Leadership Through Adversity with Chase Carson

Conversation with Chase Lamar Carson on his battles with cancer, Leadership and how never giving up on community strength has forged a path to a brighter future. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, this is Jordan Allen, Atlanta, Kentucky native, and singer songwriter. And you're listening to the Locally Branded Podcast, sponsored by Kimber Home Furnishings, where we explore the wins, the losses, and everything in between of local people just like you.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Like I always do, I'll let our guest introduce himself. But again, we've been like we were saying, it's it's it's been a long time coming. We've talked about this for quite, you know, for for several weeks, for for a long time, actually. So I'm glad to I'm glad to have you here, but I'll let you introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah, well, I'm uh super excited to be here finally, like you alluded to. Uh hello, my name is Chase Lamar Carson, uh, born and raised right here in London, Kentucky, my whole life. Uh I wear many hats in the community, but uh specifically you may know me as one of the six London City Tourism Commissioners on the London Tourism and Parks Commission. And I'm also one of the City of London candidates this election cycle.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Yeah, that's exciting too, man. It's you it's you you wear a lot of hats. You know, you you wear a you wear a lot of hats, and we'll we'll talk about that too, because I want to kind of get into everything we talk about, of course, is leadership. We try to do leadership, people's journeys. We want to talk about um things that some people may not know, you know. Um it's funny because how you and I met and it it took me a little bit of courage to kind of come up to you, have I seen you at the gym? Yeah, I've seen you at the gym. And I knew you were part of tourism, you know, the the Board on Tourism and had already done some work for tourism and had previously done work prior to doing the magazine had done done work for tourism. Um But uh I wanted to meet somebody from the inside and and and kind of network that right. And to me it was it was again, I was nerve-wrecked a little bit, but I was like, I had I had to take my chance and be like, hey, introduce myself at the gym. But since then you and I we we talk all the time. I was about to say we hit it off, I mean, right right then and there.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

I mean, I I like to think I'm super approachable, and it's funny you mentioned that because I I mean I I can recall it like it was yesterday. I I was getting ready to leave the gym and you I caught you in the corner of my eye, and I remember you reaching out and you're like, Are are you Chase Carson tourism? And I was like, Yes, sir, I am.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

And then from that point on, it it the rest is history. Yeah. And you know, I got to got to know a lot. You know, of course, we had you on the front cover of the London Neighbors magazine, got to tell your story there. And I learned a lot from it. I learned a bunch from it that had no idea the the battle that you took with with with cancer. If I'm if you don't mind talking about that for a second. Because I I I mean I know that we had readers that had read it, we have the story, it's also on our website as well, for people to go back and read as well. But I like for our listeners to to to know that there is everyone goes through struggles, right? Everything goes through, but it's it's your willingness to move forward and your support that uh gets you through things, right? It's it's it's a big part of it. So what type of cancer was it? Like it explained to me exactly if you don't mind.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

No, I I don't care one bit. Um I I anybody who's curious about my story, I I'm fully comfortable in talking about it because uh I tell everybody who asks me about it's what made me who I am today. Um and I'll just start from the beginning and tell the whole story that I'll tell everybody that I may have left out in the magazine. Uh but the type of cancer I had was Burkett's lymphoma. Uh this was back in 2011. I just graduated from fifth grade, London Elementary, right down the street here, um, and was super excited to start middle school at South Law Middle. Um, I remember that summer, um for about a week, I I started noticing I was really nauseous, wasn't really feeling myself, just felt sick all the time. Um I told my mom about it. She, my mom's a very strong woman. She she's the type of mom that if Monday morning came around and I said I had a stomach ache, she was sending me to school anyways, regardless. And so my mom was just kind of brushing it off, thinking it was just a stomach bug or whatever. And we noticed that I wasn't getting any better as the days went along. So she ended up taking me to the doctor here locally. Um, they felt on me, ran some tests, um, and just said I had the stomach bug and sent me on my way. Well, I think that was probably on like a Thursday. And by that Friday, um, I was going to spend the weekend with my father because around this time my father was still with us, and my parents got divorced at an early age, and so they had split custody of me. And so I remember my mom telling me, if you feel sick while you're at your dad's, just give me a call. I'll bring you applesauce or whatever you need to help you feel better. And literally that Saturday morning, I woke up, was just feeling like death. And I immediately called my mom up, asking her if she would bring me some applesauce because I I thought that would help me feel better. And when she pulled up to my dad's house, I walked outside to meet her, and I didn't have my shirt on. And my mom said that's when she knew something was wrong, is when she saw me, because when I walked outside, she said my whole skin color is just yellowish, I was jaundice. She said my stomach looked completely swollen. She didn't understand because I've always been kind of slim my whole life, and so when I walked out, just stomach bulging out, she was like, How in the world did you gain 30 pounds? This is the last time I seen you, right? Yeah. So um after she saw me, we immediately went to St. Joseph Hospital here in London. And um the only thing I can remember when getting to the St. Joseph was they had me pee in a cup as soon as I get got there to kind of run some tests, see what was going on. And I rec can recall as soon as I got done peeing in that cup and looked at it, it was completely black. It looked like Coca-Cola. Wow. And so I brought it back to the room and I was anxious to see what the doctors were gonna say because immediately I knew something was up, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

