The Bright Balloon

What if your next backdrop was one you never had to return for? This week's guest turned custom signage into the biggest part of her business... and now she's making it easy for the rest of us to lean into custom prints, too. I'm so excited to introduce you to Chelsa of Custom Sign Sisters in Indianapolis. She started out with yard sign rentals alongside her sister and kept saying yes to new clien...

Balloons are cheap. A full calendar means you're making money. You don't have to be artistic to have a successful balloon business. These are some of the myths floating around the balloon industry… sometimes from our customers and sometimes in our own minds.  So in this interview with Heidy of Decor by Heidy, we're talking about how believing these myths are quietly holding your business back. Wea...

They said yes... now how much do you pay them? If you've ever DMed a balloon friend for help on a big job and then panicked in your group chat about what's fair, this episode is for you. I'm sharing real numbers and the one change I'm making to how I hire help from now on. Hiring another balloon pro is one of the biggest mysteries in our industry. There's no standard day rate, no contract and usua...

What if you could skip the whole balloon sustainability debate? Our guest in this episode does just that, and might be the first person to change my mind about how to actually implement practical sustainability efforts. I'm chatting with Jen, owner of Wonderwall Event Co. in Maryland, and from the get-go, she made sustainability a core part of her business. Now, she has corporate clients looking p...

In 2024, Melody sold her van, sold her famous disco ball wall and told the whole internet she was done. She took several months off from designing anything for events. Then one day, a huge opportunity came her way, and now she's back... but the business she came back to looks almost nothing like the one she left. Melody owns Feathered Fox Designs and is the original creator of the disco ball wall...

Forty years, 3 generations and a product that has never been made more than five miles from where it started. HI-FLOAT is back on the podcast, this time represented by wife and husband duo Andrea and Philip, and we got into all of it: the wonderful family business story, working with a spouse, pricing and even a few tips and tricks for using their products. Between them they have more than 50 year...

Ten years ago I didn't know how having a half dozen colors in my logo would actually limit my branding options. AI can absolutely help you avoid that mistake... but it can also walk you straight into it. In this episode I'm joined once again by Courtney of Courtney Lynette Creative Co., and we're talking about AI and branding from a designer's point of view. Courtney builds websites and branding f...

Ever gone down a rabbit hole trying to figure out when the next balloon training is happening? Same. Turns out one of our own spotted that gap and decided to build the fix herself. Dori of Total Party returns to the podcast and this time we're live at the International Balloon Convention. First up in the conversation: balloonindustrycalendar.com, the free resource she created to put every balloon...

Have you seen the massive sorority balloon installs from Arkansas? Well this episode is a re-release with Maggie of Presley Paige and she and her team are the ones behind so many of these mind-blowing jobs. We chatted two years ago and this episode is still one of our favorites so we are releasing it once again! She also has a retail store that you'll hear about! I learned so much from this interv...

Some people find one thing they're good at and settle in. Chris keeps building new roads. He's a Sydney-based balloon business owner who's also the creator of Balloon Pro, a world-traveling organics teacher and a consultant and judge on the TV show Blow Up.  In this episode we talk about how he went from balloon artist to industry innovator, and what that journey actually looked like up close. Chr...

Jill built the largest retail balloon shop in North America... then walked away from it on her own terms. If you have ever wondered how someone actually retires from a balloon business, this is the conversation. We get into why most retail shops go under, what "processed out" really means and a calendar trick that might change how you plan your entire year. Jill pulls back the curtain on what sepa...

What if a random idea at a balloon class turned into a full building-sized install that had an entire town stopping traffic to take photos? That's exactly what happened for Jodie of Pop by Posh Party Designs and Event Space. She pulled off a massive collaborative flamingo install in Leominster, Massachusetts, with 14 other balloon pros. Not only that, but she also scored two brand sponsorships, a...

What if your next big marketing win came from a rainy day you almost skipped? Tashonda of The Balloon Parlor got her face on a Cincinnati city bus for free... then gave half the space away to her community. This episode is a masterclass in generous, low-cost marketing. Tashonda has been in business for about six years, works corporate and private events and sits on the board of her local Chamber o...

