The Social Media Takeaway - Louise McDonnell

Trusting Your Instincts and Showcasing Your Business with a Personal Touch

• Louise McDonnell • Season 1 • Episode 24

Share episode

In this week’s episode of the Social Media Takeaway, I chat with Tuesday Whitfield, owner of Willowbrook Glamping & Hideaways. We chatted about her journey of embracing her creativity and how her vibrant personality has influenced her family business. Despite facing challenges growing up, Tuesday learned the importance of being true to herself and realised that her authenticity would attract the right people to her business. By trusting her instincts and using her creativity for her business, Tuesday aims to make rural Ireland more diverse and inclusive! 

I love Tuesday’s story – whether you're an entrepreneur, a creative, or someone looking to bring a personal touch to your business, this conversation with Tuesday Whitfield is sure to motivate you.

More about Tuesday: 

Website
Facebook
Instagram

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to my podcast because more like this is on the way!

If you'd like to book a call to see how I can support you head over to my website here. www.sellonsocialmedia.academy/hello

And please connect on social media and let me know what you thought of this episode!

LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
Facebook Group

Check out my 2024 Social Media Content Planner & Guide on Amazon (Amazon UK) (Amazon USA)

Tuesday Whitfield:

I highly recommend to any new business person is to get some training in social media. So yeah, it was, and I really enjoyed doing that. It's just like showing my story of where we're going through the social media. And then we, we were able to do it from the very beginning, like day one. Our business is our life. It's our, it's our baby. So we're going to do it the way we want to do it. And not everybody might be interested in having like, you know, painted mandalas on the wall or like, you know, You know, LGBT flags in places and things like that, but that's our way. And we're kind of learning now that if they don't like that, then we don't want them here anyway.

Louise McDonnell:

Welcome to the Social Media Takeaway. I'm your host Louise McDonnell, and today we're gonna be speaking about trusting your instincts and showcasing your business with a personal touch. I'd like to welcome my guest Tuesday Whitfield. She's the owner of. Willowbrook Glamping and Hideaways based in County Roscommon in the west of Ireland. They offered glamping,, camping, summer camps, birthday parties, musical festivals and events. You're very welcome to the show Tuesday.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Thanks very much. Great to be here.

Louise McDonnell:

First thing I have to ask you, that's obviously not the name you were christened with.

Tuesday Whitfield:

How do you know that?

Louise McDonnell:

Or were you born on a Tuesday?

Tuesday Whitfield:

No, it's not my real name. It's actually a strange story. When I first met my husband, he was like, I'm going to call you Tuesday. And I was like, okay. And I just moved to Melbourne. I was working there and just traveling around. And I was working for a company called Victoria Electricity. And it was like a call center. And my real name is Victoria. So I was on the phone constantly saying, hi, my name is Victoria. I'm from Victoria Electricity. And I hated my name and I was so bored with it. And it was just the right time because like I'd moved to a new city. I was traveling with my friend and I was like, I can reinvent myself. No one knows me here. So Tuesday kind of suited me well and I liked it. And then I called my parents and was like, Oh, I've changed my name to Tuesday now. And they were like, that's really weird, because it was one of the names they were going to call me. So it was going to be Victoria, Leila or Tuesday. So it came, it found me again, came back to me. Oh,

Louise McDonnell:

wow. That is so funny, isn't it? Oh, that's really cool. Really cool. Okay. So tell us, like, tell us about your journey. So you started off a little bit with the change of your name. So what is that?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Well, at first I was born in the UK and my parents shipped us over to the middle of nowhere, Baddadreen, County Roscommon, and they had 21 acres of land and their dream was to Start a caravan and camping site. So we were dragged over kicking and screaming and spent our summers picking up stones and like doing all these boring grass jobs and absolutely hated it. I didn't really like, and when I first moved back here, I was kind of, you know, like a town girl moving into the countryside and I was in a small school and I was buddied there.

Louise McDonnell:

What age were you actually when I was 10, 10 10. Okay. Right. Okay. Yeah.

