Latest / Curiously Guided Podcast / Ep.28 | Creating the Business You Want to See in the World with Samantha Williford of Lost Hill Lake Events

Transcript

Ep.28 | Creating the Business You Want to See in the World with Samantha Williford of Lost Hill Lake Events · Curiously Guided Podcast

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, welcome back to the Curiously Guided Podcast, the place for intuitive business owners.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're your host, Shay Mariah, and in today's episode, we're talking to my best friend for life, Samantha Willeford.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: She has been my um, I would say entrepreneurship muse for as long as I can remember.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Sam has taken a family property that was a relatively blank canvas and turned it into a very successful multi-six-figure business that is rapidly growing.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she is the embodiment of the curious, humble leader.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, she's always been dedicated to um self-improvement, self-growth, learning new things.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she, I think, is one of the greatest examples of a leader and how I would like to see um people lead, you know, and run businesses.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: She's very dedicated to um something we talk about is this idea of like a win-win-win business where we can run profitable businesses that give back to the community, give back to the environment.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, um, she treats all of the people that works for her with just like a lot of respect and thoughtfulness, and we'll get into that.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But she's just like a very inspiring person who is not afraid to chase vision and big dreams, even in the face of literally everybody telling her it's a bad idea or it's a scary idea or whatever.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: She has big dreams and she makes it happen.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I just always have found that very interesting.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I really just had a great time getting to kind of shine the light a bit on her and um the unique way that she's built this really cool business.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I feel like this episode, as we were creating it, it felt like we were all at a sleepover, like sitting there with pillows and blankets, just like giggling and laughing and like having a good time.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And like there's a little, I feel like a little bit of banter in here.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And just yeah, this episode is not just really powerful in terms of like shining the light on like what it means to be an honest, dedicated leader, but also like it's just so fucking fun to listen to.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: I listened to it again when I was at the gym and I was like laughing out loud, looking like a weirdo, like on the treadmill, which I mean, whatever that's irrelevant.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: But the the actual story of Sam, like I kind of knew a little bit just being friends with Shay, but it's like hearing Sam talk about it and like the origin story and like how she really did follow curiosity and like got her family to give the green light and like turning a family farm space into an event venue.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't think that I would be able to talk my family into that, honestly.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, a kudos to her for not only figuring that out, but like I loved how she went into learning how to release the things that you can't control while also having backup plans.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I really loved how she went into that.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: I loved how we talk about like taking personal responsibility and having honest communication because like that's the shit that really fucking changes the game.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Not only if you have employees, but also with your clients, with your customers, especially when you're a service-based business, that really does make all of the difference.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: But that's I feel like that is a really great intro.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of just talking about the episode, we're just gonna let you guys listen to it.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, let's get into it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Sam.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am so excited to have you here today, just to give some behind the scenes to our listeners.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Sam is my childhood best friend, and she's been my like entrepreneur in crime since as long as I can remember.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think we've been thinking about business ideas for a long time.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really grateful for her because uh she's one of the few people in my life that has always been one of those people to tell me, like, yes, this is possible.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, you don't have to go work this normal uh traditional job, you know, that we I kind of grew up thinking was like the only option for me.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: She's always had this like entrepreneur bug too.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we've, I don't know, you've just always been like the person to bounce ideas back and forth with.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so Sam, it was the original to start her own business.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: When did you start Lost Hill Lake?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: How old were you?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I was 24.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: 24.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we're excited to have her on the podcast today because honestly, she's just like maybe my um muse for building a business based on curiosity.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she's always given me a lot of encouragement and inspiration.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that the um the way Sam has built her business is really inspiring.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm excited just to kind of um shine the light a little bit on her today and hear more about her story.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, Sam, thank you for joining us.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Would you mind taking us all the way back to I guess when you started the business, but maybe back to like 1964, wherever, whenever the seed was planted originally.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Sure, sure.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so my business is an outdoor event venue on my family's 200 acre farm.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: And the reason 1967, I think, is relevant is because uh my dad and his parents actually bought the property at that time, and it was certainly in no way uh designed to be an event venue space.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um it was just uh a space for my family to go and be on the Merrimack River and have a place outside of this uh St.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: Louis City to go and relax and be in nature.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: So my dad has been developing that property for half of a century, um his entire lifetime.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: And that has sort of given us this really incredible privilege and um opportunity to um go right into an event venue space, an outdoor event venue space with a really beautiful blank canvas to kind of work with that we already had.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: So that was really special.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And um we started the business in 2013, so we are on our ninth year uh now in 2022, and we started with mainly weddings, and in the past five years, we've gotten into public events and our biggest new endeavor, which is glaming, which is glamorous campaign.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, beautiful is an understatement when it comes to your space, and I don't even say that because I have had the opportunity to be there physically, but we did some some SEO work, what, like a year ago, and I just remember looking at the website and like getting lost in like the the carousel photos of it, and I'm just like, yo, are you serious?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I want to get married tomorrow so that I can have my wedding there.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it's really beautiful, and it's really this um, you know, the family farm.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh people really grew up, you know, 20, 30, 40 years ago being like, oh yeah, my grandpa, my uncle, my aunt, my somebody in the family has this really beautiful piece of property outside the city somewhere that that's you know really special to our family.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: We get to go and relax and you know be barefoot and doing these like farm type tours and and having fun and no TV and and no, you know, technology really.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: So um, but but we're just seeing that that is is becoming less and less of a thing as we move you know deeper into the 2000s and um we are able to kind of open that up and really give people that experience that you know isn't a connection to their family, maybe, but it's something that they're they're so seeking, and they don't even have words for for what they are seeking with the nature and with the really unplugging and stuff.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: But after they experience it, they're like, we're coming back.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's really cool.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: What made you want to take it from like a family farm into opening it into a business like to the public at like as an event space?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, like Shea said, I've been an entrepreneur since my earliest memory.