This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

It's Your Business with Michael Aikens is brought to you by WCTE, PBS, and the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation, with funding provided by the Rural Reimagine Grand Challenge and the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

Welcome to It's Your Business, where we bring you valuable advice and tips for helping you thrive in the world of entrepreneurship.

But we don't just offer advice.

We also point you to valuable resources right here in the Upper Cumberland to help make your journey of owning your own business less intimidating, or to assist you in making the business that you already own, grow and expand.

So come along and learn from the advice of people who have taken that step into owning their own business.

[♪♪] Not all businesses are formed with the hopes of making a big profit.

In fact, there are many that simply see a need and want to do their part to help meet that need with the help of the community around them.

At Common Grounds they saw an amazing group of gifted and talented people who may not get the employment opportunities that they deserve.

And they decided to start a nonprofit coffee shop to welcome these talented individuals into the world of independence.

We're here in Crossville, Tennessee, at Common Grounds, talking with their director, Sara Bakker.

Sara, A big welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

So Common Grounds, you're a nonprofit coffee shop.

Tell us about your mission.

Yes.

So our mission is to employ people with physical and intellectual disabilities, those that have a very challenging time finding a job in the typical workforce.

How did you get the idea to do this?

So our oldest daughter is almost 22 and she has down syndrome and so we've known her entire life that her life was going to look very different, and she was going to face a lot of challenges.

And so it always had had kind of been on our radar, like, what is she going to do as an adult?

And I had first seen a coffee shop called Bitty & Beau's That first kind of introduced us to the concept of starting a business specifically for people with disabilities.

And so we kind of tucked that information away.

And then when she was 18, she decided she no longer wanted to attend school.

She was able to until she was 22, but she was done.

So I asked other parents and I asked her peers.

I said, what do you guys do?

What do you do now that you've graduated high school?

And almost unanimously, they all just kind of shrug their shoulders and said, not much.

And I thought, that is just not a way to live the rest of your life.

You know, people need an opportunity to participate.

They need to have purpose.

They want to be a part of their community and to be able to contribute to society.

And so my husband is a contractor, and, we had just purchased this building for his business.

He has a shop down in the basement, and we didn't know what to do with this upstairs.

And we thought, you know what?

This can work very well as a coffee shop.

So for the next year and a half, in our spare time, my husband remodeled the entire place.

He donated all of his labor and, built the coffee shop.

And we opened a year and a half ago.

It's been very exciting, but a lot of work.

I can imagine.

But just looking around.

This is beautiful.

I love the place.

It's very comfortable.

And you've got so many.

You've got plants and you've got artwork and you're selling things in here.

So tell me a little bit more about your employees.

So how do you find your employees?

How do you train them?

It was very easy to find our employees.

I just put an announcement out on Facebook and I was immediately flooded with applications.

There is quite a high population of adults with disabilities that live in Crossville, and the network is very small.

So once word got out, they all came in.

So right away I was able to fill the 30 spots that I wanted to fill.

We currently have 29 employees with disabilities that work for us.

We don't ask what their diagnosis is, and we don't ask what they can't do because our focus is on what is your ability.

And then we put together our teams very systematically.

So there's usually anywhere from 1 to 3 people per shift.

They work one three hour shift a week, which doesn't sound like a lot, but for most of them, that's enough.

And we don't want to disrupt their benefits either.

Digging down a little bit further into this.

So you're specifically a nonprofit.

Tell me about how you arrived at that decision.

So we really wanted this to be a coffee shop that the entire community supported.

We tried to bring in them as much as we can.

We have the artwork on our walls, which every month we feature different artists from the community or photographer.

We have chess tournaments here.

We have live music with local people.

We have things in our retail space made by people within the community.

So it was really about them taking ownership and participating and contributing it to this coffee shop as well.

It was not about us.

It's not about, you know, our daughter or our plans or making a profit.

Can you walk us through a little bit about what running a nonprofit really means?

Because I think a lot of times when we think of nonprofit, we think of charity.

That's certainly a good thing.

But this one, you're you're actually providing a business service.

So what does that look like?

As a nonprofit, we do still heavily rely on donations, fundraisers, grants and that sort of thing.

Coffee sales is definitely the bulk of our sales, but, we are not self-sustaining at this point because when you have over 30 employees, you know that that's a high overhead.

When we do have fundraisers, people are great.

They come out, they support us, and, and try to contribute to it.

But it is an ongoing situation that we're constantly fundraising.

Okay.

So let's talk about the actual business.

Right.

So you're selling coffee.

You just said that, you know, a lot of your sales, the bulk of your sales is through coffee.

One thing that I'm always interested in understanding, that just honestly, really kind of blows my mind is how are you dealing with inventory?

How are you projecting sales?

How are you doing all of that?

That has actually kind of been a struggle for us because it's so unpredictable.

So our coffee shop is set up for a lot of people, and we have private meeting rooms in the back.

So it is not uncommon for us to have a group of 20 come in.

And then the following week we'll only have half of that.

So, keeping up the inventory has actually been tricky for us.

And so we just kind of have to fly by the seat of our pants a lot.

We did recently start roasting our own coffee downstairs, which we're very excited about, so we can start roasting and then selling our coffee as well.

So that not only creates another income revenue stream, but it helps.

Oh, if we're out of coffee, we can just go downstairs and get more.

Not only are you selling coffee, I also understand you've got sandwiches and things to eat.

Yes.

So we initially started with just coffee and pastries, and then after a couple months we had a lot of requests for lunch.

So we added lunch about a year ago.

We have sandwiches and salads.

And then just this past summer we added some ice cream as well.

So it's great ways for our employees to learn new skills.

And so that we were able to add more employees as well with that.

But we also were not fast food because we make everything from scratch.

So when you come into our place, this is a place to sit and relax.

And the idea is that we're more alike than different.

So we wanted to create an opportunity for people to really get to know each other.

We have a free little library where people can sit and read.

We have board games, people to spend time with each other.

They come in with their computer and they do work and they do WiFi.

This is just a really a slow paced, peaceful environment where you can catch up with friends, get to know new people, spend time learning what you have in common, whether it's with our employees or whether it's other people within the community.

So you're right here in downtown Crossville.

Obviously, we're in rural Upper Cumberland.

Why did you choose to stay right here?

I mean, I think that, you know, you could do this really anywhere you want.

Or do you go down to Knoxville, Nashville.

But you're right here in Upper Cumberland, in Crossville.

What does that mean to you?

My husband and I are from a rural community originally, and we just really want to see, rural communities flourish and thrive.

And I love the small community environments that people have where they get to know each other to meet new people, and they come in and see each other a lot.

And just to build that network and to build those relationships.

Moving forward and thinking about the community.

Thinking about your nonprofit.

What are some of the things that you really see in the future?

I would really love to see models set up like this in every community, every community has people with disabilities that want to be a part of something and that want the opportunity to contribute.

And it doesn't have to be a big coffee shop.

It can be a food truck, it can be a car wash, it can be a bakery.

There used to be one here in town that would make pet treats.

Or just if you're a business owner, look for an opportunity that you can provide a job for one person with a disability and make a difference in their life.

But I would love to see this model set up everywhere.

So let's say somebody is watching the show right now and they're thinking, you know what?

I could do that.

Whether it's a coffee shop or, like you said, a food truck or whatever it may be.

What's some advice that you would give to them?

I would say find people that will come alongside you and help you.

It can be a very daunting task, but don't be afraid to get out there.

Talk to people.

Get to know the people in your community that have disabilities.

Find out what they want.

Find out what they can do and how you can best serve those needs.

Well, Sara, this is a wonderful story.

I love what you're doing here.

I got to ask you, I'm really interested in talking to some of your employees.

Would that be okay?

Absolutely.

I think it's a great idea.

So now we're going to talk to a few employees here at Common Grounds.

We're sitting here with Brianna Cheryl.

Brianna, you've been employed here for about a year.

Tell us about what you do.

Like I can make Italian sodas, sweet teas, and do artwork like diamond art embroidery to sell it here at the coffee shop.

So you do embroidery.

So you do that yourself and then you sell it here.

Yeah.

And so you learn how to do that.

And now you're just an entrepreneur yourself.

Right.

