615 Unplugged

Corrado (IN) (00:00)
Welcome to 615 Unplugged, where we explore the people, businesses, and stories that make Middle Tennessee what it is today and what it will be tomorrow. On today's episode, I'm thrilled to have Dusty Jenkins with us, a passionate community builder and entrepreneur. Today, we dive into his journey from Colorado to Tennessee, launching new ventures, building community, and discuss the power of faith, family, and saying yes to life's unexpected turns. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this conversation with Dusty Jenkins.

Corrado (00:35)
Alright, Dusty, welcome to the show, brother!

Dusty Jenkins (00:39)
Thank you. Thank you for having me,

Corrado (00:41)
So we sure have a lot to cover with you. ⁓ the more and more I did research on you, the more and more else, like, I don't even know where we're going to go with this podcast. Cause there's so much to cover. but I thought the best place, at least the first place that I kind of found out about you was your podcast. So we, so we said, yes, podcast. And so I'm sure we'll go into a little bit of everything that that covers and all the other things that you were involved in. But before we jump into that,

Wanted to give you a little bit of an opportunity to introduce yourself to the listeners and tell them a little bit about what you have going on and then we'll get started.

Dusty Jenkins (01:19)
Thank you, I appreciate that. And before I even introduce myself, I'm just curious, is it okay if I just pray over this just so that we can... Yeah, that'd be awesome, man. So, Father God, I lift up this entire podcast to you today that any listener that would be diving in and listening today, that they would just be blessed and encouraged that launching in the imperfection is okay. Stepping out into the...

Corrado (01:27)
Sure thing.

Dusty Jenkins (01:45)
the unknown, where you call us into the depths, Father God, that it can be scary, but you know what, when you take the step, you always have us. You have the plan figured out, and so I just want to encourage every listener that might have a dream on their heart to start their own business, to start a community, to start just a new endeavor. ⁓

to just step out in faith and to learn to trust you more and to give it to you through all the worry and the chaos and the distractions of this world that'll tell you no, you're not ready. Father God, I just thank you that you are always ready. And so I just appreciate this opportunity and I thank you in Jesus' name. So, carado. ⁓ Yeah, man, I'm Dusty Jenkins and... ⁓

Corrado (02:28)
Amen.

Dusty Jenkins (02:33)
Yeah, I mean to introduce myself, I'm just a father of three wonderful kids. I have a beautiful wife of 17 years now. I met her on the last day of high school back in a little cow town in Gillette, Wyoming. guess it's kind of a cow town, more of coal country, I guess. But I'm super thankful for her. I mean, I've made plenty of mistakes as a husband, ⁓ as a dad. And so to have her grace and her ⁓

Corrado (03:01)
officially

part of the Married Up Club, right? Yeah, I love it. Same here, same here.

Dusty Jenkins (03:03)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm

glad she hasn't given up on me. And so she's been a big cheerleader in my life and I appreciate that. But ⁓ I went to film school in Colorado. Back, I graduated in 2010 at the Art Institute of Colorado and started a video production company right after that, realizing that I wasn't really able, gonna be able to.

to pay those tuition fees with the jobs I was finding right out of college. So I you know what, I might have a better shot at paying these back if I worked for myself. So ⁓ did the wedding industry for like the first three to five years. And ⁓ that has a whole nother story in it. But worked my way up into the event ⁓ world where I was helping business coaches and retreats, capturing all the fun stuff that happens at these C-suite executive style retreats.

And ⁓ then COVID came and shut that all down. And that led me into a full-time position as the director of marketing for a custom home automation company out in Colorado. Helped them scale pretty crazily in 14 months ⁓ through some false, you know, hanging some bonuses out on carrot sticks that were never.

paid, you know, ⁓ I just got burned out. You know, I was like, you know, if I'm going to work 60 hours a week for, for somebody, it's going to be for my family again. And so I told him, thanks, but no thanks on year two. And, ⁓ shortly after that, man, God, God called us out to Tennessee. We were celebrating our, 15th year anniversary and stumbled into Franklin, Tennessee by happenstance. We were never supposed to be in Tennessee. It was kind of a

Corrado (04:23)
wow, okay.

Dusty Jenkins (04:49)
last minute change in our itinerary and man God encountered us at ⁓ this event where you know there must have been two or three hundred people gathering ⁓ to just pray and worship and pray over the nation and the city and man the next morning my wife, excuse me, my wife goes ⁓ you want to move to Tennessee? I'm like no I don't that was a great event but like are you insane?

Corrado (05:18)
Because you're in Colorado at this point, right? Yeah, OK.

Dusty Jenkins (05:18)
We both, yeah, yeah, we both had successful

businesses, like, but a complacent lifestyle, you know, we had learned to just like, just go with the flow. We're like, hey, it's working, you know, why change it? But God, God definitely wanted to change it. And so three days after she, she got that word, I was praying, God, if this is really your, your word and not her brain, you gotta hit me over the head.

with a two by four, you know, and so he did, he took a, you know, it went swinging and just cracked me a couple of times after like the third or fourth time. I'm like, these are not coincidences. This, I feel like you're speaking right to me. I'm like, I'll give you my yes, which by the way, to all the listeners, as soon as you give God your yes, man buckle up. Yeah, I did like 24 hours ⁓ after I gave him my yes, I think 24 hours we had like three or four

Corrado (06:01)
Things move quickly,

Dusty Jenkins (06:12)
major checkboxes checked off like, okay, this seems really possible and less than 45 days later we had moved into our home in Tennessee.

