SPEAKER_01 0:02

Good morning. This is the Blaine's World Podcast, where conversations are worth hearing and seeing. You can watch us each week on Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. You can also listen in on Spotify our podcast. And for more information on past episodes, you can visit our website, which is behind me, Blainsworld.net. I'm your host, Blaine Greenfield, coming to you from my Zoom studio in lovely downtown Fairview, North Carolina. Each week we share positive news and uplifting stories by people and organizations in both Western North Carolina and throughout the country. And toward that end, it's my pleasure to introduce Ryan Phillips, a realtor, podcaster, author, photographer, historian, also a longtime friend for being my guest today. Ryan, feel free to wave to all your fans and friends are watching this. Hello, everybody. Thanks for watching. Okay, and that is Ryan Phillips. He's a North Carolina real estate professional and the voice behind Echoes of the Blue Ridge, a podcast where he uncovers the hidden stories, migrations, and mysteries of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Through his work in real estate, he connects people not to a property, but to the deeper his story and history of the land itself. So the question Ryan I always ask the first time I've interviewed somebody on the show is as a kid you grew up where? I grew up in Mars Hill. Okay. As a kid growing up in Mars Hill, did you always know when you got bigger or older you wanted to do like 27 different things? No. In fact, I had no idea what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

You still don't, perhaps. But I probably don't. That's probably why I do everything. And as a kid, what did you want to be? You know, I think I probably wanted to be an actor until I realized that that was probably not gonna happen because I wasn't good enough. Um and then it became a football player again until I realized I wasn't good enough. And uh then at that point I'd graduated high school, so um it was either get a job, go to college, and when I was not ready to go to college, so I joined the Navy instead. So in the Navy, what what were you specializing in? My job was I was a signalman, which is no longer a rate in the Navy, but it was the visual communication, it was the flags that you see, uh the the talking with the arms and the flashing light Morse code. And it was a lot of fun. So how long did you do that for? Uh four years. I was in the Navy four years.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

So you you got out of the Navy and then you decided it was time to get a job, I guess, at that point in time. What did you then decide you wanted to get into?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Uh I just as soon as I got out of the Navy, I started going to Mars Hill College and using the GI Bill to go to college and got into graphic design. Uh graphic design was just coming around um around that time, around 99, and digital cameras had just come out. They were still very, very horrible, three three megapixels or something like that. But I saw the potential in that. And that um from my previous experience doing black and white photography in the Navy, uh, I just kind of my mind raced. And I I knew that they kind of go hand in hand, the graphic design and the photography, digital photography. So I just started doing that. And I got my degree in graphic design and took all the photography classes Marshall had at the time. And that's how I got started really in the photography end of things.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

And I think I met you also uh not only doing photography, but I met you doing some video work, and you did a couple of video projects for me, and it was so uh so cool. And you also did video right work, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did some with your mom and in terms of some telling some stories.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Yes, yes, mother has a long uh film career in casting, and she did uh in the 90s, she made some movies on her own. Um, and one was the uh the ballad of Frankie Silver, which is a story here, and um, those were already pretty much completed by the time I got out of the Navy, but I got into video editing, and as soon as digital video editing really became a thing in like 2002, 2003, and uh re-edited those take those those videos and uh you know worked on another small movie in Asheville called A Dance for Bethany with my mother and she did the casting. I helped her with that. So yeah, a little bit of a little bit in the movie industry. It was fun.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Okay. And so are you still doing well, you sort of indirectly doing that through somebody work in real estate, right? You're you're doing some video, I guess, or showing video work in there?

