https://youtu.be/H0OVE5A9i94 Download the Podcast Audio [audio mp3="https://cgviewsmedia.blob.core.windows.net/images/blog/2025/02/half-a-mind-erin-and-dan-thiem.mp3"][/audio] The Half a Mind Podcast gives you permission to go for it! We seek out people and stories from those who have done something different and went for their dreams. Episode Summary In this episode of the Half a Mind podcast, host Mark Koep speaks with Erin and Dan Thiem, owners of the Inn-Town Campground in Nevada City, California. They share their journey from dreaming about building a campground to making it a reality, discussing the challenges they faced along the way, the dynamics of working together as a couple, and how they balance family life with their business. The conversation emphasizes the importance of communication, seeking external advice, and the fulfillment that comes from pursuing one's dreams. Transcript Mark Koep (00:16) Hey there everybody, Mark Koep here with the Half a Mind podcast. My guests are Erin and Dan from California. We'll get into their story a little bit, but to set a baseline since this is our first podcast, I wanted to give you insight on where the name Half a Mind comes from. So back in the day when I was growing up, my drug of choice was mountain biking. And I was a big time mountain biker. It allowed me to escape from the family divorce and all the drama that goes on with it. I'd come home from school, hop on my bike, go ride for an hour and a half, two hours, come home, pass out. rinse and repeat. that was my drug of choice with mountain biking. Back in the 90s mountain biking was hot. It's still popular now but it was really hot back in the 90s. There was a magazine called Mountain Bike Action and I subscribed to it and I got it every day or every month and would read it cover to cover and memorize everything in it. There was this ad it popped up. I got really good at mountain biking. Really good. Expert level, almost pro, like a really good mountain biker. One time I was ranked a third in the in the country, second in California, like really good mountain biker. And there was this ad, and it was from Camelback, and I still remember it to this day, because it was one of the best advertisements I've ever seen, because it spoke to me, right? That's the best ads, the ones that speak to you as the reader of the ad. And the ad was a photo of this really like in shape mountain biker guy flying through the air, and it was like a thought bubble from his mind of what he was thinking, and it said, half a mind to quit my job and go full time. right, to become a pro or half of mine to quit my job and become a pro, right? So that was what I was thinking. Like I have half of mine just let's go for it, let's become a pro. And that that thoughts always stuck with me and everybody out there is half of a mind to quit whatever they're doing and actually go for their dreams. And so that's the whole premise behind this podcast. And I thought there were no two better people to to kind of kick it off than Erin and Dan. And so I can introduce them. But when I do, I always embarrass Erin. So I will allow Erin and Dan to introduce themselves. Erin, take it away. Who are you and what's your background? Erin & Dan Thiem (02:19) want to Dan introduce it because you're not wrong. I do appreciate every time that we are in a networking environment that you are my biggest cheerleader. you know, Dan does a good job of also. why don't you introduce us? we're Erin and Dan Thiem. We're the owners of the Inn-Town Campground in Nevada City, California. We built and opened our campground nine years ago. And it was kind of a long dream of ours to bring this to fruition and circumstances allowed it to happen. you know, that's kind of how we are where we are now. And it's been quite a journey. Mark Koep (02:55) And it, mean, and we'll go into that. So one of the most popular videos that Campground Views has on our YouTube channel is that first interview the three of us did talking about building the campground. And as you and I both know, you get people still today who reach out to you and say, hey, I'm dreaming about building a campground. And that building a campground, that can actually apply to anything. I'm dreaming about building a business, starting a business or whatever, right? So let's go back to that time before you built the campground. When was the moment that you decided we're actually gonna do this? Erin & Dan Thiem (03:27) I remember it really, really clearly. Actually, I was riding my bike through town to go pick up a car. at the service station or whatever. And I rode by a piece of property that was for sale. And like I stopped and I paused and I was like, this might work. You know, we'd been talking about this campground for years at that point in time. And we kind of had a vision for what it would be. but I'm a very visual kind of person. So actually seeing a piece of property that was for sale, I was like, all these lights just went off. And so then I go and I picked up the car and I went back and I actually talked to Erin's mom, who's our local cheerleader here. And I said, hey, think this is gonna work. And we drove by and it just started cascading from there. So that was like the first moment where it became, okay, this could be real. You know, this goes from dream phase to visualizing it in an actual space. Mark Koep (04:31) Well, let's back up then. So before it becomes real, you started