Jody Collins is one of those Knoxville people who seems to know everybody, and in this episode of A Knoxville Podcast, I finally get him on the other side of the mic. Jody is the longtime host of the Knoxville podcast Ramblin’ Man, a graphic designer, a former newspaper and magazine guy, and a fixture in the local music scene. We recorded at the Suttree’s Landing riverfront, with the UT rowing teams going by in the background. We even have a random guest cameo by past guest Adeline Granath!

We talk about:

• Ramblin’ Man and a decade of local podcasting: 260-plus interviews, why he’s focused on Knoxville nonprofits lately, and his rule that an interview goes as long as it goes
• Knoxville music: Todd Steed, Sam Quinn, The Bearded, Scott Miller, Randall Brown and why even local legends get tongue-tied around local legends
• Lost Knoxville hangouts: Merchants of Beer, Knox Cigar Company, The News Sentinel's Friday “Therapy” crew, Sidesplitters comedy club, and Central Collective’s A Good Sport Night
• Growing up on the Downtown East Side: Larry Cox YMCA, Cal Johnson Rec Center, Fulton High School, and why every gym looks smaller when you go back
• Knoxville characters and icons: Dolly, Peyton Manning, Al Wilson, and the personalities who make downtown feel like home
• Public art and local talent: why Knoxville’s murals and illustrators deserve more walls
• Travel and comedy stories: his quest to see every MLB stadium, Comedy Cellar in New York, and the “Yes, I’m tall” cards that ended up with David Sedaris and Mark Kozelek

If you love Knoxville music, local history, and the stories behind the town’s best-known faces, this one’s for you. Know someone with a great Knoxville story? Nominate a guest or visit KnoxvilleRob.com/podcast.

Guest links: Ramblin’ Man with Jody Collins | Jody Collins

Rob Howard - @KnoxvilleRob on all social media is a real estate broker, author, podcaster and superhost at Howard's Pond

Ryan Sheley has the singular perspective of someone who grew up in Knoxville, travelled widely and chose to come back home. A West High School grad who spent time at the University of Tennessee, Ryan spent nearly a decade touring almost 300 days a year as frontman of the band Homemade Wine, including a stop at Bonnaroo and a long residency in Key West, before coming home to help rebuild downtown Knoxville.

In this conversation with host Rob Howard, Ryan traces the path from that stage life into helping develop and grow Maple Hall, the bowling alley and entertainment anchor that turned a roofless, derelict J.C. Penney building on Gay Street into one of downtown's most-loved spaces, and the relaunch of Babalu next door. Now the founder of Cottonwood Concepts, Ryan talks about what it actually takes to build something that lasts, whether that's a marriage, a business culture, or some of the city's hundred-year-old buildings that others would have demolished.

Along the way: how his father brought Wendy's to East Tennessee in the early '70s, buying and turning around an auto repair shop that went on to win a Carfax Top Shop award, the "one thing doctrine" for hiring and retaining the right employees, the Charley Crockett lyric that gave Cottonwood Concepts its name, and how his team is bringing new energy to Tellico Plains and the Cherohala Skyway corridor with Red Chimney Pizza. Expect detours into Hemingway, Simon Sinek, and hanging out in a Key West bar with a NASCAR legend.

Two Knoxville real estate professionals sit down to talk about service, roots, and what it actually takes to build a career that lasts in East Tennessee.

Casey Irwin and Lisa Dockery join host Rob Howard (@KnoxvilleRob) for their first-ever podcast appearance as candidates for the East Tennessee Realtors Board of Directors. What starts as a candidate conversation turns into something better: two honest Knoxville stories about how a career gets built.

Casey is a multi-generational East Tennessean whose family came from Loyston Point, land now under Norris Lake. He grew up in Norris, studied psychology and public health, and never planned on real estate. An executive assistant role with a commercial developer changed that. From putting out signs and lock boxes for Lucas Ho and Sharon Lang, he went on to open Keller Williams franchises, serve as a team leader in Washington DC, lead an office through COVID, and co-found Keller Williams Young Professionals, which grew into one of the largest chapters in the nation.

Lisa is a Knoxville native, a Karns High School graduate, and an interior designer by training. She has moved 18 times in 33 years, which means she has lived the buyer and seller experience from nearly every angle. She is also 20 years strong with Fantasy of Trees, the holiday event that has raised more than a million dollars in each of the past two years for East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

What we talk about:

• Growing up in Norris, Karns, and Polk County, and why deep local roots still matter in real estate
• How a psychology degree and an interior design background both turn into daily tools in this business
• Why volunteering and showing up generates real business (including a referral Rob traced back to a Keller Williams RED Day project)
• The reality of an industry where agents quietly disappear, and why a phone call can change that
• What the Realtor Party did to get real estate declared essential in Tennessee during the shutdown
• Knoxville's growth, the traffic complaints, and the Nashville commute that cures them
• Standard Nuclear in Oak Ridge, small modular reactors, data centers, and where East Tennessee is headed
• Why the Market Pulse report is required reading for investors and developers

Rob also shares the principle behind 23 years in the business: be out amongst 'em. Not cold calls. Not expireds. Showing up, staying in touch, and caring about people long enough that they call you when life changes.

Realtor members: voting for the East Tennessee Realtors Board of Directors runs September 16 through 18. Watch your inbox for the association email. If you unsubscribed, call the association and ask to be added back, and subscribe to the Market Pulse while you are at it.

About the host: Rob Howard is a Knoxville real estate broker with Keller Williams, host of A Knoxville Podcast, and author of Seller Secrets and the Frank Merchant mystery series. He has been helping people find their place in East Tennessee for more than 23 years, with about 90 percent of his business coming from past clients and referrals.

Thinking about buying, selling, or investing in Knoxville? Start at KnoxvilleRob.com or call 865.385.9070.

More episodes at RealKnoxville.com

#KnoxvillePodcast #KnoxvilleRealEstate #EastTennessee #EastTennesseeRealtors #KnoxvilleTN #RealKnoxville #KnoxvilleRob #FantasyOfTrees #KellerWilliams