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

Jana, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

My parents taught me to always believe in myself and one of my goals as a parent myself has been to pass that on to my children as well! I have worked hard my entire life to be able to support myself and family. After graduating from college at the age of 21 years old, I started a 33 year law enforcement career as a police officer. It was through my career that I realized how much I enjoy helping others and the sense of community! I bought a farm 3 years ago that is used as an event venue in which we host weddings, birthday parties, retirement parties, celebrations of life, holiday markets, community events, live music and more! I retired as a police officer one and a half years ago and run the farm fulltime. Through the farm, I still enjoy the sense of community and helping people on the daily! I volunteer at the local food bank one day a week, enjoy time with my 82 year old mom and dad, grown twin daughters, life partner, my rescue pup and friends regularly.

I hope to be remembered for my love of life and my family, that I was a good daughter, mother, partner, and made a difference in people’s lives…whether I knew them or only met them briefly through either my career or in passing.

Jana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am 56 years old, the mother of twin 25 year old daughters, was a police officer for 33 years, had my own architecture business for 17 years, and now own a FARM! I call myself a farmer. The 6.1 acre farm is used as an event venue where we host a variety of events: weddings, receptions, parties, showers, community events, vineyard pruning, you-pick blueberries, vendor shows, line dance lessons and live music. I have always wanted to own an event venue and when I stumbled across the farm and saw the 1916 updated barn, farmhouse, homestead cabin, vineyard and blueberry field…I knew I’d found my dream! After 1.5 years of running the farm, I decided it was time to retire as a police officer and run the farm fulltime. With the help of my partner, daughters, several various family members and friends, The Barn at Wilson Farm has become a successful and growing business! The thing I am most proud of about owning the farm is the sense of community that we create through each event!

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

I have made a complete change in careers by owning an event venue and have experienced a huge learning curve. The venue has truly been a work in progress and gets fine tuned as we go. I believe what has helped build our reputation within the market, primarily the wedding venue market, is how I treat people. I treat all clients and guests as I would want my own family to be treated…with kindness and respect. I am clear, patient, understanding and organized…and a very hard worker. I believe the combination of these traits help make a successful business owner.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built our audience on social media by the help of tech savvy friends and family! We created a business Facebook page to start with then my adult daughters created an Instagram page as well as a tiktok account. My partner gathers email addresses from guests at the farm events on a regular basis who receive our newsletters about upcoming events! It has been interesting to me that the different generations lean towards different social media platforms. It is entertaining to me when I hear a touring bride tell me that she searches for wedding venues on tiktok – very surprising to me but clearly that is extremely popular! We also created a Google website to begin with that has helped tremendously.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thebarnatwilsonfarm.com
• Instagram: thebarnatwilsonfarm
• Facebook: The Barn at Wilson Farm
• Other: 253-294-4790

Image Credits
Santa and my twin daughters photo by Linda Brooks Photography