Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Owning your own wedding venue - With Donna Newman

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Owning your own wedding venue - With Donna Newman · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Donna: Just being, being able to be in a room with other wedding businesses
• 0:04
  and to kind of be able to share experiences and kind of learn together.
• 0:10
  So much of the good stuff comes from getting together with other
• 0:12
  people and kind of, you know, hashing stuff out in a room.
• 0:16
  Also, to realize how many other businesses, even if they're not a venue
• 0:19
  who, you know, whatever their thing is, often we're having the same issues and
• 0:23
  we're doing the same things wrong, or not doing things that we should be doing.
• 0:26
  And yeah, lots of light bulb moments.
• 0:31
  Becca: I am Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert,
• 0:33
  speaker and blogger, and you are listening to The Wedding Pros
• 0:36
  who are Ready to Grow podcast.
• 0:38
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:42
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:45
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:49
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you
• 0:52
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:54
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:59
  Today I'm chatting with Donna Newman, director of the Granary at
• 1:02
  Fawsley, a gorgeous wedding venue set in 2,600 acres of beautiful
• 1:06
  countryside in Northamptonshire.
• 1:08
  Last October, I spent three days away with Donna as she joined us as a guest
• 1:12
  at our wedding business retreat, and I'm thrilled to have her on the podcast today.
• 1:16
  Donna, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:18
  Donna: Hi, Becca.
• 1:18
  Thanks for having me.
• 1:19
  Becca: It's an absolute pleasure.
• 1:21
  I know you are an avid podcast listener to this podcast, so it's
• 1:24
  good to have you on as a guest.
• 1:26
  Donna: I am.
• 1:27
  I am indeed.
• 1:27
  I've listened.
• 1:28
  I've listened to all of them.
• 1:29
  I think.
• 1:31
  Becca: Fabulous.
• 1:31
  Well, it'll be interesting.
• 1:32
  Will you listen back to your own episode?
• 1:35
  Donna: Oh, I don't know.
• 1:36
  I don't know.
• 1:37
  Maybe the girls in the office will want to listen to it, so possibly
• 1:42
  Becca: you can.
• 1:42
  You can excuse yourself for a cup of tea while they listen.
• 1:45
  Some people like to listen back.
• 1:46
  Some people absolutely don't like to listen back, so I'll leave that one.
• 1:50
  Up to you.
• 1:51
  Okay, so let's go right back to the beginning of your journey because I
• 1:56
  was having a look over your website and I was reading your bio on your
• 1:59
  website and it told me that you used to work in the civil service.
• 2:03
  In fact, it said you spent 15 years in the civil service until 2012,
• 2:09
  how on earth did you go from working in the civil service to being
• 2:13
  the director of a wedding venue?
• 2:15
  Donna: I asked myself that a lot.
• 2:17
  It was never the plan.
• 2:19
  So I was, my job was based in London, but I live in Northampton,
• 2:23
  so it was quite a commute for me.
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  And when I was pregnant with my second child, the department were
• 2:28
  slimming down and I put my hand up.
• 2:32
  To take what they called early departure, which is kind of
• 2:35
  before they start making people redundant, they ask who wants to go?
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  And so that was fine.
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  They let me go.
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  And then when I was 39 weeks pregnant, just before I was about to have our
• 2:45
  second child, my husband said, there's an amazing opportunity this place has come
• 2:49
  up and I'd really love to like to run it.
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  So he brought me to see it and he was like, what do you think?
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  And I was like, I dunno, I'm having a baby.
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  I can't think about this now.
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  And I just said, Whatever, like, if you wanna do it, then go for it.
• 3:02
  I'll support you.
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  And so he, he had to do like a business presentation and stuff for the lease
• 3:08
  and, , we didn't hear anything for ages.
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  And then when our daughter was six months old and we'd got a two year old as well
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  at the time, and we got a phone call to say, can you take over in a week?
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  So that was that.
• 3:19
  Becca: Wow.
• 3:20
  What timing.
• 3:21
  The timing of that is just amazing.
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  I cannot even imagine being 39 weeks pregnant and being
• 3:27
  presented with that opportunity.
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  What was going through your head?
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  How were you feeling?
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  Were you terrified?
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  Were you excited?
• 3:33
  Are you just putting it to one side?
• 3:35
  Donna: Absolutely terrified.
• 3:36
  I had no idea I was, Institutionalized by the civil service where there's
• 3:41
  like procedures for everything and it's all very, you know, you just
• 3:45
  follow the rules and you're fine.
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  And then this was, I hadn't, I didn't know anything about hospitality.
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  I didn't know anything about, , I mean, at the time it wasn't, we weren't doing
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  weddings, it was, , accommodation.
