March 28, 2025 • 46 mins
Beyond the logistics of planning, this conversation uncovers the profound personal connection driving Jordan's commitment to excellence. With remarkable transparency, he pulls back the curtain on his process for March Madness planning, where he simultaneously books venues in eight different potential tournament cities, prepares comprehensive run-of-shows for each, and then pivots instantly when brackets are announced. "The plan's already made," he explains, highlighting the meticulous forethought required in high-stakes event planning. His approach combines forward-thinking preparation with nimble flexibility, always maintaining composure when inevitable changes arise.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Check us out to hear the latest on life in the
volunteer state.
Yvonca and her guests discusseverything from life, love and
business with a Tennessee flair.
It's a Tennessee thing, alwaysrelatable, always relevant and
always a good time.
This is Talkin' Tennessee, andnow your host, yvonca.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This episode is brought to you by Turning Knox
Rental, your go-to for eventrental services.
We have selfie machines, 360photo machines and food
servicing machines that you canrent out to give your parties
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Get the TKR experience withTurning Knox Rental.
You can find us atwwwturningknoxrentalcom.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome back to Talking Tennessee with Yvonca.
I am your host and I am herewith my friend, jordan Bradley
Pruitt from the University ofTennessee.
This is the part two episodethat you do not want to miss.
Let's get started WithUniversity of Tennessee being so
on right now.
Does it for football season2025,?
(01:10):
Does it feel like a differentlevel of pressure?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
No, I'm driven.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
He said he's driven.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I'm driven, I don't, I'm not, and hear me, he's
already probably got it allplanned out.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I'm telling you Well, yeah, we're working on 2026,
right?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
now, yes, no, I mean, I am always going to try to
challenge myself and to try totake things to a different level
.
We said that last year we didour first tailgate in a baseball
stadium in downtown Charlotteand it was the biggest tailgate
we've ever done.
And I went to the leadershipand said I want to rent out a
(01:49):
baseball stadium and I want totake over the whole stadium and
do a tennessee tailgate thereare y'all hearing this?
you know it's, it was like areyou sure?
And it's like, yeah, like whenI get that affirmation of trust
okay then and feel trusted fromthe people who are in those
positions.
That's all I need.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
How often do you get no?
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Probably not much.
I wouldn't say that I often getno, which I think speaks to the
leadership of the people thatare in place.
That doesn't mean that I don'tget challenged.
Okay, so I think there to theleadership of the people that
are in place.
That doesn't mean that.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
I don't get challenged, okay.
So I think there's a difference, and the reason why I'm asking
you that is for other eventplanners that are out there in
that position of high volume,because you have volume, okay,
tell the viewers that would sayhow do you accept that and how
do you move from that?
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Right, I think my goal is, if I'm going to pitch
something, if I'm going to bringany idea to the table, I'm
already going to have all of myducks in a row of why that pitch
is going to create a value addor some benefit to the people
who are going to be there.
And I jokingly said this to youbefore the call.
But we were talking about theKentucky game and like doing a
(03:05):
trip for the Kentucky game toKentucky, and I told our
leadership team, I said, if wego do a standalone tailgate at
Kentucky, it's not going to beworth it.
The amount of people that justwant to drive up and back and
don't really want to take thetime out of their day is
substantial, so we don't get ahuge turnout for that.
And they were like cool, takeit off the list.
Like we trust your judgment, goforth and prosper.
So then I go back to the tableand I'm like but that doesn't
(03:27):
mean we can't do anything right.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
That doesn't mean we can't.
It's like I just told you thatwait a minute this is the
situation.
So I think it's like so Ididn't say no, right?
So?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
when I made the pitch for an up and back trip where
we charter buses and we createexperience for fans.
I'm coming into that with a youknow.
Here's what this is going tocost.
This is how much revenue wecould generate.
This is the amount of people wecould impact.
This is how we're going to doit.
I'm already making sure I thinkthe world of an event planner
is making sure you're doing aton of legwork for things that
(03:56):
may not even happen.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Are y'all hearing?
Speaker 4 (03:57):
that, and you know, right now we're getting ready
for March Madness, right?
So there's eight differentcities we could go to for the
first round and then four cities.
I have different venues bookedin all of those cities Like I've
.
I've prepared.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
So he doesn't do events just for football.
Please explain that part ofyour job.
Yeah, but your job is more thanjust football.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Yeah, so we have what's called Rocky Top on the
Road and we do that for football, men's and women's basketball,
softball and baseball.
So, uh, during football season,I with our, in coordination
with our team, do tailgates forall the home football games, um,
except for usually the week ofThanksgiving, and then we will
take Rocky top on the road fordifferent away football games
(04:40):
throughout the year.
So, like Florida, alabama, thekickoff game this year is in
Atlanta.
So we'll go do big tailgates inthose cities for our fans who
are traveling.
And then, during basketballseason, starting with the SEC
tournaments, we travel with bothmen and women and support them
on the road as well, doingevents in all those cities.
And so for March Madness, thisis where it's about to pick up
steam.
For me is the challenge is thatyou're preparing for a dozen
(05:05):
cities, only one of which you'reactually going to go to, so I'm
reaching out to venues Becauseyou still have to prepare.
Yeah, because you still have toprepare.
So I'm reaching out to venuesin Seattle, Washington and on
Sunday of this week we may hearthat we're playing in Cleveland,
Ohio, and I got to go back tothat venue in Seattle and say
thank you so much for your time.
I appreciate you holding thisfor me, but we're no longer
going to Seattle, we're going toCleveland and then, when you
(05:25):
have to pivot, how is it?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
high stress, I would say the high stress is just with
the pace.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Like, I think you have to be comfortable moving at
a very fast pace, especiallywith basketball, because it's
not just about getting a venueright.
Then I'm pulling list of alumniwho live in that area, making
sure they're notified about theevent, when it's going to happen
, what time it's going to happen, who's going to be there, all
of those types of things.
But then that communication hasto also transcend throughout
the university system, makingsure that I give the
(05:54):
chancellor's office thatinformation, making sure that I
give our team that informationso all of their constituents can
be informed of what's happeningand where we're going.
What we have found is that ourtailgate tends to be the landing
spot for everybody, right?
So we don't want to alienateany member.
They don't have to be an alumnito come, they can be just a fan
.
But this is where ChancellorPromen goes when she's on the
(06:15):
road.
This is where Danny White stopsby when he's on the road.
This is where the VFLs andLVFLs come when they're on the
road.
So my goal is to not have tohave anybody email me on
Selection Sunday and say what'sthe plan for Cleveland Ohio.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
No, no, no.
The plan's made, the plan'salready made.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So I have 10 run of shows that are ready to go and
I'll delete nine of them onSunday and I'll send the one
that goes and that's, and we'llmove forward.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
That's amazing.
That's amazing, but a creativemind can do that and, and I
think, a lot of people in eventplanning and you can speak on
this for me, because we're goingto talk about march madness in
a minute okay, uh is the biggestthing I think with event
planning is, for one, you haveto have a plan, you have to be
(07:03):
organized.
You've got to know, okay, whatyour client, whoever it is, what
their expectations are, yeah,and you know, and you have to
know, okay, how many peopleyou're expecting.
And I think a lot of times,people in the rental business or
event planning or whatever Isee, some are not as organized,
(07:29):
some are not as well puttogether that they want to pull
it together at the very end.
And to be a good eventcoordinator to me, you have to
be a person that can organizesomething and it runs smooth and
(07:50):
not wait till last minute, doyou?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
agree with that Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I think a lot of people nowadays, because there
are so many things out here inthe world that people want to
dip their feet in that pond of.
Oh I can throw an event, I cando this or whatever.
But if you're doing any event,from small to large, but
especially high volume, okay,you cannot just run off of I
(08:19):
don't even know the word for it.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Like fly by the seam of your pants.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yes, yes know the word for it, like fly by the
seam of your pants.
Can you speak to the audienceabout what would you say?
Okay, there's three things thatyou need to have.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Because you are the best of the best.
Well, I don't know about that Iand this was a viewer question
as well.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I don't know if I can say there's three things that
you have to have, if you meaningfrom a personal standpoint or
from an event standpoint.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Both you can combine.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
I my the way that I like to function as an event
planner is I'm going to buildrelationships with people here
in Knoxville that I know I canrely on at a high level, that
are going to treat people theway that I would expect them to
be treated.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
So, and he requires that, trust me.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
We're bringing a high level of customer service.
We're bringing a high level ofintentionality to everything
that we do.
So I hate to say the word easy,but Knoxville is fairly easy
for me because it's like if I'm,if I'm, tasked with putting
something together, I know whoI'm calling for balloons, I know
who I'm calling for eventactivations.
I know you know it's like Ihave those people that I've
built those relationships with.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
It's harder when you go on the road because you're
trying to all those people havethe same spirit of him.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Right, and that's exactly what.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I was going to say it has to be the same spirit of
him.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
I have to convey that to someone who I haven't
actually met and make veryclearly known like this is the
expectation that I have of theproduct that you are delivering
or the customer service that youare delivering.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Let me add something to that.
I'll tell you one of thepersonal things I think that
event coordinator has to have.
They have to have a support athome.
They have to have somebody thatgets that.
You're going to miss somethings, you're going to
sacrifice some things.
(10:22):
You know you're not going to getto go to every family vacation,
you're not going to get to go,you know, to a birthday party.
You know you're going to misssome things.