Corrado (06:21)
Wow, and this was,

this was what, like two, three years ago you said?

Dusty Jenkins (06:24)
Two years ago, yeah, July 29th was our second year anniversary being out here. Yeah.

Corrado (06:30)
Wow. And that

kind of perfectly dovetails into how I came to find out about you, which is your, we said yet podcast, right? So maybe share a little bit about that ⁓ and what that's all about and what inspired it and everything.

Dusty Jenkins (06:43)
Thank you. Yeah. I, know, because I was just getting so unindated by, you know, the coincidences or God winks or just the, the craziness of the timing of everything lining up. Uh, I thought, man, I'm never going to remember all these intricate details. So I started to journal and I started to like every single day that another crazy thing happened. I, you know, I remember calling my mom, mom, you'll never forget. You think that was crazy yesterday. Guess what happened today? You know, and so I just start writing all these down. And as I'm.

kind of journaling and I have this idea to produce a book, God kept just telling me like, no, this is great that it's your story, but I really want it to be about everybody else's story. Like all the people that you encounter that you're connecting because you said yes, I really want you to highlight their stories and what happened. I mean, if you had not said yes, you would have never met that person. every person I meet now, I'm like, I'm so grateful. so like even this,

Corrado (07:36)
All

Dusty Jenkins (07:41)
I don't think I would have been on this podcast today if I had said no and stayed in my complacent lifestyle. And so ⁓ I didn't know what that looked like. I thought it was going to be an audible book, you know, like, maybe I'll finish the book and then turn it into an audible. And that's how I'll get their voices on there. And it wasn't until I think three or four months ago, I met this guy named Stan Lovens and we go out to dinner. He's a prophetic guy locally up in Lebanon. ⁓

Corrado (07:45)
Right.

Dusty Jenkins (08:10)
He needed help with his digital presence. I do a lot of marketing stuff for family-centric ministry style businesses and that kind of thing, organizations. And we went out to dinner. First time I met this guy, we're sitting there and he looks over at me before our meal hits the table and he's like, so Dusty, when are you gonna start your podcast? And I never met this guy. I'm like, podcast? I kind of like chuckled like.

Oh yeah, we, cause I'm talking about doing content for him. I'm like, oh yeah, well we could start a podcast if that's what you want to do. He's like, no, it's not my podcast. I want to know about your podcast. And I'm like, I don't have a podcast. He's like, yeah, but you're going to, God's telling me right now that you're going to have a podcast. And I'm like, what? This is crazy. Dude. Everything starts falling into place. I ended up meeting Lydia, uh, engineering over at the awaken house. They have these creative studios there. Uh, just.

You know, I'm like, because where would I even have I don't have the place with kids, you know, that kind of thing. It's just loud. I'm like, how am going to have a podcast? The logistics just wasn't working out. And anyway, so I met her. I'm like, well, now I have a place. They have all the gear. I even had some old gear from back in the day that I could use. And so, man, I just kept sitting on it, though. And one day, you know, as a creative, if any creatives are listening, I feel like you can relate to this. I have the shiny ball syndrome.

Corrado (09:09)
Right?

Yeah, and we overthink a million things. That angle is not 100 % right, so we have to delay it for seven weeks before we get the right light and everything. Yeah, I feel you.

Dusty Jenkins (09:33)
That's the end.

You know, you know. So I'm like sitting on it and my wife, of course, you know, if your spouse is anything like this, you know, she'd be like, you know, sometimes I hear, great, this is another dusty idea, you know, like, but this podcast was different. Like we're driving down the road after getting coffee and she looks over at me one morning and she's like, hey, dusty, you know, I think God's just waiting on you to start that podcast. And I'm like, whoa, this is, I feel like this is a little prophetic from my wife because she's usually like, this is just another, you know, not really speaking life into things.

And that one, she started speaking like a dude. And so I just, from that point forward, I'm like, all right, I'm going to make this happen. And less than a week later, we recorded our first podcast. ⁓

Corrado (10:20)
And what's been

your experience so far? Tell me a little bit about what you're, you know, obviously what I can imagine some of the common threads that you're hearing, but anything surprising, anything that you go, I was not expecting this going into this.

Dusty Jenkins (10:36)
Well, you know, I think it's easy to be isolated in moments of stepping out in your faith. Like, well, we stepped out in faith and we thought it would be easy. Like, you called us, God, like, this is going to be easy. And the common thread that I think really surprised me is that all of these stories that I've been hearing so far are very similar to ours. It was not easy. Like, it was...

there was a lot of roadblocks and more trials to get through and it was a very faith building continually like scary moment type stuff and that happened with many people like you know I didn't know if my my house was going to sell we came out here and I'm still sitting on the house like we came out here and I couldn't find a job for X amount of time and and like how do you how do you battle through the hey I feel I heard the voice of God but now I'm

questioning myself. Was that the voice of God or was it my own crazy, crazy mind, you know? And so I think that that's been interesting to just see that we're all very similar in the way that ⁓ the journey has unfolded in the way that it has, I guess. I don't know.