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  And we opened a tea room initially, which was very popular.
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  So we just threw ourselves into it.
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  We practically moved here.
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  We lived 20 miles away, so we kind of moved into one of the rooms.
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  We did everything cleaning, cooking everything for quite a long time.
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  And for quite a long time I thought, what have we done?
• 4:13
  Becca: Wow.
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  What an experience.
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  And just for context as well, obviously you were working in the civil service.
• 4:18
  Did your husband, it was his idea.
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  Did he have a background in hospitality?
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  Where did his idea come from?
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  Donna: Yeah, more so.
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  So his family business was, , marquee hire, catering,
• 4:28
  equipment, all that kind of stuff.
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  So he'd had some experience and also he'd been, he'd done some events with the local
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  council, so he'd, he'd got that side.
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  But he, the way that he found this business was cuz he had a
• 4:39
  commercial laundry and so he used to do like all of the bedding and
• 4:43
  stuff for like small hotels and restaurants, that kind of thing.
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  And, and the granary was one of his contracts.
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  And he used to talk about it all the time.
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  Oh, this, it's amazing, this little place in the country and it's so pretty.
• 4:53
  And I'd be like, yeah, yeah.
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  Becca: And now here you are there working.
• 4:57
  Yeah.
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  And you have been since 2012.
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  So you said that you started off more as accommodation, the tea room.
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  At what point did weddings enter the picture and how did that come about?
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  Donna: so we always knew that we wanted to do weddings and we've got an
• 5:10
  amazing barn, which when we first took over was literally like agricultural.
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  It had a tractor in it, sheep feed.
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  It was, it was not attractive.
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  Nobody would want to get, have their wedding in there.
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  But we negotiated it as part of our lease and then we kind of, around 2014
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  we started, we kind of like made it a bit pretty, we put some marquee linings
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  in it and we used to do, we started to do a couple of weddings under it and
• 5:32
  temporary events notices we didn't have.
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  All the licenses and stuff at the time, and we used still have to get
• 5:38
  portaloos in and all that kind of stuff.
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  If we did an event, the first wedding that we actually sold was before it
• 5:44
  even had linings in the couple came to look round and we were like, so
• 5:47
  just imagine it's gonna be really beautiful in here and there's not, that
• 5:50
  tractor won't be there and all this.
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  And they booked us and we were like, oh my God, we've got a.
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  Deliver this now.
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  So we did, and then in 2015 we decided that, you know, we felt that that
• 6:02
  area of the business had traction.
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  So we put quite a lot of investment in, got the change of use.
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  So it is now a wedding venue, not an agricultural barn, you know,
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  got all the proper licenses.
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  And like put toilets in and the kitchen and all that kind of stuff.
• 6:17
  So, yeah.
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  And, and that was that.
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  And then we, we had, we ended up actually closing the tea room in 2018 because we
• 6:23
  were doing, by that point we were doing a lot more weddings and we were having
• 6:26
  to, cuz we're exclusive views, we were having to close the tea room, which was
• 6:30
  a shame because it was popular and lots of people, we had lots of regulars.
• 6:33
  But obviously weddings are much bigger business than you have
• 6:37
  to sell a lot of cream teas to.
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  Make what you would make at a wedding.
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  So we had to make that decision.
• 6:43
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 6:44
  I can see that for sure.
• 6:47
  So now then, how many weddings are you looking at on average each
• 6:51
  year when it comes to your venue?
• 6:53
  Donna: So between 40 and 50 nearer to 50 a year, which for us is.
• 6:58
  Is how many we want to do.
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  We're quite a small team.
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  We have like two wedding coordinators, a bar manager and like kind
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  of a pool of sort of waiting staff and front of house staff.
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  And we don't really want to be massive and have a huge team and we
• 7:14
  don't want to do weddings every day.
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  We want to do want there to be a gap between each one so each couple
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  can come along before and set up and we don't feel like we're kind of a
• 7:23
  wedding factory, if that makes sense.
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  We we're purposely trying to keep it.
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  Small and manageable.
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  Becca: What a journey from having just that first wedding that just came and
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  looked at a barn through to now holding 40, 50 weddings every single year.
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  When you look back at that journey, like how did it take off?
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  Was it word of mouth?
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  Was it a particular piece of marketing that you were doing?
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  How do you think you attracted that business in.
• 7:48
  Donna: Bit of everything really word of mouth.
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  I think the more, obviously the more weddings you have, every wedding has
• 7:54
  got, you know, a hundred guests or so.
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  So that kind of more exposure.
