Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexa Wroten. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Alexa, thanks for joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

I’ve made many investments as a business owner in an attempt to keep up with trends. I saw what other artist in my area where offering and felt I had to offer the same service. I saw was popular on social media and felt like I too had to offer those same things. Let’s take the chiara wall for example. You may know them as those large curved walls that are customized in different colors, sayings and adorned with balloons. They were all the rage in the last 5 years or so.

Chiara walls come in many forms, some artist opt for collapsible walls that have fabric coverings, which is more portable however customization is limited and you risk wrinkling of the fabric.

Other artist opt for wooden walls. The look of a wooden wall is what I was after. It looked more professional (in my opinion) and the customization options were endless. Offering wooden chiara walls takes man power to move and a van or box truck to transport. The artist that typically offer wooden walls, probably have their own vans, box trucks and team working for them. I am a one woman show in a Honda, so I knew that that this investment would be a little more complex for me.

As an artist with no van at the moment, I started off with collapsible walls, but felt like it wasn’t giving me or my clients the look we were trying to achieve, so I decided to invest hundreds of dollars into wooden chiara walls. I partnered with a local carpenter who made me these huge walls, that I knew I was not going to be able to lift or transport on my own. I decided I’d deal with that logistics of it as I went, I took a risk, that ended up being more of a headache than a reward.

Although the chiara wall clients paid big money, it simply was not worth the headache for me. I began to dread chiara wall bookings for a number of reasons. Each time the wall went out it was painted to the client’s desired color, which meant alot of time spent in hardware stores chasing the perfect paint color. It also meant that a layer of anxiety was adding on to an already hectic installation day. On installation day, I had 2 options, I can either A.) Rent a box truck or van and ask a family member or friend to load and unload the walls for me or B) I can hire a mover to pick it up and drop it off at the location of the party. But keep in mind, its always a double back, which means that once the event is over, I have to do the same process to get the chiara walls back home.

I was sick of having to depend on someone else to fulfil this portion of the service for me. Even something as simple as propping the walls up to paint and prepare them took assistance from others and I was not comfortable offering a service to someone that I could not completely manage end to end on my own.

One morning, while setting up a chiara wall install for an engagement party, one of my chiara walls just randomly crashed. I guess the base was not properly secured and it just literally fell over. I was able to rush over to break the fall, but not before it damaged the table and place settings that were in front of it. The fall caused the paint to chip in ways that would be completely noticeable to the client. Of course my perfect custom painted chiara walls were damaged and I am an hour away from home and 40 min. from the nearest hardware store. I ended up arranging the balloons and floral design so that I could disguise the error, but that was enough for me to call it quits. I’m so thankful that this took place during set up and not during the actual event where it could have hurt someone. But for me, that was it, I was done.

I felt that I was so pressed to offer chiara walls because every other popular artist in my city was doing it, but these other popular artist are in different places in their careers than I am, and that’s ok! They have vans and employees who can make this a breeze for them, but I had to get back to basics and remember why I started the business. I didn’t start it to become popular, I started it because blowing up balloons genuinely made me happy. I have to check myself sometimes and remember that I’m only a year a few months into my business, it’s ok that I don’t have the employees, and warehouses and brand deals. I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I need to offer services that are within my scope of knowledge and capability.

I’ve decided to replace chiara walls with other fun, professional, portable rental options, and if I must have one, I have tons of vendor friends I can rent one from.

Alexa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, I’m Lexie and after 6 years of climbing the corporate ladder, I finally had to admit to myself, that I’m an artist who happens to use balloons as medium. I am the owner of Air & Color Balloon Co, formally known as Dream Balloon Studio.

I was an employee relations practitioner for a prominent tech company and ending up taking a break to bring my first baby into the world. During my mommy gap year from corporate America, I found myself inflating balloons for my daughter’s first birthday. I was dreading doing my own balloons, but I found that I actually enjoyed the process. My daughter’s 1st birthday is what launched my business.

The business started carefree, light, airy, happy and fun and those feelings remain the core essence of my business and the services I offer. All of my services feature organic balloon decor. That basically means that all of the balloons are different shapes and sizes and the work takes on an organic look and feel in nature. I don’t force things to work, it just is what it is. I let the art naturally take place and I enjoy using organically occurring features in the room to compliment the work.

I’m proud of the fact that my clients can look at me and see themselves in me. I was the corporate client in the boardroom, but I’m also the backyard party mom who just wants something beautiful for their kid’s special day. I’m the daughter helping celebrate a special moment with parents. I’m also the wife planning an extravagant event. Whatever the day, whatever the vibe, I’ve been there and Air & Color Balloon Co. can deliver.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Last year I read a book called, “We Should all be Millionaires” by Rachel Rodgers. When I read it I was operating as a business owner, young wife and new mom. My business was up and down, like any entrepreneur you have good months and you have bad months and I was “ok” with that. But the lifestyle I wanted and the type of woman I wanted to model for my daughter influenced me to respond to recruiters who had been reaching out on LinkedIn. I was really enjoying the break from the pressures of typical corporate life, but I decided to take a risk on spending less time with my business and potentially less time with my daughter to jump back in.

It turns out that one of the roles that a recruiter reached out to me about was the perfect role just waiting for me. It’s like it fell in my lap, I didn’t have to fight for it and most importantly it still allows me the room to show up 100% for my business and my family.

That book encouraged me to go harder and generate multiple streams of serious income.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

By way of this business, I learned that your competition can be your friends! I had to unlearn toxic competition. One of the popular and most talented artist in my city has become my literal best friend. I’ve also had really cool paid opportunities from other artist as well. It literally pays to be friendly. You learn so much from your competition and it’s nice to lean on them for support should you ever need it. I’ve built a community of other talented balloon stylist. I think its easy to create “fake beef” and toxic competition with others, but its so much nicer to be nice.

Contact Info:

• Website: airandcolor.com
• Instagram: @airandcolorballoonco
• Other: 

Image Credits
Henry Jones Photography IG: @henryjonesphotography