stories just stories of hope and like transformation and overcoming adversity similar story for me with Shane Nasby okay tell me about Shane Shane is the owner of honey fire in Bellevue mmm delicious delicious yeah he's he's amazing and he came on the show and we were talking and I said tell me about your tattoos because he's just got sleeves right he's in his pictures

13:20pictures just got all these tattoos and he's like well I said are there stories tell me the thing behind him and he went through that one side of his arm is all of the pain like all of the things that he tried that didn't work and like that signifies falling down and the other side is all the joy and like coming back and I'm probably butchering the exact story but paraphrasing he went over like not succeeding in business and relationships and just everything and like how it all plays out on his arms and after the after the podcast he goes man you know I've never told anybody that story before but I just it was good I've had is that more people reach out to me after the podcast came out they were like dude I had no idea and beautiful it's just it was just really cool it's a cool moment for me too you know oh absolutely absolutely the biggest gift is for us it is it's almost like in in recovery helping other people is the real thing that helps you stay sober you know right and I think what's maybe important for somebody listening to the podcast to know is that you know you don't have to be a newspaper columnist or a podcaster to do that kind of service for somebody I think so to do my job well and to do my recovery well I've had to learn a couple of principles which is this check all my judgments check it 100% before I start the interview ask open ended questions be an active listener you know kind of really lean in ask follow-up questions and really be present with somebody else whether it's but that can be your friend it could be your family it could be somebody you're dating it could be a spouse it can be and for me it has been the checkout person at the grocery store

15:20sometimes obviously I have to be a lot quicker than them but just being really present with people instead of not on my phone or you know have a clicker look I'm using visual aids you know watching TV while I'm having a conversation shutting everything off and really facing the person who's with me and being present with them and really hearing and listening to their story and not giving any advice if not asked for unsolicited advice is criticism huge principle I learned in recovery and that kind of witnessing I had a friend call it just being present for somebody's story just being present to let them share is a huge huge gift that anybody can give at any time without a microphone or a newspaper that's the that's the true definition of real empathy of really listening to somebody and genuinely caring what they say without giving advice or without a well at least you didn't do this you know without giving that kind of a feedback a Brene Brown does a really good video on YouTube it's called empathy versus sympathy that I just love but this has been an amazing time over the last four months because we've had an amazing I choose to look at it as a gift as a gift of forced time alone to spend time to recognize a lot of these things and like you said this is a perfect opportunity to do that to reach out to somebody who I've been talking about it since podcast number one find some this is the best time of the world to reconnect with somebody you haven't talked to in a long time and genuinely lean in if you have a friend that isn't doing so great that you know about but you've been so busy you just can't really devote that time like pick up the phone zoom is free for everybody for two people like video comedy like do a 30 minutes a day call

17:24somebody and connect with a friend and just kind of go how are you like how you doing which is a question I've been asking people when they come on the show I did not ask you but it's a question to ask people on the show like I don't think there's a more valid question you can go in all these deep interview type questions but how are you is probably the biggest question you can ask somebody right now exactly and with listening with the actual interest behind it instead of as you said earlier as a throwaway 100% so I will ask you that question and we'll pivot here how how have you been how have you made it through one of my least favorite pandemic words that has come up it's only because it's overused it is is everyone pivoting I guess so the answer to that question is pretty good and and in ways better than before the pandemic so first of all I am getting out a little bit I'm not quarantining I'm not that guy I have met friends at outdoor patio restaurants I've even been to a few really well spaced 12-step meetings I do a lot of online 12-step meetings probably four or five a week Wow so I feel in a way more connected than I did before I'm checking in friends recovery and otherwise more as to your point earlier so I find myself calling you know Robert Kirk Preston you know my boys Rob you know I find myself talking to those guys more than I was pre-pandemic so if anything I'm more connected and checking in more now than I was then and

19:28in fact have to turn off my phone sometimes for an hour or two and watch stupid Netflix to sort of clear this sure so I've actually been doing well and I don't know if it's right or wrong but I've been going to the gym three four times a week the YMCA in Nashville is doing I think a really good job of the distancing of mandating masks in common areas I feel really safe there so that's been good for the physical part of my well-being so yeah I'm getting like spiritual and emotional and physical like health in and because of the pandemic I think I'm more mindful of all of those things it's so funny cuz I'm like in the exact same boat I have gone to a few meetings yeah and I'm connecting more with people and I have got now I don't go to the gym I go to the purse I go to Percy Warner Park and I walk I go nice that a lot but so that's good man so so you're doing well and I might even be doing better than before the pandemic to be honest I know that I am I know that I am now I came into the pandemic hard and fast with three months of sobriety so that's a sobriety so I'm I know I'm doing it gets better every day for me that's good okay I'm gonna share my first year experience and I want you to tell me if anything resonates with you okay and as my way of asking how you were doing okay this is another interview technique of mine by the way or a check-in technique with my friends too to try to direct this how are you doing fine hmm okay that was a quick combo yeah so let me share with you that in my first year I was on a crazy emotional roller coaster where I would literally be laughing hysterically like one hour and sobbing the next a TV commercial could set me off a guy