I'll be honest; I've spent months calling my ChatGPT dumb. It ignores me, promises spreadsheets it never makes and generally acts like it went to a different school than everyone else's. Then I talked to my friend Lenor... and realized the dummy in that situation might be me. In this episode I catch up with my longtime balloon buddy Lenor of Lights Camera Selfies / Elevate Your Skills, who runs ba...

What happens when a former social worker, a military veteran and their soul sister decide to go all-in on balloons? You get one of the most creative business models I've seen in a while. In this episode I'm sitting down with Heather and Brian from Soul Sisters Creations in Marysville, Ohio; just outside of Columbus. These two (plus their third partner Megan) went from doing nine events a week out...

Ever feel like you're leaving money on the table without even realizing it? In this episode, I'm breaking down eight ways I've found free money hiding in my balloon business; from credit card points to reusing balloons to rental items that practically print profit. Whether you're just getting started or you've been in the game for years, these strategies can help you squeeze more juice out of the...

In this episode I am joined by Shelby who is the owner of Sunny Day Party Art and we are talking about self care and mental health. This was a great interview - a lot of relatable conversation, but also with helpful tips and practical strategies that Shelby is sharing… not as a therapist, but as a fellow balloon decorator, to deal with the stress that comes with this job. We talk about parenthood,...

She went from making her first balloon mosaic with Party City balloons to decorating the Rogers Stadium for the World Series. And the strategy behind her growth? Simpler than you think. In this live episode from the International Balloon Convention, I sat down with Ana Karina of AK Balloons. She is originally from Venezuela, now based in Toronto, Canada, and came to the balloon industry from the c...

Ever wondered about the people behind the balloons you use every single day? This episode is one of those career-highlight conversations you don't want to miss. I sat down with Leo and Marcela of Sempertex at the Sempertex International Balloon Convention in Orlando. Leo is the CEO and Marcela, the VP of Sales and Marketing. We talk about the incredible 87-year history of this family-owned company...

If you run a balloon business by yourself, you might get to the point where you just can't do it all alone anymore, and that can be a very overwhelming place to be. So I sat down with Jessica, the owner of Balloons by F&F, and we had a very honest conversation about hiring:  Who to hire first, The little details about hiring that are easy to forget, What tools are helpful for tracking the work, So...

If your phone's camera roll looks anything like mine, it's just thousands of pictures of balloons, mixed in with screenshots of inspiration, mixed in with photos of my family… and no strategy or organizational method to the madness.    So in this episode, I'm talking with Dionne, a professional photo manager. She owns Captured Memories Photo Solutions and we are both 17hats ambassadors.    She sha...

What's actually working for balloon business marketing, and what's a waste of money? In this panel episode, I'm joined by Renisha of Chic Balloons and Alex of Blown Away Decor for a candid conversation about finding clients, spending wisely and what they'd tell someone just starting out. You'll hear our discussion about each of these marketing methods: Word mouth and local Facebook groups Chamber...

In this episode I'm joined by Jacqui, who has been in business for 33 years… so I think it's self-explanatory why I wanted to have her on the show . But you'll also hear about the very interesting work she did before balloons! We are talking about how to build and sustain a business that long, how to keep a passion for balloons, the secret to continuing to make money year after year after year and...

In this episode I am joined by Carolina, and we are going to crack the code on corporate sales! Carolina is the owner of Balloon Element and she is also the owner of Grow My Balloon Biz.  She takes us through her own trial and error in approaching corporate clients over the years, and then shares the method she found that actually made the biggest impact… which is simpler than you think!   Listen...

In this episode, we're talking about one of my favorite topics: outsourcing your admin work to a virtual assistant. I'm interviewing Nicole, who is my virtual assistant. She's also the owner of Let Nicole Help, and she offers many other services but for me, she primarily helps with sales. She is my client-facing, invoice-sending admin genius who has freed me up from computer work so that I can foc...