Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaylee Mitchell-Draisey.
Hi Kaylee, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It all started with a dream and a slightly chaotic house.
Before The Grove ever had a name, it was basically my living room. I was running Lazy Lemons, my creative studio where we do it all. Marketing, design, photography, balloon installs, events. And our house had slowly turned into storage for backdrops, props, inventory, and ideas. Lots of ideas.
I did not just need more room. I needed alignment.
When the opportunity came up, my husband Brandon and I knew it was one of those if not now, when moments. We poured ourselves into building The Grove from the ground up. Not just the aesthetic, but the systems, the rentals, the flexibility, and the infrastructure behind it.
It stretched me in ways Lazy Lemons never had. It pushed me into deeper leadership, operations, and long term vision.
What started as a solution to my own space problem has become something much bigger.
Now The Grove hosts birthday parties, baby showers, pop-ups, styled shoots, content days, and workshops. It is being used weekly by people bringing their own visions to life. That is the part that means the most to me. It is no longer just my dream. It belongs to the community.
The Grove is the culmination of creativity, strategy, risk taking, and a willingness to build before everything felt perfectly figured out.
And thankfully, my house is a lot less chaotic now.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road.
Opening The Grove looked exciting from the outside, and it was. But behind the scenes, it was a crash course in capacity, cash flow, and leadership. Moving from a service based business like Lazy Lemons into a physical space with rent, utilities, inventory, and staffing adds an entirely different level of pressure.
There were moments where bookings were slow and I questioned everything. Moments where I underestimated how much systems matter. Moments where I realized that vision alone does not sustain a business. Infrastructure does.
One of the biggest struggles was learning to separate creativity from operations. I love ideas. I love building. I love dreaming. But The Grove forced me to build structure around those ideas. Contracts, booking flows, policies, scheduling, coverage, accountability. Those are not always glamorous, but they are what make something sustainable.
There is also the mental side of growth that people do not talk about enough. When you build something visible in your own community, you feel the pressure to make it work. You feel the weight of being responsible not just for your dream, but for the experience other people have inside it.
I have had to learn how to delegate better, hire smarter, create clearer expectations, and stop trying to carry everything myself. Growth required me to evolve.
It has not been smooth, but it has been worth it. Every challenge sharpened the vision and strengthened the foundation. The Grove today is better because of the struggles, not in spite of them.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Grove is a photography studio and event space built for flexibility, creativity, and community.
At its core, it is a blank canvas. We offer natural light, professional lighting options, curated backdrops, a growing prop closet, seasonal installations, and rental add-ons that allow photographers and creatives to fully execute their vision without hauling in an entire production team.
On the event side, we host everything from birthday parties and baby showers to workshops, pop-ups, styled shoots, networking events, and small business gatherings. The space is intentionally designed to feel elevated but approachable. Clean lines. Warm textures. Neutral foundations that can transform depending on who walks through the door.
What sets The Grove apart is that it was built by a creative, for creatives.
I understand lighting. I understand flow. I understand what it feels like to need a space that works with you, not against you. Because I also run Lazy Lemons, a marketing and creative studio, The Grove was designed with brand experience in mind. It is not just a room to rent. It is a space that photographs well, functions well, and feels intentional from booking to breakdown.
We specialize in versatility. The same space can host a styled content day in the morning and a birthday party that evening. We are constantly evolving our installations, props, and rental offerings to keep it fresh and inspiring. That adaptability is something I am incredibly proud of.
Brand wise, I am most proud that The Grove has become something the community actually uses weekly. It is not a concept sitting empty. It is active. It is booked. It is shared. It has become a gathering place.
I want readers to know that The Grove was built with strategy, not just aesthetics. Behind the pretty backdrops is infrastructure, systems, and a deep understanding of what small businesses and creatives actually need to succeed.
It is a place for gathering and creativity, but it is also proof that when you see a gap in your community, you can build the solution.
How do you define success?
Success used to look like growth at any cost. More clients. More bookings. More revenue. More visibility.
Now, success looks like sustainability.
It looks like building businesses that support my life, not consume it. It looks like systems that work even when I step away for a weekend. It looks like a full calendar that does not require burnout to maintain.
With The Grove specifically, success is seeing the space used consistently. Hearing someone say their event felt special. Watching a photographer execute a vision they could not have done at home. Seeing small businesses host workshops and connect with people inside a space I built.
Success is impact that outlives the hype.
It is also alignment. If the brand feels honest. If the space feels intentional. If the operations match the vision. That is success to me.
And personally, success is freedom. The freedom to build, to pivot, to create, to choose what I take on and what I do not. The freedom to keep dreaming bigger without sacrificing the foundation underneath it.
I no longer measure success by how busy I am.
I measure it by how sustainable, intentional, and community driven the work feels.
Pricing:
- 30 Minute Studio Rental – $45
- Hour Studio Rental – $65
- Weekday Event Rental – $180
- Weekend Event Rental – $250
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thegroveks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegroveks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570389820442
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylee-km-mitchell/
