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We're chatting about the people, places, events, and flavors that make Johnson City, Tennessee a lovely place to live. An interview show hosted by Colin Johnson.
Proud member of the Maypop Media family of podcasts.
0:00:00 - (Colin Johnson): It is a beautiful day here in Johnson City, and it's a little hot because it's July, but it's not really that bad. It's not like some of the other places in the world. And we have a guy who's been traveling all over the world, it seems like, from your social media. And thank you for getting off your jet and coming to stop into Johnson City for us today. Our guest today is Jose Castillo, and he's just a good friend and just a local celebrity and now a worldwide celebrity.
0:00:28 - (Colin Johnson): Man, I'm, like, starstruck sitting here just, like, awestruck that we're still friends, for one, for over the past 20, 1520 years and that you're in on the podcast. So thanks for coming on, man.
0:00:40 - (Jose Castillo): Thank you so much for having me. And you're a longtime friend. Like, this is. I'm just a guy, man.
0:00:44 - (Colin Johnson): I'm just.
0:00:44 - (Jose Castillo): I'm the same guy.
0:00:45 - (Colin Johnson): Just a dude. Yeah, just a guy.
0:00:46 - (Jose Castillo): Still live here. I promise.
0:00:47 - (Colin Johnson): I'm just a guy. You're just a guy. So you have a company called Flavor Inc. That also, you are. Think Jose, which does some stuff. You do a little something with NASCAR. You got some kind of plaza. I mean, you got all kinds of stuff going on. So let's jump in. First of all, Johnson City. You live here. It's your home. You've been here a while. What do you love most about Johnson city?
0:01:11 - (Jose Castillo): The people. 100% number one.
0:01:14 - (Colin Johnson): That's the number one answer.
0:01:15 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, it is. The more I travel, the more I love coming home. And it is a great place to be, a great place to raise a family, a great place to start a business.
0:01:27 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:01:28 - (Jose Castillo): And just a great place to, like, exist. I think there's a lot of places I go that have cool cache, and, oh, man, super exciting thing here. And maybe the weather's great. Maybe there's just great place to eat, et cetera. But very few of them have all of the things that I want in a place to live, a place to call home.
0:01:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:01:50 - (Jose Castillo): So that's why I keep coming back here. And, well, I have a feeling I always will.
0:01:55 - (Colin Johnson): I love it. Library went to. What's the crappiest place you've been to where you're like, I can't wait to get home. But then I didn't want to, like, ruin, like, Cleveland or something.
0:02:04 - (Jose Castillo): So there's a hotel room I keep. Like, I spend a lot of time in hotels and on airplanes, and there is a hotel that I've been to in a major city. I'm not going to say which one. And I go in, and it's dark and the floor's a little sticky, and it just has that locker room smell. And I'm like, oh, not this place. And I go. And I'm like, thankfully, it's got a window. Big curtain. I'm like, this is gonna be fine.
0:02:27 - (Jose Castillo): And I go over and I open the curtains, and it's a brick wall up against the glass.
0:02:32 - (Colin Johnson): It's like a tv show. It was like.
0:02:34 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:02:35 - (Colin Johnson): You're like, literally, there's a brick wall right there.
0:02:37 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, man.
0:02:38 - (Colin Johnson): Come on, people.
0:02:39 - (Jose Castillo): So, yes.
0:02:39 - (Colin Johnson): Why even put in the window, right? I mean, let's just have brick wall with curtains on it. Oh, that's hilarious. So, yes, coming back home is just a special place.
0:02:48 - (Jose Castillo): It is.
0:02:49 - (Colin Johnson): It is. So where'd you grow up?
0:02:51 - (Jose Castillo): So, I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent a few years in Philly, and right outside of Philly, but then moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, when I was a little kid. So I grew up in East Tennessee. My mom and dad started a company in Knoxville. My dad was in advertising and marketing, and then my mom decided to go back to school, become a doctor. So we came up here and she went to EtSu College of Medicine. And that's why we moved here my sophomore year of high school.
0:03:22 - (Colin Johnson): So she had my dad for biochemistry.
0:03:24 - (Jose Castillo): Yes, that's right.
0:03:25 - (Colin Johnson): That's crazy.
0:03:26 - (Jose Castillo): Yep.
0:03:26 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:03:26 - (Jose Castillo): So we've been friends for longer than we knew.
0:03:29 - (Colin Johnson): Right? We weren't even around, probably. You were. Yeah. Yeah.
0:03:32 - (Jose Castillo): Like, hey, wait a minute. How old are. How old are you?
0:03:35 - (Colin Johnson): 51.
0:03:35 - (Jose Castillo): 51? Yeah. I'm 48. Okay, so, yeah, we're close. Yeah, we were like.
0:03:40 - (Colin Johnson): We were, like, bros and they didn't know.
0:03:41 - (Jose Castillo): Totally.
0:03:42 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, totally. But then your dad kind of got into some other stuff. He, like, you told me about growing up in, like, this art community, too. That was just super cool.
0:03:51 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:03:51 - (Colin Johnson): And then he did a world tour with the sand stuff.
0:03:54 - (Jose Castillo): He's way more famous than I will ever be. Like, people are like, hey, Jose, you're like a sea grade celebrity now. I'm like, no, no, no. My dad is the one. He was on America's got Talent. He came in third place. He's traveled to every continent except Antarctica. He's performed for kings and queens and presidents, and still the most humble guy ever. Like, he loves everybody. He's always welcoming people in his life.
0:04:18 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, my gosh, he's such a nice guy.
0:04:20 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, he is. He's great.
0:04:21 - (Colin Johnson): He's awesome. Is he still doing some of that?
0:04:23 - (Jose Castillo): Still traveling? Some, yeah, he's actually helping out with art for its the town at Trilith, which is. It's the old Pinewood studios, where they filmed all the Marvel movies, et cetera. There's this creative town they're building right across the street from there. And so he's helping with all the art and artists and sculptors and things there.
0:04:40 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So Koli said she sees you on the Instagram. I should see you on the Instagram. Work and trying to sell houses, keep it all milk and fridge kind of deal. But tell us where you've been going. Where you've been. You've been traveling a lot.
0:04:57 - (Jose Castillo): This year has been wild, and it's. Two years ago was probably my busiest year on the road. I wound up doing about two thirds of the races for NASCAR.
0:05:08 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So you have a commentary show that you do. What's that called?
