Nice to Meet Ya: Pam Owens

Living in Dripping Springs has its advantages. Its natural beauty has drawn people to the area and its population has grown. Nature and destination weddings go hand in hand, and before the pandemic, that meant thriving businesses.

As one who helped get Dripping Springs declared the “Wedding Capital of Texas,” Pam Owens, the CEO of the Dripping Springs Visitors Bureau (DSVB), has been there for so many changes locally and best of all, she’s had a front row seat.

“I usually need a tailgate and a six pack (to tell my story),” Owens, a Conroe native said. “I was a single mom, worked for the Texas Department of Transportation in the Houston Division, and had an 8 year old son. I needed to make a change.”

She got a transfer to Austin, but didn’t want to live in the city. She scouted the area for a small town around Austin. Then it happened, Dripping Springs. “We do have a beautiful name,” she said.

“It was 1983, 800 people, the city limits sign said, or so. One blinking yellow light and the people were close-knit. Everybody knew everybody…When I moved here people asked me ‘who are you related to?’”

But one thread that runs through both old-timers and new arrivals alike, “I find the same thing. People are protective of what we have here, and even visitors are protective of what we have here,” she chuckled. “Everybody wants to put the roadblock up after they arrive.”

In 1986, traveling for her Austin TxDOT job wasn’t good for the single mom. “One year my son couldn’t play baseball (because of my travel)…so I had to create my own job, Your Growing Child, my first business in Dripping--a good, safe place to have children.” The daycare put Owens’ knowledge to work having earned her degree in childhood development.

“People didn’t know me [at first]. It took a few years. They started to know me and trusted me with their children…that is my greatest accomplishment,” Owens said. She sold the business and started another, a print and office supply store in town.

Having sold two successful businesses by December 2011, she made the conscious decision to take a year off and decide her next step. In December 2012, the Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce called and asked her to apply for the chamber’s development job. Her business ownership, passion for traveling and love of Dripping Springs sealed the deal. “I just did not have tourism experience,” she said.

Fast forward to 2019, when she would see a tourist or two. She was known to stop her car while on Mercer St. and make sure they had a visitors guide in their hands. But not now.

“It’s a sad time to be in the tourism industry.” Every way you look at it, weddings, songwriters’ festival and other Dripping Springs tourist-magnet events can’t happen yet. Local businesses are hurting and the list goes on.

Owens and the DSVB still keeps busy; Owens in fact attended a Zoom tourism conference, something that is usually a great time--sharing stories and camaraderie with cohorts that love their own towns.

“This year, 2020 has been tough. Hopefully people can hang on… (The community has) lost businesses. You can’t hold on without livelihood,” Owens said. “We have over 35 breweries, wineries and distilleries.”

The DSVB has beefed up its social media presence, and although their building is closed to visitors, should a visitor stop by, there is someone in a mask who will greet them “and there is all sorts of material on the front porch,” she said.

She does have some words of advice, which are pearls of wisdom. “If things in your life are not going right, make a change, always.”

And reflecting local pride, “if you are not proud of where you live, go somewhere else.”