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For the Love of Here is a podcast about Dalton, Georgia and life across Northwest Georgia—from local businesses and entrepreneurship to community leadership and hometown pride.
Hosts Erika Mosteller and Lauren Sneary sit down with founders, civic leaders, creatives, and neighbors from Dalton, Chatsworth, Ringgold, and Calhoun to talk about the ideas, challenges, and opportunities shaping our region.
If you care about small-town business, local culture, economic growth, and building a life where you live, this podcast is for you.
Because you don’t need a bigger city. You just need a better lens.
Produced by Here Local Media.
Room recording
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Podcast Return and Bug Mishap
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[00:00:00]
Lauren Sneary: Okay, we are back with another episode of The Love of Here podcast. Erica, how's it going today?
Erika Mosteller: It's great. I went to the Power of the Purse today. Got to hang out with all the ladies in Dalton.
Lauren Sneary: Oh yes. So the Women's Leadership Council event. Mm-hmm. With United Way.
Erika Mosteller: Yes,
Lauren Sneary: yes. I was there as well.
Erika Mosteller: Yes.
Lauren Sneary: I had a small speaking role.
And we had a little bit of an incident with a. Big stink bug on the microphone. I I
Erika Mosteller: thought you handled it great, by the way.
Lauren Sneary: Thank you so much for saying that. I would say the table at the front would disagree as you don't
Erika Mosteller: like bug
Lauren Sneary: with their salad. No. As it turns out, when I flicked that bug off my microphone, [00:01:00] it did land in one of their salads.
And so if that sweet lady is listening today, I just wanna say I'm so sorry about the stink bug in your salad. I was really just trying to get through public speaking and I appreciate your patience. You did great with me.
Meet Anonymous Meme Master
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Lauren Sneary: So Erica. Pretty excited about today's podcast guest because. Today we have our first ever anonymous guest.
Erika Mosteller: Ooh, incognito.
Lauren Sneary: So they, our guest here today, they have gotten a little bit of local fame, or maybe I should say infamy through their tongue in cheek, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes hilarious meme account on Instagram.
Erika Mosteller: And sometimes a little racy we have to describe.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, a little edgy. A little edgy.
And what's cool about it is it focuses on northwest Georgia and with every post they manage to get people talking, laughing. Or arguing sometimes in the comments, but you know, it manages to stay pretty positive and it creates this really fun connection point for people who know and love this area.
And so today everyone, we have [00:02:00] the elusive carpet, capital memes here in our podcast studio. So we don't wanna create a big thing around guessing who they are. They them and their team. And, and so they're staying anonymous for this episode and we'll be referring to them as Johnny Carpet today. And if you check out the video clips on our Instagram account, by the way, you'll see our guest in disguise.
So don't miss it. Not robbing a gas station just being on our podcast. There
Erika Mosteller: you go.
Lauren Sneary: Well, hi, carpet capital, memes, I mean, Johnny Carpet. How are ya?
Johnny Carpet: I'm good. This is how I dress every day. Oh, so perfect. Not incognito, just casual.
Lauren Sneary: Just yourself. Yeah,
Johnny Carpet: just casual.
Lauren Sneary: Just casual. So are you nervous about being on camera, such as It is?
Johnny Carpet: It's a little different. Usually on behind the screen I let the, the words or the emojis do some talking. So we'll see how it goes.
Lauren Sneary: Alright.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah.
Dalton Roots and NWGA Love
---
Lauren Sneary: Well, with most of our podcast guests, we like to say, you know, get them talking about their Dalton story and you know, how they got to Dalton, or why they stay in Dalton.
And so we're not gonna ask you to reveal too much, but we'd love to hear a little bit about, obviously you're connected to [00:03:00] Dalton and know it very well. There's some real insider jokes on that account, so I ha I know you're somewhere. From a adult Dalton or adjacent to Dalton. So can you share at least a little bit of what that Dalton journey has looked like for you?
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, so back in the eighties, Hamilton Medical Center, born in the hospital there. A lot of people, a lot of famous alum.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: But yeah, born in Dalton. Went to high school in Dalton. Went to college in Dalton, left Dalton and I came back.
Lauren Sneary: Nice.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. So a little bit of a journey and I guess that's what we're here to kind of talk about and dissect today.
Lauren Sneary: It is,
Erika Mosteller: yeah. So you're like Dalton through and through.
Johnny Carpet: Oh yeah.
Erika Mosteller: But you talk about all of Northwest Georgia. So do you have an affinity for the whole region or are you like, you're really Dalton hardcore, but. Wanted to bring in the rest of the region so that more people could learn to love Dalton. Like what's the impetus behind that?
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. I mean, being from Dalton, obviously that's home base and I know most stuff yeah. About it and ins and outs, and I know the streets and I know the, the little nooks and crannies and stuff. But [00:04:00] I think Northwest Georgia is a special place. I mean, it's unique. When you look at the, the geography, the people, the, the history of it.
It's, it's beautiful and I think a lot of times it, it gets overlooked and overshadowed and I like to pick at some, some cities and counties along the way. If you fall the count, you'll know. But I love this place. I mean, it's unique and there's a lot to fall in love about it.
Even places you might not think about there are some very unique gems that are hidden that if you start digging around, you're gonna find a diamond and something worth exploring or finding out about.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Murray County Rivalry Lore
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Lauren Sneary: You, you know, you, you like to kind of poke and prod at Murray County in that account I see from time to time, but, Oh.
Johnny Carpet: Can we bleep some stuff out here in a second?
Lauren Sneary: You know, we prefer to keep this a pretty wholesome podcast. Yep. But
Erika Mosteller: and we also love Murray County
Lauren Sneary: and we love Hurry to Murray and Murray County. But you know what, I have this suspicion that you also love Murray County in terms of how much you are actually talking about Murray on there.
So tell us what your real feeling about Murray is.
Johnny Carpet: Oh, here it is. This is the big one. This
Lauren Sneary: is it.