And as soon as I walk back in the room, show everybody, uh, the doctor's face just drops, and they're like, okay, something serious is definitely going on. And keep in mind, you know, I'm only an 11-year-old kid around this time, and uh they didn't really feel comfortable working on a kid yet because there's a difference between kids and adults, obviously, in the medical field. And so they wanted to send us up to a UK hospital. Um, so that's what we did. I rode in an ambulance all the way up to Lexington, don't remember the trip at all. Uh, by the time I got to Lexington, I was so sick that I I can hardly remember anything. I can just remember getting there, laying in the bed, and them running cat uh scans on me and things like that. And um that that's really the only thing I remember when I got to Lexington was them running the scans and then them uh admitting me uh to a room in the hospital there, but I didn't know what was going on, didn't know what kind of illness or sickness I had. I just assumed I was sick and I needed to be in the hospital, and that's all it was. Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Eleven-year-old doesn't know anything about cancer really or anything like that. So um as time went on, I I stayed in the hospital for six months in Lexington, uh, did chemotherapy, had numerous surgeries, you know, you name it. Um, and I didn't actually realize that I was battling cancer, cancer until a few months in when um the doctor started asking me questions about how I was feeling, what kind of symptoms I was having. And listening to their conversations with my mom is when I realized, hey, like I have cancer, I'm actually really sick. And so went went all through that for uh six months, got admitted in August, um, stayed until December before they finally let me go back home. Um, but but that wasn't uh the end, the end of it uh, unfortunately. Um but backtracking a little bit, um, while I was in the hospital UK, uh, I was in bed for probably three months straight, just laying in bed, just rotting away. And so they ended up uh asking my mom if they would like get me up out of bed, push me down the halls in a wheelchair, whatever, just to get me up and moving, because my lungs were starting to uh you know not completely fail, but they were afraid that my lungs would collapse just laying in bed all the time. And so I can remember um one day my mom was pushing me down the halls, and we actually ran into the doctor that saw me the night I I came up, and um he he was super you know nice to us. He was happy to see that um I still wasn't doing well, but I was doing a whole lot better than when he saw me when I first got there. And he told my mom that it was um a blessing that I came in when I did, uh, because the type of cancer I had Burkett's lymphoma, it grows very fast and aggressive. And my tumors, I had them from my neck down to my waist, and all of my tumors were surrounding all of my internal organs. Wow. So, like anytime I would eat or drink before I went to the doctor, I would just immediately throw it back up. And that's because the tumors were completely squeezing my stomach shut to where it just couldn't fit anything. Yeah. Uh the same can be said about my heart, and I have to take annual visits to Lexington still to meet with the doctors up there uh because I had tumors around my heart that they want to keep it eye on to make sure it doesn't cause any issues. And then I also have a dormant turn tumor in my throat still. Um, and I have a scar. Uh some people it I get so cracked up they will look at it and they'd be like, Do you have a hickey on your neck? And I'm just like, No, I'll probably explain. Let me explain. It's actually a little bit worse. It's a tumor I have in there. Um, so I get real cracked up about that. But the doctor told us that um at the rate my cancer was growing, if I didn't come in right then and there when we did, the cancer probably would have killed me the next day. Just because the tumors were growing so rapidly and it was surrounding all of my internal organs that it could have just got to the point where they just crushed crushed all my organs. What a great group of UK is, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Like that is I have I I've been there several times. You know, I've got the blood clot disorder that I've had that um that's I I was there twice um with it. Not only that, but uh I earned a really good nickname when I worked for Tensor Williams there for years ago, Spider, because I was bitten by a brown recluse on my forehead. Yeah, I was in I was at UK for about two about two weeks and I was blind for a good week of that. Um the students coming in uh to take pictures of how things were because they were learning. They were there you know, doing their I guess internship or whatever the case. But the crew at UK was was fantastic. I could remember the chef even coming up on my last days. Like, man, you've been here for a while, you've been through quite a bit. He goes, name any email you want, I'll cook it for you. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

So UK is to me is down on the like I said, I still have to go up each year to uh get daily check checkups just to make sure everything's okay. And you know, I said this was back in 2011 and we're in 2026 now, 15 years later, and the same doctors that treated me while I was in the hospital dead, I usually see them when I go uh go up, and it it's always nice to see them because um you know as an 11-year-old kid I try to um what's the best way to describe it? Entertain myself, but entertain is really not the best word either. But distract, distract myself from what was going on. Yeah. So like as an example, I I mentioned the surgeries I would have to have. I mean, I was having maybe two or three surgeries a week, and that was either they were going in, taking a sample of my tumor to see how it was reacting to the chemo I was taking, uh, giving me spinals, which is where they actually inject chemo into your spinal cord. Um, I mean, all kinds of surgeries. And so, you know, I got put asleep put to sleep a lot uh during that. And, you know, 11-year-old kid, um, it's first time taking anesthesia, and so all of it was new to me. I thought it was cool, right? Yeah, yeah. And so I I can always remember uh like laying on the bed right before getting ready to fall asleep. And my thing with the doctors was I would always like say something funny uh right before I was getting ready to uh pass away. Pass out pass out, yeah. I almost said pass away. Uh but no, just get knocked out. And you know, I've I I'm a big geek, so like Star Wars, things like that's my favorite. So right before I would get ready to go to sleep, I would tell him made a force be with you, or uh Captain America, ask if it was too late to go to the bathroom or something funny like that to try to make light at the moment because you know, again, 11-year-old kid, first time being in a surgery room, first time taking anesthesia. You know, I just mentioned I didn't even realize I had cancer until some months after I was already staying at the hospital. So I was just trying to find ways to keep me in good spirits, keep my mom in good spirits. And that's just always the personality really that I've had is just always uplifting, charismatic, energetic. Um, and I'm glad I've carried that with me after um that journey because cancer, I mean, what I went through with that, I mean, it could have easily, you know, made me just view the world as doom and gloom. You know, I could never do anything that I had dreams to aspire to do. I I didn't let that drag me down, you know. Right after that, um, you know, I basically missed my whole sixth grade year of school. Um, I don't think I went back until like late April or May, like right when school was getting ready to let out. Um, and so that very next year, seventh grade, I was uh I'd been in remission with cancer uh at that point because the type that I had, if it didn't come back within a year, then it most likely won't come back. Um so I can remember right as soon as I took my last chemotherapy and rang the bell, I was cancer free, got sent home a week later, uh started turning yaundice again. My skin started changing. So immediately both me and my mom are like, my cancers came back this quick. Let's go to the doctor. Go back up the UK, they run tests, whatever. Thankfully, find out my cancer has not come back, but what they did realize is the amount of chemotherapy that I received, it completely destroyed my bile duct leading out of my liver. And for the viewers that don't know what your bile duct is, it's a little tube that connects from your liver out into the rest of your intestines. It kind of is what helps you use the bathroom. Mine was completely blocked, so I couldn't use the bathroom. It was all just getting piled up in there, right? And that's what was turning my skin a different color. Um, and so once they find that out, um, UK, they were a little hesitant to treat me because they're really known for their cancer treatment, especially in young kids, but liver is a whole other beast. And so uh at first they weren't really sure the route to take with me. So uh in the meantime, they gave me a little drainage bag um that was literally just a tube hanging outside of my side uh with a with a bag at the end of it, and all of my bile was draining into that bag. Um obviously not something pleasant to have when you're 12 or 13 years old. And, you know, like I said, around this time I'm starting seventh grade. And so, you know, I'm starting seventh grade middle school for the first time because barely got the experience sixth grade, starting at a new school, meeting new kids. Uh, because you know, I mentioned I went to London Elementary, and uh, with those kids there, some of them get split, some of them go to north and others go to south. Uh, lucky for me, all of my friends got sent to north, and I was the only one that got sent to south. So, you know, I was having to make all new friends too as soon as I got back. And, you know, that was uh a very challenging time for me because you know, I just for a year been in a hospital bed with the only interaction I had was my mom or the doctors that came or friends and family that would come and visit. Um, but other than that, I was completely isolated mostly for a whole year. Um, so trying to make new friends while battling liver issues was really challenging. I I can remember, you know, walking through the halls and just being real cautious because, like I said, it was just a tube hanging out of my side. So if somebody bumped into me, that tube literally could have been pulled out of me.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

