Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller

Every city has a family who shapes it. New York City had the Rockefellers. St. Louis had the Bushes. Boston had the Kennedys.

Nashville has the Bone family. They are attorneys by trade but political powerhouses and real estate tycoons in practice.

In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Charles Robert Bone.

The Nashville Post called the attorney turned developer “one of the most recognizable figures in Nashville’s legal, political and development circles.” His resume defends that descriptor.

Before joining Southwest Value Partne...

In March, the mayor’s office announced the closing of one of the city’s oldest and lagest homeless encampments — Old Tent City. The 40-year-old site sits just outside downtown, on Anthes Drive.

120+ people have called this area underneath I-24 home. The city says these individuals will be placed in transitional housing. Metro plans to provide the unhoused with access to the wrap around services so they can succeed and find stability.

In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with April Calvin, the Director of Nashville’s Office of Homel...

Nuclear energy is part of Tennessee’s past and present. Oak Ridge played an important role in the Manhattan Project during WW2, and today, 48% of our state’s energy comes from nuclear energy.

In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Republican Rep. Clark Boyd, who chairs the business and utilities subcommittee where nuclear energy is a conversation, and Democratic Rep. Sam McKenzie, a retired Oak Ridge physicist, to learn about the push to build a first of its kind nuclear reactor right here in Tennessee.

Tennessee is 1 of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid. It is estimated that more than 150,000 Tennesseans would qualify for coverage if the state opted to expand the program. 

In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Republican Reps. Brock Martin and Pat Marsh and Democratic Rep. Jesse Chism to hear the arguments against and for expansion.

American politics are polarizing, but in no place are they more polarizing than in the Tennessee State House. 

Two years ago, the Republican-ruled supermajority expelled two Democratic lawmakers after they led spectators in a chant “Gun control now!” and “No action, no peace!” The controversy was ignited by the Covenant School Shooting and Republican lawmakers’ failure to enact gun reform.

Since then, the divide has only deepened. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree it's about more than expulsions.

In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless and Brandon Mil...

Tennessee Republican State House Rep. Jody Barrett is proposing legislation that would change the discharge process of individuals who are involuntarily committed to mental health facilities in Tennessee.

Under Barrett's bill, the CEO of an inpatient treatment facility would be required to notify the court when an individual is eligible for discharge. The court would hold a hearing and decide whether to release or return a patient. Currently, the courts are not notified.

Barrett says the legislation will  provide much needed oversight and transparency in the discharge process. Those opposed argue these decisions should be m...

17% of children in Tennessee face food insecurity. TN Democratic State House Rep. John Ray Clemmons proposed legislation to provide free school meals — breakfast and lunch — to all TN children regardless if they meet federal SNAP benefit requirements.

This isn’t the first time Clemmons has introduced this legislation. He’s brought this bill forward every year since 2018. It has yet to prevail.

In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Republicans Rep. Ron Travis and Rep. Todd Warner and Clemmons to discuss the legislation.

Tennessee’s legislature isn’t just partisan—it’s often polarizing. Inside the House chambers, Democrats and Republicans disparage one another, at times—outside, they rarely engage.

Has the proverbial political aisle been stretched too far to reach across? 

It wasn’t always this way. There was once camaraderie and compromise.

Few understand this culture shift better than Brian Bivens. The East Tennessee native has spent the last 25 years lobbying elected officials.

But Bivens bent ears long before he was in the business of bending ears. His father, Steve Bivens, served in the State...

David French is a dissenter. The attorney turned conservative political commentator abandoned the Republican party in 2016. His reason? Donald Trump.

The evangelical Christian was disgusted by the controversial candidate, his lack of character and authoritarian beliefs. Since then, his critiques of the MAGA movement have only grown — so too has his voice. 

In 2019, French became the Senior Editor of the Dispatch, an online conservative news outlet. Four years later, he left. In 2023, French joined the New York Times as an op-ed columnist. Last August, he penned one of his most read works, “To Save Conservatism from...

