(upbeat music) - On the next episode of It's Your Business.

We see what it takes to bring small towns to life.

And we also learn how a beautiful smile can spark newfound confidence in anyone.

Join us right here for another incredible episode of It's Your Business.

(uplifting music) - [Voiceover] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

- [Narrator] It's Your Business with Michael Aikens is brought to you by WCTE PBS and the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation.

With funding provided by the Rural Reimagined Grand Challenge and the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

- The idea of starting your own business can bring along with it many fears and uncertainties that can prevent you from taking that big step.

It can also feel like you're facing that big step on your own, which makes the choice to go for it even more difficult and daunting.

But we hope to help you see that you don't have to make the journey on your own.

Join us as we connect you with many resources to help you along your entrepreneurial journey and learn from business owners who have been in your shoes.

(upbeat music) The idea of a simpler, less chaotic life seems to be strong in demand these days, and this demand is helping people to see the charm in small town life.

This demand has brought about a resurgence in town squares and small communities across the Upper Cumberland, but this doesn't happen by accident.

There are many people who help bring these town squares and communities back to life, like Ferran Kefauver of Cookeville CityScape.

After her dedication to being a full-time mother for 10 years, she saw a chance to step in and make a difference in the growing community that she loves and calls home.

(calming guitar music) We're here in Cookeville, Tennessee talking with Ferran Kefauver, Executive Director of CityScape.

Ferran, welcome to the show.

- Thank you for having me.

I'm really excited.

- Well, we're so excited to have you.

Let's get started with the basics.

CityScape, what is it?

Tell us about it.

- Yes, so CityScape is a non-profit organization.

We're a 501 C3, and we are an accredited Main Street association.

So the purpose of a Main Street community is to keep the livelihood and the history of the downtown communities.

So with people moving across the country, discovering what a beautiful place this is, and Cookeville's one of the fastest growing cities in Tennessee.

And so one of the things that we do as a Main Street community is we try to keep those small town values while also bringing in that high level talent.

And ways we do that are through the preservation and the renovation of these downtown businesses.

- Well, so there's a lot to unpack there.

You know, we talk about facades.

Obviously it's really important to, you know, have a really good looking community, have a great looking business, but what does that really mean to the business and also to the community?

Why would you wanna do this?

- Sure.

So if you've been to other areas, you've seen places like Franklin or, you know, even what Lebanon is doing in their square, and they're getting these grant dollars and they're getting all these businesses to come in and really invest in that.

And it's making those downtown communities away from necessarily the commercialization of a restaurant row here in Cookeville, for example.

And there's these small businesses and there's this feel downtown that is just, I call it Hallmark-esque.

It's very Hallmark.

And you get this experience when you're downtown, especially here in Cookeville.

And it brings in people to provide their tourism dollars to our community, which helps us thrive and succeed.

And also it brings people to want to live here.

I mean, selfishly, I'm hoping that Cookeville can create this feeling where my kids grow up, they go off to college, they realize, "Oh yeah, I wanna grow my family back in Cookeville," so I get to spend time with my grand babies someday.

- Well, you know, you talked also about a balance between those small town values and that feel versus, you know, growth.

How do you toe that line and really work to make that balance?

That's gotta be hard.

- Yeah, luckily it's not all on our shoulders.

We work really well with other aspects of the community.

For example, we work really closely with the Chamber and with Visit Cookeville, we're working closely with tech and the hospital and so many other partners, city government, county government, to kind of bring those things together.

And everybody collaborates and works really well together.

I feel like Cookeville is so unique in that we go to other towns and I go to conferences and I hear, "Well, we don't work well with this person, or this person is territorial over this," and we just don't have that here in Cookeville.

I think everybody does a really good job of like, cheering one another on and working together to make that happen.

So that's multifaceted through a lot of different agencies here in Cookeville.

And I'm just thankful that I get to be a part of that.

- Well, you know, you mentioned tourism.

Clearly tourism is an important part of Tennessee.

It's actually the number two industry in the state.