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Mariah, I know you know a little bit about the the Enneagram.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm an Enneagram three, the achiever.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I um I've always been about that.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: And um it's just, I mean, my first business when I was six was bringing farm rocks back to my city neighborhood and um selling them to our neighbors.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: And um Who wants a rock?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: Who wants a rock?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: And um, and I also brought my four-year-old brother with me because I felt like he had a cuteness component that was really gonna up the sales.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so uh marketing your younger brother when you were six, yeah, like smile smile for the people.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: So that was um really, you know, it's just been a part of me.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was uh, you know, when I was younger, I remember probably around 13 really having the awareness of laying in bed at night and dreaming of the business that I am gonna open.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: It was very clear to me that that's what I was gonna do.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: I came from a really restaurant-specific background with my family being in the restaurant industry.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I thought it was really gonna be that.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but this just sort of fell into my lap.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: I went to a wedding when I was about 21 at a really farm winery type venue.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: And at that point, you know, right when you're getting to that age, you start, you know, seeing friends get married or like cousins of friends that you might be going to or different things.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: And and that just blew my mind.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I walked into this place, people were parking in a field, it was a big barn, um, outdoor dance floor stage and stuff.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I just instantly was like, we can do this.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: And on the on the family property, and I came to my dad, and he's like, What are you saying?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: It took it took a lot, it took a long time.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and of course, you know, at 21, I was a very standard 21-year-old and everything.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I I didn't have all my my dunks in a row with being responsible enough to take that on.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad thought I was um, he looked at me like I had five heads.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so and I but I remember, you know, buying books on eBay at that point um of you know how to open a wedding venue for dummies or different things.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so kind of just getting that idea, but it was shot down pretty quickly um by my family, but I always had that idea.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, so the farm is um, you know, I grew up there going there every other weekend during the summer, was very used to how beautiful it was, really kind of took it for granted in a lot of ways.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: But then I would have friends like Shay come out and and different people throughout my teenage and and early 20 years, and they'd be like, Where are we right now?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: What is this?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: This lake?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: And like there's nobody around.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's so beautiful, it's so quiet.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was really helpful in kind of zooming out and really seeing that we had something really special that that people were really seeking, um, where it was just such a normal thing in my life to be able to go to all the time.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad at that point lived there full time, so it was really um, he was so zoomed in.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, why would people want to come here?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: I don't really get it.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so yeah, we uh we started off the wedding venue business with my own wedding in 2013.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: And with that, um, my younger brother Nick was really wonderful in the sense that he knew I had had this idea years ago and we were going to be doing my own wedding and really sort of convinced my dad, like, let's try to let her do something um with this, with the farm.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, we could maybe have other weddings here.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so it really just sort of took off from there.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um so cool.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: I had a question.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: My thought was when you were 13 and like dreaming of the suit, the future business, you didn't know, was it like you didn't know what it was, or was it weddings all the way back then?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: No, it definitely was not weddings in any, you know, way, shape, or form.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: And and I absolutely like um, you know, very, very thankful for the weddings.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Weddings are the bread and butter of our property currently.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but for me, the passion is absolutely the property, and and it could be, you know, a lot of different things that we could be doing.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, my brother had an idea for a zipline park on the property that we could have gone that way, um, and different things.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: So they have an animal sanctuary, a community garden.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like there are there are a bunch of different things always on the property going on.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I want to emphasize, okay, yeah, Sam got her start selling rocks, but uh she's kind of downplaying a little bit, you know, when when we went out to the property as kids, it was very much just like um a country property.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's um if you definitely check out the website now, you know, Sam has totally um, I don't know, given the place um a facelift?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Woman's touch.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: A woman's touch.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: What's the what's the website URL?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh our website is losthillakevents.com.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, obviously we're gonna put it in the show notes, but if people are listening and they just want to like pause it real quick and like stalk it before they continue to listen to like the rest of the episode.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just want to like emphasize Mariah and I are in the online business world and we really don't have a ton.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sam and I talk about the difference in our businesses a lot.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Sam has a ton of overhead, a ton of on-the-ground labor.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And on the property, she's undergone like major construction.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think one of the first big investments you guys made was this big ass pavilion.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: They've really like totally renovated the whole space.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm kind of curious about what do you, when you think back, like what was that first big thing that you were like, shit, we're really doing this, there's no going back now.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And like, how'd you work through it?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was the big pavilion for sure of what you're talking about.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: So we started with the wedding venue and our four-acre river property that has our 50-year-old walnut grove in it.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: So my dad planted this really beautiful walnut grove in uh the early 1970s, and it's about 175 black walnut trees that go in rows, and it's just it's gorgeous.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's this very foresty look, but very manicured and very um pristine looking, but with the bonus of just nature, like boom, in your face all around you.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we uh my own wedding, and then the next let's say 10 weddings, all rented tents to have a, because we had nothing, you know, it was just a big pretty grove and a big open space to have a tent and a small little dance floor that was an old cracked piece of concrete that used to be my grandparents' like uh camper pad that we strung up some string lights and everything.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, Pinterest at that point was in no way what it is now in 2013 or really 2012 when we were planning this out.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um it was yeah, a lot of um imagination.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: So uh we we had the tents for quite a few weddings and then and and that was working okay.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we had a wedding in June 2014, that the day after the wedding, it poured, poured, poured, poured raining.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we were out there cleaning up with my dad and both my brothers and myself and and some couple other people, and we're just watching this water rush off this tent and kind of make these monster puddles and mud areas sort of coming off the tent, and like the ground is very saturated, even underneath the tent because it's just like pooling.