Corrado (11:46)
Yeah.

And so you mentioned a little bit about the, you know, some of the other things that you've done in terms of like helping, you know, family centric businesses with like marketing, all of that stuff. Is that something that you're still currently doing? What does that look like?

Dusty Jenkins (12:01)
Yeah, you know, so that's part of ⁓ why things started to fall apart, I guess, is because rewind back to, you know, around the time and a year before, maybe two years before we moved out here, ⁓ you know, in that COVID era, I was really battling with some addictions, know, alcohol and lust based addictions were just not, ⁓ I was, I was struggling and my wife finally, you know,

came, you know, she dropped the hammer one day and was like, look man, it's either our family or those things, you know. And so I decided to go, it was our pastor's wife, she had, it was called Heart Sync Ministries. And I was like, look, I don't know how to, this has been a lifelong addiction. I don't know how to, how, like, how do I get rid of this, you know. Like I need to do anything I can to get rid of it, you know. And she's like, well, our ministry really just focuses on a Holy Spirit led, ⁓

It was kind of like a counseling session, but it was all just prayer and Holy Spirit led. Maybe people are familiar with like a sozo or something like that, but ⁓ I'm like, yeah, sign me up. I'm like, I'm ready to like just take the first step into whatever, you know, I didn't know. And I went and during that time, God gave me just an incredible vision of what I call the orless captains. And I started as an orless captain in the vision. And so,

you know, there I am in this boat. She asked me, she's like, you know, as we start, we're just gonna start to pray and I want you to envision yourself in a safe place and let me know when you're in that safe place. And so I'm in this boat in just a beautiful mountain lake, you know, looking all around. And I tell her, I'm like, I feel like I'm in a safe place, but I feel panicked. She's like, why do you feel panicked? I'm like, well, I'm in a boat and I don't have an oar. I just feel like I can't, I'm splashing in the water trying to get the boat to go.

She's like, that's interesting. Okay, well, let's just check in with the Holy Spirit and see why you're, why you don't have, where are you going? She's like, she asked me, is Jesus anywhere in this picture? I'm like, I feel his presence in the boat. I don't see him, but I feel his presence. And she's like, okay, well, that's good. So as this vision kind of unfolds, somehow the boat gets to the edge of where the river enters into the lake. And now there's like, I just feel like we're kind of spinning.

I feel like we're trying to get upriver, but we're not able to like get into the, you know, no momentum. I don't have an oar. And she's like, all right, well, let's check in. She's like, you know, prompted me and I'm like, all right, God, is there anything you want want to show me? And when I asked him if there's anything you want to show me upstream, you know, we basically transcended out of the canoe onto the edge of a cliff where now, you know, it was almost like the the Simba moment in The Lion King, you know, like this beautiful

Corrado (14:28)
Yeah.

Dusty Jenkins (14:51)
beautiful cliff face where now I see more lakes upstream with the golden heavenly light coming in and I'm just like, it's so much more beautiful upstream. I see where the canoe is down there just still spinning out, you know, and she's like, okay well where's Jesus now? And I'm like, well I feel his strength like he's sitting behind me and he's just like talking to me, like showing me everything, you know, and I can easily lean back against him, you know, and I just, I felt that peace. And she's like, okay well why is he showing you all this? And...

I'm like, I don't know. She's like, well, just ask him. I'm like, all right. I'm like, God, why are you showing me these other beautiful places upstream? And he just said, do you trust me? dude, I thought I was crying in like a weeping mess at that point. Like when he said, do you trust me? It got a hold of me. And I just started ugly crying. I'm like, yeah, I trust you. And so he invited me to stand up with him.

He, ⁓ I don't know if you ever did one of those like trust exercises where you're sitting down with someone, you have to put your arms behind your back and you'll kind of link arms. And by linking arms, like it was his strength that we just stood up together. And then he invited me to look back down at the lake we had just come from. And now I see hundreds of canoes, just like mine of people just in these canoes, just like spinning out. And he's like, okay, well, do you want to go down there and let them know what I just showed you? Or do you want to go up there all by yourself?

And I'm like, dude, we gotta go tell these people how beautiful, what are you doing in this lake spinning around without an oar? know, let's go get them some oars. And so that was the start of ⁓ Valiant Voyages. And that was like a ministry that I thought God was like 100%. This is where I want you to put your focus on. Really connecting with dads, just building legacy and walking through them in the stuff and the distractions that they're hung up on in life and saying like,

Hey, you know what? I'm healing too. I don't have all the solutions. I don't have all the answers, but I do have a strong foundation in Jesus Christ and I think together, you you don't have to be isolated. You don't have to be alone in that canoe and let's walk through this life together.

Corrado (16:53)
So what is what is something like that like valiant voyages look like what? So take me through like let's say I think I go yeah I want to sign up for the next one. What does that look like? What am I what am I in for?

Dusty Jenkins (16:58)
So.

Yeah, so it's funny because ⁓ just as I prayed at the beginning of this podcast, I didn't know what it looked like. You I had been to many retreats. I had seen how business coaches were helping people, but I had that like imposter syndrome, like, I'm not qualified. I'm not a pastor or a counselor. Like, I don't have anything to really teach other than, hey, I've been in your shoes. I have Jesus Christ and we can go through this together. And so I kept praying. I'm like, God, what do want me to do? And at first I thought,

It was gonna be pop-up retreats, because in my heart was I didn't want to take dad away from the family. ⁓ Most of the dads were already committed to 40, 60 hour work weeks. They want to be present with their family. The mom, their wife definitely doesn't want them gone for another three to four days over an extended weekend to some really fun retreat. Yeah, sure, you're getting poured into, but like, hey, what about me? was like, listen.

Corrado (17:53)
Yeah.

Dusty Jenkins (17:58)
Let's send my heart is let's send the wives to like spa day and then let's take the kids and we family retreat together. You know, that's that's the heart for a family of voyages. And that's kind of what it's turned into when you ask. But but as I kept praying, I'm like, God, like, how am going to do this? So I did a pop up retreat here just down in Columbia at a Mule Town farm, had four or five guys show up. Then I didn't make a single dollar off of it, which that wasn't really my intention. You know, I thought I do have to pay the bills somehow. You know, I'm like, maybe there'll be like some.

Corrado (18:02)
Yeah, exactly.

Dusty Jenkins (18:24)
some donations or sponsors that want to get behind this. I don't know how the financial side will work. I'm just here to like connect with hearts. And one of the guys there, it was so cool, man. We ended around the campfire and I just said, hey, you know, I just want to take this time to just pray over our families before we leave. And I started it off and then the next guy goes and he fights through just a crackly voice. Just you could tell his voice was trembling from trying not to cry. And his prayer started off with, God, I don't think you've ever heard my audible voice.

and it was his first time praying over his family for the first time. And I'm like, dude, this is what it's all about. I'm like, if we could just get more men encouraged to just step into praying over their families, that would be just a huge win. And so I took home home and I tell my wife, and to be honest, my prayer life at the time wasn't all that wonderful. I wasn't waking up and spending hours with God or anything like that.

But my wife said, well hey, you feel like you're gonna be encouraging guys to like pray, what about your prayer life? And I'm like, yeah, that's a good point. So I started getting convicted and God just kept giving me this word, light on the hill, light on the hill. And here in Spring Hill, there's a battlefield where there's a cannon at the top of the hill. And I'm just like, you know what, what if I just go up there every morning and I just start praying and spending time with God, just in my own time.

But I'll open it up to the community. If other guys wanna wake up that early, you know, I would show up 30, 45 minutes before sunrise. They wanna come walk up that hill and sit with me and pray together. Like, hey, come on up. And man, over the last, like, I think I've been doing it for about a year now, but the first like three or four months, I probably met 30, 40 guys. Like one guy showed up, man, I haven't had a friend like this in over 20 years. Like just to have somebody to sit next to and to talk to and...

Man, would just, God just showed up over and over again. Businesses were starting, know, like guys were laid off from the GM plant, man, like I don't know how I'm going to pay my bills. Like, well, what are your passions? You know, start pouring into, okay, well, I had this dream to start up a, like a trash service company, you know, and I can do it better than the people that are servicing my apartment complex. I'm like, well, let's launch it, man. So I would just donate my time and just help these guys get on their feet and, you know, just breathe life into them, you know, and it's been really cool to see how God's really kind of used.

what I thought could have been this massive like retreat model into just a no focus on your local community and touch the hearts of the local dads, you know.

Corrado (20:53)
It kind of brings up something, phrase that I've always used is it's like happy failures, which is like those things that you thought were going to go in a certain direction, just like crashed and burned, did not work out. But then like later you realize had that not failed, had that, had this thing not happened the way that I thought and failed, it wouldn't have set me up for this other thing that I could have not imagined or something that brought it was bringing more value to you or to the community or somebody.

Dusty Jenkins (21:23)
That's right. How many times do we like try to powerhouse in our own strength? Like, oh no God, I got this. Like, thanks, I can do this on my own. Oh, that addiction that I've been battling my whole life, I got this. can make it another 30 days without a drink. Like, I got this. Day 30 comes around and you're like, okay, I guess I'll celebrate. I'll have one drink to celebrate me getting through 30 days, you know? And then the cycle just started all over.

Corrado (21:23)
⁓ yeah.

And that kind of brings up a question. You kind of touched on a little bit on the addiction sort of stuff and everything. Have you seen, I imagine so, but have you seen God taking that and then going like, okay, I know you didn't know why you were going through this and you didn't like it at the moment, but this is why, and this is how I'm gonna use that now.

Dusty Jenkins (22:11)
Yes, absolutely. think that's why the word testimony starts with the word test. Sometimes that takes us the long way so that we can pick up things along the way. ⁓ I think that you do go through the things that are really hard in life, whether it's losing a loved one. That's been one of the things that's like, well, I have...

many friends that don't really believe in God and they're like, if God's so great, why did my friends three year old get killed in this car crash? Or why are there kids in the hospital? Just all these questions. I'm like, I don't know the answer to those questions. I know that it's not God that orchestrates that. We live in a fallen world, but I do know that by going through that, by going through the addictions that I battled, it has helped me be more relatable to the guys that I sit down with.

