SARA SHEPHERD BURDOC FARMS CROFTON, KY   Website: www.burdocfarms.com IG: @burdocfarms

 
Sara N. Shepherd, CEO of Burdoc Farms, is originally from Durham, NC. Sara has a degree in French Language and Literature from Centre College, KY. She spent a year in Paris living and going to school. In Europe is where Sara came to appreciate travel, culture, food, and hospitality. It didn’t hurt that her mother, Irene, was always entertaining many guest in Sara’s childhood home. So hospitality became a way of life. She has been doing weddings and events for more than 35 years, first in catering and then expanding into venues. There are two venues on the farm – one is year round while the other is seasonal. Sara has overseen the growth and expansion of the family farm into a hospitality business. She has fostered the growth of the B&B to the wedding business, next expansion to be corporate events, zip lines, and summer concert series. With the help of her husband, Keith, and daughter, Jessica, the family business has grown 35% each year.
 
TOPIC
Ask Me Anything Q&A with Venue Owners
 
SESSION DESCRIPTION
After years of experience, venue owners have a lot of stories to tell! Of things they’re proud of, things they’ll never allow again, of what brings them the most joy, and how their venues continue to success in challenging markets. Even as seasoned owners, we can all still learn from the experiences of other venues. Our panelists will participate in an open Q&A session about what it is like to run their venue and offer suggestions based on their years of operation. This session will be hosted by a moderator, but attendees will be able to ask questions of their own for the panelists to answer. Hearing real life stories from venue owners never fails to enlighten and entertain!
 
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the presentation, attendees should expect to learn about:

• Best sales tips for continued growth
• Structure of employee teams and hiring experiences
• How venues handle required or recommended vendors
• What is still hard or what changes are venues looking to make even after years of experience