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

Hi Lorie, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I am definitely happier as a business owner than I have ever been at a regular job! I absolutely love what I get to do for a living! It brings me so much joy and I also get to spread that joy with others, one event or delivery at a time. I mean, it doesn’t get better than that! I consider myself very blessed to have had some great jobs in the past. Those experiences have helped me appreciate my role as a business owner so much more. Working for yourself however, is completely different than working a regular job. Having your own business often requires you to work a lot harder and more often than you’d think, you don’t always get to clock in/clock out from 9-5, often it’s working 24/7.
But even then, I would still choose this path and work for my own dreams and goals instead of working hard for someone else’s.
I do recall the last time when that thought did cross my mind, I dwelled on it for a moment when I was stressed out and thought to myself, “Hmm would it be easier if I just went back to work a 9-5?” but that thought didn’t last too long as I remembered how unhappy I was doing something I wasn’t passionate about. And just the thought of having that dreadful feeling of checking the clock to see if it was 5pm yet before it was time to leave, oh goodness, that is definitely not my thing! I spent many years working in corporate environments as well as privately owned businesses which helps remind me of my “why” and that’s what keeps me going and not giving up.
I am a firm believer in doing more of what makes you happy, and we should all get to fill that cup, whether it’s something you do on the side, or as full time business, just do it! Life is too short to do anything that doesn’t make you smile!

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?

Absolutely! My name is Lorie, owner of LoveJoy&Co in Austin, Texas. I have been in the events industry for 5 years. I started as an Event/Wedding Planner in 2017 and then transitioned into Balloon Decor during the pandemic. Since all events were cancelled/postponed, I pivoted into offering more balloon decor services and contactless deliveries. During that time, I fell in love with balloon decor and decided to make that my specialty instead of Event/Wedding Planning. I find that I am still very involved with the planning phases/styling so that makes me happy! I also get to work some amazing planners in my area, so its a win-win! I believe it was a blessing to have had that pivotal change.

Some of the services we offer Event Design and Balloon Styling services, which means we get to transform your space for any event and make it special and memorable for you! It’s an honor to have such amazing clients who trust us with their vision and allow us to have creative control with their events, it’s my favorite part! I love seeing their reaction when they see the final result, it makes me so happy! I believe just being myself and having fun during the process allows me to bring my clients vision to life and add my own magical touch to each event.

Something I am most proud of is being able to teach others. I recently started offering balloon classes and it’s been such a blessing. When I first started in this industry, it was very different, and it was not easy to find help getting started. I had to learn everything on my own, and I went through some tough lessons, with lots of trial and error. So being able to share what I know now will save some headaches for others who want to learn about balloon decor.

If I had to name some main things about me and our brand, it would be that we truly love our job! We pour a lot of love into each event we do and we like to treat our clients like family. Each event is created specifically for each client, so we don’t duplicate the same design twice. It may be a similar theme, but it will be tailored and custom for each client. That’s what we love to provide.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Yes, when I first started, I was working a full time job at a corporate office. I would dedicate evenings and weekends to my business while working a full time job. It was hard to balance out sometimes but I didn’t give up. My plan was to ensure I could duplicate my income before going full time on my business. I later transitioned to a part time job while still working more hours on my business. Once events began to increase, I was able to make a decision to change my focus from part time to a full time business, and it has been such a blessing. Some key milestones, was ensuring I had reliable help when needed and also duplicating my previous income. If you’re considering making that leap, I would recommend drawing out what that would look like for you and work towards taking those action steps.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I had a time when I had an event scheduled with backdrop rentals, so I needed extra help to finish setting up faster. Well on this occasion, my two team members were not available and I didn’t have a backup at that time, so I had no choice but to do the event on my own. I remember being upset because I didn’t have the help I needed, and then I was anxious thinking I would not finish setting up in time. Well, long story short, I was able to load and unload all the panels on my own, and setup the backdrop, yes it took me longer but I did it and my client had no idea, they only saw the finished product and loved it! And that’s what mattered. After that occasion, I reminded myself that although its super efficient to have extra help for events, I had to face a hard reality, that no one else will show up for your business like you will. So you must be prepared to brave, to be resilient and push through any adversity that comes your way. This will be part of the journey, and things will get better. You will find the right people to build your team with, and they will share the same love for what you do. I am very grateful and blessed to be surrounded with so much support from my team.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lovejoyandcompany.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/lovejoyandcoaustin
• Facebook: facebook.com/lovejoyandcoaustin
• Other: tiktok: @lovejoyandcoaustin