0:05:12 - (Jose Castillo): Correct. So I host a show called NASCAR trackside Live, which is some people describe it as, like, I'm the Conan O'Brien for NASCAR. So we have a late show. It's usually at the track right before the race, and we have an hour with drivers, celebrities, guests, you know, do some fun stuff with fans, et cetera. And we've been doing that for about seven years. But I've been the host in MC on the big screen at a lot of these tracks for about 18 years.
0:05:38 - (Colin Johnson): Wow.
0:05:38 - (Jose Castillo): And got my start at Bristol.
0:05:39 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:05:40 - (Jose Castillo): My home track. And so I've traveled around this track in the world, and it has to be, because it's my home track, right.
0:05:46 - (Colin Johnson): Where it does has to be.
0:05:48 - (Jose Castillo): And also, the night race at Bristol is the one to go to. If you've never been, please go. It is one of those experiences that you're not going to forget. And wherever you go, it's going to be great. But the night race at Bristol is special.
0:06:00 - (Colin Johnson): It is so special. Yeah. We've had a blessing to be able to go a few times. It's awesome.
0:06:04 - (Jose Castillo): It is, yeah. But so I'm hosting Mc. I host the show. And so two years ago, I traveled, like I said, two thirds. I was on the road with that and some other events 30 plus weeks out of the year, just. And it was a little too much, so I scaled back.
0:06:21 - (Colin Johnson): See the ren, you're still married.
0:06:22 - (Jose Castillo): Yep. Man, my wife and I, like, she is my number one cheerleader, and I would not, could not do it without her. And especially the support of my daughters. Like, they all come with me to races, and so we go together. So it's fun. This year's been different because I've been doing a couple different things and working with speedway motorsports tracks and NASCAR. So I've been to Charlotte, la, then Texas, you know, Daytona 500 up to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, you know, all across the country out to Sonoma for Sonoma raceway. And it has been a whirlwind tour, and I feel like we're only halfway through the year, so, like, it's literally, I've.
0:07:10 - (Jose Castillo): My passport is full of, you know, stamps, and it's only halfway through.
0:07:14 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:07:15 - (Jose Castillo): So, I mean, I'm pretty blessed to play off shit. Come on.
0:07:21 - (Colin Johnson): Who's going to win the NASCAR championship this year?
0:07:24 - (Jose Castillo): You know what? So Ryan Blaney is the reigning champion from last year, and, you know, I thought that things would kind of settle out this year. You know, we've had this new car, the next gen car, a couple, couple years now, and teams have started to figure it out. And I was like, well, we're going to start to see the big power players, kind of, but it is not that way. Like, we're seeing new winners every week still. We're seeing, you know, people come from the back and compete. We're seeing.
0:07:49 - (Colin Johnson): So they're like, even it out with the next gen car.
0:07:51 - (Jose Castillo): They really have. It's. It's made it a much better balance of what you can do to the car and engineering and what the driver can do. And I like that. I like a good balance. And driver, man and machine, that's what NASCAR is supposed to be. And so I look at it and go, in the playoffs, yes, the big teams will be there, and. But we had some surprises last year that I think we're going to see the same thing this year, where we're going to have some smaller teams, newer teams, et cetera, show up. And I think it's going to be a surprise this year. I do.
0:08:22 - (Colin Johnson): What's the over under on you saying? Cinderella store?
0:08:26 - (Jose Castillo): You know, pretty good, I think. Just, just again, because of the wild and crazy season we've had with weather and with, you know, trying out new tires and some new tracks thrown in there. Yeah, I. It has been racing on concrete. Yep. I know. In Nashville super speedway, the largest concrete track on the circuit. You know, a mile and a third, and, man, it was wild racing. And five overtimes, the most we've ever seen in NASCAR history.
0:08:55 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:08:56 - (Jose Castillo): So it was a wild one. So, yeah, I think if I were going to go tell you to bet on somebody, I would say bet on an underdog. Cause I think it's going to be different this year.
0:09:07 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. What's your favorite thing about racing?
0:09:11 - (Jose Castillo): You know, I love seeing people get excited about things, so people who are passionate about things. Yeah, man, that gets me going. And it's. I've always been. I'm a fan of cars, and I love, you know, I was the guy that had the Lamborghini poster on the wall. Yep. No way. And I. But I was the only car guy in my family. Like I was everybody else, you know, we watched some sports and other things, but it wasn't really anybody's main focus.
0:09:39 - (Jose Castillo): But I loved cars.
0:09:40 - (Colin Johnson): They're so beautiful.
0:09:41 - (Jose Castillo): Amazing.
0:09:41 - (Colin Johnson): Testa Rosa. Like the.
0:09:42 - (Jose Castillo): From art and engineering and. Yeah. And so then when I got into racing, it was like, oh, all the things I love about cars. But then an experience where you have hundreds of thousands of people that come together and are cheering on, you know, their favorite drivers, their teams. And that whole experience is what really got me into racing was being at the track and seeing the excitement. So for me, it's the excitement, you know, and the cars, the speed, the power of it. Yeah, we.
0:10:11 - (Colin Johnson): Fantastic. We, we had. We won. This is why I couldn't afford them to go to the suites at Bristol. And I was like, carly, I've got to go out into the, you know, the stands, and just when they're coming around, you can just your. I don't want to hit the mic.
0:10:27 - (Jose Castillo): But it's like, yeah.
0:10:29 - (Colin Johnson): Then your heart is just like before. I'm like, yeah, it's awesome.
0:10:33 - (Jose Castillo): It is the best thing.
0:10:35 - (Colin Johnson): It's so cool. I know. It's so cool.
0:10:37 - (Jose Castillo): An experience that you have to be there to feel. That's it. 100%.
0:10:40 - (Colin Johnson): It is. 100%. And, yeah, the guys at Bristol are just awesome.
0:10:44 - (Jose Castillo): They are.
0:10:45 - (Colin Johnson): So I saw tipper this morning at open doors, and so it's cool to just know those guys and how they know that they do it well. And I'm excited about all they're doing up there. They just had country thunder this weekend, too. That was huge.
0:10:56 - (Jose Castillo): They got a lot of stuff going on.
0:10:57 - (Colin Johnson): They got a lot of stuff going on. Yeah. I think Jerry, he was on here and he said they've got something like, at the 365. It's like 350 days a year. There's something happening at the track. Yeah, a lot of days. It's good.
