We were lucky to catch up with Jamie Napper recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jamie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Ms. Moment Maker was born out of a search for happiness and a need to express my creativity. I had spent years working an office job that I was great at, but I wasn’t happy. During that time I was really struggling to figure out how to move jobs and what it was that I wanted to do next. Before I could come up with an answer, the pandemic hit and that shift in time, despite everything that was going on, really allowed me to truly and deeply reflect on what is was that I wanted and needed out of the employment piece of my life. I eventually started to consider Event Planning, but events still weren’t taking place yet. During my research, balloon garlands had started popping up. At first, I wasn’t interested in doing them at all but decided I would learn as a backup plan. I tried making my first balloon garland and fell in love with it. From then on I kept practicing and educating myself on the industry until Ms. Moment Maker was officially founded in November 2021.
The ballooning industry isn’t something new and there are thousands of amazing balloon stylists out there that can make something beautiful for you; but, what I feel sets me apart, is my desire to connect with my clients reason for celebration and over-deliver on that by providing exceptional service and finding ways to make something that is unique and bespoke to them or their event. Like my [business] namesake, I’m here to make moments. For me, it truly is not just about selling a product or providing a service. I want my clients to feel something when they see what I’ve created for them. I want to be instrumental in their happiness by helping to make their event amazing so that they have fond and happy memories to look back on.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Ms. Moment Maker is an event décor service that specializes in luxury balloons and backdrop décor for all celebrations and events. I also offer custom signage, which I design and create myself, as well as, décor accents such as props or florals just to give installations an extra pop or wow factor. My clients are totally welcome to give us inspiration photos, but I also [currently] offer free design services so that they can have something that is truly custom to them. My goal is to make the decorating process as easy for the client as possible so that they can really enjoy their installation and their event.
What drives me is my desire to impact people’s happiness and their joy by using my talents to create something special for them that they can then share with their loved ones. I want all of my clients to have an amazing and positive experience with me from initial consultation to installation/clean-up. I want them to feel that they were genuinely cared for, that all of their needs were addressed, and that their expectations were met or exceeded. It’s very important for me to connect with my clients. I want them to know who I am and I want to understand their “whys” and “wants” to determine if I’m the best fit for their event. It’s not always about if you can deliver the end product. Celebrations are most often linked to some type of emotion or milestone and if I cannot add value to that, then I may not be the best fit for them and that’s fine. I want my clients to be happy, even if that means booking elsewhere. I’ve found that this resonates well with my clients and ultimately has had a positive impact on our working relationship. I want their experience with me throughout the entire process to have been so easy and enjoyable that they book me again for their future events and recommend me to others as well.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I’ve always showed up as my authentic self amongst my peers and clients. I believe that being transparent about who you are, what you can offer, and playing to your strengths has greatly helped me with networking and reaching clients who continuously support my business and/or continuously share my business to their loved ones. It’s important to treat people like people. They’re not dollar signs or market research. You can’t just be a robot and go through the motions when your interacting with people, especially when they’re looking to spend their time, energy, and money to support your business and your dream. If someone is trusting me with their baby shower, birthday, celebration of life, or whatever the event is, it’s only fair that I show up and show out for them and deliver on what my business promises.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The mental and emotional shift from being employed by someone else to being self-employed is both exhilarating and terrifying. I’ve had to learn how to navigate in this completely new realm and learn to have a CEO mindset. I’m currently a team of 1, so every decision is mine to make and I’m wholly responsible for any success or failure. I definitely have times where I don’t feel confident or I’m worried about how successful my business currently is or will be in the future. Imposter syndrome and comparison are true thieves of joy and it can put you down even if things are going well. I think that it’s important to let yourself feel the negative emotions that come, but you have to have methods or tools in place to bring yourself back up. For me, whenever I feel down, I go and read the reviews that client’s have left for me or look back on how my art style has progressed. Being resilient as a business owner is a process, especially since my business is still in it’s “infancy”. At the end of the day, I just have to keep going. I started this business because I wanted to be happy and I am happier than I’ve ever been. But with that happiness still comes work to bring my dream to complete fruition. I think that as long as you literally do not give up, even if you only do one small thing a day, then you’ll eventually get to where you want to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: msmomentmaker.com
- Instagram: msmomentmaker
- Yelp: Ms. Moment Maker