445. Getting your foot in the door for Bid Day balloons
The Bright Balloon
Eleven sorority houses, 30-foot columns and an overnight install with the whole campus watching on Instagram. So how does a balloon business even get a foot in that door? This week I’m talking with Ashley, owner of The Balloon Lab. Her team decorated four sorority houses for bid day this year, and she’s sharing how she got there: the jumbo foil heart outreach that put her in front of every house on campus, calendar deposits that lock in next year, pricing inside each sorority’s budget and why her mock-ups only happen after a house books. We also talk about how her business runs...
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444. Could printed props be your next moneymaker?
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 client requests until her business became something completely custom. Listen to her blow my mind as we talk about the kinds of things she’s made using all sorts of materials, her Print + Ship...
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443. Balloon myths that are costing you
The Bright Balloon
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. Weather, education, hiring and sustainability are also on the table in this discussion that just might include a few hot takes. In the UGlu Hotline, hear how one listener searches...
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442. How much should you pay another balloon pro?
The Bright Balloon
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 usually just a handshake agreement. So in this free preview of the private feed On The Bright Side, I'm getting transparent about when I bring in subcontractors, how I find the right people and what I...
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441. The library box that became free advertising
The Bright Balloon
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 past other decorators to hire her because of it. She walks us through the branded pop and drop box she campaigned to get into her local library, the prepaid return mailers she leaves with corporate...
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440. She quit balloons then came back different
The Bright Balloon
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 you have absolutely seen on Instagram. It was an old neck injury that made her stop entirely, but when CoverGirl asked her to help with an activation at Coachella she couldn’t say no. But, she...
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439. What the HI-FLOAT family sees that you don't
The Bright Balloon
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 years inside this industry, plus a bird's eye view most of us never get because they teach classes all over the country. They see hundreds of decorators price their work in real time, and find that most...
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438. AI building your brand: dos and don’ts
The Bright Balloon
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 for a lot of balloon artists, so she knows exactly where this tends to go wrong. We get into why AI is a brainstorming tool and not a finishing tool, how to train it so it stops handing you...
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437. One website that lists every balloon event
The Bright Balloon
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 training, class, seminar and conference in one searchable place. Seriously, go bookmark it through the link below. Then we switched gears to the MBP (Master Balloon Profesional) Sempertex...
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Bid Day Insanity with Maggie from Presley Paige | Re-Release
The Bright 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 interview and know that you’ll pick up some gems as well. Her business actually started as a retail shop and over time they added balloon decor services because of all the customer requests. Hear...
info_outlineForty 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 years inside this industry, plus a bird's eye view most of us never get because they teach classes all over the country. They see hundreds of decorators price their work in real time, and find that most are undervaluing themselves. So listen in for the pricing math too many people skip and more things HI-FLOAT wish decorators knew.
In the UGlu Hotline, hear how one listener makes sure that her birthday bouquets always display the correct number.
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