March 5, 2025 • 29 mins
Join us as we sit down with the inspiring Karen Hubs from Goose Chase, a visionary who is turning a wild idea into a transformative movement for the fitness community in East Tennessee. Discover how Karen, inspired by the metaphor of a 'wild goose chase' from Mark Batterson's "The Circle Maker," left a 15-year career at the Chamber of Commerce to create her own path in the world of health and wellness. Learn how she spearheaded Fit Fest, a vibrant festival encouraging everyone to find joy in physical activity, from pickleball to taekwondo, and the overwhelming success of her community walking program. As we gear up for the next Fit Fest at the Memorial Park Community Center, Karen shares insights on how this initiative is reshaping East Tennessee’s approach to health, aiming to lift the state from its historical health rankings.
Karen’s journey isn't just about fitness; it’s a story of passion, faith, and entrepreneurship. She takes us behind the scenes of Goose Chase, revealing the deeply personal experiences that spurred her collaborations with Make-A-Wish and Ronald McDonald House. We explore her latest venture, Run 423, a local clothing brand celebrating the legacy of the area’s original area code, and the creative ways she’s expanding into new markets. Karen’s story is a testament to the power of stepping outside comfort zones, revisiting childhood interests, and aligning with one’s true calling. Whether you're looking to be inspired by Karen’s entrepreneurial spirit or eager to find your own path to wellness, this episode promises insights and stories that resonate deeply with anyone ready to pursue their passions.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
This is Benchmark Happenings and on the way, we'll
have scuttons about mores andwe'll interview people in the
real estate industry.
It's what we do.
This is Benchmark Happeningsbrought to you by Benchmark Home
Loans and now your host.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Christine Reed.
Well, welcome back everybody toanother episode of Benchmark
Happenings podcast.
So today, the star of our showis Karen Hubs with Goose Chase.
So, karen, thank you for beinghere.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thank you, and I love the intro.
Oh, thank you, you have thebest podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Well, I'll tell you what.
Jonathan put a lot of hard workin this studio.
So it's it.
Yeah, we do, and I love it.
I love doing this.
So it's just a lot of fun andjust getting to know people and
meet people and, you know, justreally sharing with the region
all the great things about EastTennessee, right.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And we have a lot of great things about East
Tennessee.
We do, we live in the mostbeautiful area in the world.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I think so, and you've traveled quite a bit, I
have.
You've not, you and you'vetraveled quite a bit.
I have you know you've not beena one and done kind of gal.
But, karen, I know we were on.
It was probably back in 2023.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
We were talking about your organization, goose Chase,
and I really think you've got alot of cool things coming up,
thank you.
So tell us, man, what's beenhappening with Goose Chase.
I know you're kind of thinkingabout a lot of different things.
You are definitely anentrepreneur, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I know that's a blessing or a curse sometimes,
but no, I love it, I truly loveit.
I love being creative andseeing what we can do
differently and how we canexpand our business and just
share with our community.
But last year we created afestival called the Fit Fest
Fest and we had an ETSU minidown.
We're going to have it againthis year.
We're just trying to finalizethe dates.
(02:11):
Last year we did it in January.
I think it was the firstweekend in January.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It was so cold.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
We're like we can't do that again.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
So we're going to warmer weather, yeah, so what do
you do in the fit fest?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
um, basically, uh, you know, I do, I do races
mainly I do 5k half marathons,do some obstacle course races,
mile races, but not everybodyruns.
We have a bunch of walkers.
Um, you know, I'm more of awalker than a runner myself, me
too, but I'm right there withyou and I you know when I got
involved with this.
Um, of course, I've beeninvolved for a long time, but
(02:44):
when the turkey trot started,the state of Tennessee was
ranked 48th most unhealthy statein the United States.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
My goodness.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
And there's a group of women Jane Myron, which is
the mayor at the time, jennyBrock, which is former mayor of
Johnson City, now she's acommissioner but the two of them
, plus a bunch of other ladiesand gentlemen of our area, got
together and were like, like wegot to do something different
and so that really sort ofstarted this whole process and
the whole journey I've been on.
Wow, and I was like, what canwe do to help our community get
get more fit exercise?
(03:14):
Um, and so obviously we startedthe john c turkey trot from
then, from there, and obviouslyit's grown.
Well, you know 5 000 peoplethat come to this event.
But also in that journey we'vebeen on, we just want to get
people active and Turkey Trot'sone event a year and obviously
we have a bunch of events a year.
Sure, we're doing the goosechase, but we started the Fit
(03:35):
Fest and so our goal for the FitFest is just for people to find
their fit.
It might not be running, itmight not be walking, it might
be taekwondo.
It not be running, it might notbe walking, it might be
taekwondo, it might be golf, itmight be basketball, softball,
volleyball, pickleball, which ishugely popular, yeah, now
that's the sport that just isgrowing by leaps and bounds and
we just wanted.
We wanted to have a festival.
(03:56):
We brought all those activitiestogether and let people just
come and try and find their ownfit.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So find their fit and um.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
This year we're going to move it to the Memorial Park
Community Center is where we're.
That's who we're talking to now.
We're just waiting to finalizethe dates, but with that we're
going to have access to theirpickleball courts, their aquatic
center, their the DoughboysStadium.
We'll have a bunch ofactivities out in the field, and
so it's going to be a greatevent.
It's probably going to be inJune is the dates we're looking
at.
Okay, but anyway, from FitFestwe started a walking program and
(04:29):
Commissioner Jenny Brockactually she's like Karen this
is what we need to do, and sowe're really good friends, she
and I, and we play off eachother's ideas a lot, and so I
said, okay, I'll put it together.
So I put together this walkingchallenge and I didn't know what
to expect.
I'll be honest with you, and weannounced it at that Fit Fest
(04:51):
last year and I put togetherlike 50 packets of just some
information.
I put together it was reallyjust grassroots level, kind of
marketing.
Yeah, it wasn't my finest momentbut I put it together and those
were gone in one day and I waslike, oh my gosh, we're onto
something you know.
And so from that we puttogether a Facebook group,
because it's the Tri-C's WalkingChallenge Facebook group.
It's open to anybody, you don'thave to be accepted, Just go on
there and be a follower.
(05:12):
And then we also started somewalking challenges and so last
year we did a 20, walked 20,000or 2,024 miles in six months,
not just you, but with you andsome friends.
It was like a tribe and then wegave out some prizes and then we
did a fall challenge leadinginto the Turkey Trot and then
this year from that, we had somuch success with it.
(05:33):
I'm just one person, so I'mlike, how am I going to do this?
And so we created an ambassadorprogram and so we had walking
groups all over the Tri-Cities.
We had about three or four inJohnson City.
We had Bristol, Kingsport,Jonesboro, so all over, and then
people just get together andwalk and people's lives have
been changed.
I'm telling you.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Is there certain places that they walk, or how
does that?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This year we've just actually last night we had our
photo shoot with our ambassadors, and so this year we have a
walking group that's going to bein Abingdon, we have Bristol,
we have Kingsport, we have Grayat Crossroads Christian Church.