Tuesday Whitfield:

So I didn't have a great experience in the school. I was bullied there for a while. Just, I don't even know why I suppose a little bit different and I liked more colorful stuff. And then when I finished secondary school, I went to college in Dublin. And that's when I kind of found my tribe a bit more, more creative people. It was an art college. And that was when I was finally like, Oh, like, Arts are really important, like music and creativity are definitely something that like resonates within me. And I kind of felt there's more belonging there and, living in Dublin and seeing people like study event management and, you know, model making was like, you can actually make a living off these kind of creative outlets as well. So that was very inspiring. And then I went traveling traveled to like, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, all around Australia and settled in Australia for a while. Started working at a company like a disability company, working with adults with disabilities. I told them I had loads of experience. I had no experience at all. And I ended up teaching art and music to people with disabilities. And. I was amazing at it. I was really, really good at it. Because you know, I can just find it easy to engage with people and to spread the joy of how, like how important like music and art is with people. And that obviously came through in my, in my teachings and yeah, I was really good at it. absolutely hated the company because the management was very top heavy and they hadn't a clue about looking after their staff or looking after their clients. And they hated me because I used to stand up for, for the clients. And I would like, if any staff did anything wrong, I would like report them. And because of course, like they're hurting other, other human beings. I wasn't going to stand for that. And they hated that because They couldn't get rid of me because I was so good at my job and all the families loved me and all the clients loved me and I brought so much to it. So that was really annoying for them. And then we left that and we decided to move back to Ireland and take over the family business. I vowed that when I would move back, I would set up some more creative outlets in the area. when I was growing up, it was only very like football or GAA and sport orientated. There was nothing for any creatives. So I came back and I was, I do like an art class here every Saturday morning and I've had the same kids there for the last five years. Yeah, so we just kind of want to bring more color and more alternative things to the area because, you know, it's hard to find those kinds of people and it's hard for them to find events in the area that aren't just the tumbling paddies and kind of trad music. So that's kind of our plan.

Louise McDonnell:

And tell me, I know you moved back when you were 10 and, that must have been such a shock to your system to, to move back, you know, to the, to rural Ireland from, you know, city in the UK. And you were bullied at school, so that must have been absolutely horrible because at that time in your life, that probably took up most of your life, you know, going to school and trying to make new friends and, you know, trying to fit in and trying to learn. So you've moved back. when did you start to love the place so much that you decided you wanted it to be your home?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah we came back for summer when I was still living in Australia and it was the first time in a long time we had visited in the summertime, because normally I got really homesick around Christmastime, because Australian summers are just, you know, sunny and bright and it's like, this isn't a Christmas. And so we came back in the summertime and I just saw the potential of the place. You know, there was just so much stuff. Like in Willowbrook though, we could do and we could add to it, so we decided to move back then. It took a while for it to become, feel like it was my home again, because, you know, it was just weird, like, seeing your old teachers and your old ex boyfriends everywhere and all this sort of thing, you're like, oh, but then I kind of just took on the persona of like, Well, I'm going to be a colorful crazy lady around the town because I want other youths to see that it is okay to like, you know, have different colored hair and it is okay to wear odd socks and it is okay to have tattoos on your ears and your hands because, you know, there has to be at least one of them around the town. So I was like, okay, I'll be that weird one. Yeah, so I do actually make an effort like to even put more color into my style and stuff because I think it's important for youth in the area to see that it's okay to, to have that in your life.

Louise McDonnell:

And do you ever come across the people who made your life difficult? How does that work?

Tuesday Whitfield:

I do. I do. Yeah, we're actually friends now. Yeah.

Louise McDonnell:

It's so funny I say that all the time, you know, know, you'd be having conversations with other mothers and you're like, and they're giving out, they might be saying, Oh, that child is Bullying my children, not that nice and I'm like, don't say anything because they'll probably end up the best of friends, you know, I think everyone has to find their way, including the people that are a bit mean to people when they're younger. They also are learning. They're also learning. that's really good to know. So you came back to Willowbrook and you decided you were going to change it up. What happened next?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah. So we just we added more cause my parents were, they weren't very business orientated. They were kind of happy just to have a few kind of retired couples and stuff. And my dad he does like Tai Chi and martial arts and stuff. So he kind of, his heart was kind of more in that side of things as well. But we, see the potential. We're like, okay, we want to kind of make this big and make it work. So we added yurts with hot tubs. We've added more kind of like landscape artworks to the area. We've added the events and the summer camps and things like that. It's been a tough slog, but we're getting there now, finally in our like fifth, Six year, it's kind of starting to feel like it's going well.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah, it's still very new though. It's, you know, I think for a business that, especially I think in the tourism sector, you know, for you build your, customer base year on year. And so every year technically should be better than the last because you have more customers repeating with you. So In terms of marketing then, what has been your approach or what has worked or what hasn't worked for you?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah, well, we were really lucky because we were able to like sell our story from the beginning. I went to a very good masterclass from a lady, she taught me a lot. So I would highly recommend to any new business person is to get some training in social media. So yeah, it was, and I really enjoyed doing that if just like. Showing my story of where we're going through the social media. And then we, we were able to do it from the very beginning, like day one. our business is our life. It's, it's our baby. So we're going to do it the way we want to do it. And not everybody might be interested in having like, you know, painted mandalas on the wall or like, you know, LGBT flags in places and things like that. But like, that's our way. And we're kind of learning now that if they don't like that, then we don't want them here anyway. Like, I don't want their, their vibes and their energy. It's like the few days ago camper came up and we have this like, kind of mural painted on the wall and Basically says like, everyone's welcome here, you know, it doesn't matter about your religion or your creed or your sex or who you love, like everyone is welcome. And they drove in, they seen all these things. They're like, Jesus Christ, if we stay here longer than a day, we'll turn into hippies.

