Compound Growth

Community, Culture, and the Business of Bringing People Together with Ben Anderson

• Compound Growth • Season 2 • Episode 15

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 41:03

Ben Anderson didn't set out to build a community venue. He set out to buy a house near the seacoast and do more of the work he'd been doing his entire career — connecting people through music and live events. The Word Barn, located in Exeter, New Hampshire, happened almost by accident: a band needed a place to play, all the other venues were booked, and the energy that night made it clear something real was possible in a small, intimate space.

Thirteen years later, The Word Barn hosts over 115 events a year — concerts, poetry readings, theater camp, owl encounters, farm-to-table dinners, and more. It's become one of the most beloved gathering spaces on the seacoast, and the way it got there is a story worth paying attention to.

Ben joins Wheeler and Colin to talk about the organic, non-linear path from idea to full-time business, why slow growth often produces more durable results than a fast launch, what the difference between a scene and a community actually means in practice, and how a venue built around the arts quietly turned into a model for intentional entrepreneurship. Cofi Advisors is a proud sponsor of The Word Barn.

Check out the Word Barn here: https://www.thewordbarn.com/

Follow Us:

Credits:
Created By: Wheeler Crowley and Colin Walker
Production, Editing and Post-Production: Tori Rothwell

One of my favorite things about The Word Barn, Ben, is the many different ways that my family and I have interacted with it so far.Because we've been there for some great shows.We've also been there to support our daughter in her, like, camp performances, theater performances, and, uh, and my wife has done some workshops there.So it-it's really cool that, like, can drive to the same space for all these different things.How did you, likeI know we're-- I'm not gonna, like, skip ahead here, but your, your background is in music, right?Yeah.I'm sort of the music portion of The Word Barn.The whole thing started-- Actually, my wife launched everything.She is a poet and started hosting poetry readings here at The Word Barn.It's actually-- That's where The Word Barn, the name, came from.We always thought-- I always thought that The Word Barn was gonna be too small to do anything in music-wise, even though that's what I always wanted to do.I always-- I've, I've worked in the music industry my entire life, and I've always dreamt about owning my own space.I always-- In my, my mind, my dream was always to have it be in a barn, but sort of like one of those, you know, giant, typical New England barns.And when we discovered this property, we were looking to-- I was running, uh, Prescott Park Arts Festival at the time, and we were looking to move closer to the seacoast, and, uh, we were looking for a property.When we found this one, it had everything.We searched actually for, for one or 2 years, and when we found this one, it had all the other things that we were looking for: some land to work with, a great school for our kids, and a re- and a really cool house, um, and, and a barn.Uh, but we thought it was gonna be a little bit too small for-- to do music stuff, uh, but that was okay, uh, because I was working with all kinds of other venues.And, uh, anyways, my wife kicked it off with poetry readings, and, uh, and then the concerts sort of followed shortly thereafter sort of by accident.Um, but that's sort of what spurred and started it all off.That's really cool.I'm looking forward to kinda getting into that journey a little bit more.Welcome to the Compound Growth podcast with Colin and Wheeler, where we talk all things growth.From financial growth to career growth, personal development to societal progress, we explore how each layer builds on the next, compounding over time to shape who we become.Each week, we break down complex ideas and emerging trends into clear, actionable insights, because growth isn't just about numbers.It's about understanding the world and our place in it.We are, of course, talking to Ben Anderson, the co-founder of The Word Barn, which as we were just saying, there's a lot of different ways you could describe what The Word Barn is, but my favorite is the one that's on your website, "Gathering space for language and song."And that is just, like, a really cool, concise way to describe what that is.I feel like even just poking around on the website, you kinda see all the other varying business interests that you get exposed to when you go to The Word Barn, right?Like, you might get some ice cream.You might get some cool merch from local vendors.You can grab a beer at the bar.You can sit there for a poetry slam, or you can go to a show.It's, it's really, really cool and, uh, you know, Ko-fi is a, is a proud sponsor of The Word Barn.We should get that out of the way.But let's talk a little bit- Yeah.about your journey and how you got to where you are.Ben, where are you from?I'm from, uh, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and I'm actually a festival baby.My dad started a festival there, and, uh, some of my youngest memories were being dragged along to the various board meetings and, and whatnots and sort of playing in the corner, waiting for my dad to finish up with the meeting.I ended up-- As I grew older, I ended up volunteering with the festival, ended up working on the site crew, and eventually, I ended up taking it over, uh, and running it for, for 4 summers, uh, while I went off to university to get a degree, which I thought was the responsible thing to do because who could make a living in the arts working in music?Uh, so I went off and, and got my degree in environmental biology from McGill and, uh, told myself once I graduated, I would look for a job in both