Meet Amber McKinney | Wedding Venue Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amber McKinney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind the success of our brand is strategy and a heart for service. We prioritized a mindset of service from day one, with the notion that our process had to be repeatable and scalable to be sustainable- personally, financially, and beyond!

Our strategy revolves around attracting clients who see us as real people, who are fulfilling to work with, and we have a custom process to serve them and support them. Clients who feel supported bring gratitude to an otherwise challenging (and sometimes stressful) experience like wedding planning. When they share their gratitude, it creates a community of raving fans for us. When new clients come along, it sets the tone for their experience, too.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I graduated from the University of Alabama in 2009 with my Engineering degree, and I immediately packed up my entire life into a Toyota Corolla and moved to Texas for a job. My gut knew I didn’t really want to be an engineer, but once you’ve invested so much time and money into a degree, you feel obligated to use it. A decade into my engineering career, I realized in each role that I always took on the people-oriented tasks like- employee engagement initiatives, community outreach, graphic design, marketing, team training and more! This was what actually “filled my cup,” so I stayed in my field knowing that I had to have a plan to transition into something that encompassed gifts more.

I had various side-hustles over the years, and we kept talking about building an event venue. Admittedly, like most folks, we thought it would be somewhat of a hands-off business. HA!!!!! Fortunately, we did extensive research and hired a business coach before taking the plunge. This enabled us to have a realistic strategy and business plan from day one.

Working full time, having a toddler, and boot-strapping a startup is anything but easy. The doubt of buying a socially-based business during a Covid shutdown was terrifying. It forced us to see what could happen and plan accordingly. It showed us that the business environment will always be evolving, and we will continue to be flexible to evolve with it.

The timing and state of the world in 2020 helped us see how valuable it is to gather with loved ones. All of those aspects became a driving factor into our love for providing a place for families to join and memories to be made. I’m honestly grateful for the tough timing and the perspective and opportunity it brought to the journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite places to go with visitors are usually shows, nature, and delicious food! If there’s a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with great reviews, we’re going. If there’s a concert or comedy show happening nearby, let’s do it! And if we just want to get away, we’ll find a park or trail to hike and enjoy the outdoors.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout to my husband for being my partner and rock through all of the winding roads of starting and running a business. I won’t pretend buying a wedding venue during the Covid shutdown gave us confidence we were doing the right thing. The world was ending, right? And what does an engineer (me) know about weddings?

My husband was there by my side, listening and learning. He was watching me stumble through the mistakes and successes. I’m notoriously overly passionate and get excited- once I’m in, I’m ALL IN. But he brings me back to reality and helps me check my excitement to sort through the hard questions.

We decided I would keep my full time job as long as possible while also running the business, and he has been the best husband and father through all of the time crunches. Tours, meetings, and weddings filled up our calendars quickly, but he never missed a beat. From daycare pickups to practices, games, and plays, he has been there investing in our future so we could one-day have the flexibility we needed. Thank you, Cody!!!

Bonus shoutout to my business coach for giving us the tools to approach this with a sound strategy and mindset. We quickly learned together that it would be the best decision we made in the early stages of our business.

Website: sunsetoaksvenue.com

Instagram: instagram.com/sunsetoaksvenue

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sunset-oaks-wedding-event-venue

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunsetOaksVenue/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjHkJDhpPZapz0tEwXaoKA

Other: TikTok.com/@sunsetoaksvenue

Image Credits
Mugen Studios Anna Haile Photography Leah & Jordan Photography Alysia Marie Photography Brooklyn Gandy Photography