We recently connected with Ron & Susan Van Volkenburgh and have shared our conversation below.

Ron & Susan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
As small business owners ourselves, we originally looked at purchasing the property and farm in 2016 as a way of expanding our existing businesses. Ron, a career-long software engineer and architect, and Susan, a published author of a number of books, we were more interested in find a new home for these businesses than we were focused on starting a Bed & Breakfast. Neither one of us had any experience running a B&B and certainly not one that included Treehouses. But for us, when touring the property initially, we saw what the previous owners had built and started and thought the treehouses were too special to take private for offices, so instead we crafted a plan where we flipped the business model and instead of focusing on events, with a treehouse stay here and there, we’d focus more on sharing our treehouses with the public and allow them to experience them firsthand. At the same time, we got the opportunity of meeting a wide variety of people who have a like-interest in nature, animals, and adventure. We kept our existing business and ran them alongside Savannah’s Meadow and in the process, achieved our goal of sharing our hidden gem, while meeting some really great people!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Prior to Savannah’s Meadow, Ron and Susan didn’t have any experience in the hospitality industry. Ron has sent many years in the IT world as a software engineer with patents to his name, while Susan has written and published books, after having homeschooled their three children. They currently have three amazing grandchildren, who love to take rides on their 1951 Ford tractor with “Oompa”, as well as throwing rocks in the pond. Ron and Susan converted Savannah’s Meadow to a Bed & Breakfast, open from April 1st through October 31st each year as a way of sharing both treehouses and their love of nature and animals. They greet a wide variety of guests each season and everyone knows that “the first time they are guests; thereafter they are friends”. Knowing there is a healing property to spending time disconnected electronically from the world, they get the rare opportunity of sharing other peoples stories as folks find that healing during their stay. Savannah’s Meadow isn’t advertised, but Ron and Susan do share personal experiences on the farm with followers on Social Media and in doing so are shared with others, which helps grow recognition from a wider audience. They’ve been the spotlight on television, cable, radio, print, and online, and while very grateful for these new audiences, have never asked for the attention. They believe strongly in treat others as you would want to be treated and operate their business with this rule, which they believe has led to their explosive growth in the last five years.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Ron had spent his career working for large corporations, but never felt like he really fit in. In order to work in that environment, you almost have to have mastered the politics of everyday life in an office setting and was never quite successful doing that. He was a software engineer and architect who wanted to build and invent and always found the red tape of corporate-life silly and disingenuous. In his opinion, leadership was almost always idiots and subordinates were lazy and unmotivated. In 2015, he left corporate America having gone as far as he was allowed and took the leap to self employment. As a believer in entrepreneurship, he branched out on his own, focusing on elements of his fledgling software company that brought the most gratification and after six years is thriving and enjoying that promised “work/life balance”. After working as an Oncology nurse for many years, Susan left the medical field to focus on the educational needs of their daughter and began homeschooling, when homeschooling wasn’t as popular as it is now. She homeschooled their daughter and both sons to high school graduation, well preparing them for life in a college setting. She brags that in addition to her own high school graduation, by the time she was done with their three children, she had graduated high school four times in her life. Now, she is the face and spirit of Savannah’s Meadow. Guests that stay on their farm in treehouses delight in conversation with her and it’s her vision of how each treehouse is prepared that guests get to enjoy. So many people who have stayed one or more nights in a treehouse get the opportunity of speaking with Susan during check-out in their Gift Shop Silo, and she takes the time to listen to everyone’s story.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
How Ron and Susan met is nothing short of a romance movie, as Susan was Ron’s best friend’s girlfriend. Now, don’t get all heady over Ron stealing a girlfriend from his best friend. Here’s how it went: Susan was going to college on the East coast and would come home for the Summer or holidays on the West coast and had started seeing someone, who happened to be Ron’s best friend at the time. When she would come home, she would leave her car on the East coast and fly home, so she didn’t have transportation and Ron’s best friend didn’t have a car, so he would call Ron and ask him to drive them to his basketball games or other places. Ron didn’t mind, because he probably would’ve been hanging with his best friend anyway. But something happened; while sitting and watching his best friend play basketball, driving from point A to point B, or other activities, Ron got to know Susan more and more…as a friend – girlfriend to his best friend. Nothing happened…really! They would chat for hours about everything under the sun, just to burn the time away watching their joint association. One day, Susan called Ron from school, told him she and her best friend had broken up, was coming home for the Summer, and wondered if I would drive her to a local college so she could pick up an extra course over the Summer. Of course, he said yes and the rest they say…is history. He picked her up that day to take her to that college so she could register, they had lunch, then proceeded to spend everyday together for the rest of the Summer. When she returned to the East to start her Fall semester, they would both chat on the phone long enough each night they spent all their extra money each month on phone bills (back when long distance charges meant something). They also looked for and sent letters to one another, looking for that day when they would reunite.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.savannahsmeadow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/109656495/savannahs-meadow-llc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavannahsMeadowLLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronvanvolkenburgh/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/savannahsmeadow
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8a499vSb4c&list=PLIIBXKQ1qFHI4ArJG1cCqiNqYYOa2Fthw
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/savannahs-meadow-celeste
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1NVxQTKMwU

Image Credits
Ron and Susan on the tractor credit to unknown guest but granted rights in perpetuity All other images credit to Randy Van Photography at www.randyvanphotography.com