• 7:59
  One of the problems that we've had is we are quite in the middle of nowhere,
• 8:01
  like really we're off of, off, not on a main road, and everyone that comes here
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  says, I didn't even know you were here.
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  So it's been quite hard.
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  So I suppose social media things like Facebook ads have
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  been amazing and just getting.
• 8:15
  Other people to see us that wouldn't necessarily know about us, and also
• 8:19
  for weddings just being listed.
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  In the right places.
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  So we are listed with a couple of the big listing sites like Hitched and
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  Bride book, which can be expensive, but actually a, a lot of, an awful
• 8:29
  lot of our leads come through there.
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  So it's a good investment.
• 8:32
  Becca: Yeah, and it's not, it's not expensive when you get the return.
• 8:35
  On the investment, that's what you have to look at.
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  And if you're getting the leads and then they're turning into
• 8:38
  the bookings, absolutely worth every penny that you're spending.
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  So as you look back then, over these last kind of 10, 11 years, what have
• 8:47
  been some of the struggles along the way when it's come to your business?
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  Donna: Oh, I think as a venue, it's.
• 8:55
  Kind of a bit lonely if you have never worked in a venue before because you
• 8:59
  don't, but you can't really go to other venues and say, how do we do this?
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  What are we doing?
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  You know, share, because you know they're your competitors,
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  they're not gonna tell you.
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  So it's quite, you just have to figure stuff out really for
• 9:11
  yourself a lot of the time.
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  So definitely that.
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  Also things like finding the right staff and keeping them in hospitality, that's.
• 9:21
  An issue for everybody, and that's kind of been a constant thing over the years.
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  We're in a very stable place at the minute.
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  I don't wanna jinx it.
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  We've got a really good team, so we're lucky.
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  Obviously the pandemic was.
• 9:34
  Horrendous.
• 9:35
  We didn't, we did one wedding in 2020 on the 29th of February.
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  So that was a terrible year.
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  Becca: Wow.
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  you survived and you've come out the other side.
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  So that is, all good.
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  Donna: Yes, we did.
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  We did.
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  Becca: So you survived the pandemic.
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  Things are looking good now.
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  So now then when you look back, what are the positive things?
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  What are the things that you are really proud of when you
• 9:56
  look back over these last few
• 9:57
  Donna: years?
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  I think that we've been able to establish ourselves as like
• 10:02
  a reputable wedding venue.
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  There's an awful lot of imposter syndrome when you start a business, isn't there?
• 10:07
  And you know, kind of you.
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  Can feel like you don't really belong in your field or you don't have as much
• 10:13
  experience as others, and you're kind of not, you're not as good as them.
• 10:17
  You know?
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  And obviously the more weddings you get under your belt, the more you kind
• 10:20
  of feel like, okay, we're doing this.
• 10:22
  It's, it's working.
• 10:23
  People are happy.
• 10:25
  So I think, yeah, just to kind of, you know, last year in, in 2022 we won,
• 10:29
  bride Brook Platinum Award and Hitched County Champion, I think, or vice versa.
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  I can't remember which way around.
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  So to get things like that and, you know, And there's a lot
• 10:39
  of wedding venues in our area.
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  Really amazing, all of them.
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  So for us to kind of be kind of counted with them, that really means a lot.
• 10:47
  Becca: Yeah.
• 10:47
  That recognition that someone else can see, all that hard work that
• 10:51
  you've put in is definitely worth it.
• 10:53
  You talk there about imposter syndrome, obviously that's improved
• 10:56
  for you over the time, do you think?
• 10:58
  Do you still have imposter syndrome?
• 11:00
  Because if you're anything like me, it never really goes away.
• 11:04
  Donna: Absolutely.
• 11:05
  Oh my goodness.
• 11:05
  Yes.
• 11:06
  Yeah, about everything.
• 11:09
  Becca: Well, I don't think you need to.
• 11:11
  Donna: Yeah.
• 11:11
  Even about today, I was like
• 11:14
  Becca: even about being a guest on this podcast.
• 11:15
  You are very welcome.
• 11:16
  It's great to have you on here, and you should be incredibly proud of your
• 11:20
  success when you look back and often as business owners, we don't look back.
• 11:23
  We're always looking forward, looking to the next goal, looking to the
• 11:26
  next number, all of those things.
• 11:28
  But actually when you look back and think, actually in 2012, I was working in a
• 11:33
  civil service job and now I am director of this incredible wedding venue with
• 11:38
  40 or 50 couples coming in and getting married every year with an amazing team.
• 11:43
  You have to take a moment to realize, actually we have achieved that.
• 11:46
  Donna: Yeah.
• 11:47
  We, we actually, when we hit our 10 year anniversary, last year, we had
• 11:50
  a big party, like a black tie event.
