Exploring the Valley

He asked to be the one who got laid off, then turned that moment into a 25-plus-year business story. We’re sitting down with Rob Atema, a lifelong builder of teams and systems who went from diesel technology and heavy equipment work to founding Rivertop Contracting, a commercial landscape management and landscape construction company serving large properties across the Asheville area. If you’ve ev...

He went from a business career and a steady paycheck to $400 a month and an extra bedroom, all because he couldn’t shake the pull toward ministry. We’re talking with Josh Grant, pastor at Brookstone Church’s East Asheville campus, about what that kind of leap costs, what it gives back, and how a calling gets tested in real life. We also get practical about what it looks like to build community in...

You can feel it when someone is truly from a place, not just living there, but carrying its stories, its people, and its rhythms. We’re joined by Courtney King, a Swannanoa native with a career path that proves you don’t need a perfect plan to build a meaningful life. We talk about growing up in Swannanoa, graduating from Owen, and how a mountain town stays stitched together through family, famili...

You can learn a lot about a town by looking at how it treats people when life gets hard. We sit down with Savanna Craig, assistant director at Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry (SVCM), to talk about what community support actually looks like in Black Mountain, NC and the wider Swannanoa Valley and why it works when it’s built on relationships, consistency, and real cooperation. Savanna shares he...

You can feel the moment a “normal” life stops fitting and a bigger idea starts pushing back. We sit down with Kathryn "Kat" Rudasil to trace the path from North Carolina roots to a full year of international travel and back again, where a mix of real estate grit and hospitality instinct turns into two standout destinations in Western North Carolina: a glamping camp in Marion and Perry So...

A store can be more than shelves and prices. Sometimes it’s a place where you notice who looks tired today, who’s celebrating, and who might need a little help and where you quietly know exactly who to call if you can’t be that help yourself. That’s the heart of our conversation with Danette Hopey of Hopey & Co., one of the most talked-about local grocery stores in Black Mountain, North Caroli...

You can tell a lot about a town by what happens when you show up every week. We’re joined by Ted Rausch, this year’s Rotary president, to talk about how a life of constant moving (Army brat, preacher’s kid, Army officer) shapes your values and your need for community, and why Black Mountain, NC finally feels like a place to put down roots. We swap local favorites too, from Flat Creek and the Green...

Raleigh can feel far away right up until your road washes out, your business paperwork stalls, or disaster recovery turns into a maze. We’re joined by North Carolina State Representative Eric Ager, a Fairview native and former Navy helicopter pilot, to talk about what state-level leadership looks like when Western North Carolina needs results, not headlines. Eric shares his story from growing up o...

You can learn a lot about a place by listening to someone who has loved it for decades, then chose to serve it on purpose. We’re joined by Glenn Cox, a Swannanoa Valley local with deep family roots and a lifetime of stories that stretch from Atlanta summers to a full-time home in the mountains, complete with a reservoir view toward Craggy and the Blue Ridge Parkway that still feels unreal.  We als...

A local business owner pulls you aside at dinner and says, “We want you to take ownership.” That’s the moment Jessica Gruver and her now-husband Nathan step into a life-changing decision: buying Black Mountain Handyman and leading a team that homeowners across Black Mountain, Montreat, and Swannanoa already trust with their houses and their to-do lists.  We talk with Jessica about the real mechani...

She packed up her life, moved to the mountains days after graduation, and jumped into a Chamber of Commerce job that didn’t even come with a neat little job description. That’s the kind of real world leap we love, and it’s why our conversation with Sophie Sullivan feels so relatable for anyone starting over in a new place. We talk with Sophie about growing up in a tiny farming town in northwest In...

They came to the mountains to be close to their daughters at summer camp and left with something way bigger: a new sense of home in Black Mountain, North Carolina, plus an “accidental” house purchase that might change everything. We sit down with Lisa to talk about what happens when a family from Wilmington starts spending more than a weekend in the Swannanoa Valley and realizes the place isn’t ju...

You can tell a lot about a town by the people who quietly keep it moving and by the ones who choose to come back after trying somewhere else. We’re talking with Wesley Barker, a lifelong North Carolinian who grew up in Ash County, took a detour through the Durham and Chapel Hill area for public service work, and then made a fast return to the mountains when he realized “not home” is a real feeling...

