Marcia Masulla

00:00And if you're looking to start your own podcast and you need a studio, you need help, you need some coaching, we are here to do that. New Light Nashville Podcast Studios is right here where we record Nashville Restaurant Radio. Find us on Facebook or just DM me, Brandon underscore NRR for more information about how you can record your podcast on Spotify for free inside this studio. We have John Ho with Parks Realty. House Potality on Instagram in studio to tell you why as a restaurant worker, you can buy a home. John. Thank you, Brandon. There's three things that are fallacies when it comes to buying a home from the hospitality industry. Number one is that you need perfect credit. Number two is that you need tens of thousands of dollars for down payment. And number three is that you need two years of work history at the same place. John, you're a restaurant veteran, been in the industry a long time. How do you as a real estate agent overcome those three myths?

01:00The first thing we do is we pick a premier partner for lending and that's Foundation Mortgage. They're gonna be our first stop to get people pre-qualified in the hospitality industry. Number two, we understand that hospitality workers don't work nine to fives. So our phones are on 24 hours a day. Amazing. So if I wanted to call you, how do I do it? You can get me at my cell phone, shoot me a text or give me a call. It's 615-483-0315. 615-483-0315. Or Amanda Gardner, Foundation Mortgage, 865-230-1031, 865-230-1031. Follow John on Instagram at Housepetality and follow Amanda on Instagram at MortgageAmanda. Let me walk you through a scenario. You're in your restaurant or you're not in your restaurant and there's a fire, there's a flood, there's a big time issue and you need to get a hold of your insurance agent ASAP. What is the next step that you do?

02:00Do you have an assistant manager call the other insurer, the 800 number for a random insurance company where you're put on hold? Maybe they'll send an adjuster out. You don't know what's going on, but hey, at least you had insurance. Let me give you another scenario. That same thing happens and you work with Robin's Insurance and you call Matthew Clements and he answers the phone and he knows your restaurant. He knows everything about your restaurant, he knows you. So when you call and you need to make that claim, he knows everything about your business and he takes care of you. That's what he does. Matthew Clements is the restaurant specialist over at Robin's Insurance. Stuff happens all the time in restaurants. You can't plan for it, but when something does happen, you need to have a guy and that's what Matthew Clements is here to do. If you do not have somebody like that with your insurance company, it's time to get your phone out and make the call. 863-409-9372 is Matthew Clements.

03:00That's 863-409-9372. We have a new sponsor today and it is Big Dan's Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical. So this is a tough one for me to do because Big Dan is a good friend of mine and I use Big Dan at my home and I don't want Big Dan to be super busy, but you know what, he's a good guy and the number one question I get from people is, hey, who's your handyman? Do you got a guy that does this stuff? Because having to call, again, having to call an 800 number every time that you need a plumber or an electrician is just a tough way to go. So Big Dan does it all. He does plumbing, he does electricity and he does your HVAC and this is that time of year to have a triple threat like that is what you need. He's been doing it for over 30 years. He's based out of Fairview. He's willing to work with some restaurants. So if you need a guy who can do all of those things, who can learn your building, who knows exactly how to fix the stuff inside your building, you need to give him a call because he has limited availability.

04:07So the first people to call him be the first one to get in there. His number is 678-343-3329. That is Big Dan and he's the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Would love to work with you. And again, call him fast because he doesn't have a ton of availability but he is, he's the man. He will help you out. Again, that's 678-343-3329. Big Dan. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. The tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello, Music City.

05:11And welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and we are powered by Gordon Food Service. We are gonna be joined shortly with our co-host, Caroline Galzin. Today we are talking with Marcia Masula. Now Marcia has been on the show before. She's the CEO of Roar Nashville and she is currently a candidate for Metro Council at Large. So what does that mean? You're gonna find out today in this episode. This is an amazing episode because she's just a badass. We just love her and we officially endorsed her during this interview for her run to be a Metro Council at Large. This is the most important election, guys. This is the one you need to pay attention to. Go back and listen to our interviews with Sharon Hurt and Freddie O'Connell and this one. And we're gonna be talking to some more candidates. These are the people that actually affect your lives. I do wanna make a quick note. We did a bunch of ads at the beginning of this show and the beginning of this show, none of these advertisers are endorsing this candidate.

06:19They are advertisers of the show. They endorse this podcast and we want you to get, we wanna get the word out of who they are because they are friends of mine. I trust them and these are amazing people but they are not signing up to endorse any candidates. Not at this point. So if you see an ad on this show, that does not mean that they are endorsing a candidate. I just wanna get that out there. However, I am endorsing this candidate because I am a big fan of what Marcia's doing for restaurant workers, for restaurant people, the LGBTQ community and she is just unbelievable. She's an amazing person and I can't wait to share all of this with you. This episode is gonna be done commercial free. I'm not gonna put any more commercials in the episode. It's just gonna be a straight through, listen to it, get into it, lot of fun. We are gonna be back Monday with an all new episode with Noelle Marchetti. She is the James Beard semi-finalist pastry chef over at Yolan in the Joseph Hotel or maybe she is just at the Joseph Hotel but she's also Yolan and denim.

07:24She's all over the place. She's amazing and we're so excited to get a chance to speak with her. That episode will be out Monday. If you are around tomorrow morning, this is Wednesday. Normally we put this episode on Friday. This is gonna be a Wednesday night. Thursday morning at 9 a.m. If you go to our Facebook page, you can talk with Dr. Alex Jahangir. He was the head of the COVID task force and he wrote a book called Hotspot, A Doctor's Diary of the Pandemic. We're gonna be live on Facebook. We're gonna be live on StreamYard which is where we record and on YouTube for Brandon's Book Club. We're gonna be talking with Dr. Alex Jahangir about it. If you would like to join in this conversation, if you have questions you wanna ask the doctor, if you read the book and you have questions, please feel free to join in. We have a group on Facebook. It is Brandon's Book Club. Imagine that. That's such a creative name, I know. But if you jump into that group, you can be aware of what's going on when we're doing it. The invite to join the actual show will be there.