That that would have been a whole mess. So no sports, I'm taking any chance to play sports while doing that, of course.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

But uh Well, I I I will say, you know, I I I mentioned I I didn't let all of that drag me down, right? I I grew up a huge basketball fan. My family, the Carsons. Um, one of my cousins, Marcus Carson, that name may be familiar to some. He went off to play uh baseball at UK uh for four years, but before that, he was a standout multi-athlete star at North North Laurel. Um, so sports has always been in my family. I I've always grown up very competitive. Um, so I did have that bag hanging out of my side for uh only a couple of a few weeks, maybe a month tops, uh, before my mom, you know, I mentioned she's a very strong woman. She doesn't want to see her her boy go through any kind of um pain or illness that he doesn't need to, right? So obviously the bag situation was not working out. It wasn't things weren't getting better. It was kind of just a band-aid to, you know, hope hope things get better. And so my mom uh did some research, found out that Cincinnati is wonderful when it comes to um one, liver issues, liver illnesses, but um especially kids' hospital. They have a very great uh children's hospital up there as well. Uh so I got sent up to Cincinnati, went back and forth from there for about a year or two. Um, and what was going on up there was they were putting stents in my bile duct to keep it open by itself. Um, but that was a drawn-out process. I had to go every so months to get a new stent put in just to keep it open and uh to develop scar tissue so that it would stay open without a stent.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Um and so I did that for about a year, and uh thankfully, you know, the the Lord uh blessed me that he got that bag out of my side right around the time that basketball tryout started. Um to be honest, I I didn't really know if I would make the team or not. Um I I played uh for London uh the fifth grade when they started fifth grade ball back. Uh because I think before a couple of years earlier they had discontinued that, and then like the year like when I was in fourth grade, they started it back up again. And so I did play for London fifth grade. I was good plan to try out for South Sixth grade. Obviously, um, you know, God and the world had different plans. Um, so seventh grade, you know, I I knew I was going to try out, but didn't know if I was gonna make it or not. I just wanted to see how I would do, right? Like I said, I've grown up competitive. I love basketball more than anything. Uh so I just wanted to go try it and see. And that's one of my most um cherished memories that I have during that time because you know, I just went through a whole year of cancer, battling liver issues, you know, everything had it worked out, touched the basketball in a year, you know, it the odds were stacked against me. And I can remember the very first day of tryouts. Um tryouts was basically just open gym. If you wanted to try out, just come play with the other kids your age, and then you know, at the end of the week we'll see, you know, who who's the top dog left. And this was 2012, 2013. So this was just a year after Anthony Davis was at UK and we won the national championship, yo UK. Uh and so I can remember, you know, obviously that was my favorite player uh along with the rest of the state of Kentucky around that time. Um and I can remember when we were playing our our pickup games, um, I was just blocking shots left and right, man. Left and right. Anytime somebody drove the ball down the lane, I was swatting it over on the sidelines. Um, because around this time, um, I was still pretty much taller than the rest of the kids. Elementary school, I was always like a foot taller. Than all the other kids. But by the time I got to middle school, my chemo had stunned my growth. So the height that I am right now, it's the height that I've always been in since I was 11 years old going through cancer. So, you know, I was a pretty big uh 12-year-old around that time. Um, and I can remember all the kids after the first day, every single one of them came into the locker room and they were like, Where have you been? You're like Anthony Davis after swatting all these shots every time we try throwing something up. And, you know, I stayed humble because it's first time playing pickup in a year, first time, you know, trying out. You know, elementary school, you know, not a whole lot of kids tried out for the ball team. So if you did try out, you pretty much made the team. So middle school, I was a little nervous because I mean you're getting kids from all of the elementary schools that played ball. You know, we've got a lot of great athletes here in London and Laura County. So I just wasn't sure.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

There's a bunch of athletes that come out of Laurel County. People don't they don't realize how how many just uh even the Tri-County area they come out of it. But you know, and uh in in all of this, there's there's there's a huge light with all this, and it's to me that you your perseverance, right? Your drive to not give up. Your again, you could have went into that uh what we call Valley of Despair. Yes right and you could have been like, okay, woe is me type thing. But coming right out of chemotherapy, out of out of out of treatment, going into the seventh grade, going straight for trying for the ball team, that's kind of from what I've seen, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but that's kind of how you've led your whole life.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Like if there's an obstacle in your way, you don't you're not one of those people that try to find a way around it. You don't care to go not really so much through it, but you find a way to work with it and adapt and then persevere.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

