We are extremely grateful that Tom Morales, one of Nashville’s most prominent entrepreneurs, joined more than 60 of our members for our breakfast meeting on a beautiful morning!
“Growing up as one of 10 kids, you’re an entrepreneur from the get-go,” Morales acknowledged. “You’re always trying to learn from your brothers and sisters, seeing what they did wrong and what they did right. So that whole Catholic experience was phenomenal, and it prepared me for what would come later in my life.”
Morales continued: “If you pay attention, you go a long way. When young people ask me my most valuable asset, I always say it’s your eyes and ears. Pay attention, because you don’t know when you’re going to need it. Paying attention is something I think I’ve done well, and playing safety for the football team at Father Ryan, you were always looking for something that gave away what the offense was going to do.”
Shifting to the current-day issues he faces as a business leader, Morales reflected: “Why do the towers come to Nashville? Because we’re Music City. Every community in the world would want to be known as Music City.”
Morales was very blunt, however, when discussing the hardships currently faced by small businesses — especially independent restaurants and music venues — in Middle Tennessee: in particular, the tax hikes in Davidson County that force tighter budgets, and the supply-chain disruptions that slow down deliveries. “I’m staunch in being honest,” he said. “In business and in your personal relationships, communication is key.
“I’m old enough to know what ‘real Nashville’ was,” Morales said. “I think about my dad carrying my brother Jonah by the hand, and we’d go into a lobby and there’s Willie Nelson playing guitar. Or you went up to Tootsie’s and there’s Kris Kristofferson. It was a dream-maker. … The cultural part of Nashville pays a tax that you can’t quantify. Now I feel like we’re in the battle to save Nashville.”
Morales concluded by reflecting on the impact of the current climate on the community. “My message today is that everyone returns to common sense,” he said. “I believe in the good of people, the good of humanity. I really treasure my days at Father Ryan, because that instilled in me a feeling that we’re all equal, and that money doesn’t define your intelligence. I’ve never done anything for the money; I’ve done it because it’s in my heart.”
Before introducing Morales, CBL Board Member Pat Lawson reminded us that the month of March is dedicated to Saint Joseph. Pope Pius IX declared him to be both the patron and the protector of the Catholic Church, in addition to his patronages of the sick and of a holy death, due to the belief that he died in the presence of Jesus and Mary. He shared that, for more than 40 years, Pope Francis recited a prayer to Saint Joseph every day, which comes from a nineteenth-century French prayer book:
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit….
Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph,
whose power makes the impossible possible,
come to our aid in our times of anguish and difficulty.
Take under your protection the serious
and troubling situations that we commend to you,
that they may have a happy outcome.
My beloved father, all our trust is in you.
Let it not be said that we invoked you in vain,
and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary,
show us that your goodness is as great as your power.
Amen.
We thank Tom for joining us, and we look forward to seeing all of you for our next meeting on April 9!
