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

Lisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

I provide tours in historic Savannah. During the tour we play Trivia about Savannah. Questions are about Savannah’s history, This tour walks through our historic district making stops at a couple of pubs for purchasing To-go drinks (Savannah is an open container city) and gives guests the chance to use the facilities. The tour should be approximately 2 to 2 and a half hours long. One of the unexpected problems in incurred is “The Stops”. You see, the historic districts buildings are approximately 300 years old. Plumbing came into the buildings 100 years after the buildings were constructed so all the bathrooms in the pubs have two or fewer stalls for patrons. This problem causes long delays in the tour. If I have 15 guests on a tour and we enter a pub…How long do you suppose it takes for everyone to order a drink and use the bathroom? This problem has caused much frustration. You see, the two hour tour can quickly become a three hour tour due to the time it takes everyone to use a 1 or two stall bathroom. I am not meeting customers expectations because the tour takes to long. But cant advertise a 3 to 3 and a half hour tour because they will think that it way to long to walk. When they are not walking at all. They also have expectations that they can sit and eat and drink at the pubs.

Ways I have tried to alleviate the problems include reaching out to larger groups ahead of time to pre-order drinks. this saves time but also causes trouble with 15 different drinks being ordered. I have also laid out clear expectations about the time in the pubs with an email and conversation at the start of the tour. Im still working on this.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello, my name is Lisa and I am a retired school teacher and mother of four.  I spent my life teaching students, cooking team meals, sewing costumes, building sets, tutoring the team and mentoring youth.

My favorite thing to do in Savannah is walk around and share stories and facts about this beautiful place with my family and friends.  My second favorite hobby is playing games with my children, from trivia games, to scrabble and everything in between.

One day on one of my daily walks I had an epiphany– why not combine my two favorite hobbies…playing games and walking?  Teacher Lisa is a hoot and enjoys playing the role as teacher and storyteller in her classroom, The city of Savannah.M

Tour with the Teacher offers 3 tours:

Private Tour option.  Teacher Lisa the owner of the company will host your group on a Private Trivia Tour or Private Tipsy Trivia Tour.  This Tour is approximately two hours in length, covering about a mile and a half through Savannah’s beautiful historic district.   This tour is typically booked by larger groups such as Bachelor, and Bachelorette parties, and corporate tours. It is the best deal because tourists pay one group price instead of individually.
​
Trivia Tour engages participants through exciting trivia questions about the city of Savannah’s: history, haunting’s, economic development, movie scenes, famous Savannians, and geography. Trivia questions and answers will be given throughout the tour and concludes with a bonus round at the end of the tour. Just like in the classroom, a prize will be given to the contestant with the most points. Play with your friends as a team against others on the tour or play as an individual against your friends.  This tour is usually booked by families and groups who do not care about the pubs or drinking.

Tipsy Trivia tour is a guided walking tour during Happy Hour. What better way to see the city of Savannah while walking with a cocktail?  This tour takes guests to popular Savannah sites while popping into pubs to grab happy hour cocktails throughout the tour.  Tipsy Trivia Tour engages participants through exciting trivia questions about the city of Savannah’s: history, haunting’s, economic development, movie scenes, famous Savannians, and geography. Trivia questions and answers will be given throughout the tour and concludes with a bonus round at the end of the tour. Just like in the classroom, a prize will be given to the contestant with the most points. Play with your friends as a team against others on the tour or play as an individual against your friends.

I want visitors to the city to have a great time and want them to come back. Once a client has booked a tour I reach out with a welcome message and offer my help in selecting activities to do and restaurants to visit. Often I help with logistics, and transportation issues. I recommend ways to get to and from Tybee, for beach trips and send links to our public transportation.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pivoting in life and career is an absolute must. Our skills and businesses can become obsolete quickly especially in the technology world of today. As a young woman my husband and I owned and operated a small retail chain, Leather Limited. We had 60 stores in 15 states. This business manufactured our own line through letter of credit business in China and India. The malls of the 80’s and 90’s were the place to shop meet friends and socialize. Most major retailers from this time period either have gone out of business or needed to Pivot to remain in business. They needed to switch to online sales in order to remain competitive against Amazon and big box retailers. I feel like I have lived through two major business shifts. This change from Malls and retail giants, as well as the change in the late 70s and early 80s when most mom and pop store went out of business and people shifted from downtown shops that become desolate. I think they called it the great suburban sprawl. I sold my interest in Leather Limited at the time of my divorce. With 3 small children I needed to Pivot into a new profession. I selected to be a teacher and I taught business and marketing classes at a local high school. This choice allowed me to be home with my children and be involved with their lives. When my family was raised and out of the home I moved from Northwest Ohio to Savannah, Georgia. Then I pivoted again and opened this small walking tour company to take advantage of the tourism industry here. I have pivoted in business and life. Choices were made to to care of my family while other choices were made to take advantage of business opportunities. Some changes I choose while others i was forced into.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Savannah, Georgia has over 40 tours to select from. Because i am a small business owner I do not have the funding for Google adds and other online marketing tools. My reputation has been built on my reviews. I cant stress enough that the way to help a small business is by leaving a review, liking the businesses social media posts, and sharing with a friend. It costs nothing and can make a world of difference to a small local company trying to survive.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tourwiththeteacher.com
• Instagram: trivia_tours
• Facebook: Tour with The Teacher
• Yelp: Tour with the Teacher Trivia Tours

Image Credits
Dreamweaver photos