We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Jordan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

Family businesses are as fun as they are challenging. You hope to build a legacy that future generations are proud to be a part of, but getting there isn’t always easy. There are ups and downs in every work scenario, and a family business is no different. You have a lot of flexibility to run things EXACTLY how you want, but working with close family brings about its own struggles you don’t have in a traditional office environment. You know how to work best with each other, and how best to press each others’ buttons.

I run our venue for my in-laws and my husband helps out when needed. Every big decision we make involves the family coming together and discussing the pros and cons, sometimes over the course of weeks, months, or even years in the case of our new reception hall. (Just ask us how long it took to decide how to put up the string lights in the palapa! Oy.) And, like all families, we don’t always agree, which can lead to some more “spirited” discussions than you may have in a typical work environment, and things can certainly get more personal.

On the other hand, we’ve always got each other’s backs when we need it and we can shut down the venue for a week in the summer for family vacation or on holidays because we’d rather spend the time with family than add another event to the calendar!

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?

I am the Venue Director (a title I made up for myself when I took over 8 years ago) of TownHall Texas, my family’s wedding and event venue. We started out as my father-in-law’s man cave, which then turned into band practice space, followed by open mic nights and small concerts. As more people came out to the venue for the music, they started asking if they could get married on the property or use it for their parties. Getting into this industry was 100% accidental and NEVER the plan of the property, but we’ve been going strong for 11 years now!

We are a rustic venue that hosts all kinds of events from birthday parties, anniversary parties, weddings, celebrations of life, bar/bat mitzvahs, just about anything you can think of. We now have two different halls: Lone Star Hall is our original rustic dancehall (think Gruene Hall, but with AC) that can accommodate up to 100 guests and our brand-new San Jacinto Hall, which is more of a modern farmhouse, can accommodate up to 225 guests. For weddings, we’ve got two cabins to get ready in and four unique ceremony sites. All of our rentals have access to their choice of hall and all of the outdoor areas, including our stocked 2-acre pond. Rental times vary based on event type/need. We also allow photo sessions on the property, even if you don’t have an event booked with us!

Since we are a family business, we want everyone who hosts an event here to feel like part of the family. We’re transparent about all of our pricing, what is/isn’t included, and what you can expect on the day of your event. No one likes secrets when it comes to planning a large event! Our rentals are also super flexible, ranging from Venue Only (just rent the space and use all of your own vendors) up to All-Inclusive and anywhere in between.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Getting into the events industry was never the plan of the property, and therefore, never my career path! I actually have a law degree.

So, how did I end up here? A little bit of back story:

Right after law school graduation, my husband and I moved up to Colorado, where I did tax resolution. (I know it sounds boring, but I have an odd love of tax law!) My husband was offered a job back down here, so we moved back at the end of 2013 and I was unemployed, studying for the Texas Bar Exam. My in-laws came to me in February 2014 after their relationship with the couple they had running the venue started to deteriorate and asked if I wanted to run the venue. If I didn’t, they were probably just going to try to sell it. I said, sure! Let’s give it a shot!

I was handed a binder of information for the events we had booked and had about 2 weeks before my first wedding to get my footing, contact all of the brides and let them know about the changes, and figure out how the heck to run a wedding at our venue! Luckily I have a huge family so in addition to my own wedding, I had attended quite a few and knew generally how things were supposed to go, but had ZERO training or actual experience in running any sort of event.

I hit the ground running, tried my best to do what I would expect if I was hosting the events, and here we are, 8 years later, and we’ve made a ton of changes and are busier than ever! We’ve made countless updates to the property, upgraded our packages, gotten our liquor license, and so much more. If you would have asked me where I’d be 10 years after law school graduation, running a wedding and event venue wouldn’t have even been on the list! I have learned SO MUCH, definitely made mistakes and learned lessons the hard way, but I absolutely love it and wouldn’t change a thing! Except maybe actually going to school for some sort of hospitality-related degree!

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

Transparency and honesty are huge. We know people are 10x more likely to share a bad experience than a good, but we’ve found they will share the good when you’re completely open and honest all along the way. It not only makes the process easy, but it makes the client feel more comfortable, and you’re more likely to develop a relationship that will lead them to recommend you to a friend, family member, or colleague.

No one likes hidden fees, last minute changes, or things that you just flat out aren’t told until it’s an issue. (I like to call them “Oh-by-the-ways”.) We’ve always listed all of our pricing on our website and given all of our tours a huge packet of everything they need to know about booking our venue. We’ve never added on an additional fees or gratuities, and though we’ve gone back and forth between including tax or adding it on separately, it’s always been clearly stated on all of our paperwork.

Our contract, which we don’t hesitate to update as needed, clearly lays out what we, as the venue, are and are not responsible for and what our expectations are of guests and hosts on the day of the event. We’ve always sent copies of contracts to everyone who signs and, if they sign in person, make them go through line-by-line to make sure they are clear with exactly what they are signing (that’s DEFINITELY the lawyer in me). It definitely makes people feel more comfortable when they are confident about the process and expectations.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.townhalltexas.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/townhalltexas
• Facebook: facebook.com/townhalltexas
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/townhall-texas
• Twitter: twitter.com/townhalltexas

Image Credits
Photography by Niki; Cedar & Sage Studios; SD Photography; Ashley Kate Photography