Ep 184: Using creativity to stand out in your business with Sean Edwards, The Balloon Guy

In this episode, Sean Edwards, the founder of The Balloon Guy in Los Angeles, shares his unique journey from a childhood fascination with balloon twisting to becoming a renowned balloon artist known for his impressive decorations. 

Sean talks about the evolution of his business, the creative challenges he faces, and the importance of customer satisfaction. He also offers valuable advice for those looking to start a business in the creative space, emphasizing the importance of starting and trusting the journey. 

Tune in to hear more about Sean's inspiring 'hello moment' and his tips for standing out in a competitive industry.

00:14 Meet Sean Edwards: The Balloon Guy
02:03 From Balloon Twister to Balloon Decorator
03:25 Childhood Dreams and Career Path
04:40 A Defining Moment in Business
07:59 Balancing Creativity and Business
08:57 Standing Out in the Balloon Industry
12:42 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to another episode of the Hello Sia's Dorsey podcast. I have Sean Edwards here on the podcast, the balloon guy. How are you doing today, Sean? I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Yay. So I'm so excited. So let's dive in. So tell everyone who you are and what you do. Sure. So my name is Sean Edwards, and I'm the founder of the Balloon Guy in Los Angeles, California. And basically what I do is we offer, well, I started off as a balloon twister, but we also offer incredible balloon decorations, which is kind of what we're known for now. So let me ask you a side question. Do you do those balloons where they have like an event and they have like the balloons surrounding like this arch and then everybody's like pictures under the arch? Do you do that sort of things? I think so. I mean, we do tons of corporate work or custom work. So like we pretty much do whatever our clients can imagine. That I haven't actually heard of. So there's an arch, like with people's pictures underneath it. What do you mean like a backdrop and then balloons around the backdrop? Yeah. So like a backdrop and they have like cause I just recently went to a baby shower and she had like she had the. The background and everything. And if she had balloons going all around the background and she had like the, the whole picture set up and everything else, like these balloons look really nice. Like I'm seeing it a lot more on Instagram. So I'm like, Hey, do you do that too? Oh yeah. Yeah. We do tons of crazy projects. You know, we've done some pretty insane balloon setups for one year old birthday parties and just like, yeah, even tea. Yesterday we did a woman bought her children a pony, so we went to a barn and set up an amazing balloon display. For, for one of our clients that, that bought her kid a pony. So let's talk about the inspiration behind you starting your business. What was that like for you? Sure. So when I was a kid, I was an only child and my, I was always bored. So my parents would try and get me different kits and things like that to like keep me entertained. That they didn't let me watch television. So that was off the tables and the balloon kit was one of those things. And I, I guess I just got super into it and before long I started doing it in restaurants and that's kind of how I got my start into balloons was doing it, you know, around the neighborhood for like the neighborhood kids and. In restaurants and restaurants was something I always kept up like, and actually, I still do it to this day for pretty fancy places. Now I do like a restaurant off Rodeo Drive here in Beverly Hills at Christmas time. But it's something I've always done is restaurants, and I feel like it helped me to become fast at balloon art. And also, you know, learn how to talk to people and keep them entertained and that kind of thing. So that was really the training for what I would want to do. You know, now I mostly do large scale balloon decorations, but yeah, it all started from that one balloon kit. That's awesome. So let me ask you this. What did you originally want to do? Like when you were a child or growing up, what did you say? Well, I'm going to be this. But you know, sometimes our path kind of like switch a little bit. So what did you originally want to do when you grow up? Well, I went through a couple of different things. There was like, I wanted to be a magician at one point and then I wanted to be a clown. So like I taught myself all these skills like juggling and like face painting and everything to be a clown. And I have some truly frightening pictures of me as a child dressed up like a clown, which we'll never see the light of day. And yeah, so I felt like I went through a couple of different things, but it was always like performance related and always like, Working with the arts, working in the arts and, and that kind of thing. Oh, okay. So your path is kind of like you like paving the way, like you doing what you initially kind of want to do, it just led up to this. So I think that's cool because you know, sometimes we say we want to do things when we grow up and we go a totally different direction. Yeah. Yeah. It definitely wasn't like, I want to be a singer. I was like a balloon artist, you know what I mean? It wasn't that different, you know? Yeah. So can you remember a time in your business or your life where you had a hello moment? Like you had that moment where you were like, yes, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I think the hello moment for me in my business would have been like on site at an event. So I remember very clearly, I was working with, you know a client who's actually one of my favorite clients to this day, and she gave me one of my first opportunities to do balloon decorations for her, I think her child's like 1st or 2nd birthday, and it was pretty small scale at that point. But then later, a couple of years later, she asked me to do balloons for her 40th birthday party. And it was a really large event and it was when I was first starting into balloon decorations and I knew I knew exactly how to do the job, but I was nervous and I had people helping me, but there was this arch and she wanted it. It was a very specific. And very beautiful, but very detailed arch. It wasn't just an arch and a U shape. It had a lot of subtleties to it. And the shape of it was very specific and, and really beautiful, but I really wanted to nail it for her. And the team that I had working on it was not, you know, I had shown them pictures and everything like that. And, and I told them what to do, but they were not nailing it. And I was starting to get nervous. Cause the party was like, I don't know, an hour away or something like that. So I had to just buckle down and just you know, tell my team members to just start bringing me balloons of different sizes. And I went in and I just sculpted the arch, you