We recently connected with Elisia Sanchez and have shared our conversation below.

Elisia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I am not throwing away my shot – Alexander Hamilton

In March of 2021 a previous director of mine asked me if I would do balloons for an event at her job. Graciously I agreed and said yes! When most people think of balloons they think of helium tied to a string. But we are talking about large arches, mosaic letters filled with balloons and simple balloon designs. This was all I knew how to do at that time. At the time I didn’t know what the Lord had in store for me.
I knew this job would be too big for me to do on my own. I solicited the help of my mother who is now my business partner. What I thought would be a one time thing was only the birth of something much bigger. After we finished the event we looked at each other and said this would be a good way to make extra income. I was saving for a house and I knew this would help me in my goal. The idea was to do this for fun as a way to bond and we’ll make a few extra dollars here and there to offset personal expenses and save. We had a tiny rubbermaid container in the garage and stuffed all of our balloons in that box. We had 4 poles we bought to create columns and agreed that this is how we would start. These poles would be our “bread and butter”.
I believe during that time I was avid about posting on Facebook and joining small mom groups in our area. I would post nearly everyday and would pay small advertising fees. Our prices were so low that we would buy materials and focus on just getting our name out there versus making a reasonable profit. But because of the quality of work some of the customers who started with us in the beginning are still here today! After 6 or so months we realized we had something going here. Our business just needed a name. We wrestled with this for some time and finally it clicked! Bear Party Essentials!
My parents call me Bear because I always find a way to drop something or make loud noises unintentionally. As my mom would say “E is a Bear in a China Shop”. Our family all has little nicknames for one another. For example my dad has graciously been given the name “The Fun Police”… well that name is pretty self explanatory. But it was because of The Fun Police that we came up with “Party Essentials”. It was simple when you think of throwing a party there are certain essentials that you need. BOOM, Bear Party Essentials was born from there! 3 years later we have done over 100 events and have nearly doubled our following! All praises to the man above.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a family owned business Bear Party Essentials focuses on creating unique backdrops, balloons, and event design for special occasions including gender reveal parties, baby and wedding showers, birthday celebrations, and proposal photos. Any kind of event, wedding, or special occasion will benefit from any of our services.

We help you bring your vision to life with our designer services, which include unique design, production, execution, and styling for your event. Do you only need a background or dessert display? Use our most popular backdrop design service. We also provide designer-curated bundles that allow you to easily modify colors and add props to make the process go more smoothly.

Our objective at Bear Party Essentials is to curate and produce evolutionary party décor and events that reflect our clients’ ideas and desires, all while creating harmony, cohesiveness, and peace among our staff and vendor partners. We believe in the power of teamwork and joint effort to bring to life the most wonderful events!

Our event design and styling service will help you realize your vision by personalizing photo backdrops, dessert displays, welcome displays, and even table decorations to match your theme. Following your booking, we will develop packages based on your needs and budget and deliver mockups. We will set up, style, and breakdown on the day of execution.

I think the coolest part of our business is that it is family owned! We don’t just say that we mean that. We have the whole family on board from wood backdrop creation, to security! Neither one of us have a business degree but we do have strong minds and a heart open to receiving information. When you go to work it is supposed to be filled with joy, have purpose and meaning! That is what Bear Party is to us!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Establishing a business may be a very fulfilling experience in terms of both money and personal fulfillment. It’s an opportunity to become your own boss, follow your passion, and take charge of your financial destiny. There are several additional strong arguments for launching a business, even beyond these apparent advantages. I usually advise against being “scared” since life will really have “up and down moments.” However, the benefits of doing what you love outweigh the negatives when you think about it. Dealing with family members might be risky, but in this case, it has been a true benefit. Occasionally, it might be difficult to go forward when your business partner does not know you personally. Conversely, other people find that working with a business partner who just comprehends and views you as such works as well.
However, the fact that I get to work with someone who understands me and can tell whether I’m delighted, bewildered, astonished, or upset helps Bear Party grow! It is crucial to have someone who understands you and how your head functions when attempting to manage a business.
I am not able to claim any of the business’s development. My business partner looks at me and says, “This is what we’re going to do,” as if God has spoken to her. Since it is outside of my comfort zone, 99.99% of the time I am apprehensive, but it always works out, and that is how we develop customers. Because we always push ourselves beyond our comfort zones, Bear Party has been greatly blessed by the Lord!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being different, showing that we care about every little detail!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bearpartyessentials.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bear_party_essentials/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088544329826
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bear-party-essentials-arcadia-2

Image Credits
@bear_party_essentials