Marc, Kamady, Ronnie and Reagan at the shop.
“ All of my best memories are in this town and I wanted Reagan to have a childhood like mine.”
— Kamady Rudd Lewis
sports on TV, so I just assumed that is what I would do my whole life.”
Those dreams did come true for Kamady. After graduating from Indiana University with a degree in journalism and sports communication, Kamady moved to Las Vegas for her first“ real job.”
“ I covered baseball for radio, but I didn’ t make much money,” she said.
She moved to San Diego and then to a small town in Iowa to pursue jobs in TV. Her next move to Shreveport, Louisiana was a life changing experience.
“ I got to anchor TV sports. I even got to freelance for ESPN and numerous college conferences,” Kamady said.“ I got to cover Dennis Rodman and several college athletes who are now in the pros. I have talked to all of the Mannings, except Peyton.”
She also met her husband, Ronnie Lewis, while in Louisiana.
“ I honestly never thought I would get married because my career was so crazy,” she said.“ But after I met him I started to see things differently. My priorities changed. I was tired of working so much and missing holidays with my family.”
In an effort to move closer to her family, Kamady accepted a morning TV news job in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2019, after four years as an anchor in Michigan, Kamady and Ronnie’ s son Reagan was born.
“ After having my son, I knew I wanted to find something different,” Kamady said.“ I was still five hours from my parents and I wanted Reagan to grow up around family.”
She took one final TV job in Cleveland, Ohio, for a year before deciding that she was ready to move back to Nashville to help run the nut shop.
“ I just felt drawn back,” Kamady said.“ All of my best memories are in this town and I wanted Reagan to have a childhood like mine.”
Since moving to Nashville, Kamady said she has flashbacks every time she sees 2-year-old Reagan toddling through the shop.
“ He was immediately comfortable here,” she said.“ He’ s a bit of a tornado, but it is so nice that he gets to see my parents every day now and he can be a part of the shop.”
As for the future, Kamady said she does not plan to make many changes to the business. She has, however, added the store to social media and created a website that allows customers to order online.
All of the nuts will continue to be freshly roasted in the store every day.
“ This is dad’ s baby and obviously it has worked so we’ re not trying to change anything,” Kamady said.“ The customers always ask for him. I’ m glad he’ s going to stick around to teach us and to just spend time with us.”
Learn more at www. jackandjillnutshop. com call 812- 988-7480, or find Jack and Jill Nut Shop on Facebook. •
Nov./ Dec. 2021 • Our Brown County 37