*Time stamps are not exact [0:06] Speaker A (Tom): We're excited to have today on the podcast Mark Adams, the president and CEO of Ober Mountain. Mark, welcome to the podcast. [0:15] Speaker B (Mark): Oh, great. It's good to be here. [0:16] Speaker A: Well, we're really thrilled to have you here. And a lot of what we do in this podcast is tell the stories of Gatlinburg. And your story in gatlinburg began about 10 years ago. [0:27] Speaker B: Yeah, about. Actually, just about eight and a half years ago. [0:31] Speaker A: Okay, so you dove in headfirst, and you've had a lot of different opportunities to lead here in the. In the community. Why don't you tell us how it all began? [0:39] Speaker B: Well, I like to tell this story because I'm proud of Gatlinburg. So I like to tell the story about how I became to be here in Gatlinburg. So I was working in Atlanta, and I worked for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. And what that organization is, is we managed and ran the Georgia Dome, where the Falcons play, the Georgia World Congress center, one of the largest convention centers in the country and the world. And we also manage Centennial Olympic park, which is a holdover park in downtown Atlanta from the Olympics, and then also the Savannah Convention center in Savannah, Georgia. So I would always have headhunters would call me and they're looking like, hey, Mark, are you interested in this job or that job? Well, I think they always knew that I was never going to leave Atlanta, but what they were looking for is they were fishing, like, hey, they were looking for. To call me and go, hey, thanks for calling me, but call my friend Tom. He might be interested. So. But one day I took a call and it was. It was the search firm, and they said, hey, I know you're probably not interested, but what would you say if I said, Gatlinburg, Tennessee? And I said, you're not going to believe this. I would actually talk to you about going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. So fast forward, three or four months went by and nothing ever happened. And I was like, I guess that never. That never came to be about, you know. And then literally a few days later, I got a call that they wanted to interview me for the president and CEO role at the Gatlinburg Convention center, the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention Center. So I made the drive up from Atlanta and interviewed. I think there was 13 people I interviewed here. And all of those people have become really good friends. And they're all great business leaders here in the community. And it just felt natural. Like it was, you know, I had friends in Atlanta that said, you are Committing career suicide. Why would you go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee? And then literally a few months later, we had the wildfires. And it was that night that I knew why I was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, baptized by fire. [3:03] Speaker A: Literally. [3:04] Speaker B: Literally. [3:04] Speaker A: Wow. Joined in. So back to when they first called you. You said, you're not gonna believe this, but I will consider it. But why. Why did you say yes to Gatlinburg and not to all the other opportunities? [3:16] Speaker B: I grew up in the Atlanta area, and it was pretty much a requirement, I think, that you had to come to the Great Smoky Mountain year, or you went to the Panhandle of Florida, one of the two, or both. Right. And so always had a love for this area. Coming up here, strangely enough, we used to come. I used to come here with my parents a lot in the winter time. My dad owned a construction company, so he was really working a lot in the spring, summer, and fall. And then I have two sisters, and my sisters are 10 and 12 years older than me, so I'm kind of like a whoops, baby. So in the winter, we would come up here, me and my mom and my dad. And, you know, when you're 10 or 12 years old, you're really upset because, like, everything in Gatlinburg was closed back then. [4:04] Speaker A: Yes. [4:04] Speaker B: And you go through Pigeon Forge and nothing's open. And. And, you know, we'll eventually get to this. When my life comes full circle. What was open in the winter in Gatlinburg? Ober. [4:17] Speaker A: Ober Mountain. Yes. [4:19] Speaker B: But so I. And then you ask why I would entertain an offer of coming to Gatlinburg. So then, you know, faster. That's my younger days. Then fast forward. I was. I tell people I was incarcerated in Orlando. Actually, I lived in Orlando for about 12 and a half years. And it would get really hot in August, late July or August. So me and my wife would actually come up here just to escape the Florida heat in the summer. And so it just always felt like an attraction to this area. So. [4:54] Speaker A: So you were a tourist. [4:55] Speaker B: I was a tourist. [4:56] Speaker A: And then you came to represent all of tourism. [5:00] Speaker B: All of tourism for Gatlinburg. Yes. [5:02] Speaker A: And that was in 2016. [5:03] Speaker B: Correct. [5:04] Speaker A: You moved here. And so. And then in November, we had the fires. [5:07] Speaker B: November, we had the fires. [5:08] Speaker A: So that was quite a monumental event, a historical event for this community and really set a trajectory for, I think, what is the best parts of Gatlinburg and how people rallied together. We talk about often on other episodes of this podcast about being mountain tough, that it reflects the heart and