In 2016, when Marisa Manna Ferrell decided she finally needed to get someone to help her run her growing eight-year-old event planning business, So Eventful, she didn’t have to look too far. “My husband said, ‘What about me?’ I may have spit my martini out at that moment in sheer shock,” she says.
Brian came with a degree in marketing as well as experience in purchasing and planning, working for manufacturing companies. He helped Marisa with marketing and human resources compliance issues, as well as creating processes, procedures and training guides.
Within four months he was already thinking about expansion. “Brian asked me what would be a good segue and I said there’s a niche for luxury portable restrooms,” Marisa says. “We noodled on it, Brian wrote up a business plan and then we contracted a company to build a trailer — and now we have 22.”
The couple complement each other well from a business perspective, Brian says. “The joke is, Marisa is the gas and I’m the brakes. She is the entrepreneurial spirit and I’m the guy who says, let’s put it through the spreadsheet, do lots of research, look at the risks and rewards.”
The Posh Privy, was set up as a separate business from So Eventful, but they operate from the same location in Healdsburg, California. The Posh Privy crew includes office manager Kim Schmidt, operations manager Jose Torres, driver Emilio Hernandez, part-time cleaner Matt Caro and on-call cleaner/driver-trainee Joseph Simmons. Most of their clients are in Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties — wine country — but they also go into San Francisco and surrounding areas.
GETTING STARTED
For their first trailer, after Brian did his research and looked at their events and typical guest counts, the Ferrells chose to go with a six-station unit.
Through portablerestroomtrailers.com, an intermediary to different manufacturers, they paired up with Black Tie Products to build out the unit. But they wanted to go above and beyond a basic model so they added a number of custom features — windows, wood siding, decorative light fixtures, flower boxes, wood covers for the wheels. The interior features Kohler sinks, custom countertops, motion-sensor faucets. Colors were chosen with care. “The men’s suite is more masculine with darker colors,” Brian says. “The women’s is softer with brighter colors.”
The Ferrells took delivery in 2017. They used Brian’s 2015 GMC Sierra for transport, and relied on other PROs for pumpouts, ADA-compliant portable restrooms and extra trailers when needed. They kept the unit in an RV storage facility until So Eventful rented warehouse space they were able to use.
FEAST OR FAMINE
The 2020s were a rollercoaster ride. For 15 months, COVID nearly shut down both their businesses. But they hung on and were able to retain employees with a few long-term contracts for hospitals and related facilities, and by applying for grants and no-interest loans. By summer 2021 things started to open up, and by 2022 there was a huge uptick in activity from postponements and pent-up demand.
Then their business really exploded when they made an acquisition that increased their trailer inventory from one unit to 22. They’d had a wonderful working relationship with Fancy Flush for years and when the owners began expressing frustration with the long hours and hiring difficulty, the Ferrells just looked at each other, a light bulb went off and Brian went back into research mode. By April 2022 they were the new owners.
The Ferrells have the legal right to use the Fancy Flush name and website for two years and are currently in the process of phasing those out, although they will keep some of the Fancy Flush online features, which they consider a huge asset. For example, customers can go on the availability page, put in their information, pick a trailer, add a generator if necessary and in less than 24 hours get a quote. They approve it electronically and quickly receive a contract.
EQUIPMENT LINEUP
The acquired trailers were built out by Black Tie, Satellite Suites and Rich Specialty Trailers, and range in size from a basic two-stall unit for budget-conscious clients or for use in narrow situations (such as San Francisco or a vineyard) to a five-stall luxury model with high-end upgrades. There is also one luxury two-stall trailer custom-built with faux siding, decorative wallpaper and vessel sinks. Other than their basic model, all units have piped-in music. “And we’re dressing all the tires so they look shiny going down the road and at the location,” Brian says.
Other equipment from the acquisition included a few custom-built hand-wash stations, six generators, two 2017 Nissan Titan delivery trucks and various spare parts and tools including a powder-coating machine and sandblasting equipment for repairs. They also picked up their first vacuum truck. “The owner was pretty handy,” Brian says. “He took an Isuzu NPR box truck and built it out with a 900-gallon tank and a pump in the back.”