dreaming about it. Can you remember when that conversation started? what incentivized you to even think about a campground and what was that journey like from original spark? And obviously you're sharing with us when you thought it could become real. What's that intervening time? What does that look like? Erin & Dan Thiem (04:51) Yeah. I mean, before we ran the campground, I managed a motel, which we then subsequently took ownership of. in the previous version of having had hospitality experience, when Dan went to grad school, we lived in New Zealand and we traveled around. And we have a document from our travels around New Zealand of things that we liked. And I have read it since we've owned a campground and been like, wow, who knew we already had our campground consultant hats on well before this came to life? So. that vision of what we liked and what we thought would work started. I mean, it probably was like 08, 09, somewhere in that timeframe. We were living in New Zealand and we would travel with our children who were quite small at the time to various places around the country. But they always had these holiday parks. And I always tell this about kind of like our origin story. that the holiday parks for us were this like transformative experience as a young family traveling. They were easy and convenient to towns. They always had a range of amenities that made it just like traveling with small children. But still camping. But yeah, sort of effortless. But you had this like adventure side to it too, right? You know, we were in a camper van or a tent or whatever and it just resonated. So, you know, when we started I guess conceptualizing inn town campground. It really was at that time. It's like, wow, this is such an amazing thing. And then we kind of talked about moving back and it was going to be to take over ownership of this motel and Erin sales pitch to me, cause I didn't want to come back, right? Her sales pitch to me is like, Hey, this would give us the flexibility or me in particular to go for it, to pursue the dream, right? To build the campground and you know, that was like the hook. was like, okay. So yeah, so I went to work and he worked on the dream. So there you go. Mark Koep (06:47) Well, and so as a team, let's go a little bit deeper because you're kind of providing insight on that. Obviously we're friends, we know each other offline also. You're a really good couple. Like you get along very, very well and you both have your strengths and your weaknesses and you work really well together. Can you discuss how that played into this decision? Because obviously it's a husband and wife team, you work together on the park, you built the park together. How has that dynamic impacted your relationship together, both positively and negatively? And what advice would you give? people who are considering that to think about before they dive into doing this. Erin & Dan Thiem (07:22) Yeah, I mean, for me, we have really complimentary skill sets. So that has helped kind of alleviate some of the friction points because we don't tend to cross paths a lot in what we do. So it's easier for us to collaborate in that sense. But if you want to back up a minute to the actual advice, I would say you need to have real honest conversations both with yourselves and as a couple. as to what your strengths are, what your pinch points are in your relationship, because everything gets amplified when you get into the stressful situation of starting a business or any sort of unknown project. understanding how you relate to one another and how you cope with stress, what you're good at, what you're not good at is really important to, at least for us, to kind of, I don't know, minimize the... consequences, if you will, the negative consequences. I don't know, what would you say? I mean, we've worked on this over the last decade. We have, I feel like we've written about it for Woodles. We had a point where we had a manager leave and then we sort of, kind of our lanes got mixed up as to who was responsible for what. And we were having some issues with that. And that was really actually helpful for us to go back to like what our respective job descriptions were and what our strengths were. I tell the story as Dan was trying to give me all the tasks that he wanted. So as an introvert, he would rather leave me in a cupboard with no access to people to get all the things I can get done because I could do that, but I'm a people person. I'm like, that doesn't actually work for me. So it was helpful to be like, oh, this is the tasks that I can do, but this is the personality type I can do. And let's define that instead of him being like, well, you should do this and do it the way I like to do things. So. Yeah. And we, We worked with a business coach for a lot of, not a lot, but some of this, right? We recognized that we needed somebody to look at us from the outside and kind of ask maybe some tough questions or even just help like tease out a little bit of what our preferences were and Erin was spot on, you know? Like I would have approached her job really differently. And I'm thinking, well, this gives you an opportunity to do X, Y, and Z. And she's like, actually want to do X, and Z like that. You know, I want to be in the camp store talking to people. And I was like, wow, that's exhausting for me after an hour so. That's an interesting insight. Right. So yeah, we're not afraid to call in, you know, professionals