soul of this community. When you first moved here, as opposed to visiting here, what was your experience? Pre fires, you know, just landing in your new job, trying to figure out this community, what was your experience here in Gatlinburg? [5:42] Speaker B: So I think some of the local officials and some of our board members at the CVB and the chamber, I think they were a little surprised at how quickly I bought a house in this area and in Sevierville. And for me personally, I think it was, again, I came from Atlanta, where there's thousands of homes, and then you get here and you're like, oh, Here are your 8 houses to choose from in your price range. Right? So, but, you know, we love, you know, the house we still live in. So we. I got deeply rooted in the community immediately and just submerged myself into everything. And then a couple months later, we did have the wildfires. And again, like I said, I saw a community that really came together. But more so what I saw was business leaders that I guess when, if you're from here, you've always heard of above the tunnel and below the tunnel, referring to Gatlinburg versus Pigeon Forge. So as an outsider coming in, I did. I saw that. I literally saw that barrier go away once the wildfires happen. And my first few months here, I'd never heard that term, obviously. And then following the wildfires, even today, I don't hear that as much now above the tunnel and below the tunnel. And I think the wildfires brought us even more together as a county when it came to marketing efforts and growth efforts. And really, not that we didn't have each other's back prior to the fires, but I think, you know, immediately following the wildfires could be a great example. Leon Downey, who's done a tremendous job of running the department of tourism for Pigeon Forge, Leon Downey was in Cincinnati, Ohio, telling people to come to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. So, I mean, it was a bigger, bigger thing. It wasn't about one city. It was about us all surviving as a community. [7:51] Speaker A: And so you are a leader within the community, working with the chamber of commerce, the convention visitors bureau. You're exposed to a lot of other markets, a lot of other competition for travel destinations. Drive to markets as you would go to some of those state conferences or national conferences. What was it about Gatlinburg that you were really proud to represent, and how was it an easy sell for you? [8:17] Speaker B: Authenticity. So I used to say this with all the tourism ads, whether it's magazines or whether it's TV commercials, you Know, there was a time period there where you could pick up any tourism magazine, and every destination, they all look the same. There was a shot of usually a female with hot stone rocks on her back from a spa, you know, and then there was usually an older couple out on the balcony holding a cup of coffee, you know, looking out at the vista, whether it be a beach or a mountains. So I think everything was generic in tourism, and I think what we were able to do when I got here was break out of that mold and really talk about the community. And multi generations of families have had businesses here. Just a few years ago, it was the 75th anniversary of Gatlinburg becoming a city. And this is when I was still at the CBB in the Chamber, and we wanted to focus on business that have been around for many, many generations. And again, talk about the two and three years. I mean, your company. [9:30] Speaker A: 52 years. [9:31] Speaker B: 52 years. And so when we focused on that, we tried to pick companies that we could do interviews similar to this about. And you saw the raw emotion come out of people when they talked about Gatlinburg, and you would see tears coming streaming from their eyes just talking about Gatlinburg and this area, growing up in this area, and just the love and the passion they have. And I think we had a team at the CVB in the Chamber that also felt that. And then we found a way that we could communicate that to future visitors. [10:12] Speaker A: That's great. It's capturing the story and the essence of the town. And how do you take tears and make them into a story? [10:19] Speaker B: Right. [10:19] Speaker A: And to evoke that emotion, there's something very powerful with that. And I think there's a lot of storytellers in our community, which is one of the reasons we're doing this podcast, to hear some of these stories. So we would consider you as new to Gatlinburg. [10:32] Speaker B: Yes. [10:32] Speaker A: Eight and a half years. So you've had a lot of exposure to it, and it's. It's kind of hard to come from the big city of Atlanta and come in and, you know, are you. You know, people are suspect and wondering, what's this guy's plans, you know, for the community? So I'm sure you had to make yourself available relationally, slow down the pace a little bit compared to the pace in Atlanta. But there's a lot happening here in Gatlinburg. There's a lot of opportunity. [10:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. I think we picked up the pace whenever I got here. [11:02] Speaker A: I sense that. [11:03] Speaker B: Yes. And I say this, you know, when I first moved here, I think one of the things that worked to my advantage is I was an outsider. And people, when I got hired for my role at the CBB in the chamber, they said, well, who are you related to? You know, what's your connection to this area? And I said, other than being