know, into the shape that it should have been, because it was kind of like, imagine a stick figure of a person, but you needed to create like a fully, Formed person with like you know, 3d elements and eyes and all this stuff and there was nothing there So yeah, I had to go paint the picture myself and when it was done It was beautiful and it was stunning and it was I think even more than what she could have expected and I feel like That was one of those hello moments for me where you're like, wow. Yeah, this is this is exactly where I'm supposed to be Oh, I love it. I love it. It's like you had a, a problem, you solved it and it came out beautiful. And then having that moment like, oh my goodness, like of, of release, but satisfaction and what do you call it? You know, how you get that moment where it's, it's, it's. Yeah, definitely a hello moment. Like, oh, you know, like, it's hard to explain, but yeah, I love it. Yeah, well, and it did help that like, you know, there were no sound effects like you just made, but like, I feel like the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day in LA and like, everyone was arriving at the party at that right time. So like, You know, and people were smiling and happy. The client was thrilled. So yeah, I did have that like big moment where I was like, yeah, this is great. That's amazing. I love those moments. So let's talk about how to use creativity to stand out in your business. Can you talk more on that? Sure. Sure. I feel like Surprising that I feel like that's an interesting question for me, because I feel like my business is about creativity. So I feel like, there's a business side to this business. That's like email and answering leads and getting leads and marketing and all of that stuff. But there's also the creative aspect, which, of course, is the artwork and design. And, you know, Starting with just an idea and turning it into a reality. All of that, that creativity. So I feel like my business really bridges the gap between the two where it is truly a balance between it being a business and it being an art form. I don't know if that answers your question or not, but yeah, no, it actually does. So let me ask you this, like, how do you stand out from others? Cause there's, there's people out there that do, do bloom creativity and it's. It's getting a little bit more prevalent now. I definitely see it pop up Instagram where people are doing those for, you know, parties and everything. And then some people even do them at home themselves, you know, through YouTube videos and whatnot. How do you stand out to make sure that you are separated from the competition? That's a great question. I feel like I don't spend a lot of time sitting around and thinking about the competition, but I can't tell you what separates us commitment to high quality customer service I think is genuinely unique in blue decor because we really. Take the time to work with our clients and really help their specific ideas come to life. Most of what we do is custom. So we're not trying to put people into a box and giving everyone the same kind of thing. We really take the. Time to listen to exactly what our client wants and try and help their vision come to life. We don't kind of put our own ideas onto it. We, of course, we like brainstorm with them and collaborate and all that stuff, but we're not trying to force anybody into 1 direction the other way. I feel like we stand out is the artistic side of it. You know, it's really important to me that at the end of the day my clients are happy. So like I will bend over backwards to ensure that my clients are happy and have a great event because you know, this is a business and it's a serious business and you know, it's about making money short, but it's also a really important moment in people's lives where they're turning to us to make it truly special. And that's exactly what I want to do. I love that response. Yeah, because a lot of people out there. It's all about money and not the customer experience. And like I tell people, you know, if you have to give away something for free, give it out, do your best. And people will say like, Oh, wow, she's giving this away for free. I would love to work with her because I want to see, you know, what the paid is. I think that's very important. A lot of people don't agree with me on that, but you know, that's how, I mean, you think about Costco, I'm kind of like going on a tangent right now, but think about Costco and in a way, you know, we go in there. We say, okay, I need this, this, this, and this, and then we get out. But if you notice, like every Costco has something free and you don't even think about that thing until you actually taste it. Right. And you're like, Oh, this is good. I think I'm going to go buy that. That's the upsell right there, giving it away for free. People like it. And then, you know, they purchase the item after they taste it. So Customer experience is very, very important. And I like the way that you focus on that versus, you know, income revenue and all that, cause you know, you're in a really big business where you have to make everything like look good. So hats off to you. I do love Costco too, by the way, everybody loves a deal. Yes. Right. You know, I mean, think of their business model and then that's how you can definitely model your business as well, you know, and put your own spin to it. So I, I really liked that, you, you point that out because Susan, when you said that, I was like, Oh, the Costco story. So any last minute advice that you have for our listeners out there? Who's wanting to maybe start some sort of business in the creative space, kind of like similar to yours. Do you have any advice for our listeners out there? Start, you know, start today. Like that's the biggest. You know, what is it that saying perfection is the enemy of art? I think that's really true. And I think, of course, you don't want to do something and put it out there that you're not proud of. But at the same time, you've got to get started somewhere. And it's important to just. Get started and figure out things as you go. You know, as long as you know what you're doing and you know what you want to do and you have a clear vision, I think just start your journey and let the pieces fall where they will because it will come together in the end if you keep pushing forward. And I know it's a little corny, but if you keep pushing forward and believe in yourself, that's the most important thing. So where can everyone find you? So we're on Instagram at Balloon Guy LA and our website is pretty easy. It's just the balloon guy, la. com and yeah, plenty of photos and stuff up there of our current projects. And we've got some pretty cool stuff in the works as well. Well, definitely those up in the show notes. Well, Sean, I thank you so much for being on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.