Dear Nashville, You Changed Everything

Dear Nashville, 

Goodness, It’s only been 2 1/2 years, yet with the breadth of life that’s happened together, it feels as though it’s been a decade. I showed up like the bridge of a bad country song, with my suitcase, a small amount of money and a dream. Landing that first night to the gregarious welcome of Luke Bryan over the loud speaker at BNA, truthfully had me about ready to get back on the plane and retreat. This Northwest girl panicked at the abrupt southern world I had landed in. 

I walked in blind. With a few close friends holding tightly together, tethered to a big vision for KAIO, and a bit of iron grit thrown in there. Those first 48 hours, the mental dialogue was that I had surely made a mistake or had completely lost my mind. I came so close to not giving you a chance. You can thank my cousin Sara - and the possibility of her kicking my ass for not trying - enough to make me look you square in the eye. I am so thankful you woo’ed me that first week, because time with you has changed my life. 

Within the first few weeks of being under those Tennessee skies I knew this was going to be different than anything before. There was no context or reference for that, but it was there and it never proved me wrong. If our lives are stories - the main characters made their entrance quickly as if being given a sovereign “calm down, you’re fine” from the heavens. 

You were refuge. You were the first home I feel like has every been truly mine …… what a gift to extend to a girl who had been unrooted for so long. Thank you for introducing some of the most important people of my life.  Thank you for creating spaces that invited me in, challenged and propelled me forward. Where it unexpectedly became safe to rumble with the years past, and walk into the reckoning of healing and find freedom on every level. 

Thank you for slower days, Peach Truck peaches, 8th & Roast coffee, picnics in Sevier Park, Jared Foldy’s DJ sets, teaching me about real estate, Happy Hour dates, so much incredible music, Kate Hinrichs magical building/baking skills, the Flea Market, Dozen Bakery oatmeal bread (it’s amazing), backward dinners, and fireflies. 

But my heart will never be the same because of your community.

For how they opened their arms wide - and dreamed alongside of me. Embracing my fumbling and mess after a life lived too transient, cheering for my best attempts and staying present when I grieved the failures. Your people became my family. The kind that steps into the rhythm of everyday life and loves you exactly as you are. They’ve healed parts of me with every coffee date, bonfire, shared meal, willingness to believe in the vision of KAIO, and every slow afternoons at Mary & Denny Collins’s house. I’ve been the recipient of extraordinary generosity from the practical to literal dreams being supported. 

I discovered what happens when you let yourself sink in, and let roots drill into the ground. When life is not mapped out by campaigns or seasons or semesters - but by the ebb and flow of normal life. How beautiful and messy it all can be - and that embracing it leads you to new freedoms. 

I learned in a new way what commitment looks like. Witnessing that effect and it's wisdom by journeying alongside The Belonging Co and committing to learning from my pastors Alex & Henry Seeley. But, also by seeing how the KAIO team poured themselves out in pursuit of the common good. 

I felt what it means to have church in your friends kitchen while she cuts your hair, and to sit with the ones you love as they wrestle with the biggest decisions they’ll ever make. 

I believed in my story enough to tell it. The support of the community around me making it possible to breathe life into what it could be. 

I wrestled with my failures and pride. My focus often fragmented as I worked to build a company and support day to life - yet I always felt grace in those moments of learning. Thankful for all the ways I was forgiven in the missteps.  

I experienced love on every level. The kind that wraps you up and calls you to higher things - giving me the courage to love deeply and say the important things. 

Here’s the thing. Nashville, you’re messy and magical - and I am forever changed because of it. The amount of growth happening within your boundaries is a testament to the tension this crew of dreamers + doers, who you call you home, are walking through. The growth and healing that’s required as we pursue purpose and lives lived well - becomes possible through your refuge. 

I met you worn out, but hopeful. 

I am leaving you healed, braver and the truest version of myself yet. 

Nashville, thank you. For your storms, and magical nights and people who changed everything.