08:25I'd love to have you be a part of it. It's a reading fun books and we're talking to authors. This guy, Dr. Alex, is one of the most amazing people and I was so excited to have him on the show. He's an absolute leader and this is what we need more of. I also wanna talk real quick about The Giving Kitchen. The Giving Kitchen is doing amazing things. If you work in restaurants, you know so many works in restaurants, anybody who's in crisis, The Giving Kitchen is here to help. So go check him out at thegivingkitchen.org. Marsha was a huge supporter of The Giving Kitchen. She's got so many people into The Giving Kitchen. It is amazing the work she's done for restaurant workers and I can't wait to tell her story. And we're gonna do that right after one more ad. And this is from Cytex because Ross Chandler over at Cytex is like the greatest guy. He's one of these people who genuinely cares about your business. I mean, with his whole heart, he's one of these passionate people. And I know you're like, Lenin, how do you get passionate about Lenin?

09:27But it's not just Lenin, it's uniforms, it's first aid kits, it's tablecloths, it's Lenins. He wants to make sure that their quality is second to none and their service is second to none. They do what they say they're gonna do and they are taking on new clients. So if you, the Lenin industry has been insane. And if you're a locally-owned and operated restaurant, they want to work with you. The way that you do that is you call Ross at 270-823-2468. Now, if you have a contractor currently, and we've got three more years in this contract, call him, have him come in, learn what they can do. Maybe you can go back and renegotiate with the current company that you're with. But if you're nearing the end of that contract or anywhere near there, you need to call Cytex because they are the absolute hands down best. I've worked with them for three years now and I've never turned around. I mean, they've just been crushing it throughout the entire pandemic. They've just done a fan, four years we've been with them. They're amazing. So without further ado, I'm so excited to jump into this episode right now with Marcia Masula.

10:32Super excited today to welcome in Marcia Masula. Marcia is a massive friend of the podcast as well as somebody who is, she's a candidate for Metro Council at Large. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, Marcia Masula. Hi guys. Thank you so much for having me. I'm used to being tiny but mighty. So Large and in Charge is kind of a new thing for me, but I'm here for it. Yes, yes. How has, so we've known you for a while. You were the CEO of Roar Public Relations. It's Public Relations, right? Yeah, it's Roar Nashville. Roar Nashville. Yeah. And so you work with restaurants. You've represented a lot of people that have come into this show. You've been a supporter of the show. We just love you. You're also a massive supporter of The Giving Kitchen. So you have been integral in helping restaurant workers. You're just, you're all over the place.

11:33And we were in Atlanta at Team Heidi. Let me tell you a story about Marcia, okay? Marcia is such a badass. I drive to Atlanta to go to this event. I just wanna help. I just wanna volunteer. And Marcia's there, of course. And Marcia is, I get there for this pre-meeting and Marcia walks up and she's like, what's up, babe, how you doing? And I'm like, I'm good, right? And she gives me a hug. And I said, am I dressed okay? And she's like, you look fine. You look, you're great. You look great, whatever. And I said, how are you doing? She was like, oh, I think I got food poisoning. I have been up all night long. I am like halfway to death. And I was like, what are you doing here? Like if you get food poisoning and you're up all night long and she's like, we gotta do the thing, man. We gotta do the thing. And she turned it on. And for the next eight hours, she was on fire. I've never seen somebody work a room and just go, and she just was like a boss, just handled it.

12:35And I'm like, how many people I know in my life be out for three days because they had, I got food poisoning. I can't do anything for three days. And she's in Atlanta, food poisoning all night long and then just puts together, that's like Michael Jordan with the flu game. I mean, she just came in and made shit happen. And I was just like, she is such a badass. Like every, and then like the next three times I've seen you at an event, like you just don't stop. And I've just, when you told me at that event, the team hide event, you go, I think I'm gonna run for Metro Council. And I was like, oh my God, you should, this would be amazing. And here we are, you're in the middle of it all. And that was a long monologue, I'm sorry. I'll take it. You made a Michael Jordan reference. I mean, hello, all day, keep going. So I'm really excited you're here. I'm excited that we get to talk to you. I'm excited that if you don't know who Marsha Masula is, that we get to kind of put her in front of you and you get to learn some of the amazingness of who this person is.

13:36By the way, this is not a unbiased interview. I'm officially endorsing Marsha. If there's an endorsement, I want to endorse her. I will certainly second that. I think that we try to be pretty neutral when people are here. We've had a couple of candidates for mayor on the show and we have tried to be neutral with those people, but I will full heartedly endorse you as well, Marsha. We've known each other for a long time. A long time. And I will say that for anyone listening out there, there is no one running for office for any position in office that has been a supporter of the restaurant and hospitality industry the way that Marsha has. And that is a big fact right there. So if you are voting for anything, you need to vote for Marsha, for Metro Council at large. You know, I know, look, this is hard and I have been up since 3 a.m. this morning and hearing these words are just the fuel I need to keep going.

14:39You know, I don't even think this is hard, fully describes it. You know, I'm doing this because I absolutely love Nashville and that's such a basic general thing to say, but it's the absolute truth. My voice is cracking a little bit. You know, I moved to Nashville in 2008, which was obviously the worst time to be doing anything outside of the pandemic with what was happening with the housing crisis and the economy and I got a fresh start in Nashville. And I remember thinking, oh, you know, I was a boy in a band and I landed here and thought it was gonna be this like, you know, hopscotch situation. It was like, the world is ending. What? You're in a new city and I had to start all over. 2008, 2009 was a tough couple of years. Brutal. Yeah. And I remember getting here and I had been an entrepreneur in St. Louis and my town had really embraced me as my hometown and I got here and real talk, I couldn't even find a job folding t-shirts.

15:41That's how Nashville started. But you know what? You pick yourself up, you do the damn work and here I am now running for Metro Council at large. And you know, I've rolled up my sleeves for a long time, not because I thought I was going to run for office or you know, with real any agenda on myself. It's just, I think there are people out there that see things that need to be done, see things that can be better. And that's just how I am. And I think a lot of that stemmed from my childhood. You know, so many of us are the people that we are obviously good, bad, ugly, all the things, because of things that happened when we were kids. And you know, I had a really, really tough childhood. You know, I lost my mom when I was 11. My father was not a great person. And I had to grow up really quick, you know.