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, all of our eyes just got so big and we're like, wow, if this would have happened yesterday, this would have been real rough.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, customer service is just our highest priority.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I'm working so at this point so closely with these clients and the brides and typically their mothers, um, pretty closely, and they just trust me so much.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: And we're telling them that the tent is gonna, you know, be safe if there's bad weather and different things, and we are really seeing that that wasn't actually true with this amount of rain that we were getting.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, really at that point, um, it really shifted for my dad and my older brother Scott, who were a big part of the business at that um in those early years, and we said that we really need to get a pavilion.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: And my dad, um, that was too big of a project that we could not do in-house.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: We could do a lot of things in-house, but that was too big.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's a 72 by 45 foot pavilion, so it's monstrous.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: It can fit 250 people comfortably.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we had a small um, you know, kind of construction crew come out that did this like little job on the side, not through their main business and everything, and got it up in early August 2014 before we went into our fall weddings.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so, me being the um the entrepreneur, the saleswoman, all the things.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: So the 10 remaining weddings we had in fall 2014, these people knew that they had to rent a tent per their contract.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so that tent was like$2,000.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I came to them and I said, hey, we're trying to put this pavilion up um in you know, early August.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Why don't you cancel your tent order and we'll add$1,000 onto your final balance um invoice so you know don't have to do this tent and everything, and we're gonna have a much better option.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that gave us a quick 10K to kind of put right towards that pavilion, um, which at that point which was about a$40,000 investment.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it was a pretty big investment at that point.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so in 2010, 2014.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 2014.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Mariah, she gets more genius.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: This so I think access to capital is something us small business owners really struggle with, especially women.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think that we're not as familiar with like um investors and getting startup money.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so Sam has always been very resourceful and smart because sometimes you don't want to go through a bank and it's too much.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so what she did was she worked with the clients in that way and she found an interest-free credit card, put the rest on that, and then just made a plan to have it paid off by the time that interest would kick in.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So she literally got herself an interest-free loan without all the hoops of going through a bank to finance this big capital investment in the property, which has been a game changer, right?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Beyond a game changer.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: And also, I do my dad did end up putting a little bit of his own money into that and then gave us a small loan, which was a huge, just incredible privilege.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: And we were able to, you know, get him paid back pretty quickly and everything.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: So, with having that pavilion, it just was able with our new showings and new people looking at us for 2015 and 2016 and everything, it just snowballed the business really quickly with that investment.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I am just thinking like, holy shit, I forget how privileged I am to run an online business to where my overhead is literally like this webcam, my Mac Mini, my wireless mouse, my shitty keyboard, and like your website subscription, right?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: And like that's about it.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: And like I started my business when I was 22.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember all of that being such a big investment, like a Mac Mini,$800 for 22-year-old me that was actually like unemployed at the time, technically.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I was just like doing some um, what was I doing?
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: What's the the words in an internship for a business making$500 a month and then like trying to pick up bartending gigs on the side?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: And like$800, I was like, what?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is insane.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Why is business so expensive?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then I like I hear stories, you know, you're how old at that time, like 24, 25 years old, and like making the decision to then invest$40,000 into something that like at that point, of course, like you you have proof of concept, like the people love it, but it's still pretty scary to be like, what if all of this just disappears tomorrow?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and another aspect of that too is you know, I have my dad and my two brothers that and then their families that I share the property with.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, these people that I love and respect so much are putting their faith into me and into this idea and everything.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it really felt like I was holding a lot at that point and trying to, you know, definitely achieve, achieve, achieve things.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I wasn't letting people down.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: What was your stress management like?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because I was like, I would have fully there.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be really honest.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: So in 2014 and 2015, I was the um thinnest I've ever been in my whole life.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I was truly um, this is really wild to say, but in 2014, I can absolutely say out of the about 14, 15 weddings we had that year, I was so anxious and so um stressed that I was legitimately vomiting and having diarrhea pretty much before every event.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: And in it, and I'm like, no, you know, I'm a person that, you know, even though it's For having a carry it pretty well.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And anybody looking at me would be like, oh yeah, like, oh my gosh, how do you do this?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: This is insane.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: And like I'm just like, you're like, I'm actually falling apart from being inside out.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much for having me.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like literally stress puking, you know, 20 minutes before I'm talking to you right now and stuff.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so, um, but you know, but I just I held it like it was just so important to me.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like all these people, trust me, the clients, like the guests, my family, everything.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're starting to, you know, bring staff in very, you know, on a very small scale and and pay them, and and they're giving us our time and energy and everything.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: And it was definitely a lot to hold.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I did think that I saw, you know, the weather was a huge thing.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: I I legitimately had to go to therapy to understand that I could not control the weather and and I really had to let that go.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: And what we can control is, you know, plan A, B, C, and D of rain plan to really get it going.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: And once I was able to feel more comfortable in that, um, that confidence really rubbed off on the clients because I knew that we were gonna be able to, you know, we can't control this.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: And that that's part of my pitch right now, you know, even in 2022, doing venue showings is if we are a totally outdoor venue, if the we have wonderful, beautiful covered spaces, very large.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: If the thought of rain on your wedding day is going to give you an ulcer in the next year, year and a half of planning, we probably are not the place for you.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: But we absolutely understand that you want to get married out here in this grove and we want to give you that as much as Mother Nature is going to allow.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: And your coordinator, whether that is myself, um Brittany, or another Samantha, is gonna, you know, have plan A, B, or C or D, and really you're gonna be in the best hands possible on the day of um to do what we can with what we got.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Damn.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: I would the the fact that you went to therapy to learn how to handle the weather is literally something like you don't think about that stuff when you're not in that industry because people are paying a lot of fucking money for weddings.