Over the past week, my wife and I decided to treat ourselves to an extended weekend in Asheville. We hadn’t been on a vacation just us since before before kids and needed a getaway BAD!
Now this is going to, in a way, be a two-part blog. In the next blog, I will get into the relationship benefits of this trip, especially for couples with kids.
For now though, I would love to share with you one of the first major impressions I got from our visit in Asheville.
Asheville was overflowing with hard-working, happy individuals in basically every establishment around the area. And not just the fake “my employee handbook tells me to smile” happy. I’m talking people that are so happy and excited that it is practically contagious.
With that, these workers loved discussing the business culture of the area and what makes the businesses they work for so unique. I see that here and there elsewhere, but in Asheville it seemed to be the case everywhere.
I did do a little research online and Asheville is not a place that is without worker shortages. When I looked it up, I found plenty of big name businesses that are still having struggles just like anywhere else in the world.
I believe that is the point though.
For the most part, Asheville is overran by small, locally owned and locally sourced businesses.
Every worker we ran into was more than thrilled to tell you a vision that was shared by just about everyone we ran into.
They would say how they personally LOVED the owner of the company that they work for. They prided themselves on the fact that the owner cares deeply about every single customer and employee there. You could feel that these people were loved and simply carrying in forward.
On top of boasting about the owner, they would discuss the culture of the area.
In Asheville, the community started as and continues to be a beacon of art. Everyone in the area is happy to tell you that if you want to pursue your passions, this is one of the best places to do it. There are so many niche businesses and they all lift up and support one another.
Each business can name every material and ingredient used at their facility, where it came from locally, the story of the supplying company, and even what companies they are supporting themselves.
Cincinnati (where I live) has a lot of local loyalty as well so I don’t want to take away from that. Being in Asheville was like being in another world though. It was simply on a level that I haven’t experienced.
It’s hard to put this experience into words. It was an energy in the air that you just felt everywhere you went.
All I know is that I want a piece of that joy. I want all my employees to taste that. The energy I felt and memory of those faces is something that I will used to guide me into the future.
If you have any other cities that you feel share this energy, I would love to hear from you! I need more of that in my life.
Feature Photo by PJ Frederick on Unsplash
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