• 11:53
  We invited all of our friends and family, everyone that's.
• 11:55
  Supported us over the years and, you know, lots of our, suppliers that we work with
• 12:00
  and just had like a really good knees up.
• 12:02
  And yeah, I I, I do definitely do feel proud.
• 12:05
  And now when you hear sometimes like I'll be on a Facebook forum and people are
• 12:09
  saying like, was a really good venue.
• 12:10
  And when other people say, oh, the granary at Fawsley I'm like, yay, that's us.
• 12:16
  Becca: Yes, definitely.
• 12:17
  And I'm glad you took time to celebrate with a party and hopefully you'll
• 12:20
  do it again for the 20th anniversary.
• 12:23
  In a few more years time seems like a long way off, but I'm sure it will come round
• 12:28
  quicker than that as these things do.
• 12:30
  Now, I'd love to ask you a question that always intrigues me when I talk
• 12:35
  to people in your situation, which is around working with your partner.
• 12:39
  Obviously you said right at the start that you went into this together,
• 12:42
  that you were happy to support him.
• 12:43
  You had a young family.
• 12:45
  How has it.
• 12:45
  Been working together with your partner?
• 12:49
  Has it been a struggle?
• 12:50
  Has it been the dream?
• 12:52
  Like what would you say to people who are considering doing that?
• 12:55
  Donna: It's, I think, very early on we decided who on our roles, separate
• 13:00
  roles, so we make big decisions together, but then like day-to-day, we don't
• 13:05
  actually work together very much at all.
• 13:07
  We always, we decided that, From early on, cause we've got young
• 13:10
  children, we've now got three, that the family would be my priority
• 13:14
  and that the business would be his.
• 13:16
  So that we've got some kind of continuity.
• 13:19
  And so my work is largely from, has always largely been from home.
• 13:22
  He's always been more in the office, so he runs the operational side of things.
• 13:27
  So on a wedding day, he'll often be here overseeing things.
• 13:31
  Often he's not needed now.
• 13:32
  But I tend to do all of the back office stuff that I can do from anywhere.
• 13:36
  So I do all the marketing and the finances, like HR kind of things.
• 13:41
  And so, Like on a normal working day, our paths don't
• 13:44
  cross that much, which is good.
• 13:47
  It works.
• 13:47
  And he's also got some other businesses, so sometimes he's not here.
• 13:51
  So yeah, I think that's kind of how we've made it work.
• 13:54
  Although sometimes it is quite difficult in the evening, like he wants to have
• 13:57
  a big business chat and I'm like, oh.
• 14:00
  Really?
• 14:01
  Yes.
• 14:02
  Keeping those boundaries is hard as a self-employed person at the best of
• 14:05
  times, especially when your business partner is also your life partner.
• 14:10
  Becca: I can imagine that as well.
• 14:11
  And I bet it's interesting for the kids having grown up around this, are
• 14:14
  they getting more aware of what you do?
• 14:16
  Are they getting involved in any of the little bits that go on?
• 14:18
  Donna: Yeah, definitely.
• 14:19
  I mean, they've always, they've grown up kind of coming over to work with us, you
• 14:23
  know, popping in at weekends, seeing how things are going, that kind of thing.
• 14:26
  So, and our, our oldest turn's 14 tomorrow, and he already knows that
• 14:30
  as soon as he is old enough, like he's got a job here, he's gonna
• 14:33
  be like collecting glasses or, you know, waiting tables or whatever.
• 14:37
  Soon as he's, soon as he's old enough, I say, yeah, they're,
• 14:40
  they're quite interested.
• 14:41
  But I, I, I like to feel that we've managed to kind of not
• 14:46
  let it take over our lives.
• 14:47
  You know, we've kind of had that, which is why I'm quite glad that
• 14:50
  we don't live on site and we live.
• 14:52
  Away.
• 14:53
  Away because we can't, we can't work all the time.
• 14:56
  Becca: Yeah.
• 14:56
  It gives you a little bit of boundaries, but I do think it's really inspiring
• 14:59
  for children to be brought up around entrepreneurs, and I find often
• 15:02
  entrepreneurs have entrepreneurial parents because I think they see what's possible
• 15:07
  and I think it's really exciting for them, especially at a young age, to realize.
• 15:11
  Actually there is another option.
• 15:13
  I don't just have to follow the normal path that everyone else follows.
• 15:16
  And actually I can think outside of the box and I can do it like
• 15:19
  my parents did, and maybe not in the same industry, but actually
• 15:22
  consider having their own business.
• 15:24
  So I'm a big advocate about getting children involved
• 15:27
  to business at a young age.
