"We are originally from southeast Missouri; we’ve been together since we were 12 and 13. We’ve been married 12 years in June. We have three boys: 5, 3, and 1. We always said we would get married and move to Nashville. We had zero connections. We’re both musicians, but we never really came to “make it." We just wanted to be in a new city. We’ve always felt drawn to this area for some reason. We knew we wanted something different instead of staying in our hometown. We just had bigger dreams, and middle Tennessee just felt like the right place.
I lived in the exact same house my entire life, from birth to marriage, then moved five miles down the road when we got married. Moving here was a big jump for us, but it just all fell into place so quickly. My husband and I were walking around downtown Franklin, and it was so peaceful and full of joy. I don’t know what it is – something about downtown Franklin is just perfect. It’s cozy, it’s traditional but modern, and the history – it looks like a Hallmark movie. That was in 2012, so we’ve been here for almost ten years.
I went to a Chamber event in Nashville, and I felt so out of place there. Even though I’m in Franklin, it just felt so different. I saw a booth for the Heritage Foundation and thought, “Oh, those are my people.” Drew was there, and he and I just hit it off. I probably stayed there for 20 minutes talking to him and loved the people. I didn’t know much about the Heritage Foundation, but I joined as a NextGen member hoping it could get me connected. It’s been fun to get an insider’s perspective – good quality people who have a great heart, great ethics - and all of that ties into what we see everyday as residents here. There’s just a lot of professionalism that’s evident with all the people involved."
- Alyssa Schwartz, Franklin resident/Next Gen Advisory Board Member