And so I really think a lot ofpeople need to understand is
that when you go in this typebusiness, you have to understand
there will be a lot ofsacrifices.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
I know that if I was speaking to your husband he'd go
yep, I thought I was going todo this one weekend and Jordan
said we're going to do this, sowe're going to do this.
And so I think that would beone of the personal things that
you would have to have as acoordinator is someone that is
going to support your dream,your vision.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
And I think that that's hard right when you want
to be like I want to be withJacob as much as I can, I want
to be around him as much as Ican.
You know, this week, forexample, I'll leave on Wednesday
and could be gone to Sunday,you know, for the SEC tournament
.
So you know it's balancing thatout with him and understanding
like what can, what can I doprior to going.
(11:19):
That can maybe be special forus.
Or maybe he comes on Friday, ifwe make it to the saturday game
or something like that, you know, and trying to have those
moments together.
But yes, I totally agree, likethe, the support system at home
is one.
I think um, I'm going to usethe word forethought I think you
have to be forward thinking inum in, in how you're going to
(11:40):
execute in advance, like it'sjust impossible to me to do it
any other way.
Um, I jokingly say to peopleand they're like that's not
serious, but like the fall'sdone yes it's it's planned.
All of the tailgates throughnovember are planned yes, and
that's not to like toot my ownhorn.
(12:00):
It's because when we get there.
I can't plan it on the week of,like I have to have those ducks
in a row.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
You have to plan ahead, yeah, and you have to be
innovative and and really andtruly evolve as you go.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, I would say that those are two really big
things on the personal side, Ithink.
On the event side, um, I think,well, this kind of speaks to
the personal side too.
I think that the how I carrymyself is how it will trickle
down to everybody else so whenyou talk about earlier, like do
I put pressure on myself?
(12:36):
Or like do I feel the pressureof the university?
I don't feel necessarily thepressure of the university.
I feel the pressure because Irespect the university to a
degree.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Jordan in his head is saying do more, do more, we're
not done.
Yeah, I think for me.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
it's like an event.
I, the pressure I put on myself, is like if I might be having
an internal panic or somethingisn't exactly the way that I
thought it was going to be.
Not letting that flow out tothe people around me, Right,
Because the people who are goingto be checking people in or the
people who are going to bedoing the photo booth or
whatever it is, I don't wantthem to see that I might have
(13:13):
that little hiccup inside me.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That's like you got to have that poker face.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You got to have it, you got to have it and you can't
wear your feelings on yourshoulders, even when it's not.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
You know the idea that you were thinking of.
Okay, I've got to deal withwhat it is right now.
What's in front of me?
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I think it comes back to flexibility.
Right, I think at the eventatmosphere like I've never done
an event to this day that hasgone exactly how I thought it
was going to go.
There is always something thatis a little bit different or
that you have to change a littlebit.
So I think, just being in thosespaces where, like again, we
talked about this earlier, butthat perfection that I can tend
(13:51):
to put pressure on myself, forif I'm at an event and the
vendor comes up and says hey, Iknow you wanted this to look
this way, but because of thiswe're going to have to do it
this way, the first gut responseis but that's not the way I
pictured it.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
But the secondary response is is the way that they
do X actually going to impactthe people who are here, Right?
So I have to shift my brain tothink about if somebody walks
into this event that knowsnothing about it.
They've been not a part of theplanning process whatsoever, I'm
supposed to know all of thethings that are supposed to be a
certain way, but it wouldn'tmake a difference to them for it
(14:27):
to be this way, and if theanswer is no, it's probably not
that crucial.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, so you have to pick your battle in your mind.
Absolutely, it's picking yourbattle.
So let's talk about MarchMadness.
Let me see.
First we're going to speakabout three weeks.
Three, four weeks ago it wasalumni weekend and we were
brought in turn.
Us was brought in to give anexperience to the alumni and
their families.
Uh, I did not realize who I wasgoing to be honored.
(14:56):
I just it was, you know, spreadthe moment we were putting it
together and shout out to misskatherine.
She was amazing to work withand I saw my friend go out and
be honored.
Um, but what stuck out?
When they called everybody out,all of the Lady Vols, the
(15:19):
different staff, just everybodythat was being honored that day,
what stuck out to me is that myfriend Jordan is walking out
there.
He's being honored for hisworks.
But you were so humble and itwas just.
You were celebratingeverybody's win.
Your family was there and itwas like that moment of that's
(15:44):
why I love you so much, becauseyou are just that guy you are.
You make people feel like that,they matter, and even when it's
your moment, you share yourmoment, because I wish you would
have seen yourself that day.
I was just sitting therestaring at you like that's why
(16:05):
everybody loves him, because youdon't make it about yourself,
you really don't, even thoughthat was a moment about you, it
really was.
And I think that you, I thinkPat Hedgesummit, would be very
proud.
I think she would say to Jordantoday thank you for what you've
(16:29):
done for the university.
Thank you for making peoplewanting to come, making people
feel comfortable in their ownself.
You know, because PatHedgesummit was all about the
community at University ofTennessee.
It was about building acommunity at a college that
Georgia couldn't give it,florida couldn't give it,
(16:51):
kentucky couldn't give it, butUniversity of Tennessee could
give it.
So I want you to know if myopinion, if Pat Hudson was here
today and she saw you when youwalked out, that's what would be
going through her head.
Is he gets it.
So tell me what was goingthrough your mind.
Sorry, no that's okay, sorry.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
I think that's probably like one of the
greatest compliments anybody canreceive, so I very much
appreciate that you don't needto apologize.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
She's proud.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
I think if I was in that position and thinking about
what Pat would say um, I askedmyself that a lot, like I asked
myself that at work a lot youknow what what would Pat do?
Or how would this?
How would she feel about X andY?
And I think a lot of my corevalues have been consistent with
(17:43):
what I imagine hers would be,of making sure that every person
feels celebrated, regardless ofwhat identities or challenges
or whatever they bring to thetable, that they always feel
like they have a space to bethemselves and be supported.
That they always feel like theyhave a space to be themselves
and be supported.
I think she would feel like.
(18:04):
I think she would respect andfeel that you know the way that
I try to enter a room is humbly,in all circumstances, and
understanding that.
I don't know it all.
You know I love collaboratingwith people, I love talking
through concepts and ideas withpeople and I think, lastly, you
know the first thing that's.
It's funny that you say that,because the thing that stood out
to me about that was themanagers were all like there
(18:26):
were two of us that were thereand we naturally went to the end
of the line, because it's notabout us.
I guarantee you that nobody inthat arena knows who I am or
what my contribution is, youknow.
But the players go first, right, and I think I truly felt.
When I came into college, I wasvery cocky, I felt like I had
(18:49):
it all together.
I was the one stop shop.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
David said the same thing.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
And I became a manager for the Lady Vols.
And you want to talk aboutgetting humbled real fast.
You're doing women's laundryfive nights a week, are y'all?
hearing that you know, that'swhere you, that's where you see
a whole other side of it and Iwas like, oh, like, this isn't
about me, Right?
Women to look the best possibleway that they can look and
(19:21):
perform at the highest levelbecause they deserve to be, to
be in that space, Right?
So whatever is within mycontrol, it comes back to that
right.
Whatever's within my control toimpact.
That's what I'm going to focuson.
I've, I've always thought youknow, when you're, when people
try to get promotions or peopletry to move on to the next job,
First question I always ask isare you excellent at your job?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Yeah, I'll say, I'll say this.
I understand that because Ithink you know this.
David play was on Pat Hedson'spractice team her very first
male practice team and Davidsaid he came into college.
He said my ego was so high.
He said I thought that I was it.
(20:05):
And he was like the 90s waseverything he said.
But when I went on her court Igot humbled real quick.
He said she did not allowarrogance on her court, and I
think that's what you and Davidcan speak to.
(20:25):
Her legacy is she taught youhow to be humble.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
She taught me so much more than just humility.
You know she she the the easeof how, like you think about it,
right, You're looking at thiscourt and there's 15 women on it
.
Yeah, Probably 12 of them werethe best players in, not just in
their high school, in theirstate.
They were the best players inthe country.
(20:51):
That's a lot of ego on onecourt, yes, and did you ever see
an ounce of it?
Speaker 3 (20:57):
No.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Because that wasn't allowed.
It wasn't about Candice.
It wasn't about Shemeika itwasn't about.
Tamika, it was about the team.
How is the team going to besuccessful.
Shemeika is going to get her 20or 30 points right, but she
can't get it without the pointguard, she can't get it without
the screen and she can't get itwithout the screen.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
And I'm glad you mentioned those three because
those are legends.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
And they showed teamwork and they showed how to
a sisterhood yeah, unreal.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I mean.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I got to meet Shamiqua for the first time a
few weeks ago, for we do somevirtual events as well that I
fortunately get to be a part of.
They're all about athletics andwe always have a VFL or LVFL
guest, and that was the firsttime I'd gotten to meet Shemekwa
and you just want to talk abouta phenomenal human being.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
She was here for what was it?
Speaker 4 (21:52):
She came and spoke.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Dr Tavi Small had her for their breakfast brunch and
her and David hadn't seen eachother since college.
You had to see she was up therespeaking and she turned around
and she saw David and sheliterally stopped.
She was like Dave, it's sogreat to see.
(22:16):
She was so happy to see David.
It had been so many years and Ijust.
It was a great time and amoment for David to reconnect
with his friend, someone that hehighly respects.