• 15:28
  I'm talking to my kids about it.
• 15:30
  All of the time, probably too much.
• 15:32
  But I do think it inspires them.
• 15:34
  And now if I, if they wanna buy something, so for example, they wanna
• 15:38
  buy a new toy or something like that, I'll say, well, you don't have any money.
• 15:41
  And my youngest, who is six, will say, well, we need to find
• 15:44
  something to do to earn the money.
• 15:45
  And I'm like, yes, you do.
• 15:46
  But yeah,
• 15:48
  Donna: Our's do that.
• 15:48
  They'll be like, I want this.
• 15:49
  Thing, what jobs can I do?
• 15:51
  Have you got any jobs?
• 15:53
  Becca: Yeah, exactly.
• 15:54
  But at least understanding.
• 15:55
  Yeah.
• 15:55
  Money doesn't just fall from trees though.
• 15:57
  Your parents work really hard to, to do that for you.
• 16:01
  Now, whenever I have someone on the podcast who is from a wedding venue,
• 16:06
  I have to ask the questions around the venue supplier relationship because
• 16:11
  it's definitely a thing in our industry where people see venue and venue
• 16:15
  owners and event managers as this.
• 16:17
  Big scary unapproachable thing when they're in the industry.
• 16:20
  They're photographers Florists, especially when they're starting out.
• 16:23
  And although we've talked already about your imposter syndrome, I know
• 16:26
  that there'll be people listening to this or seeing you online and
• 16:30
  thinking, oh, I wish one day I could be recommended by the granary at Fawsley
• 16:34
  I wish that they would know who I was.
• 16:36
  How have you navigated that supplier relationship?
• 16:40
  How have you found people to work with?
• 16:42
  Donna: So some of our suppliers we've worked with from Day
• 16:45
  Dot, you know, they were.
• 16:47
  Had fledgling businesses themselves.
• 16:49
  Glen had already got a few contacts in the industry through his previous
• 16:53
  work with the marquee business.
• 16:54
  And then we've always tried to work with as many suppliers as we can, really,
• 16:59
  because we find it's, it's good for us.
• 17:02
  The more, the more kind of people that say positive things about us
• 17:06
  and work with us and know what we like to work with, you know, the more
• 17:10
  that they're gonna kind of tell their clients about you and vice versa.
• 17:13
  And you know, you can build up quite a.
• 17:16
  Reciprocal relationship.
• 17:18
  It's difficult in with certain kind of niches just because there's so many,
• 17:24
  you know, we find it with photographers, there's, there's so many and all of
• 17:28
  them are hugely talented and the, the thing is you can't recommend everybody.
• 17:32
  So we kind of say, If you get a job here and you, you know, we get on
• 17:36
  really well and we, and you know, and, and we all really like each
• 17:39
  other, then we'll recommend you.
• 17:41
  But we don't recommend anyone that we haven't worked with.
• 17:43
  That makes sense.
• 17:44
  Cuz you can't, you don't know.
• 17:45
  So you can't,
• 17:46
  Becca: yeah.
• 17:46
  It is difficult and you are in a difficult position because there are so many
• 17:50
  incredibly talented people out there, and obviously you can't recommend them all.
• 17:54
  But I'm glad to hear that you're open to working with lots of different
• 17:57
  people and if there is someone listening to this and thinking, oh, I wish.
• 18:00
  Like, I could reach out or speak to you.
• 18:02
  Like, how do you like hearing from people?
• 18:05
  Do you like it when people reach out to you?
• 18:06
  Do you like people to come in to visit?
• 18:08
  Donna: Yeah.
• 18:08
  So the thing that kind of we like the most is if, when people, especially on
• 18:12
  social media, if they just, you know, kind of share some of our stories or,
• 18:16
  you know, and that maybe if they see we've got an open day and they, they get
• 18:20
  in touch and say, oh, you know, do you think I could come along if we've got,
• 18:23
  if we've, we've, we've not already got somebody doing what you do, then yes.
• 18:27
  Absolutely.
• 18:28
  So I think it's really just kind of fighting the bullet and just
• 18:31
  taking action and just kind of saying, hello, this is what I do.
• 18:34
  You know, how can I help you?
• 18:35
  And then we can kind of.
• 18:37
  Kind of build it from there.
• 18:39
  Becca: So it's being proactive and realizing you're not scary.
• 18:41
  It's okay.
• 18:42
  They can contact you and you're not gonna bite their head off.
• 18:44
  Donna: Not at all.
• 18:45
  No, no.
• 18:46
  Like, like on, on a wedding day, you know, you kind of all work together, don't you?
• 18:49
  To kind of produce the end results, so you are all on the same team, really.
