When Loss is Gain | One Real Wedding Business Inspirational Story

As business owners, there are times things get tough.  I mean, really rough.  I have found that most like to "mask" or hide that part of their journey, implying that by some magic wand, they just were granted instant success.  But the reality is in the middle of the struggle, that's where the good stuff is found.  Why?  Because it is what forces us to get real.  To evolve.  And if we stay with it, the struggle just may bring you into the next chapter of your destiny.  And when you have the courage to share your journey openly with others, you are not only helping them, but helping yourself.  It also shows that you have learned and with more experience comes expertise.  And with expertise, comes client trust . And with client trust come more bookings and revenue.

When I interviewed my clients, Jump on the School Bus, I had no idea the story that was about to unfold would be such an inspiration.  But what I admired most about Sierra and Darin was their willingness to be completely "naked" and in doing so, be radically authentic, thereby explaining their busting-at-the-seams-success.  To me, these qualities and journeys are what make the real wedding business of distinction.

  
With their permission, I am sharing the post that I just completed for them.

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Jump On the School Bus | The Foundation of “The Serious Business of Fun”

 When Loss is Gain

Fun doesn’t just happen, people. It is the result of years of cultivating and embracing the art of serendipity

and seeing life through a lens of choice: choosing to affirm one’s superiority over all that has befallen them with the power of humor.

All businesses start with its founders chasing a dream, but for Jump on the School Bus (JOTSB) owners Sierra Falso and Darin Fiechter, the dream chased them, lasso’d them, did the cha-cha and then dared them to come chase it more.   

To truly appreciate JOTSB , one needs to understand that under the layers of fun is a deeply-rooted and talented couple who bring years of experience in high-end careers and talent to the table.  Sierra, who hailed from a father who encouraged her to tinker and fix things with him and a mother who was ahead of her time as the first woman firefighter in Santa Barbara (3^rd in California), went on to a career in Commercial Real Estate, handling high-end properties and clientele in Southern California and making a six figure income.  Darin, too, was no stranger to success.  A native Santa Barbaran, avid surfer, musician and owner of his own orthopedic surgical medical distribution company, Darin founded and built from scratch (with Sierra and another one of their friends Rebecca) one of Santa Barbara’s landmark restaurants: “Live Culture”, where he created a unique wine tasting experience which focused on the patron’s individual palettes and custom-poured tastings based on this.  By this time, Darin and Sierra were madly in love and partners in everything.   She moved up to Santa Barbara and was an integral part of the foundation of Live Culture, having written the business plan for it, construction drawings for it as well as collaborated on its entire development from its inception.  The concept of Live Culture, combined with bringing in the area’s best live music, made it a popular social establishment for years in Santa Barbara.  

As the nation’s economy began to dive, however, Live Culture struggled, eventually closed, and the couple struggled trying to make ends meet big time.  While together through this hard time, Darin and Sierra did what most did during the middle of one of our country’s darkest economic slumps:  they improvised with whatever they had to make ends meet, including using Airbnb.com to creatively supplement their income.  Throughout all this, they never lost their sense of humor or spirit of adventure.   

found themselves (as many did at that time) starting from scratch. The close of Live Culture was deeply emotional and painful for Darin. He fell back on every trade and talent he’d ever had – from teaching tennis, to selling orthopedic products again and more.

As life often proves, “loss” can be “gain”, and what appeared to be a “loss” of one business ended up being one of the best things that ever happened. 

One day at the beach, at what would appear to have been the end of their rope, Sierra randomly burst out, “We should do a Rocky Horror Picture Show Wine Tour!”  To which Darin enthusiastically responded with, “That’s got to be the worst idea I have ever heard.”  While they both laughed it off at the moment, the idea ended up fermenting (pun intended) in a different way downstream.

 One sold Rolex watch from a former beau of Sierra’s later, and they found themselves the proud owner of their first school bus.  They figured they could always live in it if the economy got much worse.  With Darin’s natural talent for creating guest experiences in the hospitality industry, Sierra’s high-end professional background and wicked sense of fun and humor, this first school bus didn’t stand a chance at becoming anything but successful. In fact, it was christened when used for Sierra and Darin’s own Happily Ever After Day when they got married (see picture) and is known to have particularly magical powers to this day for any event for which it is used. 

As they say, the rest is history. A whole fleet of school busses later along with a corporate , social and  

The "Mentors of Fun" Sierra & Darin

Darin and Sierra have taken their unique individual journeys and infused the best of them into everything JOTSB has to offer.  From wine tours, weddings, wedding-related events, corporate events and now The Brew Bus, specializing in micro brewery tours, everything is an experience for their guests.  And that’s just the beginning.  According to Sierra, she is most herself when “creating and enhancing business.”  Make sure you continually check back, as JOTSB has some more new endeavors in the works that will be announced soon.  They are always adding new creative experiences for their clientele.

wedding business following, JOTSB is bursting at the seams but never seems to lose the personal touch of making every client feel special.

All their experience and happy customers not withstanding, it comes down to this: how could anyone have a bad experience with a company whose CEO’s titles are “Chief of Sales, Marketing & Mischievousness” and “Chief Executive Fun-Officer”?  

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 dedicated to the wedding professional, catering sales executive & hospitality partner, engaging inspiration provides sparkling social media, sales, marketing and training solutions which inspire and engage.