Today we’d like to introduce you to Mimi DiFrancesca Heberlein.
Hi Mimi, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My long and winding road in hospitality and tourism started in the early 1970s as a tour guide in the American Southwest, Working for companies based in Phoenix and Los Angeles, when life on the road lost its shine, I moved into the headquarters where I planned events, festivals, tours, weddings and parties of all kinds. That led to sales and marketing to International tour companies also allowing me to hone my design skills for promotional materials. After moves to Minneapolis and two locations in Florida, the next move was to East Lansing, Michigan. While my kids were young, I limited my work to ad-hoc events and design jobs under contract with Michigan State University. Contracted to create a fundraising event for the Greater Lansing Food Bank, I created The Empty Plate Dinner and to-date, it has earned GLFB over $5,000,000 in donations. Ten years later, I was awarded the Beacon of Light Award from the Attorney General. In 2016, I purchased Willowbrook Mill in Northport and this January, we will celebrate our 10th season. After renovation and upgrades, we can host year round weddings and events like our wildly successful visiting celebrity chef events featuring chefs ike Jimmy Schmidt, Abra Berens and Five Hell’s Kitchen Chefs, that sell out every time. Voted Red Hot 100 Top Ten Wedding Venue since 2017, and we continue to garner awards like Here Comes The Guide’s Best “Hampton’s of the Midwest” Wedding Venue.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has the road been smooth? (Insert raucous laughter here). No! It has not. And that is ok with me. I have found that winding, bumpy paths often lead to some really great places. And I’ve had to take a lesson or two from our namesake, the willow. Bend with the winds of change so you won’t break. As a family owned business, we don’t have the super deep pockets to purchase front row advertisements on wedding websites. We have cultivated a following of happy customers who share their Willowbrook Mill experience with others and given the stunning beauty of our venue, there are hundreds of photos all over the Internet allowing new clients to have a look at us. Our reputation and our fan club grew organically out of the thousands of guests who wax poetic about the wedding they attended at our venue..So, it isn’t just about who can spend the most money buying ads; it’s about making the venue picture perfect and offering the best guest experience of all time. And talk about a bump in the road, can I just say… COVID 19. IN 2019, we finally got our liquor license allowing us to be able to provide bar service to our wedding couples and events. 2020 was going to be THE YEAR it all came together. So, that happened, No weddings, plus, the insurance companies cleverly avoided having to pay our industry loss of business monies and we refunded all the deposit money collected from our 2020 couples. That wasn’t a bump in the road. That was a sinkhole. But we kept in touch with everyone and we came out of it with our heads up and a smile on our faces.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Although many of our wedding couples have wedding planners that walk them through the planning process, many do not. And given that 90% of the couples are planning a first wedding, all of it feels overwhelming. We have a beautiful venue, but people want to personalize the space to reflect their own style as well. Beyond all the “cat herding” skills I’ve acquired, I’m also an artist, a photographer and a writer. It brings me great joy when I can spend time with couples and hear who they are and then help them design their decor to reflect them as a couple. I’m locally famous for being able to find weird but amazing things for people to surprise and delight their guests. This past August, I located a claw foot bath tub that was used as an ice bath for champagne. And just to drive the point home, it’s a Friday as I do this interview and a bridesmaid just asked me if I have any fall silk leaves or flower petals to scatter by the guest book. Yes, I do! I used my photographer’s eye when I selected paint colors, outdoor landscaping, lighting, and features around the building. I use my artist’s hands to build things like the branch chandeliers made from local apple and cherry orchards for our bar and the floor lamps I made from driftwood found on Cathead Bay a few miles away. And I use my writer’s words to honor my client’s experience and help them celebrate with little word photos in my posts.
Any big plans?
Plans for the future include finding the right time to pass this fabulous venue to a new generation and then dive into art projects I have sizzling on the back burner. I look forward to consulting and helping to share what I’ve gathered in my fifty years in Hospitality and Tourism. In the words of Pablo Picasso, ” The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” It’s a beautiful view from this high up the mountain and I’m excited to light some lanterns so the next person can find their way too.
Pricing:
- Wedding packages begin at $6000.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://willowbrookmill.com
- Instagram: @willowbrookmill
- Facebook: facebook.com?willowbrookmill