• 18:55
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 18:56
  That's music to my ears, Donna, because so often people are afraid,
• 18:59
  like I said, of venues, they're scared that they're gonna be put in their
• 19:03
  place or they're gonna lose out on an opportunity if they do it wrong.
• 19:05
  So if you're listening to this, Be reassured.
• 19:08
  You know, it is, it's, they're just people.
• 19:10
  They're people who've started a business to a lot of the time.
• 19:12
  Anna, if you can think about a way to serve them and to reach out and
• 19:16
  be friendly and genuinely want to build that relationship, that's
• 19:18
  definitely the way to go about it.
• 19:21
  Now, Donna, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the wedding business
• 19:24
  retreat, as I mentioned, In the intro, you came on our retreat last year.
• 19:29
  It was an absolute blast.
• 19:30
  We loved having you there.
• 19:31
  I'm so glad you came.
• 19:33
  If you think back, and this is going back a little bit in your head now
• 19:36
  to when you first booked it, what was it that made you think, yeah, I'm
• 19:39
  gonna come on the retreat this year?
• 19:41
  Donna: I think just being, being able to be in a room with other wedding
• 19:45
  businesses and to kind of be able to share experiences and kind of learn together
• 19:52
  because I, you know, you can kind of.
• 19:54
  Do courses and you can like have business coaching and all that kind
• 19:58
  of stuff, but so much of kind of.
• 20:01
  The good stuff comes from getting together with other people and kind of,
• 20:04
  you know, hashing stuff out in a room.
• 20:06
  So, yeah, I love, I loved it and it, you know, also to realize how many
• 20:11
  other businesses, even if they're not a venue who, you know, whatever,
• 20:14
  you know, their, their thing is often we've got, we're having the same issues
• 20:18
  and the same problems, or we are, you know, we are, we're doing the same
• 20:21
  things wrong or not doing things that we should be doing and yeah, lots of
• 20:26
  light bulb moments.
• 20:27
  Becca: It's a great opportunity, isn't it, to step outside of your own business
• 20:30
  and into that space where everyone's there for the same reason and to talk.
• 20:35
  Now, you said earlier one thing you struggle with or have struggled
• 20:37
  with over the years is being able to talk to other venue owners
• 20:41
  and talk about their struggles.
• 20:42
  There were lots of other venue people at the retreat.
• 20:45
  Were you able to have some of those conversations there?
• 20:48
  Donna: Oh my goodness, yes.
• 20:49
  Yes.
• 20:50
  And it was so good and because they're not like near, you know, they're not near
• 20:53
  you, they're from all over the country.
• 20:54
  So, you know, you could just genuinely be really supportive of each other and
• 20:58
  share like best practice and kind of, you know, how do you know when this comes up?
• 21:02
  What do you do?
• 21:03
  Yeah.
• 21:04
  So it, it's, it's really great to be able to do that.
• 21:06
  Yeah,
• 21:06
  Becca: I think people underestimate as well when it comes to any
• 21:09
  in-person event, whether it's a retreat, a conference, often yes,
• 21:13
  you get loads from the sessions, but.
• 21:15
  As you said, so much of what happens at those events is in the
• 21:19
  tea breaks, in the coffee breaks, in the lunches, over drinks.
• 21:22
  When you can have those conversations when everyone's relaxed, when you
• 21:25
  can ask people questions that you've wanted to know for ages and just
• 21:28
  haven't been able to have the person to ask or the opportunity to ask.
• 21:32
  It definitely is what makes.
• 21:34
  Things really magic.
• 21:36
  When you think back, is there anything specific that you took away from last
• 21:40
  year's retreat that you've kind of bought into your business or changed
• 21:44
  or done differently or any light bulb moments that you can remember?
• 21:48
  Donna: Yeah, I think so.
• 21:50
  I think.
• 21:51
  What the biggest thing that I got out of it was, you know that in everything that
• 21:55
  you do in building your business, it's really just about consistency and not
• 22:00
  kind of getting too hung up on everything being perfect And you know, just like
• 22:05
  with social media for example, just consistently like putting out content
• 22:08
  and you know, building your audience and.
• 22:11
  Yeah, that cause that, that's not a strong point for me time.
• 22:15
  Like blocking out your time, making sure that you're kind of protecting like your,
• 22:19
  your time to work on your most important things and actually to like narrow down
• 22:23
  what those are because you can't have 20 most important things, you know?
• 22:28
  So, yeah,
• 22:29
  Becca: absolutely.
• 22:29
  And when you came on the retreat, one thing that people say to me is,
• 22:32
  I'm a bit nervous about going cause I don't really know if I'm gonna know
• 22:36
  anyone or if I'm coming on my own.
