Welcome to Remote Start Podcast!
June 20, 2022

E18: "It's Not Just a Bar. It's a Community" with Julia and Mark Goldthwaite owners of Asheville Guitar Bar

In this episode, I'm sitting with Mark and Julia from the Asheville Guitar Bar. It was the most welcoming, heartfelt bar I think I've ever been into. We came in here on mother's day, rode our bikes around town with the family, stumbled in here, and... See show notes at: https://www.remotestartpodcast.com/e18-its-not-just-a-bar-its-a-community-with-julia-and-mark-goldthwaite-owners-of-asheville-guitar-bar/#show-notes

In this episode, I'm sitting with Mark and Julia from the Asheville Guitar Bar. It was the most welcoming, heartfelt bar I think I've ever been into. We came in here on mother's day, rode our bikes around town with the family, stumbled in here, and immediately, I felt like family.

I want to share Mark and Julia's experience in this fantastic bar with the Remote Start Nation and tell them how we got started and what this is like for their owning business here in Asheville.

Mark got more background on being an entrepreneur. I hope that we can learn more from these experiences they have as they take us on their journey.

So, Remote Start Nation, get ready, and let's get into the show!

 

Learn more about Remote Start Podcast at:  https://www.remotestartpodcast.com/

Transcript

Jim: So alright, Remote Start Nation, welcome and I wanna thank you for joining us for another podcast. Today, I have such a special podcast to share with you, I'm sitting here with Mark and Julia from the Asheville guitar bar. Funny story leaning into it, we came in here from mother's day, ride our bikes around town with the family and stumbled in here and immediately I felt like family, it was the most welcoming, most heartfelt, just bar I think I've ever been into, Mark offered time there my son I hotdog, he's not a hot dog fan and tryna to definitely let you know that right from the start, and that kinda hit it off and I by the end of the time before we left I said, Mark, Julia, I'd love to have you on the podcast, this is such a cool experience we had, and I really wanted to share your experience in this awesome bar with the Remote Start Nation, and tell them how we got started and what this is like for you owning business here in Asheville, and Mark, I know you've got more background on being an entrepreneur, and so yeah, first of all welcome and thank you so much for taking the time to stay here with me today.

Julia: So kind of you, to come and start us things dig in, yeah.

Mark: I'm excited, yeah mother's, there was a guest, you know, that was great, it's great to help you and your family here, we totally promote families you know as much as possible, because kids to experience what's going on here.

Jim: And you could see that, there was other families here and everybody was having a good time lot of dancing going on, and the food and everything else was great.

Mark: Yeah, so we do have a two minimum for kids.

Jim: For kids? Yeah, well my feeling white taking advantage that one. So Mark, let's get started, so tell me about your entrepreneurial history and where you got started in the business.

Mark: Ironically, you're from Las Vegas, I was born Kent, Ohio, grew up with a lot of usage early and all my brothers and youngest fives, all my brothers from musicians, and they broke was some pretty famous people and was surrounded by a lot of famous musicians but I started playing bars very early and by the time I was getting a high school, I realized I needed to get out of town, you know, seventies were very dangerous just a lot of love of wasn't a very healthy situation, that so I have an opportunity to go University Nevada, Las Vegas a friend of mine's father was a professor at Kent State and said, listen if they come out you know, just I'll make sure you get residency, so you not gonna pay out of state.

Jim: That's huge too, that he's a much.

Mark: Well, back in 1976, it was about 395 dollars semester, so.

Jim: What do you think that be now?

Mark: Probably, six times, I would think, I don't know who the campus is trying, so. But I was in Art major at UNV and a week and you know I mean I was a at the time so I started I met up with a friend of mine from over city, she was minus school or two issues shoes seams and we started designing women's clothing and boutique it, a lot of the Las Vegas hotels, Chris maxim the MGM brand, few other flamingo and so on, so I got into designing prompt basically clothing and so on, so when I graduated from UNV, ended up in San Diego and I hooked up with some people in the surf industry, and it just took off from there and I became a t shirt, of the you know and from there moving from San Diego did some work in China and then support in Alabama and a eventually name or recruited dot, to Orlando quarter because I was done most of my business from Disney and Universal Studios far john's or trademark and so on, and then we moved to Asheville in 2006 and we do the company up here, when I say our companies, myself and my partners, and so we you know, built a pretty large company we salesforce and part group repair, and are muscular learn manufacturing in China so and just ruined and through we were pretty much company. 2013, that's decided that would stopping.