a previous visitor my whole life, I don't have any. And so I think that worked to my advantage because I didn't know who went to high school with who. I didn't know who used to be married to who. I didn't. [11:41] Speaker A: Neither do any of the guests and. [11:42] Speaker B: Tourists and tourists that come. Right. [11:45] Speaker A: But they have real opinions, strong opinions and desires and hopes and dreams. So you're coming in with a fresh set of eyes. [11:52] Speaker B: Right. [11:53] Speaker A: A third party into the culture and environment and just saying, hey, we've got a treasure here. Let's present this in the best way possible. [12:01] Speaker B: And we early on, I mean, you know, the team at the CVB at the time, you know, we had the wildfires and we had to, you know, and we had a great plan laid out and they had worked on it even before my arrival. But, you know, we had to punt because, as you know, when you have a catastrophe like that, you have to change your messaging immediately. And practically, people who've been coming here for decades and new people that we want to come here all thought Gatlinburg burned down. [12:34] Speaker A: Yes. [12:35] Speaker B: So we had to re. Change the messages for everything. Radio, tv, you know, anything that we can think of. So we actually had the mayor go out and cut a new spot in the middle of Gatlinburg when he's like, basically his tagline was, come see what hasn't changed in Gatlinburg. [12:53] Speaker A: Brilliant. Yeah. I think social media likes the extreme. [13:00] Speaker B: Yes. [13:00] Speaker A: And news outlets, obviously, big story sell. And the fires were a big story. [13:05] Speaker B: Yes. [13:05] Speaker A: But I do remember the day of the fires, the days following the fires. We all were just wondering, is the city still there? [13:12] Speaker B: Yes. [13:13] Speaker A: And it was. Very little of the city was actually damaged. [13:16] Speaker B: And, you know, you talk about people's passion and love for this area. I remember when the city was closed for about 10 days to the public as we regrouped. And the day that we had reopened for guests and visitors to come downtown, I happened. I was downtown, me and my wife came down. We're walking up and down the shops, and I'm going in, checking on business owners, seeing how they're doing. And I overheard a guest in the old smoky candy kitchen. I was in the old smoky candy kitchen, and a guest came in tears, just flowing immediately when she opened the doors, the guests, tears are flowing down her face. She was from a town in Ohio, and she said, basically, like, I had to come and check on you guys. Her family had been buying candy and shopping at Old Smoky Candy Kitchen for decades. And she said, I wasn't gonna. I wasn't gonna be okay As a tourist and a fan of Gatlinburg until I came here, saw it for myself, and saw workers that she had been dealing with for 10, 15, 20 years. [14:24] Speaker A: There are thousands of stories like that. And those people are listening today, and they're saying, that was me. [14:29] Speaker B: Yes. [14:30] Speaker A: Because we were down to one phone line at our office. We usually had seven lines coming in because the phones were out for those 10 days. We had to retrieve everything through a cell phone. Over half the phone calls were not for scheduled reservations. They were for people that were concerned because they were repeat guests. They were part of our business and our family. And they considered Gatlinburg their second home. [14:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. [14:54] Speaker A: So what do you attribute that characteristic to? The fact that someone would come to visit, walk in the candy kitchen, where deep emotions brew with them because their stories and maybe as a child, I think the old Smokey Candy Kitchen has been there for 75 years. [15:12] Speaker B: Yes. [15:12] Speaker A: So as a child, they were with their grandparents, and now they're coming with their grandchildren. So what do you attribute that brand loyalty or that sense of commitment, that sense of family that Gatlinburg instills in people? [15:28] Speaker B: So if you think about it now, in the last few years, everybody's looking for an Instagrammable moment. We're all looking for photos. We're all wanting to post things on social media. But I told somebody this story recently. I said, I think Gatlinburg was one of the first Instagramable moments. Maybe not in photos, but in your mind and in your family memories. A lot of people now use the taglines like, oh, come make memories, or, you know, here. Well, people have been making memories in Gatlinburg for 75, 80 years or longer. And I think that it takes people back. I think as much as people want to be individuals, they also want traditions. And I think, you know, if you've got grandkids now, the grandkids do want to see that picture of grandma and grandpa on the Gatlinburg skylift or on the Ober tram or walking down the streets of Gatlinburg, and they want to, you know, grandma to tell them those memories, and then the mom and dad telling them those memories. We've Got give you an example. At Ober Mountain right now, formerly Obergatlinburg, we've got an attraction that's been there since the 70s. It's the Alpine Slide. So I call it the original mountain coaster. And we have a dilemma on our hands. It is going to come to the end of its life cycle in the next three to five years. So do we replace it with a newer version or do