 Welcome to the journey today. We're at Western neon in Soto, and I'm here with the creative director Dylan What's going down? Hey, what's up? Yeah, we're gonna do a deep dive into Western neon the business the history and share some insight with you all All right, so let's just get right into it Dylan Why don't you tell us really the history and the foundations of Western neon? You know Western neon really first starts back in the late 70s with a gentleman named Dean Blazik Who's kind of an og in the neon field? He started the school to really teach people how to work in the medium in northern Wisconsin and in his two sons Jay and Michael Blazik learn from both their father and all the people who came from all over the world to study there and He was responsible for writing some books called the neon ABCs Which has become kind of a bender's Bible in this industry teaching people all the moves From there Jay Michael Blazik founded the the business as a gallery in 1985 to show white art And then almost 35 years later here. We are today So what would you attribute most of the success behind Western neon? I think what's really most successful about Western neon and why we are a success in this kind of very niche kind of very Special industry is that we really focus on both the client looking at kind of like their ideas And what can we do to make our clients shine? You know this medium How can we brighten up their day and the fact that you know throughout all we do there's a real attention to detail and Skill and craft you know, but creativity is always going to be in our DNA I don't so it's fascinating to me is that this has been around since 1985 also when I was born and I know that a lot has changed You know that was not internet and social media. So thinking about the way your business has changed and how it has grown What's changed in the world of marketing for you and just how you can grow as a business besides consumers being stoked on what you're doing and buying Yeah, don't tell you I mean I think you kind of hit the nail in the head on the last thing that you said because you know for us really our biggest Advertising is the work that we make We are literally populating the landscape with what we do everything we put out in the world is You know a voice for the vision that we're trying to craft here You know so when people talk about us when they take pictures of us when they tell your friends Hey, you know, where'd you get that or how did how did you get it to look like that? What is that or where did that come from and those are all questions that I think that when people are looking at trying to market themselves They asked that like how can we do that? You know, we're just doing it I mean there is a sign that we have in our in our showroom that says art that works Right, and I think that for us, you know, that is what this medium does is that it's craft, you know, it's it's conscious Creation of something that is built. Well, right It's focusing on those things that you know You have control over to try to put out into the world and once it gets out there you have no control, right? It just kind of does what it does And if it's art that works, you know there and the client's gonna win, you know The crowd's gonna win and ultimately, you know, we're gonna win because everybody looks good and feels good That's that's the idea and what I love about that is and you can hear the passion when Dylan talks about this and the Art and the creativity Tell me if you agree, but I love about social media is you do have Platforms to tell your story you can reach a large audience and people who maybe I've never heard of Western neon Although I would be surprised, but maybe they never heard about you and they're looking for Something that you can create and they need your inspiration because of sites like I know you guys are on Instagram Facebook and Twitter They have a way to connect with you and you have a way to share the story It's like a conversation like this. Yeah, I know I think it's key I mean, I think one of the main things about that is that, you know, if you really look at You know 2014 I think is a turning point right because that's kind of like when web 2.0 kind of became a thing That's when you have that kind of you know Creator driven content and it has a place to populate right the kind of web is a place to have your voice and your vision Reach people and you're incomplete control over making that a success or making it implode, right? But that is what's exciting about is is that you have the ability to tell that story and what a lot of people Don't know is that you know neon itself, which what which we call neon really? There's five noble gases that illuminate. You've got helium neon argon Krypton and xenon. They're gonna be a quiz later. They're gonna be a quiz later A different color and that's what's cool about it is that you've got those tools to work with but in essence the Discovery of those five noble gases to illuminate like that is really the history of the internet itself It's the history of computing all the things that kind of the discovery of those things gave birth to in a real analog way Really gave birth to the digital so for you know us to be associated with Something like you know speaking with you today or looking at how the internet behaves for us to be a part of that It's really just a natural