Melissa Blettner on Ancient Lore Village: Building a Fantasy Themed Boutique Resort with Hospitality Purpose

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: Welcome, um, to the Hospitality Mentor Podcast. I'm your host, Steve Turk. Join me as we dive into the personal stories of some of the world's best hospitality professionals. We follow the journey of their ups, downs and wild turns to find out what it truly takes to make it in the amazing world of hospitality. Here's something I've learned after years in hospitality. The best operators are incredibly intentional, uh, about how they use their time. Because when your day is filled with manual tasks like updating calendars, responding to repetitive guest messages, or managing payments, you're not focusing on leadership or growth. That's why tools like Lodgify exist. Lodgify is an all in one platform that helps hospitality operators manage short term rental properties more efficiently. It keeps your calendars synced across booking platforms, automates guest communication, processes payments, and even lets you create your own direct booking website. So instead of juggling multiple systems, everything lives in one place. And what I love about that is simple. It gives you your time back, which is one of your most valuable resources in hospitality. If you want to check it out, Hospitality Mentor listeners and viewers can get 60% off of Lodgify's yearly and bi yearly, professional and ultimate plans with the code THM M60. And that's THM60M. Now back to the episode. Welcome to another episode of the Hospitality Mentor podcast. And today, listeners, I truly am excited about this one. We've got Melissa Bletner, CEO of Boyd Hollow Resorts and Ancient Lore Village, joining us today. Melissa, welcome to the show.

Speaker A: Thank you, Steve. I'm excited to be here. It's great meeting you. And, uh, yeah, I'm just really excited to learn all about what you're doing as well.

Speaker B: Well, we're going to learn all about what you're doing because what you're building is something very cool. And before we jump into it, I think it's important I want you to explain, you know, kind of give us like the minute download here of what you created. Because listeners who you're not looking at this on YouTube, you can see like her village that she's created behind her. And it's really unique. So why don't you explain it better than, than I can. Melissa, what have you created and brought into the world?

Speaker A: Sure. Let me see if I can give you kind of the summarized story of it, but I'll kind of start back where this concept kind of began. Our, uh, founder, Tom Boyd, who is a serial Entrepreneur, he's had 17 different companies. In 2018, he had an inspiration to write a book and base it on characters of ancient lore with the storyline behind it that the characters, all from different villages, didn't necessarily get along or like each other. You can kind of resonate that with a little bit of what's going on in the world today. And so he wanted to write a book that said, you know what, maybe you should get to know your neighbors. Maybe you should get along. And then after he wrote it and published it, he was like, you know, I really think I should bring this to life. So he set out to start building this fantasy village with the ultimate goal of people being able to come and explain, experience the village. And it's a place where only good exists. And our ultimate goal is to have people leave a little bit happier, friendlier and kinder than they were when they came through experiencing kind of our brand foundation of how we operate and what we've created from a space that's amazing.

Speaker B: I love that mission. And so when you come there, I think if you're not driving, just pause this. Go to ancientlore village.com because I think it's really important for you to take a look at this. They really get in your mind what we're going to be talking about. So again, it's ancientlordvillage.com. just stop, take a look at it. Because it is like something I've never seen and I've been in hospitality now my entire adult life. And it really is a fun place. But we're going to get back to that now. So now that we've set the scene, uh, let's get back to how we always start this podcast, which is what was your very first job in hospitality?

Speaker A: So I got some early on ones, like when I was 12, I cleaned my dad's office. I didn't know that that was setting me up to know everything about, like, how to clean. Although I'm not. I have very much respect for housekeepers because I'm a horrible one. And then in high school, I worked at a country club and I. I can regrip golf clubs. Fun fact.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker A: But my real first hospitality job. Let me set this the tone here real quick on why I got into hospitality. I was a senior in high school. I traveled to Hawaii with my. My mom and dad and we stayed in Kaanapali, Maui, and we went to the Hyatt Regency there. And it was absolutely stunning. It was beautiful. I thought, oh, my gosh, I would love to work in an environment like this every single day. So I went back and in college I set out to get all My like standard classes. And then I decided that I needed to really concentrate on learning more about the hospitality industry. So first I started at University of Wisconsin Madison. My first job then was at the xln. I don't know if anyone even remembers that brand. It's a rooms only property, similar to like a Days Inn, except not quite as nice. I was the front desk clerk. We didn't have a property management system. We had a rack with a card and when a guest came in, we wrote their name on it. We stuck that card in whatever the room number hole was and that's we knew who was in what room. And that was my first job. And I worked there for eight months. Then I set off to University of Wisconsin Stout where I studied hospitality management. And that kind of launched the career. So that was the first thing. Now I'll tell you, the XLN was a far cry from the Hyatt Regency in Hawaii. Yeah, uh, I didn't really, I didn't really catch that goal, but I think that's important too. Maybe it doesn't always turn out the way you think it should be, but perhaps it's putting you on a path that will lead you to where you need to be.