Jim: What was it that made the move to decide you were done, was it just kindawanna be more with family or…?

Mark: Well, you know a lot of it in our family is still in Florida, Julia has two sons, I have two dollars we have eight grandchildren down there, and you know a lot of it had to do with health reasons, you know really a lot of pressure, and it's 24/7, and you're dealing with nova overseas companies you know, you're dealing with calls skype, eleven thirty noon midnight one o'clock in the morning because it's China, full day difference, it's just, it just really got to the point where I was I wanted to move my life little more, I wanted to change it.

Jim: What we're obviously we're seeing awesome music guitar centric bar.

Mark: Well, we changed our lives.

Jim: You grew up in Ohio as a musician, was it like alright right, away you knew when you stopped and walked away from your other business you're gonna open up a bar with music or was it how that kinda transition?

Mark: You know, a lot of it is you know music never left me, and my brother still playing somewhat, but I grew up with you know with Joe Walsh, living with you know my family and friends, I grew up with deva, I grew up with Kris High, in all this really incredible musicians that are top level today, and you know, I've always wanted to get decision but I never felt that I would have the calendar, you know, and I always wanted to be an artist, so I chose the art career, mainly because I figured you know, I could survive, that's one of the reasons my went to college, seeing what was happening in the music industry and team everybody's struggling you know, our team you know because they can't pay the bills there else, so we chose the other part profession which doesn't pay as much easier, I was just gonna say, so it's kinda weird but no it's it was always in me and you know, Julian notices I mean I would play, when I left Kent Ohio I never played out again, just wasn't, wasn't my interesting, and know I always continue to play but I would play on and privately and I play for my kids and so on like that, but it wasn't so weird moved to Asheville, and we retire basically out of our oldest to kinda create ourselves, that we started an art gallery, Julia is an incredible artist, oil painting and there's really nothing she can't do, and I kinda like that about myself, we take on challenges, we're not afraid to do it enough, and so we started an art gallery deep post street which is in the history when, I saw heavy you today, okay, she so the same, and it was just interesting, we open this place up, and I'm twilling my thumb, you know, I'm used to hundred and fifty emails day seven days a week everything else, and I started going, I needed something do because we're both we never stopped we're always doing something, and it really became like, what we wanna do here, so I mean, I could talk her about but, we had an opportunity to fly people some music, and I took that opportunity we started a little jam one night, and that's and I looked around the room and I thought there was five of us I think at the point that's fine and there were two grammy award workloads wow that I'm playing with and I didn't even realize it, and after the jams it really was just incredible, I said, that yeah we ought to do this again they know well I'm on tour, and know I wanna go lot said we'll do it once a month, then once a month turn twice a month, then it was once a week that, it was twice a week and what they did was we did it to try to bring people into the art gallery, but then we kind realize that, there are so many famous musicians that live in Asheville, retired musicians, that, they need voice to play, know you can't just throw in together and play it, you weren't, it you know you can but it takes all months, so we decided to open more of that incident place.

Jim: Which is definitely it steep on that?

Mark: Yeah sure.

Jim: So let's go back to the art, from so the art gallery, was that a lot of your idea going into that Julia.

Julia: Well, when we when and Mark will the stuff back his partners in 2013, we kinda went to London with the George corporation that we were doing t shirts for, just has spend a couple weeks there, and we sat in up pub off of baker street, and so what are we gonna do, and we're like oh we should open a pub, right? And anyway when we came back, we just kind of wanted to do things and figure out what we wanted to do to be true to ourselves, and that was like the main point at that particular time, what can we do to be true to ourselves, and we're both hardest, both can build and paint and create and we wanted to live a creative life, so one of our friends said let's a dry any into the river arts district in Nashville like no not really I don't even know how to get there, and so we he brought us down here, we found the studio that hangs out creative building on deep street that was for rent and we called the owner, showed them our portfolios and we were in, so one of our friends, dear friends in Orlando, who port Indonesian furniture who had spent his time during the day selling furniture and spent the evenings opening his furniture store as a little bar than had musicians, and like the right, well that let's see if John wants to do this up here, you know, see if this role will we'll move up here, I'll give ourselves two years and see what happens. And so that's what we did we brought a bunch of the furniture up here, put it in the yard gallery open, yet we did our artwork there marked some consultation and during that time through the owners of the building of teams operated buildings we met some musicians and that ties in with Mark's story where we met these musicians who living here that nobody knew they were here, but they're either famous or we have we met musicians who had, had careers raised families and wanted to get back into music and didn't have any anywhere to go, and so over the last say eight months of being in that gallery and we kind of figured out this is this is a thing we think this is a thing and I'd already, I had always known Mark to you playing his little guitar and the living room was I, he flipped through songs and he'd never sing he was just tinkering with songs when he started playing with musicians and in our arts studio, he just kind of got this great light in his eyes and by the end of our two years at the, at our paint box studios it's like this is what I wanna do, I wanna bring these musicians together, and I just wanna play music and so that's how it kind of started, so when we actually spend our seven months to open and do our build out here at guitar bar, we had group of musicians and customers creating and anxious just supposed to already open, it was it was just serendipity and really didn't know what we were doing we just were following what was true to ourselves.

