We recently connected with Miranda Donze and have shared our conversation below.
Miranda , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
So, I always knew I wanted to be a business owner. Who doesn’t have the dream of working for themselves? Being my own boss, creating my own hours (little did I know I would go from working 8 hours a day to 24 hours a day, literally), going on vacations when I want and not having to ask for time off (HA! What time off?), but most importantly, being able to attend school functions for my children or stay home with them if they were sick without having to feel guilty for leaving work!
When I tell you that I would sit in my cubicle and daydream about what I could do on the side that could eventually be sustainable enough to quit my job, I’m not exaggerating. I thought of EVERYTHING. I was determined! You can ask my friend in the cubicle across from me. Literally, every day would be “Psss…PAIGE, what do you think about THIS idea?” My husband and I would have late night pillow talks ALL the time about what we could do to quit our corporate jobs. I am sure he got tired of my MANY business ideas- some I followed through with, but were not sustainable. The one idea that did work, would never generate enough income to quit my job and be at home.
One morning I woke up with an idea- I should do some type of rental. Something that could make me money fast, but that didn’t take much time away from my family. Something that I could drop off and then come pick up, while being able to do my own thing in between. I decided to go with a champagne cart (which is actually hilarious because my most dreaded item in my inventory that I rent out is a champagne wall). I was scrolling through facebook for champagne carts and came across a really cute one. I reached out to the seller and explained to her that I wanted to purchase. I asked her what she used it for because I wanted to see if she was renting it out and if people actually rented it and was it worth my while. She asked me why I wanted to purchase it and I was very forthcoming with my vision and my why. This is what I will never forget, and why to this day I still say that she is such an angel. She said to me, “After hearing your reason on why you want to purchase this, I do not feel right selling this to you. It’s expensive, and honestly it is flimsy. If you want to make money on a rental, I highly suggest purchasing a flower wall. I have one and I rent it out for this much ___” Now, this woman owned an event rental company and she just told me about one of her most succesful rentals, but not only that, she told me where she purchased it at. If that doesn’t show you the type of person she is, I don’t know what will. She did not look at me as potential competition, she looked at me as a mother that she wanted to help succeed in her venture, even if it was in the space as her. This is why I call her an angel. Her name is Brandy AKA Bee, and she is the owner of Unspeakable Joy Luxe rentals. A true woman’s woman!
I purchased the exact wall she told me to purchase and I just had to wait for it to arrive. I got really antsy and was just super amped up to start my business so I got on facebook marketplace and decided to find a piece of furniture that I could add to my inventory to go in front of the backdrop for clients to sit and open gifts, etc. Lo and behold, I found a peacock chair. I had seen pictures of these being used at bridal showers so instantly I decided I needed it. It came with a hefty price tag of $600. It was a large purchase for us, so I had to send a picture to my husband and see what his thoughts were. He told me it was hideous and asked me who in the world would rent that. Needless to say, he ate his words. My peacock chair was the most rented item I had in the first year of business. I made my money back PLUS so much more and I still throw it in his face to this day!
Next up on the agenda- making a website, creating contracts, creating some type of intake form, creating a facebook and instagram, creating a marketplace listing, taking staged photos of my rental items, finding an invoicing system, registering as an LLC, obtaining insurance. I am not sure I slept in the next coming months because I had a long to do list and alot of questions.
Rentals for the peacock chair started taking off and rentals for the flower wall were a little bit slower. My main thing was that I would not purchase another item until I made back what I spent on my other items. I still follow that same practice to this day because it could be so easy to go in debt by purchasing inventory and I didn’t want to go under while trying to build a business. There are so many beautiful flower walls out there and I wanted to just purchase so many right off the bat, and they were expensive. We were purchasing inventory with our savings, so I wanted to be sure I put the money back before I purchased anything else. To this day, before I purchase an item I always do the math in my head to see how many bookings I will need to secure to make the money back. That is how I justify the cost. If it makes sense for the business, I will purchase!
I just made two years in business and I now have 34 backdrops and 5 floral arches, plus a large selection of neon signs in my inventory, not to mention a second location on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (where i grew up) and this is without ever going into debt because of the commitment I have made to myself!
