Listen to the Podcast About 313 Franklin
Podcast Summary
In a recent interview on ‘Eventful Endeavors’, venue director Hannah Hayes from the well-regarded 313 Franklin and The Dogwood, South Hill, Virginia was the guest speaker. The spirited conversation was hosted by Nate Rodriguez, offering a chance to delve into Hannah’s history, experiences, and insights relating to 313 Franklin.
In the discussion, Hannah shared fond memories of her athletic college years, having been a keen softball player at JMU. After college, Hannah shaped a strong career in the hospitality industry, starting with a focus in business and hospitality. She expressed her love for working in a venue business despite the long hours and personal sacrifices, emphasizing the joy she finds in bringing other people’s dream events to life.
Being a visible and known personality in the hospitality industry, her journey led to her working in resorts for her summer tenure at JMU, and later selling with US Foods. Hannah’s genuine passion for the business sector and her love for interacting with diverse restaurants and venues shone through as she spoke warmly about the industry.
The highlight of the conversation was when Hannah opened up about the unique venue 313 Franklin. In partnership with another family, they purchased an unoccupied school in South Hill. After a meticulous renovation that preserved its rich architectural features, the team converted the auditorium into a vibrant, unique space for the community.
In summary, the influential Hannah Hayes provides an engaging combination of sports, hospitality, and dedication to her role at 313 Franklin, paving a unique path in the hospitality industry.
Learn more about 313 Franklin
This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Nate (00:25)
Hey everyone, welcome back to Eventful Endeavors. I’m Nate with Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos and I’m here with the amazing Hannah, who is a venue director at 313 Franklin as well as The Dogwood there in South Hill, Virginia. I’m really excited to be talking about their space and all the things that they can do. Thank you so much for joining me, Hannah.
Hayes (00:44)
Thank you for having me today.
Nate (00:47)
Absolutely. We’ve been talking about doing this for a little while and I’m just super excited to share so much about the venue about 313 Franklin and The Dogwood. But before we dive in and talk about the space, I want everyone to learn a little bit about you. We had talked a little bit and you mentioned kind of your background in hospitality and something special that you did with JMU.
I wanted to dive in, tell me a little bit about your history. Let’s start with JMU. You’re actually an athlete.
Hayes (01:22)
Yeah, well I was, you know, as soon as you leave college and you’re not playing anymore, you get out of shape real quick. But I did play four years of softball there at JMU. It was a great experience and I loved my team and my coaches and we just had a lot of fun. Because of that, I was dived in on the World Series the last few nights. So it’s been, I love keeping up with baseball. Yeah.
Nate (01:29)
Ha ha ha!
Mm-hmm.
that’s awesome. Is your team winning?
Hayes (01:51)
Well, the Dodgers won. I was really excited for them. You know, I a good underdog, so it was just really good series to watch.
Nate (01:54)
Ha!
That’s awesome, yeah. I will admit to being a Dodgers fan myself. I grew up outside LA, so it’s sort of a family affair in that regard. So when you left JMU, I know that you have quite a bit of experience in hospitality that predates 313 Franklin and the dogwoods. So tell me a little bit about your backstory, how you wound up where you’re at now and the path there.
Hayes (02:25)
Yeah, well I think everyone that’s in our industry just in general never says, you know, I want to work in a restaurant or I want to work in a venue. It’s kind of just always a strange turn of events that gets you there. And mine really…
It’s long days and long hours and you’re making everybody’s dreams come true, which means sometimes you miss out on things with your own family, but it’s really fun to see these events come to life. But my story kind of started when I was at JMU. I was looking for a major. I wanted to be in the school of business, but I wanted a focus. So my focus was a business minor with a focus in hospitality. I thought that I wanted to do a high end resort.
worked in resorts during my summers at JMU. And one of those is this alamander up near you in Middleburg, Virginia. I worked in events there.
Nate (03:16)
Mm-hmm.
okay.
Hayes (03:24)
Yeah, it’s beautiful there. And then I worked at the Homestead, which is not far down south in the western part of Virginia. So I did that for a little while. But once I graduated, I went into food sales at US Foods. I loved selling.
Nate (03:31)
Yeah.
okay.
Hayes (03:43)
Yeah, I loved selling. loved going into all the different restaurants and venues and, you know, talking about menus and different things they had coming up and making sure they got all those items in in time for their event. So during that time while was at US Foods, my family and another family, we purchased a large school here in South Hill. It had been abandoned for many years.
