(WBIR-WALLAND) A national treasure is right up the road in Walland, Tennessee. Prominent people from around the world love to visit Blackberry Farm. And as the inn celebrates 40 years, we decided to find out more about one man who helps create the magic.
You could say Brian Lee is one of the most thoughtful people alive. That is his job after all.
"It's a yes is the answer attitude at all times. It's anything is possible. It's the good, better, best philosophy. We always should be striving to be better at what we're doing," says Brian Lee.
Blackberry Farm. This is Brian's office and he was actually born up right up the road in Madisonville on a dairy farm.
"We always had a house full of family and friends, and so I think I learned at a very young age that art of taking care of people, feeding people," says Brian. "That art of hospitality was something that my mother always had as part of what she was doing in her day."
It was only natural he went on to college at University of Tennessee and majored in hospitality. He then started at Blackberry in Blount County as a concierge in 1995 when there were just 20 employees.
"We did a little bit of everything. We would greet guests at the door and serve guests in the dining room, park cars, clean rooms, it was like one big family," says Lee.
As Blackberry has grown, with more lodging options, a spa, a pool, and award winning cuisine, Brian has grown, too. From concierge to front desk manager to meeting planner to lodging manager to now General Manager.
"Blackberry has been an amazing place for career growth and opportunity," says Lee.
It's local folks like Brian who add such a realness to Blackberry and the guests certainly feel that.
"Many times, though, it's about things they don't even know that they need that we can anticipate that they want," says Lee. "An extra taste, an extra course, four pillows instead of two, a fire in their fireplace when they return from dinner, rose petals on the bed. It really is about creating magic."
There is a reason they call it "the art of hospitality." It is a true art form and no one does it better than Blackberry. The inn consistently brings in international accolades.
"I always get the biggest kick out of reading the lists that have New York and Paris and Chicago and Los Angeles and Walland right at the top of the list," says Lee.
Brian Lee, a local guy who has helped create the most incredible atmosphere at Blackberry Farm and who remembers very well where he came from.
"My roots are here and I feel that," says Lee. "I think it's the genuineness that you feel here. There is such a sense of place."
One of Your Stories. There's no place like this one.
