From Family to Business Partners: The Women Behind Harp and Hare

Have you ever dreamt of a picnic beyond the ordinary? Are you intrigued by the idea of luxury picnic experiences that transport you straight into a fairy tale? Our chat with Courtney, one of the co-founders of Harp and Hare, can turn your fantasy into reality! Harp and Hare is a venture spearheaded by four remarkable women who are not just business partners but also family -  sisters and cousins, each bringing unique expertise to this thriving business. They are redefining the picnic landscape with their enchanting setups and romantic room creations. 

But that's not all. We also delve into a particular event - The Ladies Who Launch Bridgerton Business Bizarre. An event designed to unite, uplift, and empower women entrepreneurs. Courtney sheds light on Harp and Hare's involvement in the event, the importance of collaboration over competition, and how they balance blossoming family and business relationships. A discussion you won't want to miss if you're a woman in business or an aspiring one. The conversation takes a meaningful turn as Courtney shares valuable insights, advice, and the importance of a supportive community. Tune in and be prepared to be inspired, entertained, and perhaps, book a luxury picnic experience of your own!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi, welcome to Women Entrepreneur Spotlight. And today I have with me the co-founder, one of the co-founders of Harp and Hare Courtney. How are you? I'm good. How are you, I'm good, thank you. Thank you so much for being here. I am excited to find out more about Harp and Hair, but before we get into that, why don't you just let us know the rest of your team members?

Speaker 2: 0:22

Yes, so I am one of four members and my other team members are my sister Kristen she's our finance director my cousin Brittany, she is our partnerships and customer service director, and my cousin Lindsay, who is our creative director. So the four of us co-own Harp and Hare, and it's been quite a journey.

Speaker 1: 0:46

Oh my gosh, that is great. So have you had? Have you always been close?

Speaker 2: 0:52

Yes, we grew up like sisters. Yeah, and it's interesting because Lindsay is actually our second cousin, our cousin once removed, However you word it, she's like you know, like we have a very, very big, tight-knit family. And then the four of us got together and were like let's do this.

Speaker 1: 1:13

That is great. And so how did you come up with the name Harp and Hare, and Hare is spelled H-A-R-E.

Speaker 2: 1:20

Yes, when we thought about doing luxury picnics and, you know, curating experiences for people, we were really thinking about what type of experience we wanted to curate people and we wanted to curate, curate for people, and we wanted to curate like a whimsical experience.

Speaker 2: 1:39

You know what I mean? It's almost magical, like it's like a genie in a bottle, Like you tell us what you want, where you want it, you show up, it's there and then you go home and you don't have to clean anything. So that's like a dream come true. So we were thinking Fairy Tale, alice in Wonderland, and we wanted to create a name for the overall experience that evokes that whimsical feeling. And we figured if someone, if we were having a picnic, or if we were putting on a picnic for someone who wanted to have it like in a meadow while a harp is just playing and the birds are chirping and the butterflies are flying by and a bunny hops by, like a little white bunny hops by. So we wanted to think of a name that kind of evokes like that feeling and so we just we did harp and hare.

Speaker 1: 2:28

I love it and, yes, it's not your typical. Let me put everything into a cooler bag and right, you know, throw out the sleeping bag. That's not what you create, oh my gosh. And so, before we even get further into our discussion, where can everybody find you on?

Speaker 2: 2:46

Instagram at harp and hare H-A-R-E and our website is www,harpenhare. com, and on both sides you can see pictures, you can book a picnic. You can also see our other offers. We do romantic rooms as well and with that we partnered with Hotel DuPont to create that Whimsical romantic experience. We have balloons hanging from the ceiling, we have roses hanging from the balloons, real roses and rose petals on the bed, and tea lights and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Yeah, so that's what we offer. That's what you will be able to see on our website and on our Instagram.

Speaker 1: 3:28

How long had the the process of creating harp and hare? How long did it take you to finally launch the business?

Speaker 2: 3:35

We thought of the idea in October 2021 and then we launched in April 2022.

Speaker 1: 3:43

So had you all worked together prior to those, or was this just a new venture for all of you together?

Speaker 2: 3:49

We have worked together. Like I said before, we come from a very big family, very big tight knit family. So you know, we've had birthday party meetings and we've had bridal showers that we throw and we kind of set the bar, like everyone comes to our events and they're like in another world and they're waxing poetic about, poetic about when they leave. And one of the one of my favorite events that we've ever done was my sister's bridal shower and we transformed the venue into a speakeasy.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2: 4:22

Like great Gatsby vibes and named it the. Her last name is LaBoma, so we called it the LaBoma lounge. We had a murder mystery, and all of the brides, all of the invitees, had to like walk around and get clues. Throughout the evening we had a skit Like we really, and it was decorated just like a speakeasy.

Speaker 1: 4:44

Wow, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, so you all have that creative side.

Speaker 2: 4:49

Yes, we all have that creative side and then we also create our strengths. So our sister, my sister Kristen, our finance director, this is essentially what she does for a living. She kind of works with finances, a lot budgeting. This is what she does with her. You know her nine to five, wow. And then you have my cousin, the creative director who?

Speaker 2: 5:08

she's an artist, like she paints. She has these beautiful paintings and she has the most gorgeous Pinterest board and she's our creative director, right? My cousin, brittany, works with partnerships for a living and also, you know a little bit of not customer service but public service. So she's really good with people and we've gotten a lot of compliments, like our customers have given us a lot of compliments on her professionalism. And then you have me, a former teacher slash.

Speaker 2: 5:39

You know I'm always up on the trends you know, because my former students would keep me up on all the latest trends and apps and things like that. So I have my fingers on the pulse when it comes to things in the marketing world and what looks aesthetically pleasing marketing wise.

Speaker 1: 5:58

So we all kind of play to our strengths.

Speaker 2: 5:59

So we all, the four of us, work very well together and that's why the four of us kind of balance each other.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Yes, united, and you balance each other Absolutely. I've had a chance many times to be on your website. What are the core values of harp and hair? Because they're important.

Speaker 2: 6:16

Yes, they are. Harp and Hare's main value, I guess, is to provide luxury experiences for everyone. Everyone should have access to luxury. And whether that's people who just want a really nice gender reveal, where they can just, you know, tell us the baby's gender, they walk up blindfolded, take the blindfolds off and see a blue picnic. Or if it's girls in Africa who don't have access to luxury items, aka, you know, peri products, right, and so with that we started the cycle of change. Okay, and that's where we had people donate, or ask for people to donate, period products to girls in Zambia, because when we went during our trip there, we learned that they don't have access to that.

Speaker 2: 7:02

And that's a luxury for them, or if it's a child with disabilities. You know, with the Make a Wish Foundation, like everyone should have access to luxury and that's kind of our main goal.

Speaker 1: 7:14

And so you are associated with different foundations, different businesses. Who else are you associated with there? I know you just named a couple.

Speaker 2: 7:22

Yes, Penns winery and that's where that's probably our most popular venue. You can have a picnic either in the vineyard, among the vines or under an apple tree, and people have done proposals with this. Picnic in the vineyard, you get wine delivered to your table. You know they'll surprise their partner by saying, oh, we're going to go on a tour of a winery, and then you get there and you walk up to this picnic and it's right there. So that's one of my favorite venues for our picnics. Oh, my goodness. We also partnered with Thousand Acre Farm for picnics in the Orchard. They are in Middletown, Delaware, oh wow, and they have an orchard there and you know that's cute for fall or for Friendsgiving. And Acadia Wine Co, which is it's a vineyard, but they have this. It's at this gorgeous venue where the inside is basically a house and they have a fireplace and you can set up a picnic right in front of their fire.