16:43And with that being said, I'm thankful for it because it made me tough. It made me, you know, smart, or at least street smart. And you know, it also, I think, even though I didn't realize it, I think until the last few years, it made me really empathetic and it made me really look around and think, you know, it doesn't have to be this hard for everyone. And what can I do to alleviate that? And so that's why, through a lot of my work over the years, whether it's for action for hospitality, which Caroline, we should talk about that a little bit more. We were a big part of that during the pandemic here for hospitality workers and food service workers, or being a huge proponent and fundraiser for animal welfare and rescue to taking care of small business owners through mentorships and programs and, you know, I could go on and on. I think that's the hard part for me is the one thing that I did take away from my father was, you know, let your work speak for itself.

17:51So campaigning is very foreign to me because you walk around with a button on your shirt with your name on it, you're like handing out flyers. Of course I handed you guys this with my name and my face. And I'm like, yeah, you know, is this a match.com photo or a real estate photo? Like, what am I doing? And I've already been told by people, they're like, you have to talk about yourself more. And that's hard for me because I would much rather just be doing the work or elevating other people and causes. And I'm not just saying that. I mean, I think anyone, you know, that would wanna look into it, you know, since I've landed last 15 years, I've gone to work. And I think the opportunity now to have a seat at the table and to be able to focus on this full time, watch out. I've been doing this on top of everything else. If this is actually my job, and if you Caroline and you Brandon and anyone listening to this, if you're my boss, get out of the way, I'm getting it done.

18:54You know, Marcia, you just said something that really kind of got me thinking about something I haven't really thought about before, which is you specifically mentioned small business owners and hospitality workers. And I kind of got my wheels turning a little bit about who does represent us and who does look out for us. And now we have the National Restaurant Association, which theoretically acts on behalf of restaurants and food service. But I don't feel that they are as aligned with small businesses and the actual workers in those businesses. So, you know, who do you think represents us? I'm having trouble kind of coming up with many people that I can really think of off the top of my head. You know, I'll be frank here. I think there are some good leaders that are currently in office. And you know, I think there's some people running right now. It's a lot about promises too.

19:55We're all out here saying, trust me, trust me, trust me. Here's the vision. But I think if you look at the track record, you know, there can certainly be someone who can champion that. And I truly believe I'm that person from the work I've done. You know, you've heard me say time and time again, you know, this city is built on the backs, built on the backs real time on food service workers, hospitality workers. You know, it's also our, you know, teachers, our musicians, our creative artists. And then you have, you know, like our police and our firefighters and our first responders. All these people contribute to why Nashville had $9 billion of visitor spending last year. Absolutely. Nashville wouldn't be this big hotspot that we are without that. But I feel like for food service workers and so many other of these hardworking industries, like I mentioned teachers too, you know, and our police and our fire and our first responders, these are all the people that, you know, that keep our city going.

21:02But, you know, it's like we're, it's like we only have these capabilities in crisis mode. So I kind of mentioned earlier, like, you know, action for hospitality, a bunch of us got together and launched that. We, you know, Caroline was the chair actually after we kind of launched the lobbying. And, you know, I worked very closely with her as the fundraising chair and like community, I don't know what fancy title I had, it just basically made it. It's all a blur, but we were doing it. But you know. You're getting it done, that's the thing. But it was because there was a crisis and we needed to raise money and issue out grants and then even, you know, show up and give food out for families so they could eat or grocery cards, you know, cards, or even my work through giving kitchen. It's like, it's for restaurant workers, food service workers in need. But who's actually out there saying, hey, hey, hey, hey, okay, let's talk about affordable housing. Are we, you know, able to support food service workers and actually getting in affordable housing? Or let's talk about transit. Are there programs we could be doing for workers so they can get to their job, you know, in safe, efficient vehicles through public transportation that's not gonna cost them an arm and a leg and that they can rely on and get to work.

22:14You know, it ties into all that. I think that's one of the big topics of conversation with this mayoral election and this whole election is prioritization. What are we prioritizing in our city? And I think Freddie O'Connell did a great job of talking about why are we prioritizing people that are coming here for a weekend? Why are we not prioritizing the people that live here 365 days out of the year? We're prioritizing everything we do based upon weekend people flying in and it's like- Those weekend people aren't gonna wanna come here. People are leaving and people are starting to leave Nashville because it's not what it used to be and we're not prioritizing the people who actually live here and that's the main issue in my opinion. It's like, what are we doing for Nashvilleans? Right, and not just the people that live here. Like, you know, I'm not gonna go all Bernie on you or anything, but again, let me reiterate. The reason this city is moving, the reason this city is growing at the rate it is is because of the hardworking people that serve us each and every day.

23:22And, you know, I just left a WeGo training event and Ready for Freddie was there. He always laughs when I say that. I refuse to use his whole name, right? I'm like, ready for Freddie. And so he does, I see his work. He looks out for you, me, and everyone around us, our friends and neighbors. But yeah, you know, it's kind of mind blowing to me and I, you know, I said something the other day to an event and there was just an article that came out in the scene in The Post where I call it out to, you know, part of my messaging is we have to preserve, okay? And we have to also just allow Nashville's culture to thrive. Now, culture is a big word, it really is. What I mean by culture is part of the culture are the people that have lived here the longest that gave us our seasoning. You know, they're the ones that are struggling to live right now and live happily in Nashville. Part of our culture is the fact that, you know, you have that favorite neighborhood restaurant or you have that place you go, that small business, and you always take your kids there for their clothes or their toys. You know, our culture are people that are different hues.

24:26It's our, you know, our community of black and brown folks which are growing and feeling less supported than ever, you know? And so it's music, it's the arts, it's what makes Nashville special. And unfortunately, all of these people that I've named are the most vulnerable. They are, I think we found that out in the pandemic and they're probably the most underrepresented as well. Correct, correct. Marcia, as long as I've known you, which is, I wanna say, at least 10 years now. Don't age us. Since we were 20. Yeah, that part. You have been a huge advocate and supporter of restaurant workers and of independent restaurants. As far as I know, you are not somebody who necessarily has spent a lot of time. Have you been a server? Have you been a bartender? Have you done these things? To my knowledge, no. So when I, okay, so I started working really young. Like I mentioned, I grew up really fast and I'm sure it was not legal, but I got paid under the table.