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like all for one day, and that really is like the biggest thing out of your control.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, absolutely.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I'm really glad that I had kind of a mentor at that point, this um chiropractor that I worked for what uh uh in 2013 when I was really getting the business going off the ground that was definitely into, you know, physical health, spiritual health, mental health, and different things.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: And she definitely um referred me to um some people that could really help me manage my emotions because I was very stressed.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so that was great.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, wow.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: And like not only that, but like you mentioned, it's like you have all of this pressure of like your family and their families, and then you start bringing in other people to support you.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: So like creating a team and managing a team, and like Shay knows this about me, is like I never want to manage a team.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I I really can't even imagine, and I I feel like that's why I'm so passionate about the online space, is because everything that comes with the physical space, it feels really fucking heavy.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, kudos to you for like just jumping in and like jumping in not only excitedly, but like giving yourself the tools to be able to manage and to navigate as you move forward, because we see it so often in business owners starting a business and like let's just say the restaurant industry.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like they're working so much and then they lose a bunch of weight, and then like their their family falls apart, and then like all of these things happen, or like they'll they'll lose their their mental capacity to hold anything but the stress.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, I certainly went through that season.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's hard.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really normal.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to this right now and you're in that season at the beginning of your business, I certainly had that for years of just the first five years are are absolutely the hardest.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: It is absolutely hard.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: It is not for the faint of hearts.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is um, but you know, there's absolutely incredible tools like this and and a lot of other tools out there that you know you don't have to reinvent the wheel when you're starting a business with how to do things in a as balanced way as you possibly can.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: But there's no doubt about it, you know, you're gonna work really hard in those first five years.
• 26:21
  unknown: Absolutely.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that Mariah brought up, I think, is where I'd like to go with this episode.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think team talking about team is a really nice way to transition into it.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one thing both Sam and I have always been committed to is building a business in whatever way works and feels good to us.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think Mariah, you'll enjoy like how Sam has handled team because it's been inspiring for me.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: I am also scared of it.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that um, you know, these days, any the biggest problem in any business is um team, staff, help, support, reliable support.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: And Sam has built an incredible, not that it's been without its own stresses, but a really incredible team of humans, and especially in a really dedicated inner circle of women who she has really poured into and really um and they've poured into her.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really inspiring.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give an example.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: She learns all of her team members like love languages and then tries to give feedback to them in a way that corresponds with their love language.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And she's bringing in culture consultants to really be aware of the culture that even they're small relative to like big companies, small team, it's important to maintain this um really interesting human-focused culture.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, Sam, I'd love to ask you like, can you tell us a little bit about your approach to hiring people and getting people to stay?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think your, what's that word?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like when people stay, uh retention.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Retention.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think your retention is very like off the charts compared to most businesses.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: And can you answer the question, like if somebody has just came to mind, if you, if their love language is physical touch, like do you like like pet their shoulders or like a lot of hugging in our own.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just like imagining you being like Mariah, your love language is physical touch, and then you just come over and like rub my arm, and I'm like, I don't, I don't know if this is supportive or not.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: You do a lot of hugging for sure.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um but um yeah, so it's really, you know, with starting your own small business, it's gonna be really hard across the board.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: But if it is right, and I really feel like if it is meant to be, there's gonna be a level of flow to it that just is undeniable.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and you're not even gonna know that until you're you know knee deep in it.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so the two women that are absolutely um have been transformable in the business in the past three years have actually been with me since about 2014, 2015.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I met them both within three months of completely different avenues of how I met them both in early 2014, prior to us really like getting going.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just incredible that the universe just I didn't even know what I didn't know, and I didn't even know what I needed, and I didn't even know who they were gonna be to me by 2022.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: But the fact that they just were just showed up in this space was incredible.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so um they both worked with me um, you know, on the ground.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: I was on the ground nonstop in 2013 up to 2018, um, you know, working sometimes 9 a.m.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: to midnight on wedding days, plus managing the backside of the business with the, you know, accounting, marketing, social media, um clients, uh relations, like venue showings, all sorts of things.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: I did it all.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so they were really on the ground as um event day support.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so I worked with these women, you know, eight-hour shifts, every wedding we had, um, nonstop.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: And and I came from a really customer service um focused background.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so I managed my parents had a restaurant from the point when I was about 21 to 25.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: And um, they just really taught me so much with how we value um team members and how, you know, my mom definitely was somebody that did not have much of an ego in the sense of like, that's an incredible idea.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: Let's implement that.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it was really, you know, we welcomed ideas from everyone.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was a really please and thank you type of culture.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of kindness, uh a lot of grace, even, um, and expectations in front of the customer of we're you know representing this business and and stuff, and we expect you to represent it well.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: So that was already ingrained in me.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: So coming into my own business that was you know top priority.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: I want to be, I will, I want to treat customers the way that I want to be treated.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, pretty old school rule, but really is a is a solid one.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, these these women really saw that culture and they grew up with me in that culture and and really, I mean, truly grew up with me.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: We were 25, I was 25.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: Brittany, our now venue manager and wedding coordinator, um, was 23.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: And Sam, our glamping manager and uh wedding coordinator, was even five years younger than me.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: So she was 20, 20 or 21.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we really grew up together, working this business and everything.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and now I'm 34 and Sam's 28.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so um, yeah, so just building that team and like they just were so valued and they were so appreciated and they knew that.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: And honestly, the pay was not great in the beginning.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, how could it be when we didn't have a whole lot to give and everything?