Drone shot from our site of Paddy's Gap
My wife is a huge fan of the award-winning comedy series Schitt’s Creek, which hilariously portrays a wealthy family’s demise, relocation, and crazy ‘city folk-to-small town’ lifestyle.
During COVID, as various financing deals for the project kept collapsing, there were times I felt like I was up this same creek! In retrospect, it’s interesting how much risk I took, quitting my job and betting my family savings on this wellness and nature resort dream. I am so lucky that rather than feeling fear, I actually felt blessed to even have the opportunity to make this happen. Particularly in the face of much bigger worldly challenges, my belief in Santiago and the spiritual support (previously described in this BLOG) for this project helped me stay positive.
Then I met Scott and Angie Ford. They live about 45 minutes from our site in West Virginia on a large parcel of land. Amazingly, they are using the same advanced environmental and forest restoration practices that we are starting, planting hundreds of chestnut trees, and creating their own nature sanctuary. Scott had also engaged with holistic healing practices that inspired him to want to open a wellness center.
Over time, as my relationship with the Ford’s deepened (they are now partners!), they introduced me to Scott’s 20-year business colleague, Ron Carson. I could not imagine a better General Partner for this project (or the Shenandoah region) than Ron Carson. He grew up farming, and has expanded the family farm while adding a hunting retreat on what is now over 10,000 acres in Nebraska. He embodies midwestern values, and makes decisions based on its impact over the next hundred years.
Ron’s amazing success stemmed from founding and being CEO of the Carson Group, a set of companies serving financial advisors and investors since 1983. With more than 39,000 clients and $18B in assets under advisement, Ron is a nationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author and active community member having founded two non-profit foundations.
Ron’s passion for wellness started with his focus on helping people seek fuller, more rewarding lives. From there it has grown, and you can see from his Twitter feed below that he is fully engaged with wellness in all facets of his life.
One fun fact about Ron: there are roughly 68 peaks of 14,000 feet or more in the contiguous United States, and he has scaled 55 of them!
But I was really sold when I met his wife, Jeanie, and noticed the “Moira” vanity plates on her car. No one is a bigger Schitt’s Creek fan than my wife, Jennifer, and it reminded me that behind every wellness fanatic is someone who loves to laugh. So if you are a true Schitt’s Creek fangirl, visit our Simply Instagram site, and message my wife your address for a custom-designed Simply Schitt’s club t-shirt while supplies last! : )
Beyond that, please welcome Ron, Jeanie, and their kids to our Simply Shenandoah family, and know that we are diving back into our design and engineering work, with a planned opening in June 2024.