Speaker 1: 8:18

Those are our seasonal partners. I think it's such a unique idea. I know there's other people that do picnics, but you just seem to have such a special way with your curating your picnics that it's just, it is magical, it is just from the pictures. So I, you know, just looking at pictures which never give it, you know, really, you can't get that full feel. So I can't, I can't even imagine what, what a picnic, and it doesn't have to be elaborate right.

Speaker 2: 8:47

It doesn't have to. We have a few different themes and it's. We have our Spooknik, which is like a spooky setup. We have a harvest theme, which is ideal for like friendsgivings. We have Royal Tea, which is inspired by Positano Coast. It has blue and white chinoiseries with lemon accents. It's called Royal Tea because we serve tea with it and people can have a high tea at our picnics, Reminiscent of Virgil Tain. And we have pinknik, which is ideal for proposals or bridal showers. And we have boho and unicorn as well for kids.

Speaker 1: 9:26

I love it. Oh my gosh, that's right. So you set up for kids also? Yes, yes, we do. So you have a lot of faces. So the high tea, we'll take it from there and we'll take it down. A different avenue. You have an event coming up in November.

Speaker 2: 9:42

Yes, we do Tell us about it. It's called Ladies who Launch a Bridgerton business bizarre. So we started Ladies who Launch, as you know, just our way of trying to create a community of women in Delaware and in the tri-state area who are women in business, women in leadership, you know, women who work, who are on the boards of nonprofits and just come together and have a sense of camaraderie, almost create a Barbie world. Oh, wow, you know, unite and share resources and pick each other's brains and bring each other to the top. So that's what Ladies who Launch is. It's a community.

Speaker 2: 10:20

And our first event within Ladies Who Launch is a Bridgerton business bizarre. And that is a Bridgerton-inspired high tea where we encourage everyone to dress up either as a character from Bridgerton or you bring your absolute best tee outfit, your tee hat, your you know. It's a classy event and we have two packages available general admission and VIP, and with VIP you get wine tasting. So you show up an hour before the event, you have a VIP networking session, you get wine tasting and you get two complimentary drinks. The drinks are, you know, themed. They have Bridgerton themes or any favorite music.

Speaker 2: 11:03

We have a keynote speaker, we have raffles courtesy of Hotel DuPont, Penns Wood's Winery and Stella Rosa oh wow, and we have empowering activities. So you're not just networking, okay, like we're not just throwing you in and saying, here, talk, we're also curating activities for you to do and to, you know, break the ice, and you're going to walk away with something done, like if there's something that you've been needing to do, we're going to curate activities where you can actually get some homework done and then you're going to go home feeling empowered and inspired. That is so important.

Speaker 1: 11:40

That is so important. That is so important Because that's what does happen sometimes. You go to the networking events and some people just don't do well with talking or getting you know that conversation started. So having team building, more or less events, is such a great idea. And what date is it? November 5th. November 5th? At what time?

Speaker 2: 12:03

1pm and we have. You can get tickets online. We have two tiers available VIP and general admission.

Speaker 1: 12:11

Okay, so they can go to your website. Yes, okay, is there anything special on the website that they need to do? They just have to click through to find it.

Speaker 2: 12:20

Well, it's going to be a pop up page, so as soon as you go onto the website, it'll be right there for you to click into the link where you would get your ticket.

Speaker 1: 12:27

Okay, so it starts at 1pm. Does it go to a certain time? It?

Speaker 2: 12:31

goes until 4pm.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Okay, ish V push, oh my gosh, alright, yeah. Well, such a great event, Now is this the first one. I'm sorry you said you were doing. Yes, this is the first one. Oh, that's awesome, because I feel that there's not enough networking going on here in Delaware. This is up in Wilmington.

Speaker 2: 12:51

No, this is in Newark, on Main Street.

Speaker 1: 12:53

At Hamilton's on Main.