When Nashville identified its first case of coronavirus in March 2020, the city was between Public Health Department directors and as unprepared as the rest of the world for what was to come. 

Dr. Alex Jahangir, a trauma surgeon acting at that time as chair of the Metro Nashville Board of Health, unexpectedly found himself head of the city's COVID-19 Task Force and responsible for leading it through uncharted waters.

Now, he’s reimagining a new Nashville. Jahangir is the co-chair of Imagine
Nashville, a citywide study that explores the needs of Nashville’s residents and i...

“You absolutely need to serve the Hispanic community, or else your business will not be set to succeed.” — Giovanna Murillo

It’s often said that a business should reflect the communities it serves. In this episode of the Real Estate Mailbag, we go beyond the platitude and dive into the real implications for real estate professionals.

Our powerhouse panel includes three leaders from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), including a founding member of NAHREP Nashville. Eva Romero, Debra Beagle, and Giovanna Murillo join us to discuss what the rapidly growing Hispanic populati...

Tennessee is an economic engine. Stuart McWhorter is one of the conductors. 

During his tenure as the Tennessee Economic Development Commissioner, McWhorter has overseen nearly 160 projects, which represent more than 21,700 job commitments and $10.9 billion in capital investment. 

In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with the TNECD commissioner to understand how the state invests in and attracts business.

Nashville has been in the top 10 hottest housing markets in the United States. The city has drawn attention from individuals and investors from coast to coast. 

However, over the last two years sales have slowed some due to high interest rates and uncertainty surrounding the economy.

In this episode of Climbing the Charts, we sit down with Greater Nashville REALTORS Vice President of Member Engagement, Jack Gaughan, and former President turned Realtracs Board Member, Steve Jolly, to explore the past, present and future of Nashville real estate.

Glenn Funk balances safety and social justice in his role as Nashville District Attorney. 

The Nashville District Attorney was sworn in nearly a decade ago. Nashville’s daily prison population is about half of what it was before he took office. 

The second term elected official says reducing incarceration increases rehabilitation and saves metro money — $45 million a year by his estimate.

Funk discusses some positive legislative changes from the 2024 session, including Jillian's Law, homelessness and much more in this episode of Climbing the Charts. 

The Nashville Chamber of Commerce is the front door to the region’s business ecosystem. Ralph Schulz is the guide.

The CEO has overseen the organization since 2006, steering it through the city’s explosive growth. During his 18-year tenure, the median salary in Nashville has increased by more than 50-percent, city’s skyline has reached new heights and major corporations like Amazon and Oracle have set up shop here.

In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Schulz shares how business and politics have shaped Music City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Four years ago, Burke Nihill ran across a job listing on LinkedIn: General Counsel for the Tennessee Titans. He applied, but he didn’t think he would be drafted.

His sports “experience” included dreaming of “wanting to be the third baseman for the Chicago Cubs” and declining an offer to play basketball at a Division 3 College.

Nonetheless, Nihill won owners over. 4 promotions and 8 seasons later, the former OfficeMax attorney turned Titan’s CEO is quarterbacking the organization through its most watched season — the construction of a new Nissan stadium.

Slated to open in 2027, the 60,000 sea...

"I came to realize that I would never have the chance to work in an administration with somebody that I [am] so closely aligned with on issues. It makes it really easy to go to work.” – Bob Mendes, speaking of his working relationship with Mayor O'Connell

Climbing the Charts was excited to sit down with Bob Mendes, Chief Development Officer for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, to learn about the future of Nashville’s East Bank, the series of events and negotiations that paved the way for a new, $2.1+ billion dollar Titans stadium, as well a...

“My whole mission is just to affect positive change with people, and housing is such a key component to people’s health, well-being, and safety.” -- Andrea Prince

According to Nashville's 2021 Affordable Housing Task Force, chaired by Mayor John Cooper, the city must create 52,498 new housing units by 2030—a daunting challenge, given that only 1,344 affordable units were being built annually at the time of the report.