fields, and whichever field I, uh, found a job for first is the, uh, the route that I would take.And I secretly put more effort into the music side of things and ended up finding a festival in, uh, Wolfeboro, uh, New Hampshire, that took a chance on a young kid and hired me as their, as their director.And that's what started my journey in, in New Hampshire.So Ben, just kinda piggybacking off of that, a lot of the clients that are listening to this podcast and, you know, we work with are, are business owners who are thinking about starting a business.So at what point during this journey did you say, like, "It's time for me to start The Word Barn"?Well, that was way down the road, right?Well, so it, it was sort of like an, uh, organic process of, you knowI always imagined the barn was gonna be too small to, to host concerts, and a band was coming through that I had worked with before, and they were looking to do a show.All the other venues were booked, uh, so I offered for them to come to The Word Barn to play and told them it, it's gonna be a little small, but we'll make it work.And, uh, we sold it out.It was so amazing, so fun.The energy exchange be-between the performers and the audience was incredible.Everybody loved it and wanted to do another one, so we added another 15 months down the road, and the same thing happened.So then people wanted more, so we added another one, and then eventually, it sort of got to the point where we were, we were probably doing, uh, like one maybe every month or so, and I sort of-- It gave me-- I hit pause, and I was like, "You know, this si- this could actually work."Uh, you know, there seems to be a, a market for, uh, this small, intimate, uh, community space for music.And so I sort of thought, you know, if there's other ways that we can figure out, uh, different programming and aspects, we can, we can kinda make this work.And, uh, I think we are probably in year 13 now.I think that it was probably maybe year 7 or 8 where we decided, "Okay, let's, uh, let's go for it full-time."And so, uh, we pulled the trigger and, and went for it.And now we do over 115, uh, events a year.It's primarily concerts, but it's a full range, as you were mentioning, a full range of stuff, uh, that you can find here at The Word Barn.You know, you are our second Canadian guest on this podcast-and our second guest who's a graduate of McGill, and it makes me wonder if there are any other colleges in Canada or it's just-just proximity to the East Coast.I know McGill is a great school.My mom really actually wanted me to to get out of America.It's just a funny, funny coincidence.Yeah.Yeah.I tried to convinceMy, my son just went off to school this year, and I tried to convince him to look north of the border and, and at McGill, but, uh, but he stayed, he stayed down here.So maybeMy daughter is sort of eyeing it, so we'll see.Okay.My, my wife almost went there too.SheThat was between her and where she ended up going to Marist, but yeah, she really loved McGill too.That's fine.It's a great school.I mean, and Montreal is incredible.My sister went, asI have an older sister, and she went there first, and she never left.She's still there in Montreal.It's a great city and a great school.But I have no regrets.Man, I love it, I love it down here, and this whole experience, you know, it'sThe Word Barn is, is, you know, it's sort of, as I mentioned, something that I'd always dreamed of, of, uh, um, having, owning.So, uh, my wife and I, you know, we pinch ourselves all the time, and, uh, just very grateful for, for what we have.So you hadWhen, when you kinda started having those first initial shows at The Word Barn, you were still over at the Prescott Park Arts Festival, right?Yeah.Yeah, totally.So it was a little bit of a side hustle for you.Totally.It was, it was kinda like an off-season project.I mean, I, I kinda grew the festWhen I first joined the festival, I was there for 12 years.It was very much a summertime-only festival, and, uh, sort of at, at its peak when I was there, I sort of turned it into a year-round operation.We had a winter musical that we did and off-season events.But there still was that off-season, so this is sort of something that, you know, these band, these incredible bands were coming through, and they didn't have a place to play.Uh, so they were passing by.They were going from, like, Portland to Boston and skipping over, uh, the seacoasts.And so I was seeing all this happening, and I'm like, "Man, we gotta, we gotta put on a show."Uh, so I was using different venues, you know, the Stone Church, the Press Room, Bird's Eye for a while, while it was around.Uh, did some stuff at 3S, and, uh, and then yeah, that sort of just that chance happening where, uh, every- everybody was full, and we ended up doing a show in The Word Barn, and that sorta launched it all off.So when you were getting going and the venues were going and you were alsoThis was kinda your side hustle with the Prescott Park thing, was there, like, a number that you were trying to get to in regards to, like, the venues booked and everything?Was there something that you were trying to hit to make this full time?How did you know when to transition this into your, your business, so to speak?Yeah.Well, it, I mean, itAgain, for those first 6, 7 years, it was just jumping on opportunities of bands coming through, and there was noand there still is no fixed schedule at The Word Barn.You know, we'll have a rare Friday night.Actually, I think next week, uh, we have nothing on a Friday night, and it's simply because there, there aren't any acts coming through that we wanna share and, and host here.And so that's reallyIt was, that really was really heightened in the beginning where there'd be a month would go by and we wouldn't be doing a show.it just keptPeople just kept wanting more and more, and we just sorta hit that