Speaker 2: 12:54

Like you said, we felt the same way, Like there's just not enough networking that happens here, especially among women. We also noticed the energy was kind of old sometimes. We don't like that. We want to collaborate with women and when we first launched, there was another picnic company who blocked us on Instagram and we were just so confused, you know, and we, you know I actually had seen them out in public a couple of times and we were very icy Whereas there's another picnic company we've also partnered with, Luxe Charcuterie, to provide charcuterie for our picnics. Oh yeah, she referred us to another picnic company that she works with and she put us in contact with each other and then she said just wanted to introduce you guys to each other. And then she, you know, she said a few words and then she said collaboration over competition.

Speaker 1: 13:45

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 13:46

And us and the other picnic company anytime we are available. On a certain day that a client wants to look at our picnic, we refer them to them and vice versa, and that's what. That's the energy that we want to build here in. Delaware.

Speaker 1: 14:01

Absolutely, that's absolutely, because everybody, I feel that you know you do your picnics one way, they do a picnic another way. You all have your own style. So you're not you're not competing because you have your own style. And to be able to help each other collaborate and network is what I my sing song has been with women. Entrepreneur spotlight is just to get that conversation, and I love the idea of this networking event in November, on November 5th at 1 PM. So I feel that there needs to be more of that up in the Newark area here in Dover and then down in Sussex. So you will have to, we'll have to talk and see about doing something down this way. Yeah, Absolutely, Gosh, I'm excited about it.

Speaker 2: 14:52

I hope you can make it. Are you coming?

Speaker 1: 14:54

I'm gonna put it on my calendar. You have so much going on with Harp and Hare, so how do you all balance your day with? You all work nine to five other jobs, or is this for all of you, so you have to work.

Speaker 2: 15:06

we work nine to five and it's definitely balancing our day with this does get hard sometimes, but it's also a labor of love and it's something. It's become a hobby at this point for me, you know, it's become like like something I love to do. I mean, you know, we don't get a day off. You know, typically pick me start book, don't weekends. And then you know, throughout the week. There's a lot of correspondence, things happening behind the scenes, marketing, budgeting. You know doing all. You know it's difficult, but it's a labor of love.

Speaker 1: 15:41

Do you mark off chunk of time on your calendar or do you just balance it? Where you have your business, you go to work in the app and then you do what you need to do in the evening. But family time do you make sure that you take that time?

Speaker 2: 15:54

Yeah, I feel like we try to have boundaries where, if we are having family time and we're at Thanksgiving or whatever it may be, we try to establish boundaries where we don't talk too much about the business with each other. As I said before, it's a labor of love for all of us, so sometimes we can't help ourselves and we just we share our ideas with each other. We talk about how excited we are to put this event together. You know what I mean. But we don't expect to talk budget and sit down and open laptops and go through this spreadsheet. We don't expect to do things like that during family time, right?

Speaker 1: 16:32

Yeah, it's not easy but, like you said, when it's a labor of love, you just know how to juggle it and put it all out. So when you are putting together a picnic, you've picked, they have picked a date, you're booked and it's. If it's an outside picnic, what happens when mother nature isn't helping you?

Speaker 2: 16:51

So that's actually happened a few times. So usually we allow them to reschedule for your charge, or they can relocate, oh okay. And if they want to do it in their living room, if they want to do. They found an indoor venue that they wanted to set up and we can do that as well.

Speaker 1: 17:06

Okay, so when you need to find something particular for a picnic, do you have? Do you have inventory or do you work with other vendors?

Speaker 2: 17:17

We do have. We have our own inventory. We actually got our picnic tables made. They were specially made. So yes, we have our own inventory.

Speaker 1: 17:27

And that's a lot in itself. Just keeping track of all that, yeah, do you all?

Speaker 2: 17:31

do you keep the inventory at home, or are you able to have storage or we keep it at home for now, but as we expand we are planning to get storage. But it's very organized. Our creative director is on top of things.

Speaker 1: 17:46

That is good. Oh my gosh, what's the biggest hurdle that you've had to get over or get through when you first started the business?