So what does it make you feel like at the end of the day you've you've you've ended your shift and you're done.

How does that make you feel.

Good.

Yeah.

How come?

That I accomplished.

Yeah.

That you accomplished stuff.

Probably pretty nice to have a paycheck too?

Yeah.

So last question for you.

All the people that are watching the show right now, what would you like to tell them about Common Grounds?

They should come in and get lunch and drinks and see me working.

Very good.

Brianna, thank you for coming on.

You're welcome.

And now Now we're talking to Deborah Hetherington, another employee here at Common Grounds.

Deborah, tell us about what you do here.

I make coffees, I do the cashier, but I help them clean around the dining room area.

I do sweep, mop, clean tables, do everything.

What was it like learning all these things?

It seems like a lot to keep up with.

It was a lot.

When I first started here.

It's been fun and exciting at the same time.

I'm excited to see all the customers being happy and everything.

What does it make you feel like when you see a happy customer?

Proud.

Yeah, because you did that right?

So thinking about now, we've had a good shift and you're about to go home.

What's on your mind at that point?

I don't want to go home, I want to stay here.

You want to stay here?

That's one of the best advertisements I think you could get for Common Grounds.

Yes.

Well, that is really awesome.

So, last question for you.

I can't help but notice you've got a tattoo there that says Daisy Mae.

Yes.

Are you a dog, mama?

I am.

What kind of dog do you have?

Chihuahua Pekinese.

Yeah, she makes me happy every time I come in the door.

Yeah, I bet she misses you while you're at work.

But mom's got to go to work.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show.

We really appreciate it.

No problem.

With a name like The Dimora, which means a mansion in Italian, you would obviously expect a place of luxury and elegance, and, well, you won't be disappointed, because that's exactly what you get with a beautiful piece of Italy nestled into the gorgeous countryside of White County, Tennessee, people from all over the country have come to the Dimora to make their life events magical.

In this spectacular setting just outside of downtown Sparta.

We're in Sparta, Tennessee, talking with Terra Ballinger, owner of the Dimora.

Tara, welcome to the show.

Thank you so much.

So first things first, the Dimora.

What is it?

What do you all do here?

We are an all inclusive wedding venue, also event center.

But also we're a B&B, so.

And we're opening that up next month.

And so you've got the Airbnb.

But I want to really talk about what you're doing right now.

You're a wedding event center.

That's correct.

Tell me all about it.

What do you do?

I mean, obviously you've got weddings, right?

Absolutely.

Walk us through.

What does that look like?

So we are a luxury event center.

The story behind this is the house kind of set for 20 years.

Nobody was in it and we just happened to see it on the MLS.

This look is really in style right now.

And I think it's something that's kind of timeless.

And so we just decided that this is our venture.

And so for about 18 months we worked 80 hours a week getting it ready.

We do weddings, all inclusive.

We will do everything from setting up to hosting the groomsmen for golf next door.

So we do everything from flowers to food.

And then we also do events.

So Christmas parties, banquets, birthday celebrations, any of that.

And I want to reiterate the word inclusive here.

When we were walking around before the interview started, I mean, you've got a salon in here, you've got, what I guess is also the Airbnb and I mean, you can come you can get hitched here, you can stay here, you can get your hair done here.

You can do everything here.

Everything.

Yes.

So we have we tried to think of anything and everything that would make our brides and grooms just very calm and and give them everything that they needed without a worry.

Now, I've heard you say 'we' and 'our' a couple times who who is 'we' are they business partners?

This is my husband.

My husband and we have six children.

So it's it's it's a family affair.

So, it is a 'we'thing.

A family affair, a labor of love.

So let's dig down a little bit further into it.

You also said you have another wedding venue.

Yes.

We also own Duck Pond Manor, which is a both are.

in White County.

Duck pond is a little closer to Putnam County.

This is almost right in the heart of of White County, right beside the golf course.

So they're both here.

We just kind of happened to find both of them by accident.

Both are all inclusive, both wildly different, but enjoy both of them immensely.

So if you don't mind, let me know a little bit more about what you were doing before.

You know, you had a job before this.

And, you know what maybe did you learn from that job that, you know, kind of translated to this?

Oh, that's a great question.

