What's new with some of Knoxville's favorite local businesses and organizations?

In this special episode of Big Orange Business, host Haley Jones reconnects with three returning guests to hear what's changed, what's coming next, and how they're continuing to make a difference across East Tennessee.

🎄 FANTASY OF TREES

Natalia Havasy from Dolly Parton Children's Hospital returns to share what's happening with the 2026 Fantasy of Trees. From a new name and holiday theme to family activities, volunteer opportunities, and the important healthcare programs supported by the event, there's plenty to look forward to this year.

Learn more:
https://www.dollychildrens.org/ways-to-give/events/fantasy-of-trees/

🍩 SUGAR QUEEN CREAMERY & DOUGHNUTRY

Staci Woodward joins Haley to talk about Sugar Queen's continued growth, including the Belltown location, the Doughnutry's first year in business, seasonal favorites like pumpkin cheesecake and Thanksgiving pies, and the possibility of future expansion. She also shares why running a doughnut shop has been more challenging than running an ice cream business!

Sugar Queen Creamery:
https://thesugarqueencreamery.com

Sugar Queen Doughnutry:
https://thesugarqueendoughnutry.com

🎁 KARM STORES

Josh Lively returns to discuss KARM's popular Christmas stores, the unique treasures shoppers can discover, and how donations and purchases help support Knox Area Rescue Ministries. He also shares a remarkable story about a family finding a meaningful Christmas decoration with an unexpected connection to their past.

Learn more:
https://karm.org

Whether you're a longtime Knoxville resident, new to East Tennessee, or thinking about relocating to the area, this episode is a reminder of the people, businesses, and organizations that make Knoxville such a special community.

Big Orange Business, hosted by Knoxville Realtor Haley Jones, celebrates local entrepreneurs, community leaders, and the stories behind the businesses and organizations shaping East Tennessee.

Follow the podcast for more conversations about Knoxville businesses, local favorites, and life in East Tennessee!

What does it take to start a coconut water company in Knoxville, Tennessee? Apparently, a trip halfway around the world, a lot of determination, and a willingness to bet on yourself.

In Part 2 of our conversation with Knoxville entrepreneur Nick Devore, we explore how he turned an unexpected idea into LUSHDROP Bevco, a coconut water company based right here in East Tennessee.

Nick takes us behind the scenes of his journey to Thailand, where he searched for the perfect coconut, met with suppliers who didn't believe he'd actually show up, and learned firsthand about the challenges of bringing a beverage product to market.

We also talk about the realities of entrepreneurship, from financing production and navigating international logistics to building a brand, finding customers, and making sacrifices to pursue something you believe in.

And through it all, Nick explains why Knoxville is the place he chose to build his business.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, a Knoxville local, or someone considering a move to East Tennessee, this episode offers a fascinating look at the people and businesses making Knoxville such an interesting place to live and work.

Learn more about LUSHDROP Bevco:
https://lushdropbevco.com/

Subscribe to Big Orange Business with Haley Jones for more conversations with the entrepreneurs, business owners, and community leaders shaping Knoxville and East Tennessee.

What would make you walk away from a successful family business to build something of your own?

For Knoxville native Nick Devore, growing up around Litton's, one of Knoxville's most beloved restaurants, meant learning firsthand what it takes to run a business, serve a community, and build something that lasts. But Nick had ambitions of his own, and pursuing them meant leaving behind the security of the family business.

In this episode of the Big Orange Business Podcast, host Haley Jones sits down with Nick to talk about growing up in Knoxville, taking his first steps into entrepreneurship, building and selling businesses, and navigating the successes, setbacks, and unexpected turns along the way.

They also explore how Knoxville's restaurant and business community has evolved, the role of locally owned businesses, and what it takes to carve out your own path in East Tennessee.

Whether you're a longtime Knoxville resident, a local business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or someone considering moving to Knoxville and bringing your business along, this conversation offers a firsthand look at the people, opportunities, and challenges that shape the city's entrepreneurial community.

Today, Nick is also the founder of LUSHDROP Bevco, a coconut water company based in Knoxville. In the next episode, we'll dive into the remarkable story behind LUSHDROP, from discovering coconut water abroad to building a beverage brand right here in East Tennessee.

Learn more about LUSHDROP Bevco: https://lushdropbevco.com

Big Orange Business with Haley Jones introduces you to the people, businesses, neighborhoods, and stories that make Knoxville and East Tennessee such an interesting place to live, work, and call home.

Subscribe for more conversations about Knoxville businesses, local entrepreneurs, community life, and moving to East Tennessee.

What makes Knoxville, Tennessee, such a great place to live? The local food scene is certainly part of the story, and few restaurants have been part of its evolution quite like Sweet P's BBQ.

On this episode of Big Orange Business, Haley Jones sits down with Sweet P's owner Chris Ford to talk about barbecue, business, and how Knoxville has changed over the years.

Before opening Sweet P's, Chris spent eight years touring the country as a musician with the band Grand Torino. Along the way, he developed a love for Southern barbecue that eventually led him from performing onstage to building one of Knoxville's longtime local favorites.

Chris shares how Sweet P's got its start in South Knoxville, what makes its North Carolina–Tennessee barbecue style distinctive, and how the restaurant developed its popular smoked meatloaf, homemade sides, and signature sauces.

The conversation also explores the changing restaurant scene in downtown Knoxville, the challenges facing independent restaurants, and the lessons Chris has learned from nearly two decades in the business.

And for anyone thinking about moving to Knoxville, Chris shares why he loves calling East Tennessee home, from its growing food culture and lively downtown to the nearby mountains, music venues, and sense of community.

Whether you're a longtime Knoxville resident, planning a visit, or researching what it's like to live in Knoxville, this episode offers a taste of the people and places that make the city special.