point, uh, where everything was selling out, uh, sort of as fast as we could add it.So we were sort of just, you know, gave us pause, and we're like, "Okay, maybe this could work."The same time, we had added an Airbnb to, to The Word Barn.It was a studio, a long-term rental, and we shifted over to an, to an Airbnb, which is, uh, it's a nice subsidy for, for the business.Uh, so that's, that was sort of, uh, that was part of the equation.But we just, yeah, we just got to that point where we're like, "All right, we're doing enough shows.If I was doing this full time, we could sort of ramp it up, add more, and sorta make it work."So doing a lot of shows, doing a lot of workshops, hosting events, et cetera, so really diversifying the type of experience that you can get there, and then having that isI, I've always kind of been curious about the Airbnb.Like, when an act comes through, is that, like, an option for them to stay there sometimes?Or isHow does that usually work?That is a great question because we actually just underwent a, a big renovation here, built the outdoor stage, but we actually also transformed our green room, which is kind of unique for, for a venue.So what we did isSo we actually, so we added a second Airbnb.So now we have 2 Airbnbs, but then separate to that, we redid the green room, so it now serves as housing for artists.So it has 3 queen beds and a twin, so we can house up to 7 performers, which is the most idealYeah, it's the most ideal thing for performers in the world for a variety of reasons.The first thing that a lot of people don't realize is that when a band comes, you c- you roll up in your van, you have all your gear stuffed in, you have to unload it, load it into the venue, you do your show, and then you load it back into your van, drive to the hotel, and then you have to unload it and load it into the hotel because you don't want to have it stolen, uh, and then you have to load it back in the van.So it's all-- it's a drag, and m- also you're driving after the show.But here, you load in, do the show, leave everything in place, go down to the green room, enjoy some beers, have some food, and crash for the night, and then go and load your van and go onYou also avoid a big hotel bill a-as well.Uh, so it's, it's a really nice-- It's-- So being a small venue, it's, you know, we, we're up against our challenges of, of pulling in, uh, acts because we're up against larger venues where there's a greater potential to-- for revenue.So this adds to the appeal for us.It's a big cost saver for the band, so they get to pocket more of their earnings, uh, and also it takes-- it's, you know, makes it that much more of an enjoyable experience.So, so yeah, that's sort, sort of like a side Airbnb, uh, piece, uh, for, uh, for the performers to enjoy, and that's, that's new as of almost a year now.So basically, you have the revenue from the actual concert venue bookings and whatnot.The Airbnb is obviously a huge help for that.Like, at what point, like, when you were going through this as you decide to add on, like, additional areas of revenue and just kind of build and scale out the business from there?Yeah, that's, that's actually-- that's the key to our success.I mean, it's really tough in the arts.I mean, with ticket sales, I mean, the majority of the ticket sales are going home with the, with the acts as the, as it should.But obviously, you need to generate some revenue to offset your costs.I mean, we d- we do have a low overhead, which is definitely, uh, helpful, but diversifying our revenue sources is the key that we have found.So we have the Airbnb rentals.We have a partnership with a restaurant, so you can order food, uh, which you add onto your ticket, which is ready and waiting when you come, uh, and enjoy the show.We obviously have our bar revenues.In the summertime, we have seating options that you can add on.That's additional revenue.My daughter has an ice cream stand, uh, that produces revenue, uh, for her as well.And then obviously the, uh, obviously the Airbnb and just different things like that.We also have a great membership program as well, where it's for a nominal fee for 5, 10, or 20 bucks, you can-- a month, uh, you can join as a, as a member, and then in exchange, you get a discount code, uh, for 5, 10, or $20 back.Uh, if you are buying tickets, it's a wash.And if you don't buy tickets, uh, that month, that revenue stays with us.So it's an incentive on our end to get people to buy tickets.Uh, so they use their code to make themselves whole, and then if they're-- if there's just not a show they're-- or an event they're interested in, it produces some, some re-revenue for, for us to keep us healthy.Yeah, so subscription revenue.Like it's, it's real- Yeah.You have to get creative, right?Yeah, totally.That's really- And then we have our, we have our rentals on the, on the, on the side as well, which is also is a, you know, part of that diversification.Uh, we found that, I mean, we do weddings here, we do private parties, which obviously isn't the focus, but it just sort of fits in well.Weddings tend to be on Saturdays, which is a big night, and acts are primarily focused on the larger venues where they can maximize their ticket sales.So if we can slide in a wedding on a Saturday night and get the band on a Thursday or the Wednesday, it's a goodit, it fits really well.Also, baby showers, bridal showers are awesome here.They generally te- take place in the afternoon, and they're gone by 4:00, which leaves us enough time to reset everything and, and do a show.So we can do a, a, you know, 12 event, uh, on the same day, which is, which is great.That's clever.I don't think I would've thought of that.That's a good one.Yeah.So you obviously, you do a lot of this work with your wife, right?Like, y- this is like a shared responsibility, shared endeavor.It's a, you know, always, I think, a