Nate (03:56)
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
Hayes (04:13)
Yeah, the building, I’ll have to share some pictures with you. The building was vacant, know, boarded up and vines and everything all on the outside.
But once we pulled all that off and got inside it, it’s just a beautiful building. It’s brick on the outside, it has great bones, and we started to renovate. We got down to the auditorium and it was just a really unique space that we wanted to turn into a space that everybody in the community could enjoy. And we ended up doing that. It’s a little bit on modern side, but it’s really
Nate (04:53)
Uh-huh.
Hayes (04:54)
you.
Nate (04:55)
Yeah, you know, that was one of the things that kind of excited me the most and why I wanted to talk to you is it, the space itself sort of bridges that gap between like feeling, you can really like feel the history. has that, you know, classic exterior, but then you get inside and it’s got all the modern appointments and amenities. So it’s kind of the best of both worlds. And that, that auditorium space, I think is formally what we’re calling The Dogwood, is it not?
Hayes (05:20)
Yes, that is what we call The Dogwood. Yeah.
Nate (05:22)
That’s so cool. So tell me a little bit about the relationship between 313 Franklin, which is a lovely, amazing restaurant with its own interior spaces that are just gorgeous and how that kind of relates to the dog.
Hayes (05:35)
So we got two different names. They’re in the same building. They’re side by side. But the dog came first. So we actually, yeah.
Nate (05:41)
haha
really? Okay.
Hayes (05:46)
So we actually opened up The Dogwood first. We got the building renovated, the event space was up and running, and then we were still working on the restaurant. About probably six months after we opened The Dogwood and were having events, we got the restaurant up and going that next, you know, spring.
So the way that our venue ties together is kind of on the back side of our venue space is a shared kitchen. So we have a big kitchen for the restaurant and then you come in between, kind of in between that space is our walk-in refrigerator freezer and then we call it downstairs, but it’s like two or three steps. And that’s
Nate (06:27)
Haha.
Hayes (06:29)
That’s our big prep kitchen for The Dogwood. So we do cook our desserts and we hold our food there and everything gets prepped right there that goes into the event space. But that allows us to kind of work behind the scenes and run up and down the kitchen and the dish room and it’s all right there. So we have a lot of fun on the backside there. That’s where we make all the food and everything happen.
Nate (06:45)
well, yeah.
That’s so cool. Yeah, I actually got a chance to have some 313 Franklin food myself when we shared a wedding together and it’s awesome. And so it’s really kind of cool that, you know, not only are you able to provide catering in The Dogwood, but it’s like true restaurant quality. Like you guys are kind of a fancy place. 313 is kind of a fancy place and we get to carry over some of that menu into The Dogwood. So that was something that was really, really cool. And I’m kind of excited about it. know we’ll be…
You know, we did that wedding with you and we’ll see you for New Year’s Eve. So if you’re in, you know, Southern Virginia and you’re looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve, you can find us, come visit us. So awesome. So one of the things that I kind of wanted to talk a little bit about is I love to tell stories. And so I know 313 Franklin and The Dogwood, I wouldn’t say they’re brand spanking new, but they’re new-er.
Hayes (07:28)
Yes, that’s about right.
Nate (07:50)
So I’d love to hear about like some of the events that you’ve already had specifically. there any event that you’ve had an onsite that you’re like, my gosh, every idea this client brought in, everything that we did was amazing. Can you share a story with me of somebody’s event coming into The Dogwood or three.
Hayes (08:06)
Yeah, so we’ve had tons and tons of events. We’ve been open since the fall of 2019. And our space is unique in the fact that it’s a little bit smaller. It’s not huge like some of these venues. That wedding we worked together, it was a massive space.
Nate (08:13)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Hayes (08:26)
opportunities because they brought in, you know, everything. Our space is inside, you know, most of what we’re doing is tabletop decorations and a lot of the events we’re involved in. I’m just always mind blown by, know, it’s a fundraiser and how much money they fundraise or it’s a gala for a hospital or charity or organization. A lot of that go on in our small community that are able to happen inside our venue and it’s most of
Nate (08:30)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Hayes (08:56)
time so rewarding just to see all these people come together whether you know a holiday party or birthday party or we’ve 90th birthday parties or you know six sweet 16s so so many just amazing events and and people bring all sorts of ideas and we just help them work through you know what do we do how do we make it happen and it’s
It really is endless opportunities and so many things that can happen in that space. And again, most of what we’re doing is, you know, beautiful centerpieces. You know, we decorate with the tablecloths and how we lay out the space and, you know, people will bring in different bands or music or entertainment. So lots of fun things that go on.