Louise McDonnell:

And did they?

Tuesday Whitfield:

No, they didn't. They did one night. They were like, if we like it, we'll stay longer. I'm like, all right. And I was delighted they left. I was like, I don't need that judging me, you know what I mean? It's like, I'd rather someone comes in like, oh yes, lovely, great. Yeah. Bring on the ferry. Louise McDonnell: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So can you, can you share a standout moment like in the six years that you've opened up, can you share a moment like that stands out in your memory of where you think, you know, you were like, this is it. This is exactly where I need to be. You know, this is all clicking. Yeah. I think it's more so with the kids when I'm doing stuff with the kids, like, and I'm doing like a summer camp and they're literally just running and they're just like, they feel so free. That was a really nice moment, you know, when we've had some kids from the Syrian hotel in town as well and they came and just seeing them interact with each other and being so kind and to like people helping them and that was a nice moment. And then recently we had an Ukrainian lady who lives in Benedrene. She was doing, playing a gig in our place, Witherbrook Whispers. She plays piano and she was very, very nervous. It was her first time performing in a long time. And when she was leaving, she actually was like flapping her arms. As she was flying and she was like, I feel like I'm flying. Like I'm flying away. And I was like, Oh, that was so nice that we could give her that opportunity and give her that platform.

Louise McDonnell:

I think the freedom as well. Like one of the things that occurs to me when I see all your social media is the sheer size of the site and there's so much nature integrated into it. like, even if you're living in a small town or village, you know, you have your kids on a, on a tight leash because you have to mind them. They can run free. I think that's amazing. And they can just, they can do the stuff that we used to do as kids. Do you know where you were just, you went in the morning, you didn't come home until the evening and you could have been climbing a tree or jumping a stream or doing something like that. But I think, I think that level of freedom is really, really important. So it's great that you're able to offer that.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah. I just want to go back to basics. Like we don't have a playground in our site but we have this kind of little look like willow dome and a little mud kitchen and a few painted rocks. And that's enough like, and the kids, the games that the kids come up with in their own imagination because they're given that space to create for themselves. And I think that's so important. I mean, we have like one parent who's like, Oh, you should get a playground in. And then you have the other ones like, Oh, it's so great that you don't have a playground.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah. But I think, I think it's so important here that they don't, because they say that's missing now, don't they? With the youth of today, that They're not outside enough. They're not problem solving. They're not, you know, coming up with the games themselves. Or, you know, I, we used to play Huckleberry Finn. Like, I think everyone know my age now, we played Huckleberry Finn. Like whenever we were watching the television, we went out and we tried to recreate it because we were making it all up in our heads, you know? So I think it's, it's great. Like, I think they don't know how to play nowadays. They don't know how to do that. You know, they don't, they don't know how to be bored.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah, exactly.

Louise McDonnell:

I think it's really, really important. And so how important is it to trust your instincts in business?

Tuesday Whitfield:

especially with something like that we're doing, which is so personal, you have to just go for it. And, not all of, all of them are going to work, like some of like, you know, the ideas and the events that we do, like, they're not always as successful as we would hope they would. You know, I feel better that I've done it, that I've trusted myself and just said like, no, you have to give it a go and let things build as well. Yeah. And even for, you know, when like someone calls up and they were trying to book in as well, sometimes there's been times you're like, Oh, I don't know if I really fully trust that person. There's a little red flag going off and something in your gut is telling you that you shouldn't let that person stay. And then you find out later that, you definitely shouldn't have let them stay. cause when you're dealing with people, you have to. Open yourself up to be able to be in tune with their energy and their vibe. Cause this is our home. Like, you know, we've, we have a kit here as well and our house is on site. So you have to really just open up your gut and, and be able to, to trust it on all levels of things. I think.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah. Instincts are so, so important. Yeah, exactly. And so what role do you think a business like yours plays in shaping the cultural landscape in, small towns or rural areas?

