We were lucky to catch up with Rachel Long recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

When you’re working within the corporate structure, you become bound by the rules and parameters set by the leadership team. Unfortunately, many business leaders are not on the ground level and thus are not able to understand the details of what’s important to their clients. In the best-case scenario, leadership is listening to the feedback from their team, but even then, they are not getting the chance to build rapport and truly comprehend what their customers are seeking. Worst case, they are so far removed from their clients that they build business and growth plans based on numbers and end up losing their North Star. It becomes not about the people they’re serving and instead is solely about the profitability of the business.

This is a massive part of the reason that I was passionate about owning a venue. It’s extremely important to me to meet with each of my clients, listen to their wants, needs, and roadblocks, and from there, design a package that’s customized to them. The feedback and conversations that I get the privilege of having with my clients have allowed us to be flexible, versatile, and creative. It allows me to truly get to know them, build relationships, and fully understand everything from the small details to the big picture.

At least a few times per week, I hear the following from new customers I meet:
– Your packages and service offerings are the best I’ve seen yet.
– I can tell that you truly care about me and my special day. ‘You’re not just doing your job and going through the motions’.
– I appreciate that I have the option to go minimal or all-inclusive. It’s nice to be able to add on what I want without paying for products and/or services that aren’t important to me.
– I want a beautiful venue, without having to spend an arm and a leg.
– I’m looking for a one-stop shop. I want this to be easy and appreciate all the services and extras that you offer.

Overall, the event space industry is all about relationship building, curating trust, and providing offerings that are not just ‘one-size fits all’. As a venue owner, if you’re not in the day-to-day, you simply are not going to have the chance to do these things. This is exactly what sets The Martin Event Space apart from the standard. :)

Rachel, 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?

My journey in the event space industry began over 20 years ago when I had the opportunity to work for a beautiful, historic venue in Lake Tahoe. I completely fell in love with the industry and that’s where my dream of one day owning a venue began. Since then, I have been working in marketing, talent acquisition, event planning, and day-of-coordination for a variety of companies and clients. In 2022, I was introduced to The Martin Event Space and quickly jumped on the chance to join the team. The venue was BEAUTIFUL and had so much growth potential. I was beyond thrilled to use my skills and passion to make an impact on such an amazing, full-of-character, chic space. After many conversations, research, and planning, I was offered the opportunity to purchase the venue and took over as the owner in January 2024. My 20+ year dream had finally become a reality and I don’t take that for granted, not for a second!

Over the past few months since taking ownership, we’ve made a lot of upgrades to the building, our packages, and our service offerings. Just to name a few:
– Built out stunning and spacious bridal suites to include a beautiful wallpaper accent wall, lounge areas, bathrooms, ample vanity and getting ready spaces, refrigerators, coffee bars, games, and more.
– Redesigned our event packages to be more versatile (and we’re adding more options soon!).
– Added an entirely new decoration library for our clients’ use.
– Developed a new catering menu with a wide variety of options (new dessert menu coming soon as well!)
– Updated the building with a new greenery wall, a fresh dance floor wall, and some exterior improvements.
– Began hosting events that were open to the public. So far this year we have held 3 events for the public to attend: 90’s Theme Party, St. Patrick’s Party, and Murder Mystery Dinner.

While I am proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in a few short months, I am even more excited for what’s to come! On top of continued updates to our building and offerings, The Martin’s strength is in providing top-notch, customized, and personal services to each of our clients, no matter how small or large their vision is…and we’re going to have a great time doing it!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

There are 2 main areas that I attribute to our growth so far, marketing and personalization.

From the marketing side, our main focus areas have been on social media, networking, public events, and partnerships. All four of these areas have been vital to our growth and we will continue to look at different ways to make this more impactful as we expand.

When I mention personalization, I mean that in a couple of different lights. First and foremost, it’s crucial to build relationships and trust with our clients. We need to fully understand what’s important to each of them and how we can bring peace to any of their concerns. Additionally, it’s critical to our operations to ensure we’re not forcing a square object into a circular hole. Our focus is on meeting with each of our clients (as many times as necessary!) to completely comprehend each event’s needs and design service offerings that meet those.

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

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I worked in corporate America for many years. After 15+ years of being engrained in professional environments, it can be hard to “undo” a lot of that training.

When I first took over The Martin Event Space, I hired a social media team to help grow our audience and the overall awareness of the venue. The social team was encouraging me to “be myself” and show my authentic personality on our social channels. Their argument to me was “Rachel, people connect with people, your audience needs to get to know you.” At first, I was extremely hesitant about this. My personality is big, I’m passionate, and my laugh is loud. Was my outgoing, casual, fun-filled self going to turn potential clients away? Am I going to be too much for some? After years of having to tone myself down in the office and put on my “professional Rachel” hat, it was hard for me to let that go and just be me. All that to say, I reluctantly gave in to my social team’s wishes….and I’m SO HAPPY AND THANKFUL that I did! Not only has the authenticity helped our business grow but it’s also deepened the connection I have with each of my clients.

At the end of the day, this business is a relationship-based one. If your clients don’t trust you with their extremely special moments, they aren’t going to do business with you. And the only way to build trust is to be fully genuine – both online and in-person.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themartineventspace.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/themartineventspace/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/themartineventspace
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@the.martin.event.space