Meet Lynn Bjostad | Small Business Owner

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

Hi Lynn, how do you think about risk?
One of my favorite poems is ‘To Risk/Dilemma’ by William Arthur Ward. It states that if you don’t take risks, you will never be free. Fear of failure holds us back from taking risks, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I tend to overthink most things. When it comes to taking action on something or someone that involves risk, I educate myself and I weigh the options and the outcomes. Not everything works out, regardless of how much preparation and thought you put into it. Learning how to own up to my mistakes and live with them is a lifelong lesson. But I would do most of it all over again because the lessons are so valuable. As a reminder to myself, I have my favorite word around my office…Fearless!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Premier Meeting and Event Management is a full service meeting and conference planning company. We are women owned and have been in business for 19+ years. We always say, ‘we are small by choice.’ What we mean by this is that we made a conscious decision to be small and not go after large growth If it required us to sacrifice our ability to provide focused service. This decision did not come without struggles. I struggled for years when I got to the Y in the road, which road to take? I made the decision to stay with the clients I had, gather up a few more and keep small. The fact that I could provide outstanding service to 10 instead of decent service to 100 was more important. Of course now we are in the midst of COVID 19 and all that it has done to our industry. At first, we took a moment to grieve and feel sorry for ourselves. Once we got through that, we started working every day on learning, changing and figuring out ways to make it to the other side still intact. Again I am reminded of another quote from Ward: “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; And the realist adjusts the sails.”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a native Texan and have so many great places I love in this state! I would start with a trip to the Hill Country to see the beauty and to visit some of the great places along the way. I would stay over in Fredericksburg at Herb Farm and frequent Main Street. I would spend some time going to all the small towns like Luckenbach and Bandera. I would make a trip to Garrison Brothers where they bottle some great bourbon. Back up towards home I would stop in Fort Worth along Magnolia Ave. My favorite BBQ can be found at Heim BBQ and the best drinks at The Usual. One of my favorite activities is to kayak or paddleboard at Lake Grapevine.

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?
There are so many that fall into this category. I am nothing without my tribe. I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life as mentors, guides, and cheerleaders. I have to give my shoutout to Joanna who works with me. I took the saying ‘hire smarter than you’ to heart. She is amazing in so many ways. Aside from being wicked smart, she is funny and kind. When you are in the trenches you want someone like Joanna by your side. She is a great representation of the brand and will always have your back. Knowing that I will always get her honest feedback and not just what I want to hear is so important. We have had some great experiences and even better stories.

Website: www.meetingsbypremier.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnbjostadcmp/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetingsbypremier/