If you’ve noticed the extra glow at events throughout Huntsville and surrounding areas, you’ve probably seen Huntsville Glow in action! When Huntsville-native Sharon Carter attended her nephew’s high school graduation in Brentwood, Tenn. in 2021, a business idea was born. As she watched the ceremony unfold on the high school football field, she noticed a set of glowing “2021” numbers, and something clicked. A long line of families eager to pose with the illuminated display made her think: Why doesn’t Huntsville have something like this?

Carter pitched the idea to her longtime friend Brandi Russell to do something similar in Huntsville. Both women were in similar stages of life, raising children and looking for a creative, flexible business opportunity that wouldn’t demand the full-time grind of corporate work.

Brandi was in, and with the help of their husbands, the duo engineered and built their own inventory of large illuminated letters. Sharon’s husband, Landon, designed the letters while Brandi’s husband, Doug, welded metal stands for each one and added aluminum wrapping and lighting.

Fast forward to today, and the two are founders and co-owners of Huntsville Glow, providing custom-built illuminated letters, numbers, and symbols for events across North Alabama. They’ve been part of events of all shapes and sizes over the past four years–weddings, corporate galas, festivals, school events, anniversary and birthday parties, and more. Huntsville Glow has become a familiar and eye-catching feature at area events.

While Huntsville Glow started with just numbers and letters, four years later, their inventory now includes creative symbols like hearts, hashtags, question marks, and even exclamation points! They have more than 115 handcrafted letters, numbers, and symbols, all made in-house using durable plywood and aluminum finishes. Their letters and numbers are all 4 feet tall, which makes a huge visual impact and sets them apart from the competition.

Their first gig was a 50th wedding anniversary in 2021. Their first corporate event was for Boeing. The aerospace giant needed the word “CARNIVAL” for a conference at the Von Braun Center, and the Huntsville Glow team worked tirelessly to create an entire new set of letters.

“We had nothing but a five and a zero,” Carter laughed. “But we said yes anyway with just four days to make CARNIVAL.”

Hustle and hard work has been central to Huntsville Glow’s growth. Just like anything else, Carter said, you have to put in the effort.

“We’ve learned to put on our entrepreneur glasses,” Carter explained. “In addition to regular online searches, we keep an eye out every time we’re out and about. For example, when we’re driving around town and see billboards advertising an event that’s happening, we make a mental note to look into that and contact them to see if they’re interested in working with us. We now also listen to the radio commercials when we used to turn off them immediately, like everybody else does. We’re listening out for local events such as grand openings, concerts, etc. We’re just really focused on continually looking for opportunities. We’ve gotten a number of jobs just by making contact with the event planners.”

Social media has also played a huge role in the popularity of the business. Carter manages the company’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, constantly updating with new photos and reminding everyone of Huntsville Glow’s service. “It’s all about continual visibility,” she said, “and remembering that no one will work harder to promote our business than we will. It’s a critical part of the job.”

The team handles everything from setup to takedown, making it easy for customers to focus on other event details. “All we need from them is to show us where to set everything up,” Carter said. “Our goal is to make it seamless for the customer.”

Huntsville Glow letters and numbers look great both indoor and outdoors, but of course outdoor events come with unique challenges such as wind. A few years ago, during the Downtown Rescue Mission’s annual Glow Run 5K, it was so windy they had to design a special system in real time to ensure extra stability, keeping safety always as their number one priority.

Even as competitors enter the Huntsville market, Carter believes Huntsville Glow stands apart. “We’re a homegrown company that started from absolute ground zero. We hustle and don’t wait for potential clients to find us—we do our homework and often find them!,” she said.

While Carter never imagined herself as a salesperson, she’s embraced the challenge.

“I’ve learned that when it’s something I care about, I’m not shy about promoting it. I stopped at Maple Street Biscuit Company in Clift Farms a couple of years ago. Their grand opening was the next day, and I said, ‘Hey we could help make this really special!’ and we ended up setting up the word ‘BISCUITS’ for them. It looked so cute and definitely helped draw attention.”

Another thing Carter has learned is how to handle rejection when an event organizer says no. “Sometimes they’re just going in a different direction,” she said, “and that’s okay. You just keep going.”

Carter said she thinks the illuminated displays are so popular because they are unique and different from traditional event decorations. The letters are also versatile, perfect to use at both daytime or evening events for added elegance, fun, and beautiful photo ops for guests.

They recently displayed a last name at a wedding and the mother of the bride said it made the whole event! “Everyone was talking about it, and everyone wanted their picture with it. It just added to the elegance of the evening.”

But on the flip side, their letters add so much fun for more casual events. For example, people loved getting their pictures next to ‘We Heart Chicken’ at Chick-fil-A in Clift Farms. They’ve also partnered with Chick-Fil-A the last two years to provide a great photo op for the community’s graduating seniors.

Huntsville Glow is the story of how hard work, creativity, and determination pay off. The team looks forward to continuing to grow the business and hopes to someday expand to offer franchises to entrepreneurs in other cities. They now have everything needed to help others get started, including hundreds of photos to share as examples on social media. Carter said someday there could even be a Chattanooga Glow or Birmingham Glow!

To get a quote on adding some extra glow at your next event, contact Huntsville Glow on their website https://www.huntsvilleglow.com/ , Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hsvglow/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HuntsvilleGLOW/