Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kisha Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kisha, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a creative. I grew up in a family of musicians, unfortunately I did not inherit any musical talent, but I always had a burning desire to create. I wanted to be an artist but I had societal rules/mental rules about what an artist was supposed to create to be considered an “artist”. I wasn’t skilled at painting, drawing or sculpting so I gave up on that dream and went into a sales career in my 20’s but I was miserable working in a cubical. After having my 2nd child, I quit my job and became a fulltime mom with a need to find a hobby that could be a creative outlet. I needed to do something that was kid friendly since I had babies with me 24/7 so I started party crafting. I started out with cake decorating, I took a 1 week class at my local Michael’s store and kept practicing. I moved on to teaching myself graphic design so that I could make my own party invitations that matched with water bottle labels and banners. It was truly just a hobby until my kids went into middle school and I went back to work. I got a job in my previous career working in post secondary education and found myself spending an unhealthy amount of time day dreaming about creating beautiful parties and events. Then one day I came across an ad for a balloon art course. I had never considered balloon art, I rarely even used balloons in my own parties at this point but I saw the value in the market and immediately registered for the online course. That course taught me everything I needed to know about large scale balloon garlands, backdrops and building the structure of a home based balloon business. Within 3 months I had my LLC and started marketing my business. Over the past 3 years I have grown as a balloon artist and really fell in love with my craft as an art more than as a business.

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?

When I started my business it was almost as a means to an end, I didn’t want to work a normal 9-5 job and I knew I wanted to build beautiful things with my hands. Over the years it has really developed into an art for me. Most people look at balloon garlands and arches as “just balloons”. In the past balloons have been a “cheap” way to add color to a party and mostly reserved for only kid parties and carnivals. But the industry has really grown in the last 10 years to something that is more of a commissioned art. Each balloon artist has their own style and once you know what your looking at, you can start to tell what makes each artist unique. I’ve taken several courses over the years to refine my own style borrowing techniques from some of the best balloon artists in the world to create my own style. Its not a one size fits all product and every job that I do is a custom commissioned art piece that is specific to the individual that I am working with. No 2 installations are the same. I want my customers to know that I’m not only saving them time and stress on their big day, I am providing them with art work that will live forever in their photos and the minds of their guests. I take a normal room and create a vibe with colors and texture. I use different materials and mediums to infuse excitement and energy into an event, bringing a focal point that connects the theme of a party with the environment.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I came across an artist on TikTok who was toiling with his art. He asked his viewers “At what point should I release my art work to the world?” He mentioned that he had lots of rules surrounding what “art” meant and that he was afraid to share his art with the world until it was “perfect”. I believe that art is subjective. One persons idea of worthy art is not universally accepted and each person who views art will have their own opinions and biases based on their own life experience and personal journey. If I had waited until my art was perfect to release it to the world I would not have ever started my business. I actually started offering my balloon art for free to local businesses and non-profits for the first 6 months so that I could practice in the real world. I understand that that is not ideal for every artist but it was a way for me to see what the market wanted, push myself and practice in the wild. Because of that decision I made to boldly present my art before I had perfected it, I was able to grow so much faster, make friends, connections and have experiences I would not have had if I had hidden in my garage making sure my craft was perfect. It would have never been good enough, because I would have scrutinized it to death. One way society can help artists, is to be kind. If you don’t like an artist’s work, keep quiet about it, its not for you. And when you find an artist you love and connect with their work, be very loud about it. Support that artist by following them, commenting on their posts, going to their shows, share them with friends, buy their work. Scorning work that you don’t understand cripples an artist that may still be finding their voice/ style. They may see a negative comment and internalize that and stop before they are able to reach their full potential. I always tell artists to share their work even while they are in the practice/ development stage and never ever stop growing because your art will get better over time, but not if you are waiting for perfection.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started my Instagram account as a portfolio or landing page, a place to showcase my balloon installations when someone asked me about my services. For a few years I was stuck at 1200 followers just posting single still images a few times a week. I didn’t see value in growing my account as my art is meant for local customers and I felt that my home town was small and 1200 followers was a good number. Then one day I decided to share a trick I had been using during my installations. I set up the camera and filmed a quick tutorial. That video went viral and I gained 30k followers in less than 4 months. From there I was able to connect with other balloon artists from all over the world, and work with a few brands who I love. I’ve even made money with affiliate programs suggesting tools and products that I was already using. I noticed in the last year that the majority of my audience is global, which doesn’t directly help with my local business except for the fact that the content I post now shows my authority in my field and attracts higher paying local customers because they see more value in my product. So on one had, I don’t have a whole lot of local followers but the small handful of local followers have turned into enthusiastic clients. My advice to creatives looking to grow a strong following is to offer tips that help your industry, or show BTS of your process. It seems counter intuitive to give away advice for free but I’ve learned that DIYers will never hire me anyways. By giving away free advice I am giving value to those who can’t afford my service, connecting with and helping other balloon artists who could benefit from my knowledge which creates relationships, and shows my potential clients why they should hire me over another artist. By giving away free information people will excitedly follow you because you are offering them something they need. But its not all free. Once I grew my audience I started noticing that the majority of my followers were other small business owners, so I created an e-book that goes into depth about my pricing process. I am able to sell that e-book to those who are serious about growing their business and make a little bit of extra money in the process. This also strengthens the market because it create a sense of community and gives other members of the community confidence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pinkpalomaballoons.com/
• Instagram: @the_pinkpaloma
• Facebook: @the_pinkpaloma