There's about four groups.
In John City we're going to dothe MedTech Corridor, etsu, the
VA Tweets of Trail Founders Park, and so we'll have a website
(06:22):
and we're going to do someposters and some marketing
material and that sort of thing.
And you can just scan that QRcode, go to our website.
You can see where they're allgoing to be listed and we have
13 amazing ambassadors that'sgoing to be leading those, and
so these are just people like meand you that just get together.
They love to walk, they'regoing to be there to encourage
you like a coach, and it's just,it's totally free, just come
(06:47):
and walk, wow.
So last night when we met, wedid photos and all the things
you'll see on our website.
But I said go around the room,let's go around the circle and
share a little bit aboutyourself, your journey, make it
brief, because it was cold lastnight and so they'd go around
and it was the most amazingexperience and entrepreneurship
is hard.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You know you're in sales.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It is, yes, oh, amazing experience.
And you know entrepreneurshipis hard, you know you're in
sales and uh oh yeah, it's aroller coaster.
It really is.
You have your highs and yourlows, but last, night was a high
and so they were going to thatthat room and I'm not room,
we're outside, but they're goingaround the circle and they were
all saying, well, I've lost 50pounds, or I've lost 100 pounds,
I've lost 70 pounds, I lost 40pounds.
And the common denominatorkudos to every one of them
because they changed theirlifestyle, they changed their
(07:26):
habits.
But they all used the goosechase as part of that journey
and they were talking about howmany races they've done and they
didn't even like to walk, theydidn't like to run, and they did
one of the goose chase racesand they had such a fun
experience.
It changed their lives.
They met people.
They go walking and I've metpeople.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
They go walk in and that's honoring Gosh.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I was like oh my gosh , I'll start crying.
I was like this is emotional,you know, because you think in
entrepreneurship world, youquestion yourself.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
You do.
The biggest battlefield isbetween your ears.
We talked about that yesterday.
It really is.
It is between your ears, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
It really is.
It is between your ears, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Just get it.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Always stay on your mindset and stay positive and do
little mantras to yourself orput post notes around your house
saying I can do this, Becausesome days you don't think you
can do it.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I'll tell you what I grew up listening to Zig
Ziglar.
I know I'm dating myself outthere, so most people probably
don't even know who he is.
I do out there, so most peopleprobably don't even know who he
is.
I mean, just just, I still usea lot of the things that he said
and he said you know, I don'tknow about you, but he says I
need to be motivated every day.
(08:36):
You know I need to talk positivewords to myself, have those
positive affirmations, and forme it's my, it's my prayer time
and my devotion time, readingthe Word of God and just being
infused with just that absolutetruth and just, you know, it
gets me going.
And we have to do that withourselves.
(08:57):
And, like we talked yesterday,purpose, you know, don't lose
your purpose in life right.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well, we all have this one life.
We just got to use it to thebest of our abilities and make
the most out of it and the crazything is, I think as
individuals we don't realizewhat God has designed us to do.
And God is amazing he createdall this in seven days.
So he's amazing, he can doanything and he's put that into
(09:26):
us.
We can truly do anything we putour minds to.
It's just mindset.
You just got to do it, it is.
I was at the Chamber ofCommerce John C Chamber of
Commerce for 15 years I createdthe Bluegrass Half Marathon,
Fell in love with that event andI just felt I was reading this
(09:51):
book called the Circle.
Maker by Mark Patterson, andit's the whole premise is pray
big prayers and dream big dreams.
You know, I thought I was doingthat for sure and so I felt I
felt like I needed to leave andstart my own business.
Really did, and I don't know ifyou know this story.
Do you know how I got the goosechase?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So I was going to ask you if you could talk about
that again, because I rememberthe name goose chase and how you
got there.
But I think it's such a coolstory, so share that with us.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Well, I didn't know who Mark Batterson was at the
time, you know, and I went toGrace Fellowship Church and I go
there and they were having MarkBatterson there as a speaker
and I thought who is this guy?
And I was a part of anothergroup and we were having to move
around our schedule becausethis guy was coming in.
I thought who is this guy?
Anyway, a group of my friendssaid hey, we're tired of hearing
you talk about starting yourown business, so we have this
(10:36):
book we want to read with you,called the Circle Maker.
And so there's four of us andwe all had different prayer
requests and everything and allof our prayer requests, each
individual person, the prayer,prayer requests were honored by
god and fulfilled and that sortof thing.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Isn't that amazing how that works yeah yeah, when
we partner with other peoplelike-minded and grow, we grow
together and those things cometo fruition.
It's just amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
But anyway, I didn't mean to oh no, it's fine, and so
he had his accompaniments tothat book.
It was uh.
I did a 40-day prayer challengewith my friends.
And I don't remember what dayit was.
I can't remember what the topicwas, but I was reading this
devotion and I felt like myheart was about to beat out of
my chest and I knew that was theday I was supposed to go in
there and give my two-weeknotice.
(11:20):
Actually, I did like a month ofnotice.
We were doing a nationalchampionship event and I knew
that was my last time doing thatone no-transcript and I
couldn't sit.
Still, you know, it's like yourheart's beating out of your
chest, you're uncomfortable andI kept on saying God, if you
just give me this sign, if youjust give me this sign.
(11:40):
And every time I said the sign,the sign came up.
You know, happened Even when.
What is his name?
Whom Shall?
I Fear?
It's a song.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Oh, I can't remember the name of the artist that
sings that, but I know whatyou're talking about, yeah, so
anyway, I know I'm digressing,but anyway that song came on and
anyway, I finally took the leapof faith and it was the
scariest thing I've ever done.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
But in that book, circle Maker, there was a
section and it was a term thatCeltic Christians used for the
Holy Spirit.
I'm not even going to try topronounce it because you know I
can rarely speak Southern, soI'm not even going to try to
pronounce it because I canrarely speak Southern, so I'm
not even going to try topronounce it.
But anyway, when you translateit it means wild goose, and the
author of the book, mark Madison, said how fitting is it?
(12:26):
When you're trying to followthe Holy Spirit's lead, or God's
lead, it's like you're on awild goose chase.
You never know who you're goingto meet, where you're going to
go, what you're going to do.
It'll be anything but boring.
I thought that is my life.
I mean, look here I'm talking toyou, I'm on your podcast.
How cool is this?
That is so cool and it's justby taking a leap of faith.
And so I saw that I thoughtthat is me.
And so me and some friendstossed the idea around for a
(12:52):
name and it came up with theGoose Chase walk of faith.
And I've done some incrediblethings by just taking that leap
of faith.
And of course, I'm involvedwith the John C Turkey Trot,
biggest event of the Tri-Cities,you know, 5,000 people for a
race.
We have three half marathons.
I've done obstacle course race.
I've worked with some amazingorganizations like Make-A-Wish
(13:15):
and Ronald McDonald House, ymca,I mean just, you know, up and
and at them.
I mean so many incredibleorganizations and if I would
have stayed at my comfort zoneand not taken that leap of faith
, I would not have experiencedprobably any of this.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
That's right and you know I think about when you say
that I think you got out of theboat yeah, you got out of the
boat, and that's what we, youknow God calls us.
He didn't give us the spirit offear or timidity, but of power,
love and self-discipline asbelievers in Christ.
So you got out of the boat andso I mean, God just continues to
(13:45):
open up a world to you andcontinues to put those ideas in
your mind and to take tofruition.
So what are some of the thingsthat?
What's some things coming uphere that you're going to be
doing?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Well, we're currently doing our like I mentioned
earlier, our walking challenge.
We're going to try to dosomething monthly, so every
month we'll have a differenttheme.
Our walking groups all over theTri-C's are completely free, so
just come and walk.
But if you do want to be a partof the challenge, you know
there's always some type of funactivity involved.
This month is February, so it'slove to move, it's open to
runners and to walkers, and sobasically, we are just helping
(14:20):
you with your goals.
So once you sign up, we'll sendyou a text message saying hey,
what's your goals?
30, 60, 90, 45 miles, whateverit is for the 28 days.
And then we have taken thosecandy conversational hearts and
we've written on different milesto meet that goal.
So if you do your whole box,you'll meet the goal that you
send us, and we'll send that inthe mail or we have some local
(14:41):
pickups and then, of course,each registration.
You know you get a t-shirt,sweatshirt, whatever you choose.
Next month we're looking atdoing March Madness, because I
love March Madness basketballtournaments.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, you and me both love it.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
So our goal is if we can get enough people to do this
, is we're going to put peoplein a bracket, and so each week,
whoever has the most mileagegoes to the next round until we
get to the final two.
That's a great idea, I love that, and then we'll probably do
that as a team, and then we'llhave an individual as well, and
of course we have the ShamrockShuffle, which is a 5K.
(15:16):
It's well and um, and of coursewe have the shamrock shuffle,
which is a 5k.
So it's a live event.
You can do it virtual.
And what a virtual means, justin case you don't you might not
know this, sure?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
no, I think it's good to tell the virtual really came
to existence.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
It's probably an existence before covid, but it
really was prominent duringcovid so basically a virtual
means.
You can do the the event, butyou don't come for your own home
or neighborhood.
If you're traveling, sometimespeople want the shirt and the
medal but they can't be therefor the events.
They'll do a virtual option.
They just do it on their own,send us the results from what
(15:45):
they've done and then we'll getthe packet to them.
And we've had people fromCanada do our events.
We've had people from how cool,we had a gentleman in Italy do
one of our races on the beach ofItaly.
We've had people do it from theGrand Canyon to DC and you know
it's funny talking about dreamsand goals.
I've always wanted to take myevent or my business worldwide.
(16:06):
Yes, you know, most of ourraces are just here in the
Tri-C's market.
We do have one in Oxford.
We've done some stuff inChattanooga and been asked to go
other places, but really stuffin Chattanooga and been asked to
go other places, but reallywe're mainly here.
And then one day, two years ago, we were part of the Christmas
parade here in John City and thetheme was I mean, three years
ago, christmas around the world.
How am I going to do this witha running event, do a float?
(16:28):
And I started looking at allthe flags of all the places that
people have done our races.
I mean we had almost a dozencountries, states and countries.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
It was amazing.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So it really, if you think outside the box.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
God will take you places you didn't even know and
that's the way that you talkabout.
You want to take Goose Chasearound the world with these
events where people can joinvirtually and as that expands,
you know what events wherepeople can join virtually and as
that expands, you know what.
You will be around the worldwith Goose Chase with a running
event.
So the Shamrock Shuffle, isthat a run or walk?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It is a run or a walk and actually since we started
our walking challenges, ourwalking participation has
increased.
It's for the Ron McDonald House.
And so when there are majorfundraisers.
It will be at King Commons Parkin Johnson City.
It's a 5K but you can walk, youcan run, you can bring your
children in strollers, you canbring your dogs, but it'll be a
(17:27):
lot of fun.
We have the Appalachian Irishdancers that will be there.
In the past we've had bagpipesthere.
Josh Smith it was formerly onJHL, he's normally our emcee
Alex Williams, meteorologist,will be there as well.
So it's a lot of fun, it's agreat time and people love it
and it's really our first eventof the year to kick off the year
(17:48):
, and it continues to grow.
I mean, it's close to 800people that do this race which
for our tri-season market isreally good.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It is.
So what's the date for theShamrock Shuffle?
March the 15th.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
March 15th.
It's a Saturday right around StPatrick's.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Day yes, yes, okay, that is awesome.
So what else is coming up?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Well, we get through that and then not through that,
but we'll have that event andthen in April we'll have our
first half marathon.
So we have three half marathonsfor the year.
Our first one is Music andMiles.
It's in Elizabethton and thenwe have Bluegrass Half Marathon,
Johnson City, and then theHaunted Half in Kingsport.
Together it creates ourtrifecta.
And so we have about 100athletes in this town that do
(18:34):
all three of those races.
Oh my goodness, athletes in thistown that do all three of those
races and then if they completethe trifecta, they get, you
know, additional medals andt-shirts and all the things.
And we do it on a graduatedscale.
So first year might be at-shirt, second year be like
long sleeve, and so now we'regetting to year five and I'm
like, what am I going to do?
Last year we did this reallycool windbreaker.
So each year is somethingdifferent, so I'm really trying
to think something really clever.
(18:54):
And then so it's April 26th inElizabethton and we are doing
some adjustments with our coursebecause of the flooding from
the hurricane that we had in ourarea.
(19:23):
And then, of course, may the 4this for all those Star Wars fans
out there.
It's a time to dress asChewbacca or Princess Leia or
whatever character you want todo, and we have about a dozen
characters through the GeorgeLucas ordained club.
He is really picky, which isfine because he has an amazing
brand, but he has certain groupsall over the United States that
he endorses and this is fromthat endorsed group and it's a
local, regional group butthey'll dress and they spend
thousands of dollars on thesecostumes.
I mean, they look like the realdeal.
Wow.
And we've had Darth Vader, wehave R2-D2.
(19:44):
It's really cool.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
And if you're a Star Wars fanatic, you don't want to
miss that one and I love.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
May the 4th Be With you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah and, and it's a 4K, so it's a little
bit shorter but we have a lotof fun and I feel like I really
create more of a partyenvironment than a race.
Well, and that's what I meanjust being together and with
other people and being out there, meeting new people and just
having conversations.
And that's what life is allabout, right, it's all about
relationships.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
And that's what you're doing.
It's all about relationships,absolutely, and that's what
you're doing.
You're creating unity with yourbrand of goose chase with
people who just want to be withother people, and social, and I
think to me that's just so muchof what life is.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Absolutely, we need each other.
We do.
We're not designed to be loneislands, we all need each other.
