Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Connie Morgan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Connie, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
This is a great question. My resilience comes from a few places. I know I learned a lot about resilience from my parents. One thing they taught all five of their kids was to finish what you start and seeing promises you made to others and to yourself through to the end. The definition of resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. Keeping your word can be difficult sometimes, seeing things through to the end can feel overwhelming and slow, but by being able to do these things you train your brain to weather the bigger storms that will inevitably come your way in life. I also taught myself resiliency by running ultra marathons. I’ve run two 32 mile and two 18 mile races in the Big Horn mountains here in Wyoming. But it was in the training that I built up my resiliency even more. I cried and I got left behind a lot but I forged ahead because I had to. I had a goal and I made a commitment to myself to see it through. While resilience is an amazing character trait, it has also made me endure things that, in hindsight, I wish I had made better choices for myself rather than to just endure the pain of certain relationships or situations.
To be a small business owner it takes a lot of resiliency to keep your head down and invest in yourself for the long term goal of turning a profit. There are milestones to reach when you own your own business and you need a great deal of resiliency, focus, determination, and faith to reach them and always make sure you are leveling up to reach new ones.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Connie Morgan. I live in Casper, Wyoming with my youngest son Griffin (15) a sophomore in high school. I have an older son Angus (18) but he lives on his own, goes to school, and works here in Casper. I also live with my boyfriend Wes who is a huge support for me in my personal and professional life. He has made a huge impact on my business and helps push me out of my comfort zone. I was born in Bozeman, Montana and raised in Manhattan, Montana. I am the youngest of five. My career has taken me from San Francisco (where I learned my trade) to Detroit, Seattle, Tacoma, back to Bozeman, and currently Casper. I enjoy anything that takes me outdoors. I love mountain biking, hiking, rock hounding, kayaking, and generally exploring all that Wyoming has to offer.
The technical name for my profession is Neon Tube Bender and Pumper. I make neon lights out of long glass tubes that I bend in hot flames. I use patterns to help me bend the glass to specific shapes and sizes. When the bending is finished, I then use a manifold and a vacuum pump to clear the tubes of any debris and to pull all of the air from the tube and put it under a vacuum, this process is called bombarding. We call it that because I am bombarding the tube with a large amount of electricity. After this process I fill the tube with a noble gas either neon or argon. You can use other noble gasses (except radon) but those two are the most common.
What I feel is most special about my profession is I use my hands to create everything I make. Every bend, every curve is hand made by me and in this modern world I feel like that is rare. Especially the appreciation for what I do. My art is special because it takes a lot of skill to be proficient at bending glass and to finish jobs within a timely manner. My art is not only beautiful because it lights up but it is functional. I can make an open sign look like a work of art if that is what the customer wants. The sky’s the limit with neon! When you buy an actual neon sign or art piece from a Neon Tube Bender you are buying something unique and hand crafted from a skilled artisan.
I have some really cool events happening right now and coming up in the near future. I am the co-curator for an amazing art exhibition at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming called NEON IN THE HIGH DESERT: A GROUP EXHIBITION. It is on exhibit through January 1st, 2024. The exhibition is composed of 20 neon artists from the United States and Canada. I co-curated the show with my friend and fellow neon artist Tayler Drattlo out of New Braunfels, Texas. We worked hard to make it the best show possible. The exhibit has been visited by people from all over the country and has been quite the hit in the Casper community. It has been an amazing opportunity to be able to showcase what we as neon artists can do and to push the imagination of the viewer.
Next up are the classes I will be offering this winter starting in January. I offer classes every other Friday and Saturday night from January through May. This is an introductory class for people to learn the basics of neon and to see what goes into making neon come alive. I generally have groups of two people and they get to try their hand at bending glass and making their own sculpture piece that we will process and they get to take it home. I did these classes last winter and people really enjoyed them.
I am also trying my hand at doing limited releases for neon pieces that I make purely for my enjoyment! I am working the bugs out with that one. The social media game almost feels like another job and I now understand why people hire someone to do it for them!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that I possess that were impactful on my journey are having an open mind, taking criticism, and being honest.
1. You have to have an open mind in any creative endeavor you pursue. Never let the constraints of your upbringing or society cause you to step back into the box. I have had to work on this one a lot as I have gotten older and when I recognize what I am doing I try my best to take a step back and assess my behavior or my reactions. As a creative person it is crucial to learn to let go…I am still learning this and I think it will be a lifelong journey.
2. Taking criticism is crucial in a creative life and life in general. Not everyone is going to give it constructively either so you have to learn to grow a thicker skin, as they say. If you want to grow as an artist or as a person you have to be open to hearing things about yourself that make you uncomfortable or maybe even make you cry or make you angry. You have to sit with these feelings and examine yourself and look deep within. It is your choice what you do with it. You can either let it break you or make you, it is truly up to you.
3. Being honest will open doors for you simply because people can trust you. Trust takes a long time to build and only a moment to ruin. As it says in the “Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz, be impeccable with your word, it will take you further than your artistic talent ever could.
While I say these things and dole out advice, be aware that I am still learning and growing as a human myself. None of us are perfect and we are all works in progress. Give yourself grace as you grow in this life and if I could give you any advice that I wish I had received as a young person: love yourself more than anyone else could ever love you.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My number one obstacle at the moment is cash flow. With my business I don’t have employees. I have businesses that help me with different tasks that I need done but the bending, the processing, and the assembly is completely up to me. My boyfriend helps me when he can but he also has a full-time job that keeps him busy. With all of that, it is hard to keep things flowing consistently to have a constant stream of money coming in at all times. Plus, making neon signs is a very niche business. It didn’t used to be. Back in the mid to late 1990s when I started working in the industry, neon was still a very vital business and was in high demand but now the demand for it has more to do with aesthetics and nostalgia. But the fact of the matter is, owning your own small business is a roller coaster ride no matter what you are selling and you will have times every single day, week, month, and year that you will want to get off the ride and go get yourself a regular nine to five job. I don’t always weather the storms with grace but I am getting better at closing my eyes and just having faith that everything will always work out.
I am trying to resolve this challenge by investing in my business by hiring someone who knows how to work social media and can share their strategies and knowledge with me. I am putting my face out on social media more to connect with my followers and have them get to know the person behind the business. I am doing limited releases and classes to help stimulate growth and income. I am trying to use my creativeness and ability to think outside the box to help me grow my business. My business and I are, and will always be, a work in progress!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.glowneonlights.com
- Instagram: @glow_neon_lights
- Facebook: facebook.com/glowneonsigns
- Email: [email protected]
