Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Chappelear.
Emily, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I got my start giving walking tours as a contractor for another local company. It was intended to be a temporary gig, but I fell in love with everything about it. After leaving a desk job, I especially loved working outside on my feet and interacting with other curious people who were excited to be visiting a new city. The vibes were so refreshing.
But I also looked around at the tour landscape and saw that some of the companies seemed to use just enough historical accuracy to get by, that local tour guides often depended on inaccurate websites for story content, and that some common knowledge about our city was entirely fabricated. These things really got my goat!
That’s why I founded Nitty Gritty City Tours. Coming from real estate sales and business coaching, where it was all move-fast-and-break-things, I chose the opposite. Move slow, focus on old-fashioned customer service, build stories from original primary sources, bootstrap everything with no debt, and make it fun and entertaining. There are so many great stories in our city’s history, and Austin has incredible resources for local research, from the Austin History Center. I love that I’ve made it my job to always be learning more about our history.
I started out giving all of the tours myself, sometimes 15+ per week. I injured my vocal chords, my feet, and gave tours in 100+ degrees. It took me two years to figure out the right timing and schedule. Now I’m so lucky to have three incredible guides working with me. They are incredible storytellers and history lovers. With their help, I can focus on tour development, like our new pub crawl, as well as private and custom tours. Our custom corporate team-building tours are currently our fastest-growing service.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Bootstrapping a company is not smooth. The first struggle is your own mind. During slow times, you’re constantly asking yourself, “Am I failing, or is this a hurdle to be leapt over?” In the moment, it’s just you and your best guesses. I turned down loans and investors, because I wanted 100% certainty that my growth was from real demand, not debt. The overhead for a high-quality tour company was much higher than I thought it would be, so I waited for that magical moment where my business had earned it’s first hire. Scaling slowly allowed me to maintain a sense of wholeness, stability, and growth driven by excellence.
As you know, we’re big fans of Nitty Gritty City Tours. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Nitty Gritty City Tours we specialize in immersive historical storytelling. We offer a variety of public and private walking tours. Our most popular offering is “‘The Story of Austin,” a two-hour history walk in Downtown Austin. In the evenings we offer a spooky and fun haunted history tour as well as a pub crawl called “The Dead or Alive Wild West Austin Pub Crawl,” which is a fabulous tour for those who love the rougher side of history. These, along with several other tours offered by request, allow us to mix and match content to deliver custom tours for groups and teams.
Rather than reciting dates and names, we engage with original primary sources to build our stories from the ground up. Each place we visit on our walking tours tells a unique story while also contributing to the larger story of Austin, Texas. Whether we are walking you through the history of 6th street, or Austin’s wild west era, the Texas State Capitol or The Driskill Hotel, we favor a vivid, character-driven approach to history. Our guides are masterful storytellers with years of experience in public speaking and performance. Because we focus on custom and private tours, we have the flexibility to tailor the narrative arc to our audience, making the history of Austin feel personal and alive.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I had a very stereotypically 90’s childhood that I’m grateful for. I spent at least half my time riding my bike, exploring woods and creeks, and finding other kids to play with. It’s hard to pick just one memory. When I was seven, my aunt purchased two ducklings for my sister and me at a flea market. My parents were irritated, but went along with it for some reason. My dad and I put up a wire fence, and at only seven years old I dug these ducks a pond. I was so proud. We kept them in a giant tub for a few weeks and then moved them into our fenced area. I ended up being the one who fed them and cleaned the nasty stagnant pond I had created. We ended up taking them to a friends farm. He had a real pond. I also remember we ahad a neighbor who moved out and abandoned their dog inside the house. I was so impressed to see my parents help rescue that dog, and then we adopted him. That had such an impact on me. He was such a great dog, and we had him for 15 years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ngctours.com
- Instagram: @ngctours