Absolutely. And that's what I've picked up. I mean, and then you said it. I mean, that's that's pretty much the story of my life, and I I mean, and thank you for saying that. I really appreciate that. And that's that's what I tell everybody that asks me about my story, and they're like, well, you know, how do you feel now about it? Like, do you have any regrets or anything like that? And I'm like, you know, I don't really know how I could regret going through something like that, you know. But I like you said, I don't let it drag me down. If anything, it it helped me s view the world differently. It helped me coming out of that journey, it really gave me an appreciation for life. Show me that, you know, life is too short, a lot of unknowns happen every single day to not live your life to the fullest, right? And you said it like if there's a challenge or if there's something that I want to do, by all God, I'm gonna go out and do it because if there's nothing stopping me, then why not? Right. Because I I think a lot of uh people they they have these dreams and they have these ideas that are great dreams and ideas, but they just don't know how to take the first step or they're too scared. You know, they all these variables, what if I do this and it doesn't work out, or I don't know where to start, or whatever. And I just tell people, dive into it head first. Because uh until you do that, I mean, you know, if I would rather start something, whether it, you know, be successful or fail, than rather not do it at all. Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Have that doubt of if, you know, what would have happened if I did this, instead of having what ifs. And that's that's it's a weird saying that I've I've I've said quite a bit. I'm not saying on this podcast, but I say it to my team and stuff all the time, that the best experience is experience. Oh, yes. You know what I mean? Like that you know, when when someone can apply that the to take something on head first, go after it. You know, we say a saying, I say I've said it on this podcast several times, to do it ugly. You have to, regardless if you think you know what you're doing, or if you even if you don't know what you're doing, if you have an idea, if you have a plan, if you have a goal, just go for it.

SPEAKER_03 26:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Just go for it. So if you mess it up, then you're gonna learn from that you're messed up and then how to fix that later, right? That's what I was about to say.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

I mean, failure, I failure doesn't really scare me because I I don't really like yes, I do believe that you can fail at some things, but I don't I think some people view failure as you failed at one thing, so you can never do it again, right? Oh yeah. But for me, failure, like I I just view it as an opportunity to learn and grow, right? Exact same way I view the past. The past is there not for us to you know dwell on and regret, it's there to show us what we did right or what we did wrong and learn from it and grow so we can be better people moving forward into the future, because that's that's the only way we get better is learning from our previous mistakes or successes and building on top of that. To I mean, I I say all the time, sky's the limit, right? I mean, whatever you want to do, if you put your head down, like you said, if you just put your head down and get to it, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. And I I I believe that's the way most things should be. And that's how I viewed, you know, going back to the basketball trials, that's how I viewed that. If I didn't make the team, you know, so what, you know, at least I gave it my all always next year to go back and try out. Um, long story short, with that, by the way, I did make the seventh grade team. Yeah, uh, and I made the ball team from that point on all the way until I graduated high school. Um, and it's just having that mindset. You know, that's what I I don't, you know, contribute making the ball team because of my basketball skills or my height, genetics, anything like that. I I contribute to my work at it. You know, I I loved basketball. I wanted to be on the ball team more than anything. So every single tryout, every single practice, I was given 110% because I knew that I had a whole lot farther to catch up to the other kids who didn't just go through a year with uh, you know, life or death illness and stayed in a hospital bed for six months straight without you know moving a muscle or touching the ball. You know, all those other kids had an advantage on me. So I knew I couldn't have that, oh, feel sorry for me type of mentality. If I wanted to be on the ball team, I was gonna have to work for it and I I did.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

And I'll tell you that that mindset's contagious to yourself. Like and it's and I say that from both both aspects of it, right? So if you if you have that woe is me mentality and you keep saying woe is me mentality, you're gonna live the life of woe is me mentality. Absolutely. If you take something on full full charge, if you do it ugly, who cares if you do it wrong? Like and and it it can be unnerving, it can be uncomfortable. And I tell my people all the time, have the uncomfortable conversations, have the uncomfortable movements to go forward to try something. If you fail at it, then you're gonna know how not to do it again the second time you go back to try to do it. And that's how you not so much create perfection, but you get better at what you're doing until you refine what what it is that you're doing. Let's talk about that though real quick because I want to talk about I want to talk about not only you know the the cancer and and what you've overcome with it, but things that you're doing, but things that you're doing now. Like I know that we're gonna kind of skip forward several years, of course, here with this, but it's you're London Tourism Commission. Yes, let's name off a few of the things that that that you that you're currently doing or have done. It's a lot, I know. Yeah, I've learned this just from knowing what time I've known you. Like you've again, you wear a lot of hats, man.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

I wear a lot of hats, but you know, like I said, like if I if I see something and or I have an idea, I want to go do it. Because if not me, who? Right? So I uh we mentioned the London Tourism. I mentioned uh I'm running uh for city council here in London this election cycle. Um last year, I believe October, uh we launched a new delivery service business, Hometown Go. Uh, for those that don't know what Hometown Go is, it's a local delivery service here in London, Kentucky that was formed to help the local businesses here, right? We the best way to view it is like DoorDash, but instead of punishing local businesses for using our service, we help them. We want to help get their product or service, whatever it is, out to the community so the whole community can enjoy the local, wonderful businesses that we hit have here in London and Laura County. So we launched that in October of 2025 and talk about trial and error, what we just got off. That has been Hometown Go. It's uh the first endeavor that I've uh dipped my hands in. Um it's you know, I I've started nonprofit organizations in the past, and I'll get into that in a little bit later. But this is the first for-profit entity that I've ever created, ever operated. So this is or this has been a learning curve for me, right? Because I'm used to uh the nonprofit side of the world where it's you know, where can we find funding for projects? How can we help the uh community? You know, who are the most vulnerable people that need help right now to the other flip side of that for-profit, you know, how can we help this business make money, but also offer a value to the community that we want to serve, right? So uh trying to navigate hometown go and all the uh kinks with a for-profit business has been challenging. But, you know, like I said, you know, we have came across some challenges and failures with Hometown Go, but obviously Hometown Go is still up and running, we're still around. Um, and we're learning as we go. We're not just gonna shut down the business and say, well, we did it for a few months, enjoyed it, we learned our lesson, now, you know, just scrap it away. We want Hometown Go to grow it to be something that benefits the whole community, benefits all of the local businesses here, even your business, uh London neighbors here that we do partner with already.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

