In the premiere episode of Backroads and Backstories, host Senator Paul Bailey shares his own personal story and how he became involved in politics. Take a listen to learn more about what inspired Senator Paul Bailey to create this show.
Transcript
Announcer: From the politics of Nashville to the history of the Upper Cumberland, this is the Backroads and Backstories podcast with Senator Paul Bailey
Senator Bailey: Welcome to the podcast. I’m your host, Senator Paul Bailey. In this series of podcasts, we’ll explore the backstories along the backroads, of our part of Tennessee. As well as taking a look behind the news from Nashville at the issues and people who are shaping the future for the Volunteer State. On today’s episode, I want to share a little bit about myself and what inspired me to create this show.
So what is my backstory? Well, I grew up in Sparta, Tennessee in a community called Cherry Creek on a small tobacco farm where we raised cattle and horses. My dad was a truck driver. He taught me how to drive a truck whenever I was 11 years old. Yep, that’s pretty much it. I grew up sitting in the lap of a truck driver going all the way across country. I remember times as we would be coming back from the Texas area after delivering a load of cattle that my dad would slide the seat back, asked me to get over in his lap and we would sit there and, and I’d basically drive him all the way through Oklahoma.
My mother worked for a trucking company called Service Transport at the time I attended public schools at White County high school. I also attended Tennessee Tech, but in 1986, my dad had the opportunity to purchase a couple of trucks and four trailers with a contract to haul for a company in Cookeville, Tennessee. Really didn’t have the money at the time to be able to afford to buy a company like that, but had someone help us. And so we started what’s now known as CB trucking. And from there, we’ve grown a business to have over 60 over the road trucks as well as a hundred employees. Times have not always been easy, but we’ve certainly sacrificed and been able to move forward.
So why did I want to be into politics? Well, whenever I was in high school I was actually the president of the student council and a lot of other civic organizations as I, began my career as being in the trucking business.
And so I always felt a natural calling to be able to help people. So that’s one of the reasons that I actually ran for state Senate. I just feel like that it’s a calling to be able to help those that can’t always help themselves.
So what do we want to focus on this podcast? Well, we want it to be a vehicle to educate people about the personalities behind state issues and highlighting the history and culture of our Upper Cumberland. And what should people expect to hear on this show? Well, you’re going to hear backstories behind important state issues as well as side trips down the backroads of the upper Cumberland to highlight our folks and what makes our area such a special place to live.
This is Senator Paul Bailey thanking you for listening to Backroads and Backstories. We hope you’ll join us again on one of our future podcasts.
Announcer: Thank you for listening to the Backroads and Backstories podcast with Senator Paul Bailey. You can keep up with the latest on the podcast at backroadsandbackstories.com and subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Thanks again for listening and we’ll see you next time on the Backroads and Backstories podcast.
CLICK HERE to listen to all episodes from Backroads & Backstories with Paul Bailey.