Johnny Carpet: I love Mary Kay. I love to hate those guys, but I love it. [00:05:00] Have you seen how beautiful it is over there?
Lauren Sneary: It's, it is.
Johnny Carpet: They got a great coffee shop, red Eye Rooster. They got some good hot dogs at the shaky Mutt.
I wanna hate it more, but it's hard because it's got a lot going on. It's getting better.
Erika: Yeah,
Johnny Carpet: it's getting so better. But the weird part is, you know, being from Dalton, it's kind of that thing. It's ingrained, I guess, and I think it goes both ways when you talk about 'em. But when you go back, I mean, we were the same county, right?
Mm-hmm. In 1800, you split it apart and you get Whitfield and Murray and we're the same.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, I didn't know it used to be all one county.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. Spring place was the, the uh, county seat.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, wow.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. And so
Lauren Sneary: shout out spring place.
Johnny Carpet: So when we are, we are Murray County, right? They are us. And so,
Erika Mosteller: oh my gosh, we should totally have shirts made for that.
Johnny Carpet: It's deep, but it, and so that's where some of the jokes come from. It's like when people kind of pick and make fun. But if you go back and start looking at your family tree, if you are from this area. I mean, half your family's from Murray County. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: My husband's family, they're from Murray County and they call it God's country.
Lauren Sneary: [00:06:00] It is. I mean, look at those mountains.
Erika Mosteller: It is gorgeous.
Johnny Carpet: Beautiful up there.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: But yeah, it's, it's this weird relationship between the two. And I think it's kind of fun because, you know, over time they've kind of deviated and Dalton's went one way, and Murray's kind of stayed more rural and they have the, the flooring industry and stuff.
But it hadn't developed it, you know, population wise and stuff. And, you know, maybe they won in the long game. Oh, that's, that's what, don't say it. That's what gets me. But yeah, I, I don't hate them, but man, I'm jealous of them.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: I appreciate how, I do feel like they are coming together more so I do feel like Whitfield and Murray County, there is already a lot of overlap for people who live there or work here, vice versa.
But I feel like now we're, we're doing a better job of supporting each other in our community and economic development. Like I know our joint development authorities are working together. I think we're doing a lot better of supporting their downtown efforts. They're supporting our downtown efforts. They come to Bur Park concerts, you know, we go to some of their concerts.
So I think it's cool how. We,
Lauren Sneary: we have two super strong chambers.
Erika Mosteller: Yes,
Lauren Sneary: we do. And, and I, and [00:07:00] they're all, all out there doing a ton of work in both areas. Mm-hmm. So I just really appreciate all the growth. Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: I think the two communities, whether people like to admit or not, they're, they're very intertwined.
Yeah. I don't wanna say codependent. I don't think so. They're doing their own thing, and that's great. But I, I think you can't deny the fact that the, the two counties have. History. Mm-hmm. But like, they do have a lot more than that. ~'cause you know, maybe if you're on the fringes of over towards Walker, but like, we're not connected like those counties are Does.~
~Mm-hmm. ~It's Murray and Whitfield. We're ride or die baby.
Humor Rules and Positivity
---
Erika Mosteller: So you use a lot of humor obviously. What's your handle? Tell everybody your handle. Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: @carpetcapitalmemes
Erika Mosteller: So you tell me how you use humor to get to the truth. Because I think what we're talking about right now with Murray County and Whitfield County, sometimes it's these like unspoken truths that people don't really want to say.
And so it creates maybe some tension in the room. And I love how you use humor to just break that and just bring these truths to the forefront and, and help people through humor see some of these things that really maybe we make a big deal out of. Or maybe we overdramatize. But they're actually pretty hilarious.
Lauren Sneary: It's never mean
Erika Mosteller: no. Which
Lauren Sneary: I really,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Lauren Sneary: I appreciate that you've been able to [00:08:00] be so funny with it and clever and, and a little bit edgy at times. I know, right? It's never like outright mean, which
Erika Mosteller: is nice. I mean, and some of the stuff you put about I 75 is just hilarious.
Johnny Carpet: Well, I think the biggest inspiration is just observation.
Yeah. You know, just, just sitting around and listening. But, you know, there, there's that comedy rule. I guess, you know, it's okay to punch up but never punch down.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Right. And so to kind of keep that in mind, and I think that, you know, people, internet's full of hate, right? And positivity is going to attract more, maybe not instantly, but in the long run.
Mm-hmm. And so if you kinda look at things, and I got a longstanding beef with the city of Rome, and again, I don't hate Rome. But they're our rivals, right? And so you're going to kind of pick and find those things. And so I think positivity is finding those things that everyone knows in our community and kind of magnifying it, putting a, you know, a spotlight on it.
'cause people are already laughing at these things and seeing these things. They just might have forgot about it, right? Mm-hmm. And so, you know, sometimes we'll put out [00:09:00] a thing with starter packs and it's you know. Flooring industry starter pack, and it's khaki shorts. A Peter Malar polo.
Lauren Sneary: So real
Johnny Carpet: Zyn, so real, you know, Dave Matthews band cd, a white Ford truck with a, a private golf club sticker on it.
Pictures whichever one you like. Right. And it's like, it's not groundbreaking, you know, but that's a bunch of dads here in town. Yeah, it's
Erika Mosteller: very relatable. ~Yeah, ~
Johnny Carpet: ~so I, I think a lot of people maybe see their family, their friends and some of this stuff, and ~so I'm just, he happy that they can find it, you know, I can guide 'em towards it.
Lauren Sneary: S
Origin Story and Growth
---
Lauren Sneary: o is that how it started? I'm curious, when you first kind of had the idea to create a meme account about Dalton in northwest Georgia, was it always intended to kind of, because we've been a little cerebral in our discussion of you know, the, the humor and the intention behind it. But did it start that way?