really unique experience.The other day, I was joking with my wife.I was working on-- I was texting multiple people at the same time, and I sent some screenshot to, to Jess, and she sent me back a question mark 'cause it had nothing to do with her.It was not for her at all.It was for Colin.And I'm like, "Oh, I'm so sorry.That's for Colin."And she's like, "Wife, work husband.Very different," right?But it's the same thing for you, right?Like, it'sHow do you, how do you manage that?How do you navigate that?Because my wife would literally murder me if she was working with me day in and day out.Yeah.We've, we've talked about that.So my wife is a full-time teacher, so we've talked about, you know, when it comes time for her to hang up her hat and, and sort of, uh, do this full time, and we sort of, uhThat's given us pause as well of being like, "Okay, we'll be working together, uh, 20four/seven."But, uh, but yeah, it's, it's, you know, it's, uh, we sort of divide and conquer and, you know, it's-- I mean, thereI mean, a-as I'm sure everybody knows, I mean, there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that need to be tackled.So it's, uh, it's definitely a family affair.Uh, and we, you know, we're both working on it all the time, and both our kids are involved as well.I mean, they've sort of, like I did, uh, they've grown up and sort of grown into different capacities along the way.You know, my son was in charge of parking in the beginning as, as a little kid, and I'd encourage everybody to give him a quarter as a tip, and he'd, he'dAt the end of the night, his pockets would be jingling, and he'd have a big smile, and it was awesome.And then obviously, as he got, got older, the quarters didn't really do it.Uh, but he grew into different, different capacities.And just this past summer, he organized his own show with some, some friends of his that had a band in high school.And he, uh, wanted to present them here, so he took the reins and organized the whole show, sold it out, and it was, uh, yeah, it was a great, it was a great event.It is.Yeah.So how do you navigate kind of like if this is the f- a family affair and it's like a full-time family affair, how do you navigate just like taking time off, right?Like, having an event space and everybody's involved in it, like, it's-- it feels like it's ever present, right?There's always something happening there.You know, I just went on, like, spring break with my daughter.That was nice to have, like, a little of a, a bit of a break here, and the business ran while I was gone, right?But it's, it all kind of falls on you and your wife and everybody in the family.Yeah, totally.I mean, we, we have carved out some time.We have a really intense Christmas series that we do.Uh, it's called The 12 Nights of Christmas, and it's now grown into 18 nights.So we, you know, carve out time after Christmas, uh, 2 or 3 weeks where, you know, we just sort of shut everything down and spend some good quality family time together.And I-- as I mentioned before, I am from Nova Scotia, so-- which is where I met my wife, and we've gone up there every summer to, to take in the Pas Festival, the festival that I grew up with.And, uh, I took some time off from doing that just with my responsibilities with Prescott Park, and so we've sort of, we've ca- we've started doing that again, and that requires carving out some time.And we just shut things down, and we sort of maximize.You know, we, we start on a Monday and then, uh, sort of go into the following Thursday.So we're really only going dark one prime weekend in the summertime.Uh, because it's kinda, it's kinda tough to do that when you're, you're running your own business, uh, toYou know, you're taking ti- anytime you're taking time off, you're, you're, you're spending money, and you're not making money.So it's, it's hard to do that as a, as a small business, uh, where you are the, you are the business, the family affair, sowe, we carve out some, some periods.So Ben, just in regards to the business in general now, it seems like you've got, like, a pretty solid balance.You've got your routines and everything set up.That must be very different now than when you first started.Like, most business owners kinda go through this journey where maybe their anxieties change.Can you kinda speak to that?Like, how it's different now than where it was in the beginning?Yeah, we definitely have that routine and that flow now.I mean, it's, you know, uh, of, of how things go.Uh, I mean, a-again, it's ever-changing, and we, we also need to put ourselves in check 'cause we're ever adding different things, getting diff- having different ideas of different things that we can do.But yeah, in the, I mean, in the beginning, it was, it was more of a scramble.But I've been running events my entire life, uh, soAnd, and, you know, as, as we mentioned, it was just sort of a, a side project, passion project in the beginning.So, you know, it's just sort of doing the things that, that we love to do, just now that we're doing it in a, in a more intense, amplified manner.How many people are on the Word Barn team now?I-- My wife and I.Just the 2 of you.Oh, okay.We have a sound, we have a sound engineer, um, but, uh, it's really just us and, and, you know, our, our 2 kids.But now that my son is off, uh, to college, we are down, uh, so we're down from 4 to 3.Uh, but we have still figured out a way to, to, to make it work.Um, uh, I mean, that's one thing that I've always thought was important, even when I was at Prescott Park, is that, you know, it's, it's important to be able to have the skill set to be able to do anything at any time because, you know, people always call in sick or aren't able to, to do something.So, you know, I sort of-- that's sort of how that's came to be here, where my wife and I just sort of handle all the different aspects of, uh, of the job