0:11:10 - (Jose Castillo): Okay.
0:11:11 - (Colin Johnson): So you want to talk a little bit about spark plaza? I do, yeah. It started 15 years ago. I think you said a minute ago.
0:11:20 - (Jose Castillo): It's our 15th birthday.
0:11:21 - (Colin Johnson): 15Th birthday. This is pretty cool. I remember when you opened spark Plaza number two. Well, maybe that was three because you had one in Kingsport, right?
0:11:29 - (Jose Castillo): No, no, no. So we've only been here in John City. We've looked at expanding.
0:11:33 - (Colin Johnson): I was thinking you were going to go.
0:11:34 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, and we've. Kingsport, Bristol, Knoxville, we even looked at a city over in North Carolina and we actually built out the idea to start franchising it and then got to a place where like, you know what, we're just going to keep expanding the one we have now. And so we're now at about anywhere from 65 plus members.
0:11:55 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. We had people tell our listeners Farclaza is a what?
0:11:59 - (Jose Castillo): It's a co working space, it's shared office space. But the secret sauce of it is that people think they just need a place to work, but what they really need is community. They need water cooler time. They need somebody to talk to about an idea or about the weekend or about whatever. Most people cannot work alone from home. There is a small percentage of the population that can, but most people can't. They need that input of other people around.
0:12:28 - (Jose Castillo): And so our initial push for this was we want to build a community and be the hub.
0:12:33 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:12:34 - (Jose Castillo): And that's always been our mission from the time we open the doors. And we have built a great community of people. Our number one salespeople are our current members. Yeah, for sure.
0:12:44 - (Colin Johnson): And just kind of self promoting it.
0:12:46 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, it's really cool when you walk.
0:12:48 - (Colin Johnson): Through there, all these different desks and you see these whiteboards up with people putting stuff up and, and each desk has a different flavor still your sign or whatever, but slogan and you just. The collaboration has got to be a lot of fun.
0:13:03 - (Jose Castillo): It is. It's great to see. And we have people that come in for a day, we have people that come in for a week, a month and we've had members for 1112 years now.
0:13:12 - (Colin Johnson): That's super cool.
0:13:12 - (Jose Castillo): So we have a good healthy mix of all that. And we're expanding. So we, as part of our 15th anniversary and celebration, we're going to be expanding, adding another probably about, you know, I think it's about 1700 square feet and we're going to be adding on.
0:13:30 - (Colin Johnson): Going big or going home. Yep.
0:13:32 - (Jose Castillo): And so we're. Right now we've got about 5000, so adding about 17.
0:13:37 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome.
0:13:37 - (Jose Castillo): And we're going to have a really cool meeting space. So we've been doing events and, you know, meetings and whatnot for years, but we've never really had the space to do it and we've outgrown it. So we have multiple events, you know, spark women. We have 40 to 50 women that come to an event every quarter. We have code and coffee that meets once a month. We have founders Forge. Yeah, founders Forge has a bunch of their meetups in our space, our region's entrepreneurial network.
0:14:05 - (Jose Castillo): We've got Tridev, which is developers and network engineer, software developers, et cetera, that get together once a month. So we have all these things going on and we don't have a space for them. So finally, with this new space, we're going to have 1000 sqft. That is a meeting space.
0:14:21 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:14:21 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, that'll be great. That our members can use and people in the general public can use. So come on out.
0:14:27 - (Colin Johnson): Come on out. How do people find. Find you on Spark Plaza?
0:14:31 - (Jose Castillo): Sparkplazza.com. it's really easy. Or you can just Google co working. Like we're still the.
0:14:37 - (Colin Johnson): We were the first.
0:14:38 - (Jose Castillo): We're the longest running. We think we're still the first and longest running in the state of Tennessee, too. We've been doing this for 15 years, which is a long time. We're double the age of wework. So that's good. We've survived. Yeah.
0:14:52 - (Colin Johnson): Where'd this idea come from?
0:14:54 - (Jose Castillo): So I was traveling a lot for my work years ago, and I saw and heard about coworking from the first group of people that did it in San Francisco. It was called the Hat Factory. And they rented out this old hat factory and rented out little spaces for software developers. And I was like, oh, that's a cool idea. I was like, I wonder if we could do that here in Johnson City. And so we started having these geek dinners around the country, and we had one here called Geek south for a long time, which was really the impetus for Spark Plaza.
0:15:25 - (Jose Castillo): And out of that, I was like, you know, if I could find a couple other people to get together and rent out a space, then I could have an office, too, outside of the home. We just had our second kid and it was like, I can't get anything done. So we built a business plan and put a little bit of money into it, got some people to come help us paint.
0:15:45 - (Colin Johnson): I did help. Carly painted more than I did at one. The good paint on the wall is her for sure.
0:15:50 - (Jose Castillo): And then we opened the doors and it's 15 years later, we're still going, which is amazing to me.
0:15:55 - (Colin Johnson): I'm holding it. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that is awesome. Where do you see the future of Spark Plaza on the next 15 year.
0:16:01 - (Jose Castillo): The best thing is this ties into remote work in general. So. And I know a lot of people watching are probably remote workers. You know, John, city living, this is a place that people are still moving to. Remote work is still a thing. It really is that, you know, you don't hear it every night on the nightly news, you know, like, post Covid, people were like, hey, I want to go be where I want to be, not where I have to be.
0:16:23 - (Jose Castillo): And so we saw a lot of people move here. Well, we're still seeing that influx, and it's because of remote work. A lot of people can live anywhere they want and do their job. And so spark Plaza has really tapped into that and found out that these people, not all of them can work at home.
0:16:41 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:16:42 - (Jose Castillo): As a matter of fact, most of them need a place to work that's outside of their home. And so we're one of those spaces to offer up that as a service. And you know what's funny is that all the things that come with that, just like buying a new home when you come in, you need this list of things, right? Attorney. And where do I get my t. Insurance and insurance. Exactly right. All those things. And so we've really kind of found that that's what we've become for remote work, is people will literally just walk in the door and be like, hey, I just moved here, and I'm a remote worker, and can I work here? And I also have this list of questions of things that I'd like to find.
0:17:24 - (Jose Castillo): And so we have become, you know, the point of the spear for that group of people. We've jokingly, we've tried to find a way to kind of come up with a name for it of, like, the remote work support group, because people who do remote work are different. They have different needs than other people in traditional workspace. And so we really try to cater to that group and give them not just workspace, but we do events. We have lunches every month. We take people out on boats. We do bike rides, we do hikes. We do all kinds of stuff for our members to get them to hang out and do fun stuff.