25:31I was 12 years old and I was like a banquet service worker. And then I had a very failed bartending gig when I was in New York one time. So I think that's why my appreciation for food service workers are there. That was gonna be my question, is where does that passion and support for this industry come from for y'all? I think for me, again, I came from a working class family. I love and I see how this industry is a part of our everyday makeup or our footprints in our lives. When I think of the food service industry, I think of when I'm ordering that large pizza because I'm sad and tired and I'm eating it all by myself and probably in one sitting. I think about when I have a celebration, when I go out and we wanna celebrate someone. I think about having a drink with a friend to catch up. I think about, I don't know, I think about even like little kids. I think about little kids going out with their family and it's like a special treat cause they did great in school.

26:36It is such a big part of our lives and it's such a just like everyday moment but it also, it's punctuated by these like special celebrations. And I just, I think at the core, I'm a small business owner and I have been since my 20s. I've worked for different organizations and the man but I've always had some type of business going on at that time. And I just see people that are entrepreneurs that have small businesses, restaurants, stores, I mean consulting even. Anyone who's out there putting it out there, I have so much respect for them because I know the risk, I know the heart, I know the hustle it takes just to keep your doors open and to just wake up the next day and say I'm doing this again. I will always be a fighter for all of us. You know what, I'm gonna get, tell me if I go too deep here. Get in deep and when we've already talked about a troubled childhood. Well that's what we're gonna talk about.

27:37Shitty bartending. I'm gonna get into that. Okay. You lost your mom at a young age. 11 years old. 11 years old. You said that your dad was, you know, I don't, it was a tough situation with your father. Yeah, he was emotionally and physically abusive. So there's a book called The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. I did it as a Brandon's book club book a few months back. But he says that when you get comfortable in things, you get soft. And when, the most people that are the most successful come from a tumultuous childhood because you're constantly, you never find a comfort zone. You don't, everything isn't handed to you. You didn't have this cookie cutter life. And there's two, now if you're a parent, don't go out there and go, I'm gonna start treating my kid like shit because they're gonna grow up to be great. If you make it out of that, if you make it out of that and are a healthy individual, that's a superpower because you've never got comfortable doing anything.

28:41You've constantly been hustling, but you also have an ability to have perspective. Your perspective going into things, nothing's ever just comfortable. And you are comfortable in chaos. You've developed that ability to be comfortable in chaos. And in this particular role, think that's what you want. I don't want another white guy who's grown up in Williamson County and he's like, we're gonna like, I kind of want somebody who is able to understand the people who's overcome challenges and has the perspective to be empathetic with the community, but also throw some shit at me. I'm gonna handle it. This isn't, you're not gonna throw anything at me that's gonna throw me off. I'm ready for the challenge. I actually thrive on that challenge. So it's not a matter of, look, my growing up is what it is, but you put me in this position.

29:41I'm gonna get better with it. Every day, I'm gonna continually evolve in this position and I'm gonna grow. The more challenges that you have, and I look at Mayor Cooper, what a fricking term he had. Oh, boy. I mean, you wanna talk about the tornado, the pandemic. There was, I mean, there were so many things that happened in his first term. Those are the things I would like, God, I hope Marsha's in that position when this happens because she's gonna lean into that. And I think that all stems from your childhood and how you've grown up. And sorry, it's a long monologue, am I off? I'm bobbing my head completely. You're 100% nailing it. It's a survival mechanism. I'm taking a drink of water. When people ask me to use a word to describe myself, I say scrappy. I say scrappy, like the little Scooby-Doo dog, too, but it wasn't a choice. I had to. I had to get creative.

30:41How do I get to the next place? How do I stay safe? I'm like so many people. I can remember being like, oh, hey, I have $10. What do I do with that? How do I make that stretch? You have to be creative. You have to be strong. You have to pick yourself up. And I think in throughout that process, you look out for others, too. You mentioned Mayor Cooper. One of the biggest honors of my life was to work with Mayor Cooper. I originally started as a contractor last year for about six months, and my role was outreach, which is kind of a very natural thing for me, and I was doing outreach specifically for, I did a lot for food service workers again, shocking, arts, women, small businesses, people of color, again, all of these groups that needed a little bit of extra recognition and lift, and it would be like, hey, come to the office. Let's talk. Let's figure out what's going on. How can we assist going out to community events and awareness and supporting initiatives, and so that was great.

31:45And then I was offered the opportunity to come on to the office and be his director of outreach and scheduling. And so when you mention a lot of those things, it was a really unique opportunity because I will be ready day one if I get elected into one of these five at-large seats because I was in the room for the last year. I was part of the lift doing the work, learning from a lot of smart people, watching what was being done well throughout the city, what wasn't being done well. And then my last eight weeks in the office, I didn't launch this campaign until May 1st, which is why I'm like, oh gosh, here we go. This is really, really hard because we have such a short timeline. And even in those last eight weeks, we had the tragedy of the school shooting. Oh man. We had all this legislative mess. We had a tax on our LGBTQI community. Is our council gonna be shrunk from 40 to 20?

32:48Is the state gonna take over our boards and our airport authority and our sports? It was a very hard environment. And then on top of that, it's budget season. We have to push the new budget through. And then we have the state of Metro, which was very hands-on, announcing what the initiatives are, what we've accomplished, making sure we represented everyone in that event as much as we could. The state of Metro, all of that happened in eight weeks, planning a vigil for Dr. Jill Biden to come in, dealing with all that. And then state of Metro on the 27th, my last day in the office was the 28th, put all my stuff in a box, launched my campaign that Monday. But I mean, and that's what I'm talking about, the covenant shooting. I mean, I don't, the day after that we interviewed Freddie O'Connell and it was a very emotional interview. And I'm still, I'm hesitant to even talk about it because I still get incredibly emotional about it. But that happens and you're in the role with the mayor.