SPEAKER_00 4:41

I do, I do, yes, I do. And I what I do primarily now is my uh real estate drone video I mix with the video uh walkthroughs of the homes or the property. And uh it's like a three-minute video, just highlights of the property itself, just to show people what it's like. So I I try to get creative with that.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

It's how cool is that you were telling me off the air that especially if you have a property, which I guess some properties in Western North Carolina have have used, it's really cool to show it via a drone.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Yes. Uh it's it's really cool because it it helps people understand how close they are to these mountains. Um, and there's certain angles you can get with the drone to make it look like the mountains are a little bit more visible than they sometimes are, but it gets people to the house to check it out. And it just it makes the homeowners happy that you're doing what what you can to get people in their house to sell it. And it's just honestly just a lot of fun. I I just have so much fun doing it still.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Talk about how you got into it though. How do you even how did you learn to be a drone operator?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Drones, I believe it was around 2014 or 2015 when they started getting more consumer-based and more mainstream and affordable. Uh, the cameras were okay. And you know, you had it was an investment still. You had to spend the money just to get into it. And um, I just knew that it was something that as soon as that technology became good enough, I knew that it was something that I wanted to get into. I'd been following it for a number of years. And around, I believe it was 2015 when I when I jumped in and got it. And um, I spent the whole first year shaking because I was afraid I was gonna crash it. But after I got rid of that, you know, uh nervousness flying, uh, it became pretty normal. And um then after that, it was really important that you get your your drone license. That became a thing where you could not make a single dollar unless you had a drone license. So um that kind of shelved a lot of the hobbyists and uh made the people that were serious about it really put the time in to study and get their drone license. So I so I did and released some a few books and um just did some videos and and things like that. But then I then that's when the real estate came in. So how many drones do you own? Right now I just own one drone. And it and I don't really do the fun, fun stuff anymore. It's mostly real estate related stuff now. That's about all I have time to do. But maybe one day I'll get back into the the fun stuff. So how'd you learn how to do it? Did you watch videos? You just read a book or somebody teach you? To learn how to fly it, I just just did it. Just just jumped into it. And um and tried, I'm not too daring. I'm not like those guys that drive those uh FPV drones or anything like that. I don't I don't do that. Um I I I stay a lot far away from objects. So have you ever had a crash? I have had a crash. I have had a couple of crashes, and it happens, it happens. It's just those one of those things where it's just human error. Um, and that's why you're not allowed to fly over people because sometimes that happens. But but uh mine has primarily been in the woods when I'm trying to thread the needle to get a good shot for a home, and you have to fly through the woods or the the trees to do so, and you hit that land that you don't see.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

So I would imagine as an owner of the drone, that must be somewhat traumatic, you know, as you're flying. Very traumatic. And all of a sudden it goes down, and then if it in a crash or goes down, can it still be used again or can you save it sometimes?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Depending on how bad the crash was. Uh a couple of one one of the times I was able to fix it pretty easily. Uh the other time, no. The other time it broke the arm off. So that ended that one.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Is that something as a drone operator? I guess they don't even have insurance for this, do they? Or can you get insurance?

SPEAKER_00 8:55

There's certain things you can do. Um DJI, the company that I've used, and it's the most popular one, they have a package where you can um pay uh like a deductible and you can send it off, and they'll, you know, and that's what I did. I just uh pretty inexpensively got it fixed.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Okay. So let's then go into another direction again, Ryan. One of the things, right, frankly, that's always amazed me about you is you do so many different things, and not only the compliment to you, not only do you do so many different things, but you do them well, you know. So thank you, sir. You probably know a lot of people, and I certainly do, do a lot of things and do them all poorly. Yeah. But anything I've seen you do has been really good stuff. And so talk to me all of a sudden, and I guess it's why I had the idea to do this show. Maybe a year ago, I started seeing it. All of a sudden you started doing a podcast, right? How long have you been doing it?

SPEAKER_00 9:52

I've actually it's only been about three months.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Okay, but I guess I've been reading about it. And I said, boy, and what's so interesting, Ryan, is a podcast, but it wasn't about real estate or it wasn't about drones, but it was about history. Talk about what that is and how you got into that.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Yes, uh, well, I have always been a lover of history and just was my subject growing up. And um uh in previous years I did some documentary work for the Marshall College, Marshall University now, and uh designed their their exhibitions and did their videos and things like that. And then um that ran its course after a few years, and uh so I kind of went creatively void for a while. And a person like me, you just cannot bottle up like that. So I had to find an avenue to get that creative energy out, and history was the thing that I'm most passionate about. So, and of course, living in this area, I mean, there's thousands of stories that most people don't even know about. So that's kind of what the the reasoning behind it is just to get those stories out to people, and I'm passionate about it, and um and do it in a way that is not boring uh because people's attention spans are very short these days. So do it in a way that's more compact and uh you know, five to eight minute clips that kind of get the message out there, and if somebody's more interested in that topic, they'll research it themselves. Um, but that's it. And I I try to I can't really sit around, I have to do one per week. I'm chomping at the bits to get going if I wait any longer than that.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