Jim: So saying if it, I'm must stop you first, so I can go back finding yourself that after the first career, and doing it for you this time, right? And doing what you're were passionate about and started with art and then brought you to music, right, so that's such a cool experience because the I see it so often and entrepreneurs that I interview or people that at work with and just aren't happy because they're in a position to where they're making the money, but they're not doing what they wanna do with their life.

Mark: It's not about the money.

Julia: If you're, if you're in a system then you're not, it's not gonna feed your soul, and if wannafeed your soul, you have to figure out a way to organize your life to fit within the meetings that you're creating.

Mark: for the money, you're making the wrong decisions based on the wrong one thing that they're looking to, and you know, we placed, I've chase money for 45 years where did it get here that is opportunity, but to be very honest and you really, if chasing money it's just not important.

Julia: It's not actually the older we get. We wanna be closer to our children, grandchildren, trying to figure out how that all manages itself if you're in there.

Mark: It's a field of drink, you build it they tell because if you it and your idea of it is true or yourself don't anybody else tell you what you should be your doing, because they're not invested in sticking guns to what you will leave in and what you so even our style if you look around the bar, which I know this is a cool place so, rated one of the top ten unique bars in North Carolina, two one ago, just because of you walk in you felt it, it's the place to be, know, it's just, it's intimate it's great you know we stuck to where it guns, I think about you to that you need to open your own number right sure and you can make your own yes because you know and you can't be afraid can't be afraid to make those decisions and stick to it really stick.

Julia: And it's constant conversation within our own heads and with each other constantly, are we, what are we here, for are we doing what's true to ourselves, and our mantra and our mission statement is, we're here for the music, that whenever we have a difficult question to answer, that's the question we ask ourselves and you say, case this really for be and if it's not as easy answer, right?

Jim: It's good that you have that mission statement to always go back to, here's no yeah, because no matter what like if one person has an idea and the other person doesn't like it or wherever it goes back to that, it does it make sense with our mission statement, right?

Julia: Yeah, we have been known to be a little frustrating for people who come in and wanna like, chat really loudly, and be here in a bar situation, and it could be on a really rock and roll life, which is great but or it can be in a listening room experience which is kind of, it's difficult because people pay to come in and or they come in just to see the music, and if there's like a loud sing going on,there's tons of places downtown, in West Asheville, that we can that you can go to do that thing, we're trying to nurture sure a listening room experience, because we're here for the new musicians, we're here for the music.

Jim: And you could feel that on Sunday, wouldn't, I mean it was jamming, it was what price, five musicians up there, just jam and one time.

Julia: Twenty yeah, twenty, and the whole community, with yeah probably thirty more people, yeah.

Jim: It was so cool.

Mark: And what’s great about, and what's right about what we need here too is really invite all these consistency, I mean, we've formed so many bands out there, here because people come in and they have really to this guy guys in incredible, we have Grammy Award on stage for this all the time, we have famous people, yeah.

Julia: I mean like and not famous people and they can hang and they so excited to be here know and their practice that well, they're well versed in their instrument.

Mark: We aren't, we're are very particular about who we let out stage, mostly on this Sunday, mainly because you've gotta have a chance, you know, because you're up there with her if you can't hang with that, then let's work about a little more we'll get you back.

Jim: How does that process work?