33:52Like you're organizing all of that. I mean, essentially you have a team, but like you have to jump in. How do you separate the emotions you're feeling and being able to execute and be able to, I want to say provide, because you're providing something the city needed so desperately and it needed to happen like that. It didn't need to be like, well, we got to wait a couple of weeks, we're all sad. Like it was a vigil that needed to happen and somebody had to get it together. And you were that person. What was that like? It was really hard on all of us in the office. And I, Caroline remember texting me and I'm not dramatic with words, but I was like, I am pulverized. I am absolutely pulverized. Again, I get a little teary-eyed thinking about all the hardworking people in the office and throughout the community as well.

34:52But those were really long, dark days. I can remember just scheduling some logistical stuff for the vigil and then we had funerals and then we were also obviously, there was the fight for us as a city and as a state to make sure that we tried to do as much as we can to prohibit this from happening again. So there were a lot of protests, rightfully so. There was just so much going on, but the whole time it's like you're nauseous and you're sick and you're sad. I cried in my office a few times and just sending emails and calling people and going out in the community. It was really hard on obviously everyone in Nashville, in the country. I told you, Brandon, when you and I touched base, I was like, because we were all checking in on one another, it was like, hey, you're a parent, how are you? And those were some real conversations that we had. But again, it was the most honorable, one of the hardest, and that went on for weeks and weeks for us from a workflow standpoint.

35:59And emotionally, I think we're all still scarred and we're gonna bear that forever. But it also at that moment too, because I was still kind of on the fence that we were still waiting to see if the state was going to take control and we were gonna be downsizing from 40 council members to maybe around 20. And I kept thinking like, can I do this? Because if they do it, it doesn't make sense. If they don't do it and there's 40 spots like there are now, for now, can I do this? And then when all of that was happening, it reinvigorated me to think, oh, hell yeah. Like this is why leadership matters. And this is heavy and this is the scariest thing I've ever done in my life. And I've taken calculated risks before. Moving to Nashville was one of those. I won on that one. But this is scary. This is really, really scary. But I love this city so much and I believe in it.

37:03I believe in us, which has kind of become my campaign motto or I'm for us is what I say. But I've dedicated my life to service and that's not gonna stop. I just think it would be a real, I know that I would bring a unique perspective of being in those rooms, right? And then being in the community and bringing that together, I really, really think that I can make change. I totally agree with that because you're somebody who obviously haven't been in those rooms with you with the politicians of the city. But I think that there are a lot of people who are in politics who perhaps have been there for so long or that's really kind of just the world that they exist in that they don't have that touchstone with the real world and what's really happening. And you're someone who I know has your hand in so many different things or involved in so many different things that I really do think you have those connections and that perspective of different people in the community.

38:11I wanna switch gears just a little bit and ask you, I think that there's a lot of people who don't know how our government works. So let's do a little schoolhouse rock. Hey, okay. You can sing if you want to. Just kidding. She knows I will, so that's the thing. I know, I looked at Brandon, I was like, locked eyes. I'm like, he's gonna do it. Brandon. You're not gonna do it. We're gonna go. Please don't. What is Metro Council at large? I'm so glad you asked, Caroline. So let's kind of break it down for the top. So July 14th, early voting starts through July 29th, April 3rd. This is a mayoral election. So the top seat at the top, the mayor. After that, you have the vice mayor who really is like the head of Metro Council. That's like the main focus. So you're voting for that this election. And then you have the five Metro Council at large seats. So this is a unique role, I guess you could say, because we are part of the council.

39:15So there are 35 district seats that represent each one of your areas. So Caroline, you have one for Nicky's out in the nations. You have East Nashville. You can name all the different pockets. You all have a district representative. There's 35 of those. And you, when you go to the polls, out of all the candidates, you get to vote for one. And then, and their focus obviously is their districts, but they can also be part of committees and things like transit and affordable housing and education and budget. So the five at large seats, that's me. You get, there are 21 candidates right now. Wow. Your girl's one of them. There are five seats. These five seats represent the entire Davidson County. So very similar to the mayor that we represent the entire Davidson County constituency. And it's interesting because when you go to the polls, again, you get to choose five out of the 21 and not just one.

40:15And these roles, you know, they obviously tend to work on committees a little bit more because we're not just focused on one district. There's a lot of collaborations and partnerships. Most people kind of start at like a district. So somebody will normally say, I'm gonna run for a district. And then they might go at large and then they maybe go up and beyond, maybe mayoral. And some might say, well, Marcia, why didn't you run for district 17 where you live? Chestnut Hill, represent. I thought about it. I thought about it. But then I sat there and I couldn't kind of get over the hump because for me, I was like, this feels stifling to me because I've been doing the work. Again, let me reiterate for the last 15 years for the entire community. And so it would feel a little bit remiss just to say, and as much as I love district 17, it would feel a little remiss just to focus on one area when I know that through my work that I've done on my own and the work that I've been able to do through the mayor's office, I know that I can serve the entire city.

41:17So it's not that I came in with this big Marcia energy, like, ha ha, I'm gonna skip to the top. It was a very calculated decision to take that route. I learned, I'm learning all this stuff as we go along. I mean, I knew that, but like this is all super fascinating to me. I just love, I love you used a phrase a little while ago that I call it QBQ, right? So I'm a big personal accountability guy and don't ask how come they don't fix the city. You asked, what can I do to fix the city? What can I do to serve my community? And I just love that terminology, the way that you phrased that. And I just wanna tell you, I'm just gonna tell you how much amount, like massive amount of respect I have for you. Anybody that asks themselves that question, anybody who lives in a city, do you have any idea? And I know you do. How many people blame everybody else for every problem that's happening in the city?

42:23And you're the person that says, what can I do to step up to fix it? Like fucking everybody just wants to blame everybody. And everyone wants to go online and put their two cents in, but you fucking said, I'm gonna go do it. I'm not gonna go online and blame somebody. I'm not gonna pontificate as to why something's wrong. You asked yourself, what can I do to make my city better? And now you're doing it. Like I want you to know how much massive amount of respect I have for you and anybody else that does that. Like those are the people that make cities great. They can also ruin cities. But I think that's true. But that's why I know you and I know what you're about. Like, thank you. Thank you for just, I'm sure you get challenged all the time on your policies or whatever you're going through in this competitive market.