I started this business in September of 2022. I found out I was pregnant in November 2022 and had my daughter in August 2023. I quit my full time job and left the corporate world to strictly focus on Luxe Magnolia. Since quitting, my business has completely flourished! I put alot of faith in God and in the fact of knowing that if this wasn’t his plan for me, he wouldnt have set this idea on my heart and all in his perfect timing. I have been allowed to stay home completely with my daughter in the first year of her life, and have had my toddler stay home with me part time this last year. Taking this leap of faith has given me so much more time with all three of my children. I missed out on alot with my 16 year old. I had her very young and had always worked two jobs to support us- which robbed me of alot of time and memories with her. This business has been SUCH a blessing to me and I truly still don’t feel like this is real. The opportunities that have come my way, the clients, the support of vendors, the relationships I have created- I dont take any of that for granted and I wake up everyday thanking God. I have so much passion for what I do because it has allowed me to create a life I always have dreamt of.
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 Miranda Donze and I am 34 years old. I have been married for 5 years and I have 3 beautiful children. Chloe- age 16, Callum- age 3.5, and Tatum- 14 months. I was born and raised in Biloxi, MS and moved to Louisiana in 2014. As a young mom with not alot of help, I did not attend college. I was always working multiple jobs to support me and my daughter, resulting in alot of missed time with her and guilt. I spent most of my working life in the restaurant industry- waitressing and bartending. I dabbled in dental for a while, but ultimately quit because the pay was not sustainable for a single mom. I went back to waitressing, but always wanted a job that I knew I could make my career. With no college education it was hard to find a job with a great pay that could be considered a career job with benefits. Finally, my most former boss, Chad D’armond, decided to take a chance with me and hired me at Epic piping where I excelled in my role. As much as I loved my boss, I knew the job was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Being cooped up in a cubicle was not for me. My desire to serve people, connect with people, and make a difference pushed me to find another route. This led to the idea that has now created a sustainable business and given me the title of “business owner” – Luxe Magnolia!
What I am most proud of is being able to show my oldest daughter that creating the life you want is possible! She has grown up with me and has seen the struggles I have had as a young mom and how long it took us to just be comfortable. She knows that my passion to be my own boss and have more time with my kids is the reason why I am here today. Hearing her say to me ” Mom, can you believe you actually quit your job and now you own a business and are able to stay home and be your own boss? You have talked about his moment for so long and now you’re living it!” This will forever live in my head and be one of the moments I am most proud of!
I want my clients to know that I have so much passion in what I do. I am not just an event rental business. I invest my time and my heart into your event. I know to some people I am just providing a backdrop, but to me it is SO much more. You are trusting me to be a part of such special moments in your life- memories that you will have for a lifetime. I take that seriously! I am as excited about your event as you are. I may not know you, but I am invested in you and your day. I am invested in making sure you can trust to me show up because you know I care! Heck, I setup a backdrop for a bride to be ON MY WAY to the hospital to my birth my daughter- in FULL BLOWN labor. If that does not tell you I am committed to your event, I don’t know what will! Thank you for trusting me! I know the event industry gets a bad rep because of some vendors, but I am not just a vendor and you are not just my client to me. You are my friend! I truly appreciate the support and trust.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
In the beginning, the way I built my audience on social media is by continuously doing giveaways where people have to like, share, and comment on your page. I feel like that always brings about a lot of new followers. Also, marketing on pages with my main target audience. Mostly, staying super consistent on posting, showing my personal life and myself on my stories, commenting and being supporting of other businesses. These are all really important things to do to grow your business.
I have done advertising in magazines, advertising on social media ads, but where most of my clients come from is seeing my business on social media or word out mouth from past clients and vendors that I have created relationships with.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
In this day and age, alot of people are living to paycheck. Alot of people do not have a savings account. We were fortunate to have a small savings built up. I funded my first two purchases with our savings and did not purchase anything else until I made the money back. Same goes until this day. If I do not have the funds to purchase outright, I will not purchase. I feel like this has been a very smart decision financially and it has definitely kept us out of the hole!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.luxemagnoliaeventrentals.com
- Instagram: luxe_magnolia
- Facebook: Luxe Magnolia
- Other: Tik Tok- @luxe_magnolia
Image Credits
Breighannephotography
Whitney Marie Photography
Malorie White Photography
Adrianna Guillot Dupont