Cookeville needs tourism.

We have tourism.

But why is that so important?

I mean, you mentioned that, you know, obviously they're bringing in dollars, but what does that really mean for the community?

- It brings us so much more livelihood.

I mean, the tourism dollars obviously equate to our tax dollars, which equates to a better school system and to better roads and all the things that make Cookeville really great.

And if we're bringing that in, it's people who want to play here, but it's not who want to live here necessarily, which, you know, we wanna keep it small.

We don't want everybody to live here.

So I think it's so important that we have those tourism dollars so that we can, you know, make gains from those people without overcrowding and having these problems that say, Nashville, you know, or Knoxville is having.

- So, you mentioned play here.

And you do some events as well.

Tell us about those events.

- Yeah, so one of our biggest events that we do is Fall Fun Fest.

And that's probably what we're best known for.

It is a free event for the community.

We shut down the town square and there's live music.

This year for the first time we had free bounce houses for the kids.

We have Stations of Imagination with WCTE that come all day on Saturday and just put on this fantastic event where kids can just play all day long.

There's live music from the main stage happening.

There's vendors, there's food and beverage, there's just so much for everybody at this event.

Last year we had over 10,000 people visit us on the town square.

Our headliner was Shenandoah and the whole square was just packed with people.

It was a really fun feel.

Friday night was tech night.

We had a glow parade.

But it's just a free event for the community.

Just a way to say thank you to the community, but also just to bring people out and give people something to do.

It kind of boosts our spirits and makes us want to be a part of this amazing community.

- I wanna focus on Ferran for just a little bit.

So you're doing events, you're helping tourism, you're helping facades and businesses.

How are you managing all this?

- Well, I have a board of this year, 19 people, that is, I say they're a working board.

Some boards, you know, you go to meetings, and you kind of check out.

But this board this year, in my first year, I'm almost at the year mark, and they have been amazing just to really pick up where I'm falling apart, you know, or just missing something and really put in the work.

They're there when I do events.

Gosh, they're there 10:00 PM to, you know, showing up at 6:00 AM.

So, they're really helping me out a ton.

So they're amazing.

- And this board, they're not compensated.

So these are people that truly see the vision of what CityScape is doing and want to help out with that.

You know, when you have a board of 19 people, they're not paid, when you have businesses that you're advocating for, when you have events that you've got to execute, I think that leadership is an incredibly important part of it.

Without leadership, it's not gonna happen.

So tell me a little bit about your approach to leader.

What kind of a leader are you?

- Well, that's a great question.

I wouldn't have considered myself so much of a leader, I guess up until this point, potentially.

I feel like I'm the type of person who's very action driven.

So I'm not somebody who's really gonna say, go do this or go do this, but maybe come alongside me and do this kind of thing.

I always say I would be a really bad boss if I had a staff under me because I would always say, maybe if you want to, you could do this.

I'm not extremely pushy, but I do, I love what I'm doing.

And so I think it makes it easy to lead and it makes it easy for me to be excited and those people around me to see my excitement in that and wanna join in, I hope.

That's kind of, I guess, the way I choose to lead, or the way that it happens naturally.

- Well, it's a truly authentic approach.

So my understanding is, bringing it back almost a year ago when you started, you had done some things before then, but you had one of the most important and difficult jobs before that as a mother.

What have you taken from being a mother, leader of the family, CEO of the family?

What have you taken from that and instilled into your work here?

- Sure.

So I was at home with my kids for almost 10 years, working part-time here and there before I came here.

And it's surprising what a no sleep four month old can teach you.

But I think I learned from that season is that one, things go very fast.

Everything's kind of a blink, so if you're in a hard season, it will probably change in a few weeks or months or whatever that is.

And the second thing is just patience and kind of sitting back and not panicking.

So especially in events, I guess that's extremely important.

But you know, our first event last year was Taste of the Town, and I was very fresh on the job, and it called for rain all weekend, so.

But I think through motherhood and all the things that I learned through that, I didn't panic.