21:33offering me a ride to a meeting because I didn't have my driver's license I was coming off the second DUI when I was an early recovery if somebody offered me a ride I'd be like thanks man and I would hang up my cell phone and start sobbing at the beauty that this guy offered me a ride like it's so moved to me emotionally and then somebody might share something in the meeting that pissed me off and I believe and and I was super duper insecure with everything I was doing with what I was doing with my hands with what the in meetings with the jobs I was working I didn't know whether to call Aunt Barbara because she was kind of pissed at me but she kind of was also supportive and I had to overthink every single decision including what I was having to eat and it was a rough rough rough first year for me and I'm wondering how your first year is so far my first years it's it's it is similar in that I have a lot of emotions I said on the show the day I the craziest thing my sister asked me one time she said so what is the the biggest thing you've noticed now being sober have you lost are you rich like what do you do with your time hey real quick if everyone lost 20 pounds and got rich in recovery everyone would stop drinking we could start a whole network here this would be amazing like we'd be billionaires so I told her I said no the the thing that the craziest thing for me is the answer to the question is never I need a drink now the answer to the question is how am I gonna process this emotion learning how to process emotions without having a crutch is has been unbelievable to me being the spiritual side of everything I have a lot of guilt you know I have a lot of I have a lot of moments where I

23:36wake up in the morning and I think about things I did when I was not sober I wake up in the morning go did I really do those things did I really say those things the people that I must have hurt when I because I'm a big six six you know I just a big gregarious I would say things to get a reaction out of people and I would like I would just I I feel this never-ending guilt right now I'm like I hope people don't think of me that way because it was truly not who I am in my heart and over this this past nine months I've had the most amazing realization it's almost like I get to be the person I always thought I was I get to be that person again I get to actually like be the authentic me and I never have moments now where I go I know I never wake up with a last night I did this and then and you know the level of honesty that I'm learning from people in in recovery meetings that's the most amazing thing is being vulnerable and being okay with being vulnerable with with people I decided to do it over a podcast now but that's been another amazing thing for me so all what you just said I mean there's there's you're constantly going through all these different emotions I don't know how to process all of them I'm trying and reading a lot of books and meditating a lot and walking a lot I'm having deeper more meaningful conversations with my wife and more present with my children more present with my family I see things clear my sponsor says you know that the fog is lifting the fog is lifting from you and it's a pretty special special time for me and I'm understanding that I am at the tip very tip beginning of this journey but it's a it's a pretty damn good journey it's like I don't know I don't know how to describe the beginning of it but I know it's I know

25:39it's a forever thing I've mourned the fact that I'm not gonna have a glass of you know opus one with a stake ever in my life again I'm never going to do that it's just one of those things I've had to mourn and I'm okay with that for all of the other trade-offs I am totally good with you know drinking pappy again like yeah I did that I'm done like I'm good like I'm I'm more excited about what's happening currently than any of that could possibly bring nice and the state tastes better without it anyway yes I really related to the guilt part of that I had sort of forgotten about it probably blocked it out but I did forget about living in total guilt and shame my first year yeah I waking up going oh man the same thing I can't believe I said that I can't believe I did that I can't believe I pushed that person away I can't believe how insulting I was to this person I can't believe I spent a thousand dollars on shots of the whole bar I can't believe whatever it is that I also lived with all these regrets and I had to learn how to block that obsession that's really nasty sick cycle in my head I had to really learn some techniques to just stop this oh my god complete obsession with all the horrible things that I had done and and stop myself from making the big apology tour of 2010 when I got sober I wanted to literally get on a plane and fly to every person I'd said something crappy to or stole their stuff or did something with their girlfriend or whatever it was I wanted to go and apologize for and luckily I had wiser older people in recovery going tap the brakes boy there'll be time for all that but you have to do this work first before you even come close to those things and so but anyway I I really appreciate you sharing that part about this sort of thinking too much about things that I had done wrong in the past

27:44well you know and for me the the thing everything changed we had a meeting not long ago where the topic was acceptance and people get up and share and I kind of had this amazing moment where I went the first time I came here when I left here my all of my perceptions that I thought was going to be what this is I realized like I'm in the right place like I need to be in this room and I'm amongst people that genuinely care about me probably for the first time in my life leaving that first meeting I it was amazing and it was one of those moments where I went okay this this is this is who I am I accepted everything that I was and it was almost like just this you know they say the putting monkeys on your back it was like I walked out of that meeting in every single monkey that was on my back like jumped off and stayed away and I got to walk out of that meeting I felt like I was floating hmm yeah later for the first time in 25 years it was okay like I was okay for being me and it was like wow this is incredible man you weren't some advanced recovery here Brandon yeah sorry the other kids jealous no I that's great good good for you sounds like you're working hard for it but it's you know I think that you can there's no other way to do it right now I that's kind of me in a nutshell there's nothing I do that's subtle I'm sure you're probably very similar did you do you recognize a bunch of the traits that kind of what are some of the things that make you you that you've grown into in your recovery some of the things that you were doing back in the day that now that you're you're sober have