You know, I had met her likeyears and years ago, but it had
been so long ago so it felt likemeeting her again and you would
(22:40):
have thought we had known eachother all this time and even now
, like on social media, we'llsit and talk or we'll literally
DM each other that type thing.
She's just a good person person.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
I think one of the things that I love about the
Lady Vols in general is justwhen you, when you bear that
uniform.
You know that each person hasgone through or been in some
type of similar situation foryou as you have.
You know, and there's a there'san underlying respect that I
think comes with that is, ifsomebody comes up to me and says
I was a manager for the LadyVols in 2023, while I was a
(23:21):
manager in 2013, I immediatelyswitched my perspective,
immediately changed.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Totally different yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Because I'm like I know what you've been through.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
I know what you've gone through.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
And you know, the thing is that is a moment in
memory, that is a moment and andmemory that you will be able to
keep for the rest of your life.
Yeah, and you'll be able totell the next generation.
You know this is how we did it,but you know you can do it even
better.
You know, as a manager, dah,dah, dah, dah dah.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
And.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
I think that's the best part about it is you can
literally say I helped shapethat.
You know.
I did my part, you know.
So March Madness.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Let's talk about March.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Madness.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
It's here.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It's here.
What besides the game part?
What can we expect from alumni?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Yeah, well, it starts this week.
We're headed to Nashville to doevents for the SEC men's
tournaments.
Our men will start play onFriday and we'll be there with
them every game that theyproceed, if they make it to
Sunday.
I'll be there Sunday morning todo our tailgates there in
Nashville and then I'll actuallybe driving back here to
Knoxville because we have aselection Sunday event here in
(24:32):
Knoxville on Sunday afternoonearly evening for the tournament
.
So we'll have another eventhere on Sunday.
And so we'll kick off and getready for all the postseason.
We will announce they'llannounce the men's bracket first
and then announce the women'sbracket and then from there it's
just kind of like a mad sprintwe just we get to move forward
with all the cities that we'vealready planned for and start to
(24:55):
put some of those final piecesof the puzzle in place and um
are you excited?
I am.
It's always an exciting time.
It's, um, it's one of thosetimes for me that just kind of
brings all the worlds together,like it reminds me of the old
days of, you know, traveling onthe bus and schlepping bags
underneath and doing laundry.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, which I?
Speaker 4 (25:17):
think my husband appreciates that I'm still doing
a good check of that today.
No, but that's.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
He's like go, Lady Vols.
Yeah, he's like win them out,baby.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
But yeah, no, then we'll get ready for the final
four.
So we've we've started talkingwith some businesses and things
for the final four and trying toget some of those things
together.
And so the men this year in SanAntonio, the women would be in
Tampa.
Um, okay, the challenging partis that they overlap days, so
that would be a divide andconquer situation for our team.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
The logistics of that is wild.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
It is it's nuts Um.
It is absolutely nuts.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
But y'all nail it.
I know you'll nail it Well.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
I appreciate that Our team has been working really
hard on getting all the prepdone for those things.
We have an amazing leader ofour team and she's really helped
empower me to do my job, butalso she's taught me a great
deal in such a short period oftime working with her, and so
it's really cool to be able totake those experiences with her
(26:15):
for, like her first time,getting to see certain things
yes and then getting herfeedback of, like how we can
make them even better, you know,and so I've really valued that
a lot and I'm excited to get todo that so the fans have, uh,
something to look forward toyeah, absolutely.
We're gonna be there every stepof the way.
You know, I don't miss it.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
He's like he's not missing none of our and I think
the anticipation this year is sobig.
This year I think it just feelslike it's anybody's tournament.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
It's not a year where you're like, oh, this team is
for sure the lock to make it tothe Final Four.
I mean, lord, last week alonewe saw upsets all over the place
, so I think it's a big one.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
With social media I've been following.
You know what is everybody'sprediction and all that kind of
stuff, and I think you're right.
I think that normally in thepast people would predict okay,
this is who's going to be there,and most of the time it would
fall somewhere there.
But now you just don't know.
Especially, university ofTennessee, athletics has grown
(27:19):
so much just in the last twoyears oh yeah, if you think
about it, you know it's like, ohwow.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
I mean two years ago I got to go to the College World
Series for the softball teamand get to do events there for
our softball fans in OklahomaCity, a place that I would be
like in my wildest imaginationbe like.
We would never have that, thatability.
And now we're sending staff toOmaha and Oklahoma City and all
(27:47):
these other places to do events.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
So I have to ask was you at Omaha when we won?
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I, so this is going to kill you.
I was there for 10 days and Ileft and traded off with two
other staff members right beforethe championship series.
I've been there for almost twoweeks and so we had said, like
that's enough time, we'll bringtwo other people out.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Jordan can go back to give you a break, and so you
missed it, I mean.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
but honestly though, that was like it was so cool for
me to get to see those twocolleagues shine.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Like in that moment, like they got to do the champ,
like I did a lot of the pre-workwith them and we planned it out
, but to get to step away andallow them to have the
opportunity to be there for anational championship One, but
then two, to get to see all ofthat hard work come to fruition.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I have no.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I have no regrets.
It was the.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
It was the coolest thing for me to, just to get to
step back and see, but you stillgot 10 days of the experience
of seeing some really good games, yeah, well, and we did events
on all of those days thatTennessee played leading up to
the championship.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
And then we did.
We did hotel sendoffs every dayof the world series that they
played, and then we did a buyouttailgate with a partner called
Blur Events in Omaha.
And we partnered with themthere, and so they've become a
good partner of ours.
We'll hopefully be back therewith them again this year.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
I was just about to say I think we're 16 and 0.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
Yeah, number one in the nation as of today.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Number one y'all.
So tell us, you know, I have toask about baseball.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
You know, viewer question.
Sure, okay Is with the stadiumand everything is going on
surrounding by baseball.
What do you, what would you sayto viewers to get ready for?
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Gosh.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
That may be a hard question, it's just building off
of the momentum of last season.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
I think you know Tennessee had been on the cusp
of so many nationalchampionships and so many
different sports whether that besoftball and swimming and
diving and all these othersports where we had been just
right there and we hadn't beenable to break through that
ceiling.
And it feels like now thatbaseball has been able to do
through that ceiling and itfeels like now that baseball has
been able to do that, everybodyelse sees like we can do that
too.
(30:02):
Right, and it's like it's likewe needed just some team to
break through to get everybodyelse to that point where they're
like, oh, now it's my turn.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I bet a lot of college Okay.
So let me ask you this and thisthis may be inside and you
don't have to answer thisquestion Do other colleges see
all that you do and do they everreach out and say, hey, we want
to do this.
Da-da-da-da-da, can you givewhatever?
(30:31):
Whatever the call that I gotyou know what I'm saying.
They were calling about yourdome experience.
Do they call you got?
You know what I'm saying.
They were calling about yourdome experience.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Do they call you?
Yeah, they do.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
So that should tell you we are the best of the best
they do At the University ofTennessee.
Speaker 4 (30:45):
It's very humbling to be a school that other schools
look to for their leadership incertain spaces, and I think it
just reminds me to never take itfor granted.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
I bet you, when you get that call, I bet you it's
like you know that mute momentthat while they're talking
you're mute and you're like yes.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
I'll tell you, I'll honestly tell you what it makes
me think of is when I was when Iwas a kid and you know,
Tennessee had its glory days in1998.
I'm a 1992 baby, so I was sixyears old when Tennessee won
their last football nationalchampionship and we went through
a tumultuous handful of yearsafter that.
(31:28):
And it honestly always I'm goingto get emotional again it
honestly always just makes me soproud because I, I don't.
I do not need to be seen in acertain way, but I want the
University of Tennessee to beseen in a certain way.
And if other people are lookingat our school to say, how are
(31:51):
they doing this?
What note can we take fromtheir book?
It makes that little kid in meso excited to be like I now get
to represent Jordan doesn'trealize he is the blueprint.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Remember I told you that Jordan is a blueprint.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
It just reminds me of like when I was a kid and
feeling like man.
Tennessee was the greatestplace in the world and I still
feel that way, and getting to bea piece of a huge puzzle is
such a privilege, and to seeother schools recognizing the
amazing work that our team isdoing is just the most humbling
(32:27):
experience.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Well, I have to say this I know doing events up
there, you know I still getemotional, just like we're doing
an event on Neyland, you knowthat's huge to me.
Absolutely Coming from Harriman, tennessee, you know, for my
company to be hired byUniversity of Tennessee and just
(32:52):
to walk out there.
You know, coming down thattunnel it's still, I mean.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
You can't help but get chills.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
I don't.
So I'll never forget my son,Jaden.
David was saying to Jaden well,Jaden, you're going to get, you
know, get to go up, because heworks for Turner Knox, You're
going to get to go on Neyland.
And this generation he did notgrasp that until he came to the
(33:19):
tunnel.
When Jaden went down thattunnel and boom, there's Nealon,
my son, I thought he was aboutto cry.
I mean, seriously, Jaden, itwas like that moment it hit him.
Moment it hit him, I said doyou realize?
(33:41):
There's people that go a wholelifetime that has never stepped
one foot near Neyland.
People travel.
There was a gentleman at oneevent that literally flew from
Las Vegas here just to seeNeyland, and so Jaden got that
experience.
So I can imagine what you gothrough on a everyday basis.
(34:02):
That it's like I work for thebest college in the nation.
That's where I look at UT,that's the best college in the
nation and I get to put togetherevents that is wowing all over
the United States.