and sort of come up with this rou- the-- just set it up so that we're able to do it, and that helps keep the overhead down, obviously.We do have people that volunteer.We do have people that, uh, we call on, uh, all the time that love to help out.You know, like, obviously with, uh, 2 kids, uh, we're called, uh, off all the time to-- for soccer pickup or softball delivery, all that stuff, so people jump in and, and help out, uh, to make it work.It's definitely a community.It's a definitely a family/community operation.I think the community aspect of it is so important.We talk a lot on this podcast about AI and the impact of AI on, like, various areas of life and the importance that we think it places on having a physical location, like a place that you can go to to, like, disconnect and then reconnect, right?Yeah.Disconnect from technology, disconnect from everything AI and robots, et cetera.I just heard today that they're-- they've developed skin to put over the robots, so we are like 2 days away from Terminator 2 here.But, uh, it, it's so cool to have that physical location that creates this community connection, and the emphasis and importance of that moving forward, I think is just gonna get, you know, stronger and larger.So how-- Do you guys think about that?Like, how do you think about your purpose and place in the community as our world kinda evolves?Yeah.Oh, man, that is like, that is all what The Word Barn is about, is about building community and being a place, uh, with a sense of community, which we really, uh, we thrive on and want.It's really hard to come here, uh, and not interact with people.And with the performers as well, they feel that on the stage, uh, and, and when they're here as well.I mean, that's, that's, that's what it's all about is just being a welcoming space and bringing people together, sharing in the same experience, uh, in the same space.Uh, that's, that's totally key.It's super important.What did you do, Ben, in the, in the beginning in particular to kinda promote and build that community?Like, how did you scale it?Oh, man, that's a great question.I just, it was sort of that, just that organic thing.Again, when people first came here to that first show.I mean, even before that when my wife was doing poetry readings, it had that, that vibe, that feel.I mean, it's, it's a small space.It feels really-- but it feels really comfortable regardless of what the size is.I mean, obviously poetry has a smaller draw audience, uh, than, than music, so you have a more int- you know, a crowd of like 20, say, still, still feels really good in this space, along with, uh, when you have 100 people in that environment.Uh, so it's just that intimate setting.And sort of when the pandemic came, you know, we, we were really missing that ga- that aspect of gathering and, uh, you know, we thought we were gonna be toast because everyone's crammed in that small space like sardines, and we thought, you know, this is gonna be the last place that anyone is ever gonna wanna be.But then when the weather turned, it all of a sudden the light bulb went off and I was like, "Wait a minute.I organize outdoor shows.Why don't we go outside?"And so we went outside and, and to our delight, we were so thrilled to discover that the meadow held that same intimate vibe, uh, that the indoor space offers up.So now we have, uh, you know, that great summer space that, that offers up that same, same vibe.Was that like-- I, I think it's, it's always great to explore like how a business kind of encounters and survives challenges, right?And COVID for the event space was a massive challenge.And you know, I knew a lot of people my music industry days where like their, their jobs just shut down, right?'Cause they were- Yeahall about setting up productions and touring, et cetera.And, and you know, it wasn't like, you know, when the government shuts down and then, you know, maybe you get back pay later.Like there's just no revenue generated, and it was a huge disruption.You guys were able to pivot, and that's really, really cool.And then it kinda created a, it almost like it, you pivoted to an opportunity that made the business bigger and better.Totally, 100%, and I'm almost embarrassed that, uh, you know, it's like M-my wife and I said to each other after we created the outdoor space, we were like, "Wait, we would've figured this out."Uh, 'cause we had just, right before the pandemic hit, we, is when I pulled the trigger, uh, to go full time.Uh, great move, uh, giving up my regular paycheck and deciding to start my own business, uh, right before the pandemic hit.Uh, that's, that's okay, uh, because we discovered this outdoor space.But we were, honestly, my wife and I were like, "We would've figured out to go outside in the summertime anyways because who wants to be inside when, you know, you have those magical warm summer nights?"So but it really did open up that door, uh, to really amplify the whole business model of things and, and expand that opportunity.Now we have a covered stage out there.It allows us to, to increase our audience, uh, size.Before, we were always holding our audience size back outside so that we had the opportunity to move inside in case of rain, so that we never had to cancel a show.Obviously, canceling a show is devastating 'cause you have to refund all your tickets.Uh, you still have to pay the band.So we held our audience size to the ability to move back inside.But now that we have a covered stage, it provides that protection for, for the artists against, uh, against rain, so we're able to, uh, to carry on and, and increase the audience size, which means we can sell more tickets, which produces more revenue.Means we can attract, uh, higher, uh, caliber artists, and also more bodies equal more revenue, uh, for all the other things like chair rentals, uh, bar sales, merch sales, all those things as