29:46accentuated and now you get to really focus on these things what have you improved in yeah right well I think you said it earlier actually you talked about finding the good guy you were before all this and may I add this the good guy you were during your drinking too that you just masked right so I got some beautiful when I went to treatment I found all these letters and cards that I was sent while I was in rehab and oh my god funny oh god I have some funny ridiculously funny friends I had a very very nerdy weather caster friend scientists who wrote me a two-page single copy single spaced documents it was full of science about addiction and blah and at the end he hand writes in by the way I'll be coming for visitors day on Sunday just so that your anticipation isn't too high it won't be conjugal which is the name of my upcoming recovery book it won't be conjugal what to say and not to say to your friends in rehab which I'm actually seriously thinking about writing that book the great book what the letters what those letters and cards showed me and what I've been hearing since is stop doing like before sobriety bread and after sobriety bread you you did plenty of nice and good things for people while you were drinking you you were a thoughtful guy you sent birthday cards down again you did things for people you would help them move which I freaking hate helping people my back hurts here's 200 bucks get two men in a truck but I

31:48do it and you know like like you were that guy you would bring things to the to the birthday party to the potluck you would you know you would occasionally even listen back then and be a good friend back then and be a present friend back then and you know on top of that there was these occasional episodes where you were a complete jerk but I loved I guess I just loved realizing I stopped telling myself the lie that you were a crap person before recovery and now you're a better person you know be here I think that's a really important thing for me to learn in years four five and six was like look stop creating this narrative that you know you were just garbage before and you know you're better now and so that's that's the other it's important so that was a very long answer to tell you that I have rediscovered the good guy that I was and I'm embracing him that's good I know I feel like I needed to hear that that was really that's very powerful was there a year you've gone through ten years now was there a like is there a year that's really hard you know it's like the seven year itch with with a marriage like is there one particular year that was like really difficult you know that's really interesting that you mentioned seven years too so of course we talked about for me the first year being a beast beast and then around seven years seven maybe the beginning of eight I found myself I've always had issues with food I still do you were talking about how to process your feelings earlier and you're talking about walks in the park and all your and talking with Pete talking out with people and way to go mr. healthy

33:50Brandon la de da I like a towering ice cream cake and a couple cheeseburgers behind that I still have addictive behaviors and in one of them is about food one of them can be around Netflix I can use Netflix to numb out sure you later sons of anarchy seasons three and four will be taking up my weekend so I can do that so in year seven and eight I found myself really getting out of control with the food like and I started to have feelings like I did right before I got into alcohol rehab I started to feel I was having lunch we have a monthly dude recovery breakfast and we always check in and during my check-in I was like oh my god I feel as out of control as I did when I was drinking with this food and with emotions and one of the guys looked at me goes I can see the pain all over your face and when he said that in the middle of Midtown Cafe in Nashville speaking of restaurants shout out to Randy Rayburn in the middle of Midtown Cafe I started bawling I just started sobbing in front of my friends because he saw like he saw me he saw me and that's what recovery friends do they can really see you and and they don't say things with judgment but they notice the way he said that I can see the pain all over your face not you've got to stop eating or you're doing this wrong or you're using food inappropriately yeah he said I can see the pain all over your face I know you're not okay and that led to a conversation where I went to what I call trauma camp I went to a place called the bridge in in Bowling Green Kentucky and I stayed there for a week and worked on childhood stuff so there's roots to all this oh yeah I

35:54think for us as people recovering from addiction there's some trauma roots to all of this so I went through a bunch of childhood stuff there and was able to on the other side of that just feel much better and really started some intense therapy to deal with all that stuff I found a new fellowship that deals with childhood trauma which I won't name for seventh tradition purposes or not seventh 11th I say 11th I'm still learning traditions man come on I'm gonna get kicked out of the 12-step club but anyway I found a new fellowship that helps deal specifically with processing what happened to you as a kid and and I found a whole new piece my food issues are still there but I even have some more peace around them and as me as a person and the food issues are more in control so yes I did have a seven-year blow up I did have a seven-year where I needed to reset and yeah now I'm just rededicated to recovery and in a whole new and more complete way that's fantastic I'm you know sometimes I if you're like stub your toe and you're like damn it like and it's the most painful moment and you're it's like you get through it right there but you're like God it's just and you get it's just there and it just sucks or my brain goes when I do that as I go I'm gonna do this again in my life I just wish I knew when I was gonna stub my toe so I could prepare for it and I know that I'm going to get sick I know I'm gonna break something I know it's gonna happen at some point in my life I just wish I knew when so it wasn't such a damn it kind of a moment I have a feeling like with recovery I'm gonna have those moments and I just I'm looking for the insight as to when I can expect them there's a

