Spread The Positive Podcast

Abby Walters is back. 12 years of Forever Friends Nashville, dog rescue with RARE, and Sunday nights with the Walters Band at Union Hill. Abby sits down with Trent six years after her first episode and goes back to the start. She grew up in Indiana, graduated high school at 17, and was teaching kindergarten at 21, walking out of her classroom on day one bawling to the teacher next door. She moved...

Laura Dunnigan, the Riding Realtor, is biking Murfreesboro with a QR code on her back for 21 local nonprofits. Laura sits down with Trent to go back to Monongahela, Pennsylvania, a town of about 4,000 where her family did not have a car, so she walked and biked everywhere. She wanted to be an artist, but her dad warned her about the starving artist thing, so she ended up in insurance for about 15...

Robert Vaughn bootstrapped a pottery brand out of a 1950s garage to 1,000 retailers, then sold it. Here are his 13 optimistic notes.   Robert came in with thirteen written notes, and his reason for writing them is the episode's point. Most business podcast guests work at large, impressive companies, and if you are a small business owner or an employee, a lot of those lessons are not relevant to yo...

Chuck went from wiring bicycle dynamos as a kid to now being a pioneer in AI and creating a bar built on six continents. Here is his story.   Chuck sits down with Katie in his Harvard shirt to go back to the start. He talks about how he works best under stress, how he slows down and absorbs while everybody else panics, and why when a deadline slips he is the one who walks in, delivers the bad news...

Josh Chapman was born 3 months early and breathed through a straw. He now fixes chainsaws and works at Home Depot.   Trent sits down with Josh and his sister Katie taking it all the way back to expand his airway. Katie explains why that matters today: Josh's normal breathing is basically breathing through a straw, so physical activity is hard, but you would never know it watching him work.   From...

Alex Piedra, pediatric dentist, entrepreneur, and Harvard education graduate, joins us at Spread The Positive to share the mindset that helped him overcome poverty, family hardship, and setbacks to build a life centered on service.    From immigrating to the United States as a young child to treating more than 60 patients a day, Alex explains why your circumstances don't define your future—your sk...

Licensed therapist Sarah Amos on when you actually need therapy, EMDR, and grief.   Stephanie sits down with Sarah Amos, owner and lead therapist at Sparrow Creek Counseling in Nashville, for a full conversation about mental health. Sarah explains the name behind her practice: sparrows know how to protect themselves, so when a storm rolls in or food gets scarce, they find a cool dry place to rest...

Annlee Head and Rachael Jarman on their experiences in the 2026 MTSU Truck/ Bonnaroo course offered by the university.    Both Juniors, the two have a strong passion for live video production and were determined to make this year's road crew for Bonnaroo. While in the program the two learned valuable skills for running a broadcast on stage at festivals, working on the 2026 "This Tent" with Hulu. ...

Contractor Justin Edwards on 50 years building Murfreesboro's square, from horsehair plaster to a hidden room full of Civil War boxes. Justin grew up going to job sites with his dad, who started the business back in 1979. He went to MTSU thinking he might do something else, but he always kept one foot in construction, and now he and his dad meet every single day to run the company together. As he...

Jaylene Hall on pivoting from music business to tech, starting a design TikTok, and leaving it all to move to Charleston. Jaylene graduated college in 2020 with a music business degree and a touring internship that Covid wiped out, and for the first time she felt relief instead of disappointment. She picked up a design certification, messed around in Figma building app mockups, and realized tech w...

Mortgage lender opens up about losing his oldest son, the blood drive he runs in his memory, and why donated blood gave their family 21 years. He grew up a sports nut, became a church league legend, and tried to walk on at Western Kentucky before reality hit. Then he had his first son at 20, walked into the hospital one person and walked out a different one. He learned mortgages in 1995 by getting...

Chase Hartwell left a 10-year Google career to build a Nashville photo and video company with nearly 500 clients. The business started with him photographing 13-inch Star Wars figures in front of his TV to wake his passion for photography back up. That turned into real estate gigs on Fiverr, then restaurants, then food, then video, then filming Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC for American Dream TV. A...

Lindsay Fitz spent 20 years crushing it in TV, won an Emmy at the Beijing Olympics, and now gets to do her dream job running celebrity partnerships at Best Friends Animal Society. She grew up in Oklahoma, went to Oklahoma State, and chased the New York dream right after graduation. She landed the legendary NBC Page Program, hung with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, covered politics during one of NB...

Luke Wilson, two months into his new role at the Alzheimer's Association, gets into Paint the Town Purple, the new diagnostic tests, and why caregivers carry the load nobody sees. Luke grew up in Colorado with a pastor dad and a grandma who ran a PBS workout show for seniors. He came to Nashville through tech sales, did two years in corporate, and figured out it wasn't the life.  What's wild is th...

Two best friends turned a living-room hangout into A Girl and a Gay — 21 pieces of content a week and a real community in under three months.   Jacqueline Sposito and Japheth Franco met at a party through a mutual friend and clicked immediately. Same birthday month, same dark hair, even the last guys they were dating both had J names. But the deeper similarities — Japheth being bullied for being g...

This week Trent sits down in studio with Adam Tanaka — entrepreneur, inventor, speaker, TEDx alum, and one of those rare humans whose whole life and work is rooted in a single mission: reconcile with the kid you used to be. Adam's story doesn't start with the wins. It starts in a small West Tennessee town with a mom battling addiction, a dad working nonstop to keep the lights on, and a little boy...

Patrick Sisk talks comedy, family, road life, and his May 27 show at Hop Springs in Murfreesboro. In this episode of the Spread the Positive podcast, Trent sits down with Patrick Sisk, also known as the Bowling Ball of Comedy. Patrick shares how he went from growing up in Nashville, working in ministry and with kids, moving to Orlando, and finally getting back on stage after his wife pushed him to...

This episode of the Spread The Positive Podcast features an incredibly inspiring conversation with Dustin Reinmann , Co-Founder and CEO of Kalos Dwellings Dustin shares his powerful journey through entrepreneurship, faith, leadership, and building a company centered around purpose and impact. What started as a vision for creating unforgettable vacation experiences has grown into something much big...

In this episode of the Spread The Positive Podcast , Trent sits down with Rick Heagarty for an inspiring conversation about entrepreneurship, leadership, and building businesses that solve real problems. Rick shares his journey, the lessons he has learned along the way, and how faith, purpose, and persistence have shaped the way he leads and serves. Rick is connected to 615 Design Group , a Middle...

In this episode of the Spread The Positive Podcast , Trent sits down with Max Foster , founder of Foster Entertainment , for a wild and inspiring conversation about music, entrepreneurship, and building unforgettable live experiences in Nashville. Max shares how a childhood love for guitar turned into a career path rooted in music business, artist management, and live event production . From growi...

In this STP 1200 Club spotlight, Ron Orr of 4TH SQUARE shares a powerful story about faith, purpose, and building people up through business coaching. 4TH SQUARE helps entrepreneurs and teams uncover their builder talents , get clarity on their vision, and move from ideas to action with practical coaching, mastermind groups, and strategic support.  What you'll hear in this episode: How Ron's faith...

Big episode: Trent introduces the people who are helping turn years of hustle into a sustainable, scalable mission. Hear the story of how this team formed, why their skills matter, and what the new approach means for the future of Spread The Positive. In this episode we go behind the scenes with Trent to introduce the leaders who will help take our mission to the next level. You'll hear: the origi...

Join us on this episode of Spread The Positive as we sit down with Dallas Jackson , founder of Tipsee Music , who's building an exciting new platform that connects singer/songwriters, artists, venues, and live-music fans. Dallas shares his journey from musician to music-tech founder, the problem Tipsee solves for independent artists & venue owners, how Nashville's scene inspired the idea, and prac...

Join us for an insightful STP 1200 Club Spotlight with Katherine Ellis , founder of Data Wise Admin . Katherine walks through how smart data practices, systems automation, and clean reporting free business owners from busywork so they can focus on growth and serving customers. Whether you run a small business, nonprofit, or manage multiple teams, this episode is packed with practical tips to get m...

Join us for an inspiring STP 1200 Club spotlight with Tyler Haynes, founder of Legacy Performance Group. Tyler breaks down the mindset, systems, and daily habits that drive sustained personal and team performance — whether you're an entrepreneur, small-business owner, or leader looking to level up. Listen as Tyler shares his journey, practical strategies for consistency and accountability, and rea...