We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Missy Bentz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Missy below.

Missy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

I am glad you asked because that is the most important aspect of what I do! We run an upscale short-term rental property that has beautifully landscaped gardens with a large pond and waterfall which provides a very peaceful and relaxing setting. When we purchased the property in January of 1991 we had never done anything in the lodging and hospitality industry, we were just looking for a change from owning a small business with several employees and lots of stress. When my husband and I first saw the property we fell in love with it and a vision for it took root in my heart that very day. I wanted Misty Pond Resort (the name we gave our property) to be a place for friends and family to come together and relax, play, and connect in a beautiful setting that provides opportunities for fun activities and peaceful rest. In my life, the beauty of nature leads me to experience the goodness of God, and it is healing to my soul, and I believed that this property could offer that experience to families and other groups who would spend time here. So, as part of that vision, I wanted every guest to feel welcomed and valued, and grateful to be here. With that in mind, I ask my guests a little bit about themselves and the purpose of their visit so that I can customize my hospitality to their needs and preferences. If there are young children, I may provide the ingredients for making s’mores at the firepit, or have fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies on the counter when thet arrive. If it is a group of ladies, I may have small bouquets of fresh flowers in every room, and a aromatherapy bath gel in all of the bathrooms. We greet our guests, with the splashing sounds of the waterfall, and a chalkboard on the porch welcoming them by name. The speakers will be playing appropriate background music, as I show them around and make sure they are aware of all of our amenities, including the heated pool, the spa, and the nature trail, and the kayaks. If the weather permits, we always offer a boat ride on our tritoon boat. After greeting them and giving the tour, we ask them to think of the home and property as their own private resort for their stay, and make sure they know we are available if they need anything at all. We also keep our kitchen fully stocked with most anything a chef or family would need to make delicious meals. We also love to cater dinners for our guests if they wish. Providing a delicious meal, or a just a big jug of homemade lavender lemonade, are great ways to show them how much we enjoy hosting them. One of the greatest pleasures we experience in our business is reading our guest book entries and reviews the guests leave for us. Through their kind words of gratitude, and stories of their enjoyment, we see that our vision is being achieved, and our property is a place of restoration and joy.

Missy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Our beautiful 5-Bedroom Estate is located on 4.2 acres on Lake Lanier. The expansive grounds with lush vegetation is beautifully landscaped and is a quiet, peaceful, and calming oasis with a lovely pond that has Koi and other fish, and a relaxing and soothing waterfall. We have natural woodlands where you can see deer, fox, squirrels and other wildlife. You can follow our rejuvenating nature trail down to the quiet cove on Lake Lanier where you can sun, swim, or take a boat ride on our Tritoon Boat. Or you can swim in our indoor heated pool or relax in our heated spa.

We have turned this short-term rental property into an upscale private resort for families and groups to enjoy vacations, retreats, intimate weddings or other events, and other gatherings of meaning and importance. We delight in making our guests feel welcomed and valued and providing a place for peaceful rest, meaningful connections, and fun activities.