Mark: They gotta go through me, yeah I mean they you I got I a few questions that I ask me have somebody knew company they end yeah and I usually too on hang out today and see what happens, because you're gonna see probably 22 to 23 different people going in on stage and everybody says, who's this band? They're not a band, these are professional people and they don't have play with each other. We’re in C, we're in D, we're in A, everybody knows what it up, have drummer that's that beat, let we know where to go, that's so amazing totally amazing, and that doesn't happen anywhere and that's the unique thing about what a lot of people come in to say, I've never experienced anything like this being issue but I was able to just see this we'll get up on stage and just everything, I mean, it sounds like you've been together for 25 years, it's amazing, know does happen overnight.

Jim: No, I couldn't imagine.

Julia: We went through a lot of trial and error, things that work, some things where some didn't, people come, people go, they don't you know, may not care for how we're doing things and change and morph, and it's really difficult some to keep going, so okay, we're not doing the right things, and then we turn back to and we're here to the use it, how can we like just take a breath, and what is working and let's build on that.

Mark: But also we couldn't do it with, without our community, too gentlemen in here tonight or my main guys, we're doing some construction today, to reset up because we're the weather's getting better, we're standing out, another thing you know the size of this place so many people come to us and say, you need to expand, you need to get bigger, and it's like, No, I don't yeah, no, this is this is what it is this is, what makes it work this is what we want, we don't want twenty employees, we don't want you lose simple concept the intimacy.

Jim: Exactly, it’s exactly as same as the family.

Julia: And the people who volunteer here to help us are part of the community and welcome people, we've had our neighbours, every time they see someone new and here and there,and here they're like, hey, yeah, I noticed you haven't been in here before, you know and ever kind of like helps people feel welcome, and there's something for everyone here.

Jim: I think it stems from people see you too, in the way you interact with everybody and you can tell your heart is in everything man.

Mark: It's, well, it's tough.

Julia: The money’s smoking in there, for any business right, events but the love is not smoking there.

Mark: Well, we've been successful that was you know, we've involved everybody here and people will say, listen and I got something I'd like to do, I'm willing to put money into that help that happen, so I'm willing to pay that band, that money, because I wanna see jazz happening, right, I wanna see this particular thing happening, which is incredible, I've never on specialist for somebody many times it, I'd like to cover that for you tonight I wanna that is, alright.

Jim: And you could tell yeah the people that were here, weren't just here like they were going bar, no they felt the same way we did, yeah that's it felt like it was their home, they felt like they belong.

Mark: They all like talk to us.

Jim: But I think they both grabbed the hotdog, they all y'all comment on the macaroni cheese.

Julia: So that they like to thing I like to do that.

Jim: They loved it, they definitely loved it. So the transition from the art gallery to here, how long did you to talk back and forth then you said there's was a lot of communication internally, as well as a lot of communication between the two of you, how long was that a long transition to say, okay let's do this.

Mark: Try say and yeah I've been together since 2000, we've been together since 2000, we're attached to the hook, so I the first time in my wife with better relationship with you know work together all the time, let they talk all the time, we're we fight all the time, you know you know we're there all the time, you're probably experiencing these two in your travels, right? Can't get away from each other.

Jim: That's mainly because we're in a 400sq.ft.RV life.

Mark: But we both really dig the same things you know, we're we creative in sense that, we need our time to be creative and everybody, so we communicate, we've been communicating since day one, it doesn't always go well, you know, and but, you know, any relationship is far but we work together too, and this place has been open six and half years, and got Covid.

Jim: Which is I we're gonna I was gonna ask about that, a minute how that how you got through Covid and some of the obstacles went through.

Mark: One community.

Julia: There's, I will say there's three things that are really key, the one is because we're a team, we really do know how to, we're learning how to work together at Covid the break down, know to how things were without thinking and you just get into this mode every day, that was broken down and we had to learn how to work together and finances became more predominant because we needed to figure out how to make things go without revenue, right? And we did a lot of commerce station about these are our options and looking at things, so our team really was one of those three things, the second thing was, we have a local organization called mountain this works, that in the very beginning we've, they organize classes for people, how to write business plans, how to get financing, all kinds of things everything from the entrepreneur that was one of the things we liked about Asheville in the beginning, this a really nice bunch of entrepreneurial community this support, so they were larger businesses in the community support and amount of this works so that they can help smaller businesses like ourselves and even though in March of 2020, they didn't know what was going on anymore than anyone else did, I could call them and they would say, we're learning, we're figuring this out, we're gonna call you, as soon as we know, we're gonna email you, we they were there for us every step of the way, when no one else would give us phone calls, that like then an women and office right toward the FDA, or anybody you know the government was not calling us back, they were there for us every step of the way, and the third thing is our community and that's the most important thing, the foundation of people that have nurtured us to become who we are, and that would be open our doors for law, every time that we're here for music and for family and for community, we couldn't have survived without them, so true.