0:17:58 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool.
0:17:58 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:17:59 - (Colin Johnson): Is it a lot like the office tv show? Are you the Michael Scott?
0:18:04 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, my goodness. Fortunately, if you see me in a suit and tie, something has gone wrong.
0:18:09 - (Colin Johnson): Something's gone wrong. Somebody's passed away, and that's the only reason I'm wearing one copy. Yeah.
0:18:13 - (Jose Castillo): And it's amazing. We've got an amazing team with Leia and Stephanie. You know, helping us run the community.
0:18:20 - (Colin Johnson): And, yeah, Carter and I, we're coming out of downtown, something across the street. And, yeah, Stephanie was like, come check it out. And, like, she gave us a tour.
0:18:29 - (Jose Castillo): It's cool.
0:18:30 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, it's a cool space. I love it.
0:18:31 - (Jose Castillo): It's really fun.
0:18:32 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, yeah. And then what are, like, rates for space, do you know?
0:18:36 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, I mean, it really, like, if.
0:18:38 - (Colin Johnson): Listeners are like, that sounds cool, but it's probably, like, a month.
0:18:41 - (Jose Castillo): No, it's not. Like, literally, you could walk in today for $30 and get an office space for the whole day. Super fast Internet from Brightridge.
0:18:49 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:18:49 - (Jose Castillo): And, you know, amazing design space, coffee, tea, all. Everything's all included. So that all the way up to, hey, I need a four to six person office with the door and, you know, a place to receive packages and a place to hang my shingle, et cetera, everything in between there. We have something for you.
0:19:07 - (Colin Johnson): That's super cool. You know, I think it's cool that it's very flex Spacey, and you're just trying to be very client centered. Yeah.
0:19:15 - (Jose Castillo): You're like, hey, and we're fortunate that we've got great members, and hopefully we've listened to them well over the years and continue to do so to provide what they need.
0:19:22 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. I think you said something about a big announcement. I don't know.
0:19:29 - (Jose Castillo): I, like, I wanted to say here.
0:19:33 - (Colin Johnson): Since this isn't airing for a few days, you can tell us on this, and we'll keep it secret and won't promote it anywhere.
0:19:39 - (Jose Castillo): So it's July 4, the week of July 4, and I've had the chance to wear a lot of different hats.
0:19:47 - (Colin Johnson): In our life and Belmont University hat.
0:19:50 - (Jose Castillo): I know. I went on college tours in Nashville with the girls. You know, like, I've had amazing opportunities to do cool things, work with cool people, and do amazing events, but I've never gotten a chance to do this. And, you know, I've been holding on to this for a while. We've been going back and forth, but I can finally say that I will be going to Paris for the Olympics 2024. Yep. So I'm going to be the host. I know that's going to be the host of Team USA House, and it is.
0:20:20 - (Jose Castillo): For the first time ever, Team USA is opening up their own house to the public. So fans can now come inside and see their own internal medal ceremonies. We have guests and Olympic athletes coming in every day. We programming scheduling for basically three weeks. So that's awesome. Yeah. So I'm gonna have the huge honor. Like, I still get goosebumps. Goosebumps.
0:20:43 - (Colin Johnson): Talking about, I got goosebumps. That's super cool.
0:20:46 - (Jose Castillo): It is amazing, and it's an honor to not only represent my country, but also these amazing athletes that work so hard their whole lives, even just get an opportunity to go do this. And it's so heartbreaking.
0:20:59 - (Colin Johnson): We've been watching. I've been watching the trials, right? And, like, they're the top of the top. You've got eight swimmers or eight runners and just missing it by, like, hundredths of a second to be on the team and go to Ferris. I mean, you're working. Like, I just. A lot of them are probably just, like, just really mad or just super sad.
0:21:19 - (Jose Castillo): It's funny. I talked to some folks, and they were like, most of these people are so driven that they're like, that fuels me to want to go do it even more.
0:21:26 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:21:27 - (Jose Castillo): And they really. There was this one kid, same thing. Runner missed it by 10th of a second and was already like, you know what makes me want to go back and for Carter so that I can get it the next time.
0:21:41 - (Colin Johnson): That's super cool.
0:21:43 - (Jose Castillo): But it's fun because I. This is. I'm a little person that gets kind of help share the story. Exactly.
0:21:51 - (Colin Johnson): Ten here.
0:21:52 - (Jose Castillo): So I was like, well, what other Olympic tie ins do we have here in the region? And turns out we have a ton. So, Mitt. A whole bunch of. So many. Not only Mitt, not only Olympic ties, but, like, literally Olympic medalists from ETSU, Milligan University, King University. Then you have, like, ETSU is an Olympic training site for weightlifting. They've trained bobsledders, the skeleton team.
0:22:19 - (Colin Johnson): Is that crazy?
0:22:19 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah. Um, you've got, uh, one of the athletes just made it. Brody Malone, um, on the men's gymnastic team, born and raised in johnson city, Tennessee.
0:22:28 - (Colin Johnson): Isn't that crazy? Yep.
0:22:30 - (Jose Castillo): Um, and is going to. To Paris on the men's olympic team. So it is one of those things that, for me, it's given me another perspective on. Wow, what a cool tie into our region and all these stories, uh, of people that have, you know, sacrificed to go after the olympic dream, and I, like, super stoked to help get to share their stories.
0:22:51 - (Colin Johnson): That's super cool.
0:22:52 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:22:52 - (Colin Johnson): That is a lot of fun.
0:22:53 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah. So you can go check it out. Teamusa.com. it's team USA house. They have a whole schedule on there. If you're coming to Paris, get a ticket to the house, because then you get to come inside. We got all kinds of cool stuff. 12 hours of programming a day, midnight. So come hang out with me.
0:23:10 - (Colin Johnson): Nice. Yeah, we'll be embarrassing. A week and a half.
0:23:14 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, cool.
0:23:15 - (Colin Johnson): If you'll be over there yet.
0:23:16 - (Jose Castillo): I will not be over there yet. I'm going over July 22.
0:23:20 - (Colin Johnson): Go early. I should go.
0:23:22 - (Jose Castillo): I should go.
0:23:23 - (Colin Johnson): We should go crash the house.
