Gloria Johnson

00:00Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, the tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello Music City and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host. We are powered by Gordon Food Service and we are joined with Crystal DeLuna-Bogan. Hello. Hi. Hi. Okay, today's a very fun day. This is a legit intro. This isn't even like fun. This is like an important interview we're about to do. This is an important interview. We have Gloria Johnson today, U.S. State Representative for District 90. She is running for U.S. Senate against Marsha Blackburn.

01:01Oh wow. I mean, okay, she is, I mean, this is like, this is going to be emotional. I mean, she is so important right now in Tennessee. You know, we don't want to seem one-sided about everything, but I mean, to me, there is no side. I mean, we're not going to pretend we are big Gloria Johnson fans over here. We are. We are big fans. Yeah. This is not, this is a biased interview. Yeah. This is like, I'm a big fan and I want to do whatever I can to help promote what she is doing because I am, yes, I am in. I mean, I don't, yeah, I don't even know how to, can't be into what she's, I mean. If you don't know who she is, she is one of the Tennessee Three with Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. She stood up for the world community with her gun control after the covenant shooting. She's continued to stand up for women's rights and she's just an absolute badass.

02:03Yeah. She's six foot three. Yeah. Like literally she's about to, her campaign is standing tall for Tennessee. And I like that because I'm a tall guy, but that's just a silly thing. A tall person. Let's talk about her expectations because I really want to know, I kind of want to talk to her about the covenant shooting and around that. And then her dad was an FBI agent and I want to learn like that day leading into that moment. What was that experience like for her and how did it propel her into all of this? I just kind of want to get that backstory. Yeah. I want to hear from her point of view what that day was like for her because we all kind of know, we all know I was in my restaurant. Yeah. It was, there was an eeriness that day. We all kind of felt, I mean, we were down the street. Our restaurant is in that community down the street from the covenant school. I was standing outside of the Green Hills Grill just watching helicopters fly over. You were so close. Yeah. Catherine Coons ate at the restaurant two days before. Wow. So I mean, like all of those who were regulars, I mean, Green Hills Grill is right there.

03:05I mean, we, I mean, all those people, I mean, this is our community. Yes. I mean, and this has touched so many people, you know, not just obviously our restaurant community, we're, we're having her come in here and, and, you know, we do want to have, I do, I'm interested also in what her, you know, policies and what she wants to do for small business. Um, you know, we are being pummeled right now with just rising costs and inflation and everything. Like what, what is, what is her stance on supporting us, small businesses? I do want to touch that too, but I definitely want to hear this huge part of why she's become so heroic to us in the community, um, and how she continues to support that mission. You know, she seems like if you look at Blackburn, if you look like her Twitter, like everything is about our country's going to hell and these illegal immigrants and we got to get these people out of the country and Donald Trump, Donald Trump, and she just seems to really care about what her constituents want.

04:06Like she recognizes what the people want and that's what she's going for. She's not, you know, Marsha Blackburn is ranked 12th of all politicians and money that's been taken from the NRA. Yeah, she's definitely not hiding any of that there. You know, we, I also follow, follow her just to kind of see, I mean, she's our representative. She's like, uh, it's, it's laughable, laughable how she does not represent. I feel the state of Tennessee and I think that's what Gloria wants. She wants to represent the state of Tennessee and the people, the state of Tennessee. And I, yeah, I thought that's what I'm interested to hear her, um, and just, you know, how, how we can make this happen. Obviously we're going up against somebody who's held that seat and has such a strong support because of, you know, the fact that we're in a red state, but, uh, I don't know, how, what do we, what can we do?

05:08You know, what can we do as business owners, restaurateurs, like, how can we support her? Um, that's what I'm interested to, to ask. So I can, I can personally do what I can do. Let's do that. This is how I, when I ask, how can I support, let's get her on the show as fast as we can. Let's do this. I have a couple of housekeeping notes to let you know, Caroline was going to be on this episode. What this was going to be Caroline's like last episode, we've had to reschedule this one a couple of times that she wasn't able to make it here today, but I am so happy and honored that you are here today, Crystal, with me, like, I'm just going to try and not like, get emotional. I know you're very emotional today. You're watering up right now. I think this is a, this is a big, this is a big deal. I think this is, this speaks a lot to the podcast and how people respect this podcast and know that this is the mission of why you started this in the first place. Um, you know, this is a true testament, like people actually held validity of your listeners, super humble right now that this is actually happening.

06:11I do want to mention about sponsors. This episode is not going to be sponsored by anybody today. Oh, wow. OK, this is an episode I'm actually going to donate the sponsorship from this episode to her campaign. Amazing. So what I'm going to say is we have some amazing sponsors. I don't know which companies that we represent here would want to rep. I don't know their political stance and I don't, I don't want to by putting people on this episode, I don't want to endorse nor. So this episode is brought to you by us. Wow. This is brought to you by us. And I want to thank all of the sponsors that we have in Robin's Insurance and What Chefs Want and Cali Sober and Gordon Food Service and Lee and Associates, the Miller Chandler and Leanne James to Music City Beer Company and Fatbottom Brewery and Campo Bravo and Super Source and Sharpies. I just want to say thank you to everybody and try tax linens. I mean, there's so many amazing sponsors we have. Thank you. But this episode today is going to be an independent episode.

07:17Brought to you by us and she's about to be here, so we'll see you after the episode to hear our thoughts. So let's jump in right now, Gloria Johnson. Super excited today to welcome in Gloria Johnson. Gloria is our Tennessee House of Representatives for District 90, and she is running for U.S. Senate. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. Thank you so much for having me. Well, this is an absolute honor. We kind of did an intro and I said this isn't a biased interview. We're big fans and we would love to just learn more about you. So I also want to welcome in Crystal. Crystal, hi. I'm here. I'm so excited to be here today. I really am. Brandon's going to get emotional, just so you know, Gloria. I you know, I was doing some research this morning and I was watching a video, your video, after the Tennessee three, both Justins were expelled and you were not and you were standing there. You had Bo Mitchell on one side of you and they were there and you were kind of speaking to me and I was watching that and I got emotional this morning. I started to tear up.

08:38He was tearing. He was definitely emotional and I was like, oh, what are you watching? I was like, oh, you're wow. I mean, you went heavy. I mean, I well, I think that day was, you know, that day was so emotionally charged and everything leading up to it. And I think there was just such a lackluster bullshit response from the Republicans. And I just standing up like that. Can we walk through that kind of that whole scenario, like what happened? Absolutely. I don't know if that's where you want to start. Anywhere else you want to start? No, I mean, I think I think that's a good place to start. I think you start with, you know, I'm sitting in committee and hear about the shooting. I was sitting in Government Operations Committee and someone texted me about the shooting, you know, and so I'm trying to do my committee work. But I'm also thinking about, you know, what's happening. You hear, you know, people are shot. You don't know what's, you know, if there's anybody that's died and all of that. And so you're just kind of waiting to hear is everything OK?

09:41And and so after that, as someone who has been present at a school where there was a shooting, you know, I have a pretty good understanding of all the how the community feels and how the people at the school and the children and it just all kind of rushes right back. But after that, you know, people have a tendency, if you've ever seen it, if you start talking about it immediately to say, oh, you're making it political, it's too soon. Well, talk to the parents at Covenant. They wanted it to be talked about it. It was not too soon for them. I mean, as far as we're concerned, it was too late. And so we start immediately talking about it. That gets our colleagues across the aisle, you know, all up in their feels and angers about actually having a conversation about how this has got to stop happening. And then people just started showing up at the Capitol because they know Tennessee families know that we do not have to live this way, that this is a policy choice.