Mark: I mean you know, when tokens, was shit we had to close, we have to close your bar, like I have to close my boss, right? I understand, I understand the certain circumstances I worked, I worked in China for a while, I understand what a lot of uncertainties that no one knew what's gonna happen so we understood it but you know for joining and I mean we're always thinking we're always sitting back and talking and we were closed and for your audience, they really can't see the building that we're in but we have a huge parking lot road, another parking and then the French broad river, I have a large loading dock front, and we're standing there looking up across the river and doing, what we're gonna do? And then it both kinda locations shows we have this, so cool driving concert we have the, I mean know what, nobody else but a lot of our friends who own already work you know their friends is gonna, yeah, you know the orange scale everybody that Russell, they gotta close, they don't have, they don't have this, right? I got a whole parking lot I got some out of that, I get a parking lot across there, I've got I'm a open space, so we decided to have a concert.

Jim: And so you played, and so you played outside and then everybody was in launch chairs and spread out.

Mark: We kinda threw that on Facebook that we're gonna do an outdoor concert.

Julia: At the very last minute, because we didn't wanna like, we really wanna have an publicity, we just wanted to like we didn't want have some things for friends and try to keep a growing connection organically to the community, people were missing music really bad, and that's a beef I have that alcohol stores can be a, an essential but music can't be, yes it is, music isn't essential gift to people.

Jim: It's good for the mental state, yeah.

Julia: Absolutely.

Mark: So we set up outside and before we do it, the TV cameras are here, the parking lot parking out of across street filled up, there was just been a incredible amount of people, it was our woodstock.

Julia: And we weren't open, we weren't allowed to be so we opened up.

Mark: Yeah, that way to open our bathroom and up the people who needed the restroom. It was phenomenal, and we put a temperature.

Jim: And then catch you going. So cool again, trinity right there.

Mark: We really showed up, they're coming across the parking lot, I'm on stage playing what talk to me, talk me and Julia intercepted him, and had a conversation just like nothing school.

Jim: That's cool, as he realized Pete, everybody be sitting out there, needed it as bad as you needed it.

Julia: Anyone was in their own little pod, it was, it was beautiful.

Mark: People had mass who felt that they were too close to somebody, so we were following all the protocol, so there wasn't anything wrong, you know, and people dag it, I mean they just really you couldn't asked for a more exciting thing, made the news that night, cool. When I go to Johnny Cash time here.

Jim: The might of a musician right there, yeah right. It's cool to see the different things that entrepreneurs do and your backs against the wall, and things go bad what you can do to come out of it and make it happen, and that's such a good example right there of your back was against wall.

Julia: And don't get us wrong, we had days more to and what that, how are we doing with, I can't go another day, I cannot literally go another day with, and we figure out some way to appease ourselves and wake up next day and we, okay, we can do this, you know, just giving ourselves some space from all of the crap and we just had to look at it as like, this is really an opportunity to do something really crazy, why not, you know, instead of following all the rules, let's do something out of the box.

Mark: That's one of the things, don't be afraid to follow with your thoughts, don't be afraid to break the rules, not saying that rules are that's be broken but they're…

Julia: Follow and do things that are like. they just yeah, right on the edge.

Mark: To bring structure, that's the way to put it, that you're used to yeah because that structure is just what everybody follows.

Julia: And sometimes it gets mindless, because that you follow it, because you're in this minutia, the daily grind know, and that's what Covid did for us, really broke that, just broke that off, and opened up this new option.

Mark: It was actually a good thing, I mean we looked for deposit, it's slow us down, prior to Covid we open seven days a week, we're getting burnout.

Julia: You couldn't stand.

Mark: But we're good, we're not, we're losing money. we weren't doing the right things.

Julia: Because we're, we're trying to do everything and not everything works, you know, just pull back, do something really special, then make that work.

Jim: Again, go back to route, so what makes you happy and what you're doing it for, or realign your priorities, and I did I did feel that with Covid and everything I went on and I gave a lot of people just that sense to take a step backwards, and reset, and I noticed so since Covid is that when your hours changed, so you're open with is it four days four days now? Now, it's just gonna be nice for you too as well but kind of re recharge.

