We were lucky to catch up with Beth Milan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Beth, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

As a small business owner, I’ve always enjoyed offering rentals as a service. I’ve rented real estate, luxury backdrops, photography studio space, and now neon signs.

As far as I know, we are the first in the area to offer this service. It just makes sense for special events. Why pay full price for something you’re only going to use once? It’s very important to me to offer affordable solutions.

My main goal is to provide an easy way for people in my community to get the special event they want without having to break the bank or worry about their space not being perfect.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

My name is Beth Milan and was born in the 80s, so I’m here for all things neon.

I started STL Neons after selling my luxury floral and greenery backdrop rental business because I saw that our area had a screaming demand for neon with no local offerings. So I sold my backdrop business and opened STL Neons.

We have 3 divisions: Rental, custom order retail, and bulk distribution. Our rental division was a no-brainer with the growing popularity of using neon signs at special events such as weddings, baby showers, workshops, birthdays—you name it! Our custom orders division was created for those who want to bring their own idea to life. We even offer complimentary design consultations, so you don’t have to be a graphic design artist. Finally, our bulk distribution division is for retail businesses that would like to sell neon signs to their customers.

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

As a business owner, you have to ask yourself: What is it that you REALLY want? Naturally, most think “MONEY”! But if you dig deeper, the question that needs to be begged is “What do you want your life to look like?” As a mother of three and wife to another successful business owner, I wanted to find a way to run a business that was conducive to having a family – and that’s what I did when starting STL Neons.

Prior to creating STL Neons, I was a stay-at-home mother. My two youngest children were not yet in school, so in 2017 I came up with the idea of designing, and renting a full-service luxury backdrop service as a “side hustle,” which would allow me to be a stay-at-home mother at the same time.

When I first started, it was a dream come true. I had a business that offered creative freedom, extra income, and allowed me to spend time with my family. I thought that this was the life for me!

As time went by, though, I realized that this dream wasn’t quite what I had imagined. The business grew very quickly and my weekends consisted of setting up and tearing down backdrops for special events all over the St. Louis and St. Charles area from sunup till far after sundown. And my weekdays were filled with operating my brick and mortar studio.

I was working so much that I didn’t have time for myself, let alone my family. My husband was very supportive and suggested I hire help so I could spend more time with our family. But regardless, due to the nature of the industry; my weekends would never truly be free – even with hired help.

So after a lot of hard conversations, we agreed that selling the business would be what was best for our family —and it was one of the best decisions I ever made!

I opened STL Neons in the Spring of 2021 and we’re all happier now that we have more time together as a family and can spend it doing things like going on vacations and spending time with each other instead of just working all day long! And THIS is what I wanted my life to look like.

As time marches on, we may decide to reevaluate again. But for now, life is good and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

When you’re running a small business, your reputation is everything. I know this because I’m personally involved with every customer experience here at STL Neons, and I try to make sure that they are happy with the product or service we provide.

Additionally, we’ve built up a strong reputation by collaborating with other local businesses and sharing on social media. When potential customers see that you are constantly working with others in the community, it builds trust—and trust means more business for everyone!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stlneons.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/stlneons
• Facebook: facebook.com/stlneons

Image Credits
For my headshot: Shannon K Dougherty