43:23I want, whether you win or not, I just want you to know, like thank you for being you and doing everything that you're doing for this city. It's people like you that make our city great. And I just wanna say thank you. That means a lot. And in my mind, almost everything is figure outable. That's not appropriate like English word in the dictionary. It's figure outable. And I think it comes down to, first of all, listening. And I think a lot, it's my big thing is like, talk with people, not at them, right? So listen, like actually listen to the point, not where you're like, oh, what am I gonna say next? Listen, because nine times out of 10, you're gonna learn something or get clarification or perspective. And then it's about maybe not focusing on what tweet you're gonna send out, right? Or maybe not talking about, well, this is what I was gonna do. There's a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on. And even in our interview questions are like, well, how do you feel about the Titans deal? And in my mind is, it's happening.

44:27So here's what I feel about the Titans deal is, the agreement said that there are all these things, which includes 66 acres of use for our city and affordable housing and green space and public transportation, and making sure we have all these things. And for me, I'm like, okay, there's oversight. And then it's like, what's up? Where's it at? What's the timeline? It's being on top of it and making sure that it is delivered. So that's what I'm focused on. I'm not focused. Yeah, I'm not focused on having conversations. I'm focused on how do we figure this out? And then how do we get shit done, period. And how do we do it in a way that is smart, efficient, and also empathetic? How is this going to affect people, right? 100%, no, I love that. I mean, it seems like these deals are done for headlines. We're gonna bring all these minority businesses and we're gonna do all this stuff.

45:27And then it's like, well, what happened to that? It's great that you did a press conference and talked about it, but let's follow through with that and let's make that happen. I think that's what you're saying. Guys, all right. Let's go. It's done. It's a done deal. I wasn't on Metro Council when it happened. It's gonna happen now. So the next step, it's like the serenity prayer, right? I mean, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change. It's like, I have to accept that now. We can spend all this time talking about what could have happened. Well, it's happened. Let's talk about next and how we're gonna make it the best possible thing for our city. How do we do it right? And I actually have a lot of experience with that. I've been on the Community Benefits Agreement Board, say that a few times, between Nashville Soccer and Stand Up Nashville, and that was a revolutionary deal where it was like, okay, you're gonna take this land. How does the community benefit from that? And so I'm a part of this very small group of people that sits there and says, okay, per the agreement here, it says there's going to be this many affordable housing units.

46:35Where's it at? What's the timeline? Communicating that, getting it done. Okay, we're gonna have a childcare center. What does that look like? What are we doing? Okay, we're going to make sure we have micro business units. I'm actually leading up that project. What does that look like? When do we get it done? Checking the box, making sure we're doing all the deliverables. And so, you know, it's tedious, it's difficult work. There's a lot of tension sometimes with that, but at the end of the day, we gotta work together, right? And we gotta get it done. And that's what I get excited about. I just wanna do the work. Campaigning is for the birds. It's tough stuff, okay? It's really hard. And it's not something, you know, I enjoy having conversations. I enjoy being out in the community. What I don't enjoy doing is talking about myself. I don't enjoy, I mean, fundraising is so hard, but the reality is, you know, you gotta have it. And there's a reason why there's a lot of, what you pointed out earlier, Brandon, so eloquently, a lot of rich white guys running, because guess what? Guess what? Me running right now is a ginormous, another not real word, risk.

47:38You know, I'm taking, I'm stepping back from a lot of my client work. I left the mayor's office, so guess what? That's my investment in my campaign. Somebody's gotta pay for my dog, Reggie's kibble, right? On top of that, it's like, like I mentioned earlier, it's hard work. I've been up since three o'clock in the morning. I've had two, actually three meetings already, you know? I still have clients. I have a client call after this with a restaurant owner. And then I have all these other things lined up, and I still, and then I have to go out and ask people to believe in my vision, to believe in me, to donate to my campaign, because the reality of it is, is people are like, well, why do you need to raise money for campaigns? Caroline, you asked me this question. I'm like, hey, sis, here's the deal. It's expensive. It is really expensive. And the reason it's expensive, I like to ball on a budget. I am all about keeping it lean. But even with that, you all know who I am, right? A lot of people in Nashville, in our communities do.

48:42But there are a lot of people that don't even know I'm alive, you know? And the reality is, is 70% of our voters that show up to the polls, which were about 102,000 Nashvilleans, very low turnout for 2019's May-Ole race. For 2015, it was about 104,000, so not much more, and actually declining, okay? Good Lord. But 70% of those voters are 50 years and older, which is facts. And 56% are women, which is great, hey girls. But it's, I have to get in front of those people, and what that means is I have to raise money to send them mailers and to market to them and to get in front of them on Facebook and all these different things, and that costs a lot of money. And so, while I've had a very strong start, my campaign's only been up a little bit over a month, which is insane, early voting starts July 14th, so I am running, and each and every single dollar makes a difference.

49:43Marcia, what, oh, I'm sorry, Brendan. I just think it's fascinating, because you hear like- They're fighting over me. Well, how hard it is to raise money, and then you see these gun lobbies come in and go, hey, we're gonna give you a million dollars towards your campaign just to help you. It's like, oh, wow, that's really helpful. You gave me a million dollars to run my campaign. Well, I don't have to do a lot, or I can now take a private jet, and I can sleep. Goodness. And then when it comes down to legislation against them, well, no, you gave me a million dollars. That's not how, I love the idea of you just getting out there and the people donating to you, whatever you can, but it's interesting, because you see how hard it is to raise money, and then you wonder, oh, well, somebody gives you a million dollars all of a sudden. That's part of their deal. You got me now. That's how I wish there was some kind of way that you could run, and there was free. I hate that there has to be so much fundraising involved in this.