Speaker 2: 17:53

Just, I think we were really nervous at the beginning. We were confident, but then, once we launched, we got really nervous and we were just like, yeah, like I don't know, you know, it's like. It's kind of like starting, like going to a new breed, Like when you're a kid, like you're nervous but you're also like ready, excited, yeah. So we were nervous at the beginning, thinking about what could go wrong. And, oh my gosh, did we do this right? Did we do that right? Are we doing making the right decisions? Is this the right partnership? You know just kind of it was. It was kind of like we were exploring, Like, and we were kind of new to this land and we're exploring this whole new world.

Speaker 1: 18:33

And so did you help each other, that you pushed through it all.

Speaker 2: 18:36

Yeah, we definitely pushed through it all, of course, and it was, it was more than worth it at the end. Now we're so. We're so happy we made this decision.

Speaker 1: 18:43

Oh yeah, I mean, like I said, your website's beautiful and the pictures that you have on there and the packages that you do offer, and so what advice would you give to another woman entrepreneur wanting is on the edge, wanting to start their own business, but something's holding them back To?

Speaker 2: 18:58

don't give up. I'm really inspired by my sister, I think, when she just had a baby well, her son is one year old now but last year she was pregnant and she was just having a really tough time balancing everything. And then when she had the baby, he just was up all night and crying all the time and has this issue, this issue and that issue, and it was so hard for her to balance her full-time career, her newborn baby and now she has to deal with this. It was getting really, really hard for her and she a lot of moments was like I give up, guys, I cannot do this anymore. And she persevered, thank God. We had to convince her and help her out and we sat her down from doing picnics and we took over a lot of her responsibilities just to help her out, and so she was able to kind of catch a breath and then come back. But she inspires me because not only did she persevere, but now she's like I'm so glad I didn't give up. I cannot believe the amount of progress that we've made. I can't believe that we've done this and that and we're planning on doing this and that, you know, like different things. She started looking at the positive and she was like I'm so glad that I see. So I guess that would be.

Speaker 2: 20:14

My advice to women is to just tell me about. It's gonna be worth it. It's gonna get hard. That's life. Life gets hard at times, but you should. If you feel like this is something that you at one point truly wanted to do. That's not gonna just go away Like that. You know. Keep at it, it'll be worth it.

Speaker 1: 20:31

Absolutely, and you have each other to bounce ideas off of. You're each other's mentors and support. And that's why going back to your event in November so important because there are a lot of women that don't have support, they don't have a mentor, and getting into and speaking with other women in a network is function, is so important, cause I think sometimes we're our own worst enemy because we sometimes don't wanna reach out out to other people because you know for myself, I'll say well, I can do that, I can figure that out, I don't wanna bother anybody, but sometimes you have to stop and do that and have that mentor, that support. So I think the event the Bridgerton Business Bazaar in November is such a great place to start, either somebody that is seasoned, because you still never know what's new out there, who's doing what, who can you talk to, and for those who are just starting out, to give them the support. Again, it goes back to each woman helping each other out and not blocking you.

Speaker 2: 21:34

Yes, yes, we are not in competition with each other. No, absolutely not. Oh my God, you have to unite against the tens. That's it, that's it, that's it, that's it, that's it.

Speaker 1: 21:46

Oh my gosh. So true, I love it. So is there anything else that you would like to share that I haven't touched on?

Speaker 2: 21:53

No, I believe we've covered everything. I don't know really.

Speaker 1: 21:56

Yeah, well, I think it's a pleasure speaking with you Again. Let's just go over. It's Bridgerton Business Bazaar, November 5th at 1 PM. You can go to www. harpandhare. c harpandhearharcom. It'll be your pop-up window. I have been there, just pop-up and you can find you'll be able to make reservations and find out about all the information. Courtney, thank you so much. I'm so glad that we got a chance to talk and I'm looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the team in person. Yes, Thank you, Thank you.