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it was really fun, it was really unique, and they really, really enjoyed it.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it was really flexible in that our whole thing, your whole thing has always been, you know, you're a human, you have a family, like we are going to give you grace.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if you ever I've works shifts uh just to fill in at Lost to Lake before, and it's just thank you, please.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like that culture that she has started, it permeates throughout everything, and it is like a level of kindness between the staff and between the people.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's really felt, and I know that people comment about it, and it's cool.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: I had never really connected that to your mom before, but I do think the cool one thing I've admired about you is there's nobody on a pedestal.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yes, Sam is the leader, yes, Sam holds the vision.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: But honestly, the pay that she takes today is not a ton higher than everybody else's.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the same with you know, uh, decision making.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, she's very much, let's get it, you guys are all smart.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: I am very transparent as we are making this up as we go.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I that's not talked about in the uh in the business space in general, restaurant owners, physical shop owners, like any kind of business.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: So many times we get into it, we're like running a business, it's like this is my vision.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: I know how to get here, I know this, I know how to do that, I know that.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like when really we're humans, we we don't know shit.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know, we don't know what we don't know until we realize that we don't know it.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like we lose out as business owners when we put ourselves on this pedestal, we lose out on the community aspect of sharing ideas and sharing perspectives because we are always gonna have blind spots.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and obviously, like boundaries are extremely important here.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, listen, we need to have somebody be the leader, but that does not mean that it's like somebody being the end all be-all authority and everything.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're not interchangeable like that.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's been a huge, huge growth aspect for for myself and for the leadership team of you know how to hold this balance between, you know, have needing to have boundaries, clients will absolutely like, you know, want to text you at, you know, 10 p.m.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: at night or different things and stuff.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, we want to give great customer service, but but really learning those boundaries for ourselves.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it just takes time to learn those.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's trial and error a lot of times, and it's growth.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um, we have um what were we talking about with the the team and um oh yeah, with I I it's not a negative or a fearful thing when I say like, I don't know, we're making this up.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like I have no um thought of like I am less than or anything because of that.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm more human because of that, and I'm a better leader because of it.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: So when people when we get together, and you know, our leadership team is about eight to nine women at this point.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: And when we get together, you know, it's I don't even have to have all the great ideas anymore.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's wonderful.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, everybody else can bring their ideas to the table, which is great.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we are Shay's helped us really, you know, Shay's our our branding and like strategy coach and everything, and and she's helped build, she's built the whole website, and now we have a little bit of support with that and stuff.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: But um, it's really important to we have a huge team of idea people.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: We have idea island that wonderful ideas can sit on.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and maybe they're not right right now, but that doesn't mean that idea isn't going to be right in two years and different things.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: So we're really honest.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I am beyond honest with my team, and we just did this cultureship survey thing and just got this results back this week.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: So it's pretty fresh.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, it was unanimous that we need more systems and we need more organization inside of our rapidly growing business.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't have the skill set to do that.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: So now what we need to do is we need to start seeking out people that do have that skill set and bring them in for some consulting and some different things because we absolutely need the structure and the organization of the corporate world, but with also holding this flexibility and this fun and this purpose and this um grace inside the small family-owned business.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's a very, very, very unique place to be right now.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: And and we are, we know that we have to implement this right now at the business.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: We are at a$500,000 business right now.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: And by 2026, our goal is to be a million-dollar business.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it is, we have to get this going and this solid right now.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we have to because as we grow, we our customer service, our employee experience will lack if we do not get this and really hone in on this right now.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: So it is our top priority currently.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think just diving into like just like scaling sustainably in a way that's like, okay, we have this number here now, and now we're gonna double it in six months because we can.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like there are businesses that do that, but it's like you just got a survey from like the people that you value the most that work for you, and they want systems and stuff.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: And like, a just getting their feedback because obviously they have different perspectives, and like then taking that seriously.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: It it feels like it it allows your team members to feel safe expressing themselves because they know that like you're hearing them.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: And like having having systems and structure in business.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: Me and Shay just talked about this in a in a previous episode.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: Going into business, working for yourself, it's like we'll sometimes we jump in and we're like the freedom, the freedom, nobody's gonna tell me what to do.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do whatever I want.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's that's what it is.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like that container and that structure, that structure allows you to be safe so that you can flow within it.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it just releases so much stress from from the day to day, and like, oh shit, what do I have to do now?
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I tell people all the time, you know, I am certainly the leader, and I it just comes naturally to me in a lot of ways.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: But I my word, someone freaking lead me if you are worthy of leading and you are an expert in your field and all sorts of things.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: And um, that's definitely been a lot of personal work and growth with really having to set the ego aside for the better mint of the overall whole of the business.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because I don't have all the answers.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_02: I have a high school education.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: My most corporate um work experience is uh Domino's pizza.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: So that is that is um honest stuff right there.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_02: And it's, you know, um, yeah, so I don't have all the answers and I'm have no problem saying that, but we absolutely will find them.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very confident in that.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's all you ever need.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what I'm hearing a lot of is just a lot of radical honesty.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, let's take a really, let's put down ego and what we want and what vision and hope, and let's be real about what's here right now and what needs to happen.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing you brought up, Sam, I think it's important to point out at one point we kind of realized, oh shoot, everybody's an idea person, nobody isn't an implementer.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: And in that kind of that was part of building the team of getting really clear on what people's strengths are and then being really honest about where are we lacking?