Speaker B: Do you remember kind uh, of like your first day there? I can only imagine, like you're imagining this world of the Hyatt Regency and now you're at the Excel in.

Speaker A: There was very interesting cast of characters and it was, I mean it was a different time then too. But also like finding a job was a different time. Right? There was, this is before there were, before you could just apply online. There was no, indeed you had to find them your resume on paper and you had to go and, and physically hand your resume to someone. And I remember because it was right after I, I finished college and I didn't have a job. Well, I didn't, I didn't finish college. I was about a year and a half into college. I decided to take the fourth, whatever the second semester of my sophomore year off and get experience to find out if I really wanted to.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: And a lot of people are thinking, is this the industry that I want? And so it's good to kind of find out. And in that journey to find that job, I just printed off a hundred resumes and I went to every single hotel in Madison and applied whether they were looking or not. And I think that's a, uh, key if people are, are here on this podcast today listening like, how can I go get a job in a hotel? Just go apply, don't worry about indeed. Like, figure out where you want to go and go there and talk with the people. Because if somebody doesn't get back to you, that's interviewing. It's not. Don't take it personally. They have, like, a zillion things going on. There's a hundred guests checking in or whatever. So, you know, just step in.

Speaker B: And that's great advice because you never know who you bump into, right? With GM who's like, yeah, you know what? We do need somebody. I like your. I like what you do exactly.

Speaker A: And you have to carve your own pathway.

Speaker B: All right, so you were at the xl. You got the cat, the bug. You like what you're doing. How do you start to grow in your career? Because you've had some interesting stops before you get to Great Wolf Resorts, which I want to talk on. So why don't you kind of give us, like, the journey from where that

Speaker A: was XL into Great Wolf Lounge. So I went to college. I'll try and do it short. I went to college, got my degree. And the thing about college, it was a great experience. I was involved in the Hotel Sales and Marketing association student chapter. We did all sorts of sales blitzes. So really, like, step in and have a great time. There's then same thing like, all the recruiters came to town. And to find my own job, I knew I wanted to move to Minneapolis, and I graduated and I didn't have a job. And so I started as a front desk clerk with my degree. But I knew that if I could just get my foot in the door, then I could prove myself. And most companies that are good, there's that, especially if they promote from within. There's two things to think about, because there's pros and cons to companies that promote from within. One is they get to see how you do your job. That's the pro. And the con is they get to see how you do your job. So shortly after that, I was promoted to an assistant general or, uh, assistant front office manager. And then I got a call from the Embassy Suites, which I really had wanted, but I didn't get that. So with a year after I applied, they called and offered me a sales position, and I loved it. So I did that. I had the opportunity to open up the Embassy Suites Times Square property. I do a sales blitz out there. So not I wasn't there, like, opening the whole thing, but I did a sales blitz with the corporate Embassy Suites team, which was amazing. And then I worked in sales there for a year. And then I Was an assistant GM for a year. So all the groups I booked the year before, I got to see them come that next year. So that was interesting. Got to a point where I was like, you know, when are you working so much? You're working like 75, 80 hours a week. Because it's hospitality, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Um, that you forget to live life. So I ended up moving to Baraboo, Wisconsin. I got a job at a small ski resort there. And I thought, this is great. I've got my degree, I've got a little bit of, like, experience, and I'm going to see if I can put my management philosophy to work. So I did that for about five years. Served as the director of guest services for a part time, Served as the director of guest services or sales for a while, and served as both for another short stint. And then things kind of weren't going real good there, so I decided I wanted to make a change. So again, I printed off a hundred resumes and I used my resources, I use my network, and at that time, I'll do a shout out to Resort Data Processing, a property management system out of Vail, Colorado. And I called them because I knew that system inside and out. And I said, I need a job in Wisconsin who uses RDP. And so Rita there sent me a list of 40, 45 companies in Wisconsin. She said, you know what, though? Go check out this Black Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells, because they just opened like two months ago and they don't have a hotel person there that knows what's going on. So I did. I printed it off. I went up there, I walked up to the front desk, asked for the person they told me to ask for, Told them that I wanted to talk to him about rdp. Here's the ironic part. They had just hired a consultant. And this is totally full circle because this is years later, they just hired a consultant that was hiring people for their general manager. So the person I met with said, uh, I m want you to go up to this meeting room, meet with Dean Grosskopf and talk with him because he knows what we're looking for. I go, okay. So I went up there the night before. I'd just taken XLN off of my resume. So I went through everything. It wasn't until the end of the hiring process where I got hired and I started. Well, it wasn't until the end of the process that I got hired that I realized, and Dean and I talked about it. He was the owner of the XLN in Madison when I worked There, uh, no way. See? Crazy. So that was my start at Great Wolf Lodge. And so you again, you make, you make your entrance.

