Meet Regina Weir | Event Venue Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Regina Weir and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Regina, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Family has been so integral to my success and the success of my business. From the beginning my parents helped out tremendously and honestly, without them we wouldn’t have been able to start. Then after I opened, I had a lot of help from my husband but it wasn’t until he joined full time did the business really feel solid. Being a family business, I think people can sense how much we value the milestone events that are celebrated at the Factory. We become really invested in our clients lives that we try to do as much as we can to alleviate the pressures that these large moments can put on you. We truly see everyone that has an event at the Factory as part of our family and our main goal is to make our clients feel that way leading up to their event and even after.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Factory is an industrial event venue in the heart of Chamblee right inside the perimeter and our goal was always to allow people to be creative in our space. We never wanted to impose on anyone’s vision of what their event should be but we wanted to be able to support clients in what their event could be. It wasn’t an easy venture to start because you need a lot of capital upfront to start construction, to go through construction, and even when you finish construction there are so many items you need to make the space useful for your client base. We did have a very solid business plan in place which I suggest to anyone starting a business that involves a lot of risk. We did rely on sales of future dates near the end which was really hard to gauge. On the one hand I had contractors giving me final dates that were unrealistic, but since I had never dealt with contractors or renovations I didn’t realize until it was too late that things tend to take longer than expected. Because of that, we did have some false starts in the beginning and I really thank the people who endured those first few events that we had and those we had to move to different venues because we ran into some construction issues in the end. And to be honest, I learned a lot in those first few months. I learned a lot about problem solving and how to give unwavering customer service under immense pressure and in the toughest of circumstances. Basically, I learned what being in the hospitality industry really meant. It wasn’t an easy road, but the work we do everyday is so fulfilling. I love being able to serve people and to be helpful. I am super passionate about what we’ve built at the Factory and hope that it shows to anyone that meets me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love showing people around Atlanta, it has some of the most interesting, fun and diverse things to do. I would definitely take them to Ponce City Market for lunch one day. We’d do a best of while there and share burgers and fries from H&F, a sandwich from El Super Pan, wings and margaritas from Minero, and a couple of doughnuts from Five Daughters. We’d then walk to the beltline and go through O4W park to work off some of those calories. Dinner would probably be at Bocca Lupo, one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, or Lazy Betty if we were feeling really fancy. The next couple of days would be for exploring the diversity in Atlanta, so definitely a stint on Buford Highway. We always love taking people to Plaza Fiesta because it’s like being transported in to a different place, and we love all the Asian bakeries like Paris Baguette or White Windmill. We also love taking friends to Buford Highway Farmer’s Market because it’s really a one of kind place to see foods from around the world. Some of our favorite places to eat are Nam Phuong (get the wings), Gu’s Kitchen (get the crispy spicy fish and Dan Dan noodles), La Mei Zi (get the 3 Cup Chicken and Jade veggies), El Rey del Taco (get the carnitas), Stone Bowl (My favorite dish is the mushroom stone bowl), Man Chun Hong (get the sizzling rice soup and the jajangmyeon)…. and the list goes on and on and on. Because I’m Korean, I always take friends to get some Korean BBQ and our favorite is 9292 in Duluth. It’s a bit of a drive but well worth it! A must for any one of our friends visiting in town is fried chicken. We like JCT but I know people have their favorites. For breakfast, we’d have to do Gato (best biscuits in town IMO), Ria’s, and Star Provisions on repeat! We’d definitely have to have a night out at Melody Karaoke, one night dancing at MJQ, one night bar hopping on Edgewood, one night grabbing cocktails at Little Trouble, and of course a visit to Atlanta wouldn’t be complete without a night at the Claremont hotel.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
All of our initial clients need a serious shout out because in the beginning I was really selling a vision of what I wanted the Factory to be and there were people in the beginning who were able to go on that journey with me. There were planners, couples, and non-profit groups who definitely saw the vision and I really couldn’t have made it without their support.

Website: www.factoryatlanta.events
Instagram: @factory_atl
Facebook: www.facebook.com/factoryatl

Image Credits
Peacock Photo
Laura Stone