• 22:37
  Did you know anyone before you came or was it an experience where you came alone?
• 22:41
  Donna: No, I came alone.
• 22:42
  I knew Kelly and I've felt like I knew you because I've listened to
• 22:45
  lots of your podcasts and like watched your Pinterest training and stuff.
• 22:49
  So, but no, I didn't know anyone else at all.
• 22:52
  So it was great actually to.
• 22:54
  So kind of, you know, some of them I kind of recognized from like forums,
• 22:57
  from like Kelly's forum that you know the names, but I didn't, yeah.
• 23:02
  But it, but I, I felt like that was the good thing to not know anybody, to kind
• 23:06
  of just really throw yourself into it.
• 23:08
  Becca: Yeah.
• 23:08
  And actually when you don't know anyone, it forces you to
• 23:11
  start talking to people quicker.
• 23:13
  Cuz often if you go with a business partner or a friend or someone
• 23:16
  in the industry, you can end up talking to them the whole time.
• 23:18
  And actually you don't get the full kind of experience of the networking.
• 23:23
  I hope that, that you didn't find that you felt lonely.
• 23:25
  I hope that you found that you made lots of connections very quickly.
• 23:28
  Donna: I did.
• 23:28
  Yeah.
• 23:29
  Yeah.
• 23:29
  And you know, some of the people we've.
• 23:31
  Still sort of follow each other on Instagram and kind of
• 23:33
  comment on each other's posts and stuff, which is really nice.
• 23:36
  And also Becca.
• 23:37
  I've got three kids, so it was like a holiday for me.
• 23:41
  Becca: Yeah, me too.
• 23:42
  That's why I like to go, go see a nice hotel.
• 23:46
  Have someone else cook your food.
• 23:48
  Donna: Exactly.
• 23:49
  No packed lunches to make is amazing.
• 23:52
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:53
  I joke because we do go there to do business.
• 23:56
  Honestly, for anyone who's listening in my family.
• 23:58
  But it's, it's a break and we don't get that time again.
• 24:02
  As self-employed people, we often don't get that time to switch off to have fun.
• 24:06
  And that's one of the things me and Kelly really wanted to put into our
• 24:10
  retreat is, yes, it's about business.
• 24:11
  Yes, it's about connection, but we wanted to have those moments of fun
• 24:15
  and letting your hair down and laughing and doing all of the things that we
• 24:19
  watch other people doing at weddings.
• 24:21
  Day in, day out, week in, week out, but often just don't have
• 24:24
  the opportunity to do ourselves.
• 24:25
  So yeah, it definitely is a break as well.
• 24:28
  We've got our next retreat coming up in October.
• 24:31
  So if anyone's listening to this and they're on the fence about
• 24:34
  going, what would you say to them?
• 24:36
  Donna: Just book it.
• 24:37
  Honestly.
• 24:38
  You won't regret it.
• 24:38
  You'll get so much out of it that you didn't expect.
• 24:42
  And just the opportunity to be in the, in a room with lots of other like-minded
• 24:46
  individuals that are all just trying to do their best in their business.
• 24:50
  Yeah, it's definitely worth it.
• 24:51
  Becca: Fab Yeah, I can't wait.
• 24:52
  I'm counting down the months already.
• 24:54
  We're only in May, but it is gonna come round soon and I know I'm looking
• 24:58
  forward to those three nights away from my house once more and just absorbing
• 25:02
  myself in all things, weddings.
• 25:04
  So Donna, what is next for you?
• 25:06
  What's next for the venue?
• 25:06
  Have you got big plans?
• 25:08
  What are the next couple of years looking like in your world?
• 25:11
  Donna: So we've been, this year been focusing quite a lot on doing some
• 25:14
  refurbishments and kind of stepping everything up a bit, making it a bit,
• 25:19
  you know, Kind of, you know, making everything more fresh and kind of new.
• 25:24
  Yeah.
• 25:25
  I dunno, really, in terms of growing the business, we're getting to
• 25:28
  like a nice, a nice kind of point with how many we're doing a year.
• 25:32
  But one of the things that we have been kind of.
• 25:35
  Working on is kind of quality over quantity with our bookings,
• 25:39
  and we've really seen that.
• 25:40
  So like the, the, the average booking that we take, that we've been taking
• 25:44
  for say, 2024 is higher than for 2023.
• 25:47
  So that's kind of been, you know, how can we kind of maximize each of the
• 25:51
  bookings and how can we, you know, make it the best experience possible.
• 25:55
  For the couple whilst also, you know, us kind of as a
• 25:58
  business doing well out of it.