10:51No other country lives like this. This is a policy choice that we are making to repeal every gun safety law that we've had over the last 10 or 15 years and do nothing to put protections in place for our communities. And so people are angry, they're furious and they're showing up. And, you know, they're showing up by the thousands. And I watch and we're talking with them, meeting with as many as we can and talking with them. And my colleagues across the aisle are basically just saying, you know, no, we're not going to we're not going to do anything. And then that morning when there were thousands and thousands of people there and I got to session early, we usually start at nine. I got there about seven thirty. I knew people who were coming to to make their voices heard before session. And so I showed up early to talk to folks and I was talking to so many moms who said, I just dropped my kids off at school and I hope they're safe when I go to get them or meet the bus or whatever.

11:59Just tears in their eyes. Yeah, just terrified of is my child's going to be safe? And we had these conversations with so many families in the rotunda outside the capital. And then when it's time to go onto the floor, they have the highway patrol, you know, put the ropes up so they can come in without, you know, brushing, excuse me, brushing the people and, you know, can't have that. Heaven's no, can't have that. And and maybe perhaps having to look at them and like you literally see as they walk in, they make no eye contact with the kids like seem like one side predominantly with students and they were yelling, please protect us. And they didn't even make eye contact. And like I said, the kids were yelling, please protect us. And that's a lot of peace sounds. And so I think, you know, they're yelling, they're trying to be heard. And sometimes, you know, you do a little spittle when you're yelling or whatever.

13:02And they they were all coming. They spit on us. They spit on they did not spit on you. I mean, stop. These are children saying, please protect us. And the response is they're spitting like, yeah, that's what these are. Children asking for protection. This is not a these are real people asking this thing like, wow. And kids, you know, a generation of kids that have grown up doing active shooter drills every year, you know, I didn't have to do that when I was in school. Didn't even have to think twice about it. And so they just no eye contact went in and then acted like that. And then when we got in, we somebody mentioned we had a thing at the well. And I think it was Representative Freeman who spoke about about covenant break briefly. But normally at that time, we have what we call welcoming and honoring. And we are allowed to everybody, you know, if you know somebody who's there or somebody in the gallery, you acknowledge that this, you know, this person is there. And so we all wanted to welcome and honor the families.

14:05Some of the families that we knew or had met that morning and and say, thank you for coming. We care about this issue. We want to talk about it. You know, we want to do something to solve this problem. Can I can I stop you for one second? I mean, that want, though, to want to help people who are hurting. It seems like that is just a that's a natural thing for somebody in your shoes who would want to help their constituents and people. Let's let's help you do this, right? I mean, that's a very logical thing for human beings to connect. At the core of my being, I had to acknowledge that they were there and why they were there. You just have to. And so when they wouldn't let us do it in welcoming, honoring, we thought maybe we could slip it in. We were taught when we're talking about bills. And every time that was first of all, they never even called on me. Not once. And then when they would call on just one of either Rep.

15:09Pearson or Rep. Jones, they would cut their mic if they tried to say something. Can they do that? I mean, is that legal? Can you just cut somebody's mic? I mean, isn't this supposed to be a democratic process? This is like a foreshadowing of the last whole session they've just had right now. This is this is the argument, right? Yeah, you know, I had not I was there when it was a supermajority when Beth Harwell was speaker. I don't recall her ever not calling on me if my hand was raised and never cutting my mic. And I think that she's had some respect for the democratic process, even though they still had him a supermajority. They could pass whatever they wanted. But this particular group since 2018, when Glen Cassidy came in as speaker, you know, and what a hot mess he was ending up with indictments and everything else. And then Cameron speaker, Cameron Sexton comes along and he's actually a little he tries to be a little quieter about what he's doing, but it's probably worse than what Cassidy was doing.

16:18And it's literally they don't like the idea of democracy. They are they must be terribly afraid of the strength of their policies because they don't want to have a debate about them on the floor. They just absolutely don't. They want to silence us. They get up there and say, how great this particular bill is going to be. And they want we would like to just pass it without us saying anything. And they do everything they can to limit what we say in response to their legislation, which shows you if you can't thoroughly debate that bill in front of the people. Then maybe that's not a great policy. If you're trying to ram it through before anybody sees it, that's a problem. And that is what's happening at the Tennessee Capitol over the last 10 years, but but really at an incredibly enhanced level in the last four years.

17:19And you would say to you, we are on the spotlight of the world right now. I mean, this national news when Sarah Night Live is making fun of Nashville. Yeah, I mean, it's embarrassing. But also on the on the better side of it, even though there is a super majority and the points still get heard nationally, though, I mean, they are completely being ridiculed in front of the country. And, you know, so when Justin or you, any represented representative Pearson or, you know, like whenever whenever they stand up, this makes national news. And I think that's probably the most positive thing to come out of this, is that their voices are really getting amplified and heard at this moment. I don't think they care. Yeah. Oh, no, definitely. Yeah. The Senator Jones is going to say what's on his mind. Well, and what the. Luckily for us, the Republicans keep doubling down on and highlighting everyone. You know, they keep doing more bringing bills to get rid of us and stuff like that.

18:23It's like you all are just making yourself look more and more foolish. But, you know, that day when after it was after being cut off and to say we have got to acknowledge these people and the guys were standing at my desk and we were talking about a bill that had to do with education. And it's a bill I really desperately wanted to speak on because, you know, I wanted to point out something that probably most people who aren't a teacher didn't understand about this particular bill. And they and they just wouldn't call on me, you know. And at that point, it's like we got to go. And so we just walked to the well. I mean, it wasn't planned in advance. It wasn't, you know, we had talked about doing something if we weren't allowed to talk, but we didn't really. There was. Well, there was no plan. But it just I was compelled and they were as well to just go and recognize those people that were hurting so badly and that were so ignored by the supermajority.

19:25And so, you know, we went to the well, we knew that within a few seconds they'd cut our mic, you know, they cut that mic. And I think they cut the mic within 12 seconds. Wow. And they cut the mic and called a recess. So when the when the bullhorn came out, it was recess, you know, technically, because they were allowed to be in the well after the recess period. Right. Wasn't that the argument for. But also, I mean, it it's I thought there was some rule against speaking without permission or whatever. And apparently that's not even a rule. Wow. So so what did we do? Really? You know, we stepped outside a protocol. Yes, but stepped outside of what they wanted you to say. And everybody heard you. And if you watched them while we were just talking to the people, they lost it because they really did not know what to do.

20:26And it's funny because like as a school teacher, I would have known what to do. Yeah, there you go. But they were, you know, just someone had usurped their power and roles and they were just lost. I've never I mean, they were talk about triggered. I mean, man, if we could have gotten some tight shots on their faces and just, oh, man, so was that energy? What was the energy at that point? Was it kind of just like all over the place? I mean, you guys knew we were doing this. We're doing we're all in. It just felt it felt good to be able to speak to the people and the people spoke back, you know, they started to chant those kinds of things. It just let us know that they heard us and they knew somebody in that room was fighting for them. And I know all of my colleagues on the Democratic caucus are fighting for them. But I really felt we just had to acknowledge that from the floor.

21:30And and so that's what we did. And I can say that afterwards we were talking about it and we all felt like it had been a real rough first year of the session. There were so many anti LGBTQ bills, which is really horrible session for people, you know, for the people of Tennessee. And for the first time with all those thousands of people there, we felt hope. We really felt this hope of what we could build and how we could fight back. And so as bad as all of that was, it really made us hopeful. When I think about the day that maybe with 24 hours notice, they organized that arm locking arms from Vanderbilt Hospital. I was there with my father. I was there, too. Yeah. To from Vanderbilt to the Capitol, you know, just with very little organizing and made it happen.

