Recap: Nashville, TN

We arrived safely into Nashville, Tennessee in the late afternoon on Sunday, May 30. Thankfully, there was a safe place to park and detach from the trailer at our Airbnb, located in the very hip neighborhood of Berry Hill.

John Lynn, one of our favorite male allies in health IT, flew out to join us on this leg of the journey and we spent Sunday evening catching up, creating a plan for the week, and then hanging out in the rooftop hot tub to unwind from a long day of travel.

Monday, each of us has regular business meetings to attend, but we took a break for lunch at The Nashville Jam Company, where we discovered we were staying in an area with lots of recording studios through talking with our waiter and the restaurant staff. Shereese has started introducing us to new friends as the hosts of an “award winning podcast,” which makes me laugh, but has lent itself to some very interesting and enlightening conversations about experiences women endure in lots of different industries.

That evening, we hosted a “Martini Monday” with some of the ladies in the HIT Like a Girl pod slack community. Sara Gallo gave us an impromptu demonstration of the mobile telemedicine exam kit she has been using out in the field in Denver, Colorado, with people experiencing homelessness. Kat McDavitt, who has been conducting some great #ladyboss interviews this month, also joined us to catch up about planning a fancy party the week of HIMSS to raise funds for her Mothers in Medicine Fund.

Afterward, we went for dinner seeking spicy hot chicken near downtown Nashville, and then took the opportunity to visit Broadway to see if there was any live music we could find to dance to. We stopped in a couple spots to enjoy the bands, but landed on a rooftop bar with a DJ where we really got our groove on. It was so fun, but also a little unnerving to be around crowds of people, so we only stayed for a few songs.

Tuesday morning was back to business. Shereese and I recorded a podcast with Dr. Nishi Rawat about how Open Beds supports providers who help patients dealing with Substance Abuse Disorders. John and I were able to squeeze in a full round of disc golf at Shelby Farms Park before I had midday meeting. While I was doing that, he and Shereese went out to lunch with Larry Williams (such a cool guy!), and when they all returned, it was time to head over to the official hike.

We had ladies meeting up with us at several different start times, so it was a good thing that our chosen hike was relatively short - only a 1.5 mile loop - because I ended up walking it three different times! In between hikes, the three of us hung out along the edge of the J. Percy Priest Reservoir, skipping rocks, bird watching, and laughing about how little I know about professional basketball.

The women who showed up to hike were all lovely. We were joined by Tiffany from the Tennessee HIMSS chapter as well as three young ladies from Perception Health. We talked a lot about data analytics during the first loop. On the second loop, we were joined by Janice and Lynnde and our conversations ranged from volleyball tournaments, life insurance, working at the perfect size company, and what to know before you go to HIMSS (i.e. don’t even think of wearing high heels.) On the final loop, I walked with Angelina, who has been working in healthcare for nearly 20 years and recently earned a promotion. She shared that she gets a little intimidated with networking events, but a short hike with a few women was something she could sign up for. I was very flattered that not only did she decide to join us, but she was also willing to get silly for 30 seconds to do a TikTok!

After the hike, Shereese, John, and I ventured to Hattie B’s to see if their hot sauce was as hot as the locals say it is - and Shereese is the ultimate tester, as there seems to be no such thing as “too hot” for her. Back at the house, John and I took another round in the rooftop hot tub - because, why not?

Wednesday, we were all tired, but we each had morning meetings to attend. The most important meeting of all was with JP and Harlow, the hosts of the Caffeinated & Confident podcast and coaches at the Nashville Fit Lab. They gave us a walking tour of their neighborhood to the very cool L & L Market, which is home to the even cooler Collective 615 - co-working space for women that embraces creativity, encourages diversity, and empowers women to live their best personal and professional lives. We drank delicious coffee with the boys and then were invited to record a podcast with them about the #HITtheTrails journey so far. We left their place with a jumbo bag of homemade cookies from Linda Stotsky. Seriously, what a treat!

It was such a great day, filled with inspiring conversations — it really sealed the deal on our love affair with Nashville and the people here.

We ended the day by dropping John at the airport and thanking him for joining us and adding so much spice to this part of the trip.

Thursday, we packed up and drove to our next destination: Chimney Rock, North Carolina.

Nashville, TN

Where we stayed: An Airbnb in Berry Hill, which at first glance, looks like a purely residential neighborhood until you realize funky independent shops, restaurants, recording studios and music publishers occupy many of the homes.

Where we hiked: Anderson Fitness Trail

Indigenous Acknowledgment - Yuchi (Tsoyaha) Indigenous People (Facebook) | Yuchi Language Project