You guys help my business out a lot every month.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

See, so I mean it's it's about building those partnerships with the local businesses here because we all want the same thing, which is the best for London and to serve and help the people here that call London home, right? So that that's you know, long story short, with Hometown Go, that's our main mission. Yes, we're a food delivery service, but we we we the vision we have for that business is much larger than what it currently is right now. Um we just ask for patience, uh, because right now it's myself, uh, my wife, uh Jared Baker. For those who don't know Jared Baker, if you're familiar with the business from a few years ago, CJ on the way, Jared Baker was the one who uh created and operated that business. And when he had to go off to school at University of Tennessee, uh we brought him on to our Hometown Go team to basically just rebrand what he was doing and offer more services, uh, a better platform. Um, and he's been instrumental in uh the work and helping us get Hometown Go where it is today. So very thankful for Jared. And uh we've got Maxwell Sosmer on the team too. He's he's been wonderful, a wonderful addition to the team. Um and so many other people that uh aren't on the Hometown Go team, but help us with whatever we need, whether it be you know website services, getting us connected to other folks around the community, whatever it is, you know, when they say it takes a village, it does, it absolutely does.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

It does. It's it's especially with business, and that's something that with Hometown Go that I feel specifically is community driven, it's community-based. Um through all of this, there's there's a to me, there's a there's a crystal clear picture. It's and maybe I'm wrong. I I'm okay with being wrong, it's fine. But there is a a community-driven aspect to almost everything that you're doing. Absolutely. Everything. Absolutely. You know, it's um you didn't have to take the opportunity to meet me at the at the gym or talk to me. Um but being a part of the tourism makes you part of the community. You're super invested with that because of all the things that tourism is doing and what a great job they're doing, right? Like it's it's it's in it's incredible. Hometown goes the same way, you know. I was asking with uh we were mentioning that the delivery service, you know, how you help me out, you know. I can't get to everybody every month. I would love to. I I try my best to. When I can't, you guys are always right there to pick up that pace for me and to make sure that people get their publications each month, our businesses that help support this. And I love the fact that you are the face of it. It's because we have the same goal in mind of how can we help and strengthen the community, which has kind of now let us into, and we'll talk briefly about this too. You're not running for counsel for for next year, right? I mean, it's uh gee, what else can you do?

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Let me tell you my no, I'm just kidding. My wife gives me a hard time, and she she tells me all the time I need about five of me to do what I do, because I mean it it is, it's just always there's always something going on. I I I wish that there was a time where I could just sit at home and not have anything to do, but yeah, that's just not how you know I'm built. Like if I'm sitting at home doing nothing, that kills me. Because that to me, I I'm thinking internally, you know, what can I be doing right now to help improve myself, to you know, educate myself, whether it be read books or um anything to help increase uh my knowledge on things or um projects, initiatives around the community. If I see that there's a need for something here, um and nobody else around either has identified it yet or really wants to take the move to help address that need, then you can guarantee I will be the person to uh put my hat in because I just like I said, that's how I'm wired. And with my philosophy, like I said, uh coming out of cancer, like if I don't do it, if somebody else doesn't do it, who will? And I always say, be the change you want to see, right? Whether it be in your community, whether it be in your country, whatever it is, you just gotta start somewhere, right? Because not starting at all, you're not gonna get anything done.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

You don't know how contagious that is, too. Like it when you do something like that and somebody else sees it, regardless if you're doing it for somebody else to see it or not, when somebody else is taking notice, right? Somebody else is and and there's times that you may think that nobody's watching or nobody's seeing the efforts that I'm putting forward, somebody's watching. Somebody's paying attention, and then that person is gonna go try to do the same thing. Absolutely. And then but if enough of that is done, then that's where change comes in. That's where progress happens, that's where growth happens. So I don't know, I commend you, man. Like it's it's it it's the more that I've learned too, it was you know something off off the side of the side of that. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, and I had to I wanted to address this because I wanted to make sure I was maybe I'm thinking wrong. Did you you had let our my writer Emily, who is she is fantastic, fantastic writer. You had let her known prior to you proposing to your wife that it was gonna happen. Yes. Am I correct? Because I remember she called me, she goes, I've got some inside information. I'm like, I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I don't and she goes, Oh, you're going to hear this. I'm like, okay, what is it? She goes, Chase is going to propose to his to his fiance. I'm like, no way. Or to his girlfriend, I'm like, no way. And then I think it was not long after that you actually you had. So I like the fact that we knew that prior. And I and I I didn't want to say nothing. And I didn't. I didn't say a word, and anybody didn't say a word. It was hard to keep secrets though. It really was. Because it to me that's big news, man. Congratulations to you for sure. It's definitely it's definitely something that's you know, you have a good support system with that, you know. Um not only that, but you know, you talked about your mom quite a bit. And I've sat and talked with her. I've sat but she's been she is a huge advocate for you. And I can tell from the way that you're talking and the way that that she has talked that I've you know that I've sat and talked with her. She is your biggest fan by by all means. I think it was uh yesterday or day before, um, may have been this morning actually. Um she was uh trying to find out who she can give your shirt your t-shirts to. Yes, yes, for council.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

So I just I do want to say back to City Council, I do have Chase Carson for City Council shirts here that I've brought for you and your daughters.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

