This is beautiful, heartbreaking, wisdom filled exchange with the co-founder of Blackberry Farm, Kreis Beall. We talk about her recent memoir, The Great Blue Hills of God, and how she found herself after some crushing events, like the loss of her precious son Sam and a life threatening fall on her property. Kreis moves slowly and deliberately is this candid and courageously authentic exchange. This woman is such an inspiration to me.

Kreis Beall is the Founder of Blackberry Farm, an award-winning Relais & Chateaux inn and resort in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and one of the country’s premier destinations. Entrepreneurial and artistic, Kreis brings her skills as a designer, home cook, inn proprietor, photographer, and adventurer to her passion for living. Her homes and design work have been featured in many leading shelter magazines, and she currently serves as Blackberry’s Director of Design Emeritus. In addition to being a respected speaker, she is a long-term survivor of traumatic brain injury.

Born and bred in Tennessee, Kreis is the mother of two sons and a grandmother of seven. When Kreis isn’t speaking, writing, or renovating, you can find her riding in an RV on Route 66, hiking up mountains, or dancing in her kitchen as she cooks.

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Read The Book That Inspires The Show

Paul Samuel Dolman, author, podcaster, and speaker, presents What Matters Most (the book!) a series of interview transcriptions from more than twenty inspirational Nashville and Tennessee residents including special guest journalist and author Bill Moyers.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, former Governor Don Sundquist, Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal, Grammy Award-winning entertainer Wynonna Judd, and many more share intimate and inspirational aspects of themselves.

This twentieth anniversary edition also features bonus material from thirty more notables from Tennessee, including local business owners, spiritual leaders, coaches, radio personalities, authors, and educators.