Brittany Stevens - Smyrna Spotlights: Journey Through Local Smyrna

By Mary Esther Reed, Smyrna Mayor

The Learning Circle, Owner

Welcome to the Town of Smyrna. Im Mary Esther Reed and it is my privilege to serve as the Mayor of this great community. I have lived here my entire life and have watched our community grow from 4,500 residents to over 50,000. Being Mayor is a part-time position in Smyrna; my full-time job is as a small business owner.

I believe every business is a key contributor to a healthy local economy, but small businesses are the backbone of communities across this country. Smyrna is a vibrant, growing community, but remains a small Town at heart. As Mayor, it is important to me that our Town leadership promotes and supports local businesses to foster connectivity and strengthen relationships here in Smyrna.

Small, locally owned businesses are unique and bring character to our community. But they are so much more. I believe that the foundation of a strong community is neighbor helping neighbor, and small businesses are an essential component of this foundation. These entrepreneurs are the ones who support local events, local schools, local non-profits and foster new and old traditions that create and maintain our small-Town charm. Small business owners have planted roots in Smyrna, weaving themselves into the fabric of our community, making residents and visitors feel welcome. My hope is that our current residents and those moving to our Town choose to plant their roots here because they feel connected and want to be a part of our wonderful community. I invite each of you to the Town of Smyrna so you can see what a vibrant community we have planted and continue to grow.

I am what you would call a born and bred local, having had the incredible fortune of living my entire life in Smyrna, Tennessee. I grew up here, eventually co-founding a law practice with my brother, Robert, and have been very involved in my church and the community, as well as in the nonprofit space, for as long as I can remember. To put it simply, Smyrna is my home. This community has been so wonderful to myself and my family. Ive also enjoyed having a front row seat to the innovation driving the exponential growth taking place in our town, thanks in large part to many of the individuals featured throughout this book.

My intention and overall purpose for this book is to educate and inspire each of us to be more intentional with our spending habits and to support our local businesses as much as possible, all in order to preserve our small (but growing!) towns uniqueness.

As of this publication, I am Court Clerk for the Town of Smyrna. I was first elected in 2016 and have proudly held the seat ever since. That said, I never set out to run for public office. Prior to my current role, I enjoyed my (very) private citizen status as a practicing attorney. However, when there came an immediate need for someone to fill the seat due to a sudden vacancy, I said a prayer, took a leap of faith, and stepped up to serve my community. Serving in this capacity has been the highest honor of my professional career to date, and I will always be grateful to my constituents for giving me this amazing opportunity. My elected position has provided me a platform I may not have otherwise had, and I strive to use my platform in a positive manner that inspires, uplifts, and empowers others. Also, I hope to encourage others to give back and support our local community as much as possible: to shop local, buy local, eat local, play local you get the idea. There are many social benefits to supporting small and local businessesand I promise youll learn about them throughout this book. Namely, our small businesses give back to the community and fuel our local economy. They flavor our community and serve as the fabric of our small towns story. These are the businesses that step up to sponsor our Little League teams and show up to support our local nonprofits. In fact, through the Clerks for Coats coat drive, several of the small businesses spotlighted throughout this book have helped the Smyrna Court Clerks Office collect nearly 1,000 winter clothing donations over the last four years, all for children in our very own community.

I could go on and on about the value of these businesses and their stories, but thats what this book is about: Ill let these inspiring business owners share their unique stories all in their own words.

Why publish this book to showcase some of our small businesses, and why now? As much as these businesses have helped our community, we all know theyve recently needed our support more than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic tragically shattered many small and local businesses, and it did so on a global scale. Smyrnas economy was no exception. So although Ive done my best to use my platform to promote the importance of supporting local businesses over the years, I knew I had to do more when our businesses took a hit. I genuinely wanted to do more. When thinking about how to accomplish something for our town, I came back to the fact that I identify as a lifelong learner and voracious reader, reading between 50-100 books each yearprimarily nonfiction books on law, business development, and personal development. The concept of writing a book to spotlight some of our amazing local business leaders came from marrying my immense love for reading and my dream of someday publishing my own book. Hence, Smyrna Spotlights: Journey Through Local Smyrna was born.

There are so many fabulous small businesses right here in Smyrna. I proudly call many of the individuals featured throughout this book my dear friends. They are entrepreneurs, innovators, path-breaking pioneers, and idealists whove been bold enough to manifest the American Dream of launching an independent business and executing their vision to make their community, and indeed the world, a better place. Their stories are powerful, and will transform your beliefs on what it takes to own and operate a small business in the post-COVID-19 world.

Smyrna Spotlights is a celebration of our small businesses in Smyrna: a celebration of community cultivation, the resiliency to persist when times get tough, an unwavering dedication to our neighbors life work and overall missions. It is a celebration of the journey inspiring millions in local communities all around the world via the movement to #SupportLocal, and so much more.

I hope you are just as inspired by our neighbors incredible entrepreneurial journeys as I am. So, sit back, relax, grab a cup of coffee from one of our superb local cafes, and join me in this captivating journey through local Smyrna, spotlighting some of our towns locally owned small businesses. And when youre done reading, please be sure to support our local businesses and share their stories with your friends, families, and networks. We must all do our part to support our small businesses in order for them to survive.

Lastly, in wrapping up this introduction, I should mention that the net proceeds from this book will be donated to local nonprofits. Now, lets begin our journey.