to give us some advice. That's for sure. Yeah. Mark Koep (10:02) That's great feedback. what I've gathered from there, you know, for folks that are watching or listening to this is two key things. Well, several key things, but two key action items that would be in any sort of business development book, which is one, you wrote down your goals and your dreams, kind of wrote, physically wrote them down. Here's what we would want to build. And then number two, you went out and seeked third party help. I've done that in my own business too, because to your point, it's really good advice because... You can get lost in your own dreams and you can basically miss the forest because you're looking at the trees. And that's a very good piece of advice. Is there anything else? And actually it kind of leads to the question that I was thinking about before you went there already was can you share insight on the conversations? Was there a moment in time during this dream where you've now found the property and you're kind of thinking about it where one of you or both of you kind of said let's not do this or... you know, were those conversations like? Erin & Dan Thiem (10:59) So I remember one conversation in particular and it was. kind of far down the track, right? We had already bought the property and I guess there's kind of two conversations I remember. The first is, honey, we might've just bought ourselves a really expensive private park because, you know, when we bought our property, we didn't know if the zoning was gonna work. We didn't know there were some like easement issues and there was a lot of unknown that we didn't have the opportunity to condition the offer with. You know, we had to take a punt and we did. So there was that piece. And then we went through all of the use permit and all that. And I was about to sign the first big contract. And I called Erin. said, honey, I'm close to ink in this. Are you sure? It was a large ticket item. he was like, this is the, before I signed my name on this contract, like if you, if you want out now, now's the time. And, and I don't think that we were not. like at all waffling, was just more like there's a financial cost to this at this point in time if for any reason you had cold feet. But we didn't have cold feet. No, I mean, her response is like, let's do it. And I signed that check. Well, not the check, I signed the contract. signed the checks later. was like, holy smokes. And then the contract, we used a local company, just like a father, son, grandson type thing, right? And he calls his dad and he's like, this is going to make dad happy. Mark Koep (12:16) Thank Erin & Dan Thiem (12:29) You know, so that actually made me happy because I was like, okay, this person is like another small time, just a mom and pop shop. And, you know, I even get kind of chills thinking about it, that this was a big deal for them too. And they wanted to see it right. So funny enough, it actually alleviated a lot of my concerns. I was like, I knew right then that I picked the right people, you know, the right contract. Mark Koep (12:53) You you find that in life that sometimes your path gets laid out to you if you're going down the right path, right? And there's roadblocks that get thrown up in your way when it's not the right path. And so to that, in your journey here, there's probably been moments where you were pushing for something and a giant roadblock was thrown up in front of you. Do you remember a time that that potentially happened? And if so, what was it and what was your path after that? Erin & Dan Thiem (13:19) thinking of it in two prongs, in the sense of like, we did some sort of brand awareness sort of revisiting last year, and I went back and re-read some of our vision casting from before we even opened the campground, and that was really reaffirming to me to be like, what we decided we were gonna build and what we said we were gonna build and what we actually delivered on and still serve today is so consistent. And so I feel like that was reaffirmation of the path. But I feel like... the question that you've just asked was more relevant, I think, for our other business, the motel which we sold and us just being like, it's time to leave. Well, yeah, I I guess I was thinking of it from a different perspective, right? The roadblocks in the development. I handled most of the development side of the business. Erin was all about building the brand and the, like, you know, selling the product, right? So she would do a lot of that while I was working on getting the thing built. And you know, she's, she's right. We got it all done, but boy, there were times where an agency or, you know, some of their organization was just like, yeah, no, you're not going to do that. And I mean, it was just really demoralizing. You know, we had one situation with the water company, the water district separate from our city, which is a little unusual. So we had to negotiate with them separately and they came back with a connection fee that was almost three quarters of a million dollars. And I was like, this is insane. You know, so I called my engineer. I called the like head of the agency. said, we need to meet. This is not right. I called the board member and we met and it was just sort of this really toxic environment. You know, they really didn't, in my opinion, want this project to happen. And at the end of the day, I had to get like my city manager involved and we came to