• 26:00
  Becca: And that's a lovely stage to be at as well, to be able to
• 26:02
  have the freedom to actually have a look at that and to think about it.
• 26:06
  Because I think when we get started and there'll be people listening in the
• 26:10
  starting zone where you're just trying to get as much business as you can,
• 26:13
  bring in all the bookings, you feel like you're just never gonna get there.
• 26:16
  And then all of a sudden you hit this point where you have, where
• 26:20
  if you keep taking more and more and more bookings, you would just
• 26:22
  become overworked and burnt out.
• 26:24
  And.
• 26:24
  That's the right time to do exactly what you're doing, which is to
• 26:27
  take a pause and to think, okay, this is about the right amount.
• 26:31
  How can we make those bookings that we have got even better?
• 26:34
  So hopefully you will see that increase year on year over the
• 26:37
  next couple of years as well.
• 26:40
  Now, Donna, you are an avid listener to the podcast, so you will know
• 26:43
  that I always end my infused with the same question, which is what's
• 26:47
  one thing you wish you'd known sooner in your wedding business journey?
• 26:51
  Donna: Yes.
• 26:52
  I am prepared for this.
• 26:54
  So the one thing I wish I'd known sooner was that it is okay not to know everything
• 27:00
  from the very moment that you start.
• 27:02
  I spent Far too long beating myself up about the fact that I didn't
• 27:06
  know how to run a wedding venue, but of course I didn't because I'd
• 27:09
  never run a wedding venue before.
• 27:11
  And if we waited until things were perfect and we were
• 27:14
  ready, we wouldn't do anything.
• 27:16
  So I think you just have to start before you're ready and just.
• 27:20
  Leap in and just be kind to yourself about it and just be willing to learn a lot.
• 27:25
  And also, I've actually got another thing which is slightly
• 27:28
  different to prioritize working.
• 27:31
  On the business and not in it because I think I was maybe four years in before
• 27:36
  I even knew that was a thing, cuz I, we were so deep in kind of the day to day and
• 27:42
  we weren't tracking how it was growing.
• 27:44
  We didn't really, the business side of things was not.
• 27:46
  A priority, but it should be from day one.
• 27:49
  Becca: Hopefully it is now.
• 27:51
  Donna: Oh yeah, it is now.
• 27:52
  Yeah.
• 27:52
  I've got, I've got a dashboard.
• 27:54
  I can tell you all my numbers.
• 27:56
  Yeah.
• 27:57
  Becca: Excellent.
• 27:58
  Love to, and you couldn't tell me all your numbers and you don't
• 28:02
  know where things are coming from.
• 28:04
  That's a little wake up call for you there from Donna to remember
• 28:07
  that you can't just work day to day.
• 28:09
  You do need to look at those bigger picture things as well.
• 28:12
  Donna, it's been such a pleasure having you on the podcast.
• 28:14
  Thank you for being here.
• 28:15
  If people wanna find out more about you, about the venue, about
• 28:19
  working with you, where's the best place for them to find you?
• 28:21
  Donna: We have our website, which is granary-weddings.com.
• 28:25
  We are on Instagram as the granary at Fawsley.
• 28:28
  Also Facebook, the Ganary At Fawsley, we're just venturing into TikTok,
• 28:32
  so we have a few things on there.
• 28:35
  It's not my, my skill.
• 28:36
  Thankfully, our wedding coordinators are like two decades
• 28:40
  younger than me, so they know.
• 28:45
  Becca: Fabulous.
• 28:45
  And you've got a 14 year old in your house who will soon be coming
• 28:48
  up to that point where they'll know more about technology than you.
• 28:51
  Donna: Oh yeah.
• 28:51
  He's basically tech support.
• 28:53
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 28:54
  That's what kids are for.
• 28:55
  Surely.
• 28:55
  I'm looking forward to a point where my kids get old enough.
• 28:58
  To be able to do my social media in a really young, cool, trendy way.
• 29:02
  I'm, I'm sure it will happen over the next 10 years.
• 29:04
  I will make sure that I put all of those links to all of the things
• 29:08
  Donna mentioned in the show notes.
• 29:09
  So do reach out to her.
• 29:10
  Donna, thank you for being here.
• 29:12
  It's been a pleasure.
• 29:13
  Donna: Thank you, Becca.
• 29:15
  Becca: I love that conversation with Donna.
• 29:17
  Isn't she great?
• 29:18
  What a wonderful business story to think that she walked out of
• 29:22
  a job into a wedding venue and here she's all these years later
• 29:25
  with a real success on her hands.
• 29:28
  If that's not inspiring today, I dunno what is.
• 29:31
  I'll see you next week.