~And can you share how it started? ~
Johnny Carpet: ~Oh, God bless you guys with many talents. He gave me the one of memes. I dunno. ~So, I mean, the true origin story is me and my buddies in a group chat. We were, you know, every guy group chat, just sending stupid pictures or talking or whatever. And then somehow we got sending a couple memes back and forth and I was like, this is pretty fun.
And then. [00:10:00] I fired off like 10 in a couple of minutes and they're like, okay, you're taking it a little, little too far. And I was like, well, I think there's something here, you know, where else can
Lauren Sneary: I put these? Right?
Johnny Carpet: So I thought, you know, let's just put them out there and see. And you know, like almost 11,000 people later, they're like, yeah, some of this stuff's kind of funny.
That always blows my mind. 'cause
Lauren Sneary: 11,000 followers, you mean on,
Johnny Carpet: we're right there on the cusp. Not that I'm counting or anything, but it's like 10,000, you know, 950. Right.
Erika Mosteller: Give
Johnny Carpet: Or take.
Lauren Sneary: All right guys, let's get this team to 12 K.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, there we go.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. What to do with that? A lot of pressure, but yeah, it really just started off as a joke with, and it became a joke, right?
And so with a lot of things it was a bit of a passion project and I thought, yeah, some people might want to see these, and then people actually wanted to see it and follow along, and so I'm just grateful for that.
Viral Hits and I-75 Jokes
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Erika Mosteller: What have been your most viral posts?
Johnny Carpet: Oh, the biggest one, I think I had a couple of reels that I re, I re-put out, but I sat on one for a year, like over a year in my pocket.
I got like 5,000 memes in my phone. It's ridiculous. [00:11:00] Family photos? The little rugs? No, I don't, no,
Erika Mosteller: the little rugs. Is that your children?
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, the little rugs and Mrs. Carpet.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Johnny Carpet: And so I sat on it for like over a year and it was something that, you know, you might have heard, you might can relate to being from Northwest Georgia.
You, you've heard this phrase like, I'm part Cherokee.
Erika Mosteller: Ah, yes. Everyone is part Cherokee.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, no, I'm not gonna debate that. You know, I, I hadn't seen their 23 and me results, but statistically speaking. Come on. So I put it out there, it was like something about, you know, people, how people from Northwest Georgia feel when they say they're one, whatever, Cherokee.
And it blew up. I mean, it was, and the algorithms weird today. 80 something thousand people, I think maybe close to a hundred thousand people liked it. Shared it.
Erika Mosteller: Wow.
Johnny Carpet: History departments, you know, we're sharing it. I'm going. I sat on this thing for a year.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: You know, I didn't think it was that funny, but Sure.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: But again, I think it goes back to, it relates, right? Yeah. If you're from Northwest Georgia, [00:12:00] you've heard that story. Your grandma, your mom, your stepmom, your dad, whoever has said that, and then you take the 23 and me 0% Cherokee
Lauren Sneary: literally had this exact argument and experience with my husband. Mm-hmm.
Who told me. Since we met that he is part, part
Erika Mosteller: Cherokee.
Lauren Sneary: Same up in his family line.
Erika Mosteller: Same.
Lauren Sneary: And I'm like, honestly, shout out to the Taylors. I, you could see some resemblance there except that he did take a genetic test and 0.0%. So zero very relatable meme in the scenario Taylor household.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. So again, it's just just observations, right?
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: So that was pretty good.
Erika Mosteller: There was one you did one time. I think it was about the I 75 split. And how they just like keep trying or something and you were like, whenever I feel down. And I feel like I can't go on.
Johnny Carpet: Oh, treat yourself like the I 75 split or something. Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yes.
Johnny Carpet: You know, they, they, they fix a little bit of traffic.
I spent some time up in Chattanooga and so I like to venture up that way and kind of bring some of that. But the interstate, everybody hates the interstate Right. Traffic, [00:13:00] that guy in the big truck, you know, so it's just, it's, it's easy.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Nostalgia Magic Carpet Kingdom
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Erika Mosteller: So you use a lot of nostalgia. Tell us about some of your, your nostalgia inspiration that's like.
Just like the OG Dalton. I wasn't here then, but
Johnny Carpet: when did you get to Dalton?
Erika Mosteller: I did not come here till 2014.
Johnny Carpet: Whoa.
Lauren Sneary: So when you posted about the magic carpet kingdom that just really took me back, I could smell it. I could feel it, yeah. That magic carpet kingdom, you feel the splinters
Johnny Carpet: in your fingers.
Lauren Sneary: My parents, you know, with a bunch of other parents at the time helped build it. I mean, that was like we were. S It was a, sorry, go
Johnny Carpet: ahead. No go. No, you go ahead.
Lauren Sneary: I remember when we first went out there, it seemed like the biggest, coolest thing that could have ever happened in Dalton. And granted I was a lot smaller then.
Yeah. But it seemed huge. I mean, where was it? It seemed like the magic perfect kingdom off. Kind of in between Doug app and Thornton
Johnny Carpet: Thread Mill. Where? Al Oh, Al Rollins Park is, there you go. It's still called the Magic Carpet Kingdom. But that's a cheap rip off.
Erika Mosteller: Oh [00:14:00] yeah, yeah. That playground's not the greatest.
Now,
Johnny Carpet: you know,
Lauren Sneary: it was something
Johnny Carpet: nostalgia, you bleep me out here. Nostalgia is a heck of a drug. Right. And so I think the magic carpet kingdom, you, know if you were a certain age range. I mean, you know, my grandfather Jimmy Carpet, he took me there all the time as a, as a small swatch and It, it just, like I said, the splinters and I, I don't know, but something, there were a lot of
bees.
A lot of bees. The carpenter bees. It probably was a real dump, you know, when you look back on it. But it really was a magical carpet kingdom.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah. And the community put it together. Yeah. Yeah. It's really cool.
Johnny Carpet: Well, I read something recently like that playground. 'cause you see some images and I've looked forever to find like our original one and Yeah.
I can't find it.
