Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Hessling.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We, the Hesslings, started welcoming guests to Gathering Place Resort & Lodge in June 2020. As new owners, we are eager to build quality accommodations, a friendly resort atmosphere, and a legacy of outstanding customer service.
We are mid-westerners and both very active in outdoor sports and activities. Mike grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and is the youngest in a family of 8. He loves to fish and is enjoying learning more about the fish habitat of Red Cedar Lake. After graduating from Parks College of St Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, Mike spent 35 years in the aerospace industry. He retired in May 2020 as Executive Vice President of Engineering, at Cobham PLC. He loves to “talk airplanes” with anyone who has that common interest. Or bring up Cubs baseball, and you will be chatting for hours.
Deanna hails from Hastings, Minnesota, and has family in the Minnesota-Wisconsin area. While growing up, she spent time most summers in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Northwoods of Minnesota and as a result loves the out-of-doors. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a degree in chemistry, and to this day, takes every chance she gets to cheer on “her” Badgers. Over the years, Deanna has worked in multiple industries including chemical, pharmaceutical, chemical equipment, and finally aerospace.
We are both so excited to be in this phase of our lives and to be operating this resort for our guests. Our mission is to create an environment in the tranquility of the Wisconsin outdoors where families and friends can gather and build memories.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our transition from corporate America to running our own business in an industry that we were unfamiliar with was certainly a leap of faith. To be honest, we were nervous about the financial feasibility of a small, family resort. We had a lot to learn about the hospitality industry and some of our assumptions were proved incorrect resulting in us changing business plans as we grew in our knowledge of the resort life.
But Mike has a lot of experience with financial transitions of businesses and is a phenomenal plumber, electrician, and mechanic. And I have professional experience in customer service, project management, and marketing. We have used all of these tools in this new venture of ours. I believe we have worked through the initial learning curve stabilizing the business and are so excited to grow and expand the resort offerings for our customers.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Gathering Place Resort & Lodge?
Nestled in the deep-green forests of Wisconsin, our unique 23-acre family resort on the shore of Red Cedar Lake makes our property the perfect setting for an unforgettable family vacation. Our six comfortable cabins vary in size to house individuals, small or large families, or even multiple families, and each features a picturesque view of lovely Red Cedar Lake. Many of our customers are from the Twin Cities area as we are a short 2 a half hours from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. The drive to Gathering Place Resort is an easy one heading out I-94 to Highway 53 in Wisconsin and certainly less congested than heading north on I-35!
At Gathering Place Resort & Lodge, we have the distinct advantage of being located at the intersection of four wonderful counties, Barron County, Washburn County, Rusk County, and Sawyer County, in Northwest Wisconsin. Each of these counties has a distinct flavor and allows our guests to explore these unique regions of Wisconsin.
Washburn County, to our northwest, and Barron County, to our southwest, are in the Central Plain Region of Wisconsin. The Central Plain Region is primarily a hardwood forest of maple, birch, and aspen, but there are several areas of the prairie as well as cranberry bogs and sandstone buttes scattered across the region. The plan is occasionally broken by rolling hills throughout its western half.
The Northern Highland region is colloquially referred to as “up north” and contains Rusk County located to the Southeast of the resort and Swayer County to the Northeast. The Northern Highland region was once a mountain range similar to the Alps or Rocky Mountains but over hundreds of millions of years, these mountains have been worn and flattened out by erosion and glaciation. Most of the Northern Highland is covered in woodlands with Sugar Maple and Aspen, as well as Red and White Pine
What matters most to you? Why?
Our mission at Gathering Place Resort & Lodge is to create an environment in the tranquility of the Wisconsin outdoors where families and friends can gather and build memories. We love having multiple generational families at our resort! Watching grandparents play with their grandchildren while their parents relax is wonderful! And each family unit is still able to have a bit of alone time in its own cabin.
We want our customers to feel connected to the natural world surrounding them when they escape to Gathering Place Resort & Lodge. We have added features to the resort such as rain gardens and natural plantings as well as adopting more eco-friendly and sustainable practices to the resort operations.
Conservation of the natural resources we enjoy is critical to the future of the resort!
Contact Info:
- Website: gatheringplaceresort.com
- Instagram: @gatheringplaceresort
- Facebook: @gatheringplaceresort
Image Credits
Gathering Place Resort
