We quit our jobs to turn a historic manor into a thriving innNow were living our own Gilmore Girls dream

Most people can’t imagine walking away from a stable 9-to-5 career in order to run their own business.In fact, for many, turning a passion project into a full-time job will never be more than a dream.​But sisters Kristen and Kathryn Groom aren’t most people.

Today, the two siblings are living out a real-life “Gilmore Girls” fantasy after opening their very own bed-and-breakfast inside a historic manor property in Welland, Ontario.​Kristen, 37, and Kathryn, 28, who purchased the property in May 2022, had always dreamed of moving into hospitality—despite having no professional experience in the industry—but never thought it would be something they’d be able to bring to life, at least not as their full-time jobs.But then they came across the perfect property in their parents’ hometown that seemed too ideal to pass up and, before they knew it, their dream had become a reality.They took just a few weeks to decorate and renovate the historic dwelling after closing before opening their business in July of that same year and, since then, their business has gone from strength to strength, allowing them to turn it into their full-time focus.​“It’s been really nice to see, and to go from what we thought was going to be a really nice side hustle potentially to now being our full-time career,” Kristen says.Prior to launching their business, the sisters lived together in a two-unit bungalow in nearby Fonthill.Their professional backgrounds could not have been more different; neither had a drop of experience in hospitality but each boasted a very different personal skill set that ultimately made them the ideal team.Kristen was working full time, climbing the corporate ladder as a human resources director while simultaneously finishing her graduate degree in project management.Meanwhile, Kathryn was working as a freelancer in social media management, while completing her graduate degree in national security and counterterrorism.But one thing...