2019 Issue 6 Nov/Dec - Focus Mid-South Magazine

At left: The Thacker-Rhodes pose with one of their Gypsy Cob
horses, Moonshine. Gypsy Cobs were bred to pull the family
wagons of the Romany Gypsies of Great Britain.
see us and know that we may be
gay, but that doesn’t mean we
can’t have a normal family life.
We hope to give others hope for
the same kind of life. We are
truly blessed.
Tell us about your day jobs.
We own staffing companies
PrideStaff and PrideStaff
Financial which are full-service
for all industries in Memphis
from healthcare, finance, office
admin, industrial, distribution
centers, etc. PrideStaff is a
national franchise and our
Memphis office is the third
largest in the U.S. We also have
recently opened a merchant
processing company which is
where we provide credit card
services. We are co-owners of
Pontotoc Lounge Downtown and
Silly Goose. We have TR Stables
(see below), Thacker-Rhodes
Properties, and we own a kennel
for boarding, grooming, and
selling puppies.
We developed two
companies: Tuscan Ridge
Equestrian and Wedding Venue,
and Baron’s Man Cave, but are
currently trying to get these two
sold so we can focus on our
larger endeavors.
You own several businesses.
What was the appeal of each?
They were all a challenge, and
we love a good challenge. If you
don’t take risks, you never get
anywhere in life. We’d rather say
we tried and failed than wonder,
‘what if?’.
Tell us about your horses.
We got into horses because it
was something that we could
both do together as sort of our
stress relief, and something we
could do as a family. We fell in
love with the rare Gypsy Cobs
breed in 2016 and imported our
first one from England. They
were originally bred by the
Romany Gypsies to pull their
wagons across all of England
and Ireland. Now it’s a full-time
job. We import them directly
from England, Ireland and
recently Australia. We have a
horse farm in England now
where we will keep them until
we get ready to bring them to
America. We recently moved an
English family to our farm to
manage, train and show these
horses (we bought our first
Gypsy from them). We are
currently the only stable in
Shelby county to have any. Our
mission is to find and import the
breed’s best to make our stables
an attraction to visit.
Tell us about your farm.
Six years ago, we purchased
the home from Mike Miller
(former player for the Grizzlies,
Miami Heat and Cleveland
Cavaliers and now assistant
coach for Memphis). We fell in
love with it. It had everything we
dreamed of. It’s close to the city
but we can have our horses and
animals that we love… horses,
sheep, geese, ducks, pheasants,
peacocks, alpacas, etc. And our
newest addition – a camel. It has
turned into a farm over the past
few years, but it’s our happy
place.
What’s coming up for you
professionally?
We are currently working our
biggest project yet in downtown
Memphis. Stay tuned...
What’s fun that’s coming up?
We host a Christmas party
each year for all of our friends
and clients, some who fly into
Memphis for this from all over
including Canada and England.
This is a yearly non-profit
benefit. This year’s party will
benefit Memphis Oral School for
the Deaf which is an amazing
organization that has a special
place in our hearts.
What’s your greatest hope for
your youngest son?
We had just started the
surrogate process when Rowan
came into our life. We had
gotten back from England and
got a call the next morning
about him being born. He was in
a hospital in Alabama. We were
not planning on adopting at all,
but this came out of nowhere
and was such an amazing gift
from God. After we got to
Alabama, we eventually got
custody of him. We brought this
beautiful soul home and made
him part of our family. We could
not imagine life without him. Our
The Thacker-Rhodes at their farm which now
includes horses, alpaca, ducks, geese — and a baby
camel named Precious. Rowan, below with his new
pony Sonny, is nearly 3. Jeremy says his son loves
all animals and if given the opportunity, would
probably even give kisses to a ‘possum.
hope is that he grows up with a
loving and accepting heart, is
caring and makes a difference in
others’ lives. That’s what we
teach him in our home. We want
him to grow up knowing that
everyone is equal, and all
families are unique. We teach
him that some families have a
Mom and a Dad, some have two
moms, some have two dads,
some children have one parent
or no parents at all, but we are
all the same and equal. We never
judge. An accepting heart is a
symbol of love.
Treat / NOV+DEC 2019 / focusmidsouth.com / Page 43