I mean that's huge, Jordan.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
I mean, it's a, it's a great privilege.
I don't take it for granted andI don't take it lightly either.
And so, like earlier when yousaid, is it like pressure?
No, it's not pressure that Iput on myself, because I I take
that, I carry that with me everyday into work, right, it's like
it is.
I never want to be.
I never, ever, ever want to bethe person that pulls into that
(34:43):
parking spot and thinks likeit's just another day right,
like this is.
This is a privilege, it's ablessing for me to come here and
do this work and I tell peopleall the time.
I'll never forget that I wasinterviewing for an organization
in undergrad and I wasinterviewing for an organization
in undergrad and I was at atable with like four other
students and we were beinginterviewed from the other side
(35:04):
of the table and they were like,go through and tell everybody,
like tell us what your favoritetradition is at the university
of Tennessee.
And you know, like 99% of thosestudents are like running
through the tea, running throughthe tea.
I always say my favoritetradition and I know Dr Stewart,
who is a friend of mine that iswith the pride of the Southland
.
We'll, we'll, we'll probablysmile at this.
(35:24):
But at every football game, thepride of the Southland, the
color guard, they all come outon the field and there's this
moment where they're walkingdown the field and they have all
of the flags of all of the SECschools in the front of the
Pride of the South land and theysay over the intercom the
(35:44):
orange and white flags are theofficial flags of the University
of Tennessee and the leadperson in the color guard raises
the Tennessee flag just alittle bit above the rest of the
SEC schools and that's what Iresonate with.
That's priceless, it's schoolsand that's what I resonate with
because it's priceless.
It's that and I cry at my myhusband makes fun of me at every
home game because he'll lookover and the pride's out on the
(36:05):
field and I'm just wiping awaytears and he's like how many
times have you seen this?
Speaker 3 (36:08):
And I always tell him , it never gets old, it never
gets old.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
And I'll say this it never gets old.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
David when Turnin' Knots finally got our first
event.
I'll never forget David.
He tried to hold it in Jordan.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
He tried to hold it in and I was like you're taking
your company back.
You're an alum, you're takingyour company back to the place
where you're beginning, yeah, tothe place where you're
beginning.
And so David went out kneelingand he was up in the stands and
I took a picture of Davidsitting in one of the seats.
(36:45):
If you, jordan, if you just sawDavid's face, and I was like
you're proud, aren't you?
And he was like this iseverything you know.
Because when you know that youhave went through life, went
through college, all of a suddenand you can take back your
business to where yourbeginnings were, I mean, imagine
(37:06):
that, just think about withwell, not imagine, because you
do it every day it's like youget to form events, for the
place're beginning started, yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
We talk about that all the time, like if I was, it
just wouldn't be the same, right?
I mean, people ask me that allthe time Like what if?
What if you got recruited to goto this school or that school?
And I'm like I just I don'tknow if I could do it in the
same way.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
I don't think you could.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
The level of passion is just unmatched.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
You love.
Yeah is just un unmatched myheart, just yeah, my heart.
As I said, you cut his arm,you're going to see orange.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
My heart just gleams with joy to be a part of the
university.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (37:44):
And it's, it truly is the greatest privilege of my
life to to get to do what I do.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
So, as we wrap this up, one of the questions, one of
the questions.
This is a David question.
Okay, this is a David question.
David said, between going touniversity of Tennessee, then
you went to Florida and got yourdegree, your master's, there.
What did those two schoolsshape in you that you could say
(38:12):
I learned a little bit from both, but this is what I do right
now.
This is what shaped me.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
It was the first place, in first time in my life,
that I was able to be myself.
It was the first time that Itruly felt like I could just be
my authentic self in a space.
And when you're able to do that, it enables all of these other
pieces of yourself to flourish,because you're finally just
letting down a guard and you'reable to breathe a little bit
(38:40):
lighter.
You don't feel that weight thatyou're carrying as much, and I
think at Tennessee I learned somuch about the how to safeguard
that passion for the universityand like, truly carry and
cherish what it means to be analum of Tennessee and I don't
(39:01):
take it.
I don't take it lightly.
I think it is probably one ofthe greatest privileges of my
life.
Um, and at Florida, I thinkthat the biggest thing that I
took away was that I didn't knowat all.
Right, Like I, I wanted to gointo Florida thinking like, let
me show them a thing or tworight.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
Like, let me bring this lady ball experience down
here and show them a thing ortwo, and you had no clue.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
And they.
I learned so much.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
It's like it's they I .
Speaker 4 (39:27):
I constantly refer back to lessons that I learned
during my time at Florida and atevery pit stop on the way to
getting back to Tennessee, but Ithink ultimately the greatest
thing that came of it was myselfLike I.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
You came into yourself and you were able to
show I was able to be myself.
And that, to me, shapeseverything else when you can be
yourself and be authentic andshow the world who you are.
Let me say this publicly Jordanmakes a moment for a lot of
(40:05):
people, but the biggest thing Ithink you show is be yourself.
Titles are great we all earnthem, but I think being yourself
and just knowing who you areyou bring more to the table when
(40:31):
you know who you are.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
And you know and you allow yourself to be who you are
.
So, jordan, I would say thispublicly Keep being you, keep
doing you and show the worldit's okay to be a gay man and be
in love, be in a marriage thatis amazing and just help other
(40:58):
people see that life is lifing.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Yeah, I appreciate that and that means a lot to me.
I think I I think that formyself, a lot of what I take a
lot of joy in is just beingbeing able to be comfortable in
my own skin and and feeling, andfeeling that way in spaces that
(41:23):
I can, just I don't have toapologize for being who I am.
And, um, I think one of thethings that really sticks with
me as it as it relates to work,is this ability to be myself
authentically and also stillknow that I worked really hard
to get there.
It wasn't just like one day Idecided like I'm going to come
(41:45):
out and be a gay man.
Right Then it was coming out andthen realizing I had to go back
through a lot of trauma andthings that led to all of those
suppressions and all thesedifferent things.
That made it a challenge for me, and I'm still always going to
be a work in progress andconstantly working through those
things.
But I think that it it makes meum, it makes me really proud to
(42:06):
just be able to step backsometimes and say, like I'm
proud of the work that I've putin to be able to find my true
self, because I don't know whereI'd be if I hadn't.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
So last question self , because I don't know where I'd
be if I hadn't.
So last question what do youthink or what is your vision for
the future at the University ofTennessee?
Speaker 4 (42:38):
What would?
Speaker 3 (42:39):
you say hey, I see this for the future For myself.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
Wow, it's ironic.
Is that a hard question?
No, it's, it's not.
It's ironic that you asked that.
I was sitting down with mysupervisor earlier this week and
she said what's?
What is it?
What is the?
Where do you want to be?
What do you want to do?
What's the goal?
And I said I love my job.
And she said okay, yes, butwhere do you want to be?
Where do you want to go?
And I said I want to be thebest I can be at this job, right
(43:04):
here.
That's what I want to be.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
And he said that's what completes him.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
I want to work tirelessly, to be the best that
I can be in this role and whenor if God opens that next
opportunity for me, I'll knowwhen it's right.
I think it's foolish of me toset a roadmap for myself and say
in five years, this is exactlywhere I'm going to be and this
is the role that I'm going totake.
And I know I'm going to do thisbecause if you had asked me
(43:29):
five years ago if I'd be in thisrole, the answer would have
been no.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
That it wouldn't have even well, first of all it
didn't even exist.
You just don't know, yeah.
So I mean, I don't you makeplans.
I've learned, but God will showyou.
Yeah, he's going to laugh atyou.
Speaker 4 (43:44):
And I've learned through what I do as a career,
right Like I can plan and planand plan until all ends like at
the last final detail, and it'snever going to go exactly how I
planned it.
And so why?
Why make this roadmap for mylife that says I have to be at
this point by this time, or Ihave to do this by a certain day
(44:05):
or certain year, or whatever?
I'm, I love what I get to do, Ilove the life that I have, I
love the team that I get to workwith and under under it all, I
get to do it for the universityof Tennessee.
So I'm, I'm so so blessed.
Um, I know it's funny cause youknow people and I was.
I would be foolish to naive tosay I wasn't this way.
(44:26):
At some point of like.
I'm motivated by this title.
I have to have this.
I need to be called this typeof director or.
I need to have this type of payraise or whatever the case may
through.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (44:36):
And I think what I've realized for me now is that
it's like, if I'm happy withwhat I'm doing, like money,
money, money comes.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
You know titles titles come and go, they do.
But joy is you know the bestthing about when it comes to
titles.
I look at it this way we makethe titles.
Tit, look at it this way wemake the titles.
Titles, don't make us.
Speaker 4 (45:00):
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (45:02):
I mean, we literally make up titles.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
You get what I'm saying, yeah, so it's like, if
you look at it that way, is youmake the title?
The title doesn't make you, andyou will stay humble and always
do the right thing for thegreater good, and he is the
greater good for the Universityof Tennessee.
Thank you so much for coming.
Thank you, it's a privilegeTune in this Friday to hear
(45:27):
Jordan at the University ofTennessee.
Bye, guys.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Thanks for listening to Talkin' Tennessee with Yvonca
.
Watch out for our weeklyepisodes from the First Family
of Real Estate and check us outon the web
wwwyvoncasalesrealestatecom.
