Apemag

  • #MyStartupStory
  • tech
  • maker
  • Startup Lessons
  • In the South
    • Tennessee
    • Alabama
    • Arkansas
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Mississippi
    • North Carolina
    • South Carolina
  • Startup Support
    • Accelerators
    • Coding Bootcamps
    • Colleges and Universities
    • Incubators
#MyStartupStory, Food, In the South, Tennessee

Touring SoBro with Karen-Lee Ryan, Founder of Walk Eat Nashville

- Rachel Cypher -
_MG_9970

Karen-Lee Ryan, Founder of Walk Eat Nashville

Karen-Lee Ryan, founder of Walk Eat Nashville, welcomed us on the steps of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Over the next three hours, she explained, our group of 12 would visit six restaurants and walk a mile and a half to discover what the SoBro (South Broadway) neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, has to offer in history and cuisine.

Ryan gave us an opportunity to introduce ourselves, and then she began the tour with a story—the story of the collaborative and creative spirit of Nashville, its musicians and its chefs.

Before Walk Eat Nashville, Karen-Lee Ryan was an editor. For several years, she managed content for tennessean.com, and for 18 months she worked as a newspaper executive in San Antonio, Texas.

static1.squarespace“I just decided that wasn’t really something that was feeding my heart,” she says, “and I really wanted to do something that brought joy to my day every day. And what I found about Walk Eat Nashville was… for me, it’s a different way to tell stories.”

The first stop on our tour was just inside the symphony center: Cherry Street Eatery & Sweetery. There, we sampled a deliciously gooey pimento cheese panini while Ryan unloaded an arsenal of knowledge about owner and chef Meg Giuffrida, traditional southern cuisine and the Schermerhorn itself.

As founder of Walk Eat Nashville, Ryan fills many roles: researcher, marketer, administrator, guide. But as she puts it, “Part of what I love about the job is that I’m somebody who gets bored very easily, so the variety is really great for me.”

Of all her duties, Ryan says being on tour is her favorite. “I absolutely love being out on tour,” she says, “and I love doing the research for new tours. I’m a huge sponge for information, so I’m always trying to learn new things.”

IMG_9994

Margaritas at Bakersfield Nashville

Ryan guided us down Broadway, around the Bridgestone Arena and through Music City Walk of Fame Park, telling us stories about architecture, country music history and Captain Thomas Green Ryman. Our next stop was the Encore building, where we enjoyed margaritas and tacos at Bakersfield Nashville, followed by a tasting with founder and executive chef of The Farm House, Trey Cioccia.

Ryan became interested in walking tours when she lived in Washington, D.C. “When I lived there, I was doing a lot of ‘things to do and places to go’ kind of writing as a freelancer,” she explains, “but there was a point during my time in Washington D.C. when I wanted to do a walking company.”

Unfortunately for Ryan, another entrepreneur had had a similar idea the year before and was already conducting tours in the D.C. area. “I just kind of tucked the idea in the back of my head because I’ve always loved to walk and be outside,” Ryan says.

After living in Nashville for seven years, moving to San Antonio and then moving back, she realized it was time to turn her idea into a reality. “We were getting so much attention for our food that I started thinking, I wonder if I could combine walking and eating.”

In 2014, Ryan enrolled in an entrepreneurship class at The Skillery, a co-working space in Nashville. After nine weeks, she says, “I launched Walk Eat Nashville, and I’ve been busy ever since. It has been an incredible experience.”

Tomatoes

The Farm House’s sampling of heirloom tomatoes with ricotta and lardo

From the The Farm House, we set out toward the Ascend Amphitheater, and then Husk—one of Nashville’s most critically acclaimed restaurants—for prohibition-style cocktails, deviled eggs and a tour of their vegetable garden. Along the way, Ryan told us the tale of the Nashville Trolley Barns and showed us the former site of Thomas Ryman’s home.

Walk Eat Nashville has grown quite a bit since 2014. To meet increasing demand, Ryan has hired on three more tour guides, all of whom are natural storytellers with backgrounds in research and journalism. But Ryan says she’s not planning on growing the business too quickly.