Lauren Sneary: I know. Where
Erika: are
Johnny Carpet: they? That particular playground was mass produced across the country and like that was part of it. Communities built those. Oh, cool. And so that story, like there's magical carpet kingdoms all over, but like, oh, that's cool. You know, I guess it's magical. Insert whatever your city makes.
Kingdom
Lauren Sneary: Auto
Johnny Carpet: parts. Yeah. So [00:15:00] your, your childhood, really what I'm trying to say wasn't that magical. Oh, other people repeated that, but for us, yeah, it's super magical. I think the Walnut Square Mall. Mm-hmm. Yep. I mean, how many times were you dropped off there and just allowed to walk around?
Lauren Sneary: Oh yeah.
Why Come Back to Dalton
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Erika Mosteller: So it's interesting to me from what you've said, you. We're here in Dalton, you went to Chattanooga, and then you did choose to come back.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: And then you even chose to create this entire account that started about Dalton, but then you've, you know, expanded to Northwest Georgia.
So clearly you see. Something here in Dalton that's worth celebrating and laughing about and doing all these things, but what attracted you to come back and, and settle
Johnny Carpet: here? Yeah. Can I, can I back up just a little bit? Yeah,
Erika Mosteller: please do.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. So, yeah, I guess I am Dalton's. Prodigal son.
Erika Mosteller: Oh,
Johnny Carpet: I walked away and I returned.
Lucky
Erika Mosteller: us. Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Oh
Erika Mosteller: man.
Johnny Carpet: Lucky I just not covered in filth Lucky Dalton came back. Yeah. Lucky Dalton. Really? I could have set this up anywhere. Scenic city memes. Classic city
Erika Mosteller: me's. True. You could have,
Johnny Carpet: why don't more [00:16:00] cities have these anyways?
Erika Mosteller: Oh, there's your franchise opportunity.
Johnny Carpet: Oh yeah. License now.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: There we go.
Dalton State Turning Point
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Johnny Carpet: So let's back up to Dalton State real quick 'cause I had a moment. And so talking about choices. And so I'm doing my thing at Dalton State and like every kid, my goal was to get outta town.
Erika Mosteller: Mm.
Johnny Carpet: That's kind of the thing, you know, small towns, like, I wanna go somewhere. I'm, I'm outta here.
I'm never coming back. And I think my first crossroad was at Dalton State.
Erika Mosteller: Mm-hmm.
Johnny Carpet: And I, I was kind of, you know, I was not enjoying it. I was commuting. I wasn't living on campus like dorms, I don't think they had, on my first couple years they had apartments that were the dorms and I got one of those later
on.
Lauren Sneary: Mm-hmm.
Johnny Carpet: But. I remember, I was like, I'm getting outta here. And I tried some, some crazy options, like I'm gonna go to Jack State. And I remember my dad, Steven Carpet. He, he just,
Erika Mosteller: I thought he was Jimmy. Oh, that's the granddad. Sorry,
Johnny Carpet: sorry.
Erika Mosteller: Granddad is Jimmy,
Johnny Carpet: Steven Carpet. He, he really set me straight. And so, you know, I applied, I got into UGA and I'm taking the show on the road, right.
And. Donnel. [00:17:00] Lee Davis at Dalton State College and Jamie Hall were two. Two. The biggest Donnel Lee's not there anymore. Jamie Hall is two of the most impactful people. They said, why don't you get involved in some stuff? And so. I was sitting there looking, I had some time on the application and I, I got involved and I said, you know, I kind of like it here.
Lauren Sneary: Mm-hmm.
Johnny Carpet: There's, there's opportunities to make things and create things and do things. And, kind of looking at that, I said, I don't know if those opportunities are gonna be at UGA. I think there's gonna be some fun times there. But I don't know if I'm gonna be allowed to do some things that I wanted to do.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: And so, you know, at Dalton State at the time, they were kinda like, yeah, if you got an idea, let's run with it. I still think they are, but they're, you know, it was still almost like the early days of the internet and stuff. Like, we're still trying to figure out some rules it felt like, and so they were like, yeah, if you wanna do this or do that.
And so I stuck around and it, it was a really good decision.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: I had a great time. I love Dalton State beep beep.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, I appreciate. How you do reference Dalton State a lot, you know, just they [00:18:00] are doing some incredible things. It is a lot to celebrate, and I think sometimes our population here doesn't see that because maybe they have the paradigm of.
You know what? It was 15, 20 years ago, but like Dalton State is doing some really incredible stuff.
Johnny Carpet: I'm mad at all the students at Dalton State because of how nice it is.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, you
Erika: didn't
Johnny Carpet: have like when I've been on campus here recently, like donating money and all that stuff, I do like, of
Erika Mosteller: course.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah.
The carpet capital memes foundation, college scholarship fund, whatever. That's so nice. I know. Wow. Handle. Stuff. But anyways, like it has changed so much since I've been there. Yeah. I mean, it almost looks like a completely different place. I mean, you know, we didn't have sports then.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: The Pope still had a staircase and still had the lights from the sixties in it, and so it has changed in, in the little time since I've been there, I mean, a couple of decades now.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Johnny Carpet: But it, it's such a good place and I think, you know, my advice for anybody that goes to Dalton State is, is it is what you make it. I think there's more opportunities to make it into a great place. Mm-hmm. But if you commute and you just get in your car and leave, you're gonna hate it.
Erika Mosteller: Right.
Johnny Carpet: You could say the same thing [00:19:00] about Kennesaw.
You could say the same thing about uj. You gotta get plugged in and start to get involved in stuff.
Erika Mosteller: Right. I was, that's kind of the, the theme of its life really. Like it is what you make it
Lauren Sneary: be intentional.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: So yeah, I made that intentional choice stay at Dalton State. I enjoyed it. Yeah, it was great. Got the diploma super great.
I framed it after a couple years
Erika Mosteller: in carpet. Did you get a degree in carpet?
Johnny Carpet: New Hemology. Hemology.
Erika Mosteller: Okay.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, it was a new program.