Tuesday Whitfield:

I think it's extremely important. like I said before, just letting people know that there is a creative place in the area and it's okay to be creative you can make a business out of it. We're also bringing tourism to the area. You know, we have lots of people who, you know, live around the area and they, they want their family to come and visit them, but there's nowhere else for them to stay. So they come glamping and or in their tent. And we work with other businesses as well. Like, so we have like an alpaca trip to come down here. We work with massage therapist and we work with A mindful yoga instructor as well. So we're kind of adding to that economy as well.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah, exactly. Can we, do you ever do anything? Did you ever go back to the disability? You know, you worked with people with disabilities teaching them art. Yeah. Cause I know was Cushla near you or was that anywhere? Is that's gone now? That was the Irish wheelchair association.

Tuesday Whitfield:

There's the

Louise McDonnell:

holiday center in Roscommon, but I think that closed. I think I

Tuesday Whitfield:

haven't heard of that before.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah, I think it closed years ago and they were a center specifically for people with disabilities these days, fishing and things. So is that something that you offer or something that you, you.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah, I've done it. We've done a few few groups come out here, like a school tour and camps and stuff. people who like have a disability or they have like autism or ADHD, they absolutely love the place as well because it's so safe and it's such a nice, relaxing environment as well. And there's like so much space. So we do have a lot of kids who have ADHD or autism in common. They, they really enjoy it. And their parents are so happy that it's not all just like cars zooming around the place or all these extras and all these like, Bright lights everywhere and machines and things.

Louise McDonnell:

It's all about the nature.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah.

Louise McDonnell:

And have you faced any personal challenges in balancing your vision for Willowbrook with the practicalities of actually making money?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah, definitely. Like it's just kind of challenge of personality sometimes as well, you know, and working in groups with other people you have one vision and they have another vision and their vision might be a bit outdated. I find it very hard to keep my mouth shut as well. So if I'm not happy with something, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna not say it. And I'm going to stick up for myself and other people as well. And some people don't expect that from a younger person. I say younger, I think I'm young. I'm 39, but I'm like, that's young.

Louise McDonnell:

Oh young

Tuesday Whitfield:

I think especially, you know, in a small town as well, They're kind of used to having the older generation kind of running the show and there's definitely a shift in the moment of that, like people come back from different places and having new ideas and setting up new things and, that can be quite challenging for some people to kind of let go of that. you know, when we work in hospitality and The weather plays a huge part of it as well. So when it's a bad week of rain and there's absolutely no bookings coming in and you're wondering, like, can you afford to do these things because you don't know how much money you're going to have at the end of the month. Like that's, that's quite worrying. And you're just, you know, you're at the mercy of the Irish weather, which is very hard, but that's why we have the arts and you know, they're all covered over. And so we're trying to just come up with ideas. Of making things more waterproof and like the school tours as well, like I've started doing them this month and you know, it's rained every day since I've had one. And then you're like, Oh no, everyone's going to have a crap time, but you know, they won't because you've planned it on and the kids won't mind, but you do have that worry that, that it's not going to go well.

Louise McDonnell:

Oh, you know what, put on, there's no such thing they say is bad weather, just bad clothing and appropriate clothing.

Tuesday Whitfield:

You say that, but they still don't come in there. They get gear.

Louise McDonnell:

I know. And you know, you just get out and get into it, it's like, well, you know. We're so fortunate in this part of the world that we have such long days, you know, that it's bright until this time of year, it's bright until what, nearly 10 o'clock now, and it'll, it'll go later than that, even over the next month. like, okay, the weather might be fantastic, but you know, put on your rain jacket and get out and you'll still enjoy the sounds, the smells, you know, everything to do with nature. Tell us about the yurts. I know you, I just think the names on your yurts are so funny.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah. So a yurt is a Mongolian structure. They're kind of round in shape and they have like pointy roofs on top. So we have three yurts. Our first one's called Yurty Yerhan after Bertie Yerhan. That's our kind of VIP one with a hot tub. Our second one is Yurt Kabane after Kurt Kabane. And then our third one is Yurty in the Tramp, which is a A dog friendly one, so you can bring your dog there. So that's named after the movie, Lady and the Tramp. And then we have a music studio as well, which is called Teenage Yurtbag.

Louise McDonnell:

I love that.

Tuesday Whitfield:

So I think, like, why not make something quirky when you can, rather than having red yurt, blue yurt, yellow yurt. Why not add a little joke to it, you know, it makes it more fun.