And so talk about uh a couple things. First of all, so in terms of doing one a week, how do you choose the topic?

SPEAKER_00 11:49

I have chosen the topic previously. I try to weave in and out. I don't try to stay on a linear time timeline uh because I feel like that's boring. I think um, and and also being the podcast that I'm that I'm doing now, uh Echoes of the Blue Ridge, it's history, mystery, and uh legend. So it doesn't necessarily have to be 100% fact-based, it can be a legend. There's many legends at the Appalachian Mountains um and and mysteries. So uh, and a lot of those are Cherokee. So I've just figured out which ones I've already released 12 so far, and those have been my favorites. Uh, and there's a bunch more coming, but those right there have been the ones that have been stu that have stuck with me throughout my life that I've learned, and uh that's kind of how I chose those. And I've weaved in and out of the years. I tried to start with the bang with the Spanish when the Spanish were here, because there's still a lot of people that don't realize the Spanish were here in these mountains in the 16th century. So um yeah, yeah. If anybody's interested in in that, they should definitely tune in.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

We'll talk about that in a second about how to tune in. But talk about then, so back to you have 12 done already. Um, how do you research them or how do you do and even how do you find them in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Some are oral tradition. Right. Um, some I've just known about for many, many years, some I've worked, um, I've done a lot of research about previously. Uh some that I've done work at the university with that we've done exhibitions about. Uh so I had that research done already. The new ones, you just have to dive in and do the research. And um I try to keep it, I try to see both sides of the coin. You you always want to keep the facts. You want to make sure you have all the facts you can find about it. And then you can also flip the other side of the coin and talk about the the legends and the the mystery behind it, because that you know that's valuable as well. Uh so that's it. You just you just gotta get all the information you can about it and uh make sure the lines are cleared. You know, you you're clear, you're talking about your facts, and then you want to talk about what's not factual, just so people understand that it's not me just making things up. This is uh a lot of oral tradition and um as much fact-based as I could find.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

So how long does this take you to knock out a podcast?

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Well, the research itself, probably a few hours. Right. And then um to record it, I'm very fast recording. I can knock it out in probably about 10-15 minutes. Then the editing part comes out. Um, and because I already know what I need to do to edit, so I don't really it's I don't mess up a lot because I know how I can correct my editing, and then just get it out there.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Um do you write it out long hand before you read it?

SPEAKER_00 15:00

I I don't write it out in hand, I type it out.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

I type it out and I have it cleared and then I just read it. Yep, I read it.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

This is so this you're doing this kind of as a hobby at this point in time, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:13

Yes, it is a hobby. Um I you never know where it'll lead, but it gets it gets me out there and it connects me with people, and that's uh something that I enjoy doing. I just like you. Um I just love meeting people, talking about stuff, and I'm very passionate about this area because I'm from here. Um, and uh just want people to know about how awesome this area is.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

