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

Hi Tiffany, thanks for joining us today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

My Father Lavorn or better known as “Sparky” Sparks has always been my hero. Since I was a little girl watching him restore antique cars in our garage I thought he could do anything. He was able to fix whatever broke, figure out how to do fun things affordably since we had such a large family. See the world and has always been a romantic with my mom being an example of love throughout the years.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Tiffany Sparks Burbidge and am the owner of Sparks Museum and Event Center which is a retro style venue that houses a Petroliana collection. This collection is my fathers and he has collected signs and gas pumps from all over the country. I got into the business by accident actually. I manage the storage facility AAA Lakeside Storage which is across the street from our venue. My father owned the 3 acres next to Lakeside Storage and I wanted to do something with the land. I developed half of it for outdoor parking but had the other half available to do something else. My dad bought an old UDOT steel building and asked, “what should we do with this” I came up with the idea to house his collection. We were creating a piece of history and wanted people to be able to engage with the past and get curious about the history of gas and oil in an organic fashion by looking at this collection. Getting permits and making the project happen was much harder than we had planned, but because I had always watched my dad get things done and never accept the answer NO I kept at it. Four years later she is up and full of life. Seeing this space filled with history and magic made it impossible to not want others to experience it as well. Not just walking through but renting it for parties, weddings, reunions, corporate events etc. It is even available to take photos of your favorite vehicle as it is a perfect backdrop for that special car. We are open and available to book the space for your event or to come and walk through as a museum. I love our space it makes me smile knowing that my parents traveled pulling a trailer all over the United States and Canada collecting signs and pumps. You cannot help but smile and get wowed when you see the space it is truly unlike anything out there and definitely the most unique event space available.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I never thought I would run a storage park or an event venue. I am a mom of five never finished college and didn’t have a desire to be a business owner. I have always worked managing different business that my father owned but never to the extend I am now. In about 2015 we needed more income to run our household and I had to figure out what I was able to do and to learn. This was a huge pivot as I was scared and felt unqualified, still do actually, to go into the business world. I begin by learning about storage and how it was run. I read and read and read everything I could get my hands on learning about managing people and creating a good culture in a company. I took over my fathers position at AAA Lakeside Storage and still manage it today.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I try to engage with my team and listen to them. I work at creating a space that others feel they can offer there input to better our company. Although I want to micromanage I have tried hard not to do this. Having a team that feels like they can do it their way not my way is a great accomplishment. Confidence in getting something done even if it is different than I would do it has taught me to back off and see what happens.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sparksmuseumandeventcenter.com
• Instagram: sparksmuseumandeventcenter
• Facebook: sparksmuseumandeventcenter
• Yelp: [email protected]

Image Credits

Jacobe Bluhm

Visual Storytelling Co