I just thought, well, this is the hand we've been dealt, and we're gonna figure it out.

So, I guess maybe a figure it out mentality and a little bit of patience and grit there, as well.

- So, circling back around to the businesses and CityScape in general, what do you see right now that rural businesses need to survive and thrive?

- I think what I'm seeing is that people need to be noticed.

And I think people need to feel supported, especially where we're at.

We have so many people here that are really working hard to make Cookeville better, and working hard for the betterment of others, and not necessarily for selfish gains.

But I think people need to be noticed and they need to be encouraged.

That's something I'm noticing and hearing when I'm talking to business owners, you know, on this downtown west side area.

- Well, to that point, what would you tell local leaders, regional leaders, state leaders, maybe even federal leaders, what would you tell them about what those businesses need?

- I think I would tell those leaders that what we need in the small towns is we need to be noticed.

And when those grant dollars come up, they need to look at communities who haven't received those before.

And they need to look at places who are actually doing something.

And I know Cookeville looks wonderful and kind of like a shining star on the outside, but people are working, and what is it they say about a duck?

You know, looks smooth and calm on the top, and paddling furiously underneath.

And that's what people here in Cookeville are doing.

And I think they need to be noticed and they need to be given the opportunities to do something with those funds.

And I also think that people need to be made aware of what's available to them.

- Well Ferran, this has been a great conversation.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much for having me.

(calming guitar music) - Usually the first thing people see when meeting someone is their smile.

But for some their smile can be a source of insecurity and lead to a lack of confidence.

And that is why the best part of Dr. Carmen Quirk's job is to make those smiles brighter and bring confidence back into the lives of the people that she serves.

She has helped people of all ages feel better about their teeth and give them the confidence to meet people with a great big smile.

Dr. Quirk and her partner now have two offices in the Upper Cumberland and use their skills and knowledge of braces and invisible liners to help make the process of making a brighter smile as easy and painless as possible.

(upbeat music) We're here in Cookeville, Tennessee talking with Dr. Carmen Quirk, co-owner of Quirk and Wheeler Orthodontics.

Carmen, welcome to the show.

- Thank you so much.

I'm thrilled to be here.

- Well, we're thrilled to have you here.

So let's start out with the basics.

Tell us about your business.

What do you do here?

- We do orthodontics, which is either alignment of teeth with braces, or with clear aligner therapy.

- So, you are a doctor of dentistry.

Tell us a little bit about your education.

- Well, I'm a dentist by trade.

So in order to become a dentist, you go to school for undergrad, then you go to dental school.

I specialized after dental school and became an orthodontist.

So all I practice here is orthodontics.

- So what made you think, "I wanna do orthodontics?"

What led you to this?

- That's a long story.

Let me give you the quick version.

When I was in school, I always kinda had a sense that I wanted to specialize in dentistry.

So as a dentist, you can do lots of different things.

You can do crowns, you can do implants, you can do bridges, all of those dental terms that people know about.

I'm the kind of person who, I like to be really good at one thing.

And so throughout school I was kind of trying to figure out what that one thing might be.

And orthodontics is like a puzzle and art mixed together with some science.

And so that's really what drew me to it.

- Well, it's gotta be satisfying, too, to start out with a patient that, you know, needs some type of alignment and being able to be with them the whole way through and see that to the end.

- Yes, the joy of what I get to do is I get to watch kids grow up and I get to create beautiful smiles in the process.

- What I'm also curious about is, you know, this is not a typical type of business that we have on the show.

You know, we have a lot of retail, we've done music festivals, we've done all kinds of interesting things, but not usually in the healthcare.

And what I find very interesting is that the patients that you have, your "customers," quote unquote, you are with them for quite a while through their journey through alignment, right?

Whereas, you know, other businesses, sure, they'll have repeat customers.

You know, they'll come to Meg's Bread and get bread all the time.

But that's a whole different relationship.

So what does it really mean to you as a business owner to be able to see that relationship through?

- I think it means everything.

It's why I come to work every single day.