So and talking about this, I'm coming up with an idea, which I'm sure you probably have had too, but I sort of see this as the perfect way to put come out with another book. And we'll talk about you writing in a second, but eventually put all these stories. Is that the goal? You're gonna put them in a book form? I don't know. I I've actually not thought about that, but that's a great idea. You know, I'm gonna listen to you. I would think people didn't look see the podcast or don't want to see them or whatever, but seems you already you've written it um already. So there's a um a blogger, I'll send you his name, who kind of does that. He writes a blog, which you do in essence, um, and then we don't have the written version of it, but then he after every year he puts it all together in a book, has like 25 books that way, you know. So I I see this as natural for you that no extra work, you already have them typed out. Yeah, the pick you have some pictures in it. I'd love you to do that. I see that as a um perfect thing for you to do. Yeah, yeah. Collection of short stories, if you will. Yeah, that's great. But yeah, I have 52, you know, that that could be a book. I see another idea for you, Ryan. I'm just um listening to this, I'm so impressed with it. I see this also as a um a TED talk, for example. Um I don't I don't know if you've ever done anything like that, but to talk either to school kids or anything else like that, but I I think that'd be a great talk, you know, what what you've learned from your research or something like that. Outstanding. I will think about that too. That sounds great. I want to send you something I I may know if I can read my writing. I'll send you something. There's a group called Pekachuka, I think they call it. I don't know if you ever heard it, but they it's sort of like a uh Astral-based TED Talk where they have people give um six minutes that you'd love to do this because talks are six minutes and 40 seconds. They have to show 20 slides, they talk off the slides, you know. But if you like I'd love you to do that because you have the stories and then to show them visually, and you're so good on that. Remind me if I forget to send you information on that. Please do. That's something but I'd love to have you speak on this. Have you spoken to anybody on on this topic, or school kids or libraries or anything? No, uh, not really anything organized like that. I have not. So I think you that'd be natural for you, or a Mars Hill history class or something like that. Talk about what you've learned from that. But it was such a a gift that you're putting together, I'd like you to share it with other people, you know. So that sounds great. Thank you for that idea. So, how long do you see this going for? So you have a bunch already. You want to do this? Do you have a time framework in mind? I see no end.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

I mean, I'll probably take a break at the end of the year, maybe a week or two. And uh, but during the week, I just try to compile more information. And um, there's I've got a just a database of stories that already, and people have reached out, which is great. And people reach out and ask me if I've heard of specific stories or legends or things like that, and I always will credit them for that uh whenever that episode does air. So yeah, it's just um there's there's a lot of history about these mountains that people do not know, and it is layered like crazy. Um, so that's the beauty of it. It's almost there that it'll never run out. Just legends, um, legends that I've heard, legends that I've read about, um just through various various means through my life. And um, I've always been interested in things. And when I once I start diving in, I just learn and learn and learn, and then I'll hear about other things and learn about that. And and I just I'm always driving around, reading things, hearing about stuff. Um and it's it's just amazing around here. There's so much of that.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Because I could see just one other thing, I don't need to tell you what to do, but just to give you an idea, I could see this being a great talk, like in one of the public libraries. You know, just um see if you get people to come and I think you could, uh, we'll publicize it on Blaine's world, but they have Ryan, what you've learned from your your 12 tales or whatever. Put you on the spot. Uh I don't know the whole story, but give me an example of one type of story you've done a podcast on. You have a favorite one so far?

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Favorite one. Uh well, my favorite one I'm kind of partial to is I wrote a book about it. Uh, it's a short book, but it's a legend um that the Spanish, a lot of people don't know the Spanish conquistadors came here in the 16th century uh twice. Uh Hernando de Soto came here in 1540, and then Juan Pardo came back in 1566, and they both came through these mountains, and it's well documented. Um but the the the story that captured me that absolutely just uh has changed my life was about this group of natives that they wrote about. And this group of natives were um very uh they had a bunch of land north of the Nolachucky River, which is in modern day, well right now it's in Yancey and Mitchell County, uh just north of Asheville a little ways. And this group of Native Americans were natives were called the Chiscas. And they they were very fierce and they uh they were not submissive to the uh Spanish. They they they were not they they fought 'em. They were they were not just saying, hey, come come conquer us. They put up a fight, and most of the natives around here did not. They just welcomed them in just to keep the peace. But the Chiscas, the thing about the Chiscas that's most amazing is that uh um in the year sixteen hundred, two native girls that were taken from here by the Spanish that left, uh the ones that survived, most of them did not, um, were interviewed by the governor of Florida in in uh sixteen hundred, which was Spanish Florida, and uh they both, on separate accounts, said The Chiskas were were had had white skin, blue eyes, and red hair. So that alone just I ran with it. Did as much research as I could, and uh it it really took me down a rabbit hole. And it's pretty much still down a rabbit hole, but but um it's the fact that it's been that it's mostly true is what's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Was that tough to put that into a seven to ten minute podcast?