50:46I mean, I almost didn't run because of it, because it is a barrier of entry, and that's why you see, we're rising up. Women are running in bigger numbers, but it's still not where it should be. You also see people of color not run as much, and you see people that are not kind of in the top percent for income. It's hard, because you're also trying to run, and even from outside of a money standpoint, people have families or they have jobs. I don't know about you, but I still need a paycheck to keep going, so it's very hard. Yeah, no, I was gonna say kind of to piggyback on that as well. This election with both your campaign and I think with our mayoral election as well is a really, really critical one for Nashville, I think particularly around the issues of affordable housing and transportation, which what two issues could be affecting restaurant workers more than that right now in Nashville. How much do you think that the demographic outside of the one you just described, the older demographic, how much do you think that first-time voters are gonna be a part of your key to success?

51:57I am doing everything I can to get that information out through my channels. We've printed off documents, all the thing, handed out flyers, I'm posting it on social media, I'm talking about it. I'm hoping it happens because the reality is it's the folks that are 50 years old and younger that a lot of this is affecting, but I will also say seniors too. Some of our older Nashvilleans are struggling as well and they're not being looked after, so it's a really hard crossroads to be at, which is another word people use on their campaigns, I picked it up, I'm sorry, crossroads. But what I am seeing, I can give you some data, I am really proud of this. So in my first 30 days, we have digital donations that come in and we've had a strong start, we've got a long way to go still, but there was a significant number and off the top of my head I would say probably around 60% of my donors were donating for the first time to a local election.

53:07A lot of people will do stuff for like Congress or Senate or obviously presidential, but it's pretty exciting to see Nashvilleans be like, I don't even know what at large is, take my money, or I know what at large is and I usually don't vote or even donate to locals. So I think there's some energy there. Maybe somebody is listening to this and they are a restaurant worker and they say, I don't have $500, I don't have $1,500 to donate to a campaign, but I like what March is saying. If somebody has $5, $10 that they can spare to help get you elected to fight for our industry, what would you say to that person? What I say is, I say this all the time, so there's campaign finance, right? Whether it's $18 or the $1,800 maximum per person, each dollar means the same to me because at the end of the day, it's what's meaningful to you and if you're giving me that $18, that means something to you and that means something to me and that's just gonna keep pushing up my needle.

54:14It all matters. So here's, I wanna put some perspective around this. How many people live in Metro Davidson County? So it's about 700,000. In Metro Nashville, like the whole Davidson County, 700,000 and how many people voted in the last election? 102,000, but let me also add a little layer to that for mayor, what happens at the poll too is, when it goes down to vice mayor, ooh, you got a big drop off and then by the time it gets to at large, even more of a drop off. So based off what I can recall, it's about a 25 to 35% drop off for mayor. So it's not even 102,000 people that would be voting for me. So let's put this in perspective because I think a lot of people think elections, they think presidential election, that's the big one. Everybody needs to vote for president and I think a lot of people who are Democrats go, I don't even vote for president here because we're just gonna lose. Like it's gonna go red, this is just what it is. We hear that, yeah. So you're one of the 700,000 people, you're listening to this, you live in Metro Davidson County.

55:20If you're one of the people who thinks that your vote doesn't matter or if you think this is just some like, this is the election if you live in Nashville that you need to vote on. This is the one that will affect you the most. If you care about anything that's happening in your city and you don't vote, like this is the time. And if I can motivate you to get out to the polls, this is the election that affects your life directly the most of any election that you can possibly do. And it's also the election that your vote counts the most in because one in seven people are actually voting. So your vote counts seven times, essentially. If you're thinking about, well, my vote, your vote, if there's 102,000 people and there's 700,000 people, your vote counts seven times. So take that as far as people that are voting in this town. And if you go vote for Marsha, you're voting for somebody who is gonna be a champion for you, like you cannot afford not to vote in this election and not vote for people like Marsha because she's going to directly make your life better living in Nashville.

56:33You just nailed it right there is when you wake up in the morning till you go at night, you have more access to me, your district council members and your mayor than you do the president of the United States, right? Infinite amount more. Infinite, so if you're having issues with safety on your street, right? If you're having issues with education, right? Your kids going to school and obviously that's a big talking point right now because of safety and teachers and if you're, there's not enough childcare, cause there's not. It's not even a talking point, it's a big issue. It's all these things. It's all these things in your daily life that impact. You can't get to work on time. You only have one car in the household now, but you have two earners. You could go on and on and on and on. Who are you gonna be able to talk to? Who are you gonna be able to have represent you? It's your local officials. So you have to vote. If you don't think it's, I just want to say like, if you don't think, oh, I'm just voting. It's the same thing.

57:33Like it doesn't have to be, it's that mindset that is holding us back. All of the protests downtown, all of the things, if you're willing to go downtown and protest this stuff, get your ass to the polls. Like get in there and make that vote because that is the biggest thing you can possibly do. I would say too, even if you're someone who isn't that civically engaged, maybe you don't watch the local news. Maybe you don't read the newspaper. Maybe you aren't going downtown and protesting, but you are somebody who wants to buy a new car and can't afford it because we still have a minimum wage in the state that's 7.25 an hour. Maybe you work in downtown, but you have to live out in hermitage because there's no affordable housing close to the place where you work. Maybe your car broke down and you can't get to work because you can't afford an Uber and we have no public transportation here. You know, if any of these things are affecting you, you have nothing to lose by taking 10 minutes out of your day to register to vote and then another 10 minutes out of your day to go and actually vote.

58:43Voting for president isn't going to necessarily impact your day-to-day life the way that your local politicians are. And you should still vote for president too. Well, absolutely you should. I'm just saying. Even more so this year than ever. Well, please don't even get me started on that one. That's another episode. This is the election though. This is the, I don't think people recognize, and I didn't going up until this election because you know, you just get busy with life and you're like, it's gonna have, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. But I think you have to take that mindset. What can I do to help fix this city? And you have people like Marcia stepping up to do that. And what can it, so ask yourself, the person listening this right now and you say, what can I do to help my city? You can go vote. You can get to the polls and you can vote for the people that you think are going to address the needs of the city the most. And do your homework. Listen to people like Marcia. Go listen to everybody. Learn who you align with the most and then go place your vote for them because your vote counts for seven times based on what last happened.