fit. I know when I was on Instagram and learning so how much of Your art was shaped by your childhood or the growth of your And you talk about that and like don't forget where you're from. Yeah, don't forget where you come from That's a lot of time in this headspace or in my basement listen to music as a kid Through your art Oh, yeah, that's a way that then I didn't even meet you and I was like I'm connecting with Dylan Right here with that. Oh, yeah That's cool. I mean because you know, yeah, that's the thing is that like for me This medium does connect to a very childhood almost like, you know, you call this show the journey This whole medium for me from the very beginning has been a journey You know, it's discovering kind of like what the medium is about Discovering who I am as a person discovering who are people that I can trust and they've always been centered around this industry Talk to us about some of those successes and those challenges that they may actually help them. Yeah, I think um, you know one of the most important things about you know Starting with something or or or pushing something forward or making it a success is that you know, you just have to jump in there I think that everybody wants me to be perfect They want to kind of hone it in the lab and well, we can't we can't release it until it's perfect We can't like, you know, you have to just kind of like do it Yeah, and then kind of pivot and adapt as you go because the feedback you get from the public Whether you consider that your client or the you know or or the consumer or however you you know define Kind of what you're shooting for is what kind of evolves it along the way. Just dive in. Yeah. Go. Yeah And then take the feedback. I I love that. I feel the same too about Social media a lot of times small business owners just starting out on it. They're like And Yeah, and it's like, yeah, just get some content out there and then see how it does and then take that as feedback Yeah, I mean, there's a thing about Billy don't read the comments and it's like it's all in the comments Yeah, you gotta you know, you whether it's good or bad you need to get in there Yeah, figure out, you know, just show you are and what you're doing and I think that it's it's really important especially when it's something creative too because like I think that you know if you're in a creative space, it's like And it's interesting in this in this medium that we do called neon that it really is art and commerce put together Very quickly and so navigating those two spaces, especially the confluence of them, you know at the intersection of that can definitely be a challenge Where is western neon going like what what is a future look like or what are you all trying to really achieve since the beginning? It was this you know was this gallery, right? Which which is beautiful and then it you know kind of evolves into a sign shop because that's kind of a way for Hey, we got to make some money and actually we're pretty good at this too, right? So you're still kind of doing you know the secretivity, but it's the craft combined and then I think at this point in time You know every time we give a tour to somebody here. They're always walking away like I thought you just made neon But because we offer so much more right and we've kind of had to over the years because you have to have a way to You know fabricate things for the neon to go on you have to have ways to power the neon you have to have Ways to get it out into the world to engineer it to all these different, you know components that go into it and process That I'm really of kind of evolving into a concept design build provider for like you know the the world that we live in, right? So I'm excited for 2020 because I think we're gonna start having the ability to tell that story and to have other people Tell it with us as like that sort of journey that's going somewhere completely different and I think that's exciting for everybody here So speaking of evolving Western neon has clearly evolved a lot I know GoDaddy has evolved a lot and we actually are coming out with a new logo And I here we're turning it into a neon sign Yeah, and you know today We're gonna actually look at picking out the right color blue to make it pop and to make it be exactly what it needs to be to be iconic Yeah, nothing can make something iconic like neon. It's that kind of like really cool concept before you guys have evolved into this It's minimal. It's pointed. It's direct. I think it tells people exactly what they need to know about who you are And I think that you know you hit something I think perfect with this is that you're giving something to people that they didn't know they wanted but that they always need it And that's what you gotta do is what you know, that's what GoDaddy does, right? And so if we get the right color and we get the right sign you guys are gonna be sad. I'm super stoked. Yeah You're hired. You're hired. Hand in the keys. That's a wrap here Western neon and Soto Be sure to comment below. Let us know what you think about the logo Make sure to smash that like button if you like this video guys Thanks so much for being here and please please please you're out there when you're out there when you get on Subscribe to their channel and keep the comments coming. Thanks for being on the show. This is the journey. We'll see you next time