“What’s the next best decision I can make here?” – Cam Petty Palmer

I always knew I was meant for more! Growing up, my mom always found a reason to celebrate anything and everything as often as possible! Most nights the dinner table was set to perfection including themed placemats, a centerpiece, and table runner. On our birthdays, she’d hang up signs and place balloons in our rooms. The cake was expertly designed and there were always as many presents as possible. If she could split a gift up into two packages, she did it! My dad worked his way up the corporate ladder and brought the business mindset home as well. He always had to-do lists a mile long and displayed a strong work ethic. 

I now know I have both of them in me because of who I am today.

Like most parents, my parents had dreams and ideas of what my future would hold. As I graduated high school the question all seniors ask themselves, “What do I want to do the rest of my life?” quickly approached. 

After deciding a traditional college classroom wasn’t a learning environment I best thrive in, I set out on a path to figuring out my passion. I started working for David’s Bridal and low and behold, I surpassed sales goals and was the running leader of highest sales in the state of Arizona. (Who knew I loved sales so much!) Helping women find the dress of their dream and hearing about their wedding plans developed a deep love and passion for weddings! With this new find desire to be apart of these special days, I began my planning business. 

Everyone has that one event that sticks out in your mind that changes their perspective. Mine was in 2012.

It was game time: the wedding day! All of the logistics regarding flowers, cake, and decor per the bride and groom’s taste have been pulled together. Each vendor has checked off their final to-do lists, and it was officially go-time. My team and I worked vigorously to troubleshoot any situations that came up, and through the hard work and intensive logistics, the wedding goes off without a hitch. We end the night off with none other than a classic Journey song before send-off. At the end of the night, my couple sweetly says, “You know, we don’t have the time to sell all of these centerpieces we made and burlap runners. I’m sure you have other brides getting married soon that may want to use them. Do you want to take them home and see if your couples want them?” The night my couple asked me if I wanted their decor began my love for rentals and decor. I started out with small pieces like mason jars, burlap runners, and lace, and quickly I had couples asking for wine barrels, wooden backdrops, and shelving for escort cards, so of course, I added what they requested.

 

As I grew my company, I came to a point where my life led me to Dallas, Texas so a move for the company came with it. It was a unique opportunity to start my rental business twice. I prioritized learning from the mistakes I made in Phoenix, Arizona. This helped me learn what to do better the next time and my company is better because of it. I was slower to grow the company in Dallas due to the recent life change of being a single mama to my little boy, Brody. I focused on adjusting to a new life while working a full-time job while running my side hustle business.

2014 was the year Beautiful Event Rentals finally had a name of its own and branched off of my wedding planning company. From 2014 to 2017, I poured all of our revenue back into the business to help grow the inventory, pay for the advertising, and keep growing it to a place where I could step into the business full time. 2017 and 2018 were major pivotal years for the business as we went from doing about 100 events per year to scaling to 500 events in 2018. I hired my first employee, Kaley, and we bought out another rental business in 2017. We hired four more people to the team and said “Yes!” to everything that came our way. Now, 500 events for a small team is a lot. So in 2019, we rebranded, intentionally said “yes” to events, and figured out what it looked like to scale a rental business. We decided to add on a floral division of the business to serve weddings and corporate events while focusing mostly on the corporate and social side.

So from 100 to 200 to 500 events, BER grew quickly! 2018 and 2019 were the years that my business went from side hustle to full-on business mode and through tough transitions, I’m now able to teach in a way that considers numbers first and then produces profitable pricing strategies! 

Whether you’re thinking of adding rentals to your business, starting a company from the ground-up, or scaling a rental business you’re already running, The Rental Biz Academy is the guide you’ve been needing. I’ll teach you to increase your average orders by thousands of dollars, fund your dream business, hire a staff, manage your clients from booking to day-of delivery, calculate real costs, and take the guesswork out of running a profitable business.

Learn more about Rental Biz Academy!

Listen to the episode on Apple or Spotify