The Bright Balloon

Personally, I've had awesome luck running a home-based business, but I know that can't and won't always be the case. Jamie comes on the show for this episode to tell us all about her new shop, including special considerations she took in the process of getting it.   It was so fun to hear Jamie's business story again. From laid off, to every balloon popping on her first job, to now having her own s...

Here's another overview of what we've been learning about over in the Bright Balloon Book Club! Join here! Last month, we read through Business Made Simple by Donald Miller and I have a few takeaways that I'll share in this bonus episode.   Thanks to our sponsors!  Havin' a Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT) Asset Lab

So the topic of this episode might feel a little bit scary, but I actually came away from this recording session with a lot of ideas! Elizabeth and Jeff share a bunch of proactive things that you can do when you see inflation starting to affect your business and the things around you. From analyzing your pricing and profitability to adjusting your marketing strategy, there are plenty of things you...

Thank you all so much for participating in this "ask me anything" on Instagram! I really had a lot of fun thinking through these questions and how I handle them in my business. I've left quite a few resources here in the show notes that relate to the answers to your questions, and hope that I was able to share some helpful insight!     TIMESTAMPS: 1:58 - backdrops, invoices, helium and diversifyin...

To be honest, I never thought I would record an episode like this! But while it's still pretty fresh, I wanted to give the run-down of what it looks like to have hired someone to help me inflate my balloons. This episode has all the juicy details...why I decided I finally needed to hire help, what was holding me back, how I found and trained her, what's working, what's not and what I pay her! If y...

In this episode I'm going to take you through how the most common money sabotages could be affecting your balloon business.    Plus, I'll share my own most recent sabotage, what I'm doing to self-correct and how I found a solution that satisfies all three of my top money archetypes, allowing me to stay in alignment with my goals.   It's a pretty humbling episode, so I hope you'll listen in and ben...

Here's another overview of what we've been learning about over in the Bright Balloon Book Club!  Join here! Last month, we read through Purple Cow by Seth Godin and despite accidentally getting the older version of the book, I still had some key takeaways.   Thanks to our sponsors! Havin' a Party Wholesale Asset Lab

Money Personality Quiz I have absolutely fallen in love with learning about money mindset and money personalities lately! In fact, I feel like I've gained this superpower that helps me understand myself, my business, my customers and the people around me in a whole new way. In this episode, I'm sharing with you what the 8 different money personalities (or archetypes) are, my own archetypes and how...

In this episode, I'm talking with my balloon bestie, Dennis Scott, who I first met at a face painting convention. Over the years we've helped each other with some of our biggest jobs, as we both run our balloon businesses on the side of our full-time jobs.   He has a lot of experience hiring short-term help, which is exactly why I wanted to bring him on the show!   The idea of hiring is a big hurd...

My friend Meg from 365 Days of Balloons had a great idea to do an entire episode related to some of the red flags we've all experienced with our clients.   But this won't be a daunting, miserable episode. It's lighthearted, fun and full of things that probably only we, as balloon professionals, can understand.   Thank you all so much for sending these in - I had a blast reading through them and re...

Lilly of The Creative Heart Studio takes us behind the scenes in this episode to share about the product development process for her artist apparel that is so widely used in the balloon world.    I think it's a pretty fascinating process and give her so much credit for the patience involved to see a product come to fruition!     RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Creative Heart Studio   Havin' A Party Whole...

We are moving to 5 episodes per month! From now on, I'll be giving an overview of what we've been learning about over in the Bright Balloon Book Club!  Join here! Last month, we read through The Pumpkin Plan and it seriously changed my life! I hope you enjoy this overview and my key takeaways. The first two episodes of the Pumpkin Plan are set to public so you can go take the book club for a test...

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be recording my 100th episode I would have been so skeptical! Big thanks to all of you who have been listening along in this journey.   What better way to celebrate the occasion than with a huge interview and big announcement!   The announcement: registration for The Big Balloon Build in my town, (Lake Geneva, WI) is NOW OPEN! If you're interested...

It's one thing to reflect back on a single year in business, but wait until you hear some of the insights of Larry's DECADES of work in the balloon industry!   We talk about sales, budgeting and why business becomes so personal. But we also hear about his adaptability during terribly hard times like 9/11 and the pandemic.   I had such an incredible time interviewing Larry and am so thankful for ev...

Thanks to so many of you for following along during my Instagram reels experiment this past month!    After posting a reel every day for the past 30 days, I've been through so many emotions and I'm still a little unsure how I feel about them. But in the end I do think I've found a way to incorporate reels into my balloon business in a way that actually makes good business sense.   Listen in to hea...

There are so many points in your business where it feels like you need to wait for permission to take the next step... to buy the van... to move out of your home location, etc.   But sometimes you just need to go for it! In this episode, Melody and I talk about the ways that just going for it and figuring things out along the way have helped us grow our businesses in ways we couldn't really have p...

In this episode I'm looking back on my attempt at the "red x month", and let me tell you... because I wasn't as busy, it gave me some time to really sit down and analyze how I felt about my business and what I wanted it to be.   Then I also suddenly realized that instead of a "red x month", I was actually implementing an approach I read about years ago, from one of my favorite authors. It didn't a...

We've all seen it all over Instagram. The creation of custom colors by double-stuffing balloons. But is it the right move for your business?   In this episode, Joette of ballooncoach.com and I discuss the ways that this can actually hurt your business. Is it eating your profit? What happens when a layer pops?   Listen in to hear about some things you should consider before double-stuffing, and som...

This is one of the most unique interviews we've had yet, because Kelly will be sharing with us how she's prepared to run two balloon businesses in two different states!   I really appreciate her transparency about this process and the value she places on the quality of life as a business owner.   We talk about adding staff, adding income streams, dealing with customers on their biggest days, busin...

This episode is back to the list-style format, where I'll walk you through 10 things you should double-check are listed and available on your website.   Some are more of a nice bonus than others, but are super easy to implement.   I really hope you find this list helpful and that any updates you make will mean more leads, smoother processes and more sales for your business!   And if you discover s...

It is so, so easy to fall into the trap of over serving by providing more balloons than your customer actually paid for. But the thing is, I think it's risky!   In this episode, I'll share with you 5 reasons why I think it's risky, plus 5 things you can do instead to over serve... and they won't take tons of money out of your pocket.   I'd love to hear if you're doing any of them already, or which...

I really wasn't sure what to expect for my first experience of a Big Balloon Build, and wow, I'll admit... working on such a massive crew was pretty challenging at times since I am so used to working on my own!   But Bee was sure to keep the end goal in mind throughout the build, which helped her bring a calm presence that was much needed.   In this interview Bee and I chat about what it's like to...

It's officially been a full year since I've made two huge changes in my business: having a shop and buying a van!   In this episode, I'm running through all of the ways these decisions have impacted my business... including the domino affects.   Plus, I'll let you know which one I'd recommend you go for first if you can!     TIMESTAMPS: 02:46 - the pros and cons of having a shop 07:58 - a domino a...

In this week's episode, I'm catching up with Joe from Havin' a Party and we are talking about business growth and what some artists are doing as they outgrow their home-based businesses.  Joe will even help you hand pick your inventory so your brand and style are represented in your own Balloon Bar. RESOURCES MENTIONED: Asset Lab   Havin' A Party Wholesale   ____________________________ The LASER...

Email marketing for my balloon business is always the thing that falls by the wayside... can you relate?   After feeling the relief of handing off email marketing for the podcast (then watching it grow in the way it has) I quickly knew I needed to find a similar solution for my balloon business.   And thanks to the help of some familiar podcast guests... we've made it happen!   In this week's epis...