Speaker B: I, uh, like that you had that thought. I've never really thought about that. Uh, you know, the technology and to reach out to the person in charge of that, that really controls free resort or hotel.

Speaker A: I think that applies in not, not only that position, but even like. And we're really kind of going through this a lot now with what we're doing with business development, because it's not what. It's kind of goes back to ask what. Don't ask what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Right. Don't ask what somebody can do for you. Ask what you can give to them. Right. Like, you have to be able to have something to offer in order to be able to kind of start cultivating that, that experience.

Speaker B: I love hearing that. That's a great tip for anybody listening. If you want something, you got to make it happen.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And you've done it a couple times. You've shown us here. So I'm excited to see how this plays into the rest of your career as we take this journey. So this is what I love seeing, is that you were at Great Wolf Resorts 20 years and you had a good run there. And I want to hear about all the fun things that you accomplished. So you got in there, you got the job there. How do you start to grow? Because you had so many important roles there. You worked in corporate, you worked as vice president. You got to build so many cool things. Kind of give us that journey from starting to making that impact.

Speaker A: Man, that was like, those were some really fun years. And we were, uh, and I feel really, really blessed to have, like, landed there. The Waterman family who founded the Great Wolf Lodge. I remember sitting with Judy Waterman outside the water park right after we had opened, and she said, you know, Melissa, we built a lot of things through our life because this wasn't their first business. And she said, here's the thing, just focus on doing the right thing and the money will come, but you have to do the right thing first. So you kind of have that foundation. And so about two years in a year and a half in the Waterman family, um, decided to sell. There was a company out of Madison, Wisconsin called the Great Lakes Companies, and that's a group of investors that had senior housing and they had a, uh, a, uh, portfolio of independently run hotels. Holiday Inns, Crown Plazas, Hampton Inns, things like that. And their, like, Vice president of business development or director of business development, was driving down the interstate and saw Great Wolf Lodge and said, oh, we got to have this. We got it. This was like when they were like, we got to take this nationwide. So the Waterman's entered into an agreement with Great Wolf Lake or Great Lakes companies and purchased the property. And so when that happened and we found out, I was like, I need to step up my game because I'm going to corporate. So I started showing up and I started knowing the people. And so it was, it was only, uh, about six months after the change in the ownership there that I ended up accepting a, uh, corporate operations manager at, at the corporate office. And it was, you know, it was my first day at the corporate. We were opening up the Holiday Inn Airport in Milwaukee and I didn't know anybody from corporate other than the people that had come there. And so the president of the company, Craig Stark, who is a phenomenal hotelier, he always was, he's like, uh, he's very well known in, in the IHG world. And so he said, just show up in this parking lot and we'll be there. And it's like, okay. So my first day at work, I drive over to Milwaukee from Madison, which if you're not familiar with Wisconsin, it's about a two hour drive. So I get over there, park in the parking lot, the hotel's not open yet, and I go walk them. I'm, um, here to work. So that was the start of my fabulous experience being with Great Wolf. And then through the years my main responsibility was operations. So I, I got to participate in the openings and lead the openings. After we opened the first, we had four, four lodges open. I moved to Kansas City and I was the assistant general manager at the Kansas City Great Wolf Lodge for a short term. About 10 months after opening and then actually before Traverse City in Kansas City, we opened up our central reservations. And so I got to like develop a whole call center and we had a hundred agents there. I had strict standards of, uh, how people would show up. They were our values, which were respect, integrity, accountability, competence and teamwork. And the first was respect. Like, don't talk about other people. I don't want to hear it.

Speaker B: And I have a question about you for call center that day. Right. How do you control the standards in such a big place with so many people answering everyone's calls and making sure they have that same vision that you have?

Speaker A: Yeah, I think, you know, it's interesting too because I, I've now since wrote a um, kind of leadership journal called Leading with Heart. And I think that was kind of the kickoff on how we would do it. So we had what, what we call our great expectations of Great Wolf Lodge. And I had written those when we opened up the call center. And it was all about respect. Was. Was first and foremost. And the big thing there was you don't talk about other people, you don't gossip, you don't. You just don't do that. And I don't care if you're. The best reservation is here, you're gone, period. And I don't think it's a bad. Like, that's not a smart thing to say.

Speaker B: You want to work?

Speaker A: Yeah. Don't be me.

Speaker B: Especially when you're in there all day.

Speaker A: Yeah. And I think the other thing too is to, you know, uh, I had an open door policy so open that I didn't even have a doorknob on my, on my office there. I would be right there in the thick of it with people, but I would also make sure that I was available if they had questions and things. And we had a great support team. And it was a fantastic environment. And a lot of people that work there I'm still friends with today.

Speaker B: It's amazing I got that experience. And you. Can you listen, I'm not expecting to give us our full 20 year history, but maybe some home runs to how you do it.

Speaker A: So then after that, then I went to Kansas City, but then I had. I'd, uh, come back to the corporate office and that's when I really stepped into a vice president of brand role. And so my role is I would take from the construction development team, I would take the baton and turn it over to our operations team. And we had what we call our SWAT team support with all traditions. And we would take people from other open operating resorts and bring them to the opening. And so we would hire the general managers on about six months prior to opening, and I'd work with them to kind of infiltrate the great Wolf standards and brands. And you, uh, can probably still talk to Bill Colavito up at Poconos, and he'll tell you, I remember that first day. And I'll never print a flyer that isn't branded. So, you know, I always say the brand is the ribbon of consistency at what's. Is what makes the brand. So it has to be the same across the board. And that was probably one of the most challenging things. You're opening all of these different resorts and you have to make sure that they're all not compliant. They have to buy into it. Like, it has to be in their soul. So part of what I did, too, is I taught all of them how to help them.

Speaker B: You know, I've not been. So tell me about the howls.

Speaker A: You can go to any Great Wolf right now, and there's still howling. And, um, so it was really cool. It was. It was building the brand from the inside out. We would onboard the directors three months out and do an extensive training with them to really get them into the Great Wolf culture. And then three weeks prior to opening, we'd bring on usually about 500 pack members, and we would open three weeks later. And so we'd do that training. And we had it all kind of organized, and there were a lot of people that came in to really make that happen. But it was a really, really fun time. And everybody. Everybody loved doing. Doing so.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love. Well, you've been mentioning, you mentioned a couple of terms that's like your own language for the brand, right? Like your pack and the swat that you mentioned and the howling, was that something that you helped kind of come up with during your time there or part of the teams that were there? Is it. How important that.

Speaker A: That. Yeah, that was so crucial. Like, especially like in 2004, we went public and so that. I remember the day when our vice, uh, president, operations called me and said, hey, Melissa, we need. We need all of our standard operating procedures. We need all our culture, because that IP and training and that culture is a big, huge piece of what makes that overall business. In order for it to be. To go public, in order for it to be acquired. And it went through. It went public, and then it was bought by Centerbridge Partners, bought by Apollo, and finally by Blackstone in 2017. So we built quite a company. And I think probably the thing that I am most proud of at Great Wolf is, you know, I. All my nieces and nephews grew up knowing Great Wolf. I was like the cool aunt. And now they're sending me pictures of their kids with the wolf ears on. And just the memories that are. Are being created. So it always, for me personally, has been hospitality with purpose. Like, how can you impact families? So as cool as Great Wolf is with an indoor water park, the underlying is that you're making a difference with the way people communicate with those families coming together at a time when mom and dad were both working and they could come together and spend quality time with the kids and make memories. And now those kids are older. That's good. That was an impact that's good.

Speaker B: And I love hearing all the things I need to go experience one and see. I watched some, like, tours on YouTube and videos, but I've never actually experienced one. That's the list with my kids. But for you, look, you were there for 20 years, and I think, you know, I see a lot of people who've done a lot of interviews. They usually finish their careers there. But how did you decide? So, all right, I'm going to make a change because there's a lot of people listening now. They're kind of in that same role. Like, all right, I've been here for a long time. Maybe I can't really make the impact I want anymore. Leadership has changed or the values have changed. I'm not sure what happened for you, but what was that that made you decide to change?

Speaker A: So I had shifted the last few years with Great Wolf, I was fortunate enough to be the SVP of Creative Kingdoms, which is a technology company that Great Wolf acquired. And we had some really cool projects there. I had a great team, and we were creating, like, games, online games. Online games? Yeah. Not. Well, they were live games, but you used online technology. So we had a whole team of artists and we had a team of programmers. I don't know anything about that, but

Speaker B: I know a whole different world.

Speaker A: And so we actually, right up the road from you, did the project and installed the astronaut training experience at Kennedy Space Center.

Speaker B: No way.

Speaker A: Big thing with, uh, you know, Journey to Mars and Mars Base One. And that was really cool. So that was kind of a culmination of it. But then in 2017, Blackstone came in and purchased the company, and they brought in a new CEO, which the CEO that I'd been working with for 20, well, 18 years, then was replaced by this person that decided to move the corporate office to Chicago. The culture shifted. January of 2018, I started, uh, doing a consulting company called Dream Big Academy to help entrepreneurs kind of build their brand, get their foundation set, knowing that that needs to grow. So that's kind of what my after was until I got introduced to, to Boyd Hollow Resorts.

Speaker B: So I want to touch on that part of the consulting because there's so many people that reach out to me, like, Steve, I want to do what you're doing as a consultant. I was like, look, that wasn't my final goal. That's what got me out, uh, to start working on some bigger things with you. Was that what you wanted to do? And maybe Covid hit and things changed, or was it, you know, similar to what I was doing.

Speaker A: You got this dream of being a consultant. You can make your own hours, you can do what you want. It's hard to be a consultant, especially when you don't have a big team. So definitely, like, if you are out there and you're thinking, I want to go out and be a consultant, because I know everything, and, you know, I can give so much back to the world and all of this kind of stuff, I would say hire a coach. That's probably the first thing you want to do, because it's difficult. And especially when you're out there, like, you have your projects you're working on, because that's your skill. That's why you're doing it. Right.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: And. But then you have to bring in the customers, too, so your sales and operations, and it gets. It gets sketchy. So I think there's a lot of people out there that do it very well. I wasn't one of those. So I, um, like building brands, and when this opportunity came along, I was like, wow, can we do this twice in a lifetime?

Speaker B: I don't know.

Speaker A: I.

Speaker B: So how did you get introduced? How did you find it? Were you again, hitting the streets with your resume like you were doing back in the day, or did someone know you?

Speaker A: And there. There was a CEO at Boyd Hollow Resorts prior to me, and he was doing some research because the, uh, scope on the project was a little bit different than what it ended up being. And so he was reaching out to people and reached out to Weber Group, which does a lot of theming. They worked with us, uh, at Great Wolf Lodge, and they reached out to our former CEO and said, hey, these people are thinking about buying a water park or building a water park, building this interactive thing. Do you, you know, do you want to talk to him? And she's like. She was up to her eyeballs and things. And so she said, you know, I'm really busy, but why don't you call Melissa? And so there you go. So I got this call, and I thought I was coming to Knoxville to, like, maybe see about being, like, an advisory board member or something, and he's like. So I was like, well, let's. Let's be a consultant for a while. So we did that for about a year. The scope of the project changed and shifted a little bit. It got a lot smaller than what the original vision was. And so our. Our. That CEO stepped away, and I called Tom, our owner, and said, you know, I like what you're building, and if you'll have me, I'd love to stay on as a consultant. And he said, well, that sounds great. So I stayed in Wisconsin and that was in 2020. And I stayed in Wisconsin until our oldest graduated high school and moved during the pandemic to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Speaker B: Uh. Oh, nice.

Speaker A: So that's the story.

Speaker B: You get into this world that you weren't really expecting to be in and now you're creating something really special. And again listeners, this is the time to check it out. Check out ancientlorevillage.com we're gonna be talking about it. So why don't you walk me through what it is that you actually have created and been a part of. Because it is something very special. You touched like the theme of what it is. But what is it actually? The different rooms, you have different sizes. I was looking. It's really unique because you have all different price points too on the property.

Speaker A: So we are an award winning boutique resort that is, uh, located in Knoxville, Tennessee which is in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. It's absolutely beautiful here and we offer everything from day passes. You can come and have lunch and do acts. We have outdoor axe throwing, an archery. You can come for dinner and do axe and archery. Then as well, you can come and just get a picnic basket and hike the trails and hang out at the property. It's not an environment like it's not an amusement park. So it's a very calm environment, but it's a themed environment. We have overnight lodging, so we've got very unique themed dwellings, Fairy cottage or dwelling, the gremlin dens and the leprechaun lair, Boki's bungalow, which is one of our signatures. So the reason for the different price points are king rooms are our most basic and then they kind of go up in size.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: Our three signature rooms are our luxury tree house. We have two of those. And then Boki's bungalow, which is amazing. It can sleep eight people. It's 1600 square feet. It's beautiful. So we have overnight lodging. We do a lot of corporate retreats, family reunions. We're a celebration place so people come there for special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, bridal showers, all that kind of stuff. And then we do a lot of weddings. So our group sales is great and we can put together kind of any type of different package and things like that. If there's not a private event going on, we'll do wine tasting and some whiskey tastings and paint parties. And we just had a, uh, makers, um, March this last weekend where we had three months property and we do like fantasy balls. We've got a writer's retreat coming up in September. I think it's sold out. You know, we've got 26 weddings in October. It's our busiest time. So there's very limited availability, uh, at the, at the village. And it's good to make those reservations far out.

Speaker B: So when you're putting this together, I want to go back a couple of things here because I'm just curious. And again, listeners, I want you to take a look. It's because it's a very unique space. How many rooms do you have there? How many dwellings would you say we have?

Speaker A: 14 dwellings.

Speaker B: 14 dwellings. So, all right, you got 14 dwellings, which it feels much bigger than the 14 dwellings because you have paths and land. I see you have a place to eat and dine, but you also have day passes that you mentioned. So how do you keep it nice for the people staying there that are paying to stay there overnight and not get overrun with, you know, people coming during the day? What's the way to kind of control that, that you're doing?

Speaker A: Yeah, and it's interesting because it is, it's a lot of land. We sit on 67 acres and it's the whole property where we're at sits on about four acres, three or four acres. So there's lots of open space. So you can have like, you can have 300 people on property and you don't even see. Yeah, and so we have our axe throwing in our tree range. We have like four or five different times throughout the day. And we limit it to the number of people that can be up there so that, you know, there's not like a hundred people up there waiting. And then same with lunch or dinner. And usually our events are over, you know, early in the evening, 8, 9 o', clock, and it just kind of like quiets down. Our day passes don't start until like 11 o'. Clock. A lot of times the rooms are checked out already. So it's a very quiet, peaceful environment for people to come and stay. So that's kind of how we, we control that. I think the other great thing is like for weddings or larger groups, you can go ahead and rent the whole place out and then you've got exclusive village rental.

Speaker B: I'm gonna be selfish now because we were just talking about this. How do you protect your group sales versus getting those, like, weekend bookings? Is there like a little trick that you guys have right now?

Speaker A: We, uh, in fact, we just yesterday went over our 20, 27 rates. We're going to load those in because we've got all sorts of great things that are coming up in like massive PR land and so we want to make sure that those are out there. So we're opening up through the end of next year. Which we've always. We used to do it like shorter time periods.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Like your weddings book out further. Like we're almost sold out for weddings already. For 2027 we're booking into 2028. Right. So a lot of those weddings will book really far out. Corporate retreats are going to book shorter term. So we'll go ahead and hold back a few of the prime weeks and just block off some of the rooms so that we've got some availability to book some last minute groups. But we do that pretty sparingly and we, we know now we've been open for five years so we kind of know the ebbs and flows of that. So yeah, that's what it is.

Speaker B: I'm clip this clip just for myself. So as we go through. Because I'm used to being an 800 room resorts and having plenty of space to do things well.

Speaker A: And I'll tell you it's a lot different. We only opened with seven rooms and then we opened the other seven later. Yeah, opening this was harder than opening the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine Texas which has 600 rooms, 100,000 square foot water park, a spa, three restaurant, like all that stuff. And this was harder.

Speaker B: Well tell me why give me some pointers here before I jump into it here in the next couple of weeks.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think the hardest part about doing that opening, like I had mentioned before, like Grey Wolf had this, this awesome structure and kind of family atmosphere and this whole huge support system. So you, you had the opportunity to bring in lots of people. Many hands make light work. And when you're a small operation, like we were kicking it off, like you are kicking it off, it is more difficult to do that opening when it's just your team. And I mean you're wearing so many hats. So you know, maybe part of our villagers at, at Ancient Lore Village could be part of your SWAT team.

Speaker B: Listen, we may have to figure something out.

Speaker A: They would love to come down and do that. So that might be fun.

Speaker B: So you get there. Was it open when you arrived or you had to come help create this. What was there when you arrived?

Speaker A: Thanks.

Speaker B: So that's why I want to ask. So you have this vision, you're putting it together. You work for, I'm um, guessing more than a year putting all this together.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And then you open the doors. Were you surprised at who the first guests were? Were you interested? Like, I'm sure you have in your mind who they're going to be. But then the place takes a life of its own. I can see it through your social media and the people coming, they, in their mind, have it something different than you may have thought. Is that what happened?

Speaker A: And I think here's the thing. And this is where you know, you think as a consultant, you know everything. No, you don't. I've learned so much on this. And with this experience, Tom really, when he wrote the book, he was like, okay, this is going to be for fantasy fans. And we didn't really step into that as much as we could have. And when I say we, I'm m talking about our executive team, which is our VP of branded development and our general manager and myself. We've all been there since before opening. Well, we had our first wedding in March of 2021, and we opened in May of 2021. And I didn't say that backwards. Finished our construction in May. We had our first wedding in March and finished our construction. And for the first year and a half, we didn't have a kitchen on property. We operated out of a food truck. It was, I mean, any type of weird, crazy operational challenge that could get thrown at you was thrown at you. So it wasn't necessarily. It was challenging and good. It was difficult. But I think, I think the biggest thing is that when people started coming and they started dressing up, they started wearing their elf ears, they started showing up in with their fairy wings. And I think one of the things that was probably one of the biggest aha moments for me is we had a movie night. So we do these immersive movie nights. The first one. And I thought, oh, this is going to be great. Mom and dad are going to bring the kids and kids will really be. No, no children were there. It was all adults dressed up. And I was like, what is going on here? Yeah, they really stepped into it. So we, uh, through the course of our operating for the last five years, and this is kind of is where our future is going to. We have two kinds of guests. We have those fantasy fam guests that include like, all of the people that love Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and Game of, uh, Thrones and Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons and all of those people that love the fantasy world because they can break away from reality, be someone different and really grow and experience and have fun and then you've got the people that come there because like I said, it's a very tranquil place. So we've got those people that want to use it more for like a retreat. We do some wellness retreats and things like that too. So those are the two uh, areas that we're expanding into with our, our, our future projects. We've got the Bokies Trek experience which is going to be a family attraction that will be more of like that ren faire type atmosphere. And then we've got the ancient lore well being retreat which is going to be fantastic. Cause it's not going to be just like your typical spa where you're, this is going to be, you uh, know our whole philosophy and grounding purpose is what we call hospitality with purpose. So it has to have that impact of what you want to accomplish. And so with the wellbeing retreat, our ultimate goal there is focusing on men's health, women's health, mental health, and then using those new modern modalities or you know, being on the cutting edge of those things and even bringing in like blue zone philosophies and things like that into it. So something that's incorporating all sorts of different things to bring a unique project together all within this story based village.

Speaker B: Yeah. Cause I was looking at your website, it can, you found this fine line because you could go too far into it or becomes corny and cheesy of uh, what you're creating. You did not do that. You found like a way to make it feel very organic and like you are in this world without going overboard to where it feels like a kids park.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: I think the fine line you all have figured it out really well is that something you kept in mind as you were putting things together A thousand percent.

Speaker A: And I say this often, kind of exactly like you said it. There's two things that can happen when you build a village that's based on orcs and fairies and leprechauns and dwarves and elves. It can either be really kitschy or it can be really luxurious. And so there's this line like when you get into the rooms and you take a look at the inside of the rooms, they're done very well, they're very tasteful. So, and that kind of goes back to what Judy Waterman said at Great Wolf is just do the right thing and the money will come and the guests will come and they will arrive. And so you, you set it up that way and you make sure that, that the theming is quality that I mean Our interior designers did a phenomenal job.

Speaker B: So leprechaun layer, it feels like, all right, this is where a leprechaun would live. And it feels real. It doesn't feel like, oh, you did put like decals on the wall of leprechauns, right? It's like, this is where this guy would live.

Speaker A: And a lot of that came from our. So again, it kind of comes from the vision of the owners. Right. So Tom and Sandy are our, uh, owners. And Sandy is a master gardener. So the gardens throughout the village, we didn't use a landscape architecture she knows and hand planted. Like, we have two full pine gardeners that do that. But she orchestrated it. And there's probably not a day you go by that she's not actually out there in the garden working. But there's a lot of heart and care and soul that goes into it. And Tom, you know, he is out on the bobcat. So I was kind of thinking about that when I saw you on the bobcat. You and Tom would get along because, uh, like he built the waterfall and I call it his Covid project because while the contractors were building the village, Tom was building the waterfall and I was up in Wisconsin and he, he'd send me pictures of the waterfall and we used the, like Jack hammered up rock from around the site to, to go and form the waterfall. So it definitely is the handcrafted resort.

Speaker B: I'm just looking at Boki's lodge. Is that how I say it? I love the kitchen table and the brick. Like listeners, go take a look because not anything like you've seen before. I just been following along because knowing we were going to have this interview on Instagram and seeing all the fun things that you're doing. Well, what's something that stands out that you're doing now that you're, I say proud of in the brand because you mentioned a, uh, great wolf. Like you had the wolf ears and the howl and you're a pack. What is something here that you are proud of?

