Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Bradford.
Hi Caroline, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I would say the best way to describe me is a bit of a free spirit who is determined, loyal, and who loves a good spreadsheet. The first thing that really comes to my mind in regards to how I got started are sports and the lessons they instilled in me at a very early age. Growing up with two older brothers, sports were our lives. I was a tomboy through and through and there was nothing I loved more than competing. Sports gave me the foundation of what I believe it truly takes to be a good businesswoman and a fierce competitor as an entrepreneur.
Our story has been quite the doozy but I’ll try to make it as short as possible. In 2007 I was lucky enough to meet my husband at the early age of 19 and we married immediately after college in 2009. We bought our very first home in Dripping Springs, which is also where I started my first job as a teacher and coach at Dripping Springs ISD. We got married at a small venue called Creekside near The Salt Lick and we noticed quickly there were not many hotel options for our guests to stay nearby. Fast forward to a couple of years later and shortly after we had our 2nd daughter, we decided to move forward with the idea we had so long ago in 2009: to build a boutique hotel with an interesting Texas Hill Country vibe for all of the wedding guests coming to our area, we called it The Liney Moon (my childhood nickname). I have always had a passion and love for real estate so I began my Real Estate career as a Realtor throughout this first endeavor as well. We bought the land in 2014, had our first booking in 2015, and it was non-stop from there. After running the successful business for a few years, we decided to sell the property and see what came our way next.
The year 2020 was a hell of a year for many, many reasons. We ended up selling The Liney Moon in January of 2020, we had our son and 3rd child in May of 2020, then we decided to open up the Dripping Springs Country Club in August of 2020 (an outdoor hill country version of Top Golf). To add to the mix, because why the hell not, I also started the process of getting a patent-pending product into the market after a light bulb went off in the middle of the night while changing my newborn son’s diaper. The long nights, the sweat, the tears, all of the hours of babysitting from my wonderful mother, every single bit of it, has been an important part of every inch of success we have ever had.
I truly love the process of having an idea and willing it into life and I refuse to let any amount of fear stand in the way. I also love that adrenaline rush of winning a real estate contract for my clients on a property with multiple offers or that adrenaline rush when you achieve something you barely thought was even possible. There’s just nothing better. I lost my dad in my early 20’s and realized quickly how precious this life is for all of us. He was a grinder with an unwavering spirit to succeed. I know he’s a big part of my relentlessness to this day.
To wrap things up and to ultimately answer the question on how I got where I am today, I undoubtedly would not be where I am without my amazing husband who has been just as vital to all of our businesses, if not more. He is the reason I survived the years of my dad’s sickness and his passing. He is the calm to my storm. He’s the realist and I’m the dreamer, which is why we are such a good team, we balance each other. He’s my best friend, my business partner, an amazing father to our three children, one hell of a dishwasher, and I swear he gets better looking as we get older. We of course have had many disagreements along the way, but with each different business endeavor we take on, it continues to make us stronger. My life motto is to love hard, work hard, and play hard, and he helps me do just that.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think anyone who has started their own business can say it has been a smooth road. There has definitely been struggles along the way, and to be honest, I wouldn’t even want that road to be smooth. On smooth roads, there are no life lessons to be learned, no tears, no sweat, and most importantly, no glory. There is no textbook or perfect equation for any business; you truly just have to learn as you go, trust your gut, and never make the same mistake twice. The specific struggles we have faced with opening our different businesses have ranged from not getting building permits, not getting financing, not taking customer complaints personal, balancing family friends and business priorities, and so much more! But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t take one single struggle away or any struggle we may have to face in the future. That is how we learn, that is how we evolve. The moment we stop evolving is the moment we stop living.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
1. Dripping Springs Country Club: DSCC is a family-owned and operated driving range in Dripping Springs, Texas. Equipped with the latest and the most sophisticated tech, including the Toptracer technology, we offer the ultimate golfing experience. Regardless if you are a member or not, everyone from kids, adults, locals, and tourists can enjoy our exclusive driving range. With our closest golf courses being over 30 minutes away from Dripping, our idea was to provide a fun outdoor option for people of all ages to come enjoy the outdoors and to avoid a long drive. We have drinks, food and good music always playing! Being almost 14 years Dripping Springs residents, we absolutely love being able to give our community a place to go and unwind.
2. C Association: The term inventor was a word I never thought for myself. After a few messy days of taking care of my newborn son’s circumcision, I knew there had to be an easier application for us parents at 2AM. Our new care pads help newborns with circumcision after-care as well as diaper rash. Unlike messy and unassembled products, our solution is a pre-constructed bandage that combines premium white petroleum jelly and a non-woven foam gauze that won’t pull apart or stick to the wound. This makes changing the bandage easier for you and less painful for your child. Rest easy knowing your baby’s circumcision wound is getting the best and most comfortable treatment. Late night bandage changes will have less stress and mess allowing you and baby to get back to sleep.
*Aside from being a Realtor for almost a decade now, we also own a storage unit business in my hometown of Rockport TX, an Airbnb property in Rockport, and lastly the TX Loo, which is a luxury portable restroom business we own with our brother and sister-in-law.
Every day is never the same and that’s what makes it fun! “Not all those who wander are lost.”
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I love meeting new people from all walks of life and hearing their different stories because everyone has one, we just have to be willing to listen. It is important to me to make people feel heard and to feel loved. Otherwise, why are we even here?
I recently was introduced to the book “The Four Agreements” from a yoga class I took with a few of my girlfriends. I’m not a huge reader but I bought the book immediately. The Four Agreements it speaks about are the following:
1. BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD
2. DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY
3. DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
4. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
Every second of reading this book, I continued to be in awe of the message. I have always tried to be a kind person, a compassionate person, and most importantly, just a ‘good’ person. I have always told my children the same thing. This book was the best affirmation and reminder I have ever had. We don’t have to go to church every Sunday to believe in God or to be considered a good person, we don’t have to settle into the constant rooms of what others deem “normal” or “cool”, we simply should all follow these four agreements and everything else in this life will ultimately fall into place. This book is a game-changer y’all.
I have had tendencies to be a people pleaser in my life and every year, I can feel myself getting better and better about fixing that. We are here on this earth for such a short period we cannot waste our energy on what others think of us or worry how we assume they might think of us. The moment we overcome that insecurity or any insecurity for that matter, it is the most freeing feeling in the world. The best way we can all support one another is to simply be good to one another. Life is too short to be any different.
Contact Info:
- Email: caroline@c-association.com, drippingspringscountryclub@gmail.com and carolinebradfordrealestate@
gmail.com - Website: https://c-circumcisioncare.com, https://drippingspringscountryclub.com and www.
carolinebradfordrealestate.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/circumcisioncare, https://www.instagram.com/drippingspringscc and @carolinebradfordrealestate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/circumcisioncare and https://www.facebook.com/drippingspringscc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImA2N-gQC3Y
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user109250752/download/502954911/aed6cf8d3e
Image Credits
Lorelei Murphy Photography