And when we skip all the small talk and we just go straight into it, I'm like, hey man, I don't know what you're going on, what's going on in your life, but here's what I'm struggling with today. They're like, wow, this is the most authentic, real, vulnerable person that I've met in, know, who knows how long. And you just dive in deep and that's how you get a stronger friendship out of the gate because you build that trust. And they're like, oh, well, me too. I'm battling that too.

Corrado (23:28)
I've always found that, ⁓ and I've always told my wife this, ⁓ that if you want to get guys to connect, you got to give them something to do together, right? Like whether it's working on a car, working on a motorcycle, bro, even flipping burgers on a grill. Like you just see all the guys just standing around the grill. Like, cause now we've got something in common to do. We're all pretending we know what we're doing at the grill or in the car or whatever, right? But it's in during those conversations that like you start being like,

Hey man, how's business? Hey, how's this? Hey, how's that?

But that's when you're like side by side, not like in front of each other, like, okay, tell me about your feelings. But like you're working on something and like, hey, how's that thing? How'd that meeting go? no, I got laid off or something like that. And like that, that's how I've always felt guys tend to connect better than ⁓ just like...

let's set a time to sit down and talk. there's nothing I've always said, like there's nothing scarier for a guy than when like your wife says, Hey, we got to talk. like when anybody says we got to talk, you're like, ⁓ what is this going to be about? So, one thing that I, that I kind of, as you're going through all of these things and as you're working through all of these different things that you've got going on, ⁓ one thing that comes,

Dusty Jenkins (24:33)
Yes.

Corrado (24:46)
comes to mind is the word community. And even yesterday when we were kind of like chatting back and forth, you kind of mentioned that, right? Like, hey, like everything is about community. ⁓ So as you're working through some of these things, thinking about the projects that you're getting involved in, the things that drive you, community is always a, you know, kind of like an undertow of it all. ⁓ What are some quotes versus things that you kind of

constantly find yourself going back to? ⁓ Whether things are going great or things are not working out. What are some things that you constantly think of or try to live up to?

Dusty Jenkins (25:25)
Man, that's good. also as a creative, I, uh, my memory, I need to work on my memory game. It's like, unless I have the scripture or the quote right in front of me, I'm like, Oh, it's like questions like these. All of a sudden, my mind just goes blank. I'm like, wait, what, what, what, do I think of? Um, well, one that's in, my email signature is, uh, I stole this from the movie elf. I guess buddy, the elf is just amazing, but I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite. I think that that one is, you know,

Pretty solid because how many times in day to day life can we just be a little too serious and can we get offended and can we get, you know, just turned the wrong way. You know, somebody cuts you off in traffic and it's like, if we just smiled a little bit more, how much more joyful would this world be? And then the other is, you know, a journey of a thousand footsteps starts with one or a journey of a thousand miles starts with one footstep. And it's easy to get overwhelmed with man, this.

this idea I have feels like there's too many steps, but if you just take one step toward it, one step toward the better version of you, you know, ⁓ I think that that's all you really need to focus on. And that's how, you know, God, when we felt called to Tennessee, like, trust me, we had the journey of a thousand miles and so many unknowns and so many crazy thoughts going through our head, but it's like, okay, well, what's the first step? just, God was showing us like, no, you know, it was foggy out here. You couldn't see nothing.

out in the distance, but the one stone he wanted you to step on as you were getting ready to cross that river. And he's like, okay, this is the stone you need to step on and hold my hand. We're going to do this together, you know? So I think those two, those two have definitely been pretty prominent in my life.

Corrado (27:06)
So now being here for two, three years, what are some of the ways that you would say ⁓ what makes middle Tennessee ⁓ unique?

Dusty Jenkins (27:18)
My goodness, there's too many to list. It's funny how I see in these Facebook groups, like, this is so boring. It's such a boring place. And I'm like, are you kidding? It'd take me like five seconds to write like 20 different things that they could go do in an afternoon. Like, maybe this isn't so boring. Man, the outdoors, we are such an outdoor family. So that is the number one thing that I think I read somewhere that there's over 700 waterfalls here in Tennessee. And we've only encountered maybe 16 of them so far. I actually started.

creating a guide for these waterfall family-friendly waterfalls that you can go to with little kiddos and spend the day swimming in these swimming holes and I think that that was a huge draw when we first came into Tennessee was just it felt like we were in Hawaii and without the price tag of going to Hawaii. ⁓ That's been been really nice. Obviously just the

God-centered, God-fearing, family-focused lifestyle here has been unmatched. That was nowhere to be seen in Colorado. It felt like you had to hide, know, hide your faith and kind of dance around it when meeting new people, like drop cues to see how they would pick up, you know, to gauge people in their faith. And here it's just like, I feel like you can scream it from the mountaintop, you know, whether it's the Bible Belt or whatever they call it, you know.

Yeah, I think that those two things alone, ⁓ big draws for us, you know.

Corrado (28:46)
And with the amount of people coming into the area, right? Ourselves included, right? Like you came here two years ago. I came literally just a couple months ago. It's obvious like you're like going back to your podcast and everything. Like the amount of people moving here is just crazy, right? ⁓ And so also if you're scrolling through some of the Facebook groups, you can also hear the other side of like, okay, can we get people to slow down, right? Which kind of brings up something that

that I'm curious to hear your thoughts on. How do you see things evolving as more more people move here? ⁓ And how do we make sure that we don't lose that thing that makes this place special, right?