22:32And that was just such an amazing moment. And you know who was organizing that? Mothers. Yes. Yes, it was. Mothers were they band together. There were T-shirts made. I mean, I mean, the organization of the email that told you exactly where you were to stand and how to do this in a peaceful way that didn't disrupt local businesses. I mean, there were it was beautifully orchestrated. I mean, I was in tears. I was holding hands with another school teacher. And it was just so my daughter was so proud to be there. She didn't, you know, she was five. So there was obviously a there was a she was she was four. I mean, there was there was obviously a censored version of what she thought. So when she asked me why we were there, it was because we want to protect kids. And that's all we had to say. And she felt very proud being there and seeing other kids there. And as a mom, that's and that's all I could do. I felt really helpless. But it made me have some kind of hope seeing so many people there.

23:35And cars were honking and people were showing their support. It was beautiful. Yeah. And we need all of those people to come out and vote. We need we need that energy to continue. Is that the thing? Right. We've just got to get. This last session was really rough, too. Yeah, it was it was really rough because, again, we saw more laws to, you know, arm 18 year olds with long guns and walking around anywhere. They want to walk in Tennessee. And everything that they're doing is putting more guns on our streets. And these folks can. They don't see the hypocrisy in saying, well, you know, you can't do anything at all to for protections for the Second Amendment. And but all the other amendments, well, we can mess with them all day long, but not this Second Amendment for whatever reason. And, you know, we in the Tennessee Constitution, where it talks about guns, it says that people have the right to to have have firearms.

24:43But the legislature has the right to regulate firearms for the safety of the public. They have they had a bill this year to make a constitutional amendment to remove the second part of the sentence. You know, they say, oh, we love the Constitution. We love our Constitution. But boy, they want to rip the parts out they don't like. I mean, there's common sense laws that we can pass and like making sure that people have to secure their guns and making sure that there's background checks like these. These are not crazy things. And I don't know why you need an AR 15 like the assault rifles. I don't it doesn't make logical sense to me. I don't understand it. And I the amount of fighting for it, like it's just it's not. The way I look at it, the way they see the world, they're afraid of everything. They're afraid of people who look different than them, people who love differently than them, people who worship differently than them or people who don't worship.

25:47No wonder. I mean, it's amazing they walk out their door in the morning. And so no wonder they think they have to take a gun with them. I mean, I don't I can't even imagine if I was so afraid of the world around me like they are. I wouldn't leave my house. That's genius. The way she thinks is so good. Oh, my God. That's true. Change, can I change course just a little bit? Sure. Growing up, I want to I'm going to go back to your childhood a little bit. Yeah, that was well. Well, I'm just basic from your website. I'm reading that your father was in the FBI. Correct. And your father actively went after the KKK. Correct. And the KKK actively went after your father. You had to sleep in the hallway to avoid gunshots from people trying to. First, we had to move out of the house.

26:50So what happened was there was a Jewish synagogue, probably less than a mile from our house. We actually heard the explosion. And so my father left and went to pick up his partner. I think they had been surveilling the KKK through the office and everything. And he my dad went and picked up his partner. And then they went to one of the houses of one of the leaders. They knew to be a leader. And literally, they were three of them were driving back as my dad and his partner, you know, came by the house. And so they arrested them right there. And so what they did, they threatened to kill our whole family. And so how old were you at this time? I was six. Oh, my God. Yeah. So we were my sister. She was she was 11. My I was six. My brother was five. And so we moved out and moved in with some friends for a few weeks until they rounded up everybody and everybody.

27:57And it's hard to say you rounded up everybody in the KKK, because, you know, who knows in that area of Jackson, Mississippi. But is that where you grew up in Jackson, Mississippi? Well, that's what we were living at the time. I lived there for about five or six years. Dad, with the FBI, you get transferred a lot. And dad started out started in Colorado. They went to California and he really wanted to get back to Tennessee. That was his goal. So he took Mississippi because it was close. And and so that's why we were there for for those years. But it was and then when we came back, we had a little ranch style house and the kids' rooms were on the front of the house. And that made mom nervous to have the bedrooms on the front of the house. So she lined up our our beds in the hallway. And for for a couple of months, actually, imagine your mother's. Yeah. Yeah. So it was it was wild. I mean, you I learned at a very early age what hate does to people and how dangerous just keeping this hate going and trying to grow it.

29:10How dangerous that can be. What did you having? I can't imagine having a father in the FBI. What was that like for you? I mean, obviously, we just heard a story what that was like. But like wisdom growing up with as an FBI agent's daughter, what was that like? What did you learn from that? Well, I knew in every situation, like I'm not afraid because I feel like my dad, he told me how to deal with every kind of situation, you know, and so I go out at night. I'm not fearful. I'm just cautious. You know, yeah, taught me how to do all of those things and take care of yourself and be aware of your surroundings. And, you know, just what to do in a car accident. My friends would have a car accident and freak out. I was like, no, you just like the steps. There's a lot of logic in that, like, if not freaking out in those scenarios, mean under pressure. But it was, you know, it was interesting because we turned out to be in a lot of interesting places when we were. They at first FBI at the time, they sent you to a big city.

30:14So we went to Denver and then they sent you to a top 10 city. And so we went to Los Angeles and then from Los Angeles to San Diego. And in that time, when dad was in L.A., is when Frank Sinatra's son was kidnapped. And so dad was part of that team of getting his son back. And, you know, mom, when I would say he was, Frank was going to have a party for everybody in the world. You can't go to the party. My dad probably wouldn't have gone to a party anyway, but. But yeah, it was it was it was an interesting life. A lot of interesting things that I imagine she probably would have been a really good restaurateur. Yeah, you know, up front. The level of because it's it gets intense and there's a lot of great moments in there, feeling whatever she chose to do, she would have been prepared for. I feel like my actual career, 27 years working with emotionally disturbed behavior disorder teenagers prepared me for the Tennessee legislature. That's the light of the day, right?

31:18She said it. Well, and what an amazing career in that in itself, like the the the patients you must have and wanting to work with special needs children. Yeah, you definitely learn patience, especially with Ed kids. You know, it's there. They have the problems they have from for whatever reason, and they don't want to be bad, but, you know, they just can't help it. But also they ultimately cared. They they want to do better. And that's what you do. You meet them where they are and you give them the tools to be successful. And so and you learn to be patient because you have to realize that all of their life experiences is what brought them to where they are. Doesn't have anything to do with you. It has to do with, you know, their their past and their history. So, I mean, there's no doubt that teachers are just quintessentially the most important people.

32:19And, you know, as a mother, I'm just like how she's influenced by her teacher, even in preschool is amazing. And I can't wait for her to progress and and learn. And I can't I, you know, my generation of of being a mother having a rising kindergartener right now, just feeling the fear of where she's going to go to school and what is the school's policy on keeping guns in the school and arming their teachers. I mean, all of us moms putting our kids into school for the first time, into the into the system. And it's we're terrified. I mean, I have a few friends moving to homeschooling. I mean, there's been a rise in homeschool just because parents are terrified and they're having to quit their jobs and become homeschool teachers because they are just terrified for their children's safety and people like you speaking out for us, you know, and it just means everything.

33:19And what can we you know, what else can we do? We don't want to move from our homes. I'm a business owner here. I own a home here. Representative Jones is my representative in my district. And, you know, I what else can we do? You know, like we have I have someone who I feel is speaking my voice, but he's being shut down. He's not being heard. What can we do? So so what is so important and what we saw when all those people came down to the Capitol? It's kind of interesting because for the few years of covid was no one else at the Capitol. And you could see that they love that because no one's watching them. And they need to be watched. And that's why I love the results of their foolishness in trying to expel members who were just doing their job. Um, I don't know if y'all are aware, they as soon as that happened, I'm literally driving back to Knoxville that night.

