Tom Lawrence, WAKM Radio Host by Morning, Banker in the Afternoon
What favorite quote, advice or motto has inspired you to achieve your goals?
I collect quotations, and I’m probably up to 50,000 of them. One of the best quotations came from my father. He was a refrigeration guy and a very good father. One time he saw me wearing a name tag, and he came up to me, took the name tag off and put it in my pocket. He said, “Boy, if you have to tell folks who you are, you ain’t.” That has stuck with me. On his deathbed, he apologized for not being a good father, even though he was. His last words to me – I can hear them like it was yesterday – were, “I thought you needed a kick in the a** and all you needed was a pat on the back.” That taught me that you need to be positive with everybody you come across, everybody! There are good things about everybody. Find them, and celebrate them. That’s what we do on the radio, we help people celebrate.
What is something that surprised you when you set out to follow your dreams?
I got into radio at age 14. Mama took me to work and picked me up at night because I couldn’t drive. I don’t know whether I have a broadcast-worthy voice or not, but I’ve had this voice since then. My parents told me, “Don’t turn your back on the gifts that God gave you.” At one point, I wanted to go to law school, but after paying my way through college by working at the Franklin radio station, I was approached about a full-time job, and I decided well, it’s never too late to do law school, I’ll try this. I was hired to do sales, the morning show, sports, and to sit in for the newsman when he was sick or on vacation. I eventually led a group and purchased that radio station, that’s now WAKM. I spent fifty years being there, showing up, and eventually sold it. I was very shy but not in the studio, and I thought I could do anything. I learned that if I made the slightest mistake in facts, the phones would start to ring. I learned I had to do better, there were actually people listening!
What would you make happen, if you had one wish that could be granted?
Affordable housing. I came up in Franklin, in a generation that could afford to live in their hometown. Our town was Mayberry, we had two cops and they got off at five o’clock. I’m optimistic, even though so many people are moving here and housing prices have gone up, that we can find a way for housing to be affordable for the folks who grow up here and want to stay.
Rick Warwick, Former Leiper's Fork School Teacher and Current Williamson County Historian
What favorite quote, advice or motto has inspired you to achieve your goals?
I can’t tell you where this came from, but it’s so true: “Happy is the man who has found his work.” That is me. I have been so blessed to have a joy of teaching and working with children, teaching subjects I enjoy, particularly local history. It’s even more rewarding now because children who I taught in 7th through 9th grade are still coming to me with questions. Many of them are doing their own genealogy. I look forward every morning when I get up and think, “What am I going to do today?’
What is something that surprised you when you set out to follow your dreams?
I grew up with my grandmother. She took care of me when I was little, and I’ve always had a warm spot for ‘great old ladies.’ I’ve had some great friendships with older women, including my grandmother who told me stories about her mother and the Civil War. That got me interested in history. In my experience, I’ve found that older ladies were the keepers of history that I wanted to know but that couldn’t be found in archives. Women have a way of sharing information that you don’t get anywhere else.
What would you make happen, if you had one wish that could be granted?
I’m pretty content and I think I’ve gotten all I deserve. Particularly for Franklin, I hope that the newcomers, who have so far shown an interest in our history, will continue to appreciate the history that was here before they came.
Anthony Connell McLemore, Master Barber and Owner of Cuts n Blessings Barbershop
What favorite quote, advice or motto has inspired you to achieve your goals?
My favorite quote is, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil." I first heard the quote from my manager, Maggie Jones, when I was employed with Xerox Business Services in 1995. The quote taught me that closed mouths don't get fed. Problem-solving and resolutions can’t be completed sitting in silence. It taught me to speak up when there are issues that need to be acknowledged, and let your requests be known when attempting to achieve goals in life.
What is something that surprised you when you set out to follow your dreams?
I was surprised to discover how good my management skills were in starting and running a business. I never doubted that I could do it, but some of the attributes in management came naturally to me. It was just a matter of learning the processes and having the discipline to stay consistent.
What would you make happen, if you had one wish that could be granted?
If I had one wish, it would be to remove all the evil from this cruel world we live in.
Chris Barnhill, Executive Director, FrankTown Open Hearts
What favorite quote, advice or motto has inspired you to achieve your goals?
My mentor as a young adult would always tell me, “God will never give you a task to do without also giving you the resources to do it.” You may be called to develop a program, build a building, help a family in crisis. You might ask, ‘But how can I help if I don't have the resources to do it?’ This is how you begin: Do what you can, and God will provide the rest. Do your part and begin the journey. Once you demonstrate that you are willing to do your part, God won’t leave you hanging.
What is something that surprised you when you set out to follow your dreams?
Like parenting, the work I do with FrankTown has been both the most challenging and the most rewarding at the same time. Seeing the challenges and hurdles the underserved children that we serve face every day is heart wrenching. Many live in broken homes and have little to no resources. Providing food, affordable housing, and finding a job is often problematic. But to see these children that are eager to learn and work, who ask for nothing more than a tool, and ask for training on how to use it…they are willing to work! They are only asking for training on ‘how.’ They inspire me.
What would you make happen, if you had one wish that could be granted?
I would wish for the opportunity to tell the story of FrankTown to everyone in Williamson County. To be able to share the problems our impoverished children face every day, the opportunities we give them to learn a skill or trade, and then see how they are willing to do the work. I’d like for everyone to hear about them succeeding in spite of the disadvantages they face, how they go to college, trade school, or go directly into the job market. They break the cycle of generational poverty. They learn a work ethic and take pride in what they can produce. I think if the community could hear and see the results we‘re having, the funding and volunteers would follow.
Stephen M. Shutts, Owner, Rockology: buyer, seller, appraiser and authenticator of music memorabilia
What favorite quote, advice or motto has inspired you to achieve your goals?
I grew up as a fan of Evel Knievel. I had a poster of him on my bedroom wall. There was a statement on the poster that read, "It's better to take a chance in life to win a victory or suffer defeat even though scarred by failure...than it is to live in the shadow of life as some do, never knowing a victory or defeat because they have not the guts to try either!" I always read this for inspiration. I still have the poster to this day.
What is something that surprised you when you set out to follow your dreams?
I never dreamed I would be able to work closely with so many of my favorite recording artists who I grew up listening to, and that I’d get to be instrumental in keeping their memories and music alive for new generations.
What would you make happen, if you had one wish that could be granted?
My one wish would be to end animal abuse.