38:00fair amount of research that says six years six through eight okay are can be a little tricky can be a good time to reset I'll put it I'll rephrase it positively your six or eight are a good time to look what's happening a little closer and reset gotcha well I appreciate you saying all that you did and I I'm gonna I'm gonna get your number and I think it's always nice to have another friend that's right there because Lord knows I always need people to talk to and you need more people calling you I do actually you know what Brandon um honestly I know you're making a joke there but fresh perspectives are great it keeps it keeps their recovery fresh and it keeps and you'll offer me perspective that none of my friends do you know and it's great and so yes I would love to stay connected that way well I'm gonna use your favorite word let's pivot let's do the pivot that could be like a dance you know it's a great time we're gonna take just a moment to hear a word from trust 20 reopening your restaurant comes with great responsibility are you doing everything you can to keep your staff and guests safe with trust 20 certification you and your guests can feel confident you're doing everything you can to keep everyone safe trust 20 is home to the new standard of restaurant safety and consumer comfort by becoming a trust 20 certified restaurant diners will know the practices you follow to create a safe and healthy environment have confidence you're growing above and beyond minimal requirements have comfort knowing your practices have been independently verified to learn more visit trust 20.co that's trust the number 20.co trust 20 restaurants have access to a suite of resources that include expert-led training in four key areas individual consultants communication material and

40:01signage for Nashville restaurant radio listeners now through the end of July you get free certification when you visit trust 20.co and tell them you heard about them on Nashville restaurant radio trust 20 partnering with you to keep everyone safe I played yesterday I played my first episode I played my first episode ever March 13th was the first episode and I use the word pivot three times in the episode I was saying it way before it was way out of like I was saying it back at the beginning of the pandemic so you know Brandon props to you I'm old school here you're OG so I did this podcast yesterday where I talked about March 13th I replayed my old episode like I said March 12th my heart was 100% dripping Nashville love we had just had a tornado we're 10 days past the tornado there is there is so much unity and yeah I mean my sister's a director for hands-on Nashville oh really yes wonderful organization holy smokes they're amazing she's one of the the top people over there and I talked to her around the March 10th 11th 12th my birthday is March 8th so I got to have one of the last like official birthday parties before everything was shut down but I talked to her and I said how are things going and she goes it's insane she's like I haven't stopped working in 10 days like literally you know 20 hours a day it's insane and she goes we have too many people volunteering we have too much stuff there's lines of people trying to drop off things for other people like it's just I don't know it's one of those dream scenarios where it's probably the Nashville that you and I grew up we love it's everything about what makes you

42:06want to talk to the Nashville community and then I'm on an airplane yesterday and I'm reading all the I just you know I follow the socials I'm on you know what these this podcast I'm all over the social media so I'm reading more social media now than ever have and it's just different I feel like the vibe but not as many just kind of turned into this there's almost like this vitriol this fashion house party and all the people pointing fingers and yelling and boycott this and how do you dare wear a mask don't like we've been I don't think we've ever been more divisive and I'm just curious of your opinion on all this well I appreciate I appreciate both of those observations about post tornado about how things are now here's what I found in my recovery I will always find what I'm looking for or I will always find what I'm seeking out so if I'm seeking out discord and drama I'm gonna find it but if I'm seeking out people who are doing well and who are loving and compassionate and concerned about I'm gonna find that too often if you talk to your sister there are still people volunteering and there are still people doing great things for the people in Nashville there are people who are doing good things there and are there are people showing up for hands-on national projects now not as many that's I'll buy into that but that's what I'm saying like what am I looking at what am I focusing on you know I work almost every Saturday morning work I volunteer almost every Saturday morning for food distribution outfit called one generation away Christian base what I love about them is no questions asked you don't qualify if you want food because of the pandemic you drive up pop open to your

44:10trunk and we're gonna put food in that trunk we're not gonna ask if you're documented we're not gonna ask what your income is if it's a brand new Mercedes Benz and you're wearing a $5,000 suit food is going in your trunk yeah you know nobody does any criminal background check if you want or need food you come some Saturdays there are too many volunteers some Saturdays I'm working like a dog because only 30 or 40 of us have shown up and I'm sprinting with the shopping cart to the cars and unloading it real fast because I got to go back and and and it as you know Nashville is rather warm in the summer yes and I've had to sit in a shade for ten minutes with a bottle of water hoping that I don't pass out or throw up so in both scenarios though when there aren't that many people there I'm looking like look at these people who did show up and it like me who are working extra hard to make up for our shortage of volunteers today I just I think that's a blessing and a beautiful thing I just and I also concentrate on these people need food and I'm here helping and it's wonderful the the thank yous that we get are inconsistent but man somebody who got their trunk filled up and they roll down both of their this has happened several times they'll roll down both of the windows and they'll just shout thank you and wave out the window or God bless you and it can be in several different languages as they're driving away and I if we weren't so busy I would just stop and start bawling because you know what we did that day made a huge difference for them so I hear what you're saying Brandon I also in recovery am trying to watch big sweeping phrases like Nashville's divided or we're not nearly

46:14as nice as we were X months ago or Nashville is the kindest city in the world are we I don't know but I do know that another recovery thing the one person I can control is me and it's not gonna do me any good to concentrate on who's not here for the volunteer effort it's not gonna do me any good to focus on oh gosh hands on Nashville isn't getting people like they used to it's not gonna do me any good to see two of my best friends fighting over a political issue or you know a preference or so and so is terrible for our nation there is great for our nation none of that does me any good so I really tried to stay out of that and focus on what's going right or well and luckily with my job in the Tennessee and I can do that like you choose who you put on your show and you choose who you give a microphone to right and you choose who you give a platform to I do so as long as you and I and others are shining a spotlight on positive beautiful stories of transformation and love and redemption then I feel like we're we're doing great that's a that's a beautiful answer it's a beautiful answer that answers the question through your eyes and the question that I posed on the podcast yesterday was I said I had John Miller I don't know if you know who John G Miller is he wrote a book called the question behind the question okay read it you should go read it it's great you would totally get it it's probably elementary to you but it is about personal accountability and not asking incorrect questions so incorrect questions being how come they never how come why don't they when is somebody going to train me why are it's it's place it's victim thinking and it's placing blame across

48:17other people and so I I went through this I said I'm so frustrated with people's perspectives out there and how come people keep posting about this Nash party and how come people are throwing people under the bus and I kind of thought like okay that's not the right question to ask the question that I need to ask doesn't come in front of my keyboard in this particular case it did come in front of a microphone but the question comes in front of a mirror and it's what can I do to make Nashville a great place what can I do to make my community better and the only person that can answer that question is me and if I keep waiting if I keep throwing this question out there for other people to change it's not it's not gonna work doesn't matter how many snarky comments I put on a Facebook post nobody's gonna change and if we all stop and look in the mirror and if we can all stop and go I'm gonna do things different and I'm gonna lead by example what you just said you said I'm not I'm gonna look for the beauty I was just in Riverside California and there's so much trash it was amazing how much trash was around the interstate just just there's trash everywhere but the backdrop is this desert and these ten thousand foot mountains and it's all around big bear and there's all this stuff around you and it was almost like you can drive down the interstate and you can look right next to you and see the trash or you could look around you and see these gigantic majestic mountains and you kind of go which what's your take what do you want to look at what do you want do I want to see the trash can I look at the trash and that can I just completely get absorbed with the trash or am I gonna look at the mountains and identify that I want to see beauty and I think that's what you're saying right and and you were right about the leading bags so is

50:20me saying God Nashville is sucking right now where are the volunteers that were back in March is that helpful or is me posting a picture with my buddies handing out food at the food distribution more helpful like which one which one am I as a third party person going to respond to better like oh this guys look like they're having fun or doing something meaningful passing out food versus oh I just got yelled at by this Yahoo on social media like I'm gonna respond me personally I'm gonna respond to the I and I literally did say hey you want to come out and do food distribution with us that's how I got started a friend's like hey you want to do this and I was like hell yeah let's go as opposed to if Sam would have called that's my friend who got me involved the same would have called and went what the hunger problem is growing exponentially during the pandemic and you're not doing anything about it you lazy shit excuse my language and you should get out there and do something I would hang up the phone probably and be like angry and probably not do anything but I sure as heck went out there and had fun with him he approached me the right way right and so we can do the same thing well I think that you and I are unique in the sense that we have a platform I mean you know I think that there's a couple different ways that's why I proposed the question I'm not telling you what to do but I would like for you to look in the mirror if every single person out there stops pointing turns the finger back around to themselves right says hmm what can I do it's just I wrote a blog about kind of the civil rights movement I said what can I do to stop racism it's not everybody else it's me look in the mirror and start with what I see first and from there I can know what to do but if every single person out there says

