Timothy D. Starnes is originally from the small town of Waxhaw, North Carolina, a place consisting of aging train tracks and a few overpriced antique stores, and now resides in the bustling city of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is founder & executive producer at Ethereal Crack, playwright, screenwriter, game designer, humorist, history enthusiast, director, impresario, editor, and serial madman. He is the owner of the United States’ largest ghost tour company, and own multiple other tourist attractions such as a Victorian teahouse. We are sharing our recent interview with him.
Pro Media Mag: First, tell us about the start of your professional career?
Timothy D. Starnes: Well, I’ve done a complete multitude of things, so there’s a lot there. Back in college, as I was getting my start, I started up a consultant firm, where, well, I was the only consultant!
Pro Media Mag: Who or what inspired you to get into this field?
Timothy D. Starnes: It was college, hey, I needed money! -And I figured I could start building up my resume with being a consultant, I could just never reveal my age at the time. I think, following the number of clients I had, I’ve helped over 200 small businesses and nonprofits.
Pro Media Mag: Tell us about your recent work?
Timothy D. Starnes: My most recent launch has been my new company, Ethereal Crack. We own, design, and operate tourist attractions – it was launched in February ‘17, where we started with a single ghost tour operation in my hometown of Waxhaw, NC. Since then it has grown out to 30 locations in 4 states, along with a teahouse, a museum, bigfoot hunting experience, and even more.
Pro Media Mag: What kind of response you have received so far?
Timothy D. Starnes: It has been overwhelmingly positive! We have definitely grown much faster than we had ever anticipated.
Pro Media Mag: You are a writer, producer, game designer, director and much more. How do you manage all that simultaneously?
Timothy D. Starnes: As I’ve told some people before, I don’t so much sleep as much as I just pass out when my brain wears itself out. I simply just work on bits and pieces every day, until the job is finished, and then ship off the project to whoever needs to see it. I, of course, get a whole lot of help from others as well, I can’t take all the credit. Just a good bit of it.
Pro Media Mag: What do you enjoy more out of all these fields?
Timothy D. Starnes: I think it was Jim Dale, a rocker, who in his older years has narrated the Harry Potter audiobook, I once heard say, he didn’t fall into showbusiness but showbusiness fell onto him. It is pretty much, as you can see here, the same for me. I never asked for what has happened, I guess you could say I did, but, it just has, and now I’m saddled with it, for better, or for worse.
When you own the largest ghost tour agency in the US, you don’t simply just say “I don’t want to do this today.” – That, unfortunately, isn’t an Timothy D. Starnes. However, I do appreciate the freedom that it has given me compared to other people my age. It is liberating to not have to go into an office every day and make someone else rich.
I will say, though, the most rewarding feeling in the world is hearing an audience laugh. When they do, you know you’ve done your job right.
Pro Media Mag: Have you set some target to achieve?
Timothy D. Starnes: Honestly, I’ve never set a true goal. It has always been either as a joke or “because I can.” The problem is that it somehow, usually, works out.
Pro Media Mag: Are you currently working on any other project?
Timothy D. Starnes: Of course! But, just go to EtherealCrack.com to see what is going on.