Terrence Culbreath is trying to pump new, fresh blood into the Town of Johnston; his tall frame mirrors the goals and hopes he has for his town of barely 3,000 residents.
Beaten by the 2008 recession and left to dry following the restructure of the local government fund, Johnston, which is in Edgefield County, relies on its peach economy, holding onto any new seed willing to stake claim in its soil.
Culbreath is just 32, and as the youngest mayor of Johnston, he wants to change how those on the outside view the peach town.
"I'm not the typical guy from Johnston; my friends always joke, 'You're country, but you're cultured,'" Culbreath said. "Like I can go anywhere, and I get it, this feeling, this urge to do something and before I know it, I jump on it."
Culbreath's start
Although Culbreath grew up in Johnston and graduated from Strom Thurmond High School, he was itching to move around. He wanted an opportunity to set his sights on something new, something bigger.
After receiving a bachelor's degree in science from Full Sail University in Florida, Culbreath found himself holding a rare opportunity he couldn't pass up.
"I moved to Atlanta, lived there for about six years, and my crew and I would build audio, music studios for people," Culbreath said. "If you said, 'OK, we want a music studio in my room,' we could make that work."
From setting up music studios to making connections with some of Atlanta's well-known residents in the music industry, Culbreath landed a gig as an audio engineer for the group Outkast, an internationally-known hip-hop duo.
"I actually landed a Grammy nomination with them in 2007 for a song called 'Mighty-O,'" Culbreath said. "I think it was best rap duo; I was the engineer on it. We lost, but to be nominated at 24. And I also produced a record called 'Tangerine' for (Outkast member) Big Boi on a solo project."
Culbreath has heard the question before: "How did you go from fame back to the town that has known you since you could walk?"
"It's a process," Culbreath said. "I tell people I'm truly blessed. I don't know how some people feel with religion and with God, but I'm blessed. ... I don't need a raft. I see an opportunity to take a speedboat, and then I do it. I had saved up a bit of money and so I just felt like I needed to do something bigger, I needed to do something that mattered."
'Something that matters'
Culbreath points to a photo he took with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. They met in February at an "impromptu meeting," started talking and now she might visit Johnston in April. Recently, Culbreath received a shout-out from President Barack Obama during his speech at Benedict College in Columbia.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Culbreath said.
Culbreath's path to mayor started with politics. He moved back to Johnston and became active in the community by helping residents register to vote.
"I'd hold these parties, like regular parties, and invite people and get to know them. Then I'd say, 'Hey, you're not active in the community, let me show you how to register to vote.' I just started registering everybody," Culbreath said.
Johnston, population 2,470, is about 64 percent black, barely "tapping 2 percent for other races outside of white," Culbreath said.
"I would say Johnston falls into the low-to-moderate income base; the federal government says we don't, but our median income is $34,000," Culbreath said. "You look at the population and makeup of the town, socioeconomic issues are very prevalent. You look at our schools, right down the road, Johnston Elementary and 80-plus percent of kids are on free or reduced lunch. It tells you mommy and daddy aren't making $34,000."
Until April 2014, Culbreath served two years as a Johnston Council member. With the community backing him, Johnston made an attempt to run for mayor. He ran, he won and became Johnston's second black mayor.
"One of the things I noticed quickly when I became mayor was the division, because of black and white," Culbreath said. "I truly don't feel it's as divided as many people think, but I quickly realized what others felt."
Soon after Culbreath took the mayor's seat, he said he caught "flack from the public" and "flack internally."
"We had some changes in the police department. I don't want to rehash old stuff, but there were some who didn't want to police or work here for the department anymore once I became mayor," Culbreath said. "But becoming mayor, and just as myself, I've always blurred the ... racial line. I'm more inclusive, I mean hey, I grew up Catholic. As a mayor, as a young mayor, you have to be a visionary. But I mean, I'm not trying to be Kanye West or anything."
Where to go from here
As Johnston, like other communities, heads into the next fiscal budget year, Culbreath said going forward is all about being "100 percent honest with ourselves."
"We have to be fiscally responsible and honest with ourselves as a Council and honest with our citizens," Culbreath said. "But we also need to grow. To predecessors before me, they did a good job of locking down on it and being conservative. But growth truly doesn't come from that."
Culbreath has visions of expanding Johnston's recreational opportunities, bringing in more businesses and taking a harder look at department needs.
"People probably thought when I became mayor, 'This is a kid; what is he going to do?' But people do realize we need to reposition ourselves. When people say Johnston, they think Peach Festival - that's it," Culbreath said. "We need to grab a new market, and that is something our City Council understands."
When he's not presiding over Council meetings or dealing with paperwork, Culbreath is speaking to students, sometimes even grading door decorations at the neighborhood school. Culbreath doesn't think of himself as a "desk man," but more of a "get out in the community" kind of guy.
"I like being mayor, and I truly want to do this for a while because I feel like my approach is different," Culbreath said. "Do I want to do something bigger? Look at me, I'm young. But I love being mayor - it's fun. It's challenging; it's more challenging than fun. I'm here building a lot of pieces people really want to see, and to do that, it takes time."
Culbreath walks the main street in downtown Johnston. Cars pull over to talk to him about community needs, businesses owners wave from their windows, those who have known him since grade school call out "Terrence."
Has Culbreath become an icon in the Town of Johnston? He hopes not.
"You know, I get a lot of calls now; they want me to speak at universities and to me it's like, since I've had my own level of fame with who I look at as icons and celebrities, I don't see it and I don't get overly excited about it," Culbreath said. "I like the fact that people are still talking about Johnston because when Terrence is gone, Johnston will still be here. Johnston came before me and it'll be here after me."
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.