52:21today says you know what it's good stuff I'm gonna go look in the mirror and I'm gonna start with myself I'm gonna stop pointing fingers I'm gonna stop being a victim I'm just gonna identify where I can be better and I'm just gonna make that change that's the answer to the world's problems right if you said we have a platform everybody has a platform true everybody has social media everybody has a friend well everybody has a platform Sam I didn't get out there to do the food distribution because I saw something on a platform it's cuz Sam called me on the phone you know it was it's a one-on-one I mean everybody everybody is a platform for sure so that's a that's that's that's good so your your feelings so your feelings about Nashville are you choose to see the positives you're looking for the rainbow when it's raining I mean that sounds a little Pollyanna ish but that's that is in fact the case yes now I'm a human being so I can get caught up I'll read 50 articles about you know whatever let's say Congress fighting over stimulus or something crappy happening you know I can get caught up in that so I'm a human being I'm not like you know but I can adjust pretty quickly and I can make sure that what I'm doing stays on the positive and healthy side okay so let's adjust like I used a different word let's adjust the conversation pivot pivot let's adjust the conversation and I'll ask you well I feel like it's important for Nashville restaurant radio that we at some point talk about restaurants fantastic one of my favorite topics it's like now I can expense this we've talked about

54:23restaurants like now I can expense it we've officially talked about restaurants it's work-related right we are in a crazy time restaurants are at 50% bars are closed we're supposed to be closing at 10 o'clock p.m. you probably over your 30 years have met some people who work in restaurants or own restaurants right a few of those people say that again I said you've met a few of those people oh yes many billions yeah what is your take on how our local leadership is responding to what's happening in to our local businesses and in particular restaurants well I'm gonna cop out on you a little bit my take is I don't really have one because I'm not an ex I mean again go back I I have learned to own what I know and disown what I don't or and I don't know I'm glad I'm not the health director I'm glad I'm not dr. Alex Young here I'm glad I'm not mayor Cooper I have no idea what's right and wrong I do know that I have a lot of empathy for restaurant workers and for restaurant owners because you know that's $600 stimulus people were a lot of folks were making more money sitting at home particularly in the restaurant industry than they would have if they would have gone back to work and that's a tough decision to make right for everybody no I don't know all I do know is I do feel like I'm glad that Nashville

56:25in terms of restaurant and bars has erred on the side of cautious what's that we think have we well when it's when it's enforced right and then we have all these pictures of all the downtown you know huge I mean yeah this downtown is just a shit you know yeah I so I don't get I don't get it I do appreciate that it is a really weird and fine line to walk and I'm really glad I'm not the one doing it yeah I mean it's a lot of the people listening to the show are restaurant owners or restaurant workers people that work in the industry and I don't know I just I'm kind of like you I'm I'm not asking that question with my own agenda looking to start an argument I'm looking for answers yeah well I'll tell you where I'm comfortable I'm comfortable sitting outside on the patio like at Martin's barbecue or all names I'm really comfortable at urban grub on 12 South because they literally have dividers between the tables and all the staff is wearing masks and they have hand sanitizer on every table I'm comfortable at these places that are you know taking coronavirus seriously I think there are a lot of national places that are doing a really really good job with that and as Mary has said repeatedly if I'm not comfortable in a place I turn around and walk out I went to a recovery house it's not just restaurants or we're talking about restaurant but I remember I went to a recovery clubhouse and my buddy and I were gonna go to a meeting and everybody was congregated outside without masks on really close together and we call each other from the car like I'm gonna do no well we'll have a meeting on the phone on the way home but we're not going into where it's not safe but I think there are many many many national restaurants who were doing

58:27it right and who are doing it safely there are I think and I for one I don't know if it's right or wrong and choosing to patronize them I am I am going into I've also have a grub hub door-dash bill that is ridiculous so I'm trying to support national restaurants that way too well good so I agree with you I think that we need to be at least ordering to-go food we need to be supporting our locally owned and operated restaurants right I'm not I don't I don't I'm advocating not ordering takeout from Red Lobster well okay so you know what so let me tell you how I've wrestled with that but too and and I will say that 80% of my ordering out and dining in has been from locally owned restaurants but you know who works at Chewie's Nashvilleians that's that's different is that is that that's not local wait a minute and the chicken chicken boom boom sauce come on man chicken the boom enchiladas are fantastic whoa nothing better girl anyway what I'm saying is I want to give tips to there are Nashvilleians working at Chewie's and Red Lobster and Olive Garden and all the other national chains so I don't totally cut them out of my personal dining because they are national and are you also and people are gonna think I'm making a ridiculous amount of money at the Tennessean I am not but I am tipping 30 40% for the whole time during the pandemic I've been hearing on 12 South that customers are tipping 50% so I appreciate that extra effort to really try to help the the service staff I completely agree with we