Erika Mosteller: Emergency Hemology. Okay. Yeah. Just kidding. That's not really a program at Dalton State, by the way.
Johnny Carpet: It will be disclaimer. It'll be
Erika Mosteller: right.
Interns and Chattanooga Dreams
---
Johnny Carpet: And then, you know, I, I've continued, I've allowed a lot of unpaid interns at Dalton State to help me out with memes and go out to, oh my, take coffee and take pictures and stuff.
Erika Mosteller: So that's how you seem to be everywhere. All at once.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some people they like, oh, carpet capital's a girl. And I'm like, well, I don't have beautiful fingernails like that. But all those unpaid interns at adult State manage, it's easy. Just boss 'em around. They do whatever. So it's good. Good thing sometimes they mess up at don't
Lauren Sneary: endorse.
Boss around unpaid interns. [00:20:00] Just quick note. Right.
Johnny Carpet: Okay. So yeah, so then graduated and, and bummed around for a little bit and found my way up to Chattanooga and made it baby. You know, as someone from Dalton, right. Big
Erika: city.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah,
Johnny Carpet: that's right. That was there by his dream. You, you move to Chattanooga and then game over, you win.
Right. And And Chattanooga was great. We were a peak hipster era.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: 2010s. 2010s. Stomping and clapping music. Literally.
Main Street Poet
---
Johnny Carpet: There was a guy on Main Street, he would bring his typewriter, two mean mug, no shoes. I think he must have stepped on needles or something. I have. And
Lauren Sneary: write poetry. Moment.
Johnny Carpet: I had never asked him what he wrote.
Moment.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, you should have I have one.
Johnny Carpet: You got one from him. You know who I'm talking about?
Lauren Sneary: Yes, I do. He it's poems and you, he'll write you a poem.
Johnny Carpet: Did you ask him?
Lauren Sneary: I can't remember how it came about. I think my friend told him it was her birthday and he was like, I'm gonna write you a birthday poem.
And he tap, tap, tap on his.
Erika Mosteller: Wow. Was it any good
Lauren Sneary: writer? Actually it was beautiful. We cried over it. We had had a few cocktails, but Hey Lauren, this sounds like
Erika Mosteller: it was a
Lauren Sneary: birthday party.
Johnny Carpet: See, I just watched from afar 'cause I was just like, I, I wanted to be a [00:21:00] hipster, but I was not that hip. Yeah, so his, you
Erika Mosteller: didn't have your hipster starter pack like you have on carpet capital means I
Johnny Carpet: did in the 20, 20 13 hipster starter pack.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: I mean, it was just Lumineers, you just put on that album and dressed like them.
Erika Mosteller: And then you're good to go.
Johnny Carpet: But yeah, so we lived up there for a while and it was great. I mean, I, you know, fun stuff. I was, I could walk to the stadium, you know, CFC, big CFC fan, but I'm always looking for an Omar Hernandez jersey.
You gotta support the local guys, right? He's a Dalton guy, even though he is on the red wolves, but.
Chattanooga Reality Check
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Johnny Carpet: You know, I loved it, but it's kind of weird when you're in a place. It can be, you know, Chattanooga, the, the Valhalla, the, you know, the Elysium of, of places to go. But when you get there, if you don't really make it into something, right?
Mm-hmm. And so we, we kinda had, we had some good friends up there, like great friends we still hang out with today and talk to. But we couldn't get deep roots, you know, we couldn't get super connected in some ways and, you know, it was not that we weren't trying and it wasn't that Chattanooga wasn't welcoming.
[00:22:00] And then we got hit with a little rug at first, a little rug. And so we're thinking, man, that's kids. If, if y'all don't know
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, thanks for that.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, yeah, yeah. In
Erika Mosteller: case.
Johnny Carpet: And so we started kinda looking and kind of think what. Is meaningful in life. 'cause man, life's fun. And then you have kids and you gotta start thinking like serious stuff.
Lauren Sneary: Right.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. And schools and daycare care, childcare, you, expensive childcare is,
Lauren Sneary: yes. I will never stop talking about how important affordable childcare is for the future of our community, but that can be another podcast.
Johnny Carpet: Okay. Okay. I didn't mean to bring up that.
Lauren Sneary: No, thank you.
Coming Back to Dalton
---
Johnny Carpet: But you know, we were kinda looking around and we just said, you know.
It might be good to move back to Dalton.
Lauren Sneary: Mm.
Johnny Carpet: And it was kind of like, not a joke in a bad sense, but people kinda laughed like, really? And I'm like, I really think so. You know, people knew we were kind of, you know, I made it out like I finally made it. Mm-hmm. I think a lot of people feel like they were to go to Chattanooga, Atlanta.
But there was something kind of tugging at me. Mm-hmm. You know, and I remember when I came back [00:23:00] driving down Walden Avenue, like we we're pulling like our first load of stuff down here. It's like that song from Dodgery, I don't know, we don't have the rights to it, so I can't sing it. Something I'm coming home and then I don't wanna get, you know, suit.
You guys sued for singing it.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, please sing for us. Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: So, but you know, it felt right. It felt good. And it wasn't just 'cause we had kids, but then we came back and, you know, we, we met some people, we started getting involved with different groups and organizations and it just, it clicked. Yeah. And I think it's kinda that same thing, adult and state.
There was so many opportunities to get into the mix and into things and I think, you know, maybe Chattanooga was such a bigger place and that was already happening, but I feel like. We found the people who were eager in town that are kind of doing the same thing as us. And so, you know, coming back and seeing you, there was a good 10 year period where I was gone and I kinda came back with a fresh set of eyes like.
Bur this
Lauren Sneary: is actually awesome.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. Like Bur Park was not here. I left and then Bur park's here and I'm back and I'm like, whoa, this is kind of cool what's happening downtown.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, I think, you know, [00:24:00] obviously that's part of our mission is just having a fresh lens, being able to see things through a new paradigm.
