We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cynthia Gamboa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cynthia below.
Cynthia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
Our first client was an up-and-coming real estate agent in the Naperville area who intended to create a big buzz around his new business. I was fortunate to be starting CamMi Photo Booth business right about the same time, and the partnership seemed to be a natural fit for both of our businesses. While at first, I was a staple vendor at his events that provided a fun photo experience for everyone who attended the vendor events, I knew I wanted to scale my business. So I took a small business startup course at the local community college. There, I began to explore corporate clients and clients outside of the events industry. Given the nature of our relationship, I approached the real estate agent with the idea of using the photo booth as a branding opportunity to share his name, contact information, and social medial links on the photo strips. Luckily he was sold on the idea, and we made our first sale outside of family & friends. To this day, the agent will credit the exponential outreach and growth of the events and his business to the success of the branded photo experience we delivered over the course of a year.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Cynthia Gamboa; I am a mother of four and a multipreneur, philanthropist, podcast host, and life-time-student.
Today, proud of how far I have come from the leap of faith in 2015 after leaving my corporate role at a national for-profit college and hiring myself. Shortly after I left the college, I established a consulting firm that served as external human resources consulting and recruiting for companies like Denny’s, Ruby Tuesdays, Country Financial, Farmers Insurance, and Lime Law. After the birth of my third child, I had to reevaluate and remove my recruiter hat. From time to time, I continue to work with companies who seek recruitment assistance, but it is no longer my primary focus.
Because what I am most proud of – has been my personal growth and belief in my passion for developing a business around photography. As a teenager, I once shared my passion for photography and was told I would never make money as a photographer. So, instead, I was encouraged to take business courses in high school and college and follow a very traditional career path after college. As a good Mexican daughter, I followed suit and did what was expected. While I am grateful for the experiences I gained in the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors, they have shaped me to see my small business as a small but mighty entity. Today, I have expanded our service reach to include photo fun and balloons in a luxury event industry market. Over the six years, we have been in operation, we have received the ‘Best of Weddings’ by The Knot five years in a row and are now part of the elite hall of fame best of knot photo booth vendors. And, in the two years, we have incorporated balloon decor services, we have received the attention of balloon brands like TufTex Balloons. We are preparing to once again offer balloon decor classes in Las Vegas for the Event Industry Expo in June.
Our best clients appreciate their investment in a high-quality photo booth experience for their special day. They expect a high-resolution image with knowledgeable photo experts to deliver high-resolution photos to commemorate new memories. Our amazing corporate clients appreciate that we can deliver these qualities and assist in capturing vital information for brand positioning, social media outreach beyond the event, and data analytics to help them assess the ROI in the event’s reach. In the most recent year, we have added branding on Video FX and 360-degree video experiences that rendered short videos that can be shared on multiple social media platforms with ease.
During the pandemic, we had to pivot, and boy, am I glad we did because my creativity and expansion were tested when I decided to add balloon decor to our line of services. In 2010, I took it upon myself to decorate my nephew’s first birthday with balloons and created mini balloon towers for the tables to serve as centerpieces and a tall balloon tower as the centerpiece at the hall’s entrance. Then, I had no air pump or fancy branded balloons. I did my best and learned a lot from inflating hundred of balloons and transporting and decorating multi-surfaces with tape and glue. And that experience came in handy during the spring of 2020 when I decided to create a balloon garland for my daughter’s drive-by birthday celebration. I posted my experience on Facebook and soon realized that so many families needed a visual connector to help them celebrate during a difficult time for the world. And in April 2020 – Pop-Of-Love was born. I positioned our new business services as a balloon garland business that would help families surprise and celebrate one another from afar with a beautiful balloon design. I am happy that my friends and family received our services well and that our photo booth clients converted quickly and easily to our balloon decor clients. And sometimes they are both balloon and photobooth clients for special occasions throughout the year.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Starting a business can feel like an endless game of solitaire. You are constantly at play, but playing alone, so when I decided to become an entrepreneur, I knew I would not be solely responsible for the success of my business. So before I started – I first had to assess my strengths and weaknesses and approach my work style. I started with a list of all the things that made me a good employee — adjectives like a quick learner, organized, and creative came to mind. On multiple personal reviews, I received praise throughout my career for going above and beyond the expectations set for my duties and responsibilities. So naturally, these factors were in the strength section of my self-evaluation. I then listed the dreaded weaknesses I had to learn to overcome or find support. Some of these weaknesses included setting boundaries on my time requirements, accounting, and social media marketing, and when overwhelmed I can procrastinate. Knowing that I was a go-getting but needed help with the bookkeeping and automation of my work, I had to seek resources like a business coach, accountant, and most recently a social media coach. Outsourcing these services has helped me beat the feeling of burnout, overwhelmed, and tired feeling that can come from juggling multiple roles in life.
There is no right or wrong way to assess your strengths and weaknesses; be honest with yourself. And while this might be just the technical side of a business, setting the best practices for your business can create a resilient entrepreneur in you.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearn – and quickly- was that the industry does not set my pricing.
After our second year in business with the photo booth company — I decided that I needed to determine my business pricing. I needed to determine what my services were worth, and in the process, I learned that I was not charging for the services; instead, I was charging for my knowledge, time, and creativity. I had to unlearn that it was not just any photo booth but an experience I was delivering. Today, this applies to our balloon services. We have raised our pricing to meet the caliber of clients we desire and have positioned our photo and balloon services to serve clients who appreciate quality.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cammiphotobooth.com/
- Instagram: https://www.cammiphotobooth.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cammiphotobooth
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiagamboa/
- Other: Pop-Of-Love IG: https://www.instagram.com/pop.of.love2020 FB: https://www.facebook.com/popoflove2020 CamMi Photo Booth The Knot: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/cammi-photo-booth-oswego-il-2002720
Image Credits
Cynthia Gamboa, CamMi Photo Booth