Asheville is Open: How Local Businesses Are Bouncing Back Together with Jessica Kanupp

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:36Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I'm Bill Gilliland. Alain, the principal at Action Coach Business Growth Partners and one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit. And speaking of the Business Summit, it's coming up on the 23rd. If you don't have your tickets yet, get your tickets now. I'll give you a little hint. If you can find a sponsor, they might have a ticket for you. So, you know, it's a thing. Otherwise, you need to go to the website, wncsummit.com, get your tickets there. We look forward to seeing you on the 23rd. And if you want to really take advantage of some cool networking, you're one of going to come out and pay a little bit extra and come to the VIP dinner the night before over at Highland Brewing.

1:19So going to be really good on the 22nd. So, hey, I am super pumped today. We've got one of our community partners and sponsors of the summit. We've got Jessica from the Asheville Chamber. So welcome to the podcast, Jessica. Thanks for having me. Happy to be here this morning. Yeah, well, tell us a little bit about your role and how you got here and what's going on at the Chamber. Yeah, so my role at the Chamber, I'm the Director of Member Marketing and Sales. So I'm out in the community talking to new businesses about what we do at the Chamber, how to get involved, how to learn more. and I've been with the Chamber, gosh, this October, it'll be six years, kind of hard to believe.

2:12And yeah, so we're just out there plugging along. You know, we've had a really challenging year this year with the hurricane and I mean, none of us expected that. So it's a lot of heartfelt stories when you meet with people and, you know, really how they've pivoted, what they've gone through. I mean, now I've been through COVID talking to businesses. I've been through the hurricane talking to businesses. So it's very emotional and you get very attached to these. So, you know, when you guys are putting these summits on to help these businesses grow and learn and help thrive through all of what we've been through, you know, it's really it's really great and really um an uplifting thing not only with what their the knowledge that they're getting but then also the camaraderie and like seeing everybody in the place together and i mean that's what i like and that's what i thrive on yeah i think you know the speakers are great we've got a great lineup it's gonna be amazing it's about how to take you know how to go from here, essentially, like how to take what we've learned.

3:23I mean, we have been through COVID. We have been through Helene. And we're not going to say it's going to be easy. But what we're saying is that just makes us better. And then how do we go from here? But what I've always said about these kind of events is the speakers are great. You're going to get actionable steps from it. But one of the most value is likely going to come in the interim, like at lunch, in the breaks, when you're talking to other business owners, when you're out there networking. So I love that what you said was we're out trying to build a community. I want to talk about the Chamber a minute in that I've always found that there's a group of people that want to pay their membership and then you never see them again.

4:09I'm going to say to you guys, if that's what you're thinking when you become a member of the Chamber, I think that is a massive missed opportunity. I would almost call it a mistake, but I'm going to call it just a missed opportunity. So there are a lot of ways to get involved. What you said was get involved. And that's what I think is the, you know, we've noticed a difference since we've stepped up our efforts and gotten involved and in a bigger way and participated on some committees and that sort of thing. So talk about maybe some good ways for people to like step up their involvement in the chamber.

4:50Yeah, absolutely. So we're in a unique situation, especially in our area where we are the overarching umbrella of economic development, workforce development. We have our entrepreneurship program through Venture Asheville. We also manage the visitor center that has the Asheville shop attached to it. So like the trolleys that you see going out, some of the excursions that are leaving from the visitor center, like all of those experiences are leaving from the visitor center here. And those are all members of the chamber. So those are all different. Oh, we also have our public policy department. We have a research department for Riverbird Research.

5:33So those are all very different parts of what we do, which also means you can get involved in different arms of the chamber. so I always recommend like we we have our calendar out on our on the website especially when you first join like go to a couple different events that different departments put on there's always a different audience so you're going to meet different people it might not be exactly who that you you're like oh this has nothing to do with what I do but you never know who's going to be the audience who you're going to meet at least you tried it out you know but there's so many different opportunities to get involved in.

6:09I mean, I think it's coming up and we were, we had our Fresh Faces event, which is our new members that we welcome each month to come. That was yesterday. And we were looking at the calendar and I believe it's a day next week. We have something in the morning, something in the, for lunch and then something in the evening. We were like, you can just spend the whole day at the chamber and it's all different departments. But, you know, there's something for everyone to get involved in and it just needs, you just have to tailor it for what you're doing. But you're right. It's like joining the gym.

6:41You can't just join the gym and then feel like you're going to get buffed and lose weight or something and get healthy. You actually have to go, you know? And so, um, dang, dang. I can't just join the gym. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I mean, we really try hard to make sure that people can get involved and if they can't figure out what to do, like you mentioned, different committees and different groups that we have. We have volunteers. I mean, obviously, myself, Amy, Tommy, Leanne, you know, we have people here that can answer those questions, but we have volunteers that are also members that can speak to, hey, I tried this.

7:23I did this, you know, so we're, we want to be a resource. We don't, we don't want people to be like, I couldn't figure out what to do. You know, I mean, there's, there's lots of different audiences for different businesses. It's not one, one size doesn't fit all, you know, and we, we understand that. So, yeah, no, I love that. I love that. I'm going to give everybody a tip here for networking and, and first of all, show up, go to something. And if you, and you, but one of the things you can do is find whoever the chamber person is at that event. There's always a person. I don't, they'll have a name badge on usually, but, or they should, but the, the, and, and And all you got to do is go to them and say, hey, I don't know who's here.

8:11Who do I need to meet that's here? Can you introduce me? And I've done that hundreds of times. I mean, when I first came here, I remember Amy helped me out. I was like, who do I need to meet? She said, come over here. We'll go meet this person. We'll go meet that person. You know, we'll go meet this person. So the first thing is show up. The second thing is ask for help connecting with people that you should. I mean, it's a great question. Who's here that I need to know? and uh hey i do think from the chamber you know when you look at the chamber calendar holy cow i mean i mean i mean so my other piece of advice is don't get hung up that you have to go to everything you can't exactly you you can't do it it's not possible if you've got a team of about 20 people you can probably do it but if it's just you, you know, pick the things, try out a few things, find the things that resonate with you, right?

9:06Yep. Yeah. And, and, and show up to that. So, so what are you, you're out in the community. I mean, what are you hearing? You know, I feel like it's really, um, it's a lot more positive. Um, it's turned, I, in my personal, you know, I feel like as of like January, February, it was a lot, a lot more positive coming through. You know, I have a lot more inquiries like in my inbox about wanting to learn more about the chamber. I think it's slow in person, like going to certain events, like out outside of chamber events, but like outside networking things that I'm doing. Sometimes people are like getting together a little bit slowly.

9:56But businesses are coming back. People are in my inbox wanting to learn more about the chamber, which is so exciting. And I love it, which means they're starting businesses. They're moving to Asheville. It's coming back. You know, I think all the efforts that everyone is doing to spread the word about us being open. You know, I think it's just it's really it's coming. It's coming together slowlier than slower than we wanted it to. but it is working. So I think it's encouraging. I think we just have to be patient. Had I not been working here as long as I have, and again, not to reference COVID, but I did go through COVID as well.

10:40And so it feels very similar to that. You know, and a lot of people are still paying off, you know, loans or something to do with COVID. That's what I've heard a lot of, So it's hard for some of these businesses to regroup again. But people are pivoting and they're restructuring. And I'm still talking to people that are starting out and reinventing. And so I think it's really coming back. And as you drive around town, you see the reopenings, the rebuilds. I mean, Biltmore Village, if you've been down there lately, things are opening back up. And the Hardys have their ribbon cutting. I think it was last week, maybe.

11:23And there's a new artist market that's opening up. The River Arts District is doing all kinds of fun things and opening, you know, they have stuff on the weekends and it's really opening back up some too. So there's a lot of good that's happening and a lot of businesses are part of that and a lot of artists and it's just really encouraging. Yeah, I like it. So the message to the world is, hey, we're open. Yeah, exactly. Asheville, we're, I mean, Asheville is open. We have, you know, almost, I mean, all the hotels, all the downtown businesses were not flooded. So it's, I mean, we were all impacted, obviously.

12:01Most of us were impacted at our homes and everything. But at the end of the day, some industries were more impacted than others. but there is so much going on in this town that to think. And that's one of the reasons we planned the summit when we planned it. It is almost exactly on the one-year anniversary. It's a little bit about a week before of Alene, and there's a lot of things going on then, but this is a real opportunity to come together as a community, and I can't say enough thanks to the Chamber for being a part of it. And, you know, the chamber is involved in a lot of things, but most of it's sort of their own umbrella.

12:40And they've but they've come out and said, hey, this is something that we need to get behind. So tell us a little bit about the rationale for that. Well, I mean, we just I mean, we believe in business and thriving and our business is growing. And that's what we're here to do, connect businesses with other businesses within the community. And so, you know, what better way to help support the business summit? and you know our success or your success their success is our success and so we have a lot of members that are attending and want to attend and you know it's just a real good feel good community event you know and so it's just anytime that you can go somewhere where people are leaving being empowered and encouraged and, you know, feel like they've gained, you know, knowledge and just also just get to be around people and, and see, I mean, for the longest time, like we, this past year, like there were pockets where none of us could communicate with each other.

13:49And a lot of the people that will be sitting in that room are extroverts that like to communicate, you know what I mean? Oh yeah. We, um, we missed a big part of that. And so So it's just a way for the chamber to help support your business and the summit in a way that we feel strongly that it's helping other businesses within our community. Yeah, I think anytime we can get businesses in the same room, regardless of why you're there, then good things happen. And like I said, the time, the breaks, the time, the lunches, the time between that, I mean, it's an amazing opportunity to talk to people that you may not, you may have a hard time actually catching up.

