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

Sariah, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

Early on in our relationship, my now-husband, Aaron, expressed interest in starting our own business. He cycled through several different ideas month after month, but ultimately none of them ever felt completely right for us. In early 2021 we watched as White Castle Bouncers exploded throughout the country and immediately knew we needed to hop on this modern twist. By summer, we heard that Inflate Forty-Eight was expanding its brand into other areas and jumped at the opportunity to join!!!

At the time, I had recently given birth to our second baby, who was born with a cleft lip + palate. Aaron and I both felt confident about bringing the Inflate brand to Clarksville, TN, but knew that our focus needed to remain with our little guy for the time being as we navigated new challenges and medical interventions. We reached out to Jack & Julie (the owners of Inflate Forty-Eight) to better understand the process of joining their brand and expressed our interest. We knew that we wanted to move forward at some point, but needed to wait for the time being as we anticipated some of our son’s first cleft repair surgeries. By the time the new year started we felt ready to take the leap and never looked back!!!

There was definitely a lot to navigate initially. Between starting a new business in a location we had zero roots/connections in, adjusting to parenting 2 under 2- one of those having additional needs, all while learning the ins and outs of our industry we definitely had our hands full (and still do). But we wouldn’t change it for a second. The Middle TN area has welcomed us with open arms and we finally found our place here in Clarksville as a family as we jumped full force into launching Inflate Clarksville! We feel like timing was on our side in every way and are grateful to have hit our first year in business milestone just last month!

Sariah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey! I’m Sariah Glenn, long-time lover of all things party + food and co-owner of Inflate Clarksville, Clarksville’s first and only white bounce house biz. We provide affordable modern bouncers that won’t leave you compromising on looks no matter what your budget is! From our 8×8 Mini bounce house to our 15×15 Combo, our White + Colored Castles are the perfect blank canvas for any age and event and create the most picture-perfect memories! But as much as we love a good photo-op (as we’re sure you do too), it’s truly those memories we are after! Because life is short and you deserve more opportunities to create magic moments that you and your loved ones can hold onto for a lifetime!

So whether that’s through our modern inflatables or event planning services, we are truly overjoyed by every opportunity we have to be a small part of your celebrations! And with over 9 different castles and styles, including Tennessee’s first ever pink Combo Castle and two different modern Waterslides, we know that no matter what kind of celebration you are having you’ll be able to find the perfect addition to your next event! So sit back and relax while we quite literally do the heavy lifting so that you can spend more quality time with those who matter most to you!

How did you build your audience on social media?

So far we have built our entire social media presence organically! For those who may not know, that means that we have yet to run any paid ad campaigns to bring in new followers (not that we’re against that!) Now we are definitely not social media wizards by any means, but I did work in social media for a few years throughout college and our early years of marriage and so when we decided to start Inflate Clarksville we felt comfortable tackling social media on our own, at least for now! That being said, these are the top 5 things that have worked best for us so far and won’t cost you a thing, well besides your time (and maybe sanity) of course, lol!

1) First off branding! You definitely want to take time as you start your business to determine your branding! Not only when it comes to the color scheme and fonts for your logo, but also your overall voice/tone/vibe, core values, etc. It’s your branding and unique voice that will set you up for success- by setting you apart from your competition, making you easily recognizable across all platforms, and making you valuable for what only you have to offer your community.

2) Consistency! When it comes to social media, consistency is key! For some people that looks like posting daily, and for others that looks like posting 2-3x a week! In either situation, by posting/sharing your content consistently you both teach your following and the algorithms when to anticipate content from you!

3) Networking, but in real life! Building genuine connections with people is what business is allll about. Nothing will push you forward more than the brand awareness that comes from meeting new people and spreading the word! And if you want to genuinely enjoy your community and customers both in real life and online, then that starts with YOU building beautiful authentic connections! Not to mention, it’s these same connections that will save you as you navigate being a small business owner! Additionally, networking with other local businesses to plan styled shoots (depending on your industry) or group giveaways can also be a great way to build a following while building relationships!

4) Be social! There is a reason social media includes the word SOCIAL in it. Create opportunities whether through purposeful content or other means (like stories on Instagram) for conversations! Take advantage of the different features the platform you are using offers that encourages engagement from your following (for example, question boxes, polls, swiping through several photos within one post). All of these things involve those who follow you to physically engage with your page which therefore teaches their algorithm that they like your content and want to see more of it.

5) Andddd last but not least, and probably the most important, remember you’ll never know everything! Ask for help from a trusted source when you need it, and don’t be afraid to continue to receive education regarding marketing or anything business related!

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

Yes! To keep things short and to avoid discrediting anyone else let’s just say that shortly after we started our business we trusted another business owner that we shouldn’t have. No financial repercussions (that we’re aware of) have come to our business because of it, but it personally destroyed my mental health for several weeks. I wouldn’t typically describe myself as a people pleaser, but when the success of your business rides on others viewpoint of you and your business things can get really tricky. And because we had just started Inflate Clarksville without any roots or connections I worried that this experience would cause others to completely misunderstand who we were and what we were offering. The anxiety of feeling misunderstood and others possibly getting hurt from someone we trusted’s actions led to a lot of anxiety and panic attacks that honestly left me feeling like it would be easier to just sell our business and hide away forever.

But the good news is that we didn’t. We did what was in our control to rectify the situation and move forward, and later learned that our experience with that individual wasn’t entirely unique. We continued to build and foster relationships in our community and with other business owners and those around saw us for who we truly are!

Honestly, we would save anyone from the pain and trouble we went through initially if we could. But I have to say that that experience has also been really helpful in setting a foundation for our love for what we are doing and for our own faith in ourselves, and in who we are and what we have to offer! I still have days that come up where I feel major imposter syndrome, but I remind myself why I am doing what I am doing, surround myself with others who cheer me up when I’m down, and keep looking towards the future day by day!

Contact Info:

• Website: inflateclarksville.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inflateclarksville
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inflateclarksville
• Other: Tiktok: Inflate Clarksville Pinterest: Inflate Clarksville

Image Credits
Lindsay Photography, Photos By Ava, Kristen Paige Photography, and Karissa Layne Photography