34:20And I hear that on this talk radio show in Knoxville and on apparently Fox News National, Cameron Sexton is coming on saying that it was a riot, that people stormed the doors, that, you know, all of these just blatant lies. Mothers and children, mothers and children. Nobody went for the doors. Nobody stormed anything. And he just lied about these hurting parents and these young people that were concerned for their lives. And he just got up there and made them to be, you know, animals. Well, January 6th was very peaceful, though. Right, right. That was not what we're drawing comparisons to that, which is outrageous. Outrageous. Oh, absolutely. And I don't know if you're aware, too, that some of the legislators in their districts sent out robocalls that said that we weren't legislators, we were people who broke into the floor and we had pipe bombs and all of this stuff. This is actually on a recorded call. I have the recording.

35:23I really need to sue, but I don't have time. But just because, I mean, it's beyond the pale that this is what they sent robocalls out across the state. I know there were some sent out in Upper East, and I know here in the Nashville area, but I don't know where else. But that's where, you know, that I heard about the calls and got a recording of the call. And very quickly, the organization that made the call shut down or shut down their website for a while. They're back up now. But I don't know what the statute of limitations is on that. Oh, my gosh. How do you I just get baffled sometimes hearing about this stuff. Ball face lies, lies. But then the silencing of people, just the boldly turning their their face and not even addressing children like thoughts and prayers. If they look them in the eyes, they wouldn't be able to do what they're doing. They have it seems like they completely had to. If you don't dissociate, how are you even to go on?

36:25You know, they're completely dissociated. I don't know if you saw it, but some kids, young people were sitting outside the speaker's office and leader Lamberth came to talk to them. And his question to them was, you know, I think they were talking maybe about AR-15s. And he said, well, which gun would you want to be shot with? Oh, yeah. So maybe maybe they shouldn't talk to children. Oh, they're like terrified. Like, that's one way to scare them away. I mean, what a horrible thing to say to children who were worried and and fearing for their lives. Like, you're right. None of them are rid of them all. That's what we got to do. Then that's what we got to do. Oh, my God. Wow. And, you know, this year we had some bills. There was a bill to prevent locals like your city or your county from writing their own red flag laws.

37:26So no one else in the in the state, you know, at a local level could write a red flag law. And, you know, he said his reasoning was because, well, we don't need different kinds of laws all over. Well, well, the state's not going to make one. So so what if locals want to make it? But I asked him, I said, do you believe that dangerous people should have weapons? And he said, no. How do you propose we remove weapons from dangerous people if we don't have red flag laws? They're just going to steal them anyway. Yeah. Well, what was the why do we even have police? What was the answer? There was there was no answer. It's really hilarious because multiple people have come to me after talking to some of the legislators and the legislators are trying to work it out in their heads. Bless their hearts. And they're saying, well, there has to be some way we can remove these weapons when people are in a mental health crisis or whatever.

38:26And but then you go, well, that's what an ERPO extreme risk protection order or a red flag law is. The same way with domestic violence, when they remove a weapon, it's the exact same process. They act like it's unconstitutional. No, it's not. We've done it for years and many states have red flag laws and they've never been determined to be unconstitutional. It's a temporary thing. But then as soon as you say that's what a red flag law is like, oh, we can't do that. They just need it. It doesn't make sense to I don't understand it. I'm a very logical person. I get math really well, like two plus two, it always equals four. But I don't understand why they want all the guns. I don't understand. Hey, when we have these guns, not wanting somebody who's mentally ill to get their hands on a gun seems incredibly logical. Putting a pit bull, I don't mean nothing disparaging as public, a pit bull that's already attacked children.

39:30We're not putting that in a schoolyard. We're not putting the dog there. Like, why are we not asking more questions and making sure that people who get deadly weapons aren't going to use them for bad? Like that doesn't seem crazy to me. Why is that? Why is that so? And therein lies the question, you know, when they do their gaslighting start going, am I crazy? But no, we have a right in this country to life. And so what about that? You know, what about me having the right to move through my community safely, to be able to go to the grocery store, to the restaurant? You know, everybody has should have that right. We can put protections in. Think about think about cars. Think about when when cars, car accidents were the number one killer of children's, they regulated those cars, you know, required seat belts, booster seats, all of those things that you look at the science, you look at the data and the research to go, well, how can we make this better?

40:36We're not going to, you know, get rid of car accidents. However, what we can do is make sure that if an accident happens, maybe a kid can be safe in that accident and with car seats and seat belts and all those things. Think about as a kid, you know, we didn't really wear seatbelts all the time. We certainly didn't have booster seats. Even in my like childhood and I'm going to be 40 years old, I didn't have the type of car seat that my daughter has now. Are you kidding me? Like we used to have a tourist station wagon and I would sit in the very back part, looking backwards, looking backwards, like rear ending. That car gets your toast as a kid. Like I don't think they do that anymore. No, I don't. I don't know. There was no seatbelt. I was like a play was like a little jungle gym back there. I could just play in while we were driving. Yeah, no, there were three of us and we would lay all the seats down when we traveled from California back to Tennessee to visit our relatives. We put a mattress back there and we all just laid back there.

41:37And, you know, it was it was a playground basically. I want to I want to she was talking about, you know, our rights. I want to kind of pivot into another area in which I feel like you are championing and like are the voices of women and talk about everything going on with a woman's right to choose. It's the stories coming out right now about women having being forced to carry to, you know, babies that are not viable is just terrifying to me. I I've I can't imagine being blessed with a pregnancy and then finding out that my child is not going to survive that and my life being threatened to also having another child and a husband and a business and then being forced to carry that pregnancy. I mean, whether you believe in abortion and what your religious backgrounds this, I feel like this has nothing to do with that.

42:38I feel like this is a medical procedure and the right is being I can't I mean, this is the thing that I'm like, I'm going to leave this state like this is I can't imagine. And I know people are leaving. I know that people are sending their kids to college out of state because of this, people aren't sending their kids to college in Tennessee because they don't feel like their daughters will be safe. We are putting women and girls at risk, their lives at risk, literally, intentionally. It's a policy decision to put women and girls in danger. And the idea that the government decides whether or not you get to protect your life by doing whatever has to be done to save your life is remarkable to me. I mean, it is barbaric. And I have brought legislation to have an exception for life of the mother, a true one where the doctor decides this is a problem.

43:41These are our options. And you make that decision with your doctor, with your family, with your God, but it shouldn't have a legislator sitting in the doctor's office. That's crazy town. And women are going to have abortions. They're going to do what's right for them and their family. We're just making it completely a decision for them to have to and and then be prosecuted and possibly like the doctor being aiding in this. You know, like 15 years in prison for a doctor, years in prison. I mean, doctors are there's no way a doctor is going to lose everything for I mean, and doctors are doing this. And women are going to go out of the country. They're going to start. I mean, this is what we have moved away from. I mean, this is archaic. This is barbaric. I mean, women are going to do what they need to do. It's just going to make their lives at risk. Right. And it puts their lives at risk. You know, I've talked to people, I've talked to friends who are in the music business and they'll say they talk to tours and just tell friends and stuff.

