But now Nashville has taken to Reed. In 2003 he beat senators, the governor of Tennessee and the mayor of Nashville to be named both Tennessean of the Year and the most influential person in Nashville.

I was racing in these French extreme races called Raid Galuloises. I was with the first American team to compete in this race in the Middle East (in 1993). We were riding camels, Arabian horses, backpacking and mountaineering in 10 days. It was totally crazy. Our team had to get sponsors, and sponsors want exposure. I had no idea what they meant, but I was thinking, I'll just go and make a show. I did it in a totally unique way. I didn't know the rules, so I simply got the French organizers to provide me all the footage from their 20 camera teams in return for exposure in the U.S. marketplace. I got (KCAL-TV) Channel 9 in L.A. to send a reporter and a cameraman, and I got them to edit the footage plus some of their own footage of me and my team into a 90-minute special. They didn't pay me anything, and I didn't pay them anything. They got to air the show on Channel 9, and then the rights reverted to me. At the time, Channel 9 was owned by Disney. I got them to provide on-air talent: Mark Steines (now a correspondent on "Entertainment Tonight"). So then I took the finished show, which was great, and sold it to ESPN. I told them, you give me half the commercials, I'll give you a free show. I sold the commercials at a huge profit, made money and got the exposure for the sponsors. And I saw how easy this business was.