18. Kat Latham: How to serve a family of customers and a city in need

Today’s guest on the Johnson City Living podcast is Kat Latham.

In 2014, Kat and her husband Eric opened Johnson City Brewing Company in downtown Johnson City. At the time, they were the only brewery in Johnson City, and of course in the years since, brewing in downtown has flourished as others have followed the path that Kat and Eric paved.

Also, there’s something really important I need to tell you about today’s show. I ended up cutting about a third of the episode after we finished our interview. I hated to lose that part, because that section speaks a lot to who Kat is, but Kat asked me to cut it and it was the right thing to do, which also speaks a lot to who Kat is.

The part I had to cut was about a career change Kat made about a year ago.

When Kat was growing up, her dad was a firefighter at Dulles airport in Virginia. Because of his schedule, he was very involved in Kat’s childhood...he was the guy who comes on the field trips, the guy who’s around to help with homework, and the guy who can pitch in with after-school activities. Kat grew up seeing that you can be a good citizen, good provider and a good parent at the same time.

Sadly, Kat’s dad passed away about a year and half ago. But she described how even though he wasn’t a Johnson City firefighter, the Johnson City fire department sent 4 members of their honor guard to stand watch over her father at his funeral service AND the Dulles fire department sent 2 members of their honor guard all the way down here to Johnson City to do the same.

Kat was moved by what she calls this special fraternity of firefighters and how no matter what, they show up for people in need, and she began to toss around the idea of becoming a firefighter herself.

Flash forward to today, and Kat has followed in her father’s footsteps and is a firefighter. Kat works for the Johnson City Fire Department. She says her job with the fire department gives her all the opportunities she saw with her father...she can help support her family, give back to her community, and be around for her kids activities.

Because of the fire department often sees people in times of their deepest need, they have a policy that communications about that work need to go through the chain of command. And like a good employee, Kat didn’t want to do anything to break the fire department’s chain of command.

That’s why I cut our entire conversation about Kat’s experience becoming a firefighter. You’ll have to take my word that it’s a really good story.

Johnson City Living is a member of the Market Street Media podcast network, which includes:

(under)stated

Better Every Day with Brad Weems

The Johnson City Small Business Podcast with Ryan McKinney

Measure Once, Cuss Twice with Seth Thomas

Marketing That Works with Drew Bedard