we just move on to some newer, bigger, better, stronger attraction? But so many families have been coming there. So literally it's still an attraction that grandma or grandpa rode when they were little and then their parents rode when they were little. And now the grandkids are coming riding that attraction. So in many ways we don't want to take those families memories away from them. We want that attraction to reemerge so that we can still have generation after generation on the similar kind of attraction. [17:36] Speaker A: It's amazing even you're saying that to me. I had not heard that. But it does make sense. Yeah, it's an older attraction. It's the cement rounded railings. It's engineered perfectly. [17:47] Speaker B: Yes. [17:47] Speaker A: So you could get as close to your brother as you possibly could and then hilariously laugh when you end. So all the emotions are coming up in me when I think of the Alpine slide because of my memories and my experiences. And we need to steward those memories and care for them, provide new ones. But also, how do we also protect those as well for generations? This episode of for the Love of Gatlinburg is sponsored by Mountain Laurel Chalets, the family owned company of choice for your cabin rentals in the smoky Mountains. Since 1972, Mountain Laurel Chalets has served thousands of visitors to the Smokies with excellent accommodations. They love treating you like family and they look forward to hosting your next trip to Gatlinburg. [18:39] Speaker B: You know, it's kind of funny. I don't know why memories are flashing in my mind as you and I are talking. And I told you I came here a lot when I was a kid and I remember Magic World, which was actually in our sister city of Pigeon Forge. And I still to this day can't drive by there. And then the location now is a mini golf place and there's a fast food place there and I can't drive past that and automatically think of Magic World. And there's an Ogles Water park was where a lot of people visitors went to, but a lot of the teenagers in the 90s worked at Ogles Water park in Pigeon Forge. In fact, we've got our VP of finance and administration. She made a comment to me the other day. She said, this reminds me of Ogle's Waterpark when I worked there because we were dealing with some cash that day. And cash is so unlikely that you deal with nowadays. [19:33] Speaker A: So that brings back memories of. There was. That used to be a putt Putt Golf downtown Gatlinburg with live bunny rabbits. [19:39] Speaker B: Yes, yes. [19:40] Speaker A: And I think it's probably not appropriate to do that now, but I do remember those memories of the. All the bunnies hopping around and as. [19:49] Speaker B: You'Re doing your putt putts and Xanadu. There was a city of tomorrow, Xanadu. I mean, there's so many attractions that have come and gone in Gatlinburg, but there's so many attractions that are still here. Like hillbilly golf, which was recently recognized on CBS News. [20:07] Speaker A: Yes. Good Morning America, I think it was. [20:09] Speaker B: Or Good Morning America. Yeah. And the way that story came to be, if I remember this correctly, is the reporter and whose name escapes me right now, but he remembered coming here as a youth and he wanted to. [20:23] Speaker A: Return and he took the rickety. [20:25] Speaker B: Took the rickety ride right up to. [20:27] Speaker A: The top of the Hillbilly Golf. So that's. And there are still some of those attractions and some of those hotels and there's a lot of refurbishing. There's a lot of exciting things happening in Gatlinburg as well. So in your seven or so years with the chamber. Yeah. What are you most proud of and as far as your professional accomplishments during that time, bringing change and kind of a speed of change to Gatlinburg that was needed during that time to just allow for us to market effectively to our feeder markets. [20:58] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, I got asked this question a few years ago, and they said, well, clearly you must be proud of the fires and how you helped lead along with many, many others, including our city manager and the mayor and city council and business leaders. But they said, you must be really proud of that. That's probably the pinnacle of your career of something that you helped do. Lead that the, you know, lead us out of the wildfires. And I said, actually, no, I said the wildfires was something that you just did instinctually. So you didn't think about it and you just did it. And so I think the one thing that I'm most proud of is Covid and how we handled coming out of COVID And, you know, we went from having banner year that year previously and that meant leading up to that. Then all of a sudden it Was like, you know, the policy got turned off as it did elsewhere. [21:57] Speaker A: Yes. [21:58] Speaker B: And I had to make a tough decision. And I wasn't me alone, but I, you know, seeked. I went to our board of directors and the city manager and the mayor and told them what I wanted to do, which was actually, instead of cutting back on marketing, we spent more money on marketing. And I had other CVBs called me and told me how irresponsible we were. Wow. But, and you know, you let it roll off your back because you have to make decisions that you think are going to be best. It's what leaders do. Right. We're not there to make easy decisions. We're there to make tough decisions. And we think about scenarios that aren't just here