44:44If you have a pregnant person, a pregnant woman on your tour, you probably shouldn't stop in Tennessee. Wow. Because if there was to be a problem, they'd be in trouble. I mean, that is and that is for real. What that is, that is, that is. I mean, can you even believe that? Like, that is such a listen from what we've talked about today and the absolute nonsense. I'm starting to believe some crazy shit. I'm starting to be like, I know I can actually believe that. No, I that that's it's wrong. This is all about control. One hundred percent. And and and it's almost like a punishment for being able to have a voice and a seat at the table. It feels like a way of controlling a woman that is with a child and has a baby that's helpless without her is a form of control that you will that nobody will. I mean, this is just it is what it is.

45:45A woman's has to take care of that child. It's first, you know, five years it needs the mother now. Now, now this woman, you know, is is put in a position where she isn't able to be on that same level with that, you know, her job and her because her first priority is her child. And if we're we're not given the right to choose that is what we want, it's to me just a form of control. And it is a form of control. But the way I like I want people to also see it is so critical. This is the first time in our history that the Supreme Court has taken away rights rather than adding more rights. So these folks talk about freedom and it cracks me up because they are so much about removing our freedoms and and this idea that that women don't have bodily autonomy means that women are not equal in Tennessee. I mean, women are no longer equal.

46:46And I think that in in and of itself should make every woman go to the polls and vote for a Democrat, someone who believes they are equal because Republicans do not. We had I had a piece of legislation, a piece of legislation with Senator Oliver from here in Nashville. That was the birth control bill of rights that you had a right to birth control. They would not pass that how they would not pass it. And they say they're not coming after it. But we've heard in the tapes that were gathered by ProPublica that they absolutely are the right to life. Folks said, well, let it die down. Let the Dobbs decision stuff die down and then we'll bring up IVF and birth control. So we know that they're coming for these things. But did just the idea of how extreme they are. The only exception for life of the mother is ectopic molar pregnancies or a dead fetus.

47:51So it has to be something that can't even live past a certain amount of time. And that are the only exceptions. Everything else is still when it comes to life of the mother. Say, if you have cancer and need treatment immediately. But are pregnant, you know, those sorts of decisions are now when you create a relationship where the woman has to be the more a woman is in danger of losing her life, then the safer the doctor is in performing whatever procedure they have to perform, we are setting up. We are putting women at risk intentionally with what we are doing. It is crazy and it is remarkable to me in a state where we have less than 50 percent of our counties have an OBGYN or a place to deliver. You're telling 10 year olds they have to carry a pregnancy knowing that children die at two times the rate of women during pregnancy and knowing that they could be an hour and a half away from a hospital.

49:00You know, you won't expand Medicaid so people have access to affordable health care. Our rural hospitals are closing. And and this is what we do again, putting people at risk, women and girls at risk. And nationally, we are at the forefront of promoting this. I mean, we are always in the news as being at the forefront of this movement. And it's it's terrible. Being a California native, I I don't I mean, if people are like, what is going on in Tennessee? Like, I mean, that's just the tone everywhere we go. Right. If if we fast forward to Election Day and they say Gloria Johnson wins, let's say you unseat Marsha Blackburn. Right. We can do the you don't pull out the Marsha sound. Yeah, I got to use everyone.

50:01So you got to use them. Right. Pretty fun. What? Let's say you're elected. You are now a U.S. senator. What can you do? What can you do with day one? What can you do in Tennessee to help with these issues? Well, there's a lot that can be done. And, you know, I win this election. That means we've probably got a majority in the Senate. And I believe we're going to have a majority in Congress since the tough one. So we can do so much. We can codify a row. We can make that safe in in law so that women will be safe and prevent the folks here in Tennessee from keeping women at risk. And girls at risk. We can pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. You know, we can make sure that that when we redraw the districts, that it's fair that everybody who wants the opportunity to vote has it.

51:04You know, there are so many we can basically restore democracy. So many of our democratic norms have been eroded over the last few years. I mean, with four years of that former guy, you see how quickly it can slip away. And you also see in Tennessee, you see that democracy dies in the states. It dies in darkness. You know, last year, a light was shown when the world had its eyes on Tennessee. I think for the first time, people who live in other states or blue states were like, oh, wow, that can happen. And it was scary because you actually saw how it happened. And I'm so glad that now so many people are paying attention that I talk to people all the time who are watching live stream of the committees or the House floor. That's so important because we are losing those democratic norms where, you know, both sides get to speak.

52:09There's no reason you can't hash out the what you think are the positives and the negatives about a piece of legislation, because I believe that's what Tennesseans deserve. Tennesseans deserve policy that is transparent, that they can see, watch and understand before it passes so they can let their representatives know, you know, I want you to vote for this bill or I don't want you to vote for this bill. When when we get that Senate majority, we are going to be able to right so many wrongs that have happened in this slip from democracy in a march to fascism is what I see. And you can't even say democracy anymore with my colleagues across the aisle. We're not a democracy. We're a republic. Guys, really, did you only read half the history book? I mean, maybe that's a problem.

53:11They select the parts they like, just like they do the Constitution and the Bible. You know, whatever they pick out the parts that they like. And the reality is we'll keep that part of this part. Yes, this is the part we want. Yeah, exactly. So so we have got to get back to, you know, we don't have to agree. We do not have to agree. But if you aren't confident to debate the issues on the policy you're bringing, then you probably shouldn't be bringing it. Yeah, you probably shouldn't even be seated there. Yeah. Someone argue. We are we are at that fifty five minute mark. I can't believe we've been here for almost an hour. I know. Well, we need to talk because I could listen to her. I know. I want to know what we can do. And our listeners are are mainly business owners, restaurateurs, chefs, people in calls to action here.

54:15Yeah. What can we do to help support your campaign? Like, what can we do? I mean, things that come to my mind are making sure our employees can get to the polls on those days, making sure they're registered to vote. I mean, it's their choice who they want to. We're not saying who to vote for. We're just saying here here is an easy way to do it. You will not be penalized. You will have the time to do it. Do you need a ride as a business owner? What can I do? All those things sound great. You know, release time to go and vote, making sure that they have a ride, making sure that they're registered. And I think all of those are critical. Tennessee is one of the last and it has been fiftieth literally in the last couple of cycles in voter turnout. And when folks don't turn out, we do not get good representation. That's just a fact. And when when you don't have a large turnout, you are more likely to elect extremist candidates. And that is something we definitely don't need because we've got way too many of them, especially in Tennessee.

55:22But, you know, some of the things that you talked about, I really like the idea of making sure that your employees were registered, but offering something special if they come in with their I voted sticker from the polls or something like that. I love that. We've done that. You know, we have what we have to give is food. Right. Hospitality. What you know, if that if we're rewarding you for doing something that you should already be doing anyways, it's like, you know, wash your hands when you go to the bathroom. But here's a cookie anyways, you know, like I feel like such a mom or I'm like, you should have been doing this anyways. But I will, you know, what that's what we can give as, you know, people in the community supporting people doing what they should be doing. And even putting up signs like during early vote, go ahead. Have you voted right on the door? Have you voted today? And just because for me, it's like if I don't like I love getting text from candidates or, you know, remember to go vote. Oh, man, you know, because you just get busy.

56:22Life is busy. Some people just get busy and miss it. But you've got to think about am I going to be out of town during that time? Do I need to get an absentee ballot? You know, and I always beg people to please go. So many people like to vote on Election Day, but it's so helpful if you early vote. It really, really is. What I always tell people because we will everybody that has, you know, we keep all the data who signed up as supporters, who's going to go to the polls and vote for us. We reach out to them, we call them, we knock on their doors like you go vote the first day of early vote. We also get the list of who voted that day. We take you off our call list. So if you want us to stop calling, go vote early, you'll stop getting those texts. I also want to ask you about something. You're doing your 95 county diners and dives tour. Yeah, this sounds like like a Guy Fieri diners, dives and dives. Yeah, very familiar with I've been on that show.

