GULF SHORES – The travelling trio of Peanutters with Planters' NUTmobile met with Gulf Coast Media to give an inside look of what life in the 26-foot-long peanut on wheels is like, in a nutshell.

Jessie Carl, or Peanut Butter and Jessie "on the salty streets," said the NUTmobile goes to events, fairs, festivals, restaurants, breweries and businesses to "shell out smiles and pass out peanuts."

Carl is currently working on the team as the event planner, but she said each Peanutter shares responsibility and switch roles every two weeks.

Katie Krupinski, AKA Maca-Katie-a "like macadamia", said they each got involved for "pretty much the same or similar reasons" as "young, tenacious" recent college graduates with "very outgoing, nutty personalities" who enjoy the world of marketing.

Krupinski, who is currently working on the social media for the NUTmobile, said getting to travel across the county and meet different people "has been extraordinary for us."

Ryan Connors, who's salty street name is Honey Roasted Ryan, is the third Peanutter. He currently works as the team's media correspondent.

Connors said each of the Peanutters found out about the opportunity "from a different avenue, which is cool." He found out from Instagram, Krupinski found out through a friend who was a Peanutter a few years ago and Carl found out from a newspaper clipping a family friend sent her a picture of.

"We're essentially a billboard on wheels, so it's also more unconventional marketing," Krupinski said. "So, when people see it, they're going to ask questions and it really draws people wherever we go."

Connors said the current trio is responsible for creating the orientation or "peanut prep" for the next crew of Peanutters who will start at the beginning of June this year and work until June of next year. Carl said the program has been around for about 10 years.

"The NUTmobile itself has been around since the 30s," Carl said, "not this specific design but just like the concept of a fun vehicle that Mr. Peanut drives or Mr. Peanut travels in."

Krupinski said the Peanutters travel to a new city "every two to five days" bringing in "a lot of reach just by driving." Alabama is the 20th state they have been to. Connors said they have visited every state "east of the Mississippi River except for Maine" in addition to a few states to the west.

Before visiting Gulf Shores, which is somewhere Krupinski has "always been interested in," from Feb. 1 to Feb. 5, the crew stopped by Dothan, Alabama, the peanut capital.

"Not even peanut capital of the U.S.," Krupinski said, "peanut capital of the world. So, we had to go there, of course."

Carl said the next location for the NUTmobile will be New Orleans and "everything in between." She said the Peanutters choose the locations they want to go to 80 to 90 percent of the time with the remaining percentage of the decision made by the corporate manager at Hormel Foods, Planters' parent company, out of Austin, Minnesota. The corporate manager mainly schedules big events or festivals for the team to work around.

Mr. Peanut has his own seat in the NUTmobile.

RUTH MAYO / GULF COAST MEDIA

The Peanutters stay in hotels and park the peanut anywhere they can find a spot.

"We mostly just look for open parking lots just because of our clearance," Connors said. "Then we'll just take up two spots. There are places that do have RV parking though, which has been nice, but yeah, for the most part it's just the two spots."

Carl said the NUTmobile has gotten a lot of attention on the Gulf Coast as there are "lots of big fans here" as "a lot of the snowbirds" in town at the moment are all "really big fans of Mr. Peanut."

"He's an icon," Connors said.

"It's nice because when we're traveling, no one ever has negative interactions with us," Krupinski said. "Everyone's so positive because they want to see a peanut on wheels. It's just always bringing smiles to people's face when they see something out of the ordinary like this."

Overall, each of the Peanutters have enjoyed their time on the road together and are excited to have had this opportunity. The Peanutter who had travelled the most before embarking on the NUTmobile journey was Connors who completed a road trip from Washington to New York with his dad and sister when he was in the 10th grade.

"That's kind of what sparked my want to travel to more of the country," Connors said. "I've had a goal since 10th grade to hit all 50 states before I turned 25 so (being a Peanutter) is kind of making this dream come true."

For plans after the NUTmobile term is over, Connors and Krupinski are in the process of applying to sales positions at Hormel Foods to, as Connors described, "keep on traveling" and "find unconventional ways to live."

Carl said she feels lucky to have this job, but she doesn't think she will continue with Hormel Foods like the other two.

"I love Hormel, don't get me wrong," Carl said, "but I have a musical theatre degree, so this is a little out of the box for me, which is crazy to say because already I'm out of the box by doing theatre."

Before becoming a Peanutter, Carl worked as an actress in Chicago for three years. One thing she's enjoyed about this job is, for the first time, having a salary and job benefits. She plans to return to acting in Chicago after  leaving the Peanutter position and is hoping the experience on the road will influence her acting and art "for many years to come."

"You know, when you're a creative person, you've got to go back to that eventually," Carl said. "This has been an amazing year, and I would not trade it for anything, but, yes, that's my plan."

Before retiring from the Peanutter life, the current crew will train the next class on the previously mentioned "peanut prep" for a week. Connors recommended the next crew of Peanutters to fully "take advantage of" living on the road for a year.

"There's no right way to do it. You're travelling the country with two people you've never met before," Connors said. "You're going to make lifelong experiences and lifelong memories and just take full advantage of it."

Those interested in applying to be the next class of Peanutters can apply at BeAPeanutter.com before Feb. 14. The Peanutters social media, @plantersnutmobileofficial on Instagram and @plantersnutmobile on TikTok, also have regularly updated information on applying to be a Peanutter.

"If anyone has any further questions with the application, they could feel free to DM us on Instagram and shoot us a message," Krupinski said, "and we'd be happy to help answer some questions for them."

Carl said there is a 60 second video audition where she said to make sure you show off your personality.

"We talk to people every day. Our job is talking to people, making people smile," Carl said. "There's no selling that we do. We don't sell anything, everything is free. It's really about the experience and having conversations and making people's experience great."

According to Carl, Hormel Foods is looking for someone who "wants to make people smile every day" and "how could you not? It's the best job ever."

"It's nuts," Connors said.

Anyone can apply to be a Peanutter from anywhere across the country. Carl is originally from Michigan, Krupinski is originally from Texas, Connors is originally from New York and they each are now travelling the country shelling out smiles and Planters' peanuts.