and now. Today we're thinking about the actions that we take today are going to affect us three, four, five years from now. And that's the decisions that we made as the CBB in the community during COVID So we found out quickly people were wanting to go to nature. And then lo and behold, the media was telling people, escape to nature. And they did that. But I remember it was some pretty big money that we invested. And I even had talks with the Commissioner of Tourism for the state of 10. We had gotten some grant monies from the state and some other resources, but oddly enough, the grant money had to be used to tell people not to come here. [23:24] Speaker A: Wow. [23:25] Speaker B: And I was like, so this is crazy. You're giving me grant money to tell people not to come here. So some destinations were like, hey, stay home, stay safe. But, you know, come visit XYZ destination whenever you feel like it, you know, when you think it's safe and when everything, the world's back to normal. And so I think we all know now the world never got back to normal. It was just a new normal. So I remember calling the Commissioner of Tourism going, hey, my safety ad is going to be this. We're going to have a nice, you know, picture of the nature. And our tagline at the bottom is going to say, please visit reception responsibly. [24:06] Speaker A: Right? [24:07] Speaker B: So we put that message. I said, now I would be lying because we all know please drink responsibly. Is own a lot of cans of alcoholic beverages. So one day I was like, hey, if it's good enough for them to sell lots of beer, it's got to be good enough for Gatlinburg to say, please visit responsibly. And then you actually put a little of that back on the tourist. And the Commissioner of Tourism Said, actually, that works for me. So we were able to, instead of tell people not to come, we encouraged them to come. [24:41] Speaker A: But, you know, and there's been a shift in tourism to the outside. Tourism and encouragement for families to get their kids outside. And what our playground is the great smoky mountains national park, you know, right here. So what a great opportunity. And for our business, we had private homes. [24:56] Speaker B: Yes. [24:56] Speaker A: And you could walk downtown in Gatlinburg, there were some lanes that were cut off, so there was a lot more room for pedestrian traffic. There was a real responsiveness. And I'll tell you, there's. There was a sense of a need for a respite, a retreat, a vacation. People were bottled up, their emotions were tight, and they needed to come and experience some release. And Gatlinburg was a great place to do that. So it was really an incredible service. And for all of our industries during COVID then, because people had time off work, kids had remote schooling, you could do remote working, it changed the entire trajectory of hospitality. [25:33] Speaker B: Yes. [25:34] Speaker A: In light of people coming now, we've calmed down. It's not as explosive as it was in that time, but that was a season of. A unique season. [25:43] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, we've calmed down. But here's what also happened during that Covid time period. I think families, they reevaluated what their goals were and what they wanted to do. And I think a lot of people are still working from home because of the COVID effect, if that's what you want to call it. But we saw. I think we saw a lot more people from the northeast and midwest and out west move to the southeast. So they may have moved to Atlanta or Nashville or Charlotte or the, you know, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area. All feeder markets for visitors to come here. Well, what we have is we have. Gatlinburg has a great history of multi generations, multiple times a year of visitors, families visiting here. But then you just had all the influx of people moving to it, like, let's say a Nashville. Well, they'd never been to the great smoky mountains. They'd never been to Gatlinburg. [26:41] Speaker A: And it began another round of generations, which is so exciting. [26:47] Speaker B: Exactly. And I think it also brought, like, you know, so when we were advertising to come and visit Gatlinburg, even now, today, we have to be mindful that there are people that live in Atlanta and Charlotte that don't even know what Gatlinburg is. They may have moved here from out west or from somewhere in the northeast. So it's our job to introduce them to catch. [27:11] Speaker A: And part of the purpose of this podcast is to. Is to introduce the true story. Yes, they may have misconceptions of what is Gatlinburg. And so hearing some of these stories really gives a little bit more of appreciation when people come to visit. [27:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [27:24] Speaker A: So a lot of our listeners are those legacy guests, the repeat guests multiple times during the year. But for those new people that are coming to Gatlinburg, that may be transplants from another major city that moved to the southeast, and now they're at a drive to market of Gatlinburg, and they can come visit us. What do you hope that that guest would experience on their first visit to Gatlinburg? [27:48] Speaker B: I want them to see the two sides of Gatlinburg. I want them to see the vibrancy that is downtown Gatlinburg because you're on vacation. So go ahead, have the funnel cake, eat the. Eat the. Eat the ogle's dog that, you know, generations have been eating. The