My husband and I live on the property in a small apartment separate from the house, and are grateful we get to live in this beautiful and peaceful place on Lake Lanier, while also having the privilege of sharing it with our guests who come and enjoy a wonderful time with family and friends. I enjoy extending hospitality, while my husband takes care of maintenance. It has been a perfect fit for us, and our guests show their appreciation for what we are doing, which increases our feeling that this is our true calling for this time in our lives. I have enjoyed learning to make floral arrangements, and working with our gardening team to beautify the property. You can hear more about how and why we created Misty Pond Resort, and follow what we are doing here by checking out our website, mistypondresort.com, and following misty pond resort on instagram and facebook. We hope you will come and stay here sometime soon!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I believe the most effective strategy for growing clientele is to have a clear vision for the business and then to stick to the vision in everything you do. Because of my faith, my vision for our short-term rental property incorporated my belief that God called us to this particular business at this particular property for His purpose. We had prayed, asking God to show us what we should do for our next chapter in life because our children were grown and our furniture repair business was becoming too stressful. When our friend who is a realtor showed us pictures of the beautiful property, we felt incredibly drawn to it even though it seemed beyond our means to purchase it. God provided the vision, even before He provided a way to make the property ours. The vision was to create a place for families and friends to come and relax, play, and gather together in a beautiful setting that provides fun activities and peaceful rest. And that is always our focus. From first contact to check-out, I try and make the guests feel valued and welcomed. All throughout the property, we create settings for peaceful relaxation as well as fun connections. Rather than focusing on getting bookings, we focus on the guest experience. I try and customize the experience to the group. Depending on the purpose of the guest’s stay, I provide little surprises to enhance their experience. We make sure our linens and beds are ultra-comfortable, our kitchen is well stocked for preparing meals, and there are lots of games to play, water toys for the lake and pool, and opportunities to enjoy the beauty of nature. And the way we know we are succeeding in our mission is through the wonderful feedback we get from our guests! We have a guest book for guests to leave us messages, and it is full of stories about feeling welcomed, creating wonderful memories, and having wonderful times with family and friends. We have also received amazing reviews on VRBO, making us 5-star premiere hosts. We enjoy repeat customer’s and we stay connected with them through social media and email newsletters. In turn, they recommend us to their friends, co-workers, and family. We have also marketed ourselves to the nearby wedding venues as a place to stay for the bride and groom’s wedding party, or out of town guests. We are now preferred vendors for 2 wedding venues. It is an incredible joy to us to be able to provide such a wonderful place for guests to stay.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Being able to pivot is so important because life is never stagnant. As we go through the seasons of life, we need to be willing to adapt. As a person of faith, I believe that when life changes it means God has a new mission for me, and I need to cooperate with Him so that I can live out my true calling for that season and therefore live with the greatest sense of satisfaction and purpose. But regardless of faith, the ability to adapt is the key to finding satisfaction in the changing circumstances in which we find ourselves. I have had 2 major pivotal times in my adult life with regard to career. As a newlywed and then a mother of young kids I started an interior design business called Inside Ideas, and my vision was to work alongside busy high-end designers to get their highly creative ideas to go from concept to successful installations. It was fun and provided flexibility while my kids were young. But as they started spending most of their days in school, I had more time on my hands while my husband’s business was growing and he needed my help to keep up. I had no desire to be an office manager and work full time mostly sitting at a desk, and I thought if he were my “boss” we would argue, so I strongly resisted. But I quickly saw how important it was to him, and how much it would mean to him if I would come on board. I prayed about it, and thought about it, and sought wise counsel, and eventually realized that God was calling me to a new season, and by cooperating with His call, my life would find deeper satisfaction in my work and marriage. I made that step in faith, but I had no idea how much he would bless me through my new career! Steve’s business, Weathersby Guild Furniture Repair, became OUR business, and I felt passionate about making sure our customers were delighted with our quality repairs and service. Steve, my husband, was in charge of the shop/repair side of things, and I was in charge of making sure the office ran smoothly and of communications with our customers. I also enjoyed making sure our employees felt appreciated and valued. And Steve and I found that we enjoy being together 24/7! Our kids now say that we don’t know how to be apart!

The 2nd major pivot came after we became empty nesters. We had made it through the pandemic but work life had become much more stressful, especially for my husband. We had 14 employees to manage, and it was becoming harder to get materials, and therefore to keep customers happy and cash flow coming in. I saw the stress wearing on Steve and felt like we needed to start over with a whole new career that would be less stressful and not require having employees. So I started praying that God would show us what we could do. Shortly after that is when we saw the pictures of our current short-term rental property that we now own. I had often said that I did not have the gift of hospitality, but God knew that it was in there and just needed to be tapped into! Buying this property was a huge change of life for both of us. we had to sell the home that we had raised our kids in, sell our business, move into a 1 room apartment over the garage of our rental property (downsize is an understatement!) and learn a whole new industry- and we had to do it all very quickly. For me, I felt in my heart that God was answering my prayer and inviting us into a new calling, so I was able to have the confidence to take that step. I believed God would equip us. Pivoting requires the ability to take risks, and the confidence in yourself that you can learn new things. We LOVE being in the hospitality industry, and we love living on the lake. We are so happy we made the decision to pivot, and we love caretaking and sharing our beautiful resort with our family, friends, and guests.

Contact Info:

• Website: mistypondresort.com
• Instagram: Misty Pond Resort
• Facebook: Misty Pond Resort

Image Credits
Phillip Grant; PWGLens Bianca Hubble Photography