Don & Tracy Hardin: No Backup Plan — How a Nashville Native and His COO Built a 26-Year Construction Legacy from Scratch | Circle Back

Join host Sam Davidson as he sits down with Don and Tracy Hardin, founders of the Don Hardin Group and two of the newest announced members of the Nashville Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame 15th class, to be honored at the NEXT Awards on October 19th, 2026. Neither of them set out to build a company. Don wanted to work 30 years, get a watch, and retire. Tracy watched her father do payroll by hand at 11 PM and wanted absolutely nothing to do with entrepreneurship. Then life had other plans.

Over 26 years, through a decade of moves across the country, two recessions, a pandemic, and a deeply held belief that their employees would always get paid — they built one of Nashville's most respected construction management firms. Their portfolio includes the National Museum of African American Music, Music City Center, and a reputation built on relationships, consistency, and refusing to have a backup plan.

This conversation covers all of it: how they met (at a Houston's hostess stand on May 13, 1989), how the company started (a church project, a Nissan plant, and a whiteboard at HCA), how Tracy went from swearing off entrepreneurship to running the entire back office, and what they're focused on now — building something worth handing down.

Episode Highlights:

• 0:39 — Don and Tracy introduce themselves: 26 and 23 years respectively in this work
• 1:18 — Tracy's first entrepreneur: her father, UT's first Black tenured professor in 1966 — who also ran a convenience store to pay for her education
• 2:02 — Why Tracy grew up watching entrepreneurship and decided she wanted a nine-to-five
• 2:37 — Don's first: Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Kitty, the neighborhood market over the hill in Trinity Hills
• 4:59 — The math teacher Don dodged for an entire semester — by taking alternate stairs — who ultimately pointed him toward engineering
• 6:02 — Tracy: pre-med until the morgue, then public administration and nonprofit work
• 7:02 — How they met: a "shaggy apartment," a UPS lunch at Houston's, and a phone number he wasn't sure he'd get
• 9:07 — May 13, 1989: Don calls the same day, they go out the same night
• 9:41 — The decade of moves: Oswego to Bowling Green to Greenville to Chicago to Birmingham to Reading, PA — and finally back to Nashville
• 11:35 — The church project that pulled them home — and the promises Don made to get Tracy back
• 14:41 — Don's decision to go independent: unplanned, organic, just the next logical step
• 20:00 — First contract: Nissan North America in Canton, Mississippi, via a PMI lunch and an automotive credential from the Mercedes-Benz plant
• 22:29 — How Tracy joined: Don doing everything himself, Tracy saying "why don't I help?" and immediately professionalizing the whole operation
• 24:08 — Tracy's first decision: payroll service, day one. "I am not going to be my father with that notebook."
• 28:12 — Planning in a volatile industry: what happens when you come back from the mountains with a plan and the phone rings for something else entirely
• 31:13 — The legacy question: why selling shares to the next generation matters, and why passing a Black-owned business down is rare
• 33:24 — Running a business with your spouse: clear lane separation, and the same accountant, attorney, and insurance agent for 25+ years
• 35:00 — The National Museum of African American Music: "Don, go build a museum" — and how he spread opportunity to every contractor involved
• 35:50 — Music City Center: the "Leave it to Beaver" conversation that got the two larger firms to hear him out
• 37:57 — Tracy on Music City Center: managing the build, and now serving on the board
• 38:53 — Don's philosophy: no backup plan. One plan. Make it work.
• 39:33 — COVID: kept everyone on payroll the whole time. "Last year's profit's gone, but you're going to keep getting your paychecks."
• 40:51 — Closing: Hall of Fame, October 19th NEXT Awards, and what staying the course actually looks like

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Relevant Links:

• Don Hardin Group
• National Museum of African American Music
• Nashville Entrepreneur Center
• Circle Back Podcast
• Nashville Post

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