Your Neighbor: Meet Josh Tucker

By Mandy Haggerson

For the Clemmons Courier

With the fascination and demand for technology these days, it’s hard to believe there was once a world of being an outdoor kid. For Josh Tucker, appreciating nature and being outside was all that he and his younger brother knew during their childhood.

“We enjoyed fishing and hunting to name just a few. If we weren’t outside, we would go play basketball at the YMCA,” Tucker said. “In middle school I traded playing basketball with Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racing. I loved going to Tanglewood to race,” says Tucker of the sport that was added to the Olympics in 2008.

A nice perk to Tucker’s interest into BMX racing was that it led to his first job in high school.

“I began working for Jim and Nancy Livengood at the bike shop in Clemmons. I enjoyed it so much, that once I graduated from West Forsyth High School, I continued working there all through college on my breaks and during summers,” Tucker said.

Tucker grappled with a way to turn his passion into a career.

“I realized that if you’re not in the top 1 percent in the BMX world, you’re not going to go anywhere with it. I had begun to explore mountain biking and road racing as a teenager. My skills from years and years of BMX racing parlayed well into that transition,” Tucker said.  “Fortunately for me, mountain biking is big over at Tanglewood where I could practice.”

Testing out his newfound sport, Tucker raced regionally, all up and down the East Coast. When Lees-McRae College started up a grass roots cycling team, Tucker was quickly recruited to join them.

“When I first started there, we only had 8 people on the team, and our coach was a volunteer administrator with a big heart. Now it’s become one of the most prestigious mountain biking schools in the country with over 100 cyclists on the team,” Tucker said. “My sophomore year we went to the nationals in New Mexico and won the division III national championship. It was the first national championship the school had won at that point.”

Tucker had been awarded a partial scholarship to continue to lead the team throughout his time in college.

Once Tucker’s time ended at Lees-McRae, he left with his college degree in business management and headed back to Clemmons to continue working for the Livengoods at the bike shop in Clemmons.

“I had worked there with one of my best friends, Travis, and we realized that Jim and Nancy were looking to retire. They had decided that they would either close the doors or sell it to us and only us because we shared their vision and passion. Travis and I were young single men who loved cycling and were passionate about what we were doing, so we decided to make a go out of it. We were lucky to get a loan from a local bank that knew us. It was helpful to have good relationships in our community,” Tucker said.

While their decision to continue the business together was a good opportunity, Travis also would play another important role as matchmaker in Tucker’s life.

“Travis’ wife played soccer at Guilford College with Veronica, my future wife. We were introduced at just the right time, and we began dating each other. She was from Illinois and loved it down here as soon as she came to school. I was glad to learn that since I wanted to stay in Clemmons,” Tucker said.

Once married, Josh and Veronica realized after having 2 of their 3 children, that the life of retail was becoming detrimental to their family time.

“It was hard because you had to work on weekends for certain events, and our kids were young. I wanted to spend quality time with them,” explains the dad to Grace (10), Brayden (8) and Hannah (5). “God started giving me signs in my heart to do something differently. I soul searched and knew that I had to do something that I was passionate about. I remembered being young and looking up to my grandfather who was an engineer and craftsman. I spent a lot of time learning from him. I loved working with my hands. I had been around the construction world too and was very intrigued by it.”

Tucker decided to look into remodeling and construction work.

“When Veronica and I were first married, I had renovated our first home off of Harper Road. It was a disaster, and we had to gut almost the entire thing,” Tucker said. ‘I knew I had the capabilities to do it, I just needed the leap of faith to start over. With the support of Veronica and my family, I began True Vine Home Services. We primarily do renovations and reconstructions. We began doing a lot of kitchens, baths and screened-in porches. What has been so meaningful is that we’ve been able to grow primarily through word of mouth and referrals. I have found that people appreciate that we don’t sub out our work. We are all tradesman and craftsman, so customers know that they are getting quality work, and I will be on every project the entire time. If you go into any big neighborhood in Clemmons, you’ll find our projects and work. We’ve got 6 people that work at the business, and the demands for our help continue to grow. It’s a great feeling to do what you love in the community you were raised and are now raising your own children.”

Tucker relishes in those moments. If he’s not working on a home, he’s often at church which is a huge part of his life at Calvary Baptist West.

“We love our church family and being involved in church ministry. We have been given many blessings from the Lord, and this season of life has proved just that,” Tucker said.

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