0:23:24 - (Jose Castillo): Nice.
0:23:24 - (Colin Johnson): All right, well, okay.
0:23:25 - (Jose Castillo): Totally do that.
0:23:26 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Here's what I'm gonna do.
0:23:28 - (Jose Castillo): I'm gonna share my Google map with you that I've already put a bunch of spots in there, places I wanna go, et cetera. And you can at least, if you're there, go by and see the house. It's the Palais bronyard. It's like a couple blocks up from the Louvre.
0:23:40 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:23:40 - (Jose Castillo): It's the old, for sure, Paris stock exchange. They're turning into Team USA house.
0:23:45 - (Colin Johnson): That's super cool. Yeah. You bring in an air conditioner.
0:23:49 - (Jose Castillo): You know what? It is going to be warm, but.
0:23:52 - (Colin Johnson): What are you talking about?
0:23:54 - (Jose Castillo): I'm sure. Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be some air conditioning.
0:23:57 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, well, you're going to be killing the planet doing that. Of course, you know, with your carbon footprint air conditioner. I was like, what are you all talking about? But anyway, what else do you got going? I mean, this is huge. Let me. For us insiders or low, just people who don't know anything about media, how did you connect the dots to get there? Like, who called who to call you to get there?
0:24:21 - (Colin Johnson): Do you mind sharing that?
0:24:22 - (Jose Castillo): Not at all. Like, it's 18 years of working as a professional host at MC. Probably really, like 20 plus years. Cause I've done some other events and things before I started working for Bristol, and I. I think the number one thing is patience. I think people, especially in this day and age, they're like, man, I want to be on this stage tomorrow.
0:24:45 - (Colin Johnson): Right. And then happen.
0:24:46 - (Jose Castillo): That very rarely happens. Does for some people, several flashing in the pan. But most people, it just takes time to, you know, work hard, show up, you know, be kind.
0:24:57 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:24:57 - (Jose Castillo): And people will remember that. And if you do a good job, and if your skills and talents and your gifts match up with what you're doing, and there's passion there, then people will start to see that. And, you know, you continue to kind of, over time, work up the ladder a little bit. Work up the ladder a little bit. And I'm fortunate that in, you know, Bristol, giving me the chance to do this gave me the chance to look at other NASCAR tracks, gave me the chance to look at other events outside of NASCAR.
0:25:23 - (Jose Castillo): And so it's just been an opportunity over the years of building relationships, and eventually you get to a place where somebody goes, hey, Jose, you did this thing over here, and that's exactly what we need. Will you come do that over here?
0:25:35 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:25:36 - (Jose Castillo): And that's what happened because it started.
0:25:38 - (Colin Johnson): Weren't you, like, hosting conferences for software developers or something like that a long time ago, like when we, when we first met?
0:25:46 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:25:46 - (Colin Johnson): It's like, what are you doing? Like, I travel all over the country talking to nerds, and I was like, what? He's like, yeah, that's what I do. Yeah, and you're still a nerd. You're still high tech or, dude, I.
0:25:55 - (Jose Castillo): Still love being a geek, and I like to tell people I'm a half geek because, you know, and no matter what level of geek you are, your friends and family will call you with tech related questions.
0:26:04 - (Colin Johnson): That's exactly right.
0:26:05 - (Jose Castillo): So. And people think you're like, oh, you know everything. No, I don't. I especially know a guy who knows my brother's.
0:26:12 - (Colin Johnson): I know he's a geek, and I'm a guy. All right, if I, if I get over my head, I'm going to call my brother. But for something like that. What are some tips as a, as a podcast host that you could give me right now? Like, live? Like, what would be.
0:26:27 - (Jose Castillo): Be yourself? I try, and that is so many people, you know, especially getting into, whether it's social media or whatever you're kind of leaning into, and you go, man, I want to go do that thing. People look at the template of somebody else and go, well, I need to be that template over here.
0:26:43 - (Colin Johnson): Right, because that's successful.
0:26:44 - (Jose Castillo): Exactly. It's like when Gary Vaynerchuk kind of first hit it big and people were like, well, I need to hustle just like him and do exactly like him. It's like, no, you need to be who you are. I think a lot of times it takes time for people to find out who they are and what they're good at. And once you do that, then just keep doing that, and again you're gonna. It's gonna take time, you're gonna keep building stuff, et cetera, like what you've done. I mean, how long have you been doing this show now?
0:27:07 - (Colin Johnson): Two and a half years. Yeah.
0:27:08 - (Jose Castillo): That's amazing. Like most podcasts, most shows don't last that long, so just the fact that you've gone that far is a success.
0:27:15 - (Colin Johnson): Well, thanks, bro. Yeah, I just got 16 more to go, and I'm in the USA. Hell, 18. Come on, you got this. It did happen. It can happen.
0:27:28 - (Jose Castillo): I'll be like, I know a guy.
0:27:29 - (Colin Johnson): Who used to do it. Can you not like. But you're like 70 now, dude, so it's probably not gonna be the best. Maybe the old Olympics. Tell people a little bit about telling your story and, like. Cause you're really good about bringing, I think bringing people stories out of them when you're interviewing and hosting things. And, you know, what are some good questions there for, like, our listeners to. Because communication is huge, right?
0:27:59 - (Colin Johnson): And you want to get to know, you want to get people's hearts. And so getting to someone's heart, what are some tricks or not tricks, but there are good ways to do that for our listeners.
0:28:08 - (Jose Castillo): I love asking why and really digging into why. Because sometimes, like, when you meet somebody, you're like, how are you doing? What do you do? You know, we start out with these questions that are much more on the surface, and that's. And again, that's kind of how sometimes you got to ease into that. You can't just walk up to people and go, why are you here? But I think when you want to dig in and you want to find out, I. What really makes somebody tick and where they've come from and what their history is and their story, it really starts with digging into the. So why do you do this? And so, like, for you, I would say, like, why did you start this podcast or why did you take over the reins? Why did you say, this is important to me? And, and when you start answering that and digging into that, it really starts to take you back to the origin story. Right. And that's what, everybody has one. Everybody's got a great origin story.
0:29:05 - (Jose Castillo): Most people don't think it's great, but it is, and it's yours. Nobody else can say that. So I like asking the question why?
0:29:13 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:29:14 - (Jose Castillo): The other thing that I really like asking is about people's moods and about, like, the one that I do sometimes in airports. Like, if you're just talking to people randomly in an airport and ask somebody if they're happy, and that can be.