Dusty Jenkins (29:31)
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you can't forget or leave behind the foundations and the roots that were here, you know? And one way that I found to kind of give back to that ⁓ issue, I guess, is a lot of locals that I hear, you know, in those comments and seeing those comments feel like they're being priced out of their home, you know? Like, this is our home. You guys are coming in and driving the price up because of the influx, you know? Like, what about us? What are we gonna do when our kids want to...

to go buy a house and it's three times the price that it was five years ago or whatever. And so I even thought, man, how can I, I can't solve the housing solution, I can't solve the economy, the inflation solution, but I can help with my time and my energy and I can come alongside people that want to say yes to anything. Yes to how do I do what you do for a living? And so I started a content marketing club for local high schoolers if they wanted to come in.

to my world and instead it's not a classroom setting. You're not sitting there learning like this is how you do content marketing. It's no, you're gonna shadow me. We're gonna go together. You're gonna sit there in a business meeting while I try and win a new client and see how the conversation goes to build rapport and relationship. You're gonna see how I build out a proposal. You're gonna see how we go and shoot content for a taco truck to help them with their first sellout, you know, like, and from day one, like that's what they did. She's right there and I'm like shooting phone with.

shooting content with my phone and I hand it to her. I'm like, well, now that you saw me the first like 20 minutes of class, I'm like, you saw how I shot that? Like, why don't you try and shoot something now? And she's like, wait, what? No, I don't. I'm like, no, just try it. Like you're going to learn by just getting your hands wet. Yeah. Yeah. And so she's, she's, she's loving it. ⁓ we had a couple of students in that, in that. And that's how I think that little things like that, you know, ⁓ you mentioned community. We didn't really have any friends or family at all when we, didn't know anybody when we moved here.

Corrado (31:12)
Trial by fire baby, trial by fire.

Dusty Jenkins (31:28)
And so I thought, man, I remember playing kickball as a kid. I wonder how many kids would like to kickball. And we homeschool our family. So I put that thing out on Facebook. like, is there any homeschool families that their kids would like to play kickball? Dude, 30 kids showed up to this first game that I hosted and that turned into like ⁓ a weekly thing. Like I was just having homeschool kids come ages, I think four to like 12, roughly.

And I never coached anything in my life. Like it was super scary. didn't know. like, I'm not going to be in charge of all these kids. Like when I saw 30 kids, I did not expect that many. I'm like, boy, can we, can we all just pray for a minute? Cause A for myself, like, God, how are you going to, you got to help me through this. ⁓ So I think, you know, just, just trying to give back to the community, you know, we volunteered for a, they have a keep spring Hill clean, ⁓ organization that you can go out and pick up trash.

And it's like, know what, as more people come in, yeah, it's gonna, there could be more pollution and like, how can we help keep the city clean? How can we help keep it what it was before we arrived? And that even led to more relationships and more people and community. You know, it's like, you don't have that sitting on your couch at home, stuck in your depression and anxiety thinking, man, life's not working out. It's getting out there and sharing your anxiety and depression with others that have anxiety and depression of the same, know, it's like.

I had anxiety about meeting friends, I bet you do too. You wanna go have a coffee together or a drink or whatever? Go sit in the creek?

Corrado (32:55)
Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's funny because the normal thing, right. And most people are always like in every interaction and every single thing, it's like, what can they get out of it? Right. And it's like, if you just simply switch it and just go, how can I give something to this person? How can I be of service to, you know, this even, even the community, right? Like instead of what's the community going to do for me, like, how can I kind of get plugged in and, and, and help out.

that I feel like if everybody does that then and along with what you said earlier of that level of respect of making sure that you're not changing what makes the place great, then I think that's how we can kind of maintain, you know, what makes this place unique, right? So what's next for Dusty?

Dusty Jenkins (33:48)
Man, that is a...

Corrado (33:49)
What are you

working on that you're thinking in the next few months? Anything that's exciting going on?

Dusty Jenkins (33:56)
That is ⁓ such a loaded question because I just feel like things can change in an instant. I try not, I'm not a one year, five year, I'm not a planner. I'm such a spontaneous, just man, tomorrow things could shift so drastically. So I really just, I try my best to live in today and you know, there's fires that pop up. So I guess I'm a firefighter today, you know, metaphorically speaking, but.

No, man, I have some dreams and I've been wanting to really just build ⁓ some products and some ways to really give back. Like that guide I was telling you about, I started the Go Explore With Us community. It's an online community where families can come in and I have all these places organized by town and the latitude and longitude are dropped in so you can find hidden gems and waterfalls and just go out there and have a good time with your family. And so really if it was

If my true dream came to life because I've hosted a few of these family retreats now, I would be doing that bi-weekly. I would have a family retreat every other week. These pop-up one-night deals. You come out with your family. You get to stay in a glamping tent. All you have to bring is your bedding and some food. Everything else is taken care of. ⁓ I'm your guide to the waterfall and we have the most impactful conversations. I would love to just do that more and more. ⁓

you know, help other people build their communities, you know, tap into their passions. And I love kind of the coaching and consulting world where, you know, just coming alongside people like yourself, Corrado, and, you know, just say, are you passionate about? And really start to pull out those threads and help people discover what's possible. Because some people just don't, they don't know what's possible. And then somebody like myself are, no, I can connect you. I'm a great connector. I know a person that can bring that to life for you.

