Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022 - 43

to Jonesborough, " she says. " It is really
important that we acknowledge that, as
soon as people get here to check in, if
they're a little bit short with us or not exactly
the most congenial on arrival, that
they've either been on a plane or in a car
cooped up with their family. Being able
to read people and trying to be at least
one or two steps ahead of our guests-it
definitely helped working in the restaurant
hospitality world because, as a server,
you try to anticipate what people need
so they don't need to ask you for it. "
After three years of working nonstop
as general manager at an upscale steakhouse-nightclub-she
kept an air mattress
in her office to catch a few winks
between closing up after a late Saturday
and opening for Sunday brunch-Yarbrough
was burned out. So she decided
to take a year off to travel with Blake,
with Jonesborough as a landing spot for
building stage sets, crafting costumes
and occasionally serving as an extra in
a performance at the repertory theater
next door to the Historic Eureka Inn.
In an effort to save the financiallyailing
inn, Kennedy reached out to the
bright young couple, who brought to
their first meeting the journal and a list
of easy changes they could make in a
hurry. After three months of jumping
through hoops, including meeting with
some of the town's most influential planners,
the Yarbroughs were hired 10 days
before Christmas in 2014.
True to their promise, they started
turning the Eureka around. They signed
up to participate in community events,
built a new website and transformed two
guest rooms with the noisiest pipes in
the building into a dining room with a
made-to-order Southern breakfast. They
also alerted Trip Advisor, where previous
visitors had posted bad reviews, that the
inn was under new management, joined
as many neighborhood boards and committees
as possible, and hosted murder
mystery dinners several times a year.
" We had to open our brunch up to the
public, " says Yarbrough, " because all of
our Jonesborough neighbors could smell
the bacon coming out of the kitchen. "
A turning point came when the Yarbroughs
won a televised visit from Anthony
Melchiorri, host of the Travel
ABOVE: The Historic Eureka
Inn has become a fixture in
Jonesborough, Tennessee over
the seven years since Katelyn
Yarbrough and her husband Blake
took it over.
RIGHT: Blake was a housekeeper
at the inn when he had a dream
that he and Katelyn might one day
take it over; a phone call about that
very thing a few days later struck
Katelyn " as a sign. " It was, indeed.
Channel's " Hotel Impossible. "
" After that,
people,
including
the
Town of Jonesborough, felt comfortable
sending VIPs, whether it was someone
running for public office or a really
well-known storyteller, where in the past
they would not send them here because
it didn't have a great reputation, " Yarbrough
says.
She also brought a unique perspective
to nonprofit organizations, becoming
chair of the New Generation Freedom
Fighters and an advisor on diversity, inclusion
and equity issues for both the
McKinney Center at the Booker T. Washington
School and the regional office of
the American Red Cross. When Kennedy
sold the couple the business in 2018,
Yarbrough took the reins as a minority
small-business owner.
The Yarbroughs were in the process
of also buying the building and property
when the pandemic hit. Phone
calls from New York and other big cities
poured in as would-be guests tried to
book extended stays to escape their own
COVID " hot spots. "
" [Blake and I] had a heart-to-heart
talk and it was just like, 'This does not
feel right,' " Yarbrough recalls. " Jonesborough
is a very old community. We didn't
need to bring [visitors] here to this small
town and possibly spread COVID here
quickly. So we just completely stopped
taking reservations. "
As the months passed, they served
curbside brunch and Yarbrough
launched Side Hustle Custom Cookies
to keep their business afloat. In early
2021, they reopened for overnight stays
with six rooms (there were originally
14), made breakfast available for guests
only, and set up a public bakery in the
parlor. " It's all working like clockwork, "
she says, " which is crazy after the chaotic
two years that we've had. "
In addition to working as a team with
her husband, who manages the lodging,
and being able to high-five each other at
the end of a long, exhausting day, Yarbrough
loves feeling a sense of belonging
and acceptance from the community.
" It's just really cool that we're starting
to be known for what we've done
here. ... We were given the opportunity
of a lifetime to save the reputation of the
business of this inn, and it's just been a
beautiful ride. "
MARCH/APRIL 2022 43
Blue Ridge Country March/April 2022

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