Today on The Climbing the Charts Podcast, as recorded by our sister podcast The Real Estate Mailbag, we're joined by Matthew Wiltshire, President of Pathway Affordable Housing Corp. and former C...

“We’re not building new roads (for the most part), so it’s about trying to use that [existing] infrastructure in better ways that meet our modern needs.”  --Michael Briggs, director of mobility at Vanderbilt University's Transportation and Mobility Office, currently on loan to the City of Nashville as a director of transportation planning through 2024

On November 5, 2024, less than six months from today, Nashvillians will go to the polls to vote on critical issues and races, including who will serve as our nation’s President. Locally, however, Nashvillians will also vote on a multibillion dollar transportation improvement program cal...

“I knew that if I had a Plan B, I would be 50/50. I would be one foot in and one foot out, and I had to be fully dedicated.” - Derrick ‘Moe’ Moore

When the Climbing the Charts podcast first launched in 2022, the co-hosts created a list of dream guests – Moe Moore was at the top of that list, being a co-founder of Slim & Husky’s.  Almost two years and many amazing guests later, this is that episode, and it was fitting that the Tennessean was even on hand to take some photos!

Moe is the co-founde...

“What people don’t understand about Juvenile Court is that literally two-thirds of the cases that we deal with are about the parents.”  –Judge Calloway

Judge Sheila Calloway, Davidson County’s Juvenile Court Judge, and Lonnell Matthews, Davidson County’s Juvenile Court Clerk, are two of Nashville’s most accomplished individuals. They are an entertaining pair, but are serious about bettering the lives of “our kids.” They discuss misconceptions about the work of the Juvenile Court, the Nashville Youth Campus for Empowerment (coming in 2027), and recent legislation that will dramatically impact the juvenile justice system. Spoiler alert: the TN General Asse...

“When you’re in the middle of the battle, to be policy-driven is smart, to be politically-driven is dangerous.”  - Jeremy Faison

Few people have had a closer seat to the important issues, drama, and national and international garnering headlines involving Tennessee politics than Representative Jeremy Faison, Chairman of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus. Representative Faison discusses what drew him into politics and what it’s like to be a leader of a party now enjoying a supermajority. In a Paul Harvey fashion, Faison weighs in with the “rest of the story” on the alleged complaint against him noted in t...

“It’s already a presidential race and lots of people are going to come out and vote for the President…however, we know…that about 18% of the people who go into that booth don’t keep going down the ballot… If you’re in the voting booth, don’t stop… Make your vote count all the way down.”  -Megan Barry

In a hotly anticipated interview, Climbing the Charts sits down with former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. Barry served as Nashville’s seventh mayor and was the first woman ever elected to the office. Barry’s tenure as Music City’s mayor, howev...

“It’s a diverse world. Companies sell products to consumers that are very diverse. Their teams and technical talent should reflect the communities that they sell products to.” – Dr. Isaac Yao Addae

Dr. Isaac Addae is a man with many hats – first-generation Ghanaian American, computer engineer, strategist, business professor, entrepreneur, investor, and author of “Black Boy Fly: Embracing My Ancestry, Blackness, and Purpose in the African Diaspora.”  Isaac also served as the Treasurer for Freddie O’Connell’s mayoral campaign, and now has agreed to wear yet another hat as the “Small and Minority Business Engagement Liaison” for Nashville.

...

“If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime. But if you teach a woman how to fish, she feeds the village for a lifetime. The ripple effect that women entrepreneurs have on communities and the global economy is phenomenal.” — Sherry Deutschmann

Climbing the Charts sits down with Sherry Stewart Deutschmann, a serial entrepreneur, a sought-after speaker, a highly coveted board member, and the bestselling author of “Lunch with Lucy: Maximize Profits by Investing in Your People.”  But it is Sherry’s role as the...

Former Mayor Karl Dean was known to ask, rhetorically and always in good humor, what Nashville would be without music (answer: Birmingham), but he could have substituted “the Ingrams” for music and arrived at the same punchline. 

There are few beloved things in Music City without fingerprints, known and unknown, that in some way trace back or connect to the Ingram family.  While Martha Ingram was the driving force behind, among many other things, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, her son John, who now serves as Chairman of Ingram Industries, is the drivin...

In the 1950s, Frank Sinatra famously proclaimed Jack Daniel’s the “nectar of the gods.”  Sales doubled, the warehouses emptied, and Mr. Daniel’s “nectar” was on allocation for the next twenty-five years. 

In 2013, a state law in Tennessee established a legal definition of “Tennessee Whiskey” for the first time, better known as the “Lincoln County Process.”  While a few whiskey nerds followed the arcane legal and political developments that paved the way for official “Tennessee Whiskey,” on November 4, 2015 the worlds of music and Tennessee whiskey would again collide when Justin Timberlake made a surprise appearance to join Chris Stapleton on-sta...

In this episode, Climbing the Charts sits down with Republican Representative Todd Warner (District 92) and Democratic Representative Aftyn Behn (District 51). Aftyn, increasingly described as the “AOC of Tennessee,” the youngest woman elected to the Tennessee House, is poised to be a fearless advocate for progressive values. Todd, by contrast, is the “Unapologetic Conservative,” a successful business and family man who is devoted to protecting and furthering traditional, conservative values and constitutional freedoms. 

These two, who had previously never met, go head-to-head on matters from the Scotty Campbell scandal to the expulsion of the Tennessee Three to reproductive rights, sc...

On July 21, 2006, the New York Times published an article entitled: “Creating Demand for City Living in Nashville.”  The piece’s author, Lisa Chamberlain, noted that at that time, the frenzied pace of downtown residential development was slowing in major cities like New York and Chicago, but in cities like Nashville, “where no residential population had existed, people are suddenly hungry for an urban lifestyle and are willing to pay for it.”  Just three years prior to the publication of this article, there were all of 10 units for sale in downtown Nashville, but then something happened:  “one developer, Anthony Giarratana, is credited wit...

On this new episode of Climbing the Charts, we sat down with Jon Michael, who after 15 years of toting the metro zoning code under his arm in various roles as a lawyer with Metro, joined the local Nashville law firm of Thompson Burton PLLC to create his own land use practice.

If you have ever listened to a conversation about development, attended a Metro Planning Commission meeting, or have even just heard someone at the office water fountain spouting acronyms like AR2a, RS80, R20, R6, OR20, or MUL, you may have guessed that you are in t...

For the launch of Episode 1 of Season 3, Climbing the Charts sat down with Sam Davidson, who on June 28, 2023, was announced as Jane Allen’s successor as the next CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC).  Sam hit the ground running in this high visibility, high impact new role, which he describes on his Linkedin profile as: “Working to make Nashville the most entrepreneurial city in America.”

For more than a decade, the EC has connected entrepreneurs with critical resources to create, launch, and grow businesses, and has become a centerpiece of the connective tissue and business...

Early voting begins 20 days before an election and typically ends 5 days before Election Day.  Translated to the current election for Nashville Mayor and other local runoff elections, that means early voting started August 25th and will run until September 9th, with Election Day being September 14th.

In the general election, which took place on Thursday, August 3rd,  101,245 votes were cast.  Councilmember O’Connell garnered 27,470 votes, or 27.13%, while Alice Rolli placed 2nd with 17,186 votes, which was good for 20.21% of the total vote.  But, with no candidate earning more than 50% + 1 of the total votes cast, Nashville now heads to a runo...

Early voting begins 20 days before an election and typically ends 5 days before Election Day.  Translated to the current election for Nashville Mayor and other local runoff elections, that means early voting started August 25th and will run until September 9th, with Election Day being September 14th.

