Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bryan & Trenice McMillian. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Bryan & Trenice , appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Am I happier as a business owner? Hmm…that’s a good one. (LOL)
Yes and no.
Ok…so let’s start with the “no” side.
Being a business owner is a big job. It’s a really big job. There’s so much that you have to think about as a business owner as opposed to working for someone else. You have the business location, the policies you want to put in place, how the entire business flows, the customer service piece, etc.
Then…I’m a wife and a mom of five, so just sprinkling those factors on top of being a business owner turns a few of my hairs gray. (LOL)
The stress of trying to be at one hundred percent for both, your family and your customer base is outrageous. We’re literally working all the time. When we close for the day, we just leave the shop and pick up where we left off at home. We’re closed on the weekends and we’re still working. Why? The customers are depending on us to come through for their events. The last thing they need is for Platinum to drop the ball, you know. In order for us to keep the ball in the air we gotta work during family functions, when we’re tired, when we’re sick…all the time.
I worked everyday when I had covid and that was miserable. I worked immediately following being released from the hospital after having my last child. I know…it’s crazy, but what’s going on in our lives can’t effect the customer’s life after they’ve already paid us to do a job.
Now…the “yes” side.
We can take off when we need to. With five children between the ages of 4 and 19, there are so many reasons why we can’t work or just shouldn’t work. Birthdays, anniversaries, school functions…the works. We can carve time out of our schedules to be there for them, as well as any family or friend who absolutely needs us. We also can up and go on a vacation whenever we get ready. No need to request time off or have to try to switch time with another co-worker to make it to a function we want to attend.
Now of course, when we carve that time out for the important or fun things, we have to make up for it on the backend so our customers won’t feel like we took their money and ran away. (LOL)
Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
No, I don’t think about that because I know it’s impossible the way our life is set up. (LOL) Three of our children are going to school virtually so working a regular job definitely won’t work. Plus, our four year old would have to be in a daycare or something. With us being business owners, they do school in our shop and the little one is running around in here also. It’s a pretty good system we having going on.
I did however think about hiring a few people though because currently we don’t have any employees. It’s just my husband and I running the show.
Things just get so very overwhelming and there’s a few times in our business when I told my husband that I no longer wanted to do this. We’ve been in this business for 17 years. Our children have grown up in this business. They watch us work all day, every day. I have my days when I just want to be a wife and a mom…drop the business woman piece all together. I know my husband can balance this business all by himself.
I threw that whole employee idea in the trash though (LOL) because I know how I am and how I want things to flow in our business. We’re perfectionist and there are things that we want done a certain way, mostly me (LOL), that the person or people we would hire, wouldn’t feel was necessary. Plus I don’t think that we would find someone to have in the shop that would have the same values and frequency as we do so the atmosphere would stay balanced, you know.
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.
Platinum Graphics is an American, small business owned and operated by my husband, Bryan and I, in New Orleans, Louisiana that specializes in the celebration of life after loss. Through custom t-shirts and lifesize posters, it helps our customers cope with the passing of a loved one. It’s tangible memories. Something more than just a printed photograph.
Instead of mourning the person that was lost, you celebrate the life that was lived. Of course, your initial reaction to death is not to celebrate, but when you deal with it so often, the coping mechanism is to shake it off…New Orleans style. (LOL)
Secondlines, DJ’s, lifesize posters, shirts, handkerchiefs, spelling their name out in candles, graffiti their name on a corner…you know…rep your fam. Keeping their name alive so they’re never forgotten. When we create a lifesize poster we get to witness the reaction of the customer seeing their loved one standing one last time. They get to say goodbye. Take one last photo. Get one last dance. It’s a poster of closure. A poster of peace.
I believe what sets us apart from other businesses in the same field is our organization. With all the different events that go on in the city and the many, many customers that walk through our doors, organization is key.
I’m most proud of the customer service we provide. Showing kindness and compassion as well as understanding the desires of the customer keeps them coming back and referring more people to you. It’s greatly appreciated.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
We sell our products in-house as well as online. The online approach is a convenience to our customers. They place their orders online, we send their designs to their cell phones to approve and then contact them so they can pick up in the store. We also place their design on our website so their friends and family can place orders also without having to make trips to the shop.
The pros of selling online is, as I stated, convenience. Our customers don’t have to leave their location to order with us.
The cons of selling online is it can get overwhelming really fast. (LOL) The site is available for orders 24/7 so when we’re asleep, there’s times when we wake up and there are dozens of orders that need to be filled! It’s like…wow…and we have to finish this by what time?? (LOL)
How’d you meet your business partner?
My business partner…(LOL)…………my business partner is my husband, Bryan. He’s awesome! We met briefly here in New Orleans like in June or July of 2005. He was the friend of my sister, Kadiyah’s husband. We were reintroduced while I was in Memphis with my sister and her husband, Abemunah around April-ish of 2006. Bryan just happened to be visiting them too. Does that sound like a coincidence to you?! (LOL)
We decided to get together in May of 2006 and got married in August of 2006. Yeah…that’s a short period of time, but when you know…you know…(LOL)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.platinumgraphics.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/platinumgraphics
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/platinumgraphicsneworleans
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/platinumgraphicsllc
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/platinumnola
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/platinumgraphicsllc2006
- Yelp: m.yelp.com/biz/platinum-graphics-new-orleans
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@platinumgraphicsnola Email Us: [email protected] Call Us: (504) 252-0661