14:33I mean, you know, we've been making a lot of phone calls. And the truth is we leave, you know, probably 80 % messages. So it's just the way it is in this day and age. And, you know, every once in a while we'll talk to somebody. But when you can be in a room with other business owners, it's just great things happen. So it's good. It's unique, I feel like, to our area, too. It doesn't matter, even if it's the same industry that you're in. Western North Carolina is such a collaborative business environment. like any other place would be like, oh, well, if there's another, you know, chiropractor there, like, I don't know, you know, or something, I don't know, like, we're just such a collaborative area.

15:24Like everybody getting together is just, I don't know, it's such a good feel good type of Well, once you realize that, you know, I was once in a networking group where we had three insurance agents, and they all were in there for a different discipline. But at the end of the day, They all did the same thing. I mean, they all carried the same things. And what they found was by getting to know each other really, really well, they were able to help each other out. Like one of them could write farms. One of them couldn't write businesses on farms. I mean, could write businesses on farms. The other one, the guy who could write farms couldn't write businesses on farms.

16:01And they end up collaborating together to both of them having the same client. It never would have happened if they hadn't have been talking to each other pretty regularly. So, yeah, I know the Chamber's got some networking groups, too, some P &G groups. If you're looking for something to do, you should check those out. There's, I don't know, what, three or four of them? We have five of them now, yes. Five? Wow. Okay, that's exciting. Yeah, we've got one in South Asheville as well. You know how far it is out there. Yeah, it's a real pain to go to South Asheville, right? It is so, so far, right?

16:37No, it's like, yeah, no, it's, hey, that's one of the things that's cool about Asheville. We're together, but we feel like we're spread out, right? We got east, west, north, south, and it's just the way it goes. I want to get your thoughts on something. You know, one of the taglines that I use is BEPIC, and it's an acronym for success. And so I want to get your thoughts on the acronym. It's just quick one or two sentences about each one. The B stands for bring the energy. And I know you're energetic. So let's talk a little bit about energy.

17:10So funny story, this office is actually in the way, way, way back in the chamber. I like to laugh that I'm like too energetic, that they got to put me in the corner. But yes, I think that energy is contagious. Yes. So as you're, I mean, obviously you have to read the room. I mean, you know, you can't be like bouncing out the walls, but I mean, I think, I think if people are excited, I mean, I believe in the chamber. I believe in everybody's chamber, like not just the Asheville chamber. I love our chamber, but if I'm like out on vacation, wherever and somebody starts talking to me and they own a business, my first question is, are you a member of your local chamber?

17:59I mean, they probably think I'm crazy, but like, I just am always promoting the chamber. I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. And so I just think your energy is contagious and people feed on that. But if you also believe in your product, like it's going to come across and people are, I mean, it's just, if you really believe in it and you, I mean, like, that's just what it is and that's part of your energy. And yes, I know I have a lot of energy. So I try to, you know. No, no, let's keep it up, man. enthusiasm is, you're right. I mean, energy and enthusiasm are essentially, if you're enthusiastic, that is contagious.

18:37In fact, I think one of the definitions of sales is a transfer of enthusiasm. So yeah, I mean, people get fired up about things. All right, the E stands for education. Give me a couple of your ideas about education and the importance of that. I mean, I think, you know, So I think you do have to educate yourself on, I mean, in what I do, like the business, who I'm talking to, like what they're doing, you know, or what I'm doing at the time, keeping up with the times, like all the AI stuff that's going on, you know, how that can help me or help others. You know, we do a lot of educational things here at the chamber that And I'm like, oh, I never would have thought of that.

19:24Or sometimes I'm like, oh, I don't own my own business. This doesn't pertain to me. And then I'm like sitting there listening. I'm like, but I could use some of this, you know, or something like that. So that's kind of a spin on it. I love it. Got to always be getting better. Yeah. How about P stands for planning? Well, it depends on who you ask about planning when it comes to me. I'm not going to switch my desk right now because I'm a little bit of organized chaos. Um, but, but I actually am a planner. I think a lot of that has come since I've had my child, because I feel like I'm a logistics coordinator when it comes to things.

20:03But I mean, you do really have to plan, you know, where you're headed, what you're doing, and have a strategic eye about it. But, you know, I always like to do like when we're at a networking thing, I like to know, do introductions in the beginning, know what the business is so that once whenever like the opportunity is ready to talk to people, I can hone in on who I need to talk to when I need to talk to them. because time is of the essence, you know, not that I don't want to talk to people that I, you know, but like, not necessarily me, but like people have things that they need to do, and you need to know what their business is, so that you can effectively use your time while you have it, you know, because there's a lot going on, and there's a lot of places to be, and if you need to be somewhere shortly after this next meeting, you know, you need to use your time wisely and get to, you might not have an Amy Jackson to be like, Hey, I need to talk with somebody that does X, Y, Z.