So you're right, I get to spend an average of two years watching a small human grow up and mature into what hopefully will be a thriving adult.

And so there's something special about that magic where we get to connect over time, build relationships with people and their families, too.

Because we get to know not just the patient who tends to be a teenager, but also mom and dad and sister and brother, and that's really, really cool.

- How are you, as a business owner, how are you really putting the word out?

How do you get the patients in the door?

- That's a great question.

Our favorite way to get patients is word of mouth.

We want people to love their braces experience so much that they share that with their friends, and then that generates interest in their friends and they're talking about us and then they come.

That's probably the most perfect scenario.

- And I would imagine it's also, once you get them in the door, it's like you said, it's that experience, and making the best experiences possible.

Now, you said something earlier too, you said you make beautiful smiles.

Why is that so important for somebody to be able to smile and have a really great, nice smile?

- I think that a smile is the first thing that people see.

So when you're out in town and you're shopping and you're going about your day, you make eye contact first, and then you smile at someone and say hello.

So your smile is the first thing that you're presenting to the world.

- And you're allowing really people to have confidence.

And especially being a teenager, like you said, it's a lot of your clientele.

You know, having that confidence, especially during that time, is gonna be so important for their growth and their development as well.

- You know, you saying that makes me think back to when I had braces, and I totally transformed as a human between those two years of my life.

So you can say maybe it was the braces, maybe it would've happened without them.

I think that the transformation that happened was that much more beautiful because I became more confident in my smile and in myself throughout those years.

- Absolutely.

And you know, I had a very similar situation as well.

Unfortunately, it took a lot longer than two years, but I got through it, and of course I had that confident smile after.

So you mentioned before we started the interview that you've been doing this for about five years.

Which if you do the math on that, that makes 2019.

So that's right before the pandemic.

You got outta school, you started doing orthodontics, then the pandemic hit.

How did you deal with this?

- Interestingly, my business partner was the first case of COVID in Cumberland County.

So we were in shock mode when the rollout and shutdowns and lockdowns and all of that happened, and it was just kind of, how do we survive this new novel thing that's never happened before?

So I was here every single day with one teammate and we would rotate if we were at this practice, we also have a practice up in Crossville.

We would rotate where we were and we'd see people via FaceTime because we weren't allowed to see them in person.

So I did a lot of FaceTime emergency appointments.

Thank goodness for Facebook because there are networks that I'm a part of on there, and there were other orthodontists sharing how they were helping their patients through with braces remotely.

That was an interesting time for sure.

It was novel.

I never would've imagined going through that at that time.

- I don't think any of us could.

But you know, I think moving forward, you know, on a more positive note, here you are five years in, you've got this beautiful place here.

I love the facility.

So, in thinking about running a business, so you're a doctor, you are a dentist, you know, you're an orthodontist, right?

But you're also a business woman as well.

First of all, how did you learn business?

I mean, when you're specializing in teeth, how do you make that transition to business as well?

- I was really fortunate growing up.

Both my parents owned small businesses, so my dad owns a company that he runs out of his house, and then my mom is a pharmacist and she owned Sparta Discount Drugs in Sparta, which her dad opened.

And so I kind of got to watch them growing up, manage payroll, manage purchasing, and I was constantly listening and paying attention.

- So when you were going through dental school, was the goal always to have your own business or did you just want to become the orthodontist and see where it went?

- When I was in school, the focus was just, how do I become a doctor at a craft that I love to do and how do I do it the best way I possibly can?

The opportunity to be a business owner actually came about naturally.

I was hesitant at first because there's a lot of responsibility in owning a business and managing a team and all of those sorts of things.

But because of my background, I wasn't afraid of it.

So I didn't shy away from it.

But I wouldn't say that it's something that I hard pursued while I was in school.

I had classmates who knew from day one, "I'm gonna own my own practice that will have my name on the front."

That's it.

You know?

But I wasn't necessarily that way.

- You were really in it for the transformational smiles and being a dentist.

So, you hit the nail on the head just a minute ago.

There are so many responsibilities in owning a business.

