Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Naya Fernandez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Naya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
In such a competitive industry, it can be a challenge navigating how to price your products. In my own experience the biggest challenge I’ve had with profitability was learning my worth and pricing accordingly. I see many new event decorators struggling to find balance between worth and affordability. Starting out, two years ago, I thought I needed to be the most affordable to attain the most clients. I’ve since learned increasing your prices will insure you are reaching the “dream clients” you are looking for. I am able to do higher quality work, less on-site events and have higher profits then two years ago working 3 events each weekend.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Naya Fernandez I am the owner of theballoonbums, an event decoration and balloon styling company in Houston tx. I started this business two years ago when planning for my oldest sons birthday. I fell in love with the craft and taught myself everything I know by hours of YouTube videos and online master classes from other great artists. I remember starting out I would practically beg my family members to let me decorate their children’s birthdays for free just so I could have something to post when trying to reach clients. Since then I continue to grow, learn strengthen my skill set. We provide quality balloon decor, backdrop rentals, tablescape floral and custom work. My goal is to bring my clients dreams to life. As a kid my birthdays were my favorite, I wanted to help my mom decorate I wanted everything to be perfect. What I love most about this industry is being about to give that to my clients. I love being able to make their big moments feel the most special. I am proud of the progress I’ve made in the craft but I am most proud of being able to say that I am a mother of two beautiful boys and a business owner, i hope as they grow they can see that you can make a career out of something that makes you happy.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
A couple of months ago we spent some time in the hospital for my son who lost function in one of his eyes. During that time and especially the recovery after i heavily considered closing my business. I took some time off and realized it can’t always be easy, there will always be curveballs and without challenge there is no growth. I decided to jump back into balloons and since then there has been no stop.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I have always had assistants that come out to help with larger installs. It started out as just my old Starbucks co workers but a year ago I put out a post looking for a permanent balloon stylist. I had around ten people who interviewed for the position and among this group was only one boy and a girl who couldn’t seem to figure out how to tie a balloon. Mateo blew me away with how quickly he learned to create a garland. He told me had never done anything like this before, much less had ever planned a party and here he was doing better then all of the girls. I hired him immediately and he quickly became an amazing balloon stylist. He can create the most beautiful installs in record time, I sometimes think he is better than I am. Zadaya on the other hand, struggled to tie two balloons together, but she was the piece I didn’t know I was missing. I realized I needed her when I saw her color coded schedule on her iPad as she walked in 15 minutes earlier then anyone else. I asked her if she would be interested in running the business pages not even knowing if I could afford to hire somebody for that. She left and the next morning I woke up to a new logo, a new business model, mapped out plans for future installs, and a very detailed schedule. Everything I didn’t know how to do Zadaya did perfectly. She became my partner and one of my best friends. I am very thankful for her and owe a large part of the success of my business to her.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Theballoonbums
- Facebook: Theballoonbums