See our videos on Yvonca'sYouTube channel or find us on
Facebook under Yvonca Landis andTwitter at Yvonca Landis, and
(45:56):
don't forget to tell a friendabout us.
Until next time.
Yvonca signing off.
Check us out to hear the latest on life in the
volunteer state.
Yvonca and her guests discusseverything from life, love and
business with a Tennessee flair.
It's a Tennessee thing, alwaysrelatable, always relevant and
always a good time.
This is Talkin' Tennessee, andnow your host, yvonca.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This episode is brought to you by Turning Knox
Rental, your go-to for eventrental services.
We have selfie machines, 360photo machines and food
servicing machines that you canrent out to give your parties
the best experience possible.
Get the TKR experience withTurning Knox Rental.
You can find us atwwwturningknoxrentalcom.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome back to Talking Tennessee with Yvonca.
I am your host and I am herewith my friend, jordan Bradley
Pruitt from the University ofTennessee.
This is the part two episodethat you do not want to miss.
Let's get started WithUniversity of Tennessee being so
on right now.
Does it for football season2025,?
(01:10):
Does it feel like a differentlevel of pressure?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
No, I'm driven.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
He said he's driven.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
I'm driven, I don't, I'm not, and hear me, he's
already probably got it allplanned out.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I'm telling you Well, yeah, we're working on 2026,
right?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
now, yes, no, I mean, I am always going to try to
challenge myself and to try totake things to a different level
.
We said that last year we didour first tailgate in a baseball
stadium in downtown Charlotteand it was the biggest tailgate
we've ever done.
And I went to the leadershipand said I want to rent out a
(01:49):
baseball stadium and I want totake over the whole stadium and
do a tennessee tailgate thereare y'all hearing this?
you know it's, it was like areyou sure?
And it's like, yeah, like whenI get that affirmation of trust
okay then and feel trusted fromthe people who are in those
positions.
That's all I need.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
How often do you get no?
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Probably not much.
I wouldn't say that I often getno, which I think speaks to the
leadership of the people thatare in place.
That doesn't mean that I don'tget challenged.
Okay, so I think there to theleadership of the people that
are in place.
That doesn't mean that.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
I don't get challenged, okay.
So I think there's a difference, and the reason why I'm asking
you that is for other eventplanners that are out there in
that position of high volume,because you have volume, okay,
tell the viewers that would sayhow do you accept that and how
do you move from that?
Speaker 4 (02:44):
Right, I think my goal is, if I'm going to pitch
something, if I'm going to bringany idea to the table, I'm
already going to have all of myducks in a row of why that pitch
is going to create a value addor some benefit to the people
who are going to be there.
And I jokingly said this to youbefore the call.
But we were talking about theKentucky game and like doing a
(03:05):
trip for the Kentucky game toKentucky, and I told our
leadership team, I said, if wego do a standalone tailgate at
Kentucky, it's not going to beworth it.
The amount of people that justwant to drive up and back and
don't really want to take thetime out of their day is
substantial, so we don't get ahuge turnout for that.
And they were like cool, takeit off the list.
Like we trust your judgment, goforth and prosper.
So then I go back to the tableand I'm like but that doesn't
(03:27):
mean we can't do anything right.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
That doesn't mean we can't.
It's like I just told you thatwait a minute this is the
situation.
So I think it's like so Ididn't say no, right?
So?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
when I made the pitch for an up and back trip where
we charter buses and we createexperience for fans.
I'm coming into that with a youknow.
Here's what this is going tocost.
This is how much revenue wecould generate.
This is the amount of people wecould impact.
This is how we're going to doit.
I'm already making sure I thinkthe world of an event planner
is making sure you're doing aton of legwork for things that
(03:56):
may not even happen.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Are y'all hearing?
Speaker 4 (03:57):
that, and you know, right now we're getting ready
for March Madness, right?
So there's eight differentcities we could go to for the
first round and then four cities.
I have different venues bookedin all of those cities Like I've
.
I've prepared.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
So he doesn't do events just for football.
Please explain that part ofyour job.
Yeah, but your job is more thanjust football.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Yeah, so we have what's called Rocky Top on the
Road and we do that for football, men's and women's basketball,
softball and baseball.
So, uh, during football season,I with our, in coordination
with our team, do tailgates forall the home football games, um,
except for usually the week ofThanksgiving, and then we will
take Rocky top on the road fordifferent away football games
(04:40):
throughout the year.
So, like Florida, alabama, thekickoff game this year is in
Atlanta.
So we'll go do big tailgates inthose cities for our fans who
are traveling.
And then, during basketballseason, starting with the SEC
tournaments, we travel with bothmen and women and support them
on the road as well, doingevents in all those cities.
And so for March Madness, thisis where it's about to pick up
steam.
For me is the challenge is thatyou're preparing for a dozen
(05:05):
cities, only one of which you'reactually going to go to, so I'm
reaching out to venues Becauseyou still have to prepare.
Yeah, because you still have toprepare.
So I'm reaching out to venuesin Seattle, Washington and on
Sunday of this week we may hearthat we're playing in Cleveland,
Ohio, and I got to go back tothat venue in Seattle and say
thank you so much for your time.
I appreciate you holding thisfor me, but we're no longer
going to Seattle, we're going toCleveland and then, when you
(05:25):
have to pivot, how is it?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
high stress, I would say the high stress is just with
the pace.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Like, I think you have to be comfortable moving at
a very fast pace, especiallywith basketball, because it's
not just about getting a venueright.
Then I'm pulling list of alumniwho live in that area, making
sure they're notified about theevent, when it's going to happen
, what time it's going to happen, who's going to be there, all
of those types of things.
But then that communication hasto also transcend throughout
the university system, makingsure that I give the
(05:54):
chancellor's office thatinformation, making sure that I
give our team that informationso all of their constituents can
be informed of what's happeningand where we're going.
What we have found is that ourtailgate tends to be the landing
spot for everybody, right?
So we don't want to alienateany member.
They don't have to be an alumnito come, they can be just a fan
.
But this is where ChancellorPromen goes when she's on the
(06:15):
road.
This is where Danny White stopsby when he's on the road.
This is where the VFLs andLVFLs come when they're on the
road.
So my goal is to not have tohave anybody email me on
Selection Sunday and say what'sthe plan for Cleveland Ohio.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
No, no, no.
The plan's made, the plan'salready made.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So I have 10 run of shows that are ready to go and
I'll delete nine of them onSunday and I'll send the one
that goes and that's, and we'llmove forward.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
That's amazing.
That's amazing, but a creativemind can do that and, and I
think, a lot of people in eventplanning and you can speak on
this for me, because we're goingto talk about march madness in
a minute okay, uh is the biggestthing I think with event
planning is, for one, you haveto have a plan, you have to be
(07:03):
organized.
You've got to know, okay, whatyour client, whoever it is, what
their expectations are, yeah,and you know, and you have to
know, okay, how many peopleyou're expecting.
And I think a lot of times,people in the rental business or
event planning or whatever Isee, some are not as organized,
(07:29):
some are not as well puttogether that they want to pull
it together at the very end.
And to be a good eventcoordinator to me, you have to
be a person that can organizesomething and it runs smooth and
(07:50):
not wait till last minute, doyou?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
agree with that Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I think a lot of people nowadays, because there
are so many things out here inthe world that people want to
dip their feet in that pond of.
Oh I can throw an event, I cando this or whatever.
But if you're doing any event,from small to large, but
especially high volume, okay,you cannot just run off of I
(08:19):
don't even know the word for it.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Like fly by the seam of your pants.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Yes, yes know the word for it, like fly by the
seam of your pants.
Can you speak to the audienceabout what would you say?
Okay, there's three things thatyou need to have.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Oh gosh.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Because you are the best of the best.
Well, I don't know about that Iand this was a viewer question
as well.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I don't know if I can say there's three things that
you have to have, if you meaningfrom a personal standpoint or
from an event standpoint.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Both you can combine.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
I my the way that I like to function as an event
planner is I'm going to buildrelationships with people here
in Knoxville that I know I canrely on at a high level, that
are going to treat people theway that I would expect them to
be treated.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
So, and he requires that, trust me.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
We're bringing a high level of customer service.
We're bringing a high level ofintentionality to everything
that we do.
So I hate to say the word easy,but Knoxville is fairly easy
for me because it's like if I'm,if I'm, tasked with putting
something together, I know whoI'm calling for balloons, I know
who I'm calling for eventactivations.
I know you know it's like Ihave those people that I've
built those relationships with.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
It's harder when you go on the road because you're
trying to all those people havethe same spirit of him.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Right, and that's exactly what.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I was going to say it has to be the same spirit of
him.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
I have to convey that to someone who I haven't
actually met and make veryclearly known like this is the
expectation that I have of theproduct that you are delivering
or the customer service that youare delivering.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Let me add something to that.
I'll tell you one of thepersonal things I think that
event coordinator has to have.
They have to have a support athome.
They have to have somebody thatgets that.
You're going to miss somethings, you're going to
sacrifice some things.
(10:22):
You know you're not going to getto go to every family vacation,
you're not going to get to go,you know, to a birthday party.
You know you're going to misssome things.
And so I really think a lot ofpeople need to understand is
that when you go in this typebusiness, you have to understand
there will be a lot ofsacrifices.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
I know that if I was speaking to your husband he'd go
yep, I thought I was going todo this one weekend and Jordan
said we're going to do this, sowe're going to do this.
