Meet Caroline, Emma and MacKenzie | Picnic Planners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Caroline, Emma and MacKenzie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caroline, Emma and MacKenzie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We started our business during Covid when we were all home in quarantine. Our thought process was that people needed exciting moments with family or friends in the midst of a hard time. The best way we thought to do that was through people being outdoors and sharing a meal. The picnic idea was then born and as soon as we all returned to Dallas, we began designing pretty table scapes for Instagram worthy moments for guests to share with their nearest and dearest.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
First and foremost, we are students. We three are seniors at SMU who met the first week of school freshman year. We started Rosedale Picnic Company as a fun passion project and were thrilled to see it quickly turn into a profitable business. It took a lot of hard work, especially on the front end to turn it into a functioning business. We used teachers as resources, such as our accounting professor, for advice. We also had many other mentors who we knew in the small business world to get our LLC off the ground. It was not easy but worth all the research, time and effort it took. The hardest part for us with all of this is the school and work balance. We try to do our best not to miss out on our college activities which are quickly wrapping up and schedule picnics around football games and sorority functions. Nothing though is more rewarding to us than being able to bless guests with these picnics to help them celebrate all that life has to offer. From proposals, to baby showers, to bridal parties, to brunches with friends, we love giving people a way to gather and enjoy time together.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If we had a best friend visiting town, we would immediately turn their stay into the food tour of Dallas! We would kick off their start with spicy margaritas at Doce Mesas. The next day we would enjoy breakfast at Village Baking Co. and from there we would walk to Flippen Park which is our favorite spot to picnic. Boxed Bites provides charcuterie to all of our picnics so that would be our delicious lunch and we would wrap up the day with a walk around Highland Park and SMU and probably grab sushi for dinner. Our favorite, easy sushi place is Oishii right by near school!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We could not be where we are without all of our supportive families and friends! From our families hosting picnics in their backyards to posting about us on social media and showing up at our events, we are so grateful for their enthusiasm and excitement about Rosedale Picnic Company. It means the world and makes it more fun for us. Our friends, classmates and sororities also deserve so much credit and recognition. Classmates have written articles about us for the school fashion blogs and magazines, our sororities have posted about us on their instagrams, and friends have bent over backwards to show up for us all along the way. Our dear friend Ella especially has been there for us from day one. She stayed up late to help with the florals for our very first photo shoot and helped give her artistic direction when we were running dry. We truly could not have done this without her and many others!

Website: https://www.rosedalepicniccompany.com

Instagram: @rosedalepicniccompany

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