0:29:30 - (Colin Johnson): It kind of grimace a little bit.
0:29:32 - (Jose Castillo): It can be a dangerous one. But it also really, if you want, if you really want to know, ask somebody if they're happy.
0:29:38 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:29:38 - (Jose Castillo): And that question has taken me on more rabbit holes and, like, down paths and into people's lives. And if you really want to know, then ask somebody and ask a deeper question. That's not just what is the weather and how are you doing, what do you do for work? Et cetera. So I think those two questions will get you really far in an interview. Why? And are you happy?
0:30:05 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Cause, and then you gotta be ready for the answer. Right. But that's.
0:30:10 - (Jose Castillo): The other part is like. So it's a preparation thing, right? As. As a host, I should prepare my questions, but as a guest, you should prepare your answers. And so that's the other side of the coin, is you watching. You should know your story and your history and go into the why you existed. And you do that by looking at, who were your great grandparents? Who were your grandparents? Who, in the answer to my questions.
0:30:36 - (Colin Johnson): Who are your three? Most people are influenced.
0:30:38 - (Jose Castillo): Exactly. What are the things that influenced you? Where have you been? What are the places that have influenced you? Struggles. Yeah. What things have been tough that you push through. And when you ask that of yourself and start to build your own story, and you get better at telling your story, then it's easier to interact with folks. So I think a lot of times people are like, well, I just think people should ask better questions or they should know.
0:31:01 - (Jose Castillo): Well, it's also up to us to know who we are so we can better answer people's questions.
0:31:06 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, yeah. It's really. It's a lot of fun. And I've loved, loved, loved my job because I get to meet people that I wouldn't get to meet. Typically. They, you know, they're doing different things around their region, and luckily, I've got a great team. Marissa, Mitch with Maypop Media, and they find these folks that I wouldn't get to connect with. And so I love connecting with people. That's why I did it. And it's probably, like, why you do what you do. You love people.
0:31:31 - (Colin Johnson): You love connecting with them and then seeing, yeah, they're learning their story and what's going on in their world and how you can help them. I feel like you always are asking, like, hey, how can I help you? You know, and what can I do for you? And, yeah, I really always appreciated that. And just, yeah, I'm wishing you the, like, continued success doing that.
0:31:51 - (Jose Castillo): Thank you.
0:31:52 - (Colin Johnson): I would think if this keeps rolling, I mean, Jimmy Fallon can't do it forever, right? And then you got Jimmy Kimmel. So you're a J guy. So I think you'd fit right into one of those late night talk shows, man.
0:32:04 - (Jose Castillo): See, the problem is, then I'd have to go to New York or LA, and I don't want to be.
0:32:08 - (Colin Johnson): I wish you remote Johnson City. They just come here. We got the set. It looks like New York.
0:32:14 - (Jose Castillo): That's right. That's right.
0:32:15 - (Colin Johnson): We can put an applause sign up in our little. In the spark plaza.
0:32:18 - (Jose Castillo): There you go. I'd much rather have a. A regional late night talk show here in the region. That would be the.
0:32:25 - (Colin Johnson): That'd be fun.
0:32:26 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, that'd be the cool.
0:32:27 - (Colin Johnson): Can I be the guy, like, your secondary guy, where we're just like, oh, Jose, good one.
0:32:36 - (Jose Castillo): That's an old reference by everybody now.
0:32:40 - (Colin Johnson): Just thinks he gives out money. But he was on a tv show for a long time.
0:32:43 - (Jose Castillo): He was. He was.
0:32:44 - (Colin Johnson): So that, like, did you just shutting down for a little bit to get ready to go to Paris? Cause, like.
0:32:51 - (Jose Castillo): No.
0:32:51 - (Colin Johnson): How do you even.
0:32:51 - (Jose Castillo): No, there's.
0:32:52 - (Colin Johnson): What do you got going on between now and then?
0:32:54 - (Jose Castillo): So I am leaving Thursday on a plane to go to Chicago for the street race.
0:32:59 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. That's pretty cool.
0:33:01 - (Jose Castillo): It is awesome. It's a really cool event. NASCAR's doing some brave, interesting things with the schedule, trying some new things and.
0:33:10 - (Colin Johnson): Street races it on, like, downtown.
0:33:13 - (Jose Castillo): They shut down Michigan Avenue and Lakeshore Drive and run right through grand park. And it is. It's insane. I've never seen anything like it. So this is only the second year doing it. Last year had a little rain, but still had an awesome race. What was amazing to me is I walk out of my hotel, like, right as the police are shutting off Michigan Avenue, and, like, they shut it off, and people just come out of the buildings and start walking in the street like this. And they're looking around, and I start talking to one of the police officers, and he's like, never in the history of Chicago have they ever shut down both Michigan Avenue and Lakeshore Drive. First time ever they've ever done that.
0:33:51 - (Jose Castillo): And it was just a spectacle. People are like, we're going to be racing NASCAR stock cars through the park and downtown. And it was crazy. And I think, is it super loud.
0:34:02 - (Colin Johnson): Because of the buildings and, like, the reverb kind of.
0:34:04 - (Jose Castillo): It's not any louder than a race track, but it's just the feeling of having skyscrapers right next to the track is something I've never experienced.
0:34:13 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome.
0:34:14 - (Jose Castillo): And this is the track or the.
0:34:16 - (Colin Johnson): Racers thinking about it.
0:34:17 - (Jose Castillo): They thought it was cool. They thought it was super cool.
0:34:19 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:34:19 - (Jose Castillo): And it was 80% of the fans. There were first time fans.
0:34:22 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, wow.
0:34:23 - (Jose Castillo): And so I'm sure they're going to have a similar number this year where a lot of people that are coming that have never been to a race, and so. But it's also a new experience for NASCAR, too. Yeah.
0:34:33 - (Colin Johnson): So how over, how's NASCAr doing overall? Because, like, when we were kids, you know, it was Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, and they just, you know, kept battling and then you threw in some other guys, and it was just like this epic event. Like every time there was always something and, like, they filled. I mean, that's why Bristol got bigger and bigger and bigger, because they kept filling the stadiums.
0:34:53 - (Colin Johnson): Is it picking up again?
