Chapter 38 Grace Nash

Separating Emotion from Decisions

A Week After the Wedding

"I have some ideas for things we can do, but a lot of it would fall under marketing," I tell my dad. I'm here interrupting his time with Spencer, but I've been brainstorming all morning, and this is what I've come up with.

I'm taking the high road where Amelia is concerned. I'm not going to try to sabotage her relationship. Instead, I'm going to prove how much this place needs me, and by the same token, I'm going to show how irrelevant Amelia is.

"Areas dip into each other all the time," my dad says. "Just because Amelia has the title of marketing director doesn't mean the hospitality manager can't create marketing events as well. What are you thinking?"

"I thought we could improve our reputation by doing some charitable events, maybe do some live BTS type things on our TikTok and Instagram accounts, and reach out to some influencers with private tours," I say, naming a few ideas from my earlier brainstorm off the top of my head.

"BTS?" my dad asks.

"Behind the scenes," I clarify .

"Oh, right. Yeah, those last two are definitely marketing, but since you used to do all the marketing here, I think it'd be fine. Maybe run it by Mom first," he suggests.

"What about the charitable events?" I ask.

"Like what?" He leans back in his chair.

"I was thinking maybe we could do a charity event in the Grand Hall," I say.

"I have a lot of contacts in Minneapolis if you're interested in inviting some influential people," Spencer offers.

"That would be incredible," I say. "And I was also thinking we could create a brand-new blend that would be totally for charity. We could use the ball to kick off the blend, and we could either create our own foundation or maybe choose one related to heart disease since that's what we lost Pop Pop to."

"Oh, Gigi," my dad says. "What a wonderful idea. A red, I think, since I've heard about links between red wine and lower risks for heart disease."

"Great idea," I say, nodding as I type that into my phone to do more research on it later. I glance up and spot my dad sort of studying me. "What?"

"I just have to say, Gracie, I'm so damn proud of you and the way you're going about this."

I give him a hug and head back to my office and get a start on planning for the charity event. I don't know what Spencer's schedule looks like, but I'd love to have him here for it. So I either have to rush it to get it in before training camp starts, or I have to wait a year. I can't wait a year because that'll be closer to the end of this whole thing. I need to start laying on thick the reasons why it should be me now.

That tells me I need to do this thing around the middle of July. It'll have to be on a Sunday since Saturday weddings are booked for the entire summer, and we keep the Grand Hall available on Friday evenings to allow for decorating and rehearsals.

As I think of ways to increase revenue, though, the Grand Hall sticks out.

Right now, we really only use it once a week. What if we allowed Friday and Sunday weddings as well? What if we allowed other events during the week? We'd have to work out rehearsal schedules and things like that, but we could make it work.

We could charge enough to cover the staff and cleaning crew, and it would be more and more chances to showcase our products. More people would be visiting, which means more profits at the bar, the restaurant, the tasting room, and the gift shop.

I decide I'll talk to Spencer about it later since he's more familiar with the financials, but I don't see any downside to it at all.

Later comes in the afternoon when he stops by my office to check in. "How's it going?" he asks.

I nod toward the chair. "Take a seat. I have some questions for you."

"Open or closed-door type questions?"

"Closed."

He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

"My mind seems to permanently reside in the gutter when you're around," he mutters as he gets up and shuts the door. When he sits back down, he asks, "What's going on?"

"You're more familiar with the financials than me, so I wanted to discuss the idea of opening the Grand Hall for additional events on other days aside from Saturday. We've always cited staffing as our reason not to, but with the popularity of the venue, we could easily raise prices and get a ton more visitors to the vineyard each week." I give him a hopeful look as I wait for his reply.

"It's brilliant, Grace. The Grand Hall brings in the biggest profit margin of all the events we host here, and I suggested to your dad that we focus on that as one of the areas for expansion. But he said one a week is just the way we've always done it."

"I hate that phrase," I say. While I'm a strategist who works hard to analyze the best path forward, my dad finds comfort and security in tradition. Don't get me wrong; I love a good tradition. But when that tradition stops us from trying new things, I'm going to put up a fight.

I dial up my dad's line from my office phone. "Hey, Gigi," he answers.

"I had this idea I wanted to run by Spencer, and he loved it. But then he told me you won't go for it because the way we do it is the way we've always done it, and I'm not okay with that."

Spencer looks like I just threw him under the bus, and my dad is silent on the other side of the line.

I plow forward. "I think we need to open up the Grand Hall to more events than just one wedding a week. I know we've traditionally done only one, but why are we limiting ourselves to one event a week if events are our biggest profit margin? And it doesn't have to be limited to weddings, Dad. We could do charity events, birthday parties, anniversary parties, retirement…you name it, if someone wants to pay our fee, we'll host it. And I also think we need to raise our rates. People will pay it. Trust me."

My dad remains quiet on the other side of the line, and eventually he sighs. "If you're the future of this place, then I trust you to do what you think is right."

"Can I ask why you're hesitant?"

"You can, and it's a fair question with a complicated answer. I like that our venue has the reputation it has. I like that it's hard to get in, and couples book out up to two years in advance. I like that it's exclusive and small. And I like that my own mother and father were married here, and all the couples who have been married here have had successful, happy marriages. I worry that expanding could kill that for us, and sometimes the hope of more success isn't worth the growing pains."

Oh.

I didn't realize it was an emotional reason. His parents were married there, and he thinks of it as a sacred place because of that. He wants to keep it in the same state it was in when they were married there.

But just because he has an emotional reason for it doesn't mean it should stop us .

"I think we have to separate emotion from these types of business decisions, Dad," I say quietly. Even as I say the words, I realize I'm not living up to them. This marriage between Spencer and me was only ever supposed to be a business decision, and here I am, fully emotionally invested. I clear my throat as I add, "We can still make it an exclusive venue even with an expansion."

"I know you're right. It's just…sometimes success can breed other challenges we weren't expecting."

I glance at Spencer, who presses his lips together and glances out the window. I get the impression that he gets that side of it, too. But I'm confident that we have the resources to take on new challenges—especially if Spencer is by my side.

"I get that, but with Spencer by my side, we'll face those challenges head-on," I say.

He tilts his head a little as his lips tip up, and his gaze returns to me. He nods resolutely, and I know I have an amazing ally in my corner.

"I believe you will, too," he says.

I guess that means it's time to get to work.