well.So that's really, that really opened up the door for us.Uh, it was, it was a great opportunity.That's cool.Just out of curiosity then, and this is just me not knowing anything about the industry, like how do you go about finding talent?And obviously there's a revenue component like you mentioned, but how do you go about sourcing great shows?Yeah.So we, I mean, we-- so first of all, we feel really blessed that we don't have to have a fixed schedule like a lot of places where you have to be open 5 nights a week, 7 days a week, so we're just trying to fill the, the space.So our programming is all about like stuff that we love and want to share with people.So I think that has really helped build a loyal following as well.So if people don't know the, the act, uh, per se, they, they know that it's gonna be a high caliber great act that they can come and, and, uh, experiment and try, try out and that they're gonna enjoy, uh, or sort, sort of falls in line with, with what we program and what we offer up.Uh, but the way we find acts is, is it's a combination of it's, it's, uh, it's sort of a split thing.One is that we'reWe're pursuing the act, uh, things that we love and enjoy.Uh, we're, we're, we're reaching out to their, uh, to their camp, uh, their agents, managers, and, and things, and, uh, and trying to see if they would be interested in coming to the Northeast, coming to a-- to the venue, play the venue.We also have agents that reach out to us, musicians also.We get tons of solicitations from musicians wanting to play here.Uh, we also have a, a group of agents that we work with on a regular basis.So if I've brought in an act, agents generally, uh, carry very similar-- work with very similar acts.So if one actIf we booked one act that worked really well here, then they're like, "Well, hey, you might be interested in these acts," uh, and they're coming through.The music industry is also very small.All these performers talk to each other.They p- they come across each other on the road all the time, and they'reand, you know, they're talking about where their tour is going, and they find out they're going to the Northeast, and they're like, "Hey, you should go and play, uh, this little place called The Word Barn.It has this great experience, a place to stay, and a little ice cream stand," all those things.The word spreads, and so artists reach, reach out to us all the time too, uh, looking for a place to play.That's what I think is really interesting about this industry right now, is that so much of the revenue, more and more, it comes from, you know, for the artist, comes from touring, right?It's always been a great source of revenue, but now it's like the only source of revenue.Totally.They've lost a big piece ofI mean, the touring was always tour the new record 'cause you're driving the, the record sales, and that just doesn't exist anymore.So now it's, it's really just from the shows that they're getting, yeah.But then they have to share the revenue, right?And they share the revenue with, like, the venues or the ticketA-and obviously a lot of these venues are just, like, basically physical locations for Ticketmaster, right?Like, it's-- it, it feels like it's, it's more prohibitive now for me to go and buy tickets to a show because the fees will cost the same as a ticket in the end.Oh, yeah.How, how do you guysI mean, itFor me, like, I tend to shift to the smaller local venues because I don't have the same ticket fees.Like, how do you guys navigate that?Is there great ticketing systems available for smaller venues?There's not a lot of options.Uh, what we luckily found a ticket platform that is actually managed locally.It's not owned locally, so the fees are being shipped off to, you know, some major urban center elsewhere.But, uh, it's managed local here, so a slice of it is staying in the Seacoast, which is awesome for us.It's also on the lower side of what's being offered out there, which is really important to us.I feel the exact same thing and, and it's-- it reallyI mean, it irks me to no degree the amount of fees that are out there.And, uh, and it's not necessary.It's notIt's totally not necessary at all.It's just people capitalizing on that opportunity to charge those fees and, you know, there's not a lot of ways around it.But we're, we're happy that we're able to keep it as, as low as possible.We also tell our audience all the time they can buy their tickets, uh, when they're here at a show for any future show with 0 fee, even though there is, there is a small credit card fee that we will-- that we obviously have to eat.But, uh, we just like to give them that opportunity to get around those, those online ticket fees.Have you thought about that credit card fee?Because, uh, you know, a lot of smaller businesses are now just putting that 3% fee onto their, their customer.How do you, like, navigate changes like that?'Cause obviously that's a, a nice opportunity for you guys to save a little bit of money.Yeah.Uh, that's a great, uh, that's a great question.Um, I mean, that'sAnd we sort of shifted it the other way, where we give the audience the opportunity to save that, that am- that amount, sort of as a way for them to avoid the fee, but also as an incentive of lock your tickets in early.Uh, there's also that, that sh- that shift as well of people waiting till the last minute has really taken place of waiting to buy their tickets at the last minute.And it's nerve-wracking for venue owners and artists alike when they're out on the road, and they're a- wondering what the ticket counts are, are like, and, uh, it's on the low side, and they end up having a full house that night.Uh, that definitely, uh, definitely makes, makes things tough.Yeah.Well, there's no robots to buy up all the tickets for- Rightfor The WordThat is nice, though, about the predictability of that, not having to deal with the