~ November 25, 2025

EAGL Network Nashville: Learning, Growing, and Finding Harmony

The EAGL Network recently landed in Nashville, Tennessee for a few days of immersive learning, inspiration, insight, connection, and a whole lot of fun and music! Over 70 nursery growers, managers, and green industry gurus gathered for the annual EAGL Delta Track event.

Why I Keep Coming Back

I always look forward to this opportunity to step out of my business for a few days so I can work ON it instead of IN it. As a small business owner, you have to be intentional with your time to make this happen. I appreciate the EAGL Network for giving me the structure to make this an integral part of my business and personal growth. It’s invaluable to me and always LOTS of fun!

When I went through the EAGL program in 2020, one of the most transformative parts was the work we did to refine and communicate our core values. That process helped us articulate what Spring Grove Nursery really stands for – our commitment to quality, stewardship, and growing something sustainable for future generations. Having that clarity has shaped every decision we’ve made since then.

The friendships and connections made are priceless, and I enjoy watching them grow over the years. This year I reconnected with two members from my original 2020 EAGL cohort – Karin Walters from Walters Gardens and Alan Jones from Manor View Farm. There’s something special about checking in with people who went through that leadership journey with you and seeing how we’ve all grown. The nurseries in the EAGL network are scattered around the country, experiencing different economic and weather conditions each year. Many of us grow different crops and sell into diverse markets. Our operations are diverse, yet we’re all connected as leaders growing plants to make our communities more beautiful and healthy.

What We Learned in Nashville

We visited two nurseries – Riverbend Nurseries and South Central Growers.

At Riverbend Nurseries, Steve Bennett showed us their leadership philosophy illustrated as an inverted pyramid – customers at the top, followed by the team, with the owner at the tip below. Servant leadership in visual form. This model stuck with me as a reminder of what leadership should look like.

South Central Growers gave us a glimpse into the future of nursery operations. Derek Clark has been instrumental in innovating and automating their operation. We walked through greenhouses filled with perfect poinsettias ready to ship Christmas cheer across the south central US. It was impressive to see how technology, horticulture, and a great team can work together to create efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Our learning kicked off with Dr. Charlie Hall’s economic insight and forecast. We learned from new EAGL faculty Anne Hyde about smart cash management and sharpening our financial focus. After lunch, the afternoon focused on Applied A.I. with presentations from Professor Jesse Blocher from Vanderbilt University, Kellye Kamp from KampCo Concepts, and Jon Beauford from Advanced Grower Solutions.

Day two focused on culture, with guidance from Al Curnow of CultureWise and EAGL faculty Tom Doll. Mixed in with education were panels of growers sharing their experiences with various business management systems. This kind of collaboration is invaluable! We heard stories from two growers who experienced natural disasters this past year – Bill Jones from Carolina Native Nursery and Richard May from May Nursery. Their resilience and insights into how they navigated those disasters was inspiring. Kellee O’Reilly closed us out with a challenge to focus on workplace wellness and healthy teams.

Beyond the Classroom

Between classes, we had lots of opportunities to network and explore Nashville. The fall colors along the Cumberland River were stunning, and the city’s rich musical heritage was everywhere – from the Birth of Bluegrass historical marker to the honky-tonks lining Broadway.

The highlight was our evening at the classic Ryman Auditorium watching I’m With Her perform. There’s something special about experiencing live music in the “Mother Church of Country Music.” And watching three talented women create those gorgeous harmonies together felt like the perfect metaphor for what we’d been learning all week about collaboration.

We got hands-on with some unique Nashville experiences. We made our own custom GooGoo Clusters – choosing our favorite combinations of chocolate, caramel, nuts, and more. It was delicious fun and a reminder that sometimes the best networking happens when your hands are busy creating something together.

We also experienced Nashville’s famous honky-tonks on Broadway, where live music pours out of every doorway.

One of my favorite experiences was at Lockeland Leather, where we each made our own custom belts. Watching the craftspeople work and creating something with our own hands – choosing the leather, stamping our initials, setting the hardware – was a powerful reminder about craftsmanship and quality. The sign at their shop read “Strength. Flexibility. Endurance. Craftsmanship.” – values that resonated with all of us as growers.

Of course, we couldn’t skip the whiskey tasting and Nashville hot chicken!

It was a memorable experience all around!

A Much-Needed Reset

I’ll be honest – this year I came to EAGL burned out and rather unfocused. When planning the trip, I decided to add a few days after Nashville to rest and renew my energy. I’m very thankful to my family and team back at home for covering me. They are the best!

I spent a few days in New Harmony, Indiana, and I can’t say enough about this place. More about that below!

Here are some highlights and takeaways from my November Trip:

Quotes That Stuck With Me

“Stories are just data with a soul.” – Brené Brown

“We’re kept from our goal not by obstacles, but by a path to a lesser goal.” – Hindu scripture

These both hit me at just the right time. Sometimes we need reminders about what really matters and what might be pulling us off course.

Financial Insights to Take Home

Dr. Charlie Hall gave us plenty to think about with his economic forecast. The COGS prediction for 2026 is 3.2-3.6%, and he reminded us that we’re still in a service-based economy rather than a durable goods-based economy. His advice? Be nimble and sharpen your pencil.

Anne Hyde challenged us to work our balance sheet as hard as our P&L. She emphasized operating from a 13-week cash flow and paying close attention to working capital. These are practical strategies that can make a real difference in how we manage our businesses.

The AI Revolution

The Applied A.I. sessions opened my eyes to possibilities I hadn’t fully considered. A.I. can be your thought partner, researcher, and master idea generator – not just a tool, but a genuine collaborator in problem-solving.

I learned about Claude AI by Anthropic (which I’m excited to try out), how to build your own GPTs, and the critical importance of context. The presenters emphasized that context is EVERYTHING when working with A.I. – give specific instructions, provide more context, and you’ll get better outcomes.

But I’m also sitting with some important questions: What’s the environmental footprint of all this technology? What about the moral implications? How will this affect our society? These aren’t questions with easy answers, but they’re worth asking.

Leadership That Inspires

One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing servant leadership modeled by Steve Bennett at Riverbend Nurseries. There’s something powerful about witnessing leadership done right.

But we also witnessed a different kind of leadership – the kind forged through adversity. Hearing Bill Jones from Carolina Native Nursery and Richard May from May Nursery share their stories about losing parts of their nurseries to natural disasters was both heartbreaking and inspiring. Their resilience, their determination to rebuild, and their willingness to share their experiences with us – that’s leadership too. It takes courage to stand up after being knocked down by forces outside your control, and even more courage to let others see your struggle. Their strength reminded us why this community matters so much.

Finding Harmony in New Harmony

After the energy of Nashville, I spent a few days in New Harmony, Indiana – what a hidden gem! If you’ve never heard of it, New Harmony is a small town with fascinating utopian history. It was home to two different utopian communities in the 1800s, and that idealistic spirit still permeates the place.

I stayed in the 1840’s Garden House, which was the perfect home base for exploring this unique town. I walked the labyrinths scattered throughout the community – there’s something meditative about following those winding paths, especially when you’re trying to reset after burnout. The Roofless Church is unlike anything I’ve experienced, a sacred space open to the sky.

The town is full of quiet beauty, from the historic Harmonist Cemetery to the striking modern architecture of the Atheneum, which overlooks the Wabash River. The state park offered peaceful trails and space to breathe, and I found the perfect coffee shop to hang out at and take in the small town vibes.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is to step away from it. New Harmony gave me exactly what I needed – space to rest, reflect, and remember why I do what I do. If you’re looking for a place to truly unplug and recharge, I can’t recommend it enough.

Putting AI to Work

Remember how I mentioned learning about AI being a thought partner and idea generator? Well, I decided to put that into practice right away. This article was written with the help of Claude AI – the very tool I learned about at the conference!

I came to Claude with my jumbled notes, voice recordings, and photos from the trip, and together we organized my thoughts and structured the narrative. It was like having a writing partner who could help me see the bigger picture while keeping my authentic voice intact. Pretty fitting that I’m using the AI tool to write about the conference where I learned about it!

This is exactly what the presenters meant about AI being a collaborative tool. I brought the experiences, the insights, and the heart of the story. Claude helped me organize it all into something coherent and readable. It’s a good example of how AI can enhance our work without replacing the human element that makes it meaningful.

As I head back to Spring Grove Nursery with renewed energy and a notebook full of ideas, I’m grateful for the time away – both the intensive learning in Nashville and the quiet reflection in New Harmony. Sometimes stepping back is exactly what we need to move forward with clarity and purpose.

~ Becky Thomas (and some help from Claude!)

More about my method if you are curious:

1. I wrote a rough draft of my article
2. To Claude AI I uploaded rough draft & photos from the trip
3. I asked Claude to read my entire website and blog to ascertain my writing “voice”
4. I sent Claude a link to more about the EAGL program and Dr. Charlie Hall’s work
5. I didn’t have time to do the back story research on some of the New Harmony sites so I let Claude fill in some history details and shared a bullet point list of the sites I visited
6. Claude took my draft & images and organized the outline a little different than I originally had it
7. I went back and forth 5-6 times with fine tuning wording, layout, and thoughts
8. The final blog piece is my writing, but with assistance from Claude to pull it together
9. What do you think??? I’d love feedback, thoughts, discussion, etc.