01:00:29did a whole episode on tipping a few weeks ago and I kind of had a little bit of a rant on tipping for pointless tipping is what I called it no I just believe that tipping should be something that you do because somebody provided excellent service right but not today today in a pandemic you tip no matter what there's no oh well they the drinks took like no there are shorts like everybody tips big right now and you should right more talking about the place that you walk in and like you know and you order a cup of coffee or something and or a sandwich and they flip the little screen over and then they go well you want to leave a tip and you go you're just gonna make the sandwich and call my name and I mean have the same with 20% surcharge now because you took the order like you're not part of the 213 like why am I leaving 20 to 25 percent to somebody for taking an order that's kind and I think a lot of people out there are like did something happen that I missed why am I to hear you arbitrary things so it's more that I think I totally hear you I want people I want to I want to bring service back I want people to go above and beyond and do stuff that's abnormal and amazing because somebody wants to reward them for for really truly creating an experience I believe in tipping for that now also coming to work during a pandemic when you could be at home making 875 a week I believe in rewarding that too but then and nothing against staying at home making 875 a week I don't know your finance I don't anybody's finance situation if that was available to me I can't say I wouldn't do something different right I mean I'm not I'm not jumping on one side or the other but if you did come to work and you were doing your thing yeah

01:02:30I'm leaving a ridiculous tip right now for sure everybody that goes out to eat needs to leave ridiculous tips and I wish I could do it at the grocery store like I want to be like thank you Kroger Aldi Publix worker I would like to give you $10 just for being here because you're working in a dangerous place you can those people well I have if given a chance like if you know how those Publix folks are particularly persistent about following you out to your car with your they won't they I don't think they're allowed to accept tips that well they're not but they do because I've done I've done that several times or a five or ten dollar bill I'm like I know it says no tipping but I really want you to have this and I would say 80% of them take it well you know where I tip at the grocery store and I mentioned this in my what's that as they should I mean you're a frontline worker really truly you are dealing with the public all the time and service may not be wearing masks and God bless well I took the butcher nice ago I like center-cut filets I'm like special right so I say if they only have like the tips out and I say hey can you go in the back and cut I want like a barrel cut you know like a good 10 ounce fillet and the guy goes this is what's available then I go okay I'll choose that but the guy goes yeah man no problem give me a second I'll take care of you that guy gets a five spot because he's going above and beyond and doing something that's taking care of the gas that he didn't have to do that question where's the butcher that went back and got you the center cut Kroger really yep it was a surprise answer I thought you're gonna say some like trendy snooty butcher Porter Road the house what's it called Porter Road butcher yeah I thought you're gonna say

01:04:32some local upscale Kroger they did that for you that's awesome I live I live out in the Bellevue area and right off highway 100 and Temple Road so I'm right there that's my it's my local Kroger and I you know I'm a points guy I like to get cheap gas it's right there it's easy but yeah if I go pick up steaks or something I always ask him hey I if they have the steaks there I'll just buy what's in the rack but if they're you know if they don't look great then I you know I know the difference between a good piece of meat and not and I ask for it and if they give it to me then I always hook him up and now you know kind of like you kind of trade him now they know when I come in and ask for they go yep no problem sir like there's not even a question now they just know go ahead and do it fantastic they're like oh this is gonna walk into the Bellevue Kroger meat counter and go give me the Brandon still treatment they have no idea you go give me the gigantic annoying guy treatment oh that's awesome I love that so Brad we've been on we've been on here for about an hour and I feel like I could talk to you for days time limit well I don't have a time limit kind of the fun thing about a podcast we talked for three hours if you want I might have a thing or two to do here it's my birthday today Brandon yes that for exciting I'm sharing part of my birthday with you I am honored happy birthday thank you so I say that to say this again part of my I'm a still a recovering codependent so I feel like man I got to get to these text messages I got to get to those Facebook birthday wishes and totally understand respond to them recovering codependent people I still need your love so if you're listening to this he'll get with you shortly it's okay all the people on Facebook that need your validation that you right because they're not gonna be

01:06:35able to go through their day without me putting a smiley face exactly it's so stupid isn't it and you it is what it is we're talking to the city here what do you have coming up what do you have what stories you working on what can people how can people find you follow you all of that let's get some plugs out there well very kind of you say so honestly if you Google Brad Schmitz and Tennessee and and Schmidt is SCH MITT in Tennessee and you'll find the work what I have coming up that I'm kind of excited about was fun to do is I think a week from Sunday August 16th I asked folks to share with me their pandemic projects you know what have you been doing to your house too I found a woman who learned the Celtic harp during the pandemic her son took it up for a while and then abandoned it and she has this expensive harp in her house and she's like screw it I'm gonna learn how to play and she took online lessons she worked out these online lessons love that you know several amazing landscaping projects that people are doing by themselves yeah several kitchen makeovers oh my gosh what's that what's that one that I really liked oh spice drawer I found a woman who has the perfect spice drawer you know do you have your spices all over the place like I do like on two different shelves and they're all different containers yeah I have a lazy lazy Susan that has right they're all mixed in yeah and it's so hard to find you're like where's the paprika son of a where's the where's the lemon pepper I'm making fish and I really want lemon pepper and I thought she bought 40 uniform glass hexagon shaped jars got her husband's label maker and put all this took the spices out of all those