Nate (09:47)
That’s so cool. Yeah, and actually I probably should have prefaced to say that we shared that wedding together, but something kind of cool about 313 and about The Dogwood is you guys have that beautiful on-site location, but we actually got to share a wedding together where you guys did catering out. So folks, if you’re watching this, out The Dogwood, check out 313, but even if the location doesn’t quite fit for you,
Their catering’s amazing, so check them out. All right, anyway. Yeah, so it is really, really cool to see the different ideas that folks bring into the space. is, you know, I know that you guys are still, you know, you’ve been open since 2019, but you’re still sort of getting up to speed. I know you guys, you know, absolutely cherish the weddings, but you guys have had a lot of fantastic fundraisers, and there’s a lot of really cool ideas that you can sort of bring into The Dogwood.
Talk to me a little bit about the experience with initial booking. Did they work directly with you? Did they work with others on the team? What does sort of the process look like if somebody is interested in coming into The Dogwood and say having their wedding or their fundraiser?
Hayes (11:05)
Yeah, so we actually in the last year and a half have just launched our brand new website for 313. I did send that to you so you can share it with everyone. On that website.
Nate (11:16)
How lovely, we will.
Hayes (11:17)
Yeah, so on that website there is a tab there for catering. When you click on that tab, you would just fill out an inquiry and it tells us whether you’re gonna be on or off site, if you’re gonna be, you know, how many guests you’re expecting, what type of menu, and it goes, you know, into a backside of our portal on our website and someone gets back to you within 24 hours. If you are on site wedding, our catering director
Jane, she actually will set up an appointment and meet you on site and at that time you walk through all of your visions and you can go through pricing with her, timing, dates, all those things right on site with her.
Nate (12:02)
lovely.
Hayes (12:03)
which is, I think it’s always the best. In person is way better than trying to work things out over the phone or via email, especially when planning an important event like a wedding or an anniversary party or most big things. It’s good to meet on site and look and feel and walk around. So yeah.
Nate (12:11)
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
Hayes (12:24)
Jane is our full-time catering manager and we actually just hired an assistant manager for her, Alyssa. We’re getting her up and going. was at the event that you worked. That was kind of on the beginning stages of where she’s coming in. So her job is to, after Jane books the event and gets all the details planned out with you, Alyssa’s job is to make those events come to life. So she’s more like the day.
Nate (12:51)
wonderful.
Hayes (12:52)
coordinator for a catering. Yeah, so she, you you have one person that whoever’s in charge can talk to, communicate with.
Nate (12:54)
fantastic!
Hayes (13:02)
And it just kind of streamlines that, you know, booking for the guest experience is what we’re really trying to make sure is very seamless and all the details get handed from one person right to the next and we can get that event pulled off, you know, perfectly while Miss Jane is working on the next event.
Nate (13:22)
Absolutely. So thank you for sharing that and shout out to Jane and Alyssa. Hopefully you all will get a chance to meet them when you start planning your event over at The Dogwood. But one of the things that I like to do with Eventful Endeavors is a lot of the folks that we work with are usually pretty early in planning. And there’s always that stage in sort of the mental planning of an event or a wedding where you start getting into the what-ifs.
Like what if this goes wrong? Well, what if this isn’t perfect? And so I always like to talk a little bit about the stories where, you know, something has gone a little awry because I know that, you know, folks like us who work in events and weddings, we almost don’t even notice it because we’re so used to it. We want, always want folks who are hosting their weddings or events to feel like everything is perfect, but we know things aren’t always perfect behind the scenes, but I love to.
I always like to talk about like how we fix those things before our clients or couples ever even have to think about it. Would you mind sharing? there like a story or an example that comes to mind where something’s gone a little not quite right and you guys have kind of been able to fix it.
Hayes (14:39)
Yeah, I’m with you. Every event we work, nothing is ever perfect. The goal is to make sure that the client, like you said, doesn’t feel the hiccups. But one of the…
It’s always something for sure, but that’s just the nature of having a big event with a bunch of people involved. The first example that kind of comes to mind is one of our very first events, we were just getting started in The Dogwood. We had not worked out all the kinks yet. The restaurant had just been open maybe a few months at this time. We were during COVID, so everyone was kind of on.