That is, we're not designed tobe lone islands, we all need
each other.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
That is so true.
That is so true.
So what are some things thatyou would like to eventually
accomplish?
Karen, I know you're kind ofthinking you're at a crossroads
here and I really want to domore with Goose Chase, so
anything you want to share withus, well, my mind doesn't shut
off.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
So I'm always thinking During 2020, you know,
everything was shutting down,and when you're in the vet
business, that is terrifying.
Yes and so in survival mode,basically, that's when we
started doing our virtual racesand we had virtual races almost
all year at that point.
(21:14):
Obviously, they weren't thesize of the circuitry like some
other races we had, but I meanthey helped us sustain our
business.
We also created some clothingbrands or logos.
I should say it wasn't really abrand, but Run 423, which
actually I'm wearing right nowand it was very popular.
We have tanks and T-shirts andthat sort of thing, and so
(21:38):
currently what I'm working onactually, since you've asked,
I'm currently updating hiswebsites and trying to really
invest and learn about socialmedia and how we get that brand
out.
So Run 423 is what we did forour area.
Of course, 423 is our area code.
Of course, we now have anotherarea code.
I might come up with anotherbrand on that.
We have another area code.
(21:59):
Yeah, they just launched it,like a couple months ago.
It's 901, I think You'rekidding.
Yeah, they ran out of numbersfor 423.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
For the 423.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So they had to add another one.
I think it's 901.
I'm not for sure, wow, butanyway so.
And then we start, we'restarting to do some walking
apparel, and so you'll startseeing that come up.
And then also, when I was doingthe run for two, three, I
thought, well, there's all thesearea goes, all of the United
States in the world, and sowe're looking at trying to brand
some running apparel to fitother markets.
(22:30):
And so you know, hopefully inthe next few months you'll be
able to get a website and youmight have something that says
run Dallas or run San Francisco,or you know run Knoxville, we
do have run Knoxville alreadybut we do have races in
Knoxville.
But the running community is agreat community all over the
United States and the world.
And you know, just I love beingcreative, so I've really gotten
(22:51):
into that.
And then also my ultimate goalis to take the s'mores run
nationwide.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
So you never know, it's not right, close to the
horizon.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
But it's on the horizon, there, right, right and
you know, obviously we needsponsors and that sort of thing
and volunteers and it reallytakes a village to put these
races on.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I can't imagine.
I know it's a tremendous amountof work that you put into all
these events.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I love it, I do love it and I have a great team.
It's definitely it's me day today, but at event day, you know,
I have a team of about 12, 15people that come and put this on
and they're a great team.
I can't ask for.
I'm truly blessed.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Well, you know, the key to success is, you know, I
see so many people that don'thave a passion for what they do
and I've been very blessed onthis podcast of meeting amazing
people like you, and mosteverybody has been an
entrepreneur.
But you're right, you can seethe passion and you have the
(23:55):
passion, and most people thatI've interviewed are so
passionate about what they doand that's where that's, that's
God put that in us.
You know, you know that passionto, to accomplish, to, to build
things, do things, nurture,take care of things.
I mean that's just you know,we've all been desired for
(24:16):
something.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yes, I don't know if I should say this, but it's sad
when people don't discover whatthey're designed to do.
Gosh, we can go on a tangent.
You might get me talking here.
They get on this tangent ofdoing a nine-to-five job, which
there's nothing wrong with thatthere's a need there but
(24:37):
sometimes they get so caught upinto that they don't follow
their passions their desires,their wish list or whatever.
When I was before I took thatleap of faith, someone told me
that I think I might have readthis in the book that a
nine-to-five job sometimes islike an IV drip you always got
paid.
You had your insurance, yourretirement, all the things set
(25:00):
in place.
And so that comfort of beingsatisfied.
That way you wouldn't take thatleap of faith.
Right, right, and I mean lookat all the things entrepreneurs
have done.
That's right.
I feel like we keep Americastrong.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
We do keep America strong and we run America.
And you know what it takes alldifferent kinds and all
different walks.
And some hey that 9 to 5 is adream.
Yes, absolutely Love it love it,love it, love it.
And I think it's just like yousaid God designed each of us so
(25:33):
uniquely.
Our DNA is so different andwe're all different, but we're
the same in so many ways.
But then you know, when you tapinto those things, that you
know what are your passions,what, what, what motivates you,
what, what gets you excited,what helps you wake up in the
morning.
You know those are things thatmaybe you need to investigate.
(25:55):
In those things you know if youwant to make a change.
But I love how you, when youstarted this business, you had a
group of friends around you andyou all had prayers and you
were doing a book study togetherand, man, look what happened
from that.
You know.
So we need each other.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Oh gosh, yes.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
And we need good friends in our lives and people
who will encourage us and helpmotivate us, and sometimes it
takes somebody that can seesomething in us that we don't
see in ourselves.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
It's true, exactly, and my group of friends saw that
.
They were tired of hearing metalk about it.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I was reading all these books on Tom's shoes and
giving water, and all the thingsand they were like we're tired
of hearing me talk about it.
I was reading all these bookson Tom's Shoes and Giving Water
and all the things.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
And they were like we're tired of hearing you talk
about it, we want you to dosomething.
So go through this book with usand through the prayer and
encouragement, I did take thatleap of faith.
That's awesome.
But there's a gentleman I thinkhis name is Dan Miller out of
Nashville.
I read one of his books onetime and he said what did you
like to do as a child?
Like what?
What?
(27:00):
Your passion, your just love oflife?
When did that really spark as achild?
And that's probably what youwere designed to do, cause when
you're a child, you're childlike, you don't know anything.
You don't know the stress of theworld and all the things, and
so he was basically saying, aswe start growing in age and
schooling, and all the things.
Our mind will change becauseour influences our family life,
(27:23):
whatever it may be, and we losewhat our passion was Like when
we were a child.
That's when you can really seeyour passion.
Yes, and so if you're trying tofigure out what you want to do,
just think about what you didas a kid and what you loved,
because that was probably inyour purest state.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I love that.
That's great.
I'm so glad you shared thatwith us today.
That's perfect, good, thank you.
So, karen, let's talk about howpeople can your website finding
you, your social media, so willyou just share that with our
(27:59):
audience before we wrap up?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Absolutely.
Our website is thegoosechaseorg.
Go there.
You can go to our eventschedule and all of our events
are listed.
Also, if you go to our eventtab, you can actually see the
specific events.
All of our social media we haveInstagram, we have YouTube, we
have a Flickr account, and theFlickr account really is our
(28:20):
hidden gem.
It has photos from all of ourraces and so you can go there
and see all those.
And then, of course, facebook.
We have a great following.
We work with Candid Marketingand she does some phenomenal
videos that are fun and trendy,and we get to act a little bit
crazy sometimes.
So we are very fortunate tohave her on board.
(28:41):
But go to our social media.
You can direct message us, butwe're always looking for
volunteers and, of course, ifyou're a small business or a
business in our area, we'd loveto have you as a partner and
we'd love to talk to you furtherabout that.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
But thank you so much for having me about that, but
thank you so much for having me.
This has been BenchmarkHappenings, brought to you by
Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reedfrom Benchmark Home Loans.
Jonathan and Steve areresidential mortgage lenders.
They do home loans in NortheastTennessee and they're not only
licensed in Tennessee butFlorida, georgia, south Carolina
(29:17):
and Virginia.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did make sure to likerate and review.
Our passion is NortheastTennessee, so if you have
questions about mortgages, callus at 423-491-5405.
And the website iswwwjonathanandstevecom.
(29:39):
Thanks for being with us andwe'll see you next time on
Benchmark Happenings.
This is Benchmark Happenings and on the way, we'll
have scuttons about mores andwe'll interview people in the
real estate industry.
It's what we do.
This is Benchmark Happeningsbrought to you by Benchmark Home
Loans and now your host.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Christine Reed.
Well, welcome back everybody toanother episode of Benchmark
Happenings podcast.
So today, the star of our showis Karen Hubs with Goose Chase.
So, karen, thank you for beinghere.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thank you, and I love the intro.
Oh, thank you, you have thebest podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Well, I'll tell you what.
Jonathan put a lot of hard workin this studio.
So it's it.
Yeah, we do, and I love it.
I love doing this.
So it's just a lot of fun andjust getting to know people and
meet people and, you know, justreally sharing with the region
all the great things about EastTennessee, right.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And we have a lot of great things about East
Tennessee.
We do, we live in the mostbeautiful area in the world.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I think so, and you've traveled quite a bit, I
have.
You've not, you and you'vetraveled quite a bit.
I have you know you've not beena one and done kind of gal.
But, karen, I know we were on.
It was probably back in 2023.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
We were talking about your organization, goose Chase,
and I really think you've got alot of cool things coming up,
thank you.
So tell us, man, what's beenhappening with Goose Chase.
I know you're kind of thinkingabout a lot of different things.
You are definitely anentrepreneur, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I know that's a blessing or a curse sometimes,
but no, I love it, I truly loveit.
I love being creative andseeing what we can do
differently and how we canexpand our business and just
share with our community.
But last year we created afestival called the Fit Fest
Fest and we had an ETSU minidown.
We're going to have it againthis year.
We're just trying to finalizethe dates.
(02:11):
Last year we did it in January.
I think it was the firstweekend in January.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It was so cold.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
We're like we can't do that again.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
So we're going to warmer weather, yeah, so what do
you do in the fit fest?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
um, basically, uh, you know, I do, I do races
mainly I do 5k half marathons,do some obstacle course races,
mile races, but not everybodyruns.
We have a bunch of walkers.
Um, you know, I'm more of awalker than a runner myself, me
too, but I'm right there withyou and I you know when I got
involved with this.
Um, of course, I've beeninvolved for a long time, but
(02:44):
when the turkey trot started,the state of Tennessee was
ranked 48th most unhealthy statein the United States.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
My goodness.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
And there's a group of women Jane Myron, which is
the mayor at the time, jennyBrock, which is former mayor of
Johnson City, now she's acommissioner but the two of them
, plus a bunch of other ladiesand gentlemen of our area, got
together and were like, like wegot to do something different
and so that really sort ofstarted this whole process and
the whole journey I've been on.
Wow, and I was like, what canwe do to help our community get
get more fit exercise?
(03:14):
Um, and so obviously we startedthe john c turkey trot from
then, from there, and obviouslyit's grown.
Well, you know 5 000 peoplethat come to this event.
But also in that journey we'vebeen on, we just want to get
people active and Turkey Trot'sone event a year and obviously
we have a bunch of events a year.
Sure, we're doing the goosechase, but we started the Fit
(03:35):
Fest and so our goal for the FitFest is just for people to find
their fit.
It might not be running, itmight not be walking, it might
be taekwondo.
It not be running, it might notbe walking, it might be
taekwondo, it might be golf, itmight be basketball, softball,
volleyball, pickleball, which ishugely popular, yeah, now
that's the sport that just isgrowing by leaps and bounds and
we just wanted.
We wanted to have a festival.
(03:56):
We brought all those activitiestogether and let people just
come and try and find their ownfit.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So find their fit and um.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
This year we're going to move it to the Memorial Park
Community Center is where we're.
That's who we're talking to now.
We're just waiting to finalizethe dates, but with that we're
going to have access to theirpickleball courts, their aquatic
center, their the DoughboysStadium.
We'll have a bunch ofactivities out in the field, and
so it's going to be a greatevent.
It's probably going to be inJune is the dates we're looking
at.
Okay, but anyway, from FitFestwe started a walking program and
(04:29):
Commissioner Jenny Brockactually she's like Karen this
is what we need to do, and sowe're really good friends, she
and I, and we play off eachother's ideas a lot, and so I
said, okay, I'll put it together.
So I put together this walkingchallenge and I didn't know what
to expect.
I'll be honest with you, and weannounced it at that Fit Fest
(04:51):
last year and I put togetherlike 50 packets of just some
information.
I put together it was reallyjust grassroots level, kind of
marketing.
Yeah, it wasn't my finest momentbut I put it together and those
were gone in one day and I waslike, oh my gosh, we're onto
something you know.
And so from that we puttogether a Facebook group,
because it's the Tri-C's WalkingChallenge Facebook group.
It's open to anybody, you don'thave to be accepted, Just go on
there and be a follower.
(05:12):
And then we also started somewalking challenges and so last
year we did a 20, walked 20,000or 2,024 miles in six months,
not just you, but with you andsome friends.
It was like a tribe and then wegave out some prizes and then we
did a fall challenge leadinginto the Turkey Trot and then
this year from that, we had somuch success with it.
(05:33):
I'm just one person, so I'mlike, how am I going to do this?
And so we created an ambassadorprogram and so we had walking
groups all over the Tri-Cities.
We had about three or four inJohnson City.
We had Bristol, Kingsport,Jonesboro, so all over, and then
people just get together andwalk and people's lives have
been changed.
I'm telling you.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Is there certain places that they walk, or how
does that?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This year we've just actually last night we had our
photo shoot with our ambassadors, and so this year we have a
walking group that's going to bein Abingdon, we have Bristol,
we have Kingsport, we have Grayat Crossroads Christian Church.
There's about four groups.
In John City we're going to dothe MedTech Corridor, etsu, the
VA Tweets of Trail Founders Park, and so we'll have a website
(06:22):
and we're going to do someposters and some marketing
material and that sort of thing.
And you can just scan that QRcode, go to our website.
You can see where they're allgoing to be listed and we have
13 amazing ambassadors that'sgoing to be leading those, and
so these are just people like meand you that just get together.
They love to walk, they'regoing to be there to encourage
you like a coach, and it's just,it's totally free, just come
(06:47):
and walk, wow.
So last night when we met, wedid photos and all the things
you'll see on our website.
But I said go around the room,let's go around the circle and
share a little bit aboutyourself, your journey, make it
brief, because it was cold lastnight and so they'd go around
and it was the most amazingexperience and entrepreneurship
is hard.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You know you're in sales.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It is, yes, oh, amazing experience.
And you know entrepreneurshipis hard, you know you're in
sales and uh oh yeah, it's aroller coaster.
It really is.
You have your highs and yourlows, but last, night was a high
and so they were going to thatthat room and I'm not room,
we're outside, but they're goingaround the circle and they were
all saying, well, I've lost 50pounds, or I've lost 100 pounds,
I've lost 70 pounds, I lost 40pounds.
And the common denominatorkudos to every one of them
because they changed theirlifestyle, they changed their
(07:26):
habits.
But they all used the goosechase as part of that journey
and they were talking about howmany races they've done and they
didn't even like to walk, theydidn't like to run, and they did
one of the goose chase racesand they had such a fun
experience.
It changed their lives.
They met people.
They go walking and I've metpeople.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
They go walk in and that's honoring Gosh.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I was like oh my gosh , I'll start crying.
I was like this is emotional,you know, because you think in
entrepreneurship world, youquestion yourself.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
You do.
The biggest battlefield isbetween your ears.
We talked about that yesterday.
It really is.
It is between your ears, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
It really is.
It is between your ears, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Just get it.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Always stay on your mindset and stay positive and do
little mantras to yourself orput post notes around your house
saying I can do this, Becausesome days you don't think you
can do it.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I'll tell you what I grew up listening to Zig
Ziglar.
I know I'm dating myself outthere, so most people probably
don't even know who he is.
I do out there, so most peopleprobably don't even know who he
is.
I mean, just just, I still usea lot of the things that he said
and he said you know, I don'tknow about you, but he says I
need to be motivated every day.
(08:36):
You know I need to talk positivewords to myself, have those
positive affirmations, and forme it's my, it's my prayer time
and my devotion time, readingthe Word of God and just being
infused with just that absolutetruth and just, you know, it
gets me going.
And we have to do that withourselves.
(08:57):
And, like we talked yesterday,purpose, you know, don't lose
your purpose in life right.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well, we all have this one life.
We just got to use it to thebest of our abilities and make
the most out of it and the crazything is, I think as
individuals we don't realizewhat God has designed us to do.
And God is amazing he createdall this in seven days.
So he's amazing, he can doanything and he's put that into
(09:26):
us.
We can truly do anything we putour minds to.
It's just mindset.
You just got to do it, it is.
I was at the Chamber ofCommerce John C Chamber of
Commerce for 15 years I createdthe Bluegrass Half Marathon,
Fell in love with that event andI just felt I was reading this
(09:51):
book called the Circle.
Maker by Mark Patterson, andit's the whole premise is pray
big prayers and dream big dreams.
You know, I thought I was doingthat for sure and so I felt I
felt like I needed to leave andstart my own business.
Really did, and I don't know ifyou know this story.
Do you know how I got the goosechase?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
So I was going to ask you if you could talk about
that again, because I rememberthe name goose chase and how you
got there.
But I think it's such a coolstory, so share that with us.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Well, I didn't know who Mark Batterson was at the
time, you know, and I went toGrace Fellowship Church and I go
there and they were having MarkBatterson there as a speaker
and I thought who is this guy?
And I was a part of anothergroup and we were having to move
around our schedule becausethis guy was coming in.
I thought who is this guy?
Anyway, a group of my friendssaid hey, we're tired of hearing
you talk about starting yourown business, so we have this
(10:36):
book we want to read with you,called the Circle Maker.
And so there's four of us andwe all had different prayer
requests and everything and allof our prayer requests, each
individual person, the prayer,prayer requests were honored by
god and fulfilled and that sortof thing.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Isn't that amazing how that works yeah yeah, when
we partner with other peoplelike-minded and grow, we grow
together and those things cometo fruition.
It's just amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
But anyway, I didn't mean to oh no, it's fine, and so
he had his accompaniments tothat book.
It was uh.
I did a 40-day prayer challengewith my friends.
And I don't remember what dayit was.
I can't remember what the topicwas, but I was reading this
devotion and I felt like myheart was about to beat out of
my chest and I knew that was theday I was supposed to go in
there and give my two-weeknotice.
(11:20):
Actually, I did like a month ofnotice.
We were doing a nationalchampionship event and I knew
that was my last time doing thatone no-transcript and I
couldn't sit.
Still, you know, it's like yourheart's beating out of your
chest, you're uncomfortable andI kept on saying God, if you
just give me this sign, if youjust give me this sign.
(11:40):
And every time I said the sign,the sign came up.
You know, happened Even when.
What is his name?
Whom Shall?
I Fear?
It's a song.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Oh, I can't remember the name of the artist that
sings that, but I know whatyou're talking about, yeah, so
anyway, I know I'm digressing,but anyway that song came on and
anyway, I finally took the leapof faith and it was the
scariest thing I've ever done.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
But in that book, circle Maker, there was a
section and it was a term thatCeltic Christians used for the
Holy Spirit.
I'm not even going to try topronounce it because you know I
can rarely speak Southern, soI'm not even going to try to
pronounce it because I canrarely speak Southern, so I'm
not even going to try topronounce it.
But anyway, when you translateit it means wild goose, and the
author of the book, mark Madison, said how fitting is it?
(12:26):
When you're trying to followthe Holy Spirit's lead, or God's
lead, it's like you're on awild goose chase.
You never know who you're goingto meet, where you're going to
go, what you're going to do.
It'll be anything but boring.
I thought that is my life.
I mean, look here I'm talking toyou, I'm on your podcast.
How cool is this?
That is so cool and it's justby taking a leap of faith.
And so I saw that I thoughtthat is me.
And so me and some friendstossed the idea around for a
(12:52):
name and it came up with theGoose Chase walk of faith.
And I've done some incrediblethings by just taking that leap
of faith.
And of course, I'm involvedwith the John C Turkey Trot,
biggest event of the Tri-Cities,you know, 5,000 people for a
race.
We have three half marathons.
I've done obstacle course race.
I've worked with some amazingorganizations like Make-A-Wish
(13:15):
and Ronald McDonald House, ymca,I mean just, you know, up and
and at them.
I mean so many incredibleorganizations and if I would
have stayed at my comfort zoneand not taken that leap of faith
, I would not have experiencedprobably any of this.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
That's right and you know I think about when you say
that I think you got out of theboat yeah, you got out of the
boat, and that's what we, youknow God calls us.
He didn't give us the spirit offear or timidity, but of power,
love and self-discipline asbelievers in Christ.
So you got out of the boat andso I mean, God just continues to
(13:45):
open up a world to you andcontinues to put those ideas in
your mind and to take tofruition.
So what are some of the thingsthat?
What's some things coming uphere that you're going to be
doing?
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Well, we're currently doing our like I mentioned
earlier, our walking challenge.
We're going to try to dosomething monthly, so every
month we'll have a differenttheme.
Our walking groups all over theTri-C's are completely free, so
just come and walk.
But if you do want to be a partof the challenge, you know
there's always some type of funactivity involved.
This month is February, so it'slove to move, it's open to
runners and to walkers, and sobasically, we are just helping
(14:20):
you with your goals.
So once you sign up, we'll sendyou a text message saying hey,
what's your goals?
30, 60, 90, 45 miles, whateverit is for the 28 days.
And then we have taken thosecandy conversational hearts and
we've written on different milesto meet that goal.
So if you do your whole box,you'll meet the goal that you
send us, and we'll send that inthe mail or we have some local
(14:41):
pickups and then, of course,each registration.
You know you get a t-shirt,sweatshirt, whatever you choose.
Next month we're looking atdoing March Madness, because I
love March Madness basketballtournaments.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, you and me both love it.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
So our goal is if we can get enough people to do this
, is we're going to put peoplein a bracket, and so each week,
whoever has the most mileagegoes to the next round until we
get to the final two.
That's a great idea, I love that, and then we'll probably do
that as a team, and then we'llhave an individual as well, and
of course we have the ShamrockShuffle, which is a 5K.
(15:16):
It's well and um, and of coursewe have the shamrock shuffle,
which is a 5k.
So it's a live event.
You can do it virtual.
And what a virtual means, justin case you don't you might not
know this, sure?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
no, I think it's good to tell the virtual really came
to existence.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
It's probably an existence before covid, but it
really was prominent duringcovid so basically a virtual
means.
You can do the the event, butyou don't come for your own home
or neighborhood.
If you're traveling, sometimespeople want the shirt and the
medal but they can't be therefor the events.
They'll do a virtual option.
They just do it on their own,send us the results from what
(15:45):
they've done and then we'll getthe packet to them.
And we've had people fromCanada do our events.
We've had people from how cool,we had a gentleman in Italy do
one of our races on the beach ofItaly.
We've had people do it from theGrand Canyon to DC and you know
it's funny talking about dreamsand goals.
I've always wanted to take myevent or my business worldwide.
(16:06):
Yes, you know, most of ourraces are just here in the
Tri-C's market.
We do have one in Oxford.
We've done some stuff inChattanooga and been asked to go
other places, but really stuffin Chattanooga and been asked to
go other places, but reallywe're mainly here.
And then one day, two years ago, we were part of the Christmas
parade here in John City and thetheme was I mean, three years
ago, christmas around the world.
How am I going to do this witha running event, do a float?
(16:28):
And I started looking at allthe flags of all the places that
people have done our races.
I mean we had almost a dozencountries, states and countries.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
It was amazing.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So it really, if you think outside the box.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
God will take you places you didn't even know and
that's the way that you talkabout.
You want to take Goose Chasearound the world with these
events where people can joinvirtually and as that expands,
you know what events wherepeople can join virtually and as
that expands, you know what.
You will be around the worldwith Goose Chase with a running
event.
So the Shamrock Shuffle, isthat a run or walk?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
It is a run or a walk and actually since we started
our walking challenges, ourwalking participation has
increased.
It's for the Ron McDonald House.
And so when there are majorfundraisers.
It will be at King Commons Parkin Johnson City.
It's a 5K but you can walk, youcan run, you can bring your
children in strollers, you canbring your dogs, but it'll be a
(17:27):
lot of fun.
We have the Appalachian Irishdancers that will be there.
In the past we've had bagpipesthere.
Josh Smith it was formerly onJHL, he's normally our emcee
Alex Williams, meteorologist,will be there as well.
So it's a lot of fun, it's agreat time and people love it
and it's really our first eventof the year to kick off the year
(17:48):
, and it continues to grow.
I mean, it's close to 800people that do this race which
for our tri-season market isreally good.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It is.
So what's the date for theShamrock Shuffle?
March the 15th.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
March 15th.
It's a Saturday right around StPatrick's.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Day yes, yes, okay, that is awesome.
So what else is coming up?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Well, we get through that and then not through that,
but we'll have that event andthen in April we'll have our
first half marathon.
So we have three half marathonsfor the year.
Our first one is Music andMiles.
It's in Elizabethton and thenwe have Bluegrass Half Marathon,
Johnson City, and then theHaunted Half in Kingsport.
Together it creates ourtrifecta.
And so we have about 100athletes in this town that do
(18:34):
all three of those races.
Oh my goodness, athletes in thistown that do all three of those
races and then if they completethe trifecta, they get, you
know, additional medals andt-shirts and all the things.
And we do it on a graduatedscale.
So first year might be at-shirt, second year be like
long sleeve, and so now we'regetting to year five and I'm
like, what am I going to do?
Last year we did this reallycool windbreaker.
So each year is somethingdifferent, so I'm really trying
to think something really clever.
(18:54):
And then so it's April 26th inElizabethton and we are doing
some adjustments with our coursebecause of the flooding from
the hurricane that we had in ourarea.
(19:23):
And then, of course, may the 4this for all those Star Wars fans
out there.
It's a time to dress asChewbacca or Princess Leia or
whatever character you want todo, and we have about a dozen
characters through the GeorgeLucas ordained club.
He is really picky, which isfine because he has an amazing
brand, but he has certain groupsall over the United States that
he endorses and this is fromthat endorsed group and it's a
local, regional group butthey'll dress and they spend
thousands of dollars on thesecostumes.
I mean, they look like the realdeal.
Wow.
And we've had Darth Vader, wehave R2-D2.
(19:44):
It's really cool.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
And if you're a Star Wars fanatic, you don't want to
miss that one and I love.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
May the 4th Be With you.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah and, and it's a 4K, so it's a little
bit shorter but we have a lotof fun and I feel like I really
create more of a partyenvironment than a race.
Well, and that's what I meanjust being together and with
other people and being out there, meeting new people and just
having conversations.
And that's what life is allabout, right, it's all about
relationships.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
And that's what you're doing.
It's all about relationships,absolutely, and that's what
you're doing.
You're creating unity with yourbrand of goose chase with
people who just want to be withother people, and social, and I
think to me that's just so muchof what life is.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Absolutely, we need each other.
We do.
We're not designed to be loneislands, we all need each other.
That is, we're not designed tobe lone islands, we all need
each other.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
That is so true.
That is so true.
So what are some things thatyou would like to eventually
accomplish?
Karen, I know you're kind ofthinking you're at a crossroads
here and I really want to domore with Goose Chase, so
anything you want to share withus, well, my mind doesn't shut
off.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
So I'm always thinking During 2020, you know,
everything was shutting down,and when you're in the vet
business, that is terrifying.
Yes and so in survival mode,basically, that's when we
started doing our virtual racesand we had virtual races almost
all year at that point.
(21:14):
Obviously, they weren't thesize of the circuitry like some
other races we had, but I meanthey helped us sustain our
business.
We also created some clothingbrands or logos.
