The Bright Balloon

Here's another bonus episode of what we've been learning about over in the Bright Balloon Book Club! Join here! Last month, we read through The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. This episode is a brief overview of the key takeaways!   Thanks to our sponsors!  Havin' a Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIGHT) Balloon Suite

Before I get into the details of how I'm outsourcing my Grab & Go Garlands, let me take you through a brief history of my progression with Grab & Gos: - started the service last year with inspiration from Ali of Charming Garlands - established a pickup spot that felt more appropriate than at my home - generated about $12k of additional revenue in 2022 because of the Grab & Gos! - created a Grab an...

This episode is all about positive reflection on 2022! My wins, your wins and our collective win-wins! I've absolutely LOVED reading your comments on Instagram and am so inspired and grateful to you all for sharing.   Some wins from 2022 that I'm so excited about: The book club, and specifically The Pumpkin Plan Hiring bookkeepers and an inflator Learning and growing from interviews, plus a bucket...

In this episode, I'll share with you some of my favorite gift ideas for your clients, your employees, other vendors you work well with... and yourself! I've even got some no-cost gift ideas to share, and acceptable ways to repurpose balloons as gifts in your community.   My favorite types of gifts are always small, consumable things that don't put much pressure on myself or the recipient, because...

This will be the first year that I've ever had a full marketing strategy going into the year. I just feel like turnover at so many companies has not slowed down since the pandemic, and it's time for me to start taking better care of some of the relationships I have with my best customers.   My actual strategy, though, might surprise you!   My approach will include: Facebook first: posting with pur...

I LOVE goal-setting, and that it gives me something to reflect back on when I'm feeling lost or confused with different choices available to me. In this episode, I'm walking you through how I've filled out the latest version of the Bright Balloon Business Planner! Including: - what my 2022 goals were - the symbolic upgrades that helped me reach them - more reflection on my business - what I'm work...

Here's another bonus episode of what we've been learning about over in the Bright Balloon Book Club! Join here! Last month, we read through Chill and Prosper by Denise Duffield-Thomas, who always inspires me. I'll share a few key takeaways from that book and cover a few other top lessons learned in the book club this year.   Thanks to our sponsors!  Havin' a Party Wholesale (save 5% with code BRIG...

I love automation and figuring out ways that technology can save me time. I would actually estimate that the mix of platforms I'll be telling you about in this episode save me 5 hours of work a week! It can definitely be a process to implement some of these, but knowing what kind of freedom is at the end of it really does make it worth it. I just know that having these automations is what has allo...

Chase and Alex from Premium Conwin come on the show for this episode to talk about how their two companies joined forces for the better of the balloon industry.   Their support at some of our biggest events has been simply incredible and I can't wait to see and experience what's ahead thanks to their merger. For so long, these two companies have felt like the backbone of balloon decor and now we w...

I've been getting a lot of messages lately about balloon drops, so I thought I would dedicate a whole episode to share some of my thoughts and experiences with them!    They're so much different from regular decor because they have to actually function and entertain your customers. And that can make them really stressful! But balloon drops are such a great way to get your foot in the door at place...

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...