So I, I was, a nutritionist for a company.

And what I did learn was how to take care of people, how to really listen to people and know exactly what they want in their needs, and what's going to make them have better lives.

So taking care of people, you know, I'm thinking back to my wedding day and other weddings that I've been to clearly, one of the most important things in a bride and groom, Absolutely.

lives.

And you're thinking about, I'm going to take care of and everybody's different.

But walk me through what it looks like, what it feels like to be able to actually do that for.

You know, I spend a lot of time with my brides beforehand.

I probably spend 20 to 40 hours just just concentrating on the things that they want.

I like to do three meetings, beforehand, and all of those meetings are touching different things.

And so in in those meetings, I'm learning what they want, but I'm also learning them.

So that gives me the opportunity to be able to give them the things that they want, but also give them some things that they didn't think they were going to get.

And that's probably one of the the best qualities that I have.

So let's talk more about the actual business side of it.

Yes, obviously you got to get people in the door.

How are you marketing and promoting yourself?

Well, so far it's been social media and it's been just people just awed by here because it's just it's so lovely and it's so beautiful.

Photographers bring in other photographers and models and then they put it back out on social media.

And those just blew up.

And one of them went viral on TikTok.

So the next thing I know, book and Brad's from Dallas and, you know, Pennsylvania and all kinds of crazy places that you would never think people would come from.

And they're coming and they're loving it, and they love Tennessee.

That's the thing.

When they when they're getting off of the flat and they they're Chattanooga or Nashville, they're like, it's beautiful here.

So it's the experience too that they're getting to have.

You also are doing this in tandem with your husband and six kids as well.

First question for you.

I always love interviewing husband and wife couples that run business together.

Obviously, he's not here.

He's not.

But would you mind talking to me just a little bit about what does that dynamic look like between you all as owning the business?

Oh, it's it it is.

We are the most two different human beings that you're ever going to meet.

I thrive on craziness.

He is the calmest, most precious person that you're ever going to meet.

Very good with.

Can build anything.

He's the one who comes in and I say, I want this wall down.

He's this tear that's holding the house up.

We can't do that.

So he is my reasoner.

But he is.

He's the one who keeps everything behind the scenes going.

And I'm the one who's really kind of running the business.

He's very introverted.

I'm not.

So we are.

We are vastly different, but it works.

And it's, you know, we've been together for 20 years, and we've it's always been that way, so it really works.

Well, how do you have a life outside of the business?

This is our business.

This is our life, you know?

This is it.

This is what we do.

We we take a few vacations a year and we shut our business down during vacation.

And we we come right back and we start again because this is what we enjoy.

What does your energy come from?

Both of my parents.

Yeah.

You know, they they both were very, very hardworking people.

My mother still does a lot of my floral design for me.

She's one of the best in the business.

And, a few years ago, I went back to culinary school and decided to be a French chef.

I learned it's it's vastly different going to college when you're 18, 19, 20, 21 and then going back to school in your 40s, right?

So I went back to school and I learned then that if you're going to make it to the top, you've got to get good sleep, but it might not always be eight hours.

Right.

So you are a classically trained French chef.

I am.

that is very interesting.

And I would like to ask you, and I think you'll completely understand where I'm going with this.

How does mise en place affect you here in the wedding business?

Well, it's everything to us.

And that's the one thing you're going our mise en place.

When I was going to culinary school, they.

It was so funny.

They.

We start out with a board.

My board was this big, right?

Everybody else's board was this big.

And they said, Terra, why do you need a board this big?

And it's because, I'm an interior design major, right?

So French is all about presentation, lots of flavor and great wine.

Those are your main three things that I think.

So you're mise en place is everything.

And that's one of the things that I loved about, going back to culinary school.

Although the metric system was not my favorite thing to re-learn, I can certainly understand that.

And I think also pertinent for our viewers that don't know the term mise en place.

That means everything in its right place.

Yes, absolutely.

And I would say that that's absolutely critical.

Whether it's a wedding, an event, anything, Anything like that is going to always help you.

I try to have taken everything from all of my life experiences to give me what I have today, and you will if you really pay attention to anything that you're doing in your life, it's going to help you later.

And it really has helped me.