And I think we have both experienced that too. And it's interesting, a lot of people who either. HA aren't from Dalton and moved here and love it. Or they had experience in Dalton and then they moved away. And then they came back and they were like, actually this place is great. I mean, like, you know, utilities are more affordable, housing is more affordable.
It's small. Like you can get anywhere in 15 to 20 minutes. You can meet people, you can get engaged on boards. All these different things that are just harder in bigger cities.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. So that's cool that that was your experience.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. So, you know, we, we've been back here now a couple years and it's been great.
Meme Page Growing Pains
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Lauren Sneary: So I wanna take it back to the carpet capital memes account, 'cause I still have some questions Okay. About, about that activity and you know, it sounds like you started it and then it's grown. Maybe its growth actually wasn't the goal. But now you're here with almost 12,000 followers. Have you ever posted something where you thought, Ooh, I don't know if that [00:25:00] was the right move.
Like, have you ever posted something and felt weird about it or thought the comment section got outta hand? I'm just curious, like if you've had any. Negative or hilarious
Erika Mosteller: or like weird dms where people are like angry or,
Lauren Sneary: yeah,
Johnny Carpet: no, dms are funny. You know, usually people send me weird videos about carpet.
Lauren Sneary: Like he would like this.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. You know, I, I'm honored I
Erika Mosteller: found your niche.
Johnny Carpet: I'm honored, but I'm also a little concerned. It's like, oh, here's a weird video I found about carpet. I know a guy who would appreciate this and it's
Lauren Sneary: Johnny
Johnny Carpet: Carpet. And then I go. I really appreciate this video.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Right.
Johnny Carpet: So
Erika Mosteller: you do find some very interesting things to put on there, like old commercials.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, those fines are crazy. You
Erika Mosteller: must, they are
Lauren Sneary: this in the internet that I don't,
Erika Mosteller: I know, like you're, yeah. You're a good researcher and historian. Evidently,
Johnny Carpet: sometimes, I, I'll put something out there and then somebody comes out and says, Hey, have you seen, or there's a place,
Erika Mosteller: yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Oh, there's a guy on there and he, if we get on sports, he's a big Tennessee fan, but if we get on sports, he'll start he'll start saying, Hey, hey, you could check this out. And of course it's [00:26:00] always fall oriented, but we did a post talking about high school sports. Mm-hmm. And it was like ah, yes, but do you remember, you know, college football version of this guy?
And, I remember, he's like, Hey, you need to get this, this guy he played at Tennessee, Ricky Townsend, I believe is his name. Mm-hmm. He's the barefoot kicker. I'm, I'm not a big Tennessee fan. Of
Erika Mosteller: course. 'cause it's not Georgia. No, I'm kidding.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I, I was like, what is he talking about?
And I think he was quarterback Dalton High sixties. Seventies. Mm-hmm. And he went to Tennessee and you can't make it up. He kicked barefoot. I'm going, that is the most Tennessee story, but it's also the most Dalton story because he's from Dalton, right? Yeah. We start to go back and look and we have a lot of Dalton cat mounts that went and played for the balls.
Erika Mosteller: Really?
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. Like we start looking at that list, like there's Bill Mayo is probably the most famous, but there's a
Lauren Sneary: Stefan Rains from my class. Okay.
Johnny Carpet: Oh, he follows the account.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, awesome.
Johnny Carpet: Hey man. Yeah, so there's a few out there. It's like you start looking like, oh wow, that's kind of cool. And so people start kind of pulling in.
I think it's one of those [00:27:00] things like. I think I know a lot about town. Yeah. Maybe I know the most of everybody, I don't know. But then someone's always like, Hey, did you know this? And I'm sitting there taking notes like, oh yeah, you're right. It's
Erika Mosteller: great content.
Johnny Carpet: That's great idea. I didn't know that.
Keeping Humor Positive
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Johnny Carpet: Or, so I'm, I'm in a learning process as I'm going through this because yeah, sometimes go back to your question.
I'll put something out there and I try, like, I really try not to offend people, but. You know, comedy and humor is a sense, and you're gonna feel like that's funny. You might not get it, or you might not like it, or, you know, even if it's something not intended to be offensive, you might just go, I don't like that.
You know, that. Towards me the wrong way. And it's like, I can't help that. Right. Yeah. I can't help how you perceive it, but I really try not to go that far into it. Mm-hmm. There's a few things. I think I've put a couple things out there and I've sat on it for a minute and I've, you know, deleted it and I said, well, you have, yeah.
And I just like, you know, I don't think that's gonna be taken the way I want it to or it's gonna come across the wrong way. 'cause you always try to be positive always try to be, you know, supportive of our community and stuff like [00:28:00] that. And, you know, you can. And I think, you know, people like, well, didn't he say that you can laugh about what's going on.
You can laugh about current events. There's things that are, are super funny. I think he can,
Lauren Sneary: sometimes you just have to laugh, right? Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Think so. That's the only option. It's kinda like Parks and Rec. If you don't find the humor in what's happening, whether it's a serious thing or it silly thing.
You gotta learn to laugh at it. If you can't laugh at yourself, then you know, what are you doing? Yeah.
Erika Mosteller: I actually heard this recently, actually. I'm reading a book. You know how sometimes it's like you'll hear things multiple places and I don't know if it's just 'cause all of a sudden I'm paying attention to it, or if it's just like a popular topic, who knows?
But I had somebody tell me recently, like, well if you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it. And then I'm reading this book about Feel Good Productivity, which is actually a pretty fascinating book. And his whole premise is like, if you're not having fun, then you're not gonna be productive. And so I, it's fun to me that.
That to me is kind of what your account is about. It's like, you know what, this is our life. This is our community. These are people who are doing cool things. Like it's not perfect. Everything's not always going the way that maybe we thought it [00:29:00] would or should, but we can still have fun and find the humor in it and relate to the fun and the humor.