Awesome. Oh, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Yeah, she's gonna enjoy that a bunch. Absolutely. So, yes, my mom, and let me tell you, I you know, I've got a funny story about her actually. Talk about biggest fans. So, yes, if you are friends with my mom on Facebook, I mean, she is constantly posting my shirts, signs, whatever it is out there asking who wants them, she will bring them to you. So uh this past weekend, my wife and I were uh out around the community campaigning, knocking on doors, putting up signs. And um me and my wife had you know planned to do it all ourselves that day, knock out as many as we could and go home and rest. Um my mom, my poor old mom, she uh she said, you know, we we do have door hangers, and that's what we've been leaving behind at folks' house. And uh she said, give me all the door hangers that you want to give me, give me all the shirts, signs, whatever, and I'll go around the neighborhoods where I live and pass them out to folks that want them. So I was like, Yeah, you know, I really appreciate that, mom. You know, I'll give you a few. Don't don't kill yourself, you know, just the people that you know are surrounding you, you know, stop by, see them, let them know about us, what have you. Um went that whole day. We went our separate ways, me and my wife around the community, like I said, my mom on the other side of town. By the time me and my wife got done, uh I texted my mom just to see, you know, status updates, see how she's doing, see who all she talked to. Um, and I didn't hear from her for like an hour or so. And I was like, oh Lord, she's she's gonna went to the wrong house. We're gonna have to go search for her and find her. And she finally texted me back and told me she had walked six miles that day, walked up all kinds of hills, what have you. And I think this was on either Saturday, Saturday or Sunday, so it was a pretty hot day that day. And uh she did not dress appropriately, she had too many clothes on, talked about she about had a heat stroke, and uh I'm not gonna mention my mom's age, but I was like, mom, I told you not to kill yourself. You know, me and Alyssa can handle it. You know, if you want to go around with us, that that's fine. You don't have to go out and kill yourself, but that's the type of mom I have, man, and I'm super grateful for her. She, I mean, and she has stayed that way my whole life. You know, when I was coming up as a kid, anything that I was involved in, she was right there. Um when I was uh going through my cancer, you know, my mom, she's a uh a hairdresser, cosmetologist. So, you know, if she's not at work, she's not making money. And man, my mom, I I I can I like I said, I don't remember much when I first got to the hospital, but by the time I did regain consciousness, I don't think there was ever a time my mom left my bedside the entire time when I got done with that journey, and you know, when I was trying out for seventh grade ball team, she wasn't letting me keep that doom and gloom, you know, vibe. She was all constantly encouraging me and what have you. And um another memory I have about that is you know, I grew up a big Rocky fan. You know, the Rocky movies love it. I even boxed for a little while at Lochran's uh boxing gym. Shout out Jerry Lochran uh for a few years after I graduated high school um and just loved it. Because I, you know, that's that's basically what Rocky's story is, man. It's you know, come from nothing, put your head down, grind to achieve the dreams that you want. And you know, if you put in uh enough hard work, eventually, hopefully you can end up, you know, top dog champion of the world, right? And so I remember um the last day of tryouts, I got in my mom's car and uh told her the news that I made the team, and she was like, I'm so happy and I knew you were gonna make the team because uh as soon as I dropped you off uh for tryouts, Eye of the Tigers started playing. That's funny, man. And she just knew that I was gonna make the team. And so, I mean, that's just my mom, man. She's always been my biggest supporter.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

Had my wife, strong family roots, strong community roots. Like it's it's there, there's a pattern there, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:20

And strong women too, man. Having strong women in my life, raised mostly by a single mother. I mean, she's even she's helped me kind of view the world in a different, you know, perspective as well, you know, and obviously adding my wife now into that, another strong independent woman. I mean, it's uh I couldn't have a better, like you alluded to, a support group, but you know, not even just them. You know, I I want to mention the whole community too. Because when I was going through my cancer journey, I mean, I when I did get to come back home for a little bit and would go out to the churches, talk to folks. You know, thank them for the prayers and all of that. I can't tell you, even to this day, man, I still have people that never met in my life, can't tell you what their name is until I get done talking to them and learn that either 15 years ago they bought the little rubber bracelets that I as, you know, support Chase for Cancer, uh, prayed for me during church, even continue to pray to me to this day. I mean, that's that's I think really what gets me out of bed every single day. And what started my passion for community service is I saw how my community showed up for me when I was going through something like that. And that's why, man, every single day I'm finding ways for me to serve my community as well. Because I want to give back to the folks that helped me during my lowest moment in my life, right? We have that type of community too, is the thing.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

And like if people can open their eyes to what this community does, what this community, when they come together, what they accomplish, what they achieve, who they support, how they support, the things that we move forward with when we all come together. This community, and listen, I've been here 21 years, right? I'm from Perry County, from Hazard, another strong, strong community by all means. They've come through a whole lot. Um, but I've I've I've seen other communities, I've seen other you know other places, lived other places, been here 21 years, and this community is the strongest when it comes together.

SPEAKER_02 45:30

And you saw it during last year when the tornado struck you know, Sunshine Hills and the airport and the other areas. I mean, I I can remember, you know, without getting too much into detail, I I can remember, you know, learning that a tornado did struck strike Laura County. You know, I was trying to follow it all through the night when it was going through, but you know, there wasn't a whole lot of information obviously out yet about it. Um by that Saturday morning, I got on Facebook to see, you know, where the tornado had struck, you know, see who needed help. And I I can remember that Saturday morning I called up one of my buddies who was heading out to Sunshine Hills. He came and picked me up, and literally that morning, Saturday morning, we went out Sunshine Hills, uh, walked around trying to just find people who see what they needed, give folks water, give them food, talk just even the simplest thing is giving folks hugs too. Because let me tell you, I I we came across a guy um who just staring at him, you can tell he was in complete shock. Probably still didn't know where he was at. Said he had just got back from the hospital and he was out looking for his dog. And if you went to Sunshine Hills right after that aftermath, I mean, trying to search for a dog or anything during that aftermath, man, it was very disheartening. And just walking up to that man and giving him a hug, telling asking him, you know, other than your dog, you know, is there anything we can get for you? Water, food, what can we do for you to help you feel better? And even just that, you know, we saw him uh a couple of days after that, and he thanked us, gave us another hug, and told us how much he appreciated that because he was all by himself. Yeah. Just him and his dog. Yeah, him and his dog, and he couldn't find his dog. And just having somebody there to support him, show him love, hug on him, that helped him. And he did eventually find his dog, uh, thankfully. But you know, having that love and support, you know, that helped him.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I think in our pet section of the Mundan Neighbors, I think it was that dog that we put in our our pet section. Because I I remember the story being that they had lost the dog. He couldn't f the guy could not find the dog, and it was a day or so later they found the dog.