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so Sam and I are both hard to see that in yourself.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: I totally hone a whole other team.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I just want to celebrate that for a hot minute because literally, like we just talked about this on a previous episode, where it's like really self-reflect and hone in on your strengths.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, and then you have to hone in on the strengths of literally nine, 10 other humans.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and not only hone in on the strengths, but those strengths they can show up as weaknesses if we do not have clear awareness about them and clear boundaries with them.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, like I our team right now is dipping into the Enneagram.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: We are a little bit further into the Clifton strengths, um, which I'm not sure if you guys know about that, but that is a really cool um tool for awareness about what your strengths are.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it's helpful for me as a leader to know, you know, all the team members' strengths.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: So then we just, oh, we understand why you do that a little bit more that way and different things.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: But like one of my big strengths is I'm a maximizer, I'm an ideas person.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like I could just maximize the shit out of everything with no fucking systems, just because I can and I have the idea and people trust me and believe in me.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a great salesman, all the things.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_02: But it's like that's actually not gonna, it may on paper get us to you know, a number goal that we're trying to get to, but we're gonna lack in, you know, what we were just talking about team feedback of, you know, people are burnt out, people don't feel heard, people don't have clear direction.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_02: Turnover turnover, yeah, yeah.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: Customer service customer service is lacking because um, you know, we we're dropping balls on different things.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: And and we're currently, you know, we just dropped a ball on something yesterday, and we had to, you know, humbly refund the client on something and then offer, you know, a free night stay and a little perk inside of that, and and just truly say, you know, we are so sorry, we we messed up and we own that, and here's what we can do for you.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's beautiful.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something nice that I you're gonna disappoint people.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I was on a coaching call the other day, and someone was really disappointed.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: They were so bummed.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: They had run a group program and they had people that were unhappy.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to say it's so normal, especially when you're trying something new, not everyone's gonna be happy all the time.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and if you can have a plan, how empowering is it to just know that if you're unhappy, I'm going to meet, listen to you.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to try to make it right in the best way that I can, own it, apologize.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, all you have to do is make that person feel hurt.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: And in that is, I think um, Sam, one thing we've talked about, a difference in our businesses, she has to deal with a lot of humans.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just all the weddings, all the glamping.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's a ton of different people and personalities constantly coming.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get oddballs, you're gonna get people unhappy.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_00: And like, can we handle them like humans too?
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and that has been like a really beautiful, you guys have always like killed it with customer service and just COVID was a really great example.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: The wedding industry went wild.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's Sam really treated her brides like humans, and I think a lot of them really appreciated that because I don't think everybody got that same experience.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, one thing I really like is we've had we can't always do the fun stuff.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you right now, Sam's strategy, our strategy for the year is grow in place.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: We realize we have this team with all these incredible fun ideas.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're into glamping now.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: We want to get a houseboat, like it's all fun stuff, but we really needed this year to set up systems, get that infrastructure in place because you can't always the fun stuff can't happen until we get this new foundation in place.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's like a really mature place to be in business where you're hiring people and promoting people based on the skill sets we're lacking and perhaps the things that we don't get done.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: For example, we have a new team member, not new anymore, but she is like just everything that we aren't, and she's blowing everybody's minds.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just such a lovely reminder of like, we're all all the humans out there, we fit together.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Together, like a puzzle, right?
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: And like really, if you can get clear about where the strengths and weaknesses are, you can bring in people and be really intentional with your people to make sure it's all working in like one cohesive, synergistic unit.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I feel like what a what a beautiful example of the power of communication, like truly to its core.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: And even Sam, you you talking about just like owning up to the fact that like you guys dropped the fucking ball and like shit happens.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: I've double booked a wedding date before.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was horrid.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_02: It was horrible.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like I am not, I mean, it was just the worst case freaking scenario that one could have happened, lived it, moved through it.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we we're okay.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_02: No one died.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I I feel like just taking a moment to like pat yourself on the back, being a business owner, being like, I've done fucking hard things, like I have had hard conversations, and like I'm still here and I've I've learned through it.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I know how that feels.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like my one of my like biggest two wounds are essentially like around perfectionism and like the sphere of rejection, and like they go really hand in hand.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so for most of my life, I have avoided tough conversations.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like being a teenager, I had the biggest wall up and I was like, nah, I ain't nobody coming in because like I ain't having no conversation.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, hell no, hell no.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't until I got in my relationship and he just straight up called me out of just like, why the fuck do you run away from the tough conversations?
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this is where the growth happens.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh, I'm getting put in my place, like really a lot right here.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like it's it's a mirror from our personal life into our business life too.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think about experiences at a restaurant, right?
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like if the food is going to take an extended period of time because you're short staffed in the kitchen, the waitress, just let me know.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm totally cool with it.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, just communicate what's happening so that I'm aware.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_01: Or like if if something isn't right on my plate, like it's important for me as the customer to communicate that so it gives the restaurant the chance to own up to it and be like, oh my God, I'm so sorry.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let me fix that.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a two-way street here of like just really opening up and obviously leading with kindness, leading with your heart.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you're about to communicate and just be nasty about it, like you you really need to like take take a hot breath.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I just I think that it's so important because I just I think about reviews in business, right?