So I think that's really just continued. We were homeschooling. My son is entering kindergarten this year in a homeschool. My daughter went into kindergarten during COVID. So we didn't know we were gonna be a homeschool family. We were figuring it out as we went. So I think for him, he's lucky in a way that we had a lot of mistakes with her, because she was kind of the first round through. But yeah, we have a, yeah.

Corrado (36:18)
I know the feeling. I know the feeling. That's exactly

what happened to us. Like our oldest one, ⁓ she was supposed to go into first grade or kinder during COVID. And we were just like, we were back in Miami at that point and it was like, everything was closed down. They were still doing, ⁓ we heard that they were going to do the first few weeks. It was going to be remote. And we were like, well, we're definitely not going to put her on an iPad.

to connect and like we're starting, like we might as well just try this whole, we had some friends that homeschooled and everything. We're like, well, let's just try it. Like what's the worst that can happen, right? Like she's in kinder, like we could, she's got time to make up for anything we screw up royally, right? And we ended up loving it. And it just, we've always said like one year at a time, right? And now it's like, you know, she just started her fourth grade, fourth grade and the little one started first grade and same thing. We're like, oh man, the second one is.

Dusty Jenkins (36:55)
Yeah.

Corrado (37:11)
having it so much easier, smooth road, the first one is just trailing ahead of like...

Dusty Jenkins (37:19)
Yes, yes.

Corrado (37:21)
⁓ Switching into something that I want to do in every episode the 615 rapid fire So I'm just gonna give you a couple of quick random questions about living in middle Tennessee Give me the first thing that comes to mind. So you got a billboard on I-65 for one day. What does it say?

Dusty Jenkins (37:41)
I've even asked my guest a similar question. This is good rapid fire though. I'm not good at rapid fire. Let me tell you think about this. It says

Just start, you got this.

Corrado (37:58)
I it. ⁓ I feel like I know what the answer to this one is going to be but first place you take someone visiting Middle Tennessee for the first time.

Dusty Jenkins (38:07)
Yeah, I would take them to a waterfall for sure. ⁓

Corrado (38:10)
⁓ Okay,

favorite middle Tennessee food spot and dish.

Dusty Jenkins (38:17)
Dude, I cannot even believe this. I found my way down into Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and there's this little tiny hut. It's like the size of a shed off the side of the road. The line of cars that was at this little shed when I drove by was insane. So I'm like, well, they must be doing something, right? What is going I'm getting in this line. I got in that line and I ordered a burger. The burger, I think, might have been less than five bucks. It was, I mean, it was so heavy. I don't know how she did.

but that burger was the best burger I've ever had in my entire life. I posted a thing on our social channel. I think somebody called it a slug burger. I don't know if that's a thing in the South or in Tennessee, but I think she used some kind of breading and with the meat. I'm telling you that I would, tell everybody, go down to Lawrenceburg to, I think it's called ⁓ Berry Hill Snack Hut and order the burger. And then outside of that, ⁓ Soda Pop Junction.

about 45 minutes from Spring Hill is another burger place. It's called Soda Pop Junction. It's in Linville, Tennessee and great atmosphere, wonderful burgers. you're not, you know, we're trying to eat a little healthier these days, know, no seed oils and that kind of stuff. I guess it's probably not great for that, but if you wanna have a cheat day.

Corrado (39:32)
Yeah.

⁓ Cool. ⁓ This is a little different. I think it might be somewhat similar to your answer. Describe what you think makes a perfect day in Middle Tennessee.

Dusty Jenkins (39:52)
And a perfect day for me, definitely the sunrise, waking up early enough to just have some time with the Lord ⁓ and a friend maybe at the sunrise is great. Having undistracted time with my family, ⁓ I fight for that and it's so hard to get, like distractions are always just flooding, flooding. So just having time where I'm just really playing with my kids and... ⁓

Yeah, and hanging out with my wife and giving her my undivided attention. I think, you know, whether that's just us at home or out back in the creek, you know, those are perfect days for me, you know.

Corrado (40:32)
Love it. And final, other middle Tennessee people, businesses, or stories that you would like to see featured on this show.

Dusty Jenkins (40:41)
man, there's many, but the one that just came to mind is Stan Lovens. He is just pioneering ⁓ just an amazing roadway forward with revivals, seeing how God uses him to just impact people's lives. I've witnessed with my own eyes, people get miracles, prophetic words. It's just insane to see how God uses him.

and he is coming September 6th to the Awaken House. There will be a Night of Miracles revival ⁓ here in Spring Hill. So I would say definitely check out what Stan Lovens is doing and if you can, if you're needing just deliverance from any hang-up in life, know, go just spend an afternoon or go spend a little time with that man and man, will show up in a big way.

Corrado (41:34)
Love it, love it. Anyone else you think that comes to mind?

Dusty Jenkins (41:38)
Yeah, I'll shout out my wife. know, my wife is, I'm proud of my wife. know, it was not, was, had, there was a lot of fear in giving away her entire 15 years of clientele. She owned a salon in Colorado and to start all over to really say, all right, God, if you're calling our family to Tennessee and I'm starting all over, what does that look like? And now she has a successful salon in Franklin, Tennessee that focuses on all non-toxic organic hair products. And I think that that is.