I should say it wasn't really abrand, but Run 423, which
actually I'm wearing right nowand it was very popular.
We have tanks and T-shirts andthat sort of thing, and so
(21:38):
currently what I'm working onactually, since you've asked,
I'm currently updating hiswebsites and trying to really
invest and learn about socialmedia and how we get that brand
out.
So Run 423 is what we did forour area.
Of course, 423 is our area code.
Of course, we now have anotherarea code.
I might come up with anotherbrand on that.
We have another area code.
(21:59):
Yeah, they just launched it,like a couple months ago.
It's 901, I think You'rekidding.
Yeah, they ran out of numbersfor 423.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
For the 423.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So they had to add another one.
I think it's 901.
I'm not for sure, wow, butanyway so.
And then we start, we'restarting to do some walking
apparel, and so you'll startseeing that come up.
And then also, when I was doingthe run for two, three, I
thought, well, there's all thesearea goes, all of the United
States in the world, and sowe're looking at trying to brand
some running apparel to fitother markets.
(22:30):
And so you know, hopefully inthe next few months you'll be
able to get a website and youmight have something that says
run Dallas or run San Francisco,or you know run Knoxville, we
do have run Knoxville alreadybut we do have races in
Knoxville.
But the running community is agreat community all over the
United States and the world.
And you know, just I love beingcreative, so I've really gotten
(22:51):
into that.
And then also my ultimate goalis to take the s'mores run
nationwide.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
So you never know, it's not right, close to the
horizon.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
But it's on the horizon, there, right, right and
you know, obviously we needsponsors and that sort of thing
and volunteers and it reallytakes a village to put these
races on.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I can't imagine.
I know it's a tremendous amountof work that you put into all
these events.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I love it, I do love it and I have a great team.
It's definitely it's me day today, but at event day, you know,
I have a team of about 12, 15people that come and put this on
and they're a great team.
I can't ask for.
I'm truly blessed.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Well, you know, the key to success is, you know, I
see so many people that don'thave a passion for what they do
and I've been very blessed onthis podcast of meeting amazing
people like you, and mosteverybody has been an
entrepreneur.
But you're right, you can seethe passion and you have the
(23:55):
passion, and most people thatI've interviewed are so
passionate about what they doand that's where that's, that's
God put that in us.
You know, you know that passionto, to accomplish, to, to build
things, do things, nurture,take care of things.
I mean that's just you know,we've all been desired for
(24:16):
something.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yes, I don't know if I should say this, but it's sad
when people don't discover whatthey're designed to do.
Gosh, we can go on a tangent.
You might get me talking here.
They get on this tangent ofdoing a nine-to-five job, which
there's nothing wrong with thatthere's a need there but
(24:37):
sometimes they get so caught upinto that they don't follow
their passions their desires,their wish list or whatever.
When I was before I took thatleap of faith, someone told me
that I think I might have readthis in the book that a
nine-to-five job sometimes islike an IV drip you always got
paid.
You had your insurance, yourretirement, all the things set
(25:00):
in place.
And so that comfort of beingsatisfied.
That way you wouldn't take thatleap of faith.
Right, right, and I mean lookat all the things entrepreneurs
have done.
That's right.
I feel like we keep Americastrong.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
We do keep America strong and we run America.
And you know what it takes alldifferent kinds and all
different walks.
And some hey that 9 to 5 is adream.
Yes, absolutely Love it love it,love it, love it.
And I think it's just like yousaid God designed each of us so
(25:33):
uniquely.
Our DNA is so different andwe're all different, but we're
the same in so many ways.
But then you know, when you tapinto those things, that you
know what are your passions,what, what, what motivates you,
what, what gets you excited,what helps you wake up in the
morning.
You know those are things thatmaybe you need to investigate.
(25:55):
In those things you know if youwant to make a change.
But I love how you, when youstarted this business, you had a
group of friends around you andyou all had prayers and you
were doing a book study togetherand, man, look what happened
from that.
You know.
So we need each other.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Oh gosh, yes.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
And we need good friends in our lives and people
who will encourage us and helpmotivate us, and sometimes it
takes somebody that can seesomething in us that we don't
see in ourselves.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
It's true, exactly, and my group of friends saw that
.
They were tired of hearing metalk about it.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I was reading all these books on Tom's shoes and
giving water, and all the thingsand they were like we're tired
of hearing me talk about it.
I was reading all these bookson Tom's Shoes and Giving Water
and all the things.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
And they were like we're tired of hearing you talk
about it, we want you to dosomething.
So go through this book with usand through the prayer and
encouragement, I did take thatleap of faith.
That's awesome.
But there's a gentleman I thinkhis name is Dan Miller out of
Nashville.
I read one of his books onetime and he said what did you
like to do as a child?
Like what?
What?
(27:00):
Your passion, your just love oflife?
When did that really spark as achild?
And that's probably what youwere designed to do, cause when
you're a child, you're childlike, you don't know anything.
You don't know the stress of theworld and all the things, and
so he was basically saying, aswe start growing in age and
schooling, and all the things.
Our mind will change becauseour influences our family life,
(27:23):
whatever it may be, and we losewhat our passion was Like when
we were a child.
That's when you can really seeyour passion.
Yes, and so if you're trying tofigure out what you want to do,
just think about what you didas a kid and what you loved,
because that was probably inyour purest state.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
I love that.
That's great.
I'm so glad you shared thatwith us today.
That's perfect, good, thank you.
So, karen, let's talk about howpeople can your website finding
you, your social media, so willyou just share that with our
(27:59):
audience before we wrap up?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Absolutely.
Our website is thegoosechaseorg.
Go there.
You can go to our eventschedule and all of our events
are listed.
Also, if you go to our eventtab, you can actually see the
specific events.
All of our social media we haveInstagram, we have YouTube, we
have a Flickr account, and theFlickr account really is our
(28:20):
hidden gem.
It has photos from all of ourraces and so you can go there
and see all those.
And then, of course, facebook.
We have a great following.
We work with Candid Marketingand she does some phenomenal
videos that are fun and trendy,and we get to act a little bit
crazy sometimes.
So we are very fortunate tohave her on board.
(28:41):
But go to our social media.
You can direct message us, butwe're always looking for
volunteers and, of course, ifyou're a small business or a
business in our area, we'd loveto have you as a partner and
we'd love to talk to you furtherabout that.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
But thank you so much for having me about that, but
thank you so much for having me.
This has been BenchmarkHappenings, brought to you by
Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reedfrom Benchmark Home Loans.
Jonathan and Steve areresidential mortgage lenders.
They do home loans in NortheastTennessee and they're not only
licensed in Tennessee butFlorida, georgia, south Carolina
(29:17):
and Virginia.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
If you did make sure to likerate and review.
Our passion is NortheastTennessee, so if you have
questions about mortgages, callus at 423-491-5405.
And the website iswwwjonathanandstevecom.
(29:39):
Thanks for being with us andwe'll see you next time on
Benchmark Happenings.
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