And so I think that would beone of the personal things that
you would have to have as acoordinator is someone that is
going to support your dream,your vision.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
And I think that that's hard right when you want
to be like I want to be withJacob as much as I can, I want
to be around him as much as Ican.
You know, this week, forexample, I'll leave on Wednesday
and could be gone to Sunday,you know, for the SEC tournament
.
So you know it's balancing thatout with him and understanding
like what can, what can I doprior to going.
(11:19):
That can maybe be special forus.
Or maybe he comes on Friday, ifwe make it to the saturday game
or something like that, you know, and trying to have those
moments together.
But yes, I totally agree, likethe, the support system at home
is one.
I think um, I'm going to usethe word forethought I think you
have to be forward thinking inum in, in how you're going to
(11:40):
execute in advance, like it'sjust impossible to me to do it
any other way.
Um, I jokingly say to peopleand they're like that's not
serious, but like the fall'sdone yes it's it's planned.
All of the tailgates throughnovember are planned yes, and
that's not to like toot my ownhorn.
(12:00):
It's because when we get there.
I can't plan it on the week of,like I have to have those ducks
in a row.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
You have to plan ahead, yeah, and you have to be
innovative and and really andtruly evolve as you go.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
Yeah, I would say that those are two really big
things on the personal side, Ithink.
On the event side, um, I think,well, this kind of speaks to
the personal side too.
I think that the how I carrymyself is how it will trickle
down to everybody else so whenyou talk about earlier, like do
I put pressure on myself?
(12:36):
Or like do I feel the pressureof the university?
I don't feel necessarily thepressure of the university.
I feel the pressure because Irespect the university to a
degree.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Jordan in his head is saying do more, do more, we're
not done.
Yeah, I think for me.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
it's like an event.
I, the pressure I put on myself, is like if I might be having
an internal panic or somethingisn't exactly the way that I
thought it was going to be.
Not letting that flow out tothe people around me, Right,
Because the people who are goingto be checking people in or the
people who are going to bedoing the photo booth or
whatever it is, I don't wantthem to see that I might have
(13:13):
that little hiccup inside me.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That's like you got to have that poker face.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You got to have it, you got to have it and you can't
wear your feelings on yourshoulders, even when it's not.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
You know the idea that you were thinking of.
Okay, I've got to deal withwhat it is right now.
What's in front of me?
Speaker 4 (13:31):
I think it comes back to flexibility.
Right, I think at the eventatmosphere like I've never done
an event to this day that hasgone exactly how I thought it
was going to go.
There is always something thatis a little bit different or
that you have to change a littlebit.
So I think, just being in thosespaces where, like again, we
talked about this earlier, butthat perfection that I can tend
(13:51):
to put pressure on myself, forif I'm at an event and the
vendor comes up and says hey, Iknow you wanted this to look
this way, but because of thiswe're going to have to do it
this way, the first gut responseis but that's not the way I
pictured it.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
But the secondary response is is the way that they
do X actually going to impactthe people who are here, Right?
So I have to shift my brain tothink about if somebody walks
into this event that knowsnothing about it.
They've been not a part of theplanning process whatsoever, I'm
supposed to know all of thethings that are supposed to be a
certain way, but it wouldn'tmake a difference to them for it
(14:27):
to be this way, and if theanswer is no, it's probably not
that crucial.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, so you have to pick your battle in your mind.
Absolutely, it's picking yourbattle.
So let's talk about MarchMadness.
Let me see.
First we're going to speakabout three weeks.
Three, four weeks ago it wasalumni weekend and we were
brought in turn.
Us was brought in to give anexperience to the alumni and
their families.
Uh, I did not realize who I wasgoing to be honored.
(14:56):
I just it was, you know, spreadthe moment we were putting it
together and shout out to misskatherine.
She was amazing to work withand I saw my friend go out and
be honored.
Um, but what stuck out?
When they called everybody out,all of the Lady Vols, the
(15:19):
different staff, just everybodythat was being honored that day,
what stuck out to me is that myfriend Jordan is walking out
there.
He's being honored for hisworks.
But you were so humble and itwas just.
You were celebratingeverybody's win.
Your family was there and itwas like that moment of that's
(15:44):
why I love you so much, becauseyou are just that guy you are.
You make people feel like that,they matter, and even when it's
your moment, you share yourmoment, because I wish you would
have seen yourself that day.
I was just sitting therestaring at you like that's why
(16:05):
everybody loves him, because youdon't make it about yourself,
you really don't, even thoughthat was a moment about you, it
really was.
And I think that you, I thinkPat Hedgesummit, would be very
proud.
I think she would say to Jordantoday thank you for what you've
(16:29):
done for the university.
Thank you for making peoplewanting to come, making people
feel comfortable in their ownself.
You know, because PatHedgesummit was all about the
community at University ofTennessee.
It was about building acommunity at a college that
Georgia couldn't give it,florida couldn't give it,
(16:51):
kentucky couldn't give it, butUniversity of Tennessee could
give it.
So I want you to know if myopinion, if Pat Hudson was here
today and she saw you when youwalked out, that's what would be
going through her head.
Is he gets it.
So tell me what was goingthrough your mind.
Sorry, no that's okay, sorry.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
I think that's probably like one of the
greatest compliments anybody canreceive, so I very much
appreciate that you don't needto apologize.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
She's proud.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
I think if I was in that position and thinking about
what Pat would say um, I askedmyself that a lot, like I asked
myself that at work a lot youknow what what would Pat do?
Or how would this?
How would she feel about X andY?
And I think a lot of my corevalues have been consistent with
(17:43):
what I imagine hers would be,of making sure that every person
feels celebrated, regardless ofwhat identities or challenges
or whatever they bring to thetable, that they always feel
like they have a space to bethemselves and be supported.
That they always feel like theyhave a space to be themselves
and be supported.
I think she would feel like.
(18:04):
I think she would respect andfeel that you know the way that
I try to enter a room is humbly,in all circumstances, and
understanding that.
I don't know it all.
You know I love collaboratingwith people, I love talking
through concepts and ideas withpeople and I think, lastly, you
know the first thing that's.
It's funny that you say that,because the thing that stood out
to me about that was themanagers were all like there
(18:26):
were two of us that were thereand we naturally went to the end
of the line, because it's notabout us.
I guarantee you that nobody inthat arena knows who I am or
what my contribution is, youknow.
But the players go first, right, and I think I truly felt.
When I came into college, I wasvery cocky, I felt like I had
(18:49):
it all together.
I was the one stop shop.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
David said the same thing.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
And I became a manager for the Lady Vols.
And you want to talk aboutgetting humbled real fast.
You're doing women's laundryfive nights a week, are y'all?
hearing that you know, that'swhere you, that's where you see
a whole other side of it and Iwas like, oh, like, this isn't
about me, Right?
Women to look the best possibleway that they can look and
(19:21):
perform at the highest levelbecause they deserve to be, to
be in that space, Right?
So whatever is within mycontrol, it comes back to that
right.
Whatever's within my control toimpact.
That's what I'm going to focuson.
I've, I've always thought youknow, when you're, when people
try to get promotions or peopletry to move on to the next job,
First question I always ask isare you excellent at your job?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Yeah, I'll say, I'll say this.
I understand that because Ithink you know this.
David play was on Pat Hedson'spractice team her very first
male practice team and Davidsaid he came into college.
He said my ego was so high.
He said I thought that I was it.
(20:05):
And he was like the 90s waseverything he said.
But when I went on her court Igot humbled real quick.
He said she did not allowarrogance on her court, and I
think that's what you and Davidcan speak to.
(20:25):
Her legacy is she taught youhow to be humble.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
She taught me so much more than just humility.
You know she she the the easeof how, like you think about it,
right, You're looking at thiscourt and there's 15 women on it
.
Yeah, Probably 12 of them werethe best players in, not just in
their high school, in theirstate.
They were the best players inthe country.
(20:51):
That's a lot of ego on onecourt, yes, and did you ever see
an ounce of it?
Speaker 3 (20:57):
No.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Because that wasn't allowed.
It wasn't about Candice.
It wasn't about Shemeika itwasn't about.
Tamika, it was about the team.
How is the team going to besuccessful.
Shemeika is going to get her 20or 30 points right, but she
can't get it without the pointguard, she can't get it without
the screen and she can't get itwithout the screen.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
And I'm glad you mentioned those three because
those are legends.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
And they showed teamwork and they showed how to
a sisterhood yeah, unreal.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I mean.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I got to meet Shamiqua for the first time a
few weeks ago, for we do somevirtual events as well that I
fortunately get to be a part of.
They're all about athletics andwe always have a VFL or LVFL
guest, and that was the firsttime I'd gotten to meet Shemekwa
and you just want to talk abouta phenomenal human being.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
She was here for what was it?
Speaker 4 (21:52):
She came and spoke.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Dr Tavi Small had her for their breakfast brunch and
her and David hadn't seen eachother since college.
You had to see she was up therespeaking and she turned around
and she saw David and sheliterally stopped.
She was like Dave, it's sogreat to see.
(22:16):
She was so happy to see David.
It had been so many years and Ijust.
It was a great time and amoment for David to reconnect
with his friend, someone that hehighly respects.
You know, I had met her likeyears and years ago, but it had
been so long ago so it felt likemeeting her again and you would
(22:40):
have thought we had known eachother all this time and even now
, like on social media, we'llsit and talk or we'll literally
DM each other that type thing.
She's just a good person person.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
I think one of the things that I love about the
Lady Vols in general is justwhen you, when you bear that
uniform.