57:24I've never even watched the show and somebody said I stole it. Maybe subconsciously, I mean, I don't know. It's one of the most popular shows, but on Food Network. I always think about it in these small rural counties that I haven't been to much or haven't been to, is there's always great little mom and pop shops that you don't know about. And so we did we did on social media, on Instagram, Twitter, everything, you know, what's your favorite spot in your county? And so a lot of people send us ideas, you know, oh, we love such and such in this place. And so we got a list of them. And so we're going to try to stop at all the places people suggested and then others as we go, just the idea that people come together in a restaurant, you're eating, you can have conversation, just a way to talk to people. And so we plan on going to two or three counties a day, breakfast in one lunch and one dinner and another, and then maybe meet somewhere else where you could have a more public discussion of people wanted to ask questions.

58:29And it's for everybody. It's Republicans, Democrats, independents. I don't you know, I don't just talk to a closed group of people. My opponent talks to folks who are invited behind a closed door. She hasn't done a town hall since twenty seventeen. She does these telly town halls, but you can control what's asked and what happens on the telephone. And I want to talk to people and answer any of their questions, I mean, any legitimate questions. I get tired of some of the silly, you know, well, what is a woman? Please, you know, I tell one young man, I said, well, if you don't know, I don't think I'm going to be able to help you. I want to hear I know I want I want to hear Gloria answer all your questions. I love how real you are in those moments, though. This is a comedic show. OK, so tell me, what is your favorite thing to eat? Like, what is Gloria's comfort food? I'm glad you're going this direction, because I want to ask you all the comfort food is just my who you are.

59:32It really is telling to. If you say grilled cheese should be really. Yeah, she's thinking very hard right now. You tell, you know, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Yeah, absolutely. That's my livelihood. So I'm here for you and I'll have to try your grilled cheese because I'm kind of proud of mine. But oh, well, hers is the very competitive. And she's got the best. I'm just saying, Justin Jones has been more than a few times. So, you know, you definitely have a lunch in my place anytime. Excellent. That sounds great. Actually, Justin and I go out to eat a lot. We want it. We a bunch of places we haven't been. And we always want to try new places. Where's your favorite place in Nashville? Do you have a favorite place? I mean, I'm not I'm that's you're not going to say. It's a hard question. She's baiting. Where are some places you love literally? Well, one of her favorite places. Say that. So let's see. I'm trying to think where do we go a lot? Black dynasty. Oh, yeah.

01:00:33Oh, OK. Husk, we went to Audrey, Audrey. OK, yeah. And and Henrietta Redd. I had an event at Henrietta Redd, and I really wanted to go. Julia is a supporter of you. Yes. I was like, Justin, we got to go. You got to go to this place. So we went back to that. But. Nona Cafe Nona in Sylvan Park. Yeah, that place has been there for so long. I love it. It's very European. It's a nice little patio outside. A little small. Yeah, very cute. Doptic cat next door. We're getting our cat today. Thistle Farms, we go there. Oh, Thistle Farms. That place just makes me emotional when I go there. I love that place. Really good vibes. Really good vibes, right? Oh, yeah. I love Thistle Farms. What do you do for fun? Like, obviously, you're campaigning right now. I mean, like you're busy, but do you take time for yourself? Do you like watch movies? What do you do? Brian, what should you do?

01:01:37Brian's laughing like I always bring everybody. Brian, why don't you jump on here? What do you? So luckily, my favorite thing to do is live music. And so lucky for me, there's a lot of folks in the music business who want to support the campaign. So I can mix those two, you know, like Alison Russell at Henrietta Redd and had a fundraiser with Margo Price and Rodney Crowell and Amy Lou Harris. And so the folks that have gotten together, the Tennessee Freedom Singers, is that what they're calling themselves? You know, that that did the song Tennessee Rise for the for the campaign and for, you know, for for all of our campaigns, really, in Tennessee this year. But, you know, so I'm getting to mix music and campaign. So that makes me really happy. I love it. You're in the right city for that. My other thing is travel, which I, you know, travel outside Tennessee, but I'm I'm doing a ton of travel right now.

01:02:45It's just all about Tennessee. Where's your favorite place to vacation? But that is so much fun. I mean, to go to these places in Tennessee, I've never been. My favorite place is Greece. OK, I'll just say, are you like a beach vacationer? Are you like a history kind of some people like to go? Well, it's all there, right? It's all there in Greece. Yeah, it's definitely all there. Yeah, it used to as a teacher, you know, you have the time off in the summer. So I used to go do cross country trips. I would take the northern route front to the west coast or the southern route, you know, and stop at all the national parks and do all of that. And then I started branching out and I was like, you know, I'm going to go to Europe and just decided to go and started doing that for a month because I had an aunt who worked for the for the for the airlines and she could get me companion pass. It's a good teacher. You can't really travel on a shoestring. But, you know, hostels and little little pensioners and stuff like that with with a near free airline ticket.

01:03:47And I got to do a lot of fun travel. And that's the thing. Sometimes I go to the airport and it's like, well, if I can't go to so and so, I'll just get on, you know, whatever plane is free as long as it was it was the right temperature and the right luggage was packed. I didn't want to go with beachwear to Norway or something like that. We did. I remember one year it was Christmas time and my dad, my mom had to fly on Christmas Day. So he goes, all right, guys, here's the deal. We're going to fly to New York on Christmas Eve and then we're going to do a big dinner in Manhattan and then we'll get up Christmas morning and wherever your mom is flying, we're all going to get on the plane and just fly with her Christmas morning. And then wherever we land, we'll just go in the airport and we'll just find another city and then we'll just go there for dinner. Then we'll all come home. But it's fun because you could do that when your mom's a flight attendant. Yeah, yeah. OK, I have one more food question because I'm a chef and I just. And I didn't really get there. I mean, I like I like so much of everything. So so what are you making?

01:04:48Like, what's your dish? If you have to bring something to a potluck, what are you bringing to a potluck? Typically, enchiladas. That's a great potluck. Yeah, I mean, I love to make enchiladas. That's a good one. That's that's cheesy. That's that goes into my heart. OK, I mean, there's I think we could do this for another three to five hours. I want to be respectful of your time and you have places you need to go. She's got a lot to do. Brian's over here going, yes, she does. Let's wrap it up. Let's get it going. So the last thing we do on the show is we do the Gordon Food Service final thought. Which is where you get to take us out, say whatever you want. You're speaking to all of our listeners, whatever you want to say. Typically, I say don't make it political, but in this situation, make it political. Whatever you're going to be, whatever you want to do. But the mic is yours. Thank you so much for being here today. It's been an absolute honor. Well, thank you all.

01:05:48And I guess what I have to say is, please, everyone, we always say this a lot that it's this is the most important election of our lives. But I believe that it really is. Please get out there and vote and please take 10 of your friends because we need to vote for someone who's going to care about the human dignity of every Tennessean and not just the wealthy and the well-connected and the special interests. Tennesseans deserve someone who will represent them. I love it. Thank you so much for joining us today and best of luck in this election. And we're not doing any sponsors for this episode, but I am going to for as we want to support you. I'm going to donate in all of the sponsor money from today's episode to your campaign to say thank you for being here, but also because we wanted to do something for you any way we can. And we'll talk off air about other things we can do for you. But thank you again for being here. Thank you all. It was wonderful. All right. OK, wow. Gloria Johnson, thank you so much for that.