an agreement, which was pretty close to what we had calculated we would need for our water connection fee. But that was a moment where I was literally in that meeting, I folded up my paperwork and I said, we're done. This project is not gonna happen if you guys don't come to the table. And I started walking out and as I was walking out, he's like, well, hang on, hang on, you know. Who knew these were negotiable? Yeah, so that was kind of weird. Mark Koep (15:40) you Erin & Dan Thiem (15:43) Yeah, I mean, there's more examples, I guess, but in that particular case, it really was like, my gosh, this might not happen. Are we going to do? Yeah, I feel like we had a few other those moments during COVID and being closed and just sort of, I mean, I think it's easier to look back in hindsight and be like, such a short window of time. We just had to hold on. But in that space of uncertainty and unknown. with like, well, there's a window where if you miss this season, like there's a much larger financial implication and do we have enough of a runway to go 12 months versus three months versus six months, so. Mark Koep (16:20) And to speed the listeners up, they built the park, they opened the park, and they have now been, is it three times Erin, the number one camp, voted USA Today's number one campground in the United States, which is an amazing feat, three years running on that award. And so you succeeded, you built it, and so that leads to the next question. How has doing this together as a couple, as a married couple with children, impacted your relationship together? How do you separate out the business from the relationship, or can you? And if you can't, what do you do to make sure that you still are a thriving couple with a happy family and you can go home and not worry about killing one another? Erin & Dan Thiem (17:00) No. We still go home and worry about it. But I think that, I mean, we talk about, I feel like we're having lots of friends with midlife crises. And the way that I talk about it, like we're good because we don't have the luxury of communicating badly or holding grudges because we actually need to work through them. And we're very much willing to do the work on the like, how could I have approached the situation differently or what can I learn about it? Or as Dan said earlier, we have complimentary skill sets. So certain situations are better suited. for me and certain situations are better suited for him. And I may grumble when he makes me call the disgruntled customer to have the uncomfortable conversation. And I make him write the email responses. anyways, we will lean into those skill sets when we have to support each other. But I think, know, Erin's spot on. We don't have, I think in a lot of relationships, you can mask problems by day to day routine. You know, you get up, you get the, especially when the kids are younger and you're just like going about your thing, going to work, getting home, making dinner, putting the kids to bed. And there's not a lot of time to really focus on the relationship or, or the relationship works simply because you have this joint, task list, right? You know, for us, if we're not communicating well, or if we're having a problem, it's like a pretty big financial consequence if it doesn't work out. Right. So sometimes I just have to say. honey, you can't do that, right? Or she's like, you're being kind of a jerk. And I really appreciate that because then that translates into our kind of married life, which by the way, they don't separate that well, to be honest with you. But we like solving problems. I think that's the other part where we've come to recognize that both of us get a lot of personal satisfaction out of being good employers and being good coworkers and doing something for our community. that helps us as a couple and as a family. I think that they're all integral. Yeah, and I would just add on to that. One of the things that has been a real saver for our relationship is having, and it's Erin's year of, word of the year is grace, having the grace to recognize when the other person needs space or another activity or their own kind of thing, right? Like I'm more of an introvert, so I sometimes just need a couple of days away by myself. And... Erin gives me that freedom to do that. And that's really, really important to have that mutual support to recognize what the other person needs and allow them to do it, even though it might mean a little bit more of a burden for you. Mark Koep (19:40) I was gonna, it was funny you meant that I was actually gonna ask that question because that's something I've noticed about your relationship is that you do each give each other space to go do things like, know, Dan will take off and go camping or Erin will go skiing or whatever. And so you consciously are giving each other that ability to go do that. Erin & Dan Thiem (19:57) Yeah, absolutely. And it's taken me a long time to not feel guilty about it. You know, especially with the business, it's like, cause I know when I go away that she can't do all of my tasks, right? And a lot of mine are locations, you know, we're dependent or time sensitive. And so I feel like I'm burdening her, you know, by being away. I've gotten better at it because I know I'm a better person when I do get away. I will admit to my fault, like last year he was away and I did some pool maintenance and I have been officially fired from that role because I did not succeed. She