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RSVP Hotel and the Farmer’s Daughter Cafe in Bozeman, MT

HILLARY FOLKVORD

Hillary Folkvord is a force to reckon with — she is a mother, an amazing curator and social media presence, and a fourth generation Montanan who, along with her amazing family, runs multiple successful businesses, including The RSVP Motel, The Farmer’s Daughter Cafe, and The Sacajawea Hotel. Hillary held nothingggg back when it came to business advice, her lifestyle, or balancing motherhood with her ambition.

Changing the vision

Hillary went to undergrad and played golf at MSU before continuing her education in Denver — she originally wanted to be a lawyer, but entrepreneurship soon called her back home to help her family take on the beautiful, but run down, Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks, MT. Hillary explains that she did every job within the hotel, and went on to do the same in her subsequent businesses. She is business partners with her sister and her family is deeply involved in all business decisions — today, the Sacajawea is thriving along with its attached restaurant and watering hole and is a staple of the community, and the Folkvord sisters have migrated to Bozeman with their businesses.

Reverse engineering her life

Before Hillary married her husband, they thought about their death bed. Yeppp…you read that right! They thought about who they wanted around them, where their lives would be like, and how they would feel…and they figured out how to work toward that life.

The “family bottom line”

The Folkvords are incredibly intentional about their family time, spending, and how they think about outsourcing. They have figured out what their “hourly rate” is — how much their time is worth to clients and their businesses, and if personal tasks like cleaning or yard work would cost less than that amount, they outsource it.

Motherhood and business

Hillary and I talked about motherhood and business, and how motherhood enables you to prioritize deep, focused work. Hillary opens up about getting help with childcare and how outsourcing is crucial when it comes to making business time about business and mother/child time intentional and meaningful.

Personal Branding

For Montana, Hillary was an early adapter to the “personal branding” side of social media and blogging. While it was intimidating at first, she shares about the value that personal connection has brought to her businesses.

Community Over Competition

Hillary stressed how crucial collaboration with other businesses has been to her brand — she explained that Montana has more entrepreneurs per capita than any other state, and she’s proud to be part of that statistic and seeks to support other women in the space.