Speaker A: I think the biggest thing that is, that is in development right now is really bringing that hospitality with purpose to life. We're, as I said before, we're kind of based on this book. Well, we are based on the book Boki's Track Outcast to Inner Earth. And in that book, there's nine values that the characters, each character from each village has those values. And they're like growth and respect. Respect is a big one. Growth, strength, humility. So taking those and being able to create an experience for people to come. Whether it's at the Boki's Trek Export Experience, where children will be able to go through a walkthrough of Boki's journey as he starts in his living room and then goes on to the gremlin village. And he's seeing them all mining their gems and going on to the fairy village and things that the, the visitors will be able to experience those values through their journey. And so if we can take hospitality and make an impact on people without them really knowing, we're making an impact on them, similar to creating family traditions at uh, Great Wolf and being able to make an impact on how people feel. And if they go out and they're kinder to people when they leave, then we've made that impact. So the Bocies Trek experience, that's one side of it and then the other side is the wellbeing retreat, which I think is just magnificent. And that's probably a little bit even easier to be able to put all of those values into play there through the store. But it's making sure that we have this ribbon of consistency throughout the entire project and we're still growing on that. So if you want like a little glimpse on what we're building, you can go to the About Boyd Hollow on our website. That tab kind of tells you a little bit. If you want more information, you can fill out a little form there and somebody from our development team will get a hold of you.

Speaker B: So you're talking about team and how important it is. How is it working with Micah and Olivia? How important, uh, are they to you as you put this together?

Speaker A: Oh my word. Like we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing without them. Olivia runs the team at the Village. She's got a great team of managers that hold everything together there and execute. You know, I always, I call it friendly five star service, right? Because we're pretty casual there. But it's five star because you go and we have a lot of great reviews and we look at those reviews and some people show up and, you know, what they had in their mind and what is actually happening is different. Like they come and they think like we're a renaissance festival. And then they get there and it's like really quiet and there's like, there's nothing to do here. Well, we told you that. But, you know, so you can't please all of the people all the time. But there's a lot of people that come there that, you know, they, their comments are. The staff is so friendly and that's what we really want. Right? Micah started with us, uh, hiring for a concierge before we opened and he applied and of course I didn't get back to him because I was in the middle of a hundred things and he knew another person that was working there. So he weaseled his way in for a site visit before we opened and stuff and made sure I was on property when we were there. And so anyways, he uh, he and I work together every single day, eight hours a day. It's crazy. He actually lives in Charlotte, but was able to start as a concierge, move up to our sales manager and then director of sales and marketing. And now he's our uh, vice president of brand and business development and is really helping, you know, maintain the brand as we're starting to grow and understanding the fact that, you know, our end goal is not to have this village operating nicely. I, I call it if they can operate with ease and excellence, then we've done our job there. But, and Olivia takes care of that. But then beyond that we're moving on into a bigger world with lots of locations, things similar to great wealthy said more.

Speaker B: Melissa, I got ah, one last question for you. We cover a lot here and I could talk to you forever about what's going on. But if you could go back and whisper into young Melissa's ear at the xln some advice if she was starting out today. What advice are you giving, boy?

Speaker A: Uh, you know, follow your heart, let your light shine. Don't, don't be afraid to just step in and you know, just lead with heart. Follow your heart, but lead with heart.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And that's, I had some great mentors through the years that helped form where I got that from. And so, and don't be afraid to A lot of times when you're, when you're just starting out in your career, you might think, well I, I can't reach out to that person because they're like this, this big person or they are, whatever. Everyone on the planet are people and if they've got a good heart, they're going to talk with you. So don't be afraid to just talk with people and learn and be humble,

Speaker B: energetic in a positive way at least.

Speaker A: But I'm super bossy. So I also had a lot of like management type lines. But one of the things I would always say is there's usually there's a lot of different ways to do something thing right. Uh, so you have to pick one and since I'm the boss, you have to do it my way and when you're the boss you can change it but for right now this is the

Speaker B: way I need you to do it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So you know, so anyways I think if you find someone that has a kind heart they're going to help you in which any which way they think they, they can. But for listeners and viewers we covered a lot here. Ancientlordvillage.com make sure to check it out. If you liked what you saw make sure to pause this and send this episode to one of your friends because they're going to like it too. And maybe you guys can go over there and stay together, come up and see us.

Speaker A: We'd love to have you there.

Speaker B: Uh yeah, go hang out with Melissa and of course if you haven't yet subscribed make sure to subscribe um, and join the community that we're building here. Melissa, thank you so much again for joining us.

Speaker A: Thank you Steve. I appreciate you.