21:09And she walks you over to it. You know what I mean? Right. I love, I love name tags that tell me exactly who you work for, you know, so that I can know what's going on. Yeah. Yeah. I believe it. I believe in wearing name tags as well. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny. So having a kid will make you a planner. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. You have to be. You can't. Yeah. I love that. And then you plan it and then it goes out the window. I mean, like, let's be honest. Yeah, well, yeah, there's an, you know, I have some Marines for clients and they say that, you know, they teach you in the Marines that you've got to make a plan.

21:48But as soon as the plan changes, as soon as you get shot at. So, yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, it's life or death, right? Right. So as soon as you get that stomach bug. Yeah, that's exactly right. Exactly right. Something goes sideways. So the I stands for inspiration. Tell us your thoughts or where do you find inspiration? um well you know since I had my son a lot of my inspiration really comes from him like you know I wanted to see that I'm a hard worker and you know I can still have fun but you know we've got to get we've got to get our work done so that we can have the things but also you know a lot of a lot of personally my inspiration like just comes from my parents you know raising me and they just instilled in me to work hard and, you know, be sincere, which is how I talk to people when they're doing things.

22:44Like, I mean, I might, I might be talking to somebody about the chamber for like a year or more, you know, and, and that's fine with me. I just want people to do good with their business and join the chamber when they're ready, you know, honestly. And, And that's the truth. And a lot of my inspiration, too, comes from the people that I work with. I mean, we're a tight knit working, you know, group of people. A lot of us have been here for many years. And really, you know, it's just a great environment to work in. Very supportive. You know, new ideas come through. You know, we talk through them and we're like, hey, let's try it.

23:25You know, and it's just great. I worked in a very corporate environment for many, many years. And that just wasn't that wasn't something that we did. Like everything came from corporate. And so it's very nice and refreshing to have those ideas and then have a team and a support to be able to do those. I mean, they might not always work out, but at least you gave it a shot, you know. Yeah, that's exciting. That's good stuff. I love that. I love that. Finding inspiration all over the place, just in everyday stuff. I love that. Okay, C stands for commitment, which obviously you are committed. So, yeah, I mean, that came out in your last thing.

24:01So tell us a little bit more your thoughts on your commitment. I mean, it's like I said earlier. I mean, I'm talking about the chamber all the time, you know, and I really am committed to our members growing their businesses and connecting people. people you know I mean a lot of them like there'll be like texting me like hey I need to do that hey can you connect me with this or emailing me over something you know I mean it's just I want them to get what they need I might not be able to even help with something at the time but I can get it over to whoever needs it and when I first started this job I was like there's no way I'm gonna I I mean, we have over, we have like over 1 ,700 members, almost, you know, like I was like, there's no way I'm going to remember all these people.

24:53And I mean, it's amazing how connected you get with everybody with that many people. And then as you are out and about and getting connected, and then it's just, I don't know, it's just so fulfilling. And to know that, I mean, obviously you're not working in their business, but you do have a little hand in it to help promoting it. And I was just talking with somebody the other day and they expanded a portion of their business. And I was like, hey, we need to help promote this, you know? And so next thing you know, we've got some information going out to help with that for ribbon cutting. And had I not been where I was when I was there, that probably wouldn't have happened, you know?

25:33So it's just nice to help in any way that we can. I love that. I love that. So you're easy to find, but let's tell everybody what's the easiest way to get it. Am I? I don't know. Well, you might not be easy to find geographically, but you might be easy to find online or by phone. So what's the best way for people to get a hold of you, Jessica? So the best way to get a hold of me is probably via email at jknup, that's J-K-A-N-U-P-P at ashevillechamber.org. And you can send me an email. We can schedule a time to talk about the chamber. If you want to check out anything related to the chamber, it's ashevillechamber.org.

26:24Our calendar is listed there, information about all of our events, membership, any kind of details about our other departments are on there as well. Yeah, I love that. I love it. Listen, thanks for being on here. This is great. Yeah, I'm happy to do it. Yeah. Hey, remember, the Chamber is a big supporter of the Asheville Business Summit, and they're going to be there. and you can probably see Jessica there and a bunch of the other folks. And it's going to be amazing. It's going to be an amazing networking event. It's going to be an amazing educational event. It's going to be an amazing business event.

27:07So if you haven't already gotten those tickets, go out to WNCSummit.com and get them. We'll look forward to seeing you there. Hey, and until then, all the best.

27:20hey thanks for listening to the epic entrepreneurs podcast here's three things that you can do number one remember to subscribe to the podcast it takes very little effort on your part it's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs plus you you guys know how it works the more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly.

28:08Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.