ESS IN THE VALLEY
17
MOXXIE: So, share with me
what your business venture
looked like 40 years ago. What
was your first piece of inventory?
What did that look like?
TROY You know the candles that
are on a string and two candles
were hanging down?
SCOTT: It was a long wick in the
middle, and you'd cut it.
TROY & SCOTT: (laughing
hysterically)
TROY: We'd just put a nail up,
and we'd hang one set of candles
on the nail and then we had this
lady stop by with pot holders, so
we had those.
SCOTT: And wall hangings.
TROY: And then we had a guy
come by that had braided rugs, so
we even put rugs on the wall to
make it look like something.
SCOTT: Seriously Nikki, in the
real world we should've never
made it.
NIKKI: But hell, look at you
now! Huge pillars in the community
and a 10,000 square foot
space!
TROY: We literally started this
idea a long time ago because
Scott’s mom said she had her
eyes on a small building she
wanted to rent and suggested we
start a business in it.
SCOTT: Yes we did. We went
from 300 square feet, selling
candles on a rope and braided
rugs to this. It has been one hell
of a journey.
MOXXIE: I think what's really
important, especially for the
generation of people that are
plugging into Moxxie and our
publication, is being able to teach
them that there are struggles
across the board all the time.
SCOTT: Oh, it's still a struggle. I
mean, we were doing wonderfully
fifteen years ago, and then they
opened up the
casino, and now we have
Amazon, now we have Wal-Mart,
now we have all this competition.
TROY: You have to make
yourself unique, different. You
have to have customer service. I'd
say our darkest time is probably
now, because of the economy.
That's why Maggie Valley has to
work together much better to get
business back here, to the valley
where it belongs. We have the
mountains, we have nature, it's
all here. We don't need anything
else.
MOXXIE: I couldn’t agree with
you more!
SCOTT: Let us be clear though.
We love The Valley. We support
The Valley entirely. We want
things to work, like the crosswalks.
There was nothing being
done, so we raised the money on
our Facebook page to put up flags
so people could cross in the
crosswalks safely. We do
Trunk-or-Treat for Halloween,
we do Easter, we just love our
people. We love the mountains.
So we created a page on
Facebook called We Love
Maggie Valley North Carolina.
And in a little over two years, we
have now over 18,000 members.
MOXXIE: So that's beautiful.
That's beautiful. You guys talk
about this unified mentality,
specifically hear in The Valley
and it sounds wonderful, but I
know it hasn't been a smooth run.
I do love how motivated and
passionate you both are in your
thinking of Maggie Valley being
successful with everyone here
being in the same boat. Maggie
doesn’t get successful when only
a few businesses thrive... they all
need to thrive, together.
TROY: So, yeah, but The Valley,
right now, they are working
together better than they ever
have.
MOXXIE: So, you’ve got the
business, employees, a social
media presence that is stronger
than most of our government and
community pages that requires
time and attention. You’re
married, live together and work
together. How do you both find
the balance?
SCOTT: The doctor gave us
Magic Medicine. You know?
TROY: It's called 'Selective
Hearing'. You just kind of take in
what you want to hear and let the
rest of it go.
MOXXIE: What’s the biggest
personality differences?
SCOTT: He can remember
everybody, he recognizes everybody.
I do all the books.
TROY: I remember phone
numbers. I remember my
passport number. I remember
numbers, but he pays the bills.
MOXXIE: Temperamentally,
who's more laid back?
SCOTT: He is.
TROY: Me. He is an A personality.
I am a B personality.
MOXXIE: When it comes to
decision-making, who is the
executor of that?
SCOTT: I usually end up making
the final decision, but we work it
out.
MOXXIE: Who's the messiest?
SCOTT: I am.
TROY: Oh God, yes you are!
Nice that you own that.
SCOTT: No, no. You'd be scared
to go up in my office right now.
MOXXIE: Who's the loudest?
SCOTT: I am. I am.
TROY: He is loud! But he gets
loud and is over it within 15
minutes. I remember being loud
about things from 30 years ago.
MOXXIE: Oh, are you a
grudge-holder?
SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, let him have
a few adult beverages, catch a
nice buzz and he'll bring it back
up from 30 years ago. Oh yeah.
MOXXIE: So what's next? Will
you ever retire? Will you ever
leave this? What's next for you
guys?
CONTINUES ON PAGE 18