Nate (15:16)
my, okay.
Hayes (15:17)
down, know, limited capacity, limited, you know, just running around. Well, it was one of my good friends rehearsal dinners. So I was actually out at the wedding site. We were doing the rehearsal dinner in The Dogwood. I was at the wedding site doing the rehearsal with her, you know, going through everything and they were handling things back at the restaurant. I get a phone call that says, you guys need to stall for a few minutes.
I’m like, stop. What does that mean? They were like, yeah, well, the power just went out in The Dogwood. So the power
Nate (15:54)
no.
Hayes (15:56)
Yeah, we had 70 some people coming on our way, getting ready to leave on our way back to eat dinner. We had no power, no lights, nothing. So my mom is kind of like, don’t panic, we’re working on this. We’ve called the electricians, we’re gonna see what we can do. So we hung out for a little while and then after a few minutes, everybody’s ready to get going in that direction and here I am driving, hoping that when I’m pulled up, there’s gonna be power. Luckily,
We got the electricians there, we pulled in, the power was right back on right when the whole crowd came in. We had to jump over to a generator and it ended up being a lot more involved but we got everything switched to the generator until we could get through our event and they didn’t even know anything had happened but they pulled it off for us. So that was kind of a big one.
Nate (16:47)
That’s amazing.
That’s, yeah, that’s a big, you know, like if they had known, my gosh, disaster. like, you know, that’s the work that we all, that we event professionals do behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. That’s so cool. Okay. This has just been a blast talking about everything with The Dogwood. I end with 313 Franklin. I wanted to give you just kind of a free moment to.
that tell us a little bit about, you know, like what you all look for in clients and couples, a chance to sort of pitch like the uniqueness of the space. I I touched on it before, you know, the fact that it’s an old school gives it just this really unique vibe, but it’s, kind of unexpected because it has this historic element. It has this sort of unique and, you know, almost boutique feel to it, but then you get inside the space and it’s also, you know, all of these modern amenities is truly beautiful. It’s almost like,
It is a little bit of everything and you can make it more whatever you want, but I want to hear kind of, you know, some of the things that you find special about it and anything you might want our audience here with Eventful Endeavors to pay special attention to with The Dogwood.
Hayes (18:04)
Yeah, so you know we’re in a really rural area. It’s not a lot, you know, within a 30 or 40 mile radius of us. Our event space, I feel like, is unique in the fact that it’s, you know, it is modern. We do take care of most everything on site for you. We have tables and chairs and linens and we can help.
Nate (18:25)
okay.
Hayes (18:27)
Yeah, it’s something that you don’t have to rent in addition. We offer that in our space. We can help with centerpieces. We can get you in contact with someone or we can help you do those in-house. It just depends on what you’re looking for for your specific event. I also love the fact that the restaurant is attached right around the corner. We get to offer some really unique food varieties. My kitchen staff is, they are the best.
They do a great job. They can put out any and everything from you know we have menus that are Barbecue and chicken and then we have you know filet Oscar and a plated meal. That’s three or four courses so
Nate (19:11)
wow, okay.
Hayes (19:12)
That just makes it really fun. And especially when it’s right there on site, it’s always gonna be plenty of staff to help with any and everything that may come up or go wrong. You know, it’s not like when we get off somewhere 30 or 40 minutes away, can only work with what I’ve got in my van, but you know, right there on site, we can pretty much fix anything that comes up at the last minute. But it’s a very fun.
Nate (19:31)
Hahaha
that’s awesome.
Hayes (19:39)
and my staff takes great pride in making sure that every event goes off, you know, without a hiccup or with this few hiccups and they love working the event. So I think that’s unique that it’s an event space where we offer the catering and our staff stays there to make sure every detail of your event goes off perfectly.
Nate (20:01)
That’s so cool. Amazing. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me, Hannah. I know I’m very excited. I know we’ll be seeing you for New Year’s Eve. And hopefully we’ll see you guys more again. Folks, if you haven’t, in our post, you’ll see some links to 313 Franklin and to The Dogwood and check them out, host their event there. And when you book your event there, consider doing pianos.
Yeah, thank you so much for being with me today, Hannah. I’m really excited for everyone to learn a little bit more about you all and we’ll talk soon. Thanks everybody.
Hayes (20:39)
Yeah, you’re calling me.
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