You can live near a place for years and still realize you’ve never actually seen it. That’s the moment that hits when Judy Schuford talks about finally taking a real tour of Swannanoa and walking away convinced we all need to show up, spend locally, and help the rebuild keep moving. We start with Judy’s personal story, from Monroe, Georgia to Chapel Hill, then a long arc that brings her back to Mo...

A place can hold more history than we realize until someone walks us through it with names, dates, and stories that snap the whole landscape into focus. That’s what happens when we sit down with Leigh Maher, longtime event producer at Lake Eden in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and one of the people who helped shape what so many of us think of when we hear “LEAF Festival.” From a childhood in a W...

Fresh seafood in the mountains sounds like a contradiction until you hear how it actually works. We’re catching up with Carolyn Bajesse, a St. Thomas native who found her way back to Black Mountain, North Carolina and stepped into ownership of Black Mountain Seafood, one of the most practical, community-rooted small businesses in town.  We talk through the real behind-the-scenes logistics of getti...

Your neighbor town can feel a mile away, until someone tells you the truth in a parking lot. We sit down with Brian Burpo, a Black Mountain local and the owner of Diamondback 4x4 in Swannanoa, to talk about how communities really connect and why small details like names, websites, and who you include in the story can change everything for local pride and local tourism. We get into what people come...

A teenager walks into a coffee shop and the staff already knows his name. That sounds small, but for a neurodivergent kid trying to rebuild confidence, it can be life-changing. We sit down with Brandon Moffitt, a licensed clinician and the founder and executive director of Black Mountain Academy, to talk about what happens when a school and a town work together to create real belonging for high sc...

An 80-year-old furniture store doesn’t last by accident, especially in a town that’s changing as fast as Black Mountain, North Carolina. I’m sitting down with Olivia Tyson Warren, a Black Mountain native and third generation leader at Tyson Furniture, to trace the real story behind a legacy business that started in 1946 and still earns deep trust today. We talk about the early pivot that shaped th...

A new director walks into town and decides the best way to learn it is to get outside with everyone else. We’re joined by Jacob Guiot, Black Mountain’s Director of Recreation and Parks, who’s only a few weeks into the role but already deep in the details that shape daily life here, from youth sports and community spaces to the events that bring the whole town together. Jacob shares the long road t...

A town can carry grief in its buildings and still be ready for a comeback, and Swannanoa, NC is proving it. We’re joined by Daniel Lancaster, founder of Short Sleeves Coffee, to talk about turning a 1920s gas station into a specialty coffee shop and community gathering place. Along the way, we trace the deeper story of Beacon Blankets, mill homes, and what happens when a factory closes, a fire end...

Fireworks look effortless from a blanket on the grass, but the work behind them is anything but. We’re joined by Jim Wright, better known as “Pyro Wright,” a local licensed pyrotechnician who’s bringing professional fireworks to Black Mountain and Swannanoa and explaining what most people never see: the rules, the risk, the planning, and the pride that go into doing it right. We talk about Jim’s p...

A 3:45 a.m. dispatch. Flames pushing out of the Beacon Plant. And a chief who still talks about service like it’s personal because it is. We sit down with Swannanoa Fire Chief Anthony Penlin, a Swannanoa native who started as a volunteer firefighter in 1990 and never stopped showing up. His story is equal parts leadership, local history, and the quiet grit it takes to wear the uniform year after y...

A place can change you when it removes the noise and gives you something real to pay attention to. That’s why our conversation with Greg Hall at YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly stuck with us: he’s building conference and retreat experiences that feel less like “another event” and more like a reset for your brain and your relationships. Greg shares his journey from growing up in northern Kentucky to becom...

A new town can make you feel invisible, even when you’re surrounded by friendly faces and beautiful views. We talk with Elaine Looney, the new executive director of Black Mountain Counseling Center, about the real nuts-and-bolts of starting over: the “where do I get coffee” questions, the comfort routines that make a place feel like home, and the surprising ways a community can help you belong fas...