0:34:55 - (Jose Castillo): It is, yeah. The numbers are up. And what's interesting is it was post Covid that NASCAR was really the first, you know, entertainment to go back to the way it was. And they could do that because they were separate in the cars and they were, you know, et cetera. It was one of the few sports that kind of came back, you know, fairly quickly.
0:35:13 - (Colin Johnson): Covid couldn't fly in the window at 100 miles an hour.
0:35:15 - (Jose Castillo): Right, exactly. And so they were able to, like, you know, go back to doing what they were doing. I think that brought, you know, a new fan base of people that were like, oh, I'll see what's on, et cetera. But also they're doing something that is really difficult to do, which is take something with all this heritage.
0:35:35 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:35:36 - (Jose Castillo): 75 years of a sport and do new things with them, and that is hard to do, for sure. And they're doing a great job of it. Yeah. Are there missteps here and there and things that could be better? Of course. But from my perspective and seeing the fans that are coming to the racetracks that I'm at, we got new people coming. We got people smiling, having a good time. We have people that are enjoying experiences that they've never done before, and it's picking up and so makes me happy.
0:36:04 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome. Yeah, that is super cool. So you got Chicago in the end.
0:36:08 - (Jose Castillo): And then I have a little break, like a couple days, and then I get on the plane and go to Paris.
0:36:14 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome. Yeah, that's super exciting. Yep. SHane and the girls going to.
0:36:18 - (Jose Castillo): So we already did Barcelona this year because my oldest daughter was studying abroad. So we went over there and I was like, look, we've already done travel, et cetera, so. But just Shannon is going to come and she's going to spend some time there.
0:36:32 - (Colin Johnson): That'll be awesome. Yeah, that'd be fantastic.
0:36:34 - (Jose Castillo): So, yeah, it's going to be a blast.
0:36:35 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Well, I'm sure you're going to do great.
0:36:38 - (Jose Castillo): Thank you.
0:36:39 - (Colin Johnson): When you and Shannon are here in town, I asked this of all the guests where do you like to go on date night?
0:36:44 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, man, we have a great list. I actually keep a Google map for Johnson City as well that I share with people when they come in. Remote workers at Spark, or people that are, hey, Jose, I'm in Johnson City. Where should I go?
0:36:56 - (Colin Johnson): Can you send it to us? We can put it on the show notes.
0:36:58 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, I can.
0:36:59 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:37:01 - (Jose Castillo): So for us, there's like, this whole list of questions, right? Of like, okay, what's the event? And are we going with family? Is it just us? Et cetera. But I'll hit some highlights, you know, for, you know, like, I think we have amazing food around here.
0:37:17 - (Colin Johnson): A hundred percent.
0:37:18 - (Jose Castillo): So, like, juniper timber gourmet. Those three are like, date night places for Shannon and I. We'll go out, we'll do a date night there. And a lot of times sit at the bar. Like, I know you're like, wanna get the reservation? Et cetera. And sometimes it's hard to get a reservation at these places.
0:37:32 - (Colin Johnson): Amen.
0:37:33 - (Jose Castillo): Walk up and say, hey, two for the bar. That's the secret end of those places. Get in. Even when there's a wait, et cetera. Um, then you've got places that are like, coffee shop. I love coffee, so I'm a coffee guy. So we have got blues brews, dos gatos, and the moon all within, like, you know, fitting distance downtown, right of our front door at Spark Plaza. So those are my. My go tos for. For coffee.
0:37:58 - (Jose Castillo): And then, you know, you get a little further out and it's like, man, there's so many great places to go to. Here's what I recommend you do. Pull up your phone and scroll to one city over and do a zoom and see what restaurants are available, because there's a lot of stuff off the beaten path that is really interesting, different, unique, good here that people don't know about. And they live right here.
0:38:22 - (Colin Johnson): That's a great.
0:38:23 - (Jose Castillo): That's an so. And you've got all these different fun little things that you can go do a jaunt and eat somewhere or see something fun. The other thing is waterfalls, we have, I think. I can't remember the last number, but it's like, ton. So many hundred waterfalls within, you know, a two hour drive of here. And a friend of mine used to be a professor at Milligan. He had this whole blog that he wrote out all of the hikes to all the blog, all the waterfalls around here. That's cool. And so we've been checking off some of those and going. Doing waterfalls and taking a little you know, sack lunch.
0:39:00 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So that's bikes, too, man.
0:39:03 - (Jose Castillo): I love mountain biking. And we're only getting more of it.
0:39:05 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:39:06 - (Jose Castillo): Um, so I do mountain biking. Um, I've got trek, you know, is amazing store. Go get your bike there. And I ride up a tannery knobs. Cause it's like five minutes away.
0:39:18 - (Colin Johnson): Go do all of the trail. The trails up there.
0:39:20 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah, yeah. You're the advanced, um, I have backed off a little bit of the black diamonds just because I like all of my bones. Yes. Attached to my body in the right place. I also. I ride with guys younger than me.
0:39:35 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:39:35 - (Jose Castillo): And so sometimes they'll be like, hey, Jose, we're going to go do buffalo. And there's this kind of different trail off the backside that we're going over here. And then they like, tell me as we're going off, hey, Jose, hang on.
0:39:46 - (Colin Johnson): You're like.
0:39:47 - (Jose Castillo): Or keeps me young, though. Yes. But, yeah, I think there's something for everybody around here. So whether it's tuitse or tannery or going up to buffalo, and there's spots all around within an hour's drive and even farther that you can go ride your bike.
0:40:04 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. If you have a data yourself from Johnson city, where it's the one thing you're going to.
0:40:09 - (Jose Castillo): That's a good one. All right, I'm going to get another little insider tip. Insider tip.
0:40:15 - (Colin Johnson): I love this.
0:40:15 - (Jose Castillo): This is, uh. I'll get my hammock, and I'll go out, uh, I'll go buy the shamrock sandwich drink.
0:40:26 - (Colin Johnson): Pimento cheese.
0:40:27 - (Jose Castillo): I'm a chicken salad on rye.
0:40:29 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. I like their pimento cheese. It's extra mayo.
0:40:32 - (Jose Castillo): Wonderful little place there.
0:40:33 - (Colin Johnson): Yep.
0:40:33 - (Jose Castillo): Um, and then I'll drive out to Chestoa on the Nola chucky, and there's a little parking spot and a little beach area. And if you go to your left and kind of go up into the woods a little bit, you hang your hammock right there by the mellow truck. Even if there's people at the campground, you can go up a little ways and nobody will be there. And you can just listen to the river and hang out in your hammock and have a sandwich.