01:06:52We are also joined here on this outro with Freedom Race. Freedom is our photography. You may have heard some clicks in there. We have a photographer here today. And since you were in the room for the whole thing, I thought, hey, why don't you come on the post comments and kind of hear your thoughts, too? So let's start with Crystal. OK. So, I mean, I just she's so inspiring and I feel so heard when she speaks. The way the way, you know, specifically, I mean, I feel so touched by everything that she she is putting on a platform right now with school safety. I'm a mother. I'm also a woman. She's fighting for our rights. I mean, I can't like, yes, I'm going to I'm on her team. I want to do whatever I can, but I cannot stress enough like how it this matters that you vote, because the alternative is, you know, because the alternative is in what we have now is terrible. And she actually can move the needle for us.

01:07:52So, I mean, I just, you know, we want to scream it, but like, let's just put our put our energy into action and really show up for her. And, you know, I'm like I told her, I'm happy to host anything she wants, but she really just needs people to vote because when we have a high voter turnout, statistically, it goes in favor of of people who support people like Gloria Johnson. Yeah. Freedom, what do you think? I just really appreciated her. Genuine this, and I just feel like she's a person that people can connect with and really get behind because she's real. Did you have any preconceived? Did you know about her before being in here today? I mean, not really, really. I mean, I, I, I do pay attention to the news and things, but, you know, but you're originally from Florida. You're not like a here very long. Yes. I mean, you're you're here. I mean, you're a single mom. You're out here making stuff happen. Like, you know, you're you don't call a specific party your preference.

01:08:56So being somebody who's more neutral. Yes. You had an effect. She had an effect. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, she's just the warmth that she exuded was just wonderful. And I, I just for me, somebody like that, I just feel like I can connect with more so than someone who keeps everybody at arm's length and just wears the mask and won't let it down for anything. But I but what I really loved and pulled away from this today was just really how important it is to listen to your local politicians, because everyone's eyes seem to be on the national stage. But really, it's so important to get involved right where you are. And that's really what I where I say I stand. I'm kind of like, like, let it let a state kind of govern themselves. But, you know, that's but someone who, you know, is really digging deep and really has a history like she has. Like, I love that she comes from, you know, that FBI background and like her. Social justice is in the fabric of who she is.

01:09:58This is not a new topic for her to jump on, because right. And here's the trend and popular. Yes, this is who she is. And she's not doing this for a job. Yeah, this is how she is. This is not her true who she really is. Her passions are. She's not looking for that NRA money and the special interest money. She's literally looking at her constituents saying, what do you how can I fight for you and for what's right? And I think that's what my take was. I think I was just like, obviously, I'm a dad and I have eight, nine, ten year old boys. I know my wife is so I mean, I mean, she she was she was one of those people downtown at the at the Capitol that was screaming like we need better laws. We need red flag laws. We need to do something, do something. And so for her to be in here today, I was just I felt so many emotions. I was just I was very emotional and I felt humbled that we have this little podcast that she was here, the little things that we can do.

01:11:02And I was great to meet her. I think it confirmed everything I already thought about her. And I hope that our listeners can hear this and go, you know, I was on the fence or I didn't know or I'd heard little bites. But man, after that conversation, I really feel like I identify with her and I see what she's trying to do. And I would love to to put a stop to any of these things that's happening in that in that capital, because it's not cool. And beyond that, too, just on a different kind of level, I'm just so proud of women because of her. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like she like that was a big lasting effect to just what a badass she is. Like I love that she just kind of marched right up there and was like, I don't care what anybody thinks. I don't care if I get arrested. Somebody's got to stand up for what he has to do something. And that's so hard to find these days. People like hate and love to talk and love to sit at home and type. But who actually goes out and gets arrested for the thing that they believe in?

01:12:04No one. Well, it's expelled from your job ever since then. I think a lot of women and mothers and and students and fathers, they're coming because they're coming to the Capitol and they're showing their support because they know that they're on a national stage now. And this is actually causing a change because now we are shining a light on that darkness, just like she was saying. And it's hard to do things when people are watching and everybody's watching. And those, you know, those coming at moms are right there, you know, at the forefront. And we're all behind them, you know, following suit. Absolutely. And I love that she's not jumped on this as a bandwagon. Like this is actually something you can tell. Like she is incredibly passionate about like it's her life. It's it's what she it's her purpose. You know, she see you can tell when you meet her. Like she sees it as her purpose, exactly. As a bachelor fan, I'd say she's here for the right reasons. I'm sure she'll love that you just threw her on as a reference.

01:13:08On the bachelor doesn't even know what that is because she's too busy. She's not watching The Bachelor. Yes, she is. Yes, she is. Shoot. We should have asked her that. On another note, that might sound odd, but I'm a photographer, so maybe it won't sound odd. But I was like obsessed with her hands. Really? Yeah, they were just so elegant and like with her nails and her. I mean, I just I look at people. I look at people different ways than others, because I usually through a lens. Definitely put together. Like I she's a professional woman. Like six foot three, too. I know. She stood up. I was like, yeah, like she signed the door on the very top corner. Some people won't even be able to reach that. I think it was definitely a flex. Yeah, I don't think she could have signed anywhere. She's like, no, I'm one of the very top of the door. Top right door rim. Yeah, the door is starting to fill out here now. I'm liking the door. I like it. The door is great. That's kind of fun. Well, all right. Well, thank you guys for listening.

01:14:09I'd love to hear your comments. You can actually go to Spotify and leave a comment. We're going to have a poll there as to kind of who you're voting for. It's going to say, do you want it to be anonymous? I'm curious to see if our listeners who supporting who? So maybe we'll do a poll on our stories at Nashville underscore restaurant underscore radio. And obviously, this was a big day for us. Crystal, thank you so much for joining today. Thank you for making this happen, Brandon. This is I know something you wanted to happen for a while. And I'm so honored to be here. Well, I think next is we Megan Berry, I think, is somebody who we could bring in here next. And we can. This is election cycle. So we'll get more of these people. If you have people you want to talk to. And I'm not we don't just have to talk to the democratic side of things. We'll be equal opportunity. I'd love. I mean, Marshall Blackburn wants to come sit down in here. Let's go. I wish this was a video because I wish I could have seen your face. That's coming. So we're going to I've got to call in.

01:15:10We're going to start getting video on. I did video the entire I videoed her. So we will if you go to tick tock and follow us on tick tock. You will see some different videos we're going to put up there. And then freedom. I took some to some amazing photos. I cannot wait to see what you've come up with. Thank you for coming in to take the photos. People, if if you're a rat, you do. So let's talk about you for one second before we go. Let's give you a plug for doing this today. You are edible food photographer. You are a food photographer. And that's how I know you is you came to Chagos and you did a shoot for us. And this was a shoot for Grubhub. And it was like just a regular old, hey, come in, take some shots. But it wasn't a regular shoot because you came in and you're like, hey, what can I do? And we brought you all the food. And you made this food look better than I've ever seen. But the time and energy she took in the kitchen, placing the food like. Yeah, I was like, I have tweezers, like literally. So you also do food styling because that is something also separate. Like, yes, it's a whole thing.

01:16:11So she did this food styling and the photographers like, wait a minute, you're way better than anybody who's going to take photos. So I wanted to know more about her. I'm like, do you do this? She's like, oh, yeah, I'm a professional. I just moved here and can't tell me your story. And I was like, we need more people to learn about what you're doing. Every chef needs a good food photographer out there ready. Yes. Yeah. And we can't translate that to our customers. Then, you know, that's the actual medium to. And I've just been trying to bridge the gap between the needs of a small restaurant owner, say, and the costs that you have versus what I can offer versus what most people charge for what I do. Like, that's kind of the direction I've been heading since I moved here is how can I fit into this community, how can I serve this community? And so I've really been just trying to kind of think of ways, you know, that I can help just even, you know, those that don't have the million dollar budgets. I just love the food scene here in Nashville so much. And I love how quirky it is and how modern it is.