robots.Because so, so many times you go to, like, shows and it's empty, but this ticket'sthe whole venue was sold out.Yeah.I think, um, you know, Colin and I as, as small business owners have h- had that journey of starting something, kinda building and, and, and making some progress, getting some momentum, and then getting that, like, one big client or that one big customer, that one big thing that kinda proves that you're gonna be able to stick.Was there, like, a particular artist that came through and you said, "Okay, you know, if we're attracting this type of talent, we're gonna get this type of turnout.It's not just about the consistency of how many shows we have, but the type of draw we can bring in."Was there, like, a, a moment where you knew for sure, like, or had a better feel that this was gonna work?Yeah.I th- I think that was the first summer of the pandemic where, uh, we created the outdoor space.And so many, as you mentioned, so many venues were just closed, and they didn't have that opportu- opportunity.And everybody was hungry toAll the, you know, artists didn't have any place to play except for, you know, to the screen.Everybody was hungry to perform, and we saw that opportunity.And I remember having the conversation with my, my wife and saying that, "You know, look, we can go one of 2 directions.We can either just take it easy, do a couple shows, or we can seize this opportunity of all these performers that are way oversized for our venue that just need a place to play, want a place to play, and don't, and are looking, and we can sort of capitalize on that and have an, have, like, this crazyyou know, bring in these crazy acts."And, uh, my wife said, "Yeah, go for it.Uh, let's do it."And then, uh, I can remember, like, 3 weeks later, our calendar is just, like, loaded with all these acts 'cause everybody wanted to play, and they're all, like, way oversized for, for us.Uh, that was an incredible summer of incredible talent, and it was just sort of like, "Okay, wow."And they all loved it.Uh, they all, you know, they were here, and they just thought it was the, the best thing ever and, and many have come back, uh, and continued playing here.Uh, but and then, you know, it justsort of then we went from there.We're like, "Oh, well, we're never gonna outdo that summer."Uh, and then, uh, you know, then the following summer, we, uh, you know, attract, you know, other amazingAnd we're just like, "Oh, that was an in-incredible summer."And then, you know, we keep, just keep raising that bar, and, and the word just keeps spreading, and, uh, and just continuing to grow in that way.So I guess, Ben, just out of curiosity here, we talked a lot about community.We talked a lot about, like, building the business, and then obviously COVID was an awesome time for you.When you set out to, to do this, was the intention to kinda build that community, or did the community kinda find you by booking awesome shows, by, like, doing the music and things that you guys really love, or was there intention behind it, like, "This is the type of person I really want"?That's a great question, and I do have to say that as awesome as we did in the pandemic, as awful as the pandemic was, obviously, Yeahthat was a real struggle.But yeah, uh, it ended, we ended up making some good lemonade out of those lemons, but those were some mighty, mighty big lemons.Tart lemons.Yeah.Yeah.Those were, those were some rough ones.But yeah.I mean, it's, I mean, this whole, the whole basis of The Word Barn is about community and building community and celebrating community.I mean, that's just, it's, that's just the ar- so the artists that we bring in fit, uh, that mold or that vibe of what, what we're, what we're looking to do.It's the same with, you know, even, uh, from the workshops that we offer.We have a really, uh, great owl program as well that is an, as a monthly annual offering that at, you know, it just all fits that same mold of building community.And I mean, the owls, for example, we never, you know, it, we just, we thought that was gonna be a one-off event, and we do it every month, and people just love it and just bringingYou know, people of all ages coming together in the same space and learning about, you know, raptors.It's just, it's kinda cool.It's kinda fun, and it's a nice piece.And we mentioned the theater camp that we offer, which is one of our highlights and, uh, you know, it's a 2week summer youth theater camp where these, these amazing kids come and spend the day learning a musical, which they perform at the end, and watching them just learn and develop and make friends and see them, uh, perform this awesome show at the end is, is, is really, it's, it's pretty amazing.And we just added a, a, a s- a n- a new session for the, uh, theater camp for younger kids.It's a one-week session.Uh, we just added that last, last summer, and it's the same sort of thing.It's just, yeah, it's all about just bringing the community together in this space.I think it's, you know, we, 1, one of the things that Colin and I have talked about is the difference between a scene and a community and how a scene can create a community, right?And the scene is kinda like the culture, right?It's, it's kind of like here's the type of thing that draws in a type of person, and then those people bond, and they, and they become a community.You know, if you're a guy that got their degree in environmental biology, you know, and then you have a rustic venue and then a meadow, like, y- you're gonna draw, I think, a certain type of, of customer, right?And then those customers will bond with the other customers that are similar to them.So you kinda create that scene, and you create that community, and then it obviously ultimately ends up kind of, you know, looking a lot like you and your interests.Totally.That, it's funny.I was just having a conversat- we're working on a new event, a farm-to-table.We used to do a, a, a outdoor one long table, uh, farm-to-table, uh, event, uh, out- outdoors, and we're, uh, working on reviving that.We're actually, we are going to rev-- uh, we're about to announce it.It's gonna be at the end of, uh, this, this summer, uh, in the meadow, which is gonna be awesome.But I was, I was meeting with the chef, uh, just yesterday, and, and she does a lot of weddings.She's done a couple weddings here.And she asked me, she's like, "Ben, do you, do you, what do you think about weddings?Do you like doing the weddings?"And I said, "You know, it's, you know, the usual answer to that is no for any venue, but, uh, the kind of people that we attract that wanna get married here-are such amazing.They fit the space so perfectly.So that's, that's kinda what you were describing is the space itself attracts the same kind of, kind of people.And, you know, we don't even advertise that we do weddings here.J- that also just happened organically, so it makes it, uhit makes them very enjoyable.Not a lot of brides- It's very much like a, like a- Yeah.if you build it, they will come.Yeah.Totally, yeah.Yeah.Yeah, totally.That's awesome.Cool.Colin, any, any final thoughts, any final questions for Ben before we let him go?Yeah, no.I mean, Ben, I just want to reiterate that, um, it was great having you on and learning more.I'm excited to go to a few Word Barn events.Wheeler's spoken so highly about it, and I've read about you guys online.And as Wheeler and I always talk about community, it's really inspiring to see the community that you guys have built and just how successful you've been with it, and it's just a testament to, you know, you being very direct and intentional with what it is that you're trying to build.And I think that's just evident in the success that you've had with this.So thank you so much for your time.I really enjoyed our conversation.I'm excited to, to attend a few events.Yeah, thanks.Thanks so much for having me on.Yeah.You know, you get a, a few more foodie events, and, and Colin will be there for sure.Yeah.Right.You're expanding, you're broadening your community a little bit.That's true.I'm definitely a food guy, so if there's any sort of food thing, like you mentioned, I'm there.Yeah.Yeah.I have to say, because my daughter obviously participated in a couple of those camps, and I, I've seen Peter Pan, and I've seen Seussical the Musical, and, and this summer I'm gonna see Godspell, which I don't know really much about Godspell, but it feels like a little bit of a, an advanced class for, for my 11-year-old.But, you know, my favorite experience at The Word Barn, I think I j- I just wanna share that for a minute.Last year, at the beginning of the year, I asked you, you know, which show you were most excited about, and you said that we have so many great artists coming through.But, you know, The Last Rebel is a group that has outgrown us, and you kinda mentioned that outgrowing you.But I think it's, like, such a cool, unique experience.It's almost like how can an artist outgrow that?That maybe they, you know, maybe they not get all of their, you know, fans there, but you could even kinda pitch it as, like, it's extra special ex- Yeah.Long story short, we were there last year, and you'd built the stage, and you built that so you could have a show in the rain, and that was a show in the rain.And it was the first time I'd sat in the rain and just, like, sat there and just really, really enjoyed the show.And you could tell how much the band appreciated everybody being there and sitting there in the rain and enjoying the show.And, you know, we had a nice special moment where they came down and just sang an acoustic number with everybody around them, and that's, that's a really unique experience that you can't get everywhere.The band acknowledged that, and they're really excited about it, and you can see how that word spreads and how you, you bring in the type of talent and the type of acts that you deserve.And it's just really cool to see your ongoing success there.Thanks.Thanks.Appreciate that.And, uh, and those guys areyeah, that, those guys are awesome.Somebody, somebody came up to me at a, at a recent show and said they were at, uh, their show somewhere, I don't know if it was in New York or somewhere, and they happened to mention that they were from New Hampshire, and those guys were justHe came up to me and he said that they were just raving about The Word Barn non-nonstop, and they ended upand they crashed here for, for the night, and they were just, just talking about the whole experience and everything and how much they loved it.So that's, yeah, the, the word, the word spreads like that.It's- Raving fans are, are what you want.Excellent.Ben Anderson, thank you so much for joining us today on Compound Growth.Our listeners will like, subscribe, and go to The Word Barn and see all the great, uh, workshops and, and performances and everything you have coming up, and I guess buy some honey perhaps.Yeah, you can get some honey too.Sweet.Awesome.All right.Thanks, Ben.Yeah.Thanks, Ben.Appreciate it.The information in this material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.Investment advice offered through Integrated Partners doing business as CoFi Advisors LLC, a registered investment advisor.Integrated Partners does not provide legal, tax, mortgage advice or services.Please consult your legal tax advisor regarding your specific situation.Past performance is no guarantee f- of future results.All investing involves risk, including loss of principal.No strategy assures success or protects against loss.The economic forecasts set forth in this material may not develop as predicted, and there can be no guarantee that the strategies promoted will be successful.Compound Growth with Wheeler and Colin.Sponsored byCoFi Advisors.Reach out today