What It Means to Be a Nashville NEXT Awards Finalist
By Paul Whitten, Founder of Nashville Adventures
I have led thousands of people down Nashville sidewalks and told them stories about other people's big moments. It is a strange and wonderful thing to suddenly be standing in one of my own.
Nashville Adventures is a 2026 Nashville NEXT Awards finalist. Our little veteran built walking tour company was named one of twenty-four finalists across all of Middle Tennessee, and I still get a lump in my throat typing that.
Let me tell you what this honor actually means to us, where this company came from, and why a finalist nod feels less like a trophy and more like a thank-you note from the city we love.
How Nashville Adventures Started
This company did not start in a boardroom. It started with a guy who could not stop telling stories.
Before I ever handed out a single tour ticket, I served in the Army in Afghanistan and then spent time in the Peace Corps in Armenia. Two very different chapters, same lesson: the fastest way to understand a place is to walk it with someone who loves it. I came home to Nashville carrying that idea like a stone in my pocket.
So I started walking people around downtown, telling them the true, weird, human history most guidebooks skip. No script. No gimmicks. Just the city, out loud. Some days it was three people and a drizzle. I did it anyway, because the story was worth telling to three people or thirty.
I did not build a tour company to sell tickets. I built it to give people the Nashville I fell in love with, the one underneath the neon.
That is still the whole point. If you want the longer version, I wrote about the moment it all clicked in why Nashville Adventures exists, and about our community-first philosophy in building Nashville the right way.
What the Nashville NEXT Awards Finalist Honor Means to Us
Here is the part that still does not feel real.
The NEXT Awards, presented by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, are Middle Tennessee's biggest night for founders. Winners are announced live on October 19 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, in front of six hundred business leaders, with twenty-four finalists competing for eleven trophies. Every finalist company is five years old or younger.
The Entrepreneur Center does not undersell it.
The NEXT Awards is Middle Tennessee's most prestigious night for the founders transforming industries, creating opportunity, and shaping the future of Nashville. (via Nashville Entrepreneur Center)
We are a finalist in the Music, Sports, Gaming and Entertainment category, which for a storytelling walking tour company feels exactly right. Even better, our photography partner JHR Photography made the finalist list too, so a friend gets to stand on that stage with us.
The whole class of twenty-four finalists was revealed on August 20 and covered across Nashville media, including the Nashville Post. The Entrepreneur Center even has a nickname for the night that makes me grin.
They call it the Oscars of business. The CMAs for founders. (via Nashville Entrepreneur Center)
What this means to me is simple, it tells me the work is landing. A room full of people who build banks and tech companies and restaurants looked at a walking tour built by a veteran and said, that counts. That belongs here. For a business whose whole model is putting Nashville first, that recognition lands deep.
The Other Awards That Got Us Here
A finalist nod does not happen in a vacuum. It sits on top of a few years of the city being awfully kind to us, and I do not take a single one of these lightly.
Nashville 40 Under 40. Recognition for building something that puts community at the center, not the bottom line.
Community Service Award. The one I am proudest of, because giving back was baked into this company from day one.
General Manager of the Year. A nod to the people-first way we try to run the day to day.
Tourism Manager of the Year. Recognition inside the hospitality world we work in every single day.
Nashville Hitmaker Award. A fun, very Music City honor for making noise the right way.
Put those next to a NEXT Awards finalist spot and a pattern shows up, and it is not really about me. It is about a company that keeps choosing the city over the shortcut. Awards are nice. What they really are, though, is proof to the next guest that they are in good hands, and proof to my team that the hard way is the right way.
Every award we have won points at the same thing: do right by Nashville, and Nashville does right back.
We back that up with more than words. We give one percent of every dollar to veterans and scholarships, which I broke down in giving back in Music City. And we lead with the fact that we are a veteran owned tour company, because that background shapes how we show up for every guest.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Nashville NEXT Awards?
The NEXT Awards are Middle Tennessee's premier awards for founders and high-impact companies, presented by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. The 2026 ceremony names winners live on October 19 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, with twenty-four finalists competing across eight industry categories.
Why is Nashville Adventures a NEXT Awards finalist?
Nashville Adventures was named a 2026 NEXT Awards finalist in the Music, Sports, Gaming and Entertainment category for its growth and its community-first, veteran-built model of storytelling walking tours. Only companies five years old or younger that are making a real impact in Middle Tennessee are selected.
What other awards has Nashville Adventures won?
Nashville Adventures has been recognized with Nashville 40 Under 40, a Community Service Award, General Manager of the Year, Tourism Manager of the Year, and the Nashville Hitmaker Award, alongside its 2026 NEXT Awards finalist honor.
When are the 2026 NEXT Awards winners announced?
The 2026 NEXT Awards winners are announced live on Monday, October 19, 2026, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville, in front of roughly six hundred business leaders.
Walk With an Award Winning Nashville Company
Here is my honest ask, founder to reader.
The best way to understand why this company keeps getting recognized is not to read about it. It is to walk a few blocks with us and hear Nashville the way I fell for it. Come see what a NEXT Awards finalist actually feels like on the ground. Book a spot on our Nashville walking tour, or browse the full tours lineup and pick the story that pulls at you. Bringing a group or a team? Reach out through our contact page and we will build something around you.
Finalist or not, we will be out there tomorrow doing the exact same thing we did on day one. Telling this city's stories, and meaning every word.
