Fun Freetime: Steel Magnolias Podcast

Lainie Stubblefield and Laura Beth Peters of Franklin grew up knowing that the south does things a little different, but now after decades of living in the Nashville area, they have decided the quirkiness of the south is one that they not only embrace, but that they want to share with others.

Lainie graduated from Brentwood High School (’88) as Student Body Vice President and went on to study Corporate and Organizational Communication at Western Kentucky University. Little did she know that all that love of communication and leadership would lead to a now hobby putting her in front of a microphone at her kitchen table each week with her younger sister. Laura Beth Peters graduated from Brentwood High School (’99) and went on to study marketing, while enjoying writing on the side for The Daily Beacon while at the University of Tennessee. Peters came to her sister with the idea to share their love of hospitality, cooking, southern culture, events, and travel through the method of a podcast. “I just figured that this is the way people are enjoying learning about new things. I myself listen to several podcasts, and love the way I can listen on the go to any topic I want, or settle into a story via a podcast all while I clean my kitchen,” said Peters.

They decided on the name Steel Magnolias Podcast to reflect the strength of a southern woman that’s matched with grace and femininity as portrayed in the magnolia. Weekly episodes are recorded in Stubblefield’s Franklin home and released through iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and TuneIn.

“I truly love the south and hope to preserve the good that comes out of the people and places here. There are so many new people moving here that I think it’s important to share with them where the kindness, resourcefulness, and good cooking comes from in us southerners,” said Stubblefield.

Episode topics include everything from thoughtful gift giving, pimiento cheese, thank you notes, highlights of southern attractions, a little history and a whole lot of butter! The sisters look forward to diving into the observations their newlysouthern friends have made upon moving to the area including why it’s best not to honk your car horn and how much extra time you should build into a grocery store run for chit chat with the store clerk. If you’d like to check out Steel Magnolias Podcast it’s available now. For more information visit https://www.steelmagnoliaspodcast.com