“I have a lot more demand for tours than I can meet,” she says, “but my goal is to make sure that every guest experience is a really authentic Nashville experience… I spent most of the last 15 years before this business in front of the computer, and I knew I wanted to spend the bulk of my time not in front of the computer. If I hired a bunch of tour guides and grew the business, I would end up being the person behind the computer managing all the tour guides, and that is not my goal.”

IMG_0020

Ryan preparing us for an unusual treat: coffee soda at Steadfast Commons

What keeps Ryan inspired is the relationships and interactions she has with her guests and the restaurant owners she partners with. “Because to see their passions every day,” she says, “that’s what fuels me all the time. Everyone that I work with has an incredible passion and pride for what they do, and I love sharing that with other people.”

Our tour ended with a sweet treat—coffee soda at Steadfast Commons and Goo Goo Clusters at The Goo Goo Shop. Afterward, Ryan took some time to chat with one of the guests, a fellow tour guide who was looking for ways to improve his own business.

According to Ryan, the most important thing an entrepreneur can do is build relationships. “Obviously relationship are important in everything,” she says, “but I think for an entrepreneur they can be more important than anything. I think a lot of entrepreneurs feel like they have to do everything themselves, and the reality is working with others and partnering with others is part of what will help a business flourish.”

Jul 5, 2016Rachel Cypher

Entrepreneurial Circles: Building a Better Community for EntrepreneursUniversity of Arkansas: A Hotbed of Startup Success
4 years ago #MyStartupStory, Food, In the South, TennesseeKaren-Lee Ryan, Nashville, The Skillery, Walk Eat Nashville280
retro
Rachel Cypher

Rachel Cypher is a startup person. After getting stuck in the post-college retail rut for almost three years, she’s finally pursuing what she wanted all along — a writing career.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Share It!
0
GooglePlus
0
Facebook
0
Twitter
0
Linkedin
Posts
Recent Comments
  • East Tennessee Startups Have Chance to Win $15,000 on 2017 Startup Day « Startup Southerner on #MyStartupStory: Start a Beer Fund With BrewFund
  • East Tennessee Startups Have Chance to Win $15,000 on 2017 Startup Day « Startup Southerner on Ed Pershing, CEO of PYA, Reflects on Entrepreneurial Journey
  • Salemtown Board Co.: Scaling a Social Enterprise « Startup Southerner on Entrepreneurial Thinking for Nonprofits
  • Salemtown Board Co.: Scaling a Social Enterprise « Startup Southerner on The EntrepreLingo Series: S Is for Scalability
  • Domonique Townsend on The Unbalanced Reality of Work-Life Balance for Working Mothers
Be up-to-date!
  You Might Also Like  
#MyStartupStory, In the South, Maker Movement, Tennessee

From Craft to Career: A Q&A With Emily Howard

What started as a hobby blossomed into a full-blown jewelry and floral design business.

In the South, Tennessee

Girls to the Moon: What’s in Store for 2016

Smaller events covering more topics on tap for Girls to the Moon this year.

#MyStartupStory, In the South, Maker Movement, Tennessee

AbrasiveMedia: Helping Connect Artists to Their Community

Nashville-based abrasiveMedia brings artists together, within and across genres and media.

#MyStartupStory, In the South, Technology, Tennessee

From Dancer to Coder: Meet Nicole Ahima

Hear about Ahima's experience at Nashville Software School's evening coding class.

In the South, Startup Lessons, Startup Support, Tennessee

Impressions on PreFlight, a Program of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center

Ayumi Fukuda Bennett takes Startup Southerner through the EC's idea accelerator.

In the South, Maker Movement, Tennessee

Nashville Makes Way for More Maker Spaces

The Maker Movement continues to grow, both nationally and in Nashville. A handy guide to the maker spaces.

#MyStartupStory, In the South, Maker Movement, Tennessee

#MyStartupStory: Dalman Supply Co. Bootstraps Its Way Into European Market

Nashville-based small business sells handcrafted bike locks to consumers around the world.

#MyStartupStory, In the South, Tennessee

#MyStartupStory: From ER Doctor to Startup Founder

Nashville-based healthcare IT startup providing decision support to busy doctors.

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
Most Viewed
2016 FOUNDING SPONSOR
your-image-description
2016 FOUNDING SPONSOR
2017 © Startup Southerner, LLC