TORRINGTON – As Brandi Hiser was supposed to meet with the Torrington Telegram to talk about about her new business Two Horse Hospitality, Hiser was landing catering for a 60th anniversary party.

It has only further caused Hiser to be booked solid through the first of the year, she said – barely a week after starting the business.

“People have known that I have been working on this,” Hiser said. “It’s just word of mouth. That’s the greatest advertising anybody has.

“It’s amazing, I’ve spent a fortune advertising in other ways, but it always comes down to referral.”

For three decades, Hiser has been busy as a mother or has been moved around because of her husband’s job. Now, with an empty nest and her husband’s job no longer requiring her to move, Hiser is enjoying building her Two Horse Hospitality, which caters specialty beverages for folks. 

As Hiser described it, it’s “lemonades to liquor.

“I can completely focus on this now,” Hiser said.

Business journey

Hiser decided to open Two Horse Hospitality after people would ask her and her husband Tom for steak dinners. That led the Hisers, without any previous restaurant experience, to run Goshen Hole Grill.

“We did not mean to be in the restaurant business,” Hiser said. “We used to grill steaks for friends. Everybody loved the Yoder bar, so we decided we would open that.”

Hiser said it was great to jump into something she had never experienced before.

 “You are not limited by anything.

“You don’t know what the challenge is,” Hiser said. “There’s just nothing to be scared of. I have not had experience in most things I’ve done, so that’s nothing new for me. It’s the challenge of learning to do.”

The Hisers ran the grill from the final day of 2010 through 2013. Hiser has been catering to one degree or another for six years now.

Now, the grill is becoming the Two Horse Bar and Soda Shop. Opening Nov. 15, it will be open on Friday and Saturday nights during the school year.

“It all goes down to our small community,” Hiser said. “Everybody follows everybody here. It is such a tight-knit community.”

The business got its name from a trailer she renovated. It took most of a year to convert the two-horse trailer into a mobile drinks station.

“It was probably the most difficult remodeling we’ve ever done,” Hiser said. “People’s didn’t see the vision that we had.”

Nurturing spirit

Hiser looks forward to remote catering because it’s a continuation of the nurturing she has provided forothers, which includes her family and is transitioning to her business. 

She called it “parenting my business. You want to nurture things the best they can be and watch them grow,” she said. “I’ve actually gotten quite good at remote catering and dealing with the unexpected, so it’s the challenge of that.”

Hiser said she enjoys producing something her customers are not expecting when building the perfect party.

“And there is nothing as satisfying as simple fellowship,” Hiser said.

Besides the anniversary party, Hiser will be catering a Christmas party in Wheatland for Bob Ruwart Motors.

“Then I’m going to Sheridan for the Wild and Pretty Christmas event,” Hiser said. “I’ve got a couple of other private Christmas parties.”

Hiser has also done work for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and several producer bull sales.

Hiser has successfully transferred her client base from vehicles to real estate to the restaurant business, and now hospitality. It’s about relationships, she said.

“That’s the key to my whole success, is just treating people the way you want to be treated,” she said. “Caring for others.”

Hiser listens to personal details and then tries to cater to those personal details, she said.

“I just like to acknowledge interesting things about people and try to let them know that,” Hiser said. It’s all about “spending time with people and listening to them.”

Hiser has served groups ranging from 25 to 400. Her bookings are always on the weekends. And she always keeps a guest book, she added.

“I think that’s what keeps me going,” she said. “That’s why I continue to do what I do is because page after page after page, people enjoy it and don’t want to see us quit.”

Hiser’s style is focused on providing something that is unexpected and memorable, she said.

Personal journey

Hiser grew up in the Riverton area. Tom’s job in pharmaceutical sales, which he has held for 24 years, took him to Torrington after stops in in Saratoga, Cheyenne, Thermopolis and Wheatland.

“They’ve moved us about every five years,” Hiser said.

Hiser has stayed in Wyoming, though, which she has appreciated.

“I feel very safe anywhere in this state,” Hiser said.

There has been a steep learning curve for a new business venture in an area she’s never worked in before, she said.

“That’s the only way I can get through something new” she said.

“That’s what’s helped me be successful and have the relationships that you do with people and the support,” she said. “People have trusted me with a lot of major purchases and a lot of major life events.”

Hiser has gained strengths for business in being flexible with Tom’s schedule and raising children a decade apart.

“Being flexible and having some agility are probably some of the major strengths,” Hiser said.

But diving into a new business seemed almost second nature to Hiser.

“It’s nothing new to me because I’m still taking care of others, you know?” she said. “But it’s always a party.”

One thing missing is all the routine drama that comes with a family, Hiser said. 

“I can just put my effort into every little detail, every whim,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do this and it’s very strange now to just be able to do what I want.”

Hiser then noted that she ate chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese for 29 years.

“It took me 29 years to get the kids through school,” she said. “I guess you could say I have retired from full-time parenting. You’ll always be a parent, but I’ve been the consistent parent for 29 years.”