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

Devena, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

After booking a luxury picnic while on vacation, my husband Michael and I wanted to give it a try. I am passionate about home decor, fashion, and decorating and the luxury picnic business just seemed like the right fit for me to pursue my passion. We prayed, researched, brainstormed, started buying inventory, and over the course of a few months Top Notch Picnics NC was birthed.

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?

We are Michael and Devena Pelzer. We are both NC natives who are college sweethearts who currently reside in the Triangle area. We are a Christian couple that enjoys family, fun, and traveling. Our love of traveling introduced us to the luxury picnic industry. We offer a fully customizable luxury picnic experience. We are most proud of exceeding our clients expectations, by transforming common everyday areas such as parks, decks, event spaces, etc., our clients are able to enjoy stress-free memorable moments with their loved ones.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the reasons that we started Top Notch Picnics NC was due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the uncertainty of the job market we wanted a way to supplement our income. Courage to step out on faith with a new business venture in an industry that we were not familiar with was scary, but we researched, had mentors, and even though we had a slow start, we learned the do’s and dont’s of the industry through trial and error. By Mother’s Day weekend of our initial year our business process was synchronized. We were able to serve ten clients over that one weekend culminating in a twenty person Mother’s Day picnic brunch.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson that we had to unlearn was that there are no shortcuts to success. Also, likes and shares on social media platforms does not equal revenue. Our first luxury setup went viral and we were expecting a steady stream of bookings to no avail. The take away from that situation is that we need to operate on the law of averages. The more content you share and the more relevant you stay, the more likely you are to have a steady stream of clientele.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @topnotchpicnicsnc
• Facebook: Top Notch Picnics NC
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/top-notch-picnics-nc-clayton
• Other: Tik Tok: @topnotchpicnicsnc