Mark: Well those are fourteen over days, before yeah, so I mean Monday, that's right, I said don't call me.

Julia: And the good thing about having a music venue is that, you're here, but when you're out side of here you're still working, there's still be bookkeeping, there's still products, there's still inventory and we're warehousing, they're still they're still marketing, they're still shipping in contact with everything, booking bands, and so the part of being here which is the best part to me I get to socialize with the community and our friends and stuff, that's only one bit of it, there's all the stuff that nobody else sees, that takes a toll between the two of the best.

Mark: We're plus performing, I perform but at least two times a week if not three times to week, that's sixty before, it's been time to dance up on stage.

Julia: So having those three days off really helps us to have more time ourselves, maybe a day and then spending a couple days together the things in order, we're not here. We got a manager time and your responsibilities and I learned a lot of things that I was doing just to keep going, I let them all go, and I put in a few things when we really reopened then I realized I can't not do this, so things I have to do, but there are things that I haven't put back in the agenda, and I'm gonna happy about that, totally fine, we'll figure it out.

Jim: Hopefully all well, right?

Mark: Yeah, I did that question, right, keeps things fresh and it makes you know every three months, there's a there's churn or change with of things that are happening, have new people coming into you have people you know, some people, but you know I got we have such an influx of new people and Asheville now because of Covid, I mean it's phenomenal, so we we've have to, we've had to deal with those full new out of want this to go, they haven't been here for fifteen years they don't know lie, you know, it's they're getting to it you know their understanding it but they walk in it oh this is what I want this is what I want, ask I'll try to change it.

Julia: Though gonna be first in line.

Jim: So let's talk about you two, as a couple and you had talked about, we talked about communication, and you're were just saying some of the things should do on you know the books and everything else that starts to be done, have how have you done, with it you know, is it very set in stone like this is these are my roles, these are my roles, or is it there a lot of gray there, that you're both helping me each other to accomplish everything?

Julia: It's a little bit of bugs, which we both kind of fall into certain areas naturally, I have a lot of warehousing at buying experience myself, he has a lot of music experience and has never worked in a with a bar before, and I’ve always as an artist, since I was a young girl, realized that, I wanted to understand how to do accounting or bookkeeping, and how to make a business run, I didn't necessarily wanna do it for a living, but I if I weren't if I became an artist, I wanted to know what my accountant was doing, right? So I taught myself these things and so I kind of fell naturally into the product and the inventory section of running a bar and because I've run a bar before managed people, and so here's where I kind of fell naturally, Mark because, this is his, this is his gig you know, this is his thing to music, to be with the musicians, to hang on stage to learn the technical stuff to figure all that out we kinda have that separation but when it comes to making business decisions, there's not a single thing that we don't talk to one another about, and that's kind of an interesting thing not just some business but in personally is learning know what how to realize when okay, it might not be the right time or I've got this amount of time, it's night, I've got to talk to my you know partner about this, how do I present it properly? And we fail monstrously all of the time.

Jim: That's good to hear, sitting I, to figure that out.

Julia: It takes a lot, yeah you know we have we have some good moments and we have some really awful moments and we just kinda just gotta get back up and keep going, you know, and we figure it out together and but…

Mark: That's what relationship are too, but you can have that argument, we can have this everything else but tomorrow let you're know, you're not leaving, right, we you're not walking at the door, you're gonna get it solved in everything list sometimes, they don't get really soft.

Julia: Something's things done you put them off and there's not a you know there's a lot of intuitive about the some of us, we don't always need to like hash things out, it just come, you know, they're have to listen to your intuition, again doing what's right for you, and if something's right for him and it's not for me then maybe it doesn't get decided at that point and we do the best thing possible at that moment, and for us, we're constantly asking ourselves and each other, what the things that we went out of our life as particular you know, in our age, so those questions, when we ask those questions and we come to the answers, it kind gives us a gauge as to what we're doing and is this important is this important, what's not important.

Jim: Do you think there be a time that comes at you'll start to hire more people to help with some of the roles?

Mark: Talking about that, but you want them outside, you don't want them involved in your business itself because there's, you know our personalities just for meeting us, you know, we have a certain thing that's it's hard to teach, that's hard for people who to understand our communication with our customers are, or you know, I mean how many people did you sugar your hud and never ever something I here I mean you know it's just that's hard to teach something, because they're just here to work, it's more than that yeah here, and that's the thing about business and owning something, we don't know that's, our community is and that's how we look at, you know, I'm not gonna do something because you want me to do it, because we we're on a strip miracle, we know what we're doing here else but the community in general really owns the business, and that we've nurtured that into that that session so even if we just said you know what we're done with the business our community will pick that up, so it it'll never fail, you know, I don't see it ever fail.