corn dog. Eat the corn dog, you know, the popcorn, try some moonshine, you know, and just get lost in Gatlinburg. But I also want them to understand what a lot of people that live here fell in love with for way generations and generations ago, which is a quiet. There's still many places that you can go to and get away and just think and just walk and just lose yourself, lose your mind, you know, thinking about things you haven't thought of. So, you know, where we're doing this podcast today is one of the most spectacular views of the Smoky Mountains that, you know, that you can see. But. But I want them to see the two sides. I want them to see the national park. We had so many visitors that come here, and they don't even know we have a national park. And they're like, yeah, what perk are you talking about? And maybe we'll talk about this in a few minutes. But at Ober, we talk about being an adventure park. But adventure park, adventure means something to every single person. It's something different to every single person. So for some people, an adventure might be walking to their mailbox or, you know, and to some, it might be a marathon. [29:24] Speaker A: Let's get a happy medium. [29:25] Speaker B: Or hiking to Mount Lacan. So I encourage people to take the Gatlinburg Trail. [29:31] Speaker A: It's my favorite trail. [29:32] Speaker B: It's. It's a great trail. And so when I was at the CBB and even now when I'm at Over Mountain, I tell people, I encourage people to take the Gatlinburg Trail. I'm like, look, you can just walk there right at the edge of town and you can walk for a couple of miles. You can go out as far as you want. It's flat, it's by a river, it's very peaceful. When you get as far as you think you want to go, turn around and come back. And then I also really promote the Greenbrier section of the park, which is just a little bit out of town. [30:03] Speaker A: 321. [30:04] Speaker B: Right. And near Pittman Center. And there's a trail out there called Porter's Creek Trail that is, you know, a little bit of an incline out there. But it's a great, it's a wide trail and I encourage people to do that trail as well. [30:18] Speaker A: That's great. Well, you mentioned Ober Mountain. I do want to have some time to talk about that because I've been fascinated by the transformation, the brand transformation, the storytelling, the opportunities that they're. Now Ober Mountain was Obergatlinburg owned by the same family for 50. [30:39] Speaker B: Yes, some years. [30:40] Speaker A: Very similar to my company. Mountain Laurel Chalet is owned by my in laws for 40 years. And we took it over. [30:46] Speaker B: Right. [30:46] Speaker A: And so there's a. You want to maintain the best of all the legacy, but you want to also bring it into a viable competitor for the, for the community. [30:56] Speaker B: Well, we're, we're sitting here today and we're talking about, you know, history of Gatlinburg and Oberg. Gatlinburg was certainly part of the history of Gatlinburg. And it was founded by a gentleman, Claude Anderson. And I think it was 1972 was when the tram was introduced. And so Claude was a businessman out of Johnson City. And like many of the business owners here, he saw an opportunity to come down here and do something spectacular and what is now called iconic with the, with the tram. And Claude had five sons and all five of his sons eventually worked at Obergat. But you know, unfortunately one of the sons passed away about 15 years ago now. And then during COVID another one of the sons unfortunately passed away. So it became time that the family decided to sell the attraction. And I happen to know that they had spoken to some pretty major ski resorts that wanted. That showed an interest in purchasing. And also a few people introduced the old owner to Joe Baker, whose history is. He found old Smokey Moonshine and also Yeehaw beer. And his family has owned businesses and attractions in Sevier county forever, as well as his wife's family. And so I remember the old owner of Obergatlinburg called me one day and he goes, I don't know what to do. You know, what do I do here? And this is way before my involvement. And I said, well, you know what? I said, I'm not sure what a company in Salt Lake City or Denver or Detroit, Michigan or Los Angeles is going to do to Ober, but I do know that Joe Baker is from Sevier County. And I said, I think if you sell to Joe, he's going to keep your family's legacy intact and he's going to take what your family started and he's going to invest in it and he's going to keep it available to tourists for many more generations to come. And it's going to remain something that's iconic to Gatlinburg. And that's what, that's what the goal has been. [33:09] Speaker A: I love the story. You say iconic and I love branding. [33:14] Speaker B: Yes. [33:14] Speaker A: I love your design. It's phenomenal. Should win a national award for a resurgence and introduction of a legacy brand. Yeah, it harkens back to these. The historical figures, the, the icons that you use are the color. Everything about it is, is spot on. So tell me about how what went into all the rebranding of Over Mountain. [33:40] Speaker B: Well, first of all, thanks for those kind words because we, we do get a lot of, we have people that call our Swiss board daily just to comment on our billboards and our advertising. They're beautiful and so sometimes you better be lucky than good. So when we took over and we decided to rebrand