SPEAKER_00 22:32

It it was, it was. I I did a couple of different ones. I did one that was a hundred percent fact-based with a little bit of legend, and then I did another one specifically about the narrative that I wrote, the book uh about it, where I was able to fill in the gaps with storytelling. Um, and there was a lot of gaps, but um just to give people the idea uh of the possibility that what what if that's true, you know, what if what if there were um Caucasian here in that time?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

And um, and that was something I guess the red hair, the red hair kind of gives you a tip off that there is, you know, sure, sure around.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

And then my mind just started racing with the conspiracy side of it. Like the Spanish were trying to bury the fact that there was another somebody discovered this first or before then. So anyway, that was listen to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Um I'm wondering out loud for another career for you in your spare time to have been a teacher. Or did you ever want to be a teacher?

SPEAKER_00 23:44

I did. I did. There was a time where I was going to go back and get my master's degree in history, right, become a teacher, and that exact time period's when I met my wife, and the the the course changed, my life course changed. Um, it you know, could still happen, but I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Okay, but I'm just listening to you, and you're such a good storyteller, and you tell stories and you love telling stories. I do. Um, it seems like a natural for you to be doing this involved. I'm gonna encourage you off the air to get a little back into that in your spare time. So talk about though your non-spare time. So you're doing the podcast, you're doing the your your other stuff, but you also got into real estate how many years ago? I'm in my fifth year. Okay, who would have thunk? Um what got what got you into real estate? Do you remember?

SPEAKER_00 24:34

I do, I do, yes. Um, I during COVID, right? Um I was laid off like everybody else and had to be stuck at the house. And um I found a way to get out of the house and generate a little bit of money, and it was a um contract photographer. And crazy enough, that was deemed essential. Uh, I guess you got to keep the wheels of real estate person. So um, and that's what I did. I got out and I started doing photography, real estate photography, and it kept me busy. And um, and then I learned over the next few months um how to streamline the process to where I'm not taking a bunch of excessive photos. I get the necessary things, and and that's it. Um, and I met a realtor along the way that ended up hiring me directly and not through this um this company that I was doing contract work for. So um after working with her for a couple of years, doing all of her photography and things like that, I saw how many houses we're selling. And I was like, I'm selling all these houses for her with these photos. So I'm gonna get my license and sell it. So that's what I did. I uh I just studied harder than I've ever studied for anything in my life and got my got through it because it's a process, let me tell you. And uh the classes and then the tests, they they don't make it easy. But um I was able to get through it first time and get get everything done and get my license, and and the learning curve of just being a real estate professional is quite a bit. There's a lot of things involved, and it takes a good couple years just to get your head wrapped around it. Um so uh but I loved it. I loved it, and it was just I love talking to people, I love going places, I love the history. Um people probably want me to shut up when I'm talking to them, when I, you know, just because uh I talk about the history of a specific location that I may be selling a house.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

But it's funny because I would imagine something I I would find it kind of interesting, you know, that that any other realtor doesn't have that capability. But one of the things I see you bring to the table is not only this history background, but also the photography, the video background as well. And talk about that as part of the process. How helpful is that in terms of um being able to photograph your home and being able to put videos on it? I guess people can try to do it themselves, but it's not going to be particularly, I guess a lot of people try to do it themselves, but it's not gonna be a particularly good job.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

A lot of people don't realize that it takes years of just learning and and and experience to know the format needed, um, to know how to get these videos in a format to where you can upload them, uh, to title them, to add music to them. Just it, it's it was years of doing that work. And by the time I knew how to do it all, that's when I said, okay, well, now I can just get my real estate license and I can do everything myself. Um when other realtors may try to get their phone in there and take photos, which does, it's it's okay. There, you know, phones take great photos, but it's it's not the same. Uh, you need you need some professional photos if you want to sell a house. And um you just need to stand out. And and me being able to do everything by myself, it gives me the confidence that I know that I don't have to rely on anybody else. I can I can, you know, talk to a client, tell them what I can do for them, and say, okay, well, when can I get in the house and take photos? Because I'm gonna, you know, I can do it and I'll have them ready to go in a couple of days.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Um, like you said, and it is a a real plus because again, when I've sold homes or you had to get somebody else, or they had to get somebody else to photographer, and it would take extra time, whereas you it's almost like one-stop shopping, you know. Exactly. How important is drone photography in the process?

SPEAKER_00 28:58

It is is it is I I think it's very important. Um, a lot of realtors don't use drones just because of the extra expense uh that it costs to hire a drone photographer. Uh, they try to get it all done with with your ground photos, and and I understand that as well. Um, but you want to set yourself apart. You want to show, you want to have the wow factor uh when you list a house. And even if it's uh you know a house that's$150,000, which you cannot find anymore, by the way. Right. Um it still adds value to that. Now, if it's a million-dollar house or more, it's you've gotta have the drone photos done. You've got to. Um, it's expected. Uh it it just adds a ton of value and it shows it shows the potential buyers that it can without saying anything, it shows them that this is a special place. You know, and and then when you kind of put the the mountains in the background because all these homes are in the mountains, uh it just the wow factor. And those people that are not here physically, that are looking to come here, it could sell the house. You know, those drone photos could sell that house.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Is that part of the process working with Ryan Phillips? That you get that as part of the service, or is there an extra charge for that, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 30:26

That is part of it. Uh yeah, if you let me sell your house, I will do all of that for you. Um, I'll do your floor plan, your drone photos, your drone video, your photos. I'll load it up to MLS. I do everything. I'm all in one. That's what I that's what I call myself all in one realtor.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Which is kind of nice because as you're even describing it, you don't realize there are so many moving parts to the puzzle. You know, so many. So many another advantage to working with you, Ryan, I imagine too, is at least when it comes to Western North Carolina, you really know this area pretty well. I mean, born and grew up there, raised there, still lived there. Where do you live now?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

I still live in Mars Hill. Okay. Yeah, Mars Hill is a great place to be. Uh, as you know, because I think you had some connections with Mars Hill as well in the past. It's so close. It's so close to Asheville. Um, but it's still in the country. And it's quiet, and there's nature, and that's that's all I require.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

So, in terms of um the things you've done too, you mentioned one of the books on on on the uh air just now. So you've written also in spare time, you've written two books now?

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Yes, yes, I have. Uh-huh. Um, I I just released last week um a book, a Civil War tale, called The Blue Ridge Between Us. And it's a pretty much a fact-based book about my family during the Civil War here in Madison County. Um, and so if anybody loves Civil War, they need to look up The Blue Ridge Between Us. And it's on uh Kindle or Prime. And uh it's I used as like we talked about before, I used as much fact as I could could use. Um and and then of course I had to fill in the gaps because that was 160 years ago. Uh so there was not a lot of there there was quite a bit of oral tradition passed down in the family, but the it didn't tie things together. So I had to tie things together through storytelling and uh events that really happened here, uh here, Asheville, um, Unicoy County over into Tennessee. So if somebody wants to know about the Civil War here in Madison, uh Bunkham um and the surrounding area, this book will kind of give you an idea of what it was like here. It was not a good time.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

So is this book a novel or what we did? It is a novel. It is a novel. Wow. So this is now historical fiction. Really? So what that's kind of cool. How long did that take you to?

SPEAKER_00 33:09

It took me a long time, a long time. I had to get the outline done and I had to narrow that down. I had to narrow it down, and I had to create characters from very minimal information that I did have. Um in my great-great-great-grandfather didn't know anything about my great-great-great-grandfather. I did know that I knew where he died and I knew how he died, but I never heard anything about him. So I had to do a lot of research and I had to kind of tie things together. And um it was quite amazing how that came together because things did tie together, and it was almost like the universe was kind of helping me out along the way just to get these stories out, and uh I I feel like uh a weight lifted, like a like I told some stories that my family's been trying to tell for generations, and it's finally out there, and so I've done my part.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

But two down, what do you see is your next book? Do you have a next book in mind?