~And I, I love that ~
Johnny Carpet: ~there's, ~there's enough pages and things out there being negative. Yeah. We don't, I don't need to add to that, right? Yeah. That they've already got that market covered. Yeah. Right. So we're gonna try to keep it a little, little different. A little different flare.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: And you know, it, it that, going back to like people, sometimes people send me some things and I have to like, eh, that's not my bag.
You know, that's not what I do. Mm-hmm. And, and have that, I try to respond and, and be nice about it. But, you know, it, it would be so easy to lean into negative or, or into, you know, things in a bad taste. And I'm sure it would, it would do gang banger, you know, just like go. I don't, I don't want it to go that way.
You know? I have to keep it and control it. 'cause at the end of the day, it's my product I'm putting out and you know, if the intern messes up, I'll fire them, but it all falls back on me.
Dalton Food Favorites
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Erika Mosteller: So talk to me about your favorite Dalton. Food. We love talking about the food in Dalton. Your favorite Dalton place.
Like obviously you know a lot about Yeah,
Johnny Carpet: [00:30:00] yeah.
Erika Mosteller: Our community experience. Like what are your favorite Dalton experiences or foods or
Johnny Carpet: food? I think the food's wild here, like in a good way. Like, you know, you have like Latino food, like some, a lot of people say, oh, you got Mexican food in Dalton. I'm like, yeah, we have Mexican food, but like we have Latino food.
Mm-hmm. Not just Mexican. Have you ever had papoosas? Ugh,
Erika Mosteller: they're so good. What
Johnny Carpet: Papoosas are.
Erika Mosteller: Yes. Delicious.
Johnny Carpet: You explain. It's like a pancake with like cheese or beans in, right? Mm-hmm. Oh, it's delicious. And so those are some of my favorite. But like I get kind of hung up like seasonally on stuff. I guess.
Like, it, it always changes. One, a couple of my favorite spots. I don't like seafood. You know, they're like insects of the sea. Right.
Erika Mosteller: That's
Lauren Sneary: insane.
Erika Mosteller: I'll never eat a shrimp again. Evidently that's,
Johnny Carpet: no, I love shrimp. I'm
Lauren Sneary: gonna go eat some
Johnny Carpet: now. Right. No water bugs.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: But elk Cook is one of my favorite places because it's a seafood place.
I'm gonna eat the seafood, but they're, everything else they have is so delicious. Right. So I'm going to a seafood place and I hate seafood.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah,
Johnny Carpet: because it's so good. Right. Cafe Ostra, their lentil soup. Oh, I don't rave [00:31:00] about people's lentil soup, but I rave about their soup. Like it's good in, in ak.
He's super nice, you know.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Just a soup. Y'all need to have them on the podcast at some
Erika Mosteller: point. Oh, that would be good. ~That would be ~
Johnny Carpet: ~fun. Yeah. ~Maybe even bring some falafels or something. But like, you know, the, the food there is great. I like to give shout to Gar House. I, I, you know, they, their coffee's super awesome.
Mm-hmm.
Erika Mosteller: I have a Garney house story. This was so Dalton. So she texts me, Jillian text me the other night. She says, Hey, you left your debit card at the coffee shop, and we just have it up here at the register. And I texted her back and I was like, oh, okay. I'll send somebody to come get it tomorrow. And it was Karin, who's our account manager, and Karin comes back.
She. Only in Dalton Can I, a random person whose name is not on the debit card. Yeah, pick it up. Just go pick it up from the store and bring it back. But I love that about our community 'cause. We all know each other, so
Lauren Sneary: I thought you were gonna say that. You were like, oh, just leave it there. We
Erika Mosteller: can
Lauren Sneary: just run it every time.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Run a tab. That would've probably been more appropriate.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. I mean, it, it's safe. It's, it's like one of those, I hate saying that Mayberry Yes. Thing. Yeah. That's [00:32:00] so overdone. But there is some, some aspects, there's some truth to
Erika Mosteller: it. Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Like once you start going to a place, and I kind of mentioned that too, like, you start going to a place, you become a regular and they know you and I, I had one like that.
You know, we were talking about big, big coffee coming into town. And you know, sometimes you gotta go to big coffee. It's inevitable. Right? But like we got some really good coffee shops in town and, and it is true. Like once you start going there, they know who you are and they know you by name. They're like, Johnny, what's up?
I'm like, Hey guys, how's it going? I'm here for my coffee.
Erika Mosteller: What does Johnny Carpet drink?
Johnny Carpet: Oh, black.
Erika Mosteller: Ah,
Johnny Carpet: no sugar, no cream. Sweet enough. I like coffee Bitter. 'cause I'm just a bitter guy. Mad at the world,
Erika Mosteller: but funny, funny. Mad at the
Johnny Carpet: world. Yeah, yeah,
Erika Mosteller: yeah. Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: So those are some of the big ones right now.
Oh, and then Dalton Bike Club, they get me. You, you follow Dalton Bike Club?
Erika Mosteller: Oh, yeah, ~yeah. ~
Johnny Carpet: ~You know about, ~you know about them.
Erika Mosteller: Shout out y'all Follow Dalton Bike Club
Lauren Sneary: Food Influence.
Erika Mosteller: They're actually they wrote in our may issue that should be dropping in mailboxes. Soon-ish. Ooh. Or by the time this podcast is live, people will have it.
We should have it. But yes. [00:33:00] Dalton Bite Club wrote our food article for our May issue.
Lauren Sneary: Who did they write it about?
Erika Mosteller: They wrote it about the spinning room, and they even did like pairings for the food and the wine and so Cool. They did a fabulous job.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. Dalton Bite Club.
Bakery Finds and Piñatas
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Johnny Carpet: They put out in their stories a a guide to Panza, you know, the, the Conche, the Mexican pastries. Right? Mm. Sweet breads. And I was like, I gotta go to Esperanza.
Lauren Sneary: Oh, esperan Bakery. It's unbelievable.
Erika Mosteller: They're churros. Mm. So good.
Johnny Carpet: Got like six things and it was $3 and, and I was like, check out.