So you've got patients, you've got a team, you've got books, you've got all the things that are required in a business.

How are you balancing this as a doctor and a businesswoman?

- I surround myself with people who support me, so I don't do it all alone and I don't do it all, and I don't do it all well.

So because I don't do it all well, I give away the things that I'm weakest at, and I lean on people who are strong.

I have a phenomenal accountant.

Accounting is not my strong suit, even though my dad is an accountant, it just doesn't come to me naturally.

So, those sorts of things.

Yep.

- Well, you know, running the business as a doctor, you also are a mom.

You've got a family.

How are you balancing businesswoman, doctor, and family?

How do you do this?

- Well, I also have a wonderful husband, so he takes care of our daughter during the day.

His mom was a teacher for 20 years, and so she specializes in early childhood education, so we're constantly on FaceTime with her and we balance it that way.

- And you just make it work.

Like everybody else.

- Right?

Exactly.

- Well, so moving forward, you know, you've been doing this five years, again, beautiful facility here.

You've got two facilities.

I didn't realize.

You've got one in Crossville, one here in Cookeville.

What's the future hold for Quirk and Wheeler?

- I think right now, because I'm pregnant, the future is how do we just continue to balance the things that you just talked about?

Usually in my life, I have a big picture plan that I'm striving for.

Right now, it's how do we keep the business healthy and continue to take care of patients in the best way possible.

- Well, and that's the most important part right there.

So, last question for you.

This is my favorite question to ask.

Thinking about when it all started five years ago, what do you know right now that you wish you knew then?

- If I were to go back and talk to myself five years ago, I would sit myself down and I would say, "You don't have to be perfect at everything, so just take away that pressure and be good at taking care of patients the way you know how to take care of them.

With orthodontics.

Straighten their teeth, love on them, give them the beautiful smile that they're searching for and everything else will fall into place."

- And what a wonderful thing to say as well.

Carmen, thank you so much for being on the show.

We really appreciate it.

- Thank you.

(uplifting music) (upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Andrea Kruszka and I'm the Assistant Director for the Center for Rural Innovation at Tennessee Tech University.

Our big mission is to help rural communities improve their quality of life using things like economic development, tourism, community branding, and any kind of resources we can provide through Tennessee Tech to help.

The services we provide at the Center for Rural Innovation are no cost, and we help everyone from small businesses, chambers of commerce, and even county governments.

One of the main ways we help small businesses is through technical assistance.

This comes through us a lot of different creative ways.

We do photography, whether that's product, event, head shots, anything you could need.

We do content creation, we do a lot of graphic design, and if you need a brand, we're the ones to call.

One of our biggest initiatives is branding, because when you're getting started as a small business, you need to build your own identity and your customers need to be able to figure out who you are, what you do, and how you can help them.

That's something we're great at helping with.

We've got a huge range of graphic design students just waiting to help you pick out a color palette, figure out your target customer, and then create a logo, and anything else you need to go with it.

In addition to small businesses, we do a lot of work with communities including tourism branding, because being able to tell your story is how you get visitors in and how you get those tax dollars we all desperately need.

We'll come to your community, do workshops, work directly with your residents to figure out who you are and how to tell that story.

In addition, for small businesses and communities, we can do economic impact studies.

If you're not familiar with what that is, we can help a business or community figure out the rippling economic effects of things like events, tourism assets, and small businesses.

Just like everything else, the impact analyses are free, and that's something that could cost you up to $150,000 or more.

To get started with this and much more, visit the Business Resource Collective website.

- Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope that you've learned that entrepreneurship doesn't have to be a scary venture when you have the necessary resources for success at your fingertips.

If you would like more information on today's topics, please visit the WCTE website, and to learn more about free small business resources and expert assistance, visit the Business Resource Collective website.

Until next time, I'm Michael Aikens.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] It's Your Business with Michael Aikens is brought to you by WCTE PBS and the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation with funding provided by the Rural Reimagined Grand Challenge and the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

(upbeat music) - [Voiceover] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.