It is a little chilly day here in January here in Johnson City and snow is still on the ground. We got a few inches. Um, while I was gone, I wasn't here. So you guys got to enjoy that and Carly and I, we were gallivanting around the  Mediterranean.

So anyway,  enough about me and the snow. I'm excited for you guys to meet. Cam McAllister. Welcome to the podcast, Cam. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Oh man, my pleasure. I'm excited to learn about your business. I love getting to know people and this podcast has just been so much fun, such a blessing.

So we get to know all kinds of new people. Before we get into your business, Johnson City Living Podcast, you know what's coming. What's the, your most favorite tip top thing about Johnson City? I have to say it would be Downtown. Downtown. Downtown. There's always something going on in our downtown. We are very active in our downtown area.

We always have something going on. Yeah. Like I said. So,  Candyland Christmas, Main Street Days, Fridays After Five, Acoustic Autumns.  We got it all. Yeah. What more can you ask for? You can. They should write a song about downtown. I think they did, didn't they? Didn't they? You know, I think they did. Downtown.

Everything's good when you're downtown. That's going to be probably cut out because Mitch is going to be like, oh, that wasn't good.  Alright, so Sentimental Journey Antiques. That's it. How'd we come up with the name? You know, I really had a feeling you were going to ask me that.  So I went ahead and I called Grandma.

Ah. Because Sentimental Journey Antiques was my grandfather's last antique store. Before he retired. Yeah. So I called her and I asked her, I said, You know, Grandma, how did you guys come up with Sentimental Journey? Where?  Um, oh, well, you know, we were throwing out names and the song Sentimental Journey was on.

And then she sang it for me.  Way better than I did a second ago, yeah. She sang it for me and um, you know, this whole process, it has been just that. It has been a sentimental journey. So I, I see where grandma was coming from. That's cool. So you, this antique business is not a new creation for your family.

No. You're a second generation, third generation, did your parents do?  My, my father's big into it. My grandparents, my husband even used to own an antique store. Gotcha. So, so you guys were like, we are drumming. We are, we're ready. You're rolling. 

. Yeah, it was, so it's been in your blood for a long time.

Yeah, yeah. It's been there. That's awesome. So what do you love about antiques?  You know, they all tell a story. Yeah, cause some people go in and say, well, this is all a bunch of junk. Yeah, but you know, the thing about Sentimental Journey Antiques is, it's going to be the largest retail establishment here in downtown Johnson City.

It's 21, 000 square feet and  It's all rented out. It's all spaced out for vendors to sell their collectibles, their home decor, their antiques, furniture. We really wanted to have a wide array, something for everybody in a city that has something for everybody. Oh, I like it. Damn, throwing it all together.  I studied. 

So 21, 000 square feet, that's a big building. Yeah. Where is this building? So it's located right in front of Capone's. It's the old ETSU. Physician's office. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's a great spot. It is a beautiful spot. Yeah. It is three floors. It's, you know, it has the first floor, a mezzanine, and then we have the third floor as well.

Okay. And it's, it's a large space, 156 spots available for rent, we, from the beginning. We only have nine left. Holy cow. Yes. How long have you, like, I just saw them taking off the ETSU stuff, like, it felt like a month ago. Right. Right. So we started this process back in. March. Okay. We secured the building, got our location locked in.

We were ready to roll. We were told that we would need a sprinkler installation done.  So we went ahead and proceeded and had that sprinkler installation done. Did you buy that space?  We're renting it. We occupy it. You occupy it. Okay, so you occupy the space, but the city still required you to put in a sprinkler system.

I'm assuming the landlord probably said, have fun putting that in there. Yes. So we had the sprinkler installation done. But you know, over all this time of waiting, we So that took a while. It did. We were told three months, and it ended up taking  Oh,  so, you know, Brightridge still wants their money, you know, the city still wants the water payment, you know, all those things, you know, were taken into, had to be taken into consideration, their priorities, but also at the same time, we have all these vendors lined up ready to move in and we're told that we can't bring anything into the building until final inspection is done.

Yeah.  But these businesses are these. What do you want to call them? These contractors without  a contract manager. You know, we're just being told next week. Oh, next week will be done next week will be done. You know,  we've had people. excited and then annoyed. Yeah, but now we're looking at January 25th as our opening to get those doors open.

We've been waiting so long. It's it's time. So you had your finals permit issued three weeks ago, three weeks ago. We were so vendors are moving in. We had vendors in the parking lot with their trucks loaded to move their stuff in while the fire marshal was doing his last inspection. Man, so we got some eager, excited people.

Ready to roll, I'm telling you, we've been so proud of you. And you have 154 places and only 9 left, is that right? 156. 156, my fault. No, it's okay, because, you know, there could be more. Yeah. If I cleared out some space, there's, I can always make more room. So is this like you own, you kind of, you're subletting the space to a vendor.

Like if I want to, Mitch and I wanted to say, we're going to open Conan and Mitch's house of hats. Because he's wearing a cool toboggan hat and he was super excited about that. And, uh, yeah. And so we could lease a space in there. Although they'd have to be antique Carhartt hats. No, not necessarily. It can be new stuff, too.

It can be new stuff. Something for everybody, like I said. It's just whatever's sentimental and whatever's on our journey. Whatever's on your journey. Something for everybody. I will always say that. Something for everybody. Because, you know, you walk in and You could go in there and buy a loaf of sourdough bread from our bread, our bread girl.

She's incredible. You could buy homemade dog treats from our dog treat vendor. She's also incredible. You can go up and buy some sports memorabilia on our third floor. If you want a Taylor Swift signed guitar with authenticity,  I have that for you. Where's the rat?  Mitch?  Do you want that Mitch? I think Mitch has been talking non stop about a Taylor Swift autographed guitar.

I think he needs to come visit the 3rd floor on the 25th. Yeah, I think so for sure, for sure. So soft opening  the 25th of January and then You're going to be rolling and then later on you're going to jump in  and start like a big brand opening. Yeah, the 25th will be just our opening, you know, get people in the door, have people, you know, people have lost their places to sell.

A lot of them closed down and this is some people's way of making a living. For sure. So, you know, I want to get these doors open. I wanted to give them enough time to come in, set their spaces up and merchandise and They're working very hard. Some people have been working overnight. Yeah, I'm there nine to seven every day.

I also work I work a corporate job and my husband does as well, so we've been working hard and at it, and it's really paying off. That's great. I'm very proud to see the space change. That's cool. So we will be having our doors open on the 25th, and every day we will be open 10 to 7, 7 days a week. And then in March, when we have our Main Street Day St.

Patrick's version,  we will have a 3 day grand opening. Nice. So the 14th, 15th, and 16th, 10 to 7. Okay. We'll have vendors outside the six spots in front of the store and we will be serving beer and wine. We'll have appetizers and  I'm rooting for a full house. That's awesome. Full house, have everybody, all my spaces rented and  really have something for everybody.

That's cool. And if I don't have something for you, I want to have something for you. Now talk to me a little bit about the antique business shop kind of thing. Is this. I mean, Carly and I, we like to do, we like to go in these shops and look around and we've been in a bunch of them and um,  but some of them feel like you own all the material.

Like you go maybe source it yourself and then you bring it in here and you sell it and make a profit I'm assuming from between purchase price and final sales price or that's how you keep a living going. Or you do it this way, like you kind of have little mini condoed out spaces or rented out spaces.

So, had  you always thought to do it this way?  You know, I always thought that in my mind I would have an antique store and it would be just our stuff, you know? But this is so much more. This is bringing 125 small businesses into one big store into my small business. You know what I'm saying? This is, this is big for a lot of people who've never had a storefront before.

You know, I'm having people who sell, this one girl has an online boutique and I'm so proud of her. She doesn't have a storefront yet, but she wants one. So I'm giving her that opportunity and I'm helping her in every way I can. And  I want to make sure that she has her own storefront. Yeah, I think that's super cool too.

Use me as a stepping stone and use me for my knowledge that I've learned along the way and all my resources because I'm just here to help. Yeah. So, and another great benefit with Sentimental Journey is we will also be delivering and if you have something, you don't have to have a booth, you can do consignment.

You can bring me something and say,  Cam. I have no use for this. This is how much I want for it and we'll work something out. I'll put it in the store, stage it somewhere and when it sells, I'll have a check for you. And so yeah, and then cause I'm, tell me more about like typical split on that, like just so that people know.

Of course. So if you have your own booth in our store,  We just take 10 percent commission. Oh, okay. Yeah, super simple. And if, you know, you have a huge piece of furniture that you need placed somewhere else, we'll place it somewhere else in the store. Put your tag on it. Yeah, you put your tag on it, and it'll be a different commission.

Gotcha. It just depends on how big the piece of furniture is or where, you know, where it goes. If you're parking a Cadillac up front in the window or something. And you know a little bit more for that if you do walk by you'll notice the very beautiful high end furniture in our windows Well, I did notice that the other day like a French commode in the front that looked beautiful I have never seen such beautiful furniture and My husband actually found them.

They were just selling online and they're from North Carolina Mars Hill I believe and they said, you know, our main audience or our main clientele is Kingsport Johnson City Elizabethan  you, they, we gave them this opportunity. They literally have my window displays. They have a storefront now. That's cool.

So now their customers can come and shop what they have in our store and we can deliver it for them. You know, also, if you have things at home that you'd like to We just ask that it's all clean and, you know, we know what it is firsthand. We're not taking a bunch of yucky stuff. Correct. And, you know, we also supply Windex for our vendors.

We supply furniture polish.  We have, we, I always remind our vendors that, you know, this is your little storefront. You, you know, keep it maintained. Keep it tight. You know, we, We have expectations to uphold and being in such a beautiful city and you notice that these businesses here on East Main are so clean and organized and what, you know, well, I want to hold my vendors to that standard as well and make sure that we're all aware that there's no reason why something should be dirty or there's no reason, you know, You just maintain your spot and you have a place to sell your stuff from 10 to 7, 7 days a week while you are working your full time job, while you're out picking, while you're doing these other things with your family. 

Now can you shop online too with you guys? Eventually, and we'll also eventually be offering auctioning. Oh, nice. Yeah. Auction it off. Give some grandpa something to do. Oh, okay. Now, so, tell me where you grew up.  So, you know, I was born in New York and we had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, Concord area, actually.

And then I moved back to New York until I was 16, upstate, Hudson Valley area. And then I moved to Oak Island, North Carolina, when I was 16. And uh, you know, I look at 16 year old Cam, I think about him and where 26 year old Cam is now. Right. I'm so grateful. Yeah. I'm so grateful for,  and for growing up and for, you know, getting out of the negative head space and really proceeding with my life in such a strong manner.

You know, I really feel like I can make a difference in a change in the community. That's great. And that's always the goal. Yeah. I think we're always trying to grow and get better every day. Of course. And, you know, I always volunteered with my grandparents growing up. We were big at the Habitat Restore in Southport, North Carolina.

Shout out to them always. Um, it's just really, uh, it's in the blood.  And I have my grandparents to thank for it. Yeah, now do you miss the beach?  I wasn't a fan of the sand. Ah! It always made my car dirty. But, listen, it, it, it had its moments. Southport, Oak Island, Wilmington will always hold a special place in my best friends growing up forever, he, uh, he and his wife just moved to Oak Island permanently.

He's retiring there and I'm like, you lucky dog. And so we went and saw him like last year. And I've never been to Oak Island and it's beautiful. It is. It is beautiful. And I'm very fortunate to be able to grow up there. And, you know, just live  the life that I lived. Yeah, that's fun.  So tell me what you and your husband do here for fun.

Oh, wow. So here lately, it's been working. That's our fun. Because the progress is so rewarding.  We've been electricians. We've been painters. We've been contractors.  It was just him and I framing the store. It was just him and I. My dad came and helped for a couple weekends. But, you know, it was us painting.

If our vendors didn't, I refused to open with brown pegboard. I said, paint it white, you know. Elegance, please. Um,  but. But, we do like to hang out with, uh, friends on the board, and Yeah, tell me about Downtown Connect. I'm sorry I'm jumping in, but No, no, no, it's a good thing to jump into. Downtown Connect is, you know, they're the reason why we have these downtown events.

And I'm very grateful to be a board member, a part of this. Yeah. There's two women from the city, uh, Sarah DelBean and Lindsay Jones.  And I always say that  there is no physical key to Johnson City. The two of them are the key to Johnson City because  the city portion of this is so important with the Main Street program to make sure that we can have these downtown events, to make sure that they're being ran safely, legally, ethically,  you know, they have the city on their shoulders and they really deliver.

Main Street Days was huge for us. Now they tied in with the JCDA as well, those Johnson City Days. That's a good question. I'm not sure. Okay. All right. Gotcha. But, um, they are with the city. She's the Main Street Director. And, uh,  Yes, they're, they're just two great, incredible people. Well, that's cool. Yeah, I think it's good to have, um,  our city involved for sure to make sure.

Because it takes a lot to put on these events. It does. A hundred and eighty trees this year for Canyonland Christmas. Insane. Absolutely insane. It was, it was beautiful. We went and walked around. Coolville could never. Yeah.  Right? Yep. Um,  Well,  What's your favorite thing to do outside around here in Johnson City?

Besides just walking around downtown for the, some of the events. Are you guys hikers? Do you like to go to the dog park? Yeah. So when we first moved here, we did spend a lot of time hiking and whatnot. But like I said, we've been planning opening the store for, it really has been. And he had an operation on his Achilles.

The year before last. Oh, okay. And he fell septic. He was sick. We spent, you know, a holiday and his birthday in the hospital. Oh, wow. 24 days. Yeah. You know, and, and as soon as he was starting to get better was when this process started. So,  we've really have been full throttle since then. But we overcome. We really do overcome.

Just like the hurricane, we overcome. We help each other. We, we get through it. Yeah. We do. And like I said, the result is so rewarding. That's awesome.  Tell me, besides the grandparents, who are some of the influential people that kind of got you where you are today?  You know, I didn't have the best role models growing up until I moved here.

I really realized what a true, authentic role model really is.  That's my two girls from the city, Lindsay Jones and Sarah DelBean. And I also have to give major props to Shannon Costello. Oh, she's great, yeah. Oh man, incredible. Yeah, she's so sweet.  And her husband's very funny, too. Jose is awesome. I think he's been on here a couple times.

Beautiful family. Oh yeah. All of them. They are super great. But yeah, and you know, besides my grandparents, it would be, you know, I have the biggest support system with friends and family. And, but, yeah.  this is different. This, all these small businesses encouraging us and telling us keep going. You know, people thought we gave up and that was humiliating.

You know,  we're just waiting on these pipes. But you know, it's a good thing because we do have extra fire extinguishers in the store. There's three sets of sprinkler heads installed on the third floor. We, we are fully equipped and we are fully to code. We have nothing to worry about. So, um, that.

Definitely a safe space to bring your things, your wares to sell. And also during this time, we've also went ahead and replaced all the LED, we've replaced all the lighting to LEDs and that sprinkler system fully equipped and just, we were able to build more spots. Yeah. It's, it's great. Everything is really worked out.

Now if Mitch and I wanted to open our hat business, what is the space? Well, typically, like, because you've got nine spaces left, right? So we could sell this. I do, yes. So, what would a space typically cost somebody to, just cause, you know, there might be somebody listening who's like, I've always wanted to do that.

Yeah, so my, the prices of our booths, they range. So we do have, you know, smaller size booths, medium. You tell me what you want, I'll build it for you, aside from that. Oh, wow. Okay. That was very selective on that. I wanted to make sure that our vendors were getting what they wanted. And, you know, I would even ask them, how much do you want, what do you want to pay a month?

And I'll build you something, and you tell me if it's good for you. Oh, there you go. Yeah, so, somebody would tell me 80 bucks a month. I would build them a nice little 4x7, wall space, pegboard, everything they need.  Like I said, you're fully equipped. But, um,  It ranges between 250 to 350 a square foot, depending on what floor you want to be on. 

So, you know, 350 a square foot, you're looking at the first floor. But as you go on up to our larger rooms, which you can tell is where ETSU did their biggest renovation was on those offices on the third floor. for you have a beautiful view of the city. You have the sports collectors up there. You have Wildwood vintage clothing up there.

