We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kim Otis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Bougie Fluff was born from a mix of nostalgia, creativity, and a desire to elevate everyday experiences. As a wedding planner and designer, I’m constantly thinking about how to create moments that feel intentional, beautiful, and memorable. I kept coming back to cotton candy as it’s something everyone recognizes, but it’s usually presented in a very traditional, almost forgettable way. I saw an opportunity to reimagine it into something elevated, stylish, and worthy of today’s events.

The idea really clicked when I started thinking about how experiences have become just as important as aesthetics. People don’t just want dessert—they want something interactive, something that feels curated. That’s where Bougie Fluff came in. I envisioned a luxury cotton candy experience with live spinning, custom flavors, elevated presentation, and thoughtful details that align with high-end events and brand activations. It wasn’t just about the product; it was about the full experience.

What made me feel confident this would work was the clear gap in the market. There weren’t many options that blended nostalgia with a luxury, design-forward approach. Bougie Fluff offers handcrafted flavors made with organic ingredients and a fully customizable, styled cart experience, which allows it to seamlessly fit into weddings, corporate events, and brand moments . That combination of quality, design, and experience felt both unique and needed.

What excited me most was the creative freedom. Cotton candy became a canvas, whether it’s incorporating edible glitter, florals, custom branding, or even pairing it with champagne for a more elevated twist. It allowed me to merge my background in event design with something playful and unexpected.

At its core, Bougie Fluff is about transformation, taking something simple and turning it into something unforgettable. That idea of “cotton candy reimagined” really became the foundation of the brand

Kim, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m the founder and creative director of KLO Events and the co-founder of Bougie Fluff. My background is actually in People & HR, where I’ve spent years supporting high-growth tech companies, but creativity and design have always been a core part of who I am. Event planning started as a passion, and over time, it naturally evolved into a business rooted in thoughtful design, elevated experiences, and intentional details.

Through KLO Events, I plan and design weddings and celebrations with a very curated, editorial approach. Bougie Fluff came shortly after as an extension of that same philosophy — taking something familiar, like cotton candy, and reimagining it into a luxury experience. Today, we provide live cotton candy experiences, custom flavors, branded activations, and pre-packaged favors for weddings, corporate events, and special occasions. Everything we do is designed to feel cohesive, elevated, and memorable.

What really sets Bougie Fluff apart is that we’re not just a dessert vendor, we’re part of the overall experience. From the cart design to the color palette, flavors, and custom branding, every detail is intentional. Our cotton candy is handcrafted with organic ingredients and natural flavors, and we offer interactive, live spinning that adds a level of energy and engagement that guests genuinely remember. It’s that blend of design, quality, and experience that makes us different.

The problem we solve is simple but important: a lot of event elements feel transactional or generic. Clients are looking for ways to create moments that feel personal, beautiful, and a little unexpected. We help them do that by turning something nostalgic into something elevated and something that fits seamlessly into luxury events while still feeling fun and approachable.

What I’m most proud of is building a brand that feels both elevated and joyful. Bougie Fluff is rooted in creativity, but also in intention. We care about the details, the presentation, and how people feel when they interact with our brand. I’m also proud that this is something I’ve built alongside my daughter, which makes it even more meaningful.

What I want people to know is that we’re very thoughtful about what we create and who we partner with. We’re not trying to be everywhere and we’re focused on delivering a high-quality, beautifully designed experience every time. If you’re someone who values aesthetics, experience, and those “wow” moments that guests can’t stop talking about, then you’re exactly who we created Bougie Fluff for.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the most defining moments of resilience for me was actually starting KLO Events. At the time, I had built a successful career in HR, working in high-growth tech environments, and on paper, everything made sense to stay on that path. But I kept feeling pulled toward something more creative—something that allowed me to design experiences and bring people’s visions to life.

The challenge wasn’t just starting a business. It was starting over in a completely different industry. I didn’t have years of event portfolios or a long list of clients. I had to build credibility from scratch while still maintaining a high standard for the type of work I wanted to produce.

There were moments early on where it felt slow. I wasn’t booking at the level I knew I was capable of yet, and I had to navigate that space between where I was and where I knew I wanted to be. It would’ve been easy to lower my standards or take on anything just to build volume, but I made a conscious decision not to. I stayed focused on creating intentional, design-forward work that truly reflected my vision.

So instead, I invested in styled shoots, built relationships within the industry, refined my brand, and treated every opportunity, no matter how small, as if it were a full-scale production. That consistency started to compound. Slowly but surely, the right clients found me, and the work began to align with the vision I had from the beginning.

That experience taught me that resilience isn’t always loud; it’s often quiet, consistent, and rooted in belief. It’s choosing to keep going when things feel uncertain, and trusting that the foundation you’re building will eventually support something bigger.

Starting KLO Events gave me the confidence to later launch Bougie Fluff, because I had already proven to myself that I could build something from the ground up with intention and purpose.

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

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was the idea that doing more automatically leads to better results.

Coming from a corporate background, I was used to being responsive, saying yes, and proving value through output. When I started KLO Events, I carried that same mindset into my business. Early on, I felt like I needed to take on every opportunity, every inquiry, every budget, every type of event, just to build momentum.

But what I quickly realized was that saying yes to everything was actually pulling me further away from the brand I was trying to build. I was stretched thin, the work wasn’t always aligned with my vision, and it became harder to create the kind of elevated, intentional experiences I wanted to be known for.

There was a moment where I had to take a step back and really reassess. I asked myself, “What do I actually want this brand to represent?” And more importantly, “Am I building that or just staying busy?”

From there, I made a shift. I became more selective. I refined my offerings, got clearer on my ideal client, and raised my standards, not just creatively, but operationally as well. It felt uncomfortable at first, because it meant turning down opportunities. But that decision created space for the right ones.

That shift is what allowed both KLO Events and Bougie Fluff to evolve into more premium, design-forward brands. It also reinforced that growth isn’t about volume, it’s about alignment.

So the lesson I had to unlearn was that more is better. What I know now is that clarity, intention, and discernment are what actually move you forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bougiefluff.com
• Instagram: @bougiefluff

Image Credits

Photography: Sarah Eichstedt Photography, Regina K Popova Photography, and Crane Photography.