You know that each person hasgone through or been in some
type of similar situation foryou as you have.
You know, and there's a there'san underlying respect that I
think comes with that is, ifsomebody comes up to me and says
I was a manager for the LadyVols in 2023, while I was a
(23:21):
manager in 2013, I immediatelyswitched my perspective,
immediately changed.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Totally different yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Because I'm like I know what you've been through.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
I know what you've gone through.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
And you know, the thing is that is a moment in
memory, that is a moment and andmemory that you will be able to
keep for the rest of your life.
Yeah, and you'll be able totell the next generation.
You know this is how we did it,but you know you can do it even
better.
You know, as a manager, dah,dah, dah, dah dah.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
And.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
I think that's the best part about it is you can
literally say I helped shapethat.
You know.
I did my part, you know.
So March Madness.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Let's talk about March.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Madness.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
It's here.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It's here.
What besides the game part?
What can we expect from alumni?
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Yeah, well, it starts this week.
We're headed to Nashville to doevents for the SEC men's
tournaments.
Our men will start play onFriday and we'll be there with
them every game that theyproceed, if they make it to
Sunday.
I'll be there Sunday morning todo our tailgates there in
Nashville and then I'll actuallybe driving back here to
Knoxville because we have aselection Sunday event here in
(24:32):
Knoxville on Sunday afternoonearly evening for the tournament
.
So we'll have another eventhere on Sunday.
And so we'll kick off and getready for all the postseason.
We will announce they'llannounce the men's bracket first
and then announce the women'sbracket and then from there it's
just kind of like a mad sprintwe just we get to move forward
with all the cities that we'vealready planned for and start to
(24:55):
put some of those final piecesof the puzzle in place and um
are you excited?
I am.
It's always an exciting time.
It's, um, it's one of thosetimes for me that just kind of
brings all the worlds together,like it reminds me of the old
days of, you know, traveling onthe bus and schlepping bags
underneath and doing laundry.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, which I?
Speaker 4 (25:17):
think my husband appreciates that I'm still doing
a good check of that today.
No, but that's.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
He's like go, Lady Vols.
Yeah, he's like win them out,baby.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
But yeah, no, then we'll get ready for the final
four.
So we've we've started talkingwith some businesses and things
for the final four and trying toget some of those things
together.
And so the men this year in SanAntonio, the women would be in
Tampa.
Um, okay, the challenging partis that they overlap days, so
that would be a divide andconquer situation for our team.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
The logistics of that is wild.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
It is it's nuts Um.
It is absolutely nuts.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
But y'all nail it.
I know you'll nail it Well.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
I appreciate that Our team has been working really
hard on getting all the prepdone for those things.
We have an amazing leader ofour team and she's really helped
empower me to do my job, butalso she's taught me a great
deal in such a short period oftime working with her, and so
it's really cool to be able totake those experiences with her
(26:15):
for, like her first time,getting to see certain things
yes and then getting herfeedback of, like how we can
make them even better, you know,and so I've really valued that
a lot and I'm excited to get todo that so the fans have, uh,
something to look forward toyeah, absolutely.
We're gonna be there every stepof the way.
You know, I don't miss it.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
He's like he's not missing none of our and I think
the anticipation this year is sobig.
This year I think it just feelslike it's anybody's tournament.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
It's not a year where you're like, oh, this team is
for sure the lock to make it tothe Final Four.
I mean, lord, last week alonewe saw upsets all over the place
, so I think it's a big one.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
With social media I've been following.
You know what is everybody'sprediction and all that kind of
stuff, and I think you're right.
I think that normally in thepast people would predict okay,
this is who's going to be there,and most of the time it would
fall somewhere there.
But now you just don't know.
Especially, university ofTennessee, athletics has grown
(27:19):
so much just in the last twoyears oh yeah, if you think
about it, you know it's like, ohwow.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
I mean two years ago I got to go to the College World
Series for the softball teamand get to do events there for
our softball fans in OklahomaCity, a place that I would be
like in my wildest imaginationbe like.
We would never have that, thatability.
And now we're sending staff toOmaha and Oklahoma City and all
(27:47):
these other places to do events.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
So I have to ask was you at Omaha when we won?
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I, so this is going to kill you.
I was there for 10 days and Ileft and traded off with two
other staff members right beforethe championship series.
I've been there for almost twoweeks and so we had said, like
that's enough time, we'll bringtwo other people out.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Jordan can go back to give you a break, and so you
missed it, I mean.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
but honestly though, that was like it was so cool for
me to get to see those twocolleagues shine.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Like in that moment, like they got to do the champ,
like I did a lot of the pre-workwith them and we planned it out
, but to get to step away andallow them to have the
opportunity to be there for anational championship One, but
then two, to get to see all ofthat hard work come to fruition.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
I have no.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I have no regrets.
It was the.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
It was the coolest thing for me to, just to get to
step back and see, but you stillgot 10 days of the experience
of seeing some really good games, yeah, well, and we did events
on all of those days thatTennessee played leading up to
the championship.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
And then we did.
We did hotel sendoffs every dayof the world series that they
played, and then we did a buyouttailgate with a partner called
Blur Events in Omaha.
And we partnered with themthere, and so they've become a
good partner of ours.
We'll hopefully be back therewith them again this year.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
I was just about to say I think we're 16 and 0.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
Yeah, number one in the nation as of today.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Number one y'all.
So tell us, you know, I have toask about baseball.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
You know, viewer question.
Sure, okay Is with the stadiumand everything is going on
surrounding by baseball.
What do you, what would you sayto viewers to get ready for?
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Gosh.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
That may be a hard question, it's just building off
of the momentum of last season.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
I think you know Tennessee had been on the cusp
of so many nationalchampionships and so many
different sports whether that besoftball and swimming and
diving and all these othersports where we had been just
right there and we hadn't beenable to break through that
ceiling.
And it feels like now thatbaseball has been able to do
through that ceiling and itfeels like now that baseball has
been able to do that, everybodyelse sees like we can do that
too.
(30:02):
Right, and it's like it's likewe needed just some team to
break through to get everybodyelse to that point where they're
like, oh, now it's my turn.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I bet a lot of college Okay.
So let me ask you this and thisthis may be inside and you
don't have to answer thisquestion Do other colleges see
all that you do and do they everreach out and say, hey, we want
to do this.
Da-da-da-da-da, can you givewhatever?
(30:31):
Whatever the call that I gotyou know what I'm saying.
They were calling about yourdome experience.
Do they call you got?
You know what I'm saying.
They were calling about yourdome experience.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Do they call you?
Yeah, they do.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
So that should tell you we are the best of the best
they do At the University ofTennessee.
Speaker 4 (30:45):
It's very humbling to be a school that other schools
look to for their leadership incertain spaces, and I think it
just reminds me to never take itfor granted.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
I bet you, when you get that call, I bet you it's
like you know that mute momentthat while they're talking
you're mute and you're like yes.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
I'll tell you, I'll honestly tell you what it makes
me think of is when I was when Iwas a kid and you know,
Tennessee had its glory days in1998.
I'm a 1992 baby, so I was sixyears old when Tennessee won
their last football nationalchampionship and we went through
a tumultuous handful of yearsafter that.
(31:28):
And it honestly always I'm goingto get emotional again it
honestly always just makes me soproud because I, I don't.
I do not need to be seen in acertain way, but I want the
University of Tennessee to beseen in a certain way.
And if other people are lookingat our school to say, how are
(31:51):
they doing this?
What note can we take fromtheir book?
It makes that little kid in meso excited to be like I now get
to represent Jordan doesn'trealize he is the blueprint.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Remember I told you that Jordan is a blueprint.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
It just reminds me of like when I was a kid and
feeling like man.
Tennessee was the greatestplace in the world and I still
feel that way, and getting to bea piece of a huge puzzle is
such a privilege, and to seeother schools recognizing the
amazing work that our team isdoing is just the most humbling
(32:27):
experience.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Well, I have to say this I know doing events up
there, you know I still getemotional, just like we're doing
an event on Neyland, you knowthat's huge to me.
Absolutely Coming from Harriman, tennessee, you know, for my
company to be hired byUniversity of Tennessee and just
(32:52):
to walk out there.
You know, coming down thattunnel it's still, I mean.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
You can't help but get chills.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
I don't.
So I'll never forget my son,Jaden.
David was saying to Jaden well,Jaden, you're going to get, you
know, get to go up, because heworks for Turner Knox, You're
going to get to go on Neyland.
And this generation he did notgrasp that until he came to the
(33:19):
tunnel.
When Jaden went down thattunnel and boom, there's Nealon,
my son, I thought he was aboutto cry.
I mean, seriously, Jaden, itwas like that moment it hit him.
Moment it hit him, I said doyou realize?
(33:41):
There's people that go a wholelifetime that has never stepped
one foot near Neyland.
People travel.
There was a gentleman at oneevent that literally flew from
Las Vegas here just to seeNeyland, and so Jaden got that
experience.
So I can imagine what you gothrough on a everyday basis.
(34:02):
That it's like I work for thebest college in the nation.
That's where I look at UT,that's the best college in the
nation and I get to put togetherevents that is wowing all over
the United States.
I mean that's huge, Jordan.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
I mean, it's a, it's a great privilege.
I don't take it for granted andI don't take it lightly either.
And so, like earlier when yousaid, is it like pressure?
No, it's not pressure that Iput on myself, because I I take
that, I carry that with me everyday into work, right, it's like
it is.
I never want to be.
I never, ever, ever want to bethe person that pulls into that
(34:43):
parking spot and thinks likeit's just another day right,
like this is.
This is a privilege, it's ablessing for me to come here and
do this work and I tell peopleall the time.
I'll never forget that I wasinterviewing for an organization
in undergrad and I wasinterviewing for an organization
in undergrad and I was at atable with like four other
students and we were beinginterviewed from the other side
(35:04):
of the table and they were like,go through and tell everybody,
like tell us what your favoritetradition is at the university
of Tennessee.
And you know, like 99% of thosestudents are like running
through the tea, running throughthe tea.
I always say my favoritetradition and I know Dr Stewart,
who is a friend of mine that iswith the pride of the Southland
.
We'll, we'll, we'll probablysmile at this.
(35:24):
But at every football game, thepride of the Southland, the
color guard, they all come outon the field and there's this
moment where they're walkingdown the field and they have all
of the flags of all of the SECschools in the front of the
Pride of the South land and theysay over the intercom the
(35:44):
orange and white flags are theofficial flags of the University
of Tennessee and the leadperson in the color guard raises
the Tennessee flag just alittle bit above the rest of the
SEC schools and that's what Iresonate with.
That's priceless, it's schoolsand that's what I resonate with
because it's priceless.
It's that and I cry at my myhusband makes fun of me at every
home game because he'll lookover and the pride's out on the
(36:05):
field and I'm just wiping awaytears and he's like how many
times have you seen this?
Speaker 3 (36:08):
And I always tell him , it never gets old, it never
gets old.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
And I'll say this it never gets old.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
David when Turnin' Knots finally got our first
event.
I'll never forget David.
He tried to hold it in Jordan.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
He tried to hold it in and I was like you're taking
your company back.
You're an alum, you're takingyour company back to the place
where you're beginning, yeah, tothe place where you're
beginning.
And so David went out kneelingand he was up in the stands and
I took a picture of Davidsitting in one of the seats.
(36:45):
If you, jordan, if you just sawDavid's face, and I was like
you're proud, aren't you?
And he was like this iseverything you know.
Because when you know that youhave went through life, went
through college, all of a suddenand you can take back your
business to where yourbeginnings were, I mean, imagine
(37:06):
that, just think about withwell, not imagine, because you
do it every day it's like youget to form events, for the
place're beginning started, yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:18):
We talk about that all the time, like if I was, it
just wouldn't be the same, right?
I mean, people ask me that allthe time Like what if?
What if you got recruited to goto this school or that school?
And I'm like I just I don'tknow if I could do it in the
same way.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
I don't think you could.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
The level of passion is just unmatched.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
You love.
Yeah is just un unmatched myheart, just yeah, my heart.
As I said, you cut his arm,you're going to see orange.
Speaker 4 (37:41):
My heart just gleams with joy to be a part of the
university.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (37:44):
And it's, it truly is the greatest privilege of my
life to to get to do what I do.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
So, as we wrap this up, one of the questions, one of
the questions.
This is a David question.
Okay, this is a David question.
David said, between going touniversity of Tennessee, then
you went to Florida and got yourdegree, your master's, there.
What did those two schoolsshape in you that you could say
(38:12):
I learned a little bit from both, but this is what I do right
now.
This is what shaped me.
Speaker 4 (38:18):
It was the first place, in first time in my life,
that I was able to be myself.
It was the first time that Itruly felt like I could just be
my authentic self in a space.
And when you're able to do that, it enables all of these other
pieces of yourself to flourish,because you're finally just
letting down a guard and you'reable to breathe a little bit
(38:40):
lighter.
You don't feel that weight thatyou're carrying as much, and I
think at Tennessee I learned somuch about the how to safeguard
that passion for the universityand like, truly carry and
cherish what it means to be analum of Tennessee and I don't
(39:01):
take it.
I don't take it lightly.
I think it is probably one ofthe greatest privileges of my
life.
Um, and at Florida, I thinkthat the biggest thing that I
took away was that I didn't knowat all.
Right, Like I, I wanted to gointo Florida thinking like, let
me show them a thing or tworight.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
Like, let me bring this lady ball experience down
here and show them a thing ortwo, and you had no clue.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
And they.
I learned so much.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
It's like it's they I .
Speaker 4 (39:27):
I constantly refer back to lessons that I learned
during my time at Florida and atevery pit stop on the way to
getting back to Tennessee, but Ithink ultimately the greatest
thing that came of it was myselfLike I.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
You came into yourself and you were able to
show I was able to be myself.
And that, to me, shapeseverything else when you can be
yourself and be authentic andshow the world who you are.
Let me say this publicly Jordanmakes a moment for a lot of
(40:05):
people, but the biggest thing Ithink you show is be yourself.
Titles are great we all earnthem, but I think being yourself
and just knowing who you areyou bring more to the table when
(40:31):
you know who you are.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
And you know and you allow yourself to be who you are
.
So, jordan, I would say thispublicly Keep being you, keep
doing you and show the worldit's okay to be a gay man and be
in love, be in a marriage thatis amazing and just help other
(40:58):
people see that life is lifing.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Yeah, I appreciate that and that means a lot to me.
I think I I think that formyself, a lot of what I take a
lot of joy in is just beingbeing able to be comfortable in
my own skin and and feeling, andfeeling that way in spaces that
(41:23):
I can, just I don't have toapologize for being who I am.
And, um, I think one of thethings that really sticks with
me as it as it relates to work,is this ability to be myself
authentically and also stillknow that I worked really hard
to get there.
It wasn't just like one day Idecided like I'm going to come
(41:45):
out and be a gay man.
Right Then it was coming out andthen realizing I had to go back
through a lot of trauma andthings that led to all of those
suppressions and all thesedifferent things.
That made it a challenge for me, and I'm still always going to
be a work in progress andconstantly working through those
things.
But I think that it it makes meum, it makes me really proud to
(42:06):
just be able to step backsometimes and say, like I'm
proud of the work that I've putin to be able to find my true
self, because I don't know whereI'd be if I hadn't.
Speaker 3 (42:15):
So last question self , because I don't know where I'd
be if I hadn't.
So last question what do youthink or what is your vision for
the future at the University ofTennessee?
Speaker 4 (42:38):
What would?
Speaker 3 (42:39):
you say hey, I see this for the future For myself.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
Wow, it's ironic.
Is that a hard question?
No, it's, it's not.
It's ironic that you asked that.
I was sitting down with mysupervisor earlier this week and
she said what's?
What is it?
What is the?
Where do you want to be?
What do you want to do?
What's the goal?
And I said I love my job.
And she said okay, yes, butwhere do you want to be?
Where do you want to go?
And I said I want to be thebest I can be at this job, right
(43:04):
here.
That's what I want to be.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
And he said that's what completes him.
Speaker 4 (43:08):
I want to work tirelessly, to be the best that
I can be in this role and whenor if God opens that next
opportunity for me, I'll knowwhen it's right.
I think it's foolish of me toset a roadmap for myself and say
in five years, this is exactlywhere I'm going to be and this
is the role that I'm going totake.
And I know I'm going to do thisbecause if you had asked me
(43:29):
five years ago if I'd be in thisrole, the answer would have
been no.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
That it wouldn't have even well, first of all it
didn't even exist.
You just don't know, yeah.
So I mean, I don't you makeplans.
I've learned, but God will showyou.
Yeah, he's going to laugh atyou.
Speaker 4 (43:44):
And I've learned through what I do as a career,
right Like I can plan and planand plan until all ends like at
the last final detail, and it'snever going to go exactly how I
planned it.
And so why?
Why make this roadmap for mylife that says I have to be at
this point by this time, or Ihave to do this by a certain day
(44:05):
or certain year, or whatever?
I'm, I love what I get to do, Ilove the life that I have, I
love the team that I get to workwith and under under it all, I
get to do it for the universityof Tennessee.
So I'm, I'm so so blessed.
Um, I know it's funny cause youknow people and I was.
I would be foolish to naive tosay I wasn't this way.
(44:26):
At some point of like.
I'm motivated by this title.
I have to have this.
I need to be called this typeof director or.
I need to have this type of payraise or whatever the case may
through.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (44:36):
And I think what I've realized for me now is that
it's like, if I'm happy withwhat I'm doing, like money,
money, money comes.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
You know titles titles come and go, they do.
But joy is you know the bestthing about when it comes to
titles.
I look at it this way we makethe titles.
Tit, look at it this way wemake the titles.
Titles, don't make us.
Speaker 4 (45:00):
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (45:02):
I mean, we literally make up titles.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
You get what I'm saying, yeah, so it's like, if
you look at it that way, is youmake the title?
The title doesn't make you, andyou will stay humble and always
do the right thing for thegreater good, and he is the
greater good for the Universityof Tennessee.
Thank you so much for coming.
Thank you, it's a privilegeTune in this Friday to hear
(45:27):
Jordan at the University ofTennessee.
Bye, guys.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Thanks for listening to Talkin' Tennessee with Yvonca
.
Watch out for our weeklyepisodes from the First Family
of Real Estate and check us outon the web
wwwyvoncasalesrealestatecom.
See our videos on Yvonca'sYouTube channel or find us on
Facebook under Yvonca Landis andTwitter at Yvonca Landis, and
(45:56):
don't forget to tell a friendabout us.
Until next time.
Yvonca signing off.
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