it, first of all, changing the name from Obergatlinburg to Ober Mountain, so people are like, why would you do that? And there's, there's, people would say, well, you're gonna lose the SEO search and you're gonna lose this and you're going to lose that. But we felt the attraction needed a rebirth and so we felt a name, a name change was inevitable. So we just kept it Ober Mountain, pretty plain and simple. And then the advertising that you're speaking about, we have an in house graphics person that came up with this. And the billboards are very clean and crisp and they have it nostalgic look to them. They have a nostalgic look. And we didn't, we didn't want to pretend to be something that we're not. And at the end of things, we're a retro ski resort. [34:49] Speaker A: Yes, but how exciting. [34:52] Speaker B: We've really captured that and we've embraced that. What we are, we're not trying to be something that we're Not. [34:57] Speaker A: I have five daughters. They all learn to ski. [34:59] Speaker B: Yes. [34:59] Speaker A: At Obergatlinburg. And they love the new branding because it reminds them. [35:04] Speaker B: Yes. [35:05] Speaker A: Of their childhood. [35:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And you know, so when I say we'd better be lucky than good is we had. No. When we took over the attraction, we didn't really have any photographs because they were all branded in Obergatlinburg. Now, as we all know, you could take Photoshop and change some logos and things like that, but then again, it wouldn't be authentic, it wouldn't be real. And we want Ober to be real. Like we talked about Gatlinburg being real and authentic. So we felt like the branding that we came up with was fresh, even though it gave it a retro feel. It was all brand new. And we've got. I say youngsters because I just turned 60, but we've got kids in their 20s that are flocking to buy T shirts and hoodies with that branding of billboards on. [36:00] Speaker A: I can see why. [36:01] Speaker B: Yes. [36:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that's exciting. So there's been a lot of new introductions up there and I know this is a podcast about Gatlinburg stories, but I. I would like our listeners to hear they may have not been up to Ober Mountain since it became Ober Mountain, since you purchased over Gatlinburg. Tell us what remains the same and what are some of the new things that are available. [36:20] Speaker B: There's some exciting things. I'll tell you a few of the exciting things and then we'll talk just briefly about some of the. One of the most exciting things that I think that we decided to keep. But the new things is we're getting two new ski lifts. So they're being installed right now. [36:36] Speaker A: Chairlifts. [36:37] Speaker B: Chair lifts. Sorry, chair lifts for 12 new chair lifts for this ski season and upcoming ski season now. And then we've also got a new observation deck. It's a 100 foot by 100 foot observation deck at what's called the top of Mount Harrison where the old bluegrass. [36:55] Speaker A: Band used to play. [36:55] Speaker B: The old bluegrass band used to play. And music will return back up there this spring. But we're just finishing the final touches. The deck is open now, but we haven't even advertised it yet because we want everything to really be complete. So. And we're going to be building a village up at the top of that mountain as well. A little small village up there with some other attractions to go along with the deck. But two new lifts and we've got a four across zip line. So me, you and Two of our friends, we can zipline all at once. Okay. On three of the longest lines in the Smoky Mountains. And you're literally our land borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So you're literally zipping over the national park practically. So some great views there. And we introduced mountain biking. So we have mountain biking that is lift supported. [37:44] Speaker A: So you put your bike on the lift and you put your bike on. [37:47] Speaker B: A special carriage on the lift, and the bike goes in front of you. And then you and I would follow behind our bikes. And then when we get to the top, the bike is there ready and waiting. [37:57] Speaker A: So all I have to do is drive downhill. [37:59] Speaker B: All you have to do is have brakes. You don't even need brakes. [38:01] Speaker A: I would need brakes. [38:02] Speaker B: Oh, yes. But lots of new attractions and things like that. But the. One of the most important things we've been doing is just infrastructure and, you know, painting and fixing things and improving food service and quality of food service and, you know, revamping retail. There's not one part of the mountain that we're not, you know, putting a new stamp on. But one of the things that we decided to keep that was actually going to be up in the air whether we keep this attraction or not, was the wildlife area. [38:35] Speaker A: Yes. [38:36] Speaker B: So a lot of people don't even realize we have wildlife on the mountain up there at Ober, but it's actually a rescue. So all of our animals that we have there are all rescue animals and they're all from this area. They would be found in the Great Smoky Mountains and all of those animals. And again, we love the previous owners, but it was a wildlife habitat and we're taking it to the next step. So it's really, those animals are here because they encountered something that they could not overcome in