We were lucky to catch up with Holly Kallemyn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Holly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have any key partners or vendors – if so, how’d you find them and start working with them?

Once we started Haute Air, we almost immediately joined our Chamber of Commerce. We have not only gotten to network with other small business owners but have been able to connect with the non-profits in our community. Giving back and connecting with people who live in and work in our town has been important for us from the beginning.

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.

Ariel and I met while volunteering on our kid’s school PTO Board. We worked together for the first time making balloon decor for a Fall Festival. The lady helping us gave us the idea to take our creative hobby and turn it into a business, so Haute Air was born. We like to say that we are for, “All of Life’s Celebrations!” From birthdays to weddings, corporate events to baby showers, there is always something to celebrate and every celebration needs balloons! I think what sets us apart from others is our desire to give back to our community. We grew up here, we have worked here, raised our families here and when we see a need to support our schools, non-profits, or community, we want to help out in some way.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love being given an idea for a theme or event and then being able to run with it and blowing away the customer’s expectations. Honestly, Ariel is the more creative brain behind Haute Air. I can see an idea and duplicate it, but Ariel can come up with some really great ideas and see it from idea to execution. But, it’s so fun taking some simple materials, latex and mylar balloons, and turning them into a fun, over-the-top creation!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I think social media plays a really important role, especially for creatives, however, it can also be something that’s eay to put too much focus on without a lot of benefit. For example, if you’re providing a service and your clients are local to you, it doesn’t help you to have over 5,000 followers who are in another state or country who won’t most likely be calling you for their next event. Focusing on local/attainable clients is key. So, if you only have 500 followers but those 500 followers are in your service area, that’s better than 5,000 who will never use you. Another great tip is to always tag the venue you’re at, tag people in your posts, tag businesses who were also vendors at the event and share the spotlight with the venue and other creatives.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hauteairboerne.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hauteairboerne
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hauteairboerne
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollykallemyn/

Image Credits
Picture in front of truck is taken by Cooley Portraits Ariel Forren, co-owner is on the left and Holly Kallemyn, co-owner, is on the right