VISIT SWEET P'S BBQ
Website: https://sweetpbbq.com/
Find current locations, menus, hours, and restaurant information on their website.

ABOUT BIG ORANGE BUSINESS
Hosted by Knoxville real estate professional Haley Jones, Big Orange Business introduces you to the local businesses, restaurants, entrepreneurs, and personalities that make Knoxville and East Tennessee unique.

Considering a move to Knoxville? Follow Big Orange Business to discover more about the neighborhoods, lifestyle, and community that make East Tennessee a wonderful place to call home.

What started with daylilies, a family farm, and an idea for a pumpkin patch has grown into one of East Tennessee’s favorite fall traditions.

Haley sits down with Ken Oakes of Oakes Farm in Corryton to hear how the farm evolved from tobacco, cattle, strawberries, and a mail-order daylily business into the fall destination Knoxville families know today.

Ken shares the story behind launching the corn maze in 2001, how today’s elaborate maze designs are planted using GPS technology, and what it takes to prepare for the thousands of people who visit the farm each fall.

They also talk pumpkins, hayrides, apple cannons, the enormous corn pit, apple cider cinnamon donuts, the former Trail of Doom, and the farm’s newer spring tulip festival.

But Oakes Farm has become more than a fall attraction. Ken talks about families who first visited as children and now bring their own kids—and the growing number of people who have recently moved to East Tennessee and are discovering traditions like this for the first time.

Plus, Ken shares what life is really like in rural Corryton, why agritourism has become an important part of modern farming, and the best times to visit Oakes Farm if you want to avoid the biggest October crowds.

It’s a conversation about farming, family, entrepreneurship, community, and how a local East Tennessee tradition grows across generations.

Learn more about Oakes Farm and plan your visit:
oakesfarm.com

Shop Oakes Daylilies:
oakesdaylilies.com

Young-Williams Animal Center takes in roughly 10,000 animals every year — but adoption is only part of what they do for Knoxville.

Haley Jones sits down with Josh Holly from Young-Williams to talk about how animal welfare in Knoxville has changed, including the programs that helped move the organization from roughly a 30% save rate in 2009 to around 92% today.

They also dig into the services many Knoxville residents may not know exist: animal services for Knoxville and Knox County, fostering, a pet food pantry, low-cost veterinary care, spay and neuter services, community vaccine clinics, and programs designed to help families keep their pets rather than surrender them.

Plus, Josh explains where Knoxville’s shelter animals come from, why Young-Williams can see more than 50 kittens a week during the summer, how fostering can help animals become more adoptable, and some of the more unusual animals the organization has rescued — including two pigs abandoned on an island.

Whether you’re moving to Knoxville, new to East Tennessee, or have called Knoxville home for years, this episode offers a look at the people and programs helping Knoxville care for its animals — and how you can get involved.

Learn more about Young-Williams Animal Center:
https://www.young-williams.org

Big Orange Business explores the businesses, organizations, people, and places that make Knoxville, Tennessee, home.

East Tennessee’s lakes and rivers are a huge part of life here. We boat on them, fish them, swim in them, build homes near them, and spend summer weekends on the water. But there’s an entire world beneath the surface that most of us never think about.

In this episode of the Big Orange Business Podcast, Haley Jones visits the McClung Museum of Natural History at the University of Tennessee to meet freshwater mussel experts Jerry Dinkins and Kristen Womble and discover what these unusual creatures can tell us about the health of East Tennessee’s waterways.

The Tennessee River system has more species of freshwater mussels than any other river system in the world. Some mussels can live for more than 100 years, serve as important indicators of water quality, and have one of the strangest reproductive strategies you’ll ever hear about.

Haley also asks some very practical East Tennessee questions: Which local rivers are among the cleanest? Would these scientists swim in Knoxville-area waterways? What happened to aquatic life in the Nolichucky River after Hurricane Helene? And what can people do to help protect the rivers and lakes we enjoy?

Plus, we go inside the McClung Museum’s collection of roughly 300,000 specimens, including aquatic mollusks representing all 95 Tennessee counties, and learn how part of this remarkable collection got its start in a closet inside Neyland Stadium.

Whether you’re moving to Knoxville, considering a move to East Tennessee, looking for life closer to the lakes and rivers, or already call Tennessee home, this episode uncovers a fascinating part of the region hiding right beneath the water.

Big Orange Business introduces you to the people, places, businesses, and stories that help you understand what it’s really like to live in Knoxville and East Tennessee.

Learn more about the McClung Museum’s Malacology Collection:
https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/research/collections/malacology/

What if movie night meant heading underground into a 400-million-year-old cave?

Cherokee Caverns is one of Knoxville’s most unusual places to visit — but it isn’t open like a traditional tourist attraction. Instead, this volunteer-run cave comes alive throughout the year with movies underground, trick-or-treating, Christmas celebrations, special events, and more.

Haley Jones sits down with Dana and Jennifer from Cherokee Caverns to hear the remarkable story behind the cave, from its early history and years of vandalism to the people who stepped in to rescue, protect, and preserve it.

They also share what it’s actually like to attend Movies in the Cave, including the classic films they show, what to bring, where to sit, what the cave feels like inside, and why tickets can now sell out in less than an hour.

Plus, hear about trick-or-treating underground, Christmas in the Cave, the 400-million-year-old formations, an underground lake most visitors never see, and the volunteers working to preserve Cherokee Caverns for future generations.

Whether you’ve lived in Knoxville your entire life, recently moved to East Tennessee, or you’re planning a visit, this is one Knoxville experience you may want to add to your list.

Learn more about Cherokee Caverns and upcoming events:
historiccherokeecaverns.com