You have high end furniture and my grandparents who are very high end as well. So there's you keep them up there. Is that what you're saying? Actually, keep them up. You know, they're a little bit of everywhere. They God, they have so much stuff.  You know, and I had this dream. You know, I can't wait to have my office.

I want an office. Uh,  you don't want enough. And I, I would love an office if it wasn't full of  storage supplies, um, parts of an accent wall, um, two by four, you know, it's, it's my grandparent's stuff, it's uh, it'll come. Yeah, it'll get there. Yeah, I'm in no rush. That's right. And if anything, my husband says I can use a storage closet somewhere.

There you go. It'll be fine. To keep computer work. Yeah. Yeah, the status is just down the street. You can work from there. You know, right, and that too, but I could also go swing by Spark. Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right. Go see my friends over there. So what's, uh, you said you guys both have day jobs.

What do you, what is your, what are your all's day jobs? So my husband, he's a deli bakery merchandiser for grocery stores. Oh, cool. Yeah, so he's an independent merchandiser. So he'll go to grocery stores and sell them product that they need. Displays, food product containers. You know, things to efficiently run a deli bakery.

Nice. So he does travel quite a bit. He has stores in East Tennessee, Kentucky,  North Carolina, Ohio. So, you know, he travels quite a bit. Yeah, I'd say. And I do work for our local Johnson City Public Supermarkets here. I started in our grocery department and now I'm actually a cake decorator. Oh, sweet!  The best job.

I work with some incredible decorators and bakers. You know, I look forward to it, even though, you know, our schedules, you know, we have to be there at 4 a. m  That's what it's been. It's been 4 a. m. to 7 p. m.  out between both, both places. That's awesome. You're a hard worker. That's it. It's in the blood. Like I said, where do you feel like you got your work ethic?

Is your dad a hard worker? My dad, my, you know, both my parents are very hard workers. My mom's on the nursing side and my father is a contractor and, you know, growing up, that's all I ever knew was just go, go, go hustle. Provide for your family. For sure. You know, but also my grandfather, he IBM. Antique store owner, my grandmother's school teacher, RN. 

Antique owner. All, you know, it's,  it's insane to me. I'm, I'm very inspired by my family and how hard they work. Yeah. And they just pass it down. Yeah, and some of that's, yeah, it's cool to keep it going. Yeah, and you know, my sister, she's the same way. She lives in New York, two kids, a husband, two dogs, and she does it.

She's a hard worker too. Getting after it, yeah. That's all we know. Well, yeah, I think, um, that's one of the reasons America's doing so well, because we have a lot of hard workers, and we have a ton of immigrants that are out working us, which is great. I mean, that's what's making America great, too, because we've got a big influence of all kinds of different folks coming, and Johnson City's just that same melting pot now with everybody moving here.

It is. Now, how long have you lived in Johnson City?  Well, I, I've been here for two years. Okay. It was two years in August, but I do want you to know, four years ago today.  I stepped foot in Johnson City for the very first time. Oh wow. Today? Today. So when you scheduled for the 14th, I said it only makes sense.

Yeah. So this is, you know, Johnson City has always held a special place in my heart. This is really where I decided who I was as a person and what I wanted to do with my life and get involved in the community. It's, poof, sentimental. Yeah, it's all part of your sentimental journey.  This is where I found the love of my life.

This is where we got married and this is, you know, where we want to start our family eventually. And now we have a business here. That's cool. How, uh, what brought you to Johnson city? Like there's a lot of places in the country.  So Johnny, my husband, his work is remote. This was like the good touchdown spot and he's from here originally.

Gotcha. So his first antique store that he owned was in Bristol. Okay, cool. Yeah.  Yeah, my wife, Carly, she's from Bristol, so we, we love Bristol. It's a good spot. Kingsport's a great spot. There's not any bad spots around. There's not. There's not. They're all a little unique and just beautiful. But Johnson City though.

Yeah. Like I said, where can you go wrong? Yeah. You kind of alluded to having some, um,  challenges growing up maybe. What were some of the, what's been some of the difficult things that you've had to overcome that you feel like?  Okay, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna do it.  You know, anxiety has always been a big part of my life.

It's always just been there and I don't know if that's just from experiences or  traumatic events, you know, it's just always been there. Sure.  If these things didn't happen to me or you know, I didn't  go through this, I wouldn't be the way I am today. Right. So that's what I thank God for, the good and the bad. 

