She Laughs As She Runs: Katie Gobbi on Growing Euharlee Without Losing Its Soul

Katie Gobbi walked into 216 Coworking in downtown Cartersville carrying more titles than most people collect in a decade: Community and Economic Development Director for the City of Euharlee, president of the Rotary Club of Etowah, chair-elect of the Etowah Foundation, and an at-large member of Art in Bartow. By the end of the conversation, host Logan Lewis had learned every one of those roles traces to the same root — a woman raised to say yes when somebody needs help, and who is only now learning what that costs her. Katie has spent thirteen-plus years building Euharlee's identity from the ground up, and on this episode she talked small-town growth, the community that carried her through real loss, and why she still can't answer, 'How can I help you?'

From East Cobb to the Euharlee History Museum

Katie was born at the now-closed Georgia Baptist Hospital, spent her first decade in Jonesboro, and grew up mostly in East Cobb, graduating from Lassiter High School's class of 2004 — home of a national champion marching band she played in, and a classmate of WWE star Cody Rhodes, son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes. While studying public history and historic preservation at Georgia State, a Google search led her to the Bartow History Museum, where director Trey Gaines gave her a rare paid internship. Driving over the Etowah River for the first time, she said it immediately "felt like home." She became director of the Euharlee History Museum in December 2012, watched it grow into the Welcome Center and History Museum in 2015, and stepped into her current role in 2022.

Waiting Tables, Meeting Seth, and Learning Real Teamwork

Before city government, Katie spent six years waiting tables and bartending — including the restaurant where she met her husband, Seth, who kept quietly helping her cut lemons for side work until she realized he wasn't doing that for anyone else. She credits the industry with teaching her something no classroom could: "there is no hierarchy... everybody is important, everybody is crucial." That lesson paid off fast — her Euharlee job interview at 25 was in front of the entire city council, and the poise she'd built surviving a Friday-night rush carried her through.

Growing Euharlee Without Losing What Makes It Euharlee

Euharlee's population sat around 4,200–4,300 at the 2020 census — which Katie believes undercounted the city — and annexations of the Westminster, Cherry Glen, and Heritage River subdivisions are pushing it toward 5,000, the threshold at which Georgia cities must "codify" their ordinances into an official code book. Rather than chase Cartersville's scale, the city has leaned into what makes it distinct: The Outpost, the Welcome Center and History Museum, the Euharlee Creek RV campground, and the amphitheater in Osborne Park, finished last September with roughly $1.6–2.1 million in American Rescue Plan funds. Katie choked up describing the first event there, watching an estimated 1,500 people turn out for Food Truck Fridays — nearly half the city's population in one park. She also pointed to "She Laughs As She Runs," Euharlee's first public art piece, honoring the Muscogee/Cherokee-derived meaning of the city's own name.

Service Above Self: Rotary and the Etowah Foundation

Katie is finishing her term as president of the Rotary Club of Etowah, the youngest of Bartow's three Rotary clubs at 23 years old. She joined almost by accident, filling in as a guest speaker about the Fall Festival in 2022, and became a member within months. Rotary's motto, "service above self," shows up locally and globally — the club recently co-chaired a district conference at Harrah's Cherokee, auctioning a Bartow-themed basket for a mission that includes eradicating polio worldwide. Her service streak also runs through the Etowah Foundation, which she joined at board member Greg Free's invitation — Free later showed up in person, unprompted, to help arrange her grandmother's funeral. She becomes board chair January 1, overseeing scholarships and the Foundation's newer "future centers" for Bartow students planning life after high school.

The Hardest Lesson: You Can't Do It Alone

The conversation's most candid moment came when Katie talked about learning her limits. Her mother died of cancer when Katie was 15, forcing her to grow up fast, and six years ago this week, she and Seth lost a daughter, Emeline, at 19 weeks of pregnancy — a loss that taught her to lean on community instead of pushing through alone. She referenced hearing that you shouldn't treat every responsibility like glass when some are plastic, and admitted she still struggles to drop the right ball. At a recent ribbon-cutting, a guest told her, "We're all here because when we ask for your help, you show up" — a line that stopped Katie in her tracks, because as she put it, "I just get joy out of serving people," but she's still learning it's okay to let people serve her back.

Real Talk: Clue, Craps, and Secretly Loving Laser Tag

The lightning round revealed a few surprises: Katie's favorite movies are Clue and Pride and Prejudice, her dream Food Truck Friday headliners are Taylor Swift and the Beatles (her cat is named George Harrison Gobbi), and her go-to appetizer order is calamari, bruschetta, and fried pickles. A perfect day off means sleeping until nine, a pedicure, a bubbly rosé at The Outpost, and rewatching Psych and Parks and Recreation with her ten-year-old. Despite Rotary friends calling her famously "risk averse," Katie confessed her one wild streak is laser tag — "there's no consequences, you just get to be a kid in the dark."

Listen to the Full Conversation

This episode has more stories than any recap can cover, from Euharlee losing its city charter decades ago to how its newest brewery was designed to complement the historic district instead of compete with it. Catch Katie at the Euharlee Covered Bridge Fall Festival on October 9th and 10th, or at Rotary Club of Etowah meetings Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. Listen to the full conversation with Katie Gobbi on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch it on YouTube.