01:17:14And now everyone's friends with each other. And I just it's it's really special. And I would just love to be, you know, to be able to contribute to that. So that's great. I mean, we love that you have a passion for it. Yeah. So maybe we'll throw up. I think food is sexy. Look at that. And it tells a story. Tells a story. I would if I'm hearing this name, a chef, a restaurant owner, and I'm like, oh, I want to see what she can do. How would I get a hold of you? Let's give like a full on contact information. Everything. And how we do it. Yeah. Yeah. OK. So I have my website is Freedom Life Photo. The word freedom and like liberty, justice, freedom, life, photo dot com. And there you can get my contact information. What was this? Oh, the Instagram. Yeah, I'm on there, too. It's I'd have to get back to you on that because I don't know. OK, we'll tag you in our. Oh, Nash Noob at Nash Noob, N-A-S-H N-O-O-B. OK, because that's a little side project I did, because I can take photos that I've been doing and like post them on my cool Instagram and just do like reviews of the restaurant that I photographed.

01:18:19And like, amazing. Yeah. And so that's something else that I've just been doing for fun. But you and then we'll put some of your photographs on our story, too, so we can find. I mean, it's always like, thank you. It's we always need it. But you're right. We can't. It's very I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on on just photographing menus, and we always have something special we want to do. So, yeah, we can't wait to hear how you can help small businesses. I have several ideas of how we can make it work for everybody. And, you know, help each other out. We had a conversation. You and I had a conversation just about branding and Nashville restaurant radio and some different things. And I was like, wow, like that was really some because I'm kind of my brain gets out there and she was really helpful to me. I was like, this is somebody's job. You know, like really good stuff. Thank you. This is why we hire people like you, because we need to focus in. And then you can help like streamline and make sure it's on brand. And it's just funny, too, though, because you can see how this particular industry has not really touched this area in a big way, because like if people needed, you know, commercial shoots, they'd probably go to Chicago or go to New York or whatever.

01:19:30And so to have something like this available in your own community is really cool. Yeah, there's there's a couple of food photographers, a lot of them actually in town. But and it is maybe a accessibility thing, too. And, you know, they work alone, so a lot of times they're not available. So, I mean, you making that convenient for a lot of us, I think that is kind of what people are looking for and how we can consistently support somebody like you who, you know, is trying to make it affordable. But that means that you probably need more people to do the affordable thing. Right. Yeah. And I and I did it. I did the big brands for many years. So I have, you know, and I and I I just know that most restaurant owners that I sit down and talk to don't realize the value of. Yeah. Yes, it might cost them, you know, but there's just the the the statistics are like undeniable. When you have good food photography, you sell way more food. So it does pay for itself.

01:20:32And we're ordering food off of Uber Eats. And DoorDash and all these, you know, even on your website, like we're actually the trends since Covid have been ordering that way. So we're not smelling like we have to see it with our eyes. If you have this like weird out focused photo on different backgrounds, like it's telling me something about your restaurant, too. It's like, well, OK, it's a trust thing. It really comes down to a trust thing. Brands don't realize that when you brand your company, you're building consumer trust. And that that's something you can't buy with money. You can buy the photos, but, you know, the real thing is like the consistency builds that trust for someone who may never walk in the door. You know, so it's important to get your story out there and connect with the with the ways people are looking for you, which is social media these days, which is, you know, online these days. So, I mean, I'm preaching now, but I just think we need to. It's a trust thing.

01:21:34The first thing I thought was new person to town. Lots of talent. I mean, amazing talent. But when nobody really knows about you, this is the time. Like I was like, we got to let people know about you. Everything is marketing. Everything is product. And if we don't know how to get it, which I used to do for another really big photographer, but it's the worst when you're trying to. Yeah. No, it's market yourself yourself. Yeah. Freedom. Reese photography. Thanks. Freedom life photo. Freedom life photo. But that's you. Freedom is your name. Thank you. Thank you for helping today with the photos. You'll see her photos on our on our page here. We'll put some of those out there, what you were able to capture and then. Wow. Yeah, here we go, guys. So register. You went online the other day and said, hey, what should I do for my sign? Did you get any good? I got so many. Yes, so many. Do you have one? Because it's about to be that time. Let me try one. OK, do you want to do yours and then I'll do mine or do I do mine first? Let's let's thank you guys for being here.

01:22:36Crystal, you want to say anything here to let us out of the episode today? Stay cheesy, Nashville. Oh, that's the that was from your friend, Sean, at Daddy's Dogs. Sean, so that I was just like stay classy, San Diego. I was going to tell the story. We're talking about the community. Yeah, you're talking about people in the community that are awesome. I said Sean was one of those guys when we opened Chagos. I text a bunch of people and said, hey, we're doing friends and family day. You guys want to come? And he goes, I'm in Chicago. This is Sean. He goes, I'm in Chicago, but. I'm just sitting here waiting for a flight that leaves at seven. I'll just change my flight and I'll make it. And I was like, what? Nice. And he changed his flight and he showed up at like five o'clock. He was at the restaurant just there eating and he goes, how many people you got here? And I said, I don't probably have 30. And he goes, wow, OK, cool. The next night he brought you guys hot dogs. I got a box with like 35 full on daddy's dog hot dogs. And he was like, just feed your staff on night one, dude. And I was like, that's awesome.

01:23:37That's my guy. Like you're talking about. Yeah, move. Yeah. Classiest. So time I met. Can I just really quick? Yeah. So I met Sean. We were vending downtown for some. I think it was a New Year's Eve. And so we were downtown. This is when we were able to park right on Broadway, like right in the middle of it all. This was years and years ago. It used to be a thing, though. We can't. Yeah, we can't do that anymore. But don't get me started. So so he had just debuted like his brand. He was out there slinging hot dogs. And I went up to him and I met him. And I was like, dude, your branding is so awesome. I like I just know you are going to like I just knew it was going to be good from the minute I met him. And like ever since then, I just he started off with proper branding. And he knew his voice. He knew his like testament to exactly what you were saying. Like it was never his voice. He had he had a tone. He had a voice. He had his brand. His colors is all of his stuff was bold. Yeah. Oh, you got to eat with them. Go have lunch with them anywhere.

01:24:37It's like having lunch with like Rio McIntyre because everybody is like, oh, it's daddy because the logo is like his face. And he wears the hat that says daddy. And it's like he just is so classic. It's awesome. He's a whole vibe. All right. Love fest with Sean Porter. It's a thing. So are you going with Stay Cheesy Nashville? Do you want to try a different one? There was another one that was like and we're eighty six. Like maybe we would both say that. But I'm like, I don't know. That one's almost no. I could change mine. I don't have like two. No pun intended to cheesy. But like, you know, I guess, can you be cheesy, though? Never, never. The Nashville Dads podcast also were a fan of the Stay Cheesy Nashville. They liked that one, too. And they were like, and then they were like, we like we always lean on dad jokes. And I'm like, well, dad jokes and she's jokes are like one in one. And they're synonymous. Yes. I feel like Stay Cheesy was like what's on brand for you. That's cheesy. I mean, yeah, I'm a cheesy Nashville.

01:25:39I just feel like I felt like that was unoriginal when I was thinking about it. But then I was like, maybe not. I don't know. I don't know. You're kind of the cheese and the cheese queen. I mean, Dairy Queen, if you will. We really hope that you guys are being safe out there. And we really do love you guys. We'll talk to you soon. Stay Cheesy Nashville. Oh, look at that.