29 "If I Fail For It, I Fail For It" and "Then I Had An Emergency C-Section"

Guest 1: [00:00:00] I realized that I put so much of my self-worth into my job because it was like I did everything on that checklist of like, what you're supposed to do, right? To be successful, and then your whole industry is shut down. What the hell is my job? In high school, I feel like, you know, I really try hard. I always really work so hard. I worked two jobs. I really wanted to excel, but I felt like the structure of of schooling and how it was, like, laid out. It just something was like my brain. It felt like it didn't suit me as well. And it honestly, that starts to like play with your mind after a little bit. Or it's like you spend your whole life in school working as hard as you possibly can and not seeing these like incredible, amazing results. Or at least the results that like, I held my like my own standards, to which I think that's in and of itself kind of a funny thing. But then when I got to Scad, it was so project based, like the way classes were laid out, I was working just as hard and I was suddenly excelling in almost everyone in my class at Scad was dyslexic, ADHD had autism, something like that. It shows that these things that we that society has kind of taught us to think about as like a hindrance is actually just like a different way of your brain working.

It is absolutely a superpower to think differently sometimes and that those opinions are so needed, especially like ADHD and things like that. And girls are not as often like talked about and explored and like, it's not like even when I was young, I was like tested for it. I just had like that was that came later in life, the way the classes were structured in the creativity. And just for the first time, you know, coming from the South, I was with more like like minded individuals that like, had more of, like my own personal belief systems. And I found like the openness and the creativity as well as like how the classes were actually structured completely like changed how I thought of myself.

Like I didn't think of myself as smart or talented or things like things I should have. But, you know, it's hard to have self-worth as a young woman sometimes. But then when I got into this environment and I, I learned how hard it worked, actually did mean something. I just needed to be in a field that was suited for me. And then I graduated with a 3.99 moment. Something like that is a total change in my life, and I'm so thankful for that school. I worked my butt off all four years. I was a student ambassador and then also on top of that, I worked at a scenic painting studio and I was always networking. That was when I was making those connections. The two worked together because I had more experience than a lot of my peers. I had also applied for a trip only like ten people got to do it to go and like interview with Imagineers and various people from Universal Creative and things like that. And that got me into the live entertainment event world.

And then I applied for an internship as a technical direction intern with Disney Live Entertainment in my senior year of school, and I gave it, which is crazy because, like, that's not where I thought my life would go. I had maybe been to Disney like once. It was life altering. I literally started my internship a week to the day after I graduated from college, so I, I left my graduation, packed up my stuff, and started driving to Orlando. I was working under an incredible staff there and it was such a broad spectrum, but it allowed me to learn so many different facets of design in a way that just can't be matched. But that level it was, it changes you as a person. It changes what you think you can excel to. It lets you know I can achieve higher. Look how great I could be if I keep working hard. I never thought I'd leave. The pandemic is honestly what wear my life. I remember going into a meeting like maybe a month before everything shut down and my boss was talking to me about like the future where I wanted to go in our department to see, like, everybody leaving the parks, to see us leaving the part that was so eerie. Eventually, when the whole big round of Disney layoffs, I was also laid off. And it was it was kind soul shattering, honestly.

My dad had a stroke about six years ago, and the property that his business was housed on and where I grew up really fell into disrepair. It's really heartbreaking sight. I said, hey, like, if I came home and I put all of my effort and all of my design expertise and everything I have, would you trust me to try to make this a wedding and event venue? It was that love. It was the chance to save my home. It was like, oh wow, I'm going to get to see people fall in love, get married, have all these and beautiful experiences that I get to help with because at the end of the day, I'm a background girl. Like I don't want to be front and center. I like setting other people up for that. I like making other people look great, and it's really becoming something really special. And I just wanted to do it a little different with being right outside Chattanooga, Tennessee and in Wildwood, Georgia. We are in a place that is not very LGBTQIa friendly and that appalls me. I took this as an opportunity to create a safe space for weddings that I don't see a lot of other venues in my area doing. We're part of the Tennessee Pride Commission, and we're LGBTQ friendly. We are friendly to all people of color, and that's just not something I am seeing enough in my region. And it's only up to you to put a stand for something, I think. And so I won't work with vendors who are not kind in those ways. I am creating a safe space and if I fail for it, I fail for it.

But that's where my morals lie. When you drive down where in a little country town called Wildwood. So imagine just like leaving the city and then you're surrounded in trees. You have foliage, falling leaves, just beautiful scenery. Big giant mountain in the background. We call ourselves the Valley. The news, because we're on 74 acres, and most of those acres are valleys. And there's complete panoramic mountain views where it's just so stunning. Our valleys are covered in wildflowers, especially during the spring. So it has a very a ethereal whimsy nature. Our old Magnolia house, it was built in 1896, and I've done a historic preservation on that. We also have a grand reception hall that has a very modern kind of neutral color palettes, because my idea is to create each wedding customized for the guest. This one is neutral, so I can create something fantastic for you. And ultimately it was like a love for like, my family. [00:06:18][378.0]