Corrado (42:06)
That's awesome.

Dusty Jenkins (42:08)
you know something that is on the rise just people are wanting to move further away from ⁓ from toxic products and when you know whatever you're putting whatever those women are putting on their hair i don't know but check out fig and willow brandy jenkins up in franklin it's yeah shout her out

Corrado (42:25)
Awesome. Love

it. So in a second, I'm going to, ⁓ you know, let you sign off and tell people how to connect with you and how to find out more about all the stuff you've got going on. But before we do that, anything, any parting thoughts, anything that we didn't touch on that you want to kind of make sure that we go over any parting thoughts that you want to leave with the listeners, anything.

Dusty Jenkins (42:47)
Well, I guess I would ask you, ⁓ know, 615 Unplugged, know, what, you know, I think this is just launching and ⁓ I'm honored to be, you know, among the first guests that you've chosen to come on the show. And so I'd love to just hear from you, like, you know, even six months from now, looking back on this episode, what do you hope for Middle Tennessee ⁓ as they glean from these podcasts that you're hosting?

Corrado (43:16)
Yeah, I think ⁓ for me, the podcast is a way of kind of getting to know a lot of the things that I would normally, the people and the places and the stories that I normally just doing life, you wouldn't kind of come across and learn about. ⁓ I think there's a lot of history in this area, right? And I think that as

as I meet people and I hear their stories or hear stories of like other businesses and everything, I think kind of putting those things in the forefront and figuring out who are the people who have shaped ⁓ kind of what this place has become, but also kind of tying in all the people that are shaping what it will be is I think my way of saying, hey, I wanna help even if it's in a small way.

to highlight what's good about this place and where we should be going and the things that make this place unique, right? And so, similar to you, it's about community. This thought around community and community building is one of the things that drove my wife and I to move to Middle Tennessee. And it's not an easy thing, right? It's easy for people to live very isolated lives these days. And so,

even in a small way, right? Even if I can find that one person that's isolated, but that they happen to tune in to, you know, to the podcast and they go check out that little burger joint that you just mentioned. Like they just got out. They just maybe met somebody on the line. They just got, you know, they kind of feel a little bit more plugged in to their community, right? Even if they didn't talk to somebody, they just feel like more part of it, right? Same thing for me, right? I'm going to feel

infinitely much more part of the fabric of Middle Tennessee six months from now than I do today, right? ⁓ And so that's my hope for the listeners as well, you

Dusty Jenkins (45:19)
Dude, I love that man. And as you were sharing that with the community, it did jog my memory. ⁓ When you asked what's something that you're excited about moving forward and this ties into community. I forest schools and nature schools are is what we have plugged my son into for his enrichment and our homeschool enrichment. And ⁓ I'm going to be a part of this one this season. It's right between Spring Hill and Columbia. It's called Spirit Ranch.

and on Tuesday and Thursdays it's for kids ages 3 to 10 and on Monday and Wednesdays it's for kids aged 10 to 17 and on Monday, Wednesdays he has like 30 years of teaching experience so he's offering like tutoring time so like if your growing child is needing you know caught up on a subject they'll be able to get tutoring

They also get a hands-on experience with like carpentry, plumbing, farm-based, know, just like the day in the life of a farmer type of ⁓ learning. They've got all kinds of fun stuff there. And then for the little kiddos, know, dude, I know, dude, yeah, I know, right? Dude, I'm telling you, man, I have a blast with these kids. I'm like, yeah, it's so much fun, you know, playing in the mud kitchen, running the zip line, like whatever. So.

Corrado (46:24)
I sign up myself man do they have like a 40 and over kind of class

Dusty Jenkins (46:38)
and then Fridays are family fun days. So it is designed for the family to come together. So the parents get to stay and play with the kiddos and you can do an hour, two hours, whatever, but they have hammocks. You can sit and read in a hammock while the kiddos are out on the mud kitchen, whatever you, you just kind of make it what you want on Fridays, I think. So check that out.

Corrado (46:44)
Okay.

⁓ I'm definitely gonna check that out because that

sounds right up our alley man

Dusty, best way for people to find out more about you, connect with you, anything. Stay up to date with what you got going on.

Dusty Jenkins (47:10)
Yeah, you reach out to me, my email ⁓ is probably best. It's dustydusty at goexplorewith.us, not dot com dot us. And then ⁓ my handle on Instagram is goexplorewithus, just underscores between each word. And yeah, think for the valiant voyages side of things, if you've got a man in your life that you feel could be...

benefiting or just needs a friend, you You could also reach me on that email, but ValiantVoyages.dad is the domain for that site. yeah, I got content floating around almost everywhere on all platforms, but Instagram is where I'm most active.

Corrado (48:00)
Love it. I'll definitely make sure to link out to all of that in the show notes, the podcast, the whole thing and everything. So, Dusty, thank you so much, brother.

Dusty Jenkins (48:10)
Karado, I appreciate it man, thanks for your time this morning. Yeah.

Corrado (48:12)
This was great man, thank you.

Corrado (OUT) (48:15)
Hey there, thank you for tuning in today. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share with someone you think would find it interesting. Until next time, thank you for tuning in.