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like Yelp reviews, especially for physical businesses, they're fucking huge.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: They're huge.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of it is like some of these restaurants, some of these business owners don't want, don't want to open up and talk about when they drop the ball.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: But they are missing out on not only the growth in terms of like internal growth, like in their teams and things like that, but also customers are so like we're humans, we understand that.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: We just want you to own up to it.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's that's basically it.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I just think that there's so much power in communication and just being honest and being kind about like the perspective that you're having.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's a really beautiful point in here about um letting go of perfectionism and the need to pretend like we're perfect in business.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: To be a successful business, you have to be perfect and never have disappointed a customer.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's not true and never has happened, honestly.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so instead, can we be honest and real about it?
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in the time we have left, I do want to dive into one thing and we've kind of talked about it, but Sam and I are kind of working on this working thesis of can we create the businesses we want to see in the world?
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we talk about this idea of like a win-win-win business a lot of can I have a business that is not only provides for me and my family, but is really good for the people who work here and provides for their families, is really good for the community that we're in and nourishes the people around us.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately is good for the planet, right?
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: In giving in being aware of um the footprint that we're making and how we're giving back.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so Sam's business is such an awesome example of win-win.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: Everything we do, we're always thinking of like, how do we win and how do they win, and how does the earth win?
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that kind of what I the point I want to make is it you can run a values-driven business and it can be profitable.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: And when you are fun and fun, honestly, more rewarding and fulfilling, right?
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you weave values into literally everything you do, it can have an insane impact.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: And one really tangible way I wanted to bring up Sam and I have um, we're always thinking about like the brand and the marketing and what's our position.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: And a while ago, I don't remember what years this was, but we kind of realized um where her venue is located is is in rural Missouri, very um out in the middle of nowhere, lots of Confederate flags, like very um red.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we I at the time there was that, I don't know, I don't know if we're dating ourselves, but people weren't, if you were a gay couple, you were getting turned away.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: You couldn't get a wedding cake made.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of venues were turning people away.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: And for us, being an inclusive place that is this wonderful place to get out in nature for everybody has always been a core value of ours.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we were really intentional with, you know, everything we did to try to um tell the story of like you are welcome here, from the photos we put on the website to the models we had come, we asked to come to shoots, to everything we could.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're always have been trying to tell the message of, hey, this is a safe, inclusive space.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_00: And now that time has gone on, that we have found a lot of um the feedback we're getting these days is I didn't know there was a place like this for me to come to, and thank you so much.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so that it's interesting.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of looked around at like, oh wow, this is not friendly.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you drive out in rural Missouri, if you're not a white, a person that looks white, um, it does not feel like a friendly, welcoming place.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's something that we really was part of our values, and we've made it a really big part of everything we do to the way we hire, the way we do everything is inclusive.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's welcome here.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is a safe space for you in all kinds of different applications.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that has turned out to be insanely profitable and insanely good for our community, and it's been win-win-win-win-win all over, and it all started with a value.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I think like if I have, you know, if I'm gonna like die on what with some kind of hill, it's that of like, don't feel like to run a profitable business that makes money, you have to detach yourself from what makes you human and the values that really drive you and the impact you want to make on this world.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, what we are finding is that when you really lean into that, into that authenticity, yes, that's what people want so much.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_00: Your business can be a vehicle for change.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_00: Your business, you can be creating the world you want through the business that you're running.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I and Sam is such a cool example of that.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, she's providing all these jobs, we're doing all these cool community events, we're cleaning up litter, we're planting trees, you know, we're getting all kinds of people out in nature that didn't have access before.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_00: And like that is win-win-win-win-win.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that like gives me juice.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_00: That gives me like fuel in this world.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just so inspired by it.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I really appreciate you coming on and sharing about all of this.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, people get really, you know, overwhelmed in this world.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_02: This world is crazy.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it is beyond fucking crazy out here, and it can be overwhelming and it can feel I'm not sure what even the word is, like very heavy and very um defeating.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, defeated.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like, you know, people want to do things on really big scales, which are wonderful.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_02: If that's you, you know, to get involved in politics and to get involved in your local government, like that's that's incredible if that's you.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_02: That is personally not me.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like, how can I do something with my business and with our little community that really makes a difference, you know, and just the the things of creating an incredible work culture and and people are literally thriving at work and we are promoting mental, physical, and spiritual health like across the board.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_02: And that is just something that if you're coming into our team, um, you know, that's a that's a top priority for us because the personal is going to trickle over into the business.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, we want to absolutely um, you know, do what we can for the earth.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, hey, let's get out and pick up some damn trash on the side of the road every year.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_02: We get 30, 40 people together, kids come out and do it, and it's like, you know, and then maybe you're not even able to make it to that event, but that it's but you see it, you know we're out that day, and you go on your little block and you take a bag and you go pick up stuff and you and you know, plant a tree.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_02: The best thing you can do for the earth right now is plant a damn tree.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_02: Go put some flowers, some native perennials in wherever you are.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_02: Quick Google search, you got it, go go do it.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's very little things.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_02: And again, maybe they're not able to come out and do that, but they see that we're doing it.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's a part of our overall brand, our overall value.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_02: And it is just the ripple effect effect that triple that trickles out into the world is just undeniable.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_02: People are watching and and it's a big deal, and we can weave that into our business.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know, that's really, really important to me.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so win, win, win.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_01: We love that.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what what a beautiful example of a business that's like fucking doing it right, dude.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_01: Just like on on so many different aspects and doing it right on so many aspects and owning up when they feel like they didn't do it right and like being honest about it.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I just feel like you guys are gonna be an example that the corporate world is gonna be seeking out soon.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna be like, Sam, can you come in and fucking teach us about what the hell you do?