In the general election, which took place on Thursday, August 3rd,  101,245 votes were cast.  Councilmember O’Connell garnered 27,470 votes, or 27.13%, while Alice Rolli placed 2nd with 17,186 votes, which was good for 20.21% of the total vote.  But, with no candidate earning more than 50% + 1 of the total votes cast, Nashville now heads to a runo...

In the recently released Travel + Leisure rankings of "The 24 Best New Luxury City Hotels Around the World,” readers likely nodded at Xenodocheio Milos in Athens.; however, #2 was likely to come as something of a surprise: Four Seasons Hotel Nashville.  In the words of Travel + Leisure, “It wasn’t that long ago that a pairing of the Four Seasons and Nashville would’ve seemed unlikely.  But times have changed for both the iconic hotel brand and Music City.”

The Four Seasons Nashville is not just a luxury hotel, however.  The tower also has 144 private residence, luxury condominums.  Many local real est...

Climbing the Charts sat down with Vivian Wilhoite, a former two-term member of the Metro Council (District 29) and current Assessor of Property for Davidson County (since 2016).  And on April 28th, 2023, she formally announced that she would be auditioning for her biggest role yet:  Mayor of Music City. 

Among the top ten candidates vying to become Nashville’s 10th mayor since the consolidation of the Metro Government in 1963, Vivian is now one of FOUR African-American women candidates.  If elected, Vivian would become the first African-American mayor of Music City, and only the second woman.  Vivian has been a t...

On this very special episode of Climbing the Climbs, we are joined by John Cooper, Music City’s 9th Mayor (since the consolidation of the Metro Government in 1963). 

One of the few things Mayor Cooper’s champions and critics can both agree on is that he served a term that was almost Biblical in nature.  His first week on the job, the city was threatened with receivership by the State of Tennessee.  And, that fact is almost forgotten because of shadows cast by subsequent events:  the worst global pandemic in a century and one that caused him to shut...

Climbing the Charts sat down with Meg Epstein, Founder and CEO of CA South.  Meg launched CA South in January 2016, and despite being just 7 years old now, CA South has over a billion dollars in projects and related real estate assets under its belt, notching a place as one of the leading real estate businesses in Music City. 

Meg has garnered numerous accolades along the way, including being a NBJ “CEO of the Year” winner in 2022, and the Entrepreneur Center’s Entrepreneur of 2022.   Award Category.  Meg is one of a new generation of women real estate developers in Nashville s...

Climbing the Charts sat down with Fran Bush, a former Metro Nashville School Board Member and owner and director of Model Kids Learning Academy which, provides childcare services to some of Nashville’s neediest families in growing communities.

While some might say that running for Mayor is Fran’s biggest challenge yet, it’s hard to agree with that after she shares her life story, which is both fascinating and genuinely inspiring.  While Fran shares her vision for Nashville and previews what a Mayor Bush administration might look like, including her top priorities as mayor, she also tells u...

Climbing the Charts sat down with Senator Heidi Campbell – a Nashville native, former Mayor of Oak Hill, the first Democrat to flip a Tennessee State Senate Seat since 2006, and now a leading candidate to become Music City’s next mayor!

Heidi shares her thoughts with us about what it takes to lead in a fiscally responsible, data-based, and compassionate way.  She can boast being the only former musician and songwriter in the field (spoiler alert – her band, The Keep, performed at Lilith Fair!).  Heidi tells us what it means to her to be the first female Ma...

Climbing the Charts sat down with Alice Rolli, a serial entrepreneur, a teacher and former special assistant to then US Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander.  Alice has now worn many hats in the private and public sectors, with the common thread among those roles being education and technology, and is currently auditioning for her biggest role yet as a candidate for mayor of Music City.  Alice is a believer that education can change the trajectory of lives and even those of cities, in Nashville.  

During our conversation with Alice, we hear about her experience deciding to ru...