Today we’d like to introduce you to Kalli F. Doubleday.
Kalli Doubleday is a social scientist by training with a passion for small-town business and community building. After eight years of owning and managing a rural venue with her father, Kalli used the tools specific to small-town venue success to transition another East Austin ranch property into a wedding venue in the country’s most competitive venue market – the Texas Hill Country. Now as the director for two venues she assists couples from all over the country in planning destination or semi-destination weddings in large part based on “selling” the small-town community with a big city appeal within reach!
Before being a wedding venue director and venue strategist, Kalli had an academic career in research and teaching. Her Ph.D. and body of research focused on the social issues surrounding conserving the world’s largest big cats — tigers. Kalli worked in India for years listening to those who were rarely listened too – women. Her research, as a social scientist, was directed by those most vulnerable and following their hurts. Asking the right questions that drew out the deep and often untold aspects of their lives as it related to living alongside tigers, leopards, and other wildlife.
The skills of listening, of collecting data, of following tiny crumbs of information to uncovering huge connections are all skills she brings to the wedding industry.
Kalli’s unique background provides her couples with a detailed and organized experience on the venue side of their planning. Together Kalli’s venues attract couples primarily from many hours away with the “local experience” as part of their draw as she has uncovered the desire of many couples to have a “small town,” “outdoor” wedding weekend but with access to city amenities for guests.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The hardest transition was to go all-in on venue strategy and management. For more than ten years, I pursued an academic career with the goal of being a tenure track professor with an international research agenda. In 2019, I made the difficult decision to stop pursuing that career and instead invest completely in running wedding venues providing my ten years of experience in that field to be center stage.
It is rare to have two careers with completely different goals, technical skills, and proof of success at the same time. Not that people don’t adapt and change, but I did them at the same time. Building a wedding venue while spending summers in rural Rajasthan researching human-tiger conflict is an odd day for anyone! Waking up to jump on the back of a dirt bike and rush to the scene of a cobra trapped in someone’s bathroom to then spend the night replying to venue inquiries makes for an interesting decade. I am still participating in international research and workshops but at a much smaller scale. My full attention has changed to continue building better systems for venue management and client experience.
As a venue director for an up-and-coming venue we opened in January 2020 right before COVID, I did not have the luxury of a stand-in when I had my second baby. This was one of the most difficult struggles during my career as a venue director. I had my little one at the end of September 2021 right before our most busy wedding season started in October-December at Shiraz Garden. To ensure a smooth three months while I was not on-site with my newborn, I went into planning in early summer as soon as I knew I was pregnant.
One of those steps was reaching out to vendors for those weddings Oct-December to let them know I would not be as easily reachable. The wedding community is very understanding and close-knit and almost all reached out months before the wedding to finalize details far in advance of their normal schedules. This was a huge relief as working with vendors on site logistics is a major part of my job as the venue director.
At the same time, I communicated with couples and let them know from mid-September to the end of 2021, I would not be available in person and communication would be slower. Setting that expectation as early as possible and reiterating it regularly leading up to September was another important part. I am the one and only contact person for couples at Shiraz Garden. All questions and planning come through me! By having consistent conversations with couples, they were felt a connection to me and made sure and prioritized their planning ahead of a typical planning schedule.
Finally, during the actual stage of having a newborn at home, I relied on my systems to carry us through. Thankfully the weddings were amazing and no major issues presented themselves! It was a true test to planning ahead and having systems to automate when necessary.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I create hidden systems that allow couples to enjoy their wedding day. Working with me as the Venue Director at Shiraz Garden, couples can rely on a well-oiled machine that includes thoughtful resources, tools, and organized processes that take away stress and unpredictable questions as they plan.
I have been told by over a dozen Austin wedding professionals that I’m the best venue manager they’ve worked with. Why? I have taken hours to build information and systems that give vendors the information they need, build support systems so their on-site experience is as seamless as possible, and after the wedding, I am their best hyper girl!
I’m often told by my recommended vendors they consider me to be on their marketing team and I’m “a small chamber of commerce” for the wedding pros that work here. All of that is true and deliberate. I manage a venue, but really I am there to identify amazing vendors and make sure their value is known to our couples and create incentives to bring the two together. I put a huge focus on the vendor community in a way I hear is unique in the venue management world.
It’s an honor and one of my favorite parts of the job to help assist another entrepreneur in their business growth.
What makes you happy?
I’m happiest on the job when the day after a wedding I hear from my staff, vendors, and the couple how smooth the day was. How easy the planning was and how I helped make the wedding planning process as stress-free as possible.
Funny enough, I am a severe introvert and do not enjoy anything related to the actual wedding planning itself. I love making sure couples’ vendors have the answers they need before they ask them. I love giving couples tools that lead them to the right vendors and answers to their questions before they ask them. I enjoy the strategy that goes into marketing and running wedding venues. Funny where life takes you!
Contact Info:
- Email: shirazgardentx@gmail.com
- Website: www.shirazgardentx.com
- Instagram: @shirazgardentx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/shirazgardentx
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmydGULDVmR4Q1LMyFQdHaA
Image Credits
Photos by Photos by MKay Lane Parker Weddings Suarez Creative Main Squeeze Photography Faith and Fire Photography Alba Rose Co