called me in a panic. I was like, this isn't good. Okay. Here's what we got to do. So I will pick up the slack where I can. And when I, there's a safety hazard, will happily remove myself from said task. Mark Koep (20:50) And in all this journey, as you conceived of, built and operated this property, you're raising a family. And so now your boys, they're graduating from high school, they're going off and getting degrees. How has this journey that you've gone on, have you seen it impacting their lives, positively or negatively? Is there stuff you're doing on that side to kind of help them learn through this? And the reason I ask that is personally, I believe that seeing parents work, struggle, and then succeed is a good experience for kids to actually see that happen. My belief is that it builds character. So the question for you is, does it? Have you seen that be a positive or a negative for your children? Erin & Dan Thiem (21:32) I think the jury's still gonna be a little bit out because I think the lessons that the kids are taking, you know, are the kind that will manifest maybe in their early career or things like that. And our older son, he's a sophomore in college, you know, he's already showing some of those, like, observations. Like, I need to start thinking maybe about saving and, you know, what about... this and he's a very empathetic soul so he kind of understands like when we have a bad day like how that's impacting us. Having said that, and Erin, you can chime in on this too, you do feel as a parent guilty. Of course. A lot of the time, right? Because you have this business, I like to say it's like an adolescent that never grows up, right? It's always gonna need this attention. And no doubt that attention has been at the expense of the kids many times over the years. And you feel guilty about it. And you hope that the positives outweigh the negatives. I think both of our kids are fantastic and they're committed and kind people that want to do things in the world and make the world a better place. And that's awesome to see, but boy, you just hope that they're not resentful of all the time you spent doing other things. They're also super independent. think that that's, I mean, you think about the generations where they had latchkey kids and like they have to figure it out for themselves. So being small business owners, I mean, we had some flexibility, but there were plenty of situations where it's like, sorry kids, you're gonna have to figure that out on your own. And as young adults, I can see the benefits of their independence as they are off and launched into the world. Mark Koep (23:17) beautiful. I can have a conversation with Dan and Erin all day but they booked 30 minutes and I want to be conscientious of their time. So this has been the first episode of Half a Mind. I really want to get your feedback. Leave in the comments below if you like the concept, if you like the content, and we'll dive deeper into this. Obviously two excellent people to share on this journey but the goal here is to empower you, the listener, the viewer, to Go live your own dreams. Actually take that half a mind, that little thought in the back of your mind and actually make it a reality. Dan and Erin, you've clearly done that with this business and I'm always impressed with your structure, your relationship and the way you two communicate so effectively. So I appreciate your time today. Thank you for joining me. Erin & Dan Thiem (24:01) Yeah, thanks. Yeah, thanks for having it on. It's always good to stop and reflect on these sorts of things. So I appreciate the opportunity to be like, are we doing? we? don't know. You know, and we don't regret it for a second. So, you know, for people listening in thinking about their dream, it's. Go for it. If you can make it work, go for it. You know. Mark Koep (24:21) Yes, let me add with that because I feel very and you guys know I like my journeys similar to your journey right with our business and so forth and I completely agree with you I took some time off here. We're recording this in in early January 2025 So we just came out of the Christmas and New Year's holiday and I purposefully and actually painfully during the process forced myself not to work for two weeks It was incredibly difficult Erin & Dan Thiem (24:28) Yeah. Mark Koep (24:47) I actually failed at it. I woke up at 4 a.m. one morning and started working and then another night I stayed up till midnight work. It's very difficult, but the point being is that I don't regret any of the journey, right? And so whatever you're gonna do, the worst case scenario, and actually Dan, when you're talking about your kids and you feel guilty about that, I always go to the folks that are working a nine to five in an office or they have to go to work and they're not there with their kids where... Erin & Dan Thiem (24:49) you Yeah. Mark Koep (25:14) your kids are around you and same thing here I'm working from home office I have many children around me so the reality is life is what you make of it and my hope is that our viewers and listeners will have half of mind to go do it and then they can come on and share the journey with all of us so again thank you Dan and Erin and I look forward to hopefully we can do this on a regular basis and just share the status and see where this conversation goes I hope it's valuable to you all and thank you for listening Erin & Dan Thiem (25:39) All right. Okay. Thank you.