SPEAKER_02 47:51

Well, it was maybe later. Yeah, that probably is what it was because I think the National Guard was the one who found it found it. Yes, that was the one that was in that's awesome. That's funny, yes. I can't remember his name right now, but I mean he uh my buddy that I was with, he told me that I think he plays uh like Magic the Gathering with him, the card game. Card game, yeah. Um so I mean this is a dude that a lot of people respect, know, and love because he's uh he's a member of the uh card playing game community here in London. So, you know, I I think you know, on your the same topic about his dog being in the magazine, I think uh where whatever one of these games and comics stores he plays at, um I'm pretty sure they also had a fundraiser for him a little after that too. So when you talk about you know community, our community especially coming together, I mean, that right there is just a perfect example of it. You know, I mentioned my story, his story, but I mean there are countless other stories. I mean, you you share all kinds of wonderful stories each month in your magazine.

SPEAKER_01 48:55

You wouldn't believe that's just the place to recount from, man. You wouldn't believe the stories, you know, for the last 26, 28 months of doing this. The amount of stories that come out of here of just absolutely superhuman, incredible people. This community is one of a kind, and I will stand by that to the day that I die. Like there is there is nothing uh stronger than this community when they come together. The stories that come out of this together is is absolutely insane. And it all starts with leadership. It all starts with someone taking the notion to do something first or to even redo something that somebody else has done over and over again until it becomes repetitive before until it becomes contagious to the point that we all do the right thing. Absolutely you know, in order to help each other out. And that's what I find out with all these stories that we write. You know, that you know, Emily does a fantastic I can't I can't thank her enough. She writes so good um with these family stories and things. But not only that, you know, we'll we will take in and we'll ask the public to write something. Um and she may or may not want me to say too much, but I'm I'm gonna say a few things um in regards to that is that we actually have a writer who writes into the into the magazine each month who went through through some pretty rough times, some pretty hard times in her life. And uh the way that she's been able to heal, and this is her coming to me and telling me that one of the ways that she helped herself heal through this trauma she went through was being able to write in our magazine. But it's being able to come together as a community, have resources as a community, and do it together. You know. So I maybe I'm wrong, maybe again, maybe I'm I'm totally off here, but you know, you running for councils to me is a big thing. It's a huge thing. I think that having a strong family background, having a strong community background, having you know, the vision, the need, the want, the drive to make things better and to see it through is exactly what we need. And so again, it's my biased opinion. Well so you know, people if you want to, but it it's my biased opinion.

SPEAKER_02 50:59

And I appreciate that. But I mean, uh you said it perfectly, John. And I when people ask me about my vision and what I want to bring to City Council, I mean it's as simple as that. I mean, look at the past two years that our community has gone through. That is not what our community looks like. The division, the hate, talking about each other all the time. That's not London and Laurel County. That's never who we've been. And so my vision with London is to eradicate all of that. Let's start coming together again, working together for the betterment of our community, for its people, and move forward. Because there's everything that's been going on for the past two years has just been uh there's no reason for it at all. And it's not who we are. It's not. I mean, we've heard the community you know mentioned multiple times, you know, we we want to get back to working for the city, for its people, on the things that matter that can help our daily lives, right? Because so far, I mean, just Oregon constantly helps nobody, right? And it just further stitches division within our community, and that's not what we need. We've always been London and Laura County, and that's my vision for my city council campaign is to bring that back. Let's bring back compromises at the table, let's bring back working together, because it's naive to believe that everybody's going to agree on everything all the time. Right. Right? And so going back to leadership, a good leader recognizes that, and instead of only ever trying to get their way, they find ways to work with other people, listen, and and work. Because uh a part of leadership, yes, it's being able to lead, but the biggest part is listening. Because if you're not listening, you're not listening to the people that you're supposed to be leading, and if you're not listening to the people you're supposed to be leading, then who are you truly leading? Right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 52:53

So and that's and that that that's a good point because even with like leadership things that we do and that I do here with um with not just the magazine, but as with with best you know, best version media as a whole, it's they're a huge leadership corporation. They're they're they're massive. I mean, one of the CEOs he's an ex-NFL linebacker for the uh New England Patriots. I mean, if if they're anybody who knows leadership, who knows teamwork, it's this individual, right? And I I kind of base my stuff off of that. You know, the the books that I read is all leadership. My little library I've got at home, it's all leadership books, right? But the biggest part of what all of them talk about is you need to listen. Talking about something is one thing. That's part of it. But you need to be able to listen. You need to be able to sit, talk, talk through things. You're not always going to get your way. That's not to me, that's not growth. That's trying to be in control of something. And that's another big part of leadership is being able to let go of the things you can't control. You know, don't try to control the uncontrollable. You know, and and that's and I think that's the direction that we've been headed is there's so much out of control that it is become chaos. And that's not who we are. Like again, I've been here twenty-one years and I've seen I've I've known a lot of big name business owners, I've known a lot of good community members that they made change because they sat, they listened, and then they acted on what they heard.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

Not what their feelings told them, not what they wanted to do, but what they had listened to the community to do and push for it to make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 54:21

And it involved the community to do it, right? So your head your head's in the right spot, man. It's you know, going from cancer to to making a ball team at the seventh grade. I mean, just starting with that journey from from making that choice, right? To not be in the woes me mentality to now soon to be city council person. You know what I mean? Like from tourism to you know what I mean, yeah, for from all that. So the journey is to never give up. The journey is to um consider to know.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

Like I said, like I first of all, I I truly believe that w through my cancer journey, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the love, support, and prayers that I received during that. I wouldn't be here right now where I am today without the whole community. Because we've mentioned my my wife and my mom, but man, there's tons of other players that are in that support group that have helped invest in me and get me to where I am today, you included. I mean, it's what I said earlier, it takes a village, and that's the reason why I'm running for city council. I you know, this isn't my first campaign. I ran my first, this is my third campaign now. My first run, I think, was back in 2020 when Troy Rutter was still mayor. Uh and I ran back then because uh same thing as today. There was a lot of, I felt like arguing and back and forth, not a whole lot of uh city business being done and conducted. Um, so I just wanted to throw my hat in the room because I was confident in myself that I could bring a different perspective to city council. I may not have all the answers, but I can learn as I go. And if I come across a challenge and fail, learn from it and grow like we mentioned earlier. But second time, again, you know, I received a whole lot more support than my first election, but still didn't get in. And this time, I mean, I'm super grateful and blessed for the community. I've I think I have the most support now out of all of my campaigns, and I can't be any more grateful. But staying humble is the most important thing because when I do go to the polls, when we see on election day, May 19th, who the people have chosen to represent them, it's going to be the people that they believe in, that they see out in the community, and can listen. And that's the biggest thing, absolutely. And so I believe just staying humble, knowing that you don't have the answers to everything and knowing that and learn knowing, like you said, kind of not trying to control the outcome of everything and be a tyrant. If you don't know the answer, something admit it and go try to find it and learn it for whoever's asking, right? Because a quality as a leader is you've never made it, right? If that makes sense. If you're a leader, you're never gonna reach that end of the tunnel. You're always gonna be learning and growing because that's the qualities of any great leader. You're always gonna come across new challenges and issues or different perspectives, and learning how to work with those different perspectives and listening are the qualities of any great leader.

SPEAKER_01 57:38

It is, and it's something that's it's something that's it's hard to do. Like you, you know, me personally, I've had to learn to do these things, right? So I don't I don't say it much, but I'm I'm um considered or my I guess my title with BBM when it comes to it. Not only am I the publisher of the local magazine here that we do the magazine for, but I'm market leader. You know, I'm market leader of of Lexington, Southeast Kentucky. There's eight individuals that uh I'm constantly talking with and trying to lead them to be better people, right? To bring their communities together. And I base it off of how I do everything here, you know, from the tornado, from being able to do things with it, uh from from meeting other people that's in leadership, you know. And leadership has so many different faces, right? It just it isn't about being on a a board member or uh or even owning a business. It's what are you doing to help move progress forward? It's as simple as that to become a leader, it really is.

SPEAKER_02 58:32

And and and and I think that's uh a perfect example because like like you said, like I'm part of my leadership style is trying to inspire others too. You know, I mentioned if I see a need in the community, I I'm gonna absolutely get my hands involved in it, but I'm also finding other people who have that same passion and desire to help that their community as well, right? You've got to surround yourself with like people. Absolutely, because like minds. You know, London, London doesn't need a savior, right? One person can't save our community from what it's been through. No, it's gonna take all of us, a village, all of us coming together, working together, loving one another like we have. I mean, since London Lallora County was formed back in the 1800s, man. I mean, that's 200 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 59:22

That's how we got here.

SPEAKER_02 59:24

200-year anniversary, yes, absolutely. And that's how we got here today. 200 years later was learning how to work together. Because I mean, do you think the people that were helping form this community 200 years ago, do you think they all agreed? Of course not. No, but they knew how to work together to create the town, the city, what we know as one of the biggest micropolitans in Kentucky now in the future. And it was because it was bigger than just any one person. They were doing it for their community. And that's the approach that I'm taking with city council, hometown go, whatever it is, the community is always the first in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:08

I think a lot of that, and Meg again, correct me if I'm wrong, I think that started when when you were young and you went through all this with your cancer, and then you've seen the community support.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:19

It's funny how it can start back then. How you can actually see that, hey, this community has something special. You know, and then as you progress, got older, and you started doing things with you just kind of tied that into everything. And listen, man, again, I I I commend you. It's it's I know it's not been an easy road by no means. I know that it's um, you know, leadership never is, you know. Trying to not, you know, force a path but lead a path is two different things, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:44

And I want to con uh congratulate you as well and all the wonderful, I mean, from when you started this to now. I mean, so much. Imagine if instead of me sitting here, if it was you back then sitting there and you all having a conversation and where you are today, would you be able to believe it? Right. No, and that speaks testament to the work that you put in, the passion and desire that you have to help our community. And I mean, when when your morals and your goals and your vision is right, everything else is just going to fall in place for you, I believe. Because I mean, look at that, you've always kept your community first. And look, I mean, you've got all kinds of magazines hanging up of community members that we have right here on your walls, yeah, talking to you outside of this. I hear you all the time meeting with folks, even folks outside of this community telling them about us. All the time. So, man, I I really I really appreciate the work that you do too. Just, you know, getting our community members' stories out there. Because, like you said, yes, we've got a lot of athletes here in Laurel County, but man, do we've got stories that we've got some people here in Laurel County with stories that uh make national news blow people away.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:56

I have a magazine right over there, it's not even ours, but it was given to me by a local business owner of a man who was actually on the front cover of Sports Illustrated back in the 70s. Wow. And he lives right here in Laurel County from Laurel County. See, and I'm I'm trying to get up with him. We're trying to we're I like to have him on our front cover feature because the guy still carries around that 70s copy of the Sports Illustrated with him on the front cover. Come from right here in Laurel County. It's small, it's different stories like that that makes this community so good, so great. And I'm I'm thankful to be able to be able to show that, tell that, and and however else that we can help for sure. But uh, we're gonna have to do a part two on this for sure. Oh, absolutely. Maybe after the May, you know, it was the primaries in May, is that what it is?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:33

Primaries in May, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

Maybe we'll do a second one after that. We'll kind of kind of we'll see how things go for you right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:38

You just let me know, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:40

I look forward to it, man. Thanks again for being here. Thank you, Jason. I appreciate it. Thanks. Um