their life, and most of it was caused by humans. And so if they didn't live at Ober, they would probably have already been euthanized or would have never gotten an opportunity to live out their lives. So we like to say our residents there, they're living out their lives and they serve as ambassadors, their species, to teach our guests who come there about, you know, more about their species and about the Great Smoky Mountains and the area that they live in here. So. But it was when we first bought the attraction, when Joe first and his partners first bought the attraction, you know, a couple of consultants said, hey, just don't even bother with like, like, find them a new home and don't look back. And we've gone the opposite. [39:55] Speaker A: That's great. [39:56] Speaker B: Each of the Animals has a name. Each of the animals has a story. So we're actually telling those stories now. You know, it goes along with everything else we want to do, which is tell stories. And stories can be of the past, the present and the future. But we have a rare albino raccoon up there, and his name is Casper. And Casper came to be at Obergatlinburg when it was still Obergatlinburg. Someone brought the raccoon there and they thought that it got attacked by a dog, and they thought it was a cat because it was a white animal. And the reality was it's like. And he was kind of small. And they're like, well, it's not a cat, it's an albino raccoon. [40:39] Speaker A: And a rare. [40:40] Speaker B: And a rare one. Right. And what really makes them rare is in the wild, they have no camouflage, so they have a lot of predators. So. And that's why they don't get to be, you know, adult size in the wild. [40:55] Speaker A: I'm about jumping out of my seat with how inspiring that story was. [40:59] Speaker B: Yes. [41:00] Speaker A: You took something that was a bit tired. [41:02] Speaker B: Yes. [41:03] Speaker A: And had lived its length of life. [41:05] Speaker B: Yes. [41:05] Speaker A: And wasn't a phenomenal attraction up there. And you've created a whole new experience. [41:10] Speaker B: Yes. Well, Casper has his own plush animal now. So we made a custom plush animal. And Casper, because he was attacked by a dog. One of his front paws, it's, it's, it's gimpy a little bit. It's retracted. And even his stuffed animal shows that his left paw. [41:28] Speaker A: Wow. [41:29] Speaker B: Is. And you know, his stuffed animal has a tag that actually tells his story. And we recently also got a bald eagle. [41:40] Speaker A: Wow. [41:40] Speaker B: And the bald eagle was shot in the Chattanooga area and was rescued. And if Ober hadn't volunteered to take this bald eagle, he would most more than likely be euthanized as well. [41:54] Speaker A: I'm so glad we're sharing this story because if you don't ski, you don't mountain bike, you don't go to the alpine slide, you're going to want to go see. [42:00] Speaker B: You're going to want this rescue area. [42:02] Speaker A: For the, for the wildlife. That is so amazing. [42:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So we've. And then also we're in the midst of getting our ZAA certification, so Zoological association of America certifications. So again, we've got an awesome team that takes care of those animals, but we're also teaching a lot of our birds to fly. Now, most of them can never be released because they have either eye or wing problems. So if they're missing an eye. You know, clearly they can't fly correctly and they can't hunt for themselves. And if they're missing a wing, they can't fly out in the wild. But we're teaching them to fly at short distance, to come to a caretaker's arm, to get their own food. So we're teaching them things that they would, you know, that makes them feel like they're back in the wild themselves. [42:49] Speaker A: This is fascinating. I'm so glad to hear all the progress that's happening for good, yes, really for good in our community. And you have been a bright star for our community. Eight and a half years. You've made a huge impact. A ripple effect started with the fires, but it far exceeds that in light of your passion and your interest and the vision you have for our community. So we're so grateful for your leadership, the sacrifice of that. I'm glad that you didn't. It wasn't a suicide to come to Gatlinburg, a career suicide, but you have really found a place to use your gifts and to be a blessing to so many others. So, Mark, thanks for joining us today. I know you have so many more stories. We're looking forward to hearing them maybe on another podcast. [43:40] Speaker B: Sounds great and. [43:41] Speaker A: But such a thrill to have you. And thanks again for being with us. [43:44] Speaker B: Thanks for having me here. Come visit Gatlinburg responsibly. Yes. [43:51] Speaker A: Thank you for joining me on this episode of for the Love of Gatlinburg. I hope you enjoyed exploring the stories that weave together the rich tapestry of our mountain town. Whether you're reminiscing about past visits or dreaming of your next adventure, remember that every corner of Gatlinburg has a story waiting to be discovered. If you loved what you heard today, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and review our podcast. Your support helps us share the charm and history of Gatlinburg with even more listeners. And don't forget to connect with us on social media. Until next time, keep the spirit of Gatlinburg alive in your hearts. Safe travels and see you soon.