He's like, you gotta get more because you have to at least have $5 to run your debit card. And so I left my, I left my debit card and I sent someone to get it. Lemme know. Oh
Erika Mosteller: good. There you go. That works.
Johnny Carpet: I went and got some, some Topo Chicos and took care of and it was great. It was the best meal I
Erika Mosteller: spent.
Yeah. You know what I found out, which evidently a lot of people and don't know this, but they have the best pinatas for kids' birthday parties. Esperanza Bakery.
Johnny Carpet: Are they handmade? Pinatas they
Erika Mosteller: bake? I don't know. No, they're just, they just have more options. So you could go to like some of these big box [00:34:00] stores and they have, you know, maybe a few, but no.
Esperanza has great pinatas
Johnny Carpet: for kids. You've heard here kids do not buy big pinata.
Erika Mosteller: That's
Lauren Sneary: right.
Erika Mosteller: Go to Esperanza. Keep it local. That's right. Keep it local. Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: Alright.
Carpet Gift and Coasters
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Lauren Sneary: Well I just wanna say thank you so much for kind of braving the podcast.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Lauren Sneary: As anonymous as, as you've been. And so before we close out, are there any final things that you want our audience to know about Corporate capital memes or about Dalton in general?
Johnny Carpet: Oh well first of all, I gotta a gift for both of You'all. I wanna give you all a gift. Special.
Erika Mosteller: Oh, live. We're man, live. Okay.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. Here you go. Here's a sample of carpet.
Lauren Sneary: Oh dear.
Johnny Carpet: Carpet sample.
Lauren Sneary: I have to immediately find out. I can't keep this.
Erika Mosteller: Oh no. It's the competition.
Johnny Carpet: You know, I, who
Erika Mosteller: is
Johnny Carpet: it?
You got my sources. Who is it by? You can, don't, don't say it. No, they're not sponsored by the podcast. But you can use this for I have a affinity for carpet coasters.
Erika Mosteller: Okay. What
Johnny Carpet: kind
Erika Mosteller: of, this is a large drink.
Lauren Sneary: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: This is, this is a DYI square. Can we jump back into something really quick?
Erika Mosteller: Okay. [00:35:00]
Johnny Carpet: Being from Dalton, like, you know, how many times have you been gifted something made outta carpet?
Lauren Sneary: Actually, almost never.
Johnny Carpet: Really?
Erika Mosteller: Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I have. Mm-hmm. Well, actually that's not true. Sometimes they're, they give carpet coasters at the chamber,
Johnny Carpet: carpet coasters,
Lauren Sneary: you know, I work in carpet, so I think it would be a little overkill.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah, it's true.
Johnny Carpet: Ah, might be all day
Lauren Sneary: long.
Johnny Carpet: But Did you ever get like the rugs, like the little rugs?
The carpets?
Erika Mosteller: No,
Johnny Carpet: like there was one, it was like Becker's had 'em, Dalton football had 'em, like the little, just like, I guess rugs you give people
Erika Mosteller: like a true size rug. Like for your door,
Johnny Carpet: I guess it'd be like a doormat.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: But just rugs. Yeah. And kids are sitting on rugs at schools and stuff all the time.
Lauren Sneary: Those are carpet tiles.
Johnny Carpet: Carpet
Erika Mosteller: tiles. But we did that in South Carolina and we
Johnny Carpet: don't make carpet. Do you think other children sit on carpet tile?
Erika Mosteller: I did, yeah.
Johnny Carpet: Okay.
Erika Mosteller: Well, actually no. It was probably those little round circles that show you where to sit, but I don't know if they were carpet. They were probably like a school supply.
Yeah, we were
Lauren Sneary: always on
Erika Mosteller: carpet. On carpet tiles.
Johnny Carpet: Well, a gift from my people.
Lauren Sneary: Okay. Thank you so
Johnny Carpet: much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:36:00]
Erika Mosteller: I will treasure it always.
Johnny Carpet: So what was your question? The ending things?
Lauren Sneary: Yeah, I just, I, I just. Wanted to make sure we had covered all the bases and that there wasn't anything else you wanted to tell our audience about carpet, capital, memes or Dalton?
Find Your People Finale
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Johnny Carpet: I
think, well, I think the big thing about Dalton is like, you know, it is what you make it. If you're gonna sit and complain about it and not have fun, it is not gonna be fun, and it's gonna be miserable. But get involved in a. A civic organization get involved in, you know, there's some guys that go running all the time, join them Soal Running Club.
Erika Mosteller: We just
had them on the podcast.
Johnny Carpet: Oh really? I have to go back and listen to that. Yep. I'm trying to catch up on some stuff. I've been really busy lately. But get involved, find your thing, find your people. You can use that phrase if you want. Find your people. And, and. Become those people.
Right? Whether it's cooking classes or something at the guild, whether it's something, the Bandy Heritage Center, you can learn how to sew like my, my aunt Catherine Evans Whitener and knit and all that stuff. And so you can do all that. You just gotta find your people and then you get plugged into it, and if not, you're gonna be miserable.
Yeah. You know? Carpet Diem, you know, seize your day
Erika Mosteller: [00:37:00] Carpet Diem. I love it.
Lauren Sneary: And try to laugh a little bit. That's right. And you can't figure out how to laugh during your day. We really recommend that you go to Instagram and visit at Carpet Capital memes.
Erika Mosteller: Yeah.
Johnny Carpet: It's the only place you can find me. Start
Lauren Sneary: rolling.
Johnny Carpet: Only place you can find me. I'm not on the Facebook, on the,
Erika Mosteller: on the book,
Johnny Carpet: the local community thing. Just too much for me.
Lauren Sneary: Fair enough.
Erika Mosteller: Thank you for being here. This was insightful and fun and we appreciate you.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah. Thanks
Erika Mosteller: for facing the public to be on our podcast.
Johnny Carpet: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
It's the only one I'll probably ever do.
Lauren Sneary: Thanks so much. Thanks.
Johnny Carpet: Yeah, thank you.