01:08:35random containers put them all in uniform labeled them alphabetized them and laying them on the side in a drawer so she pulls it out and she can immediately find time she can immediately find the rosemary and the drawer looks super pretty because they're glass jars that are see-through and they have all different colors that was possibly my favorite so that pandemics project story is coming out August 16th and then we're gonna have the story of the young man who went through a horrible burn industrial accident at work and his recovery and how his mom really helped him walk them through it how do you find these stories do you just have like an idea and you go that's a great question I honestly don't know the answer um part of its being in Nashville for 30 years and people will say hey I got a friend who and I got a buddy so a lot of it is word-of-mouth a lot of it is direct people pitching stories yeah through email brad at Tennessean comm if you have one of those brad at Tennessee and t e n n e s s e a n com people will pitch me stories people who have been featured in my columns will be like hey I have a friend who is like yes let's get your friend in there I also have an eye for toward diversity and inclusiveness so I really try to make sure that we include people of color LGBTQ immigrants I really try to include the whole beautiful you know array of people that we have here in Nashville in those stories and so that's been really fun too so sometimes when I go into one community then they'll you know again sort of keep saying hey we also have this so we have this woman who's doing this incredible thing for school children or like oh my

01:10:36gosh one of my favorite I don't know what just made me think of the story one of my favorite stories there was a police officer who's assigned to the schools and she I don't know what the right word is she became interested in the children with special needs in her middle school she just felt connected to them for some reason and would spend a little more time in that classroom and and the police do a summer camp for kids every summer in Nashville well there was no and the kids with special needs oftentimes couldn't attend because they weren't saying wheelchair accessible or they didn't have the staff who might be able to handle certain special needs so she on her own dime with her friends and donations from friends staffed and ran her own camp for kids with special needs every summer wow isn't that the greatest story in the world that's the greatest story in the world that's it I love that and gosh I wish I could remember her name but she is so freaking awesome and officer Angela Booker officer Angela Booker Metro PD and I just love that story so much and so that brought me to another police officer story which brought me to another so stories sort of beget each other if that makes any sense yeah no absolutely what was the name of the place you volunteer at on Saturday mornings one generation away and if you have inspired people who would like to come and help on Saturday mornings can you give any more information about that particular charity if you Google one generation away food one generation because there are a couple different one generation away agencies but one generation away food or one generation away Franklin Franklin they have a list of their upcoming distributions here's what you need to do to be a volunteer this is another thing I love about one

01:12:37generation away because remember you can just pull your car up and get food right as a recipient if you want to volunteer here's what you do show up just show up no paperwork no forms no physicals no pledges to any religious beliefs if you they ask you to be nice that's it that's that counts me out volunteers show up at eight some of us show up a little bit earlier and you park your car and volunteer parking they would ask you to wear a mask they'll give you gloves and you sort of get in where you fit in you start like you start to do it bagging cucumbers or you start you know unloading lettuce from the truck it's just it's wonderful just helping just get in there and help mm-hmm all right one generation away Franklin check him out Google them Google Brad Schmidt he's not the chiropractor in Minnesota I found is there one I just kidding there there there is a chiropractor somewhere named Brad Schmidt there's a Brad Schmidt MD if you put if you type in Nashville after Brad Schmidt he's the only one that comes up on Google if you don't that little you'll find the other ones yeah Google Brad Schmidt read his column in the Tennessean and thank you so much for joining us one thing I do one thing I like to do for every guest that comes on the show and I will let you get on to your birthday and replying to everybody on all the socials which I will be one of those people here shortly what I like to give everybody the last word so to give you the floor anything you want to say a final word anything you want to say to the people of Nashville the restaurant scene whoever is listening you're just kind of your final thought your journey thank you for is yours take as long as you

01:14:39I've been waiting for this moment for decades do it people of Nashville I do have a final thought and that's this brand I want to thank you for including in your in your podcast in your mission I want to tell you how inspired I am by you creating a safe place for vulnerability and authenticity I want to thank you for sharing your recovery journey which is a brave thing to do I want to tell you that the more folks who are encouraging vulnerability and creating safe places for it the more kind and compassionate our community is going to be and I very much feel like you are part of the solution and I applaud you and want to encourage you in that and want to thank you for letting me participate in it Wow thank you so much that means a lot to me for sure you're an amazing man and I would love to have you back on again we'll get even deeper and again thank you for this time on your birthday and appreciate you I literally am going to be waiting for your birthday message on Facebook what if it's already there oh great day thanks a lot Brian I really do appreciate you big thank you to Brad Schmidt for coming on Nashville restaurant radio and telling a bit about his story I know that he's done it before but it takes a lot for him to come on and do that if you are somebody out there right now and you heard any of that and you one of them or you wants me to talk to you please feel free to send me a direct message I'm happy to call it you talk whatever might be and we really appreciate everybody out there we love you Nashville hope you're staying safe love you guys bye