0:40:58 - (Colin Johnson): When I was a kid, that was a. I think it's the same place. It was a mexican restaurant. And my parents would go and they would hang out, and we'd be.
0:41:05 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, yeah, further on down. Yeah, I know where you're talking about.
0:41:07 - (Colin Johnson): So we'd play in the. In the river while they were having, you know, simple beers and just eating chips and salsa. It was awesome.
0:41:13 - (Jose Castillo): I remember.
0:41:14 - (Colin Johnson): Just fond memories. Thank you for bringing that back.
0:41:16 - (Jose Castillo): There's the Chucky trading company. Yes.
0:41:18 - (Colin Johnson): Chucky trading post recently. Yeah, it was fantastic.
0:41:21 - (Jose Castillo): Cool.
0:41:22 - (Colin Johnson): Hey, what gets you fired up? Like, where you're like.
0:41:27 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, man.
0:41:28 - (Colin Johnson): Besides going to the olympics. Good grief.
0:41:30 - (Jose Castillo): Oh, my goodness. I know. It's crazy. Spicy peppers. Like, spicy food. Like, I love it. And. And grow some peppers in my backyard and.
0:41:39 - (Colin Johnson): Are you growing peppers?
0:41:40 - (Jose Castillo): Yep. So every now and then I'll eat a pepper and just, like, get the.
0:41:44 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Like a ghost pepper.
0:41:48 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:41:49 - (Colin Johnson): Jalapenos are about my. That's it. I'm a little. I don't like the. Where I'm so, like. Yeah.
0:41:55 - (Jose Castillo): Painful.
0:41:56 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Do you enjoy it that much? No, I kind of keep it on the lower spectrum.
0:41:59 - (Jose Castillo): And people, every now and then, people will bring me stuff like that. Like, I have NASCAR fans that'll be like, hey, ok, I'll give you some.
0:42:04 - (Colin Johnson): Peppers down on these super ghost ones.
0:42:07 - (Jose Castillo): And they're so hot that you can't even. For me anyways. That's too painful.
0:42:12 - (Colin Johnson): Smoke coming out of the.
0:42:14 - (Jose Castillo): I like flavor.
0:42:15 - (Colin Johnson): Same.
0:42:16 - (Jose Castillo): Hot.
0:42:16 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
0:42:18 - (Jose Castillo): Not kill you hot, right? Yes.
0:42:19 - (Colin Johnson): Yes. Good. Okay. What did I forget to ask you that? I should have that. You want to share anything else?
0:42:27 - (Jose Castillo): Man? I think you didn't forget this, but I'm just thankful to be in this place and where we're at.
0:42:35 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:42:36 - (Jose Castillo): For those of you watching, I think you know how special it is, and I think it's a good duty of ours to share that with others, people that are coming in and being good hosts and hostesses.
0:42:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And you want to talk a little? I remember we talked a little bit about regionalism because we got three cities and how we're just coming together. And we were talking about this with Tasha Yoder, who's doing the Meet the mountains festival coming up. And, yeah, I think it's cool how we. The distance has shrunk.
0:43:07 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah.
0:43:08 - (Colin Johnson): In our minds when we were kids, it's like, oh, man, we're getting in the car to go to Kingsport. Like, right. Better gas it up and get some provisions, you know? But now it's just, oh, I run up there. I've gone. Two days ago, I was in Kingsport three times. Like, it was just like, I had to go back and forth for doing documents and stuff. But, yeah, yeah, I think it's cool.
0:43:25 - (Jose Castillo): When you look on the map. Look on the map on your phone and just zoom out and look around. There are no real lines. State, county, city. There's not. They're not painted out there on the, you know, highway of like, hey, here's. No, it's. We are in an amazing region here in the mountains, and it is a place of hospitality, but also a place of, you know, that pioneer spirit. And people want to do their own thing, but also be nice to each other. So be good host.
0:43:56 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, well, you're a great host. I'm sure you take great care of your people at Spark Plaza. How do people connect with you, Jose, if they want to. Want to give you a shout out or get to pull up a space at Spark Plaza. We talked about that.
0:44:09 - (Jose Castillo): Yeah. You can go to sparkplaza.com, send us an email. Helloparkplazza.com dot. We'd love to say hi, but also I'm think Jose on everything. So if it's, you know, x, Instagram, Facebook, whatever, I'm out there and would love to say hi to you.
0:44:26 - (Colin Johnson): That was good thinking about that thing. Cozy thing.
0:44:28 - (Jose Castillo): I don't. It's hilarious. I lucked into it, I guess. And, yeah, I was at south by Southwest speaking the year that they launched Twitter.
0:44:39 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, wow.
0:44:39 - (Jose Castillo): And as I landed on the airplane, and a friend of mine, I'd sent him a text message, I was like.
0:44:44 - (Colin Johnson): Hey, where are you?
0:44:44 - (Jose Castillo): And he's like, I'm on Twitter. And I'm like, what's that?
0:44:47 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:44:47 - (Jose Castillo): And he's like, well, that's where we're telling each other where we are this week.
0:44:50 - (Colin Johnson): And I was like, okay, sounds good. Yeah, it's got a little burr. Yeah, not anymore. It's x. I know.
0:44:55 - (Jose Castillo): So I.
0:44:56 - (Colin Johnson): Things are changing, so I jumped on.
0:44:57 - (Jose Castillo): And I've been on social media ever since.
0:45:00 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Well, thanks for being a. Just a good friend of mine. Thanks for doing all you do. I'm excited to see you on the big screen here in the Olympics coming up and. And the NASCAR thing, too. I mean, it's just super cool what you get to do. And the Lord is just continuing to work through you and blessing you. It's just fun to watch. And so, yeah, continue to just hope you have continued success. If you guys want to meet Jose in person, you can move to Johnson City.
0:45:24 - (Colin Johnson): I'll sell you a house. We can make you his neighbor. And, yeah, if you want to invest in real estate, we do a lot of that, too, and we'd love to help you there. So connect with me, connect with Jose. Get a space at Spark Plaza when you're moving here, because remote working is still a thing. It is it's a big thing, but you need to have the office like you needed to white shoot around, like, messing up stuff and driving you nuts. And that's what you can get in Spark Plaza.
0:45:48 - (Colin Johnson): Thanks so much and have a great day.