Grassroots and Grounded album cover art by Amy Watts.
Longtime friends Jake Willcox and Courtney Hunter Ariola transformed a real estate marketing project into a weekly podcast that’s recorded inside a historic building in downtown Crawford.
“It really has morphed into a passion project,” Willcox said.
The pair’s podcast — Grassroots and Grounded — is loosely based on agriculture and Western lifestyle. They interview a range of guests who are industry leaders, realtors, farmers, cowboys and more.
“We went a different route than just to be an educational podcast or real estate podcast,” Willcox said. “We wanted to capture the storytelling of people.”
The co-hosts said their friendship influenced the kind of atmosphere they wanted to create on the podcast — one centered around genuine conversation rather than scripted interviews.
“It’s kind of one of those things going back to old-school and bringing back front-porch conversation,” Ariola said.
Together, Willcox and Ariola, both real estate agents, hope the podcast preserves stories and conversations that might otherwise be lost over time.
“It started in wanting to have conversations with people,” she said. “We’re kind of losing that as time goes on with social media and technology.”
Several guests on the podcast are well-known figures in Oglethorpe County and the area — such as Iris Walker — giving the show a distinctly local feel. Through their interviews, the co-hosts strive to uncover stories behind familiar faces and give listeners a deeper understanding of those who live in their community.
“There are people we have interviewed that people have known for 30 years, but may not have known something that they talked about on the podcast,” Ariola said.
The podcast isn’t limited to local stories, and continues to expand outside of Oglethorpe County.
“One of the guys we did was Jason King, who is the Southeastern sales rep for Priefert ranch equipment,” Willcox said.
The podcast is recorded out of a studio located in the Iris Inc Realty office, where Willcox works. With the help of some of his coworkers, he was able to design a professional podcast space that includes high-end recording and video equipment.
“The biggest thing that I would say is we were concerned with the sound and then the look of it,” Willcox said.
Along with listening to the podcast, viewers can watch Willcox and Ariola interview guests in the studio, framed by exposed brick and a dark green accent wall. The podcast’s cover art, created by Western artist Amy Watts, can be seen behind the hosts.
“We didn’t want to go with some AI logo or some cheap-looking deal,” Willcox said. “We went with Amy and had her actually paint us a painting.”
After finishing the recording studio, Willcox’s next challenge was learning how to produce and edit.
“I’m not a video expert. I grew up around cattle and farming and work cow auctions and sell real estate,” Willcox said.
Willcox and Ariola want their podcast to leave a lasting impression on the community. They want to give viewers content that they can look back on in the future.
“I want to get what I would call legacy content,” Willcox said. “Capture that vibe of sitting on the front porch with your grandpa and him telling you stories.”