Jim: You create something that's bigger than just the two of you.

Mark: Yeah, and it's, that's freaky, well it's pretty that that's a legacy, know really you know it's not a furniture store, somebody else is gonna pick it up you know, whatever no this is the community on place really, as much and so say we really don't, we pay the bills and do all that stuff yeah keep it functioning, but choose to come in here on their own on a Sunday is our day or they don't get money chips or anything, back to the…

Julia: Yeah, to the vessel that we have here that we our yeah.

Mark: So our biggest goal now to those you know, we started a cover turn to the door, and doing certain things that every musician out of one, because that's most frustrating thing in the arts in general, you know, being an artist, you know, being the pain you know somebody says, oh you can bring your paintings and hang it on the wall, it's good exposure for you know what, I don't need you exposed, I need to, exposure doesn't pay my electric bills, you know, so we totally understand that math that's started back report our communities that we've done through Orlando or Florida and backed up here, trying to get my back.

Julia: Just gotten better understanding that circle relationship that everybody has with the bands, with the music, with the venue with the community, and I'm sure will change again but right now we're in an okay group, I think it's always evolving, it gets you can't like say okay, this is it forever.

Jim: Think with any business with any of industry, always have to evolve.

Mark: You know we've raised our children saying, does change what happen, embrace it, if you fight it, you never we're gonna get anywhere, right place to change and work with it, work with it and work with it to the best of your understanding up or whatever you can do to Maneuver with it, but always make sure you do it, it's helpful for you.

Jim: Well I know we're getting close to an end here. I wanted to thank you both so much for your time, I really do been it's been honor, you did, you did an awesome job and I hope the Remote Start Nation can take something from this and learn from it. And where can everybody find you I know you know online.

Mark: The best thing can do is go to Facebook, we don't really have a website and main reason is, we don't advertise, we don't, we are we wanna be Asheville you know, Asheville changed the lot in the past 10 years, a lot and ten orders in some moment, we, if you wanna find us, find us.

Julia: we're Asheville this bar, Facebook, Instagram, in Youtube, yeah that's they said.

Mark: And also Youtube page, which I hoping you process under new page.

Jim: We'll do that.

Mark: And join that there's, hard right there you my, but that's the main thing Facebook purpose is it's our page group.

Jim: Facebook is a lot of I mean, there's still a lot of people using Facebook, yeah, and now tiktok, and else too right, or listen Remote Start Nation, could find the same way we did, buying our bikes around town, and not the places we got we're cool, and for the music and here we were.

Mark: All my life experiences been right.

Jim: That is our favorite thing to do, when we go to a new time we get on our bike, so we walk around and we go to a bunch of different locations, those in knockout accounts, yeah that's really fine and a lot of times we ask the bartender, whoever and where would you go, where do you hang out, right, we love doing that, it's we'd love to explore, yeah. That's our favorite part of about travel.

Julia: I'm so grateful right your family and sharing mother's stay with us, thank you, incredible, thank you again for this absolutely, thank you. thank you very much appreciate it.

Jim DoyonProfile Photo

Jim Doyon

Entrepreneur

My name is Jim Doyon. I'm a father to three awesome kids, husband to an incredible wife and the oldest sibling to a large split family.I'm currently on a mission and I can't wait to share with you. We sold our house back in 2020, and we've been traveling this beautiful country in a 42-foot Travel trailer ever since. We visited 34 states, and are about to embark on our second loop around the country, stopping at some of our favorite spots again, but also getting to see new areas that the US has to offer.We are trying to experience this life to its fullest spending quality time together. I'm running a business and building brands along the road. We've been fortunate enough on this journey to meet new friends, catch up with old friends and family on many of our stops. We love exploring each City from downtown's to the natural resources it has to offer. I'm passionate about mountain biking and it's not only in my way to get out and explore but to exercise, clear my head, think, and strategize.

Julia and Mark GoldthwaiteProfile Photo

Julia and Mark Goldthwaite

Owner

Co-Owner at Asheville Guitar Company LLC dba Asheville Guitar Bar & the PaintboxProject.