Cause really, like I said, where would I be today if I were still, you know, just childish and I don't know, I really, I'm very proud of the growth. Good. Yeah. Um, I think there's a saying something about like, he won't bring you to it if he doesn't help bring you through it. And so the Lord's going to make you.

I love that. And you know, I also am a big promoter. I do have a list of all of the local mental health facilities. Psychiatrists, therapists, I have a list of them at my store. So if anybody ever needs to come by, I'm there. I have a list for you and I also have all the ones that are the most affordable. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, I think it's always good to help out. I think mental health is a big thing that we are starting to get more like, you know, it used to be a little taboo, like, to go, when I was growing up, right? I'm 52 and, oh. therapist or counselor or psychiatrist, you know, what's wrong with you, you know, or whatever.

And so I think it's a lot more, um,  open to,  to people just being ready to go. Like I'm, yeah, because you need some counseling. You need some talk. I think everybody. I agree. And I think, uh, I think COVID changed a lot of people. It really, it really, you know, and like I said, we overcome, but it's still there.

Yeah. Yeah. It was a big, hard, hard time for sure. Yeah. Yeah.  Um, anything else you're working on right now that you'd want to share with the  listeners?  Just getting those doors open. Just get them open. Let's go people. Just trying to get those doors open. And let's get those other nine spots cleared out.

Yeah, let's fill up before our grand opening, which is going to be a banger. Live music. Beer, wine, you know, we're going to have it all, and we want it to be very exciting. It's going to be a very exciting weekend for downtown Johnson City. The first Main Street days really blew everybody away. It really helped these small businesses, and it's, it's going to be great.

That's awesome. And I really hope the weather's going to be. Oh, it'll be good. Yeah. It'll be good. It'll be good. If I, um, what was something I forgot to ask you, anything you were going to ask me if you were hosting the podcast? You know, if I were to ask you something.  How did you come up with this idea?

How did you come up with this idea of doing a podcast  to reach an audience? You know, that's what you're doing. You're reaching an audience in so many different ways. And I'm learning as a business owner.  Marketing is so important.  And I, after college, you know, I went to school to be a mortician. And when I was done, I deleted all social media.

I didn't have a need for it, a use for it. So,  I'm realizing how important it is to get yourself out there to put reels out there to collaborate. I'm actually sending my first collaboration invitation tomorrow. Oh, look at that. That's cool. With another small business. Yeah. So where did you get the idea to start a podcast?

Um, well, I appreciate you asking that. My friend Layton Hart, um, and uh, we shot up, we did a podcast, I don't know, six years ago, or just recorded one in his living room.  Cause, um, he was like, I got this idea that we should do a podcast or whatever. I was like, that'd be fun. And so we just sat down and talked about Johnson city and that kind of thing.

And he recorded it and he was like, all right, I'm just going to mess around with this and see what happens. And, um, and then, uh, we just kind of got off track, I guess, but he was more determined. And so he. He, uh, he followed through and actually said, I'm going to, he started a podcast and called Johnson City Living.

This one, he started it and, um, but in the pandemic, um,  I was like wanting to connect with people, you know, and so I just, I wanted to start my own podcast and I don't think I, I think I had seen him on the socials doing one, but didn't look into it much, which is  But I, um, I wanted, uh, and so I called him because I knew he was doing some stuff and, um, he actually started a podcasting company where they hosted podcasts.

And so I was like, this is cool. Anyway, it worked out that he wanted to step more into the role of the production side of it and build up, um, other podcasters. Um, he's a, he's a really good, um, developer. And so he wanted to do that. And so he, um,  Yeah, he, he got, um, that rolling and then now Mitch with Maypop Media, he and his wife took over that, that business a few, about a year and a half ago maybe, two years ago? 

Oh wow! Three years ago! Time's flying!  And so, uh, yeah, and which has allowed me to just step into the role of the podcast partner, host, and it's been fun because I love getting to meet new people. I gotta say, because, you know, I've never been on a podcast before. Yeah. This is my very first one, and this is very comfortable.

