| Sources |
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 12 May 2013.
In business with Mom
Local mothers enjoy working with their kids
KENNETH BURNS
In business with Mom
Curt Habraken
Robin Nichols feels blessed to work with her sons Tanner and Grant at Willow Brook Lodge.
In business with Mom
Some moms wish they saw more of their adult children.
Other moms ask their adult children if they’re done working on payroll.
This Mother’s Day, I checked in with Sevier County mothers who work with their kids. It’s a good arrangement, I gather. Except sometimes Mom has to let them know who’s boss.
“It’s good to have fresh eyes”
“I’m not real technical,” said Robin Nichols, co-owner of the Willow Brook Lodge in Pigeon Forge.
She knows someone who is.
“Grant is our marketing and operations director,” she said, referring to her younger son. “He does a lot of advertising, social media – things I don’t know about. I’m glad to have new blood.” Grant also pays bills and handles sales and payrol.
Robin and her husband, Greg, opened the lodge in 1991. Grant works there full-time. A recent University of Tennessee graduate, he studied hospitality management.
“I made him my apprentice,” Robin said. “I’m hoping to retire soon and get out of it.”
The couple’s other son, Tanner, works at Willow Brook Lodge part-time doing maintenance, among other things. Tanner also owns Rocky Top Condos.
“It’s a blessing to work with my husband and sons,” Robin said. “We have lunch together, usually, every day. Sometimes business gets in the way, but sometimes you just have to have a meal and laugh and have fun.”
The family vacations together in the offseason. The offseason also is when remodeling takes place. In that endeavor, too, Robin benefits from her sons’ younger perspective.
“They’ve been good at saying, ‘This wallpaper needs changing,’” she said, imitating their groans. “It’s good to have fresh eyes to see improvements that need to be made.”
At work, her relations with her sons are businesslike. Mostly.
“There’s a few things that they get away with that maybe other people don’t,” she said. “Employees are not supposed to have their cellphone out. We may have to say, ‘Grant, put that up.’”
Children are a gift from God, Robin said. Parenthood is “a huge responsibility, and it should be entered into with much prayer and thought. I get a lot of joy from my children.”
Grant and Turner began working at Willow Brook when they were teens. Robin is glad they have stayed.
“They must love home, Sevier County,” she said. “It’s been good to our family. I don’t think the boys want to live anywhere but here.”
kburns@themountainpress.com
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
HICKS, BON DALLAS COE, NANCY LEE 1961-03-16
- [S126] The Official Marriage Records of Sevier County Tennessee 1945-1971, Volume III, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (Copyright 2008), ISBN 1-890150-00-5.
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
NICHOLS, GREGORY MORRIS HICKS, ROBIN ANNE 1984-05-12
- [S35] The Official Marriage Records of Sevier County Tennessee 1982 - 1987, Volume V, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (Copyright 2009), ISBN 1-890150-00-7.
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1964 - (59 years)
(Age 85 years) 
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