We recently connected with Lane Tunstall and have shared our conversation below.

Lane , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

It all started in 2017 when I became obsessed with charcuterie boards-making them, eating them, talking about them. Fast forward to 2019-I had been a stay at home mom and was ready to go back to work when my youngest went to kinder and I was trying to think of a side gig to get me a few more months until I figured out what to do with my life career wise. I decided to sell some charcuterie boards and well I figured it out!

No one was selling charcuterie boards in my area except for restaurants and big time caterers so I catered to clients who needed a board for their party. I got so excited thinking about my food creations at peoples’ celebrations and life events.

Lane , 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?

I’m a Mom of 3 fun, active boys, wife, and I love to laugh and enjoy the simple things including CHEESE. I was. a single Mom with my oldest for 6 years, some of the best, yet hardest years of my life. After going through some hard life experiences during that time frame, issues that arise in my business today truly do not faze me, I know I will be able to work through them.

In my business, I am most proud of taking a side hustle I did in my kitchen to opening my own storefront in 2020. I did it without financial help or loans. I was able to open that storefront by spending Saturdays in early 2020 doing grazing tables at weddings and by delivering grazing boxes during lockdown. If I made it through 2020 in business, I know I can make it through whatever business issue arise.

What sets us apart from others is that we are truly an experience. Every class, every event, every board we care about and we are so grateful to be a part of our customers’ special moments.

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

I started my facebook page right after I made my first board in 2019. No one even knew I was going to start a business except for a close friend. I posted every picture of every board I made, every grazing table I did, it didn’t matter if it was filtered or even looked that great. I shared my whole journey. If you go back to 2019 on my social media, you will see there are some not so great pictures and posts. I will always leave them there though so everyone can see the journey. So much of life is worrying about getting to the next thing and improving, but if you can’t enjoy the journey and live in the present, then what’s the point?

My biggest tip for growing social media is to respond to comments. Not just like, not just put an emoji, but to actually take the time to genuinely comment back. If a customer or potential customer took time out of their lives to comment on your page, the least you can do is to thank them or comment back genuinely.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My customers know I use quality, delicious products and also really care and want them to have a great experience. Word of mouth is the biggest way we get sales to this day, and I appreciate that so much. Also, if we make a mistake (which happens in the food industry as well as every industry) we will make it right. I’ll never forget our first Thanksgiving in our storefront. We mixed up a board so I sent someone an hour away to deliver the correct board because the customer had already gone home. Mistakes in business and life will happen, but it’s how you respond and work to make it right that really counts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://boardbriedfw.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boardandbrie
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/board-brie-roanoke-3?osq=board+%2B+brie

Image Credits
Ann Starkweather Photography Courtney Bosworth Photography Asher Grace Photo