We recently connected with Mila Ukstin and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mila thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Aside from being passionate about what you are doing, I believe it is crucial to have a strong support system. As a small business owner that runs almost every aspect of the business on my own, there have been several occasions where the thought of going to a 9-5 job would come to mind as an easier option, but with the encouragement and support from my husband, parents and siblings, it propels me forward and gives me a renewed sense of determination. Along with the unconditional love from my four sons and their belief in me. Build a business community. It is important to establish relationships with those you do business with. In my case, this can be other vendors such as event planners/coordinators, venues, etc. We all need each other in order to make an event successful. Each vendor genuinely recognizes and appreciates the other’s talents and strengths.
Appreciate your customers (and employees). Without them, no business would get very far.
Do everything to the best of your ability even when you’re less motivated.

There are so many other qualities that I believe go hand in hand with running a business and being successful, such as: being self-motivated, willing to take risks and evolving, decisiveness, dedication, confidence, great customer service skills and much more. Many of these qualities can be learned along the way as the business progresses and the individual grows. Just keep in mind that there is no exact science to becoming successful. What may work for me and my business, may not work for someone else and each individual has a different view on what success looks like.

Mila , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a wife and a mother. I have 4 sons, ages ranging from 11 to 3 years old. Finished college with a Bachelors in Nutrition.
Initially my younger sister and I started this business together with the thought of focusing on small events only. We started in 2021 and with many weddings being cancelled/postponed from the previous year due to Covid, along with many newly engaged couples, we received an incredible number of inquiries for larger events. This helped us purchase more inventory and turn our focus to weddings and other larger events. My sister had her first child, and I officially took over the business this year and have mostly been running the business solo, receiving help from my husband along the way with deliveries, pickups, repairs, etc. I am incredibly proud of myself for overcoming obstacles, problem solving, my individual growth and the many wonderful relationships I’ve built with my customers and vendor community.

I have always loved designing beautiful table settings for holidays, family events or celebrations of my own and slowly began collecting interesting pieces. I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of events. From planning and creating a beautiful unique design, to executing and watching my design, or my client’s design, come to fruition. One of my most favorite parts of my business is seeing how others style the pieces I provide. I may decide to purchase a specific item because I see how it can potentially be used along with certain other pieces I have and am always in awe how my customers see the same item with a different design potential in mind. Then receiving pictures from their event is incredibly appreciated. To set my business apart from others, I aim to provide the best customer service possible and continue sourcing creative pieces that elevate table settings and provide beautiful options for my customers for many different events and styles.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Since there were two of us at the initial startup of the company, our roles were split, and the workload was divided between us. When I continued running the business solely, there was a quick shift in my workload, and I handled all business roles. Along with the responsibilities of my business, I still had a household to manage and my children to care for. This was a drastic adjustment period where new routines were created, and time was managed differently. With the help of my husband, we created a new routine that worked well for my business and our family.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

The creation of Mimosa Event Rentals was intended to be as a side hustle at first and our focus was to be on events of 60 persons or less, but as stated on one of the previous questions, with all the weddings affected by Covid and getting postponed, many customers reached out to us in need of rentals for their rescheduled weddings and this helped the business grow tremendously. It is now my full-time business, and I am extremely grateful to be a part of so many special events in so many different peoples’ lives.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mimosa.eventrentals
• Facebook: Mimosa Event Rentals https://www.facebook.com/mimosa.eventrentals?mibextid=2JQ9oc
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Memories by Zhanna Golden Honey Feels Noir Photo Co Cammy Marie Photo Kylee Hicks Photography Jordan Marie Photography Ella Bukreev Photo