59:48Brandon, you just nailed it on the head. Now is the time to get your voter plan together. Are you registered to vote? Do you need a mail-in ballot? Because people are like, oh, that's just for old people. And I'm like, actually think about all the musicians and people that are on tour or what's going on in the summer. Do you qualify for that? Let's get a plan together. Are you registered to vote? Maybe August 3rd is hard for you because not all places make it convenient for people to vote. Then you know what? Early voting is probably gonna be a better idea for you and that starts July 14th through July 29th. Learn about your candidates. Who's in your district, right? Who's running for at-large? Who's vice mayor? Who's mayor? It all matters. Be as informed as you can because here's another campaign reality tidbit. Most of the people, by the time they get, they're at the poll and they have their box and it's like, they might know who the mayor is, cool. Maybe even the vice mayor. But by the time it starts going down to at-large, the five seats and district, they're just gonna sometimes vote for the names that they've heard or recognized.

01:00:52Oftentimes, I should say, they're gonna just vote for people that they've heard of before. And if you want change and if you want representation and if you really want someone who's going to do the work, that person may not be it. Maybe they are, but maybe they're not. So you gotta get your voter plan together. I think you touched on something really important too, Marcia, which is a lot of times you go in that booth and you'll look at the ballot and there's so many names and so many offices that you didn't even know are on this election. If you want to vote for mayor, if you want to vote for Marcia, but maybe you don't really know what's going on. You can leave them blank, right? You can leave them blank. It is okay to go in and vote for the people that you've done your research, the people that you know you want to support and leave the rest blank. Now in a perfect world, are you well-informed? Absolutely. But who among us really has the time to do all of that deep research? And if you don't, it's okay. Still go vote for those people that you know are gonna take care of you. Yeah, and you should vote for people, like you said too, that share your values that you trust or want to trust, who represent you.

01:02:00I mean, I keep saying this, but when you are a public servant, when you are in office, you all are our boss. You're our bosses. That's not being funny. That's the actual truth. You're our bosses. And so we need to represent and serve you. You need people, I'm of the mindset of you have to be both civically and financially responsible for our people, you know? Yeah, 100%. You have to. Well, Marcia, it's an honor to have you here and it's not your first time on the show. No, I'm an old head. I've been here a few times. You've been on a few times. I'm an old head. Obviously, we're big fans and I think that we haven't endorsed any candidate. I gotta be honest. I was not expecting that. Baby's first endorsement. Baby's first, you are my first endorsement, actually. We've had some other candidates on and I would like to have some more candidates on. I love sharing as I'm learning too.

01:03:03I mean, this isn't just like I'm learning all of this stuff as we go along and I love it. I'm fascinated by it and I feel like that's what I can do. Like, what can I do to help? I can help share some of these stories and help educate people. That's what I can do. But I'm all in for what you're doing. Can I just say one thing? When you said endorsement, which just literally gave me the juice to keep going today. It's gonna be a very long day. Those are the endorsements I'm looking for, okay? There's all these different type of endorsements. Like, oh, this circuit clerk or someone. It's very political. It's part of the jargon. What I'm looking for are endorsements from real people in the community representing our hardworking folks doing good things. And a big part of that is food service workers, hospitality workers, our front line service workers, all of that. Those endorsements mean something to me. Well, we mean it. Marcia, before you go, can you please give us some of those important dates again about the register to vote deadline, early voting, election day, all of that, because I think it is so important.

01:04:11Yeah, so register to vote, I believe, is July 5th. Early voting is July 14th through the 29th. And then election day is August 3rd. And if we need to register to vote, it's just so easy as going on a website. Is that right? Actually, great plug. My website, marciafornashville.com, I have an entire section that has all of the links. So if you want to do a mail-in ballot or if you're looking for voter registration or just other information, I have a snazzy little video and also some just other talking points about what issues matter, what I'm focused on, all of that. And again, if you, whether you have $18, $1,800, I want it all, I need it all. I am literally the underdog in this and I'm prepared to battle. I'm prepared to go for it. Well, we got your back, girl. Well, we have one last thing. Oh, boy. Super easy. You'll probably excel at this one.

01:05:11This is the Gordon Food Service final thought. So Gordon Food Service, our fine title sponsor, allows you to give us, you get to take us out today. Your final statement, you're speaking to the city of Nashville, whatever you want to say, as long as you want to say it, take us out. I will keep it short. I'm for us, I have been for 15 years. Vote me into office, get me a seat at the table and I will get to work on day one. And that's on period. Amen. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, oh. I don't have it set up, sorry. Were you gonna do like a sound effect? Yes. I love your sound effects. You do love those. I do, I'm sorry, Caroline. You're so funny. Like a wah-wah. Well, I have... That's all right, that's all right. No, no, no, I've set up a... Caroline's over it. There it is. There it is. I needed that. So say, I'm for us. Come on, ready?

01:06:13Do it again. I'm for us. Okay. Please leave that in there. Please leave that entire section in there. Like Brandon. He doesn't know any of you, I was gonna go here. I'm horrible. I love y'all and thank you for being such a strong voice for the food service community, seriously. We're happy. We're, thank you, it means a lot. Thank you, Marcia. Marcia, we'll talk to you soon. Bye. All right, big thank you again to Marcia Masula for joining us here on Nashville Restaurant Radio. If you wanna learn more about Marcia, you can find her on Instagram at Masula, M-A-S-U-L-L-A. Facebook, Marcia for Nashville. Twitter, she is at Masula. You wanna call her, 615-207-60. Or if you just wanna email her and you wanna get some more information about her, learning more, her email is Marcia, M-A-R-C-I-A, at MarciaForNashville.com.

01:07:17So there it is, MarciaForNashville.com is her website. If you'd like to donate, we talked about her needing campaign funds. If you wanna be a part of what she's doing, like I said, what can I do to help change my city? If you wanna step up and you wanna donate $5, anything helps, go to MarciaForNashville.com. Thank you guys for listening. We're gonna be back all new Monday with Noelle Marchetti and Brandon's Book Club tomorrow. Join us at 9 a.m. And that episode will be out the week after Father's Day. So we're excited to have Dr. Alex Jahangir. Hope you guys are being safe out there. Love you guys, bye-bye.