Fifteen years ago, I moved to Nashville from Evansville, IN like many others — a broke musician. I’ve always been lucky enough to have a job that was flexible and allowed me to tour. For the better part of a decade, that job was working as a manager for the comedian, Ralphie May. Ralphie taught me so much about being a man, providing for your family, how to start and run a business, and how to treat people and grow relationships. We started a BBQ business called Fat Baby which provided me insight into the steps necessary to run a food manufacturing business. We sold sauces and rubs to fans all over the country. We were going to get his BBQ on menus in comedy clubs all across the country. We had so many plans. Unfortunately, we lost Ralphie in 2017. My entire life collapsed and the bottom fell out. I lost my sole income, my health insurance, my friend and mentor all in a day. One of Ralphie’s co-managers took me under his wing on a project to reopen a peach and apple orchard in Wilson County, so we did just that. I spent 2 years learning how to grow peaches and apples, run a country store selling local goods and produce, set up wholesale accounts and deliver to restaurants in the middle Tennessee area. I learned everything I needed to between these two jobs to make a dedicated leap into running my own business. I’m so thankful for my experiences working with Ralphie and then with Andrew Dorfman at Breeden’s Orchard. I couldn’t have done this without them. I’ve always loved cooking, but especially pasta making. As luck would have it, I came across a commercial pasta extruder in Tuscaloosa, AL. I rented a truck the next day and went to pick it up. It’s an Avancini TRD110 and affords me the capability to produce 88 pounds of pasta an hour. Mr. Aaron’s Goods was born. For now, I’m offering small-batch, whole egg pasta and specialize in working with chef’s to develop custom pasta options utilizing fresh milled grains and outside-the-box ingredients with my Mockmill. Eventually I hope to have my own brick and mortar, expanding my product line to offer a little bit of everything — sauces, breads, lunch and dinner options, as well as dried pasta options. Until then, you can find my pastas around town at stores like Citizen Market or Demeter’s Common, through Greener Roots, or on menus at Cafe Roze, Margot, TKO, The 404 Kitchen, Saint Stephen, Santo, Deacon’s New South, and Acme Feed & Seed.