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Yes, I do. I do. Um it is the prequel to The Legend of the Chiscas. Um in this story, uh, I believe we talked about the Chiscas a little bit already. Um once I started getting into that information, I started getting into a lot of other legends that may they're let they're legends. They're they're they're known. Um, there's not much fact because most of them happened happened a thousand years ago. Um, but there was a a story about a Welsh prince that that sailed from Wales. He left he left Wales because of the Civil War over there in I believe it was 1300-ish. And um and landed in Mobile Bay, Alabama. And his name is Prince Madoc. And this is well known to historians. Um there's not any there's not any evidence to prove it, but there's still a lot of legend. And the Welsh were supposedly here. And um and I kind of linked, since this is a historical fiction book, I've kind of linked this together with that. So the name of the book is going to be called um uh let's see, let me try to get it right because I had a working title, Oath of the Sea Prince. And it's a story about the Welsh that landed in Mobile Bay and ended up in North Georgia, where there are ruins of a um uh supposed white race that the Cherokee talked about called the Moon Eyed people. I don't know if you're aware of that story. Uh the Moon Eyed people were the Cherokee talked about them, and a lot of people in the past have thought that they were probably these Welsh explorers. So I I linked a lot of these his these stories together through this historical fiction.

SPEAKER_01 36:16

So when you run, are you the kind of guy with all the other stuff you're doing, do you get up like every morning at five o'clock and work for four hours?

SPEAKER_00 36:24

Or how do you write? I don't get up that early, but I do get up and I do some work uh every day. Um and I stay up a little bit late every day and try to do work. Sometimes I'm more motivated than others. Um sometimes if my schedule permits, I work on it more than than other times. Um, but I don't really watch a lot of TV, so I find times to do it. And it's just it comes out. You know, they always say writers, when the story comes out, it comes out, and and it comes out, and it's just it's it's a passion.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

Good for you, Ryan. Two questions, two final questions. So, one, if somebody wants to reach you or keep track of you to find out, we'll talk about non non-real estate stuff, find out all the stuff you're doing, both your books, your drama photography, anything else you're doing, what's the best way to track you down?

SPEAKER_00 37:20

They can contact me on Facebook. Okay. Uh, that's probably the best way because I I have um I've got my personal Facebook page, Ryan Phillips, and then Ryan Phillips Properties. And uh if they want to contact me for real estate, Ryan PhillipsProperties.com. Um, if they want to hit me up about an idea for an episode of Echoes of the Blue Ridge, they can hit me up on Echoes of the Blue Ridge Facebook page. Um and um yeah, that's it. Or you or you can uh email me, Ryan Phillips Properties at gmail.com and I get back to you really fast. And you're also on Instagram? I am on Instagram, yes. I'm uh my my Ryan Phillips Properties is on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

And I give you credit on that too, because so many people, Ryan, it drives me crazy. Don't list a name on Instagram. You know, they give some other name that Instagram doesn't put your names down, you know, most of the time. I think that's so stupid, you know. If I want to find Ryan Phillips. So if you look up Ryan Phillips or Phillips, I guess also um on the web, you'll find Ryan. If you want to find Ryan Phillips, you'll find him. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Yes, yes, yes. You can find me pretty easily if you just do Ryan Phillips Realtor or Ryan Phillips Properties. I come up, there's um, and um uh the Echoes of the Blue Ridge, if they remember that name, that's pretty, you know, easily searchable on Spotify, Apple uh podcasts, and YouTube, all the things, all the places.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Okay, well Ryan, I'd like to thank you for being my guest at this edition of the Blaine's World um podcast. And uh just always have amazed me, but now even more so, you know, now all these 27 other things you're you're involved in. And uh so thank you for being my guest. I'd also like my thank my producer, Cappy Tissetti. Hopefully we'll bump into each other one of these days been too blah, my man. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

Yes, sir. Thank you, Blaine.