Inspiring Conversations with Madeline Michaelis of Nashville Neon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeline Michaelis.

Hi Madeline, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was working as a wedding assistant at Mint Springs Farm when covid hit and the wedding industry crashed. I began looking for work I could do on my own and failing left & right. I was throwing a bridal shower for my best friend and she asked if we could find a fun neon sign to rent for it, looking around realized there were no rental houses in the industry that offered these signs! So, I started one. I bought one sign for her shower & rented it out for weddings for the rest of the year. I had so many inquiries for custom signs, I knew I would fall short if I didn’t start offering that option. So, I taught myself how to build the signs, found local suppliers, and started Nashville Neon.

Three years later, I have a large selection of rental signs and offer custom signs for personal, weddings, events & corporate use. I primarily deal with LED signage but will (soon) offer glass neon signage in the custom builds. A full woman-founded, owned & operated company, I’m proud to say. This company has grown more than I expected it would and continues to grow every year. I am excited about Nashville Neon’s future as I continue to expand the company into a larger-scale Neon Lighting Manufacturing Company.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I didn’t know quite what I was getting into it in the beginning, I have never owned a company or started a business at all- so the struggle of learning the business side of things was a big task!

I also have never soldered anything in my life prior to this company! So this whole business was a big learning curve! But I was lucky that both of my parents were entrepreneurs with their own successful businesses and could give me advice along the way and my husband taught me how to solder.

The company took off faster than I anticipated- the demand was so high once I started offering custom signage. I feel like just this year I have finally caught up and can focus on the future growth of the company now.

We’ve been impressed with Nashville Neon LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Nashville Neon is Nashville’s local LED sign company specializing in custom & rental LED signage. I think people love supporting locals – so that helps a lot with my company.

Also reliability and the work itself! I love being a smaller company because it gives me and my customers more time to create something they will love for a long time and be able to turn around signs to them faster because we source everything locally.

If you drive around Nashville you can find my signs featured in small businesses, bars, tour buses, venues, etc. I love being a part of this town in a different way. Nashville is a neon town, we just needed a company that could embrace it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nashneon.com
• Instagram: @nashneon
• Facebook: Nash Neon

Image Credits
Rachel Deeb, Angelina Olivia, Lindsay Kate Photography, Austin Gros, and Jordan Voth