We were lucky to catch up with Lisa Poarch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

its been a Dream of mine for over 30 years. I drove my family crazy talking about it all time, I would go on and on about the wedding venue and wanting to make peoples dreams come true celebrating happy times. So as the years keep clicking by, thinking I’m not getting any younger, if I’m going to make this dream come true, its time to make a mover.. We were making some life time changes, so we just added this in with our plans. We looked for the land, which took two years of searching. Next step laying out the land and how everything would flow. Then clearing of the land and building, this also took over two years, pretty much took five years in the making. I am the type of person that plays it safe, so my advice is to put your plan on paper and start saving some extra money so you have the back up cash, you have to have patiences while everything thing falls into place. Theres a lot of obstacles you will definitely run into, but you can just knock them out one by one. I’m not going to lie, sometime I thought I’ve lost my mind what was I thinking, most stressful moment they delivered my steel building at the top of the road I lived on, because the semi truck couldn’t make it down to the property, so now I had to figure out how to get it to the building location. a lot of crying took place that day !but tears don’t get the job done, we cared it sown piece by piece with tractor (not easy) but it all worked out.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Im a normal down to earth , God loving country girl, grew up on a farm in Jonesborough Tennessee. I’m married with two kids and four grandkids. I love spending time with my family, most of all, I love entertaining and decorating. Yard work and being outdoors. I feel there’s nothing more rewarding than build with your hands and looking back at your accomplishment . I just jumped into the wedding industry, teaching myself the in and outs. You can learn to do anything, if it something you have a passion for. I do learn something with every wedding I have at the Venue, I’m proud of every Wedding we have at Poarch Manor. I feel like every bride is my child and the families are my family. its silly but I cry at every wedding too!!! I still have a lot to learn with advertising and social media, maybe improve on my horticulture skills. I feel like its a stressful moment to plan a wedding so what’s makes us standout, is letting people do their own thing, make it easy for them, they can pick their own venders, etc.
I have laid back atmosphere with a two day rental. The Venue sets on 9 acres with a creek running through the property, the Facility building is 3200 square-foot with a large patio area separate building for the grooms and a beautiful bride’s room three restrooms and a warming kitchen and a beautiful fire pit.

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

Like I said I’ve always played it safe working a 9 to 5 job steady income. I have only really only work two job in the last 35 years, mostly banking which gave me a lot of knowledge in managing money. I had some amazing bosses in my career that turned out to be like family. through the years as I learned alot in management positions I held, I never forgot the most important part of life, treat people the way you want to be treated, stay firm but have compassion. My Husband Chuck is my rock, he still works 8-6 job so we can have insurance, that’s one of the problems with self employment is Health insurance.
I wanted my own business to work my own hours. which turned out a lot more than 40 a week, and of course to make my own money rather than make someone else money, but I will say any job I did I alway treated the business as my own. it is truly a blessing to have this little wedding venue that we call The Poarch Manor.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I am a simple person, I’ve lived a simple life, I don’t drive a fancy car, I don’t wear expensive clothes, I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve done with out it’s just the way I am, I’m a saver not a spender. we learn to build and do maintenance our selfs. The life change I was referring to, we moved closer to our children and grandchildren, which means we sold our home. that help with a lot of the capital. Sometimes I think its a curse to be so work driven, but it was pasted down from my hard working parents and I have passed to my children as well. I have to give credit to the incredible family i have, My husband, then my son ,Weston he help make this place happen with his construction skills and hard work. he spend countless days helping me. my mom and daughter, daughter-in-law .

Contact Info:

• Website: poarchmanor.com
• Facebook: poarch manor. and The poarch manor

Image Credits
Chuck Poarch, Weston and Kassie Hazelhurst, Whitney Ooten and my mom Geri Treadway. Love you all thank you.