Louise McDonnell:

And where do you see it going now? Like, obviously to be innovative and to keep bringing on these new quirky things, which are really cool. I think really appeal to people. So, you know, where do you see it going in the future? What are your ideas or what's your vision?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yes, we want to expand and add more, glamping units. I'd love to just be doing like events all the time. And just keep having retreats and things like that. I'd love to just do that every weekend, have something different, like, you know, crocheting one weekend and then mindfulness or something crazy. Like, so that's kind of is the vision kind of make it into like an art center, but that's a long, long way, way at this moment in time.

Louise McDonnell:

But you've already started doing the events, haven't you?

Tuesday Whitfield:

We have. Yeah. We've just started doing a series of intimate gigs. So in our kind of dojo hall, maybe like 50 people and there's all like candlelights everywhere and bring your own booze and it's a acoustic kind of folky singer songwriter stuff. So we had our first one a few weeks ago and that went really, really well. And you could just feel the magic in the place. Like, you know, everyone that came, you Was so happy to like meet different people. And, and it was like, felt like it was the start of something really special. So we're having our next one on the 21st of June. So tickets are on sale for that. And if you want to, you know, stay in one of our accommodations, you can as well. So like, what's better than staying in a Yerp with a hot tub, going to a little intimate gig, bringing your own booze and staying for the, making a weekend out of it.

Louise McDonnell:

It sounds amazing. And you know something, I think that could even be something that would really take off because when you're mentioning it now, I'm nearly, what came into my head was MTV unplugged. I know it's not the same thing, like, but who's not to say that it wouldn't be the thing, you know, for a nice, a place to go to record something really cool, you know? So I think that would be super cool idea. Okay. So what tips do you have for other entrepreneurs who are looking to infuse their business with personal passion and creativity?

Tuesday Whitfield:

I just say kind of just go for it. Don't hold back. Like if you've got to spin on something that you think might work, it probably will work. If you think it's going to work, you'll make it work. And there'll be other people who have your same vision and it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it'll be the right people's cup of tea. Like, you know, the people who that it kind of connects with, they'll, they'll like it. And that might be an extra booking or an extra networking thing for them. I'm very much like, ah, do it now, do it now. But I would tell people just to like go back over your posts and make sure you check your punctuation and check your spelling because I'm really bad at doing that. And then I think you have to just kind of, no, be honest and just be yourself. Like there's no point being someone else because it's your thing and it's your baby and you attract the right kind of person by just being yourself.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah, brilliant. I mean, what about AI? Are you using any, AI tools?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Oh, I'm actually, I, I know I should, but I've actually I'm not as scared of it, but it makes me sad just to think that like, you know, it's taken away from all the people's jobs, like, especially as a creative, I'm like, Oh, well, what's left for humanity? Like, what was our jobs going to be then? So no, we haven't really touched on it yet. I keep meaning to, but I haven't yet. And I'm sure there's a million and one things that it would have been a fit our business on. So I will look into it, but for the moment, like I, I even hate typing. I'm always like, I need to write things down. Like I'm very much like, is a cool person.

Louise McDonnell:

Oh, well, Lucas, thank you so much for sharing your story and thanks so much for sharing all the insights into your business. I've been so honest. If you were going to give any advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Stop caring what people think about you. Like, you know, not everyone needs to like you. You don't need to have everybody liking you and just, just, yeah, just don't worry about it. And that's what I love about getting older as well. They just, you just give less of a hoot about people like about the wrong people.

Louise McDonnell:

I think that's definitely, definitely true. The older you get, the less you care. Like, and then you have teenagers who just are actually squirt because they care so much. They're the opposite end of the scale.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah.

Louise McDonnell:

But anyway, it'll all work out in the end. So if you're looking to check out Willowbrook, how can everybody find you?

Tuesday Whitfield:

Yeah, and all social media platforms. So it's Willowbrook on our Facebook we're on everything, TikTok, Instagram, all of those things. Or you check out our website, www.willowbookglamping.ie

Louise McDonnell:

Brilliant. And I can definitely recommend it. It looks absolutely amazing. And social media is really funny. Like the personality shines through. Like I saw the video recently that Wes did with the tent.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Oh yeah. The pop up tent.

Louise McDonnell:

It's so funny. He was like trying, you know, trying to show people how easy it was, but the, you know, or how not easy it was. He's just hilarious. So, and well done to the two of you and continued success in the future.

Tuesday Whitfield:

Thanks very much. Bye.