BELGIUM, WIS. -- We continue our passion project series, spotlighting people in Southeast Wisconsin who left their careers to pursue their dreams.
The next person you're about to meet was watching the series on "Live at Daybreak" and felt like the people we spotlighted were the mirror image of her life.
She left her job as a veteran nurse to go down on the farm.
For 13 years, Irene Buechler was a nurse. While she loved what she did, "Trying to balance everything isn't really easy," she said.
She saw so much potential to buy the farm her husband grew up on in Belgium, Wis. Before the "Barn Wedding" craze took off, she thought of building one of her own.
"We were walking through and I said, 'You know, I think this is something we could actually do here.'"
For five years she worked to convince her husband.
"It was scary because we did have to borrow quite a bit of money," said Buechler. "We just had machinery stored in the back room back there so really what you are seeing all open like that it was completely closed."
Ten weddings were held there this summer.
"My goal was to have 2020 booked before I could start leaving my nursing job and 2020 booked up crazy."
She shared it was scary, "...because I carry all the insurance."
All the hard work paid off. Not only do they host weddings, they are also a beef and pumpkin farm.
Though she's working long hours, Buechler feels happy and fulfilled to pursue her passion.
Julia Fello has many other stories like Irene in her Passion Project series. This includes a lawyer turned brewery owner, car mechanic turned video blogger and businesswoman turned nun.
If you have a Passion Project idea, e-mail us at Julia.Fello@tmj4.com.