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: I believe that.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, something that I want to touch on really quick because I feel like it's so important is um, you know, we as a venue, we run events probably 75 a year now, between, you know, 50 people and 200, 1,500 people.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: We do one event.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_02: And a huge thing is um single-use plastics.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_02: So we are absolutely, I had someone pretty compliment sandwich-wise, give to me a few years ago pretty honestly saying, like, hey, um, you say you do all these things, but then there's a bunch of plastic water bottles over here.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why don't you go ahead and like buckle down and make the change?
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay, we need to do that.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, now we have a very strict rule at our venue.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_02: There are no single-use plastics.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_02: We do compostable everything.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_02: When so wedding clients have to book a uh China package or a compostable package.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just if you want to work with us, that is across the board what we are doing.
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_02: There is no negotiation there.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, our music festival, food vendors, single or you know, compostable everything.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_02: We do not do single-use plastics.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_02: There will be no water bottles for sale here.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_02: There are refillable water stations, bring your reusable water bottle, period.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like business owners, it is up to us to put these standards into place.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's gonna that again that goes back to very small things you have control over in your life and in your world that ripple out and make a huge freaking effect.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like people that own a small restaurant, it is a little bit more of an investment to go ahead and move into that compostable, you know, to go containers, spoons, forks, you know, cups, all the things.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: You be honest with your clients.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_02: Our prices are raising a little bit because we are taking this value and we are pushing it, and this is just who we are across the board.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: And when I people are gonna be so willing to spend the extra money for something that's better for the environment.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 56:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we are actively attracting clients that see value in that.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_02: And we want that.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_02: And people are saying, thank you so much for doing that.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, that's you know, it's a it's cliche, but a lot of cliches are cliches for a reason.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, be the change that you want to see.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_02: You do have that power, and it doesn't have to be these huge, monumental things that people feel like, you know, I I have I can't do it because what power do I have?
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_02: And the the power that we hold as individuals that come into the bigger collective um is just huge.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I really encourage individuals and business owners to really own that power and to really sink into it.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_01: Damn.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my what a beautiful, yeah, what a beautiful way to like wrap this up.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's so true.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like we could just have so many conversations about like sustainability and businesses in a physical business and an online space, like in all different ways.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, Sam, this this conversation was so fucking fun.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_01: Before we wrap it up, though, we do have a question that we ask every human on the podcast.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's been sparking your curiosity lately?
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um my own self-awareness, my own blind spots.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um because inside that is as humiliating as it is to look at, is where the juicy stuff is, where the growth is, and not only trickles over into better relationships, into my personal life, being a better mother, being a better partner, being a better friend, but absolutely trickles into being a better um boss and leader, and then ultimately trickles over into more profit for the business.
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_02: So that is what has been really I've been diving into lately and really has been getting my curiosity is my own personal growth and awareness.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's been hideously wonderful.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_01: Beautifully put.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like a lot of our listeners, I mean, you guys, if you guys are listening to this podcast, you definitely fucking resonate with that.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a topic that me and Shay talk about in every episode.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's basically like the entire premise of the fucking podcast is like personal development following curiosity.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, and then tell our listeners where they can find and connect with you and learn more about Lost Hill Lake.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_02: So we have an incredible website that your girl Shay over here has built out from the beginning, uh, losthillake events.com.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_02: And then you can connect with us on Facebook at Lost Hill Lake Weddings and Events.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_02: You can it can connect with us on Instagram at Lost Hill Lake Weddings and a different uh handle, Lost Hill Lake Events.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_02: And then we also recently have been getting into Pinterest uh with Lost Hill Lake.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_02: So did you see the Facebook?
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the community.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_02: I apologize.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_02: Oh if you guys have a oh go ahead.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, add that in.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_02: We have a really great um new private group called uh Lost Hill Lake experiences, which are a little bit um where people can actually come on and like say they had a glamping stay or say they dropped into a yoga class or like a sound bath class or something like we're having tonight.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you can go um into this page and actually like give your personal feedback and experience and maybe connect with other people that really enjoy the property and stuff.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_01: So my god, what a fun way to really bring community in.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and also like listeners, even if you're not in Missouri, like don't write this shit off.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_01: They do host events that are well worth traveling for.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we bring I would have I I would have gone to one if COVID didn't pop its ugly fucking head into society, but it's definitely on my list to head over there.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, definitely check them out regardless of where you live.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let me add to that a little bit.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_00: We there's big concerts, we do beautiful outdoor concerts with big names.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sam has brides traveling, bringing their whole families from New Jersey.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like we are starting to attract a nationwide audience, so definitely check it out.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_02: International audience.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_02: We had a wedding coming from Northern Ireland one day where 30 people flew in from Northern Ireland to St.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_02: Louis, Missouri, to St.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_02: Clair, Missouri.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: It really is a special place.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, definitely check it out.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you're not in the Midwest or if you're around us, take the road trip.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's 100% worth it.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_01: I have a request.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_01: Can we somehow get Trevor Hall to play?
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_01: We're working on it.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, that is my only request.
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you do that, I'm spending three weeks out there and trying to become his best friend.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I hear you.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_02: All right, thank you so much, ladies.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_02: This has been so fun and inspiring for myself.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, fuck yeah.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: Fuck yeah.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_01: This conversation was so great.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_01: All right, guys, I think we're gonna close this one down.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to share it with somebody that you think would love it or on social media.
• 1:01:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if something pops out to you, totally DM us.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_01: We seriously love connecting with you guys.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, thank you so much for listening and for your support.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_00: Consider subscribing to this podcast and or leaving us a five-star review so we can all grow together.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, remember that you have the power to create whatever the fuck you want.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_00: Follow the nudge, ask questions, and let curiosity guide the way.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you in the next episode.