Now remind me, how long have you been in this business?

I was pregnant with my second daughter.

I was 23 and, I thought, gosh, this is a little girl.

I've got to make more money.

So I started doing weddings on the side at other venues, and I did that for, about 18 years.

And then we just happened to be driving by a road that I had never been on, and my husband looked over at me and he says, gosh, look at that old house.

And I said, turn around.

He goes, we are not flipping that house.

And I said, no, just turn around.

And that's Duck Pond Manor.

And so I started again.

And at that point, I was one of the first that did an all inclusive, in the whole state.

And that was, you know, several years ago because I had been doing weddings at other venues, and the brides were just like, 'I'll be glad whene this day is over.'

And I thought, if I hear that one more time, I'm going to go nuts.

I want them to enjoy the process, but I don't want them to worry about the day.

And so that's why I did it the way that I did it.

So a lot of people watching this show, they're looking at Terra Ballinger thinking, you know what?

Terra can do it.

I can do it too.

What advice would you give to them?

You can do it.

You just have to know that it is going to take work and it is going to take persistence and it's going to it's going to take people hurting your feelings and telling, you know, probably more times than you want to hear, but you just have to keep on, because if you keep on, you're going to make it, you're going to do it.

So thinking back all those years, what does Terra Ballinger know right now that she wish she knew then?

That's a great question.

Patience.

Patience.

Yeah.

Patience.

I wanted when I was younger, I wanted everything right then, right there and now sometimes you have to wait for it because.

Good things don't always come real quick.

That's very true.

All right.

Inverse question.

Moving forward, where do you see yourself?

This is just beginning.

So where am I going to be in three years from here?

Man I hope that everybody in the Upper Cumberland gets to enjoy this because it's such a gem.

For our Upper Cumberland, I just want to make people happy.

I don't really think about, you know, five years, ten years.

Maybe I should, but I'm just.

I just think in the moment about what I can do for you or for anybody else.

Terra, this has been a great conversation.

Thank you.

Thank you for being on the show.

Yeah.

Of course.

Thank you.

[♪♪] Hi, I'm Andrea Kruszka and I'm the assistant director for the center for Rural Innovation at Tennessee Tech University.

Our big mission is to help rural communities improve their quality of life using things like economic development, tourism, community branding, and any kind of resources we can provide through Tennessee Tech to help.

The services we provide at the center for Rural Innovation are no cost, and we help everyone from small businesses, chambers of commerce and even county governments.

One of the main ways we help small businesses is through technical assistance.

This comes through us a lot of different creative ways.

We do photography, whether that's product, event, headshots, anything you could need.

We do content creation.

We do a lot of graphic design, and if you need a brand, we're the ones to call.

One of our biggest initiatives is branding, because when you're getting started as a small business, you need to build your own identity and your customers need to be able to figure out who you are, what you do, and how you can help them.

That's something we're great at helping with.

We've got a huge range of graphic design students just waiting to help you pick out a color palette.

Figure out your target customer and then create a logo and anything else you need to go with it.

In addition to small businesses, we do a lot of work with communities, including tourism branding because being able to tell your story is how you get visitors in and how you get those tax dollars.

We all desperately need.

We'll come to your community, do workshops, work directly with your residents to figure out who you are and how to tell that story.

In addition, for small businesses and communities, we can do economic impact studies.

If you're not familiar with what that is, we can help a business or community figure out the rippling economic effects of things like events, tourism assets, and small businesses.

Just like everything else.

The impact analysis are free, and that's something that could cost you up to $150,000 or more.

To get started with this and much more.

Visit the Business Resource Collective website.

Thank you for joining us yet again for another episode of It's Your Business.

And hopefully you have learned that there are plenty of great resources right here in the Upper Cumberland And to help you achieve your dream of starting your own business.

If you would like more information on today's topics, please visit the WCTE website to learn more about free small business resources and expert assistance, please visit the Business Resource Collective website.

Until next time, I'm Michael Aikens.

[♪♪] It's Your Business with Michael Aikens is brought to you by WCTE, PBS, and the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation, with funding provided by the Rural Reimagine Grand Challenge and the Tennessee Rural Development Fund.

This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.