In addition to the two employees who stayed on, the Ferrells hired an operations manager with industry experience and a driver to handle the increased workload. Brian says he takes a team approach to employee management and considers himself just one of the guys.
“I don’t want them to think of me as the owner, because I’m out there hauling trailers, pumping and dumping and doing it all, just like they are,” he says.
It’s hard to get the whole team together because they’re all running around but they sometimes have a quick meeting in the morning to talk about safety items, customer feedback, what’s working and not working, finding out who needs what. And occasionally they even have time to grab some pizzas and have lunch together.
ALWAYS CELEBRATING
There are a thousand wineries within an hour of Healdsburg, Brian says, and every weekend they are at one or more of them for something. About 60% of their business is for weddings — many at the wineries but also private estates and other venues. Although these places have on-site restrooms, trailers are needed if the facilities are insufficient for the event size or if the ceremony is held somewhere else on the property. For example, some weddings take place in the middle of a vineyard.
The trailers are self-sufficient and can function without onsite water and power hookups if necessary. They’ve got solar power and onboard batteries. Generators can be brought in and all but their largest carry water.
The company’s non-wedding events include birthday parties and other life celebrations, corporate events, film festivals and filming projects for commercials. They recently provided trailers for March Madness in San Francisco and the John Madden memorial in Oakland. They also get their share of emergency situations — perhaps a broken water main requiring a company to bring in a trailer for their customers and employees.
Brian says the company also loves working with nonprofits. “Anything we can do to help,” he says. “We do offer them discounts.” Examples include the Schultz Celebrity Golf Classic at the Mayacama golf club to raise money for children’s charities, a Humane Society event at the Kendall-Jackson winery in Santa Rosa, a Home Depot fundraiser for the Veterans Home in Yountville and a health facility in Santa Rosa caring for the homeless.
The company often teams up with So Eventful, which handles everything from tenting and transportation to food and decorations. When the Ferrells are on site for these events, working as attendants, it’s not unusual for them to hear guest chatter about how luxurious the restroom trailers are.
COVERING ALL BASES
Brian says they aim to perform every aspect of the business in a way that gives the customer superior service and creates a competitive advantage for the company.
Customer Service. “It really starts with Kim, our office manager,” he says. “She’s the first point of contact. She is so good with her knowledge and how she deals with the clients. Everybody loves her.”
Product. Then there’s the product offering itself — the variety of inventory, the size of the fleet, the uniqueness of the units, the luxury features. Units are stocked with high-end soaps, hand towels and amenity trays.
Cleanliness. Trailers are cleaned weekly with disinfectant and inspected before they leave the yard. There is a checklist of items to get a trailer ready. Even maintenance closets are vacuumed. “I don’t want anybody looking anywhere in the trailer and finding something to complain about,” Brian says.
Delivery. Drivers contact the customer when they leave the yard, then walk them through everything to make sure they know how to use the trailer and how to troubleshoot.
ON THE HORIZON
Brian says the most challenging aspect of day-to-day management is the logistics involved in scheduling — taking into account the different sizes and amenities of trailers, employee schedules, traffic patterns, fitting emergencies in without disrupting anything.
The longer-term challenge is figuring out how to generate revenue during the slow season. California winters are mild but most events take place from early spring to early fall. The staff stays busy taking care of maintenance and repairs but Brian wants to look for long-term leasing opportunities that provide income.
After running out of inventory several months in a row, the company is already planning on buying another custom trailer. “You don’t want to sell out because then you’ve got to turn away business,” Brian says. “You also want to continue to reinvent yourself. We’re looking at the numbers to see what size makes sense.”
Brian is still enthusiastic about his decision to join Marisa in the event industry. “Every day is different,” he says. “And the country here is absolutely breathtaking. It’s just rolling hills and vineyards. I’ve been to some of the most unbelievable private estates, wineries, things you didn’t even know existed. The beauty all around us certainly makes work a lot more enjoyable — especially when you’re dealing with a business like waste.”