This is very zen. This is very,  I would do this again. Okay, good. Yeah, my, my thought is, like, I want to try and get to know you. And let our listeners get to know you guys and talk about your businesses and how do we help connect you and what do you love about Johnson City? Because we get people moving here all the time  and they tell me why they love it and so I'm always asking so that they, you know, people who haven't moved here who want to move here and hopefully connect with me to help them move here, um, yeah, what do they, you know, they can hear, like, man, I've heard this and this and this about Johnson City.

It's awesome. It's the best place to live.  It truly is. It really is awesome. I've, I've, I've, nothing can compare. Even those buildings in Wilmington, the historic downtown, I, I couldn't feel, I couldn't feel what I do here. Yeah. And  I thank you. This is big for a small business owner. Really getting it out there.

Like I said, you know, I'm 125 small businesses inside of one small business. Which is a super cool idea. I love it. Yeah. Because it sounds like, you know, you don't have to worry about every day. Selling something you know, because you've got rent coming in which is I love rental, rental property and rental income.

And I love hearing new ways of doing it. And so just like, you know, condoing out space in your building is pretty cool. Absolutely. I think it's a great concept. And I'm, i'm, i'm. I'm sure it's going to just do great. Yeah, I really hope so. Wish you guys the best with that. How can our listeners connect with you online, Cam? 

Well, they can follow us on, uh, it's SJAntiquesJC Instagram and Sentimental Journey Antiques on Facebook and any other downtown information or anything else you want to know about downtown, you can go on our Instagram for, I believe it's DowntownJCTN  And also the downtown website and Facebook page as well for downtown events.

There you go. I love it. I love it. Um, last question. What just gets you super fired up? Like, I'm jumping out of bed just ready to roll. Is it signing a lease on a new space with somebody? Is it helping somebody move in their big couch to sell? Or is it hammering out walls in the building? The helping people is the most rewarding part.

You know, growing up I've always seen my grandparents help others. Yeah. And that's what I'm doing, and that's all I'm going to do. I'm going to help you establish yourself, especially if you've never done this before. Sure. I'm, I'm going to help the community, and I'm going to make a difference. Yeah. And I stand on that.

Yeah. I stand on that. Do you have a little space in there too? You're selling stuff? You know, listen, I do have a space, but it's not a priority to me right now. It is my vendors that I want. to be set up and ready to roll. Gotcha. I will get myself fully equipped, I promise. Ha ha! We're gonna find an office somewhere in the mix.

Right. Yes. Well, I'm glad you, uh, finally got Sprinklers up and running and you're got your final CEO and you're ready to roll. So that's great. Absolutely. That's great. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Anything else you want to share before we go? I just want to say a big thank you, um, to everybody who's been part of this, everybody who's been there for the good, the bad, who's been there to listen to me cry and complain, the constant reminders that everything's going to be okay.

Yeah. I'm very grateful and all the help. from these other small businesses around me. East Maine is like no other. We are a tight knit and I'm always here. We are always here and it's only up from here. That's all. So thank you. Thank you, Lindsay Jones, Sarah Delbean, all of you. Shannon, Shannon, Jose, that's right.

Johnny, grandma, grandpa.  I can keep going. There you go. I'm very grateful for all of it. I love it. Yeah, I think that's great. If you, uh, yeah, if you live in a spot, a place of gratitude and where you're just like wanting to help people, you can't go wrong. You're going to have so much good energy coming off of you. 

It's going to just continue to grow definitely and my vendors have such a good drive They've been working so diligently and like I said overnights hours on end and getting ready for Valentine's Day Yeah, and downtown will be hosting something. So look out for that. That's cool Well, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Thanks for being a part of downtown and Making our area better. I really enjoyed getting to know you and look forward to seeing  I'll come check it out pretty soon. Appreciate it. And uh, thank you for making me feel included. Oh, of course. Yeah. Glad to do it. Glad to do it. And thank you guys for listening.

Thanks for, um, subscribing. Thank you for, um,  reaching out and just asking for help. And you can ask me anything, anytime, um, my number's down on the show notes, or you can email me. Um, or you can reach out to Cam and, uh, come see his space, so. Always here. My light's always on. There you go. I'm Mark. I love it.

Well, thank you so much and have a great day.