People know Nashville for music. They should know it for business.
I have lived and built in Nashville for years, and I can say with confidence that there is no better city in America for the kind of work I do — and the kind of life I want to live while doing it.
That is not a bumper sticker. It is a considered opinion formed over decades of operating in multiple markets.
Nashville has something that most major business cities lack: a culture that values relationships over transactions. In New York, your network is your Rolodex. In Silicon Valley, your network is your last funding round. In Nashville, your network is the people you have built trust with over years — at church, at school, at the places where real life happens.
That matters more than most people realize. Because business, at its core, is about trust. And trust is built in communities, not in conference rooms.
Nashville’s business ecosystem has grown dramatically over the past decade. Healthcare, private equity, real estate, technology, hospitality — the city has diversified in ways that create real opportunity for entrepreneurs who think beyond a single vertical.
But what makes Nashville truly special is not the economic growth. It is the culture.
Nashville is a city where faith is not unusual. Where having a large family is not a curiosity. Where building with integrity is not a marketing strategy but a baseline expectation.
I raise nine children here. My wife and I chose this city deliberately — not for tax advantages or business incentives, though those exist. We chose it because it is a place where the life we want to build and the business we want to run can coexist without contradiction.
The cost of living, relative to the quality of life, remains favorable compared to the coasts. The talent pool is deep and growing. The regulatory environment is business-friendly without being reckless. And the community — the actual, human community — is the best I have found anywhere.
I have seen cities that attract builders with tax breaks and then drive them away with culture. Nashville does the opposite. It attracts builders with culture and then keeps them with opportunity.
If you are an entrepreneur thinking about where to plant your flag — where to build something that lasts, not just something that grows — Nashville deserves serious consideration.
Not because it is trendy. Because it is real. And in business, real is the only thing that lasts.