Balloonists to the stars, jme and moi andrade of ‘balloon & paper’ on the five things you need to…

> … Personality, you have to be likable. You can’t go to these > events with these clients being cocky, thinking you’re better than > anyone. You have to have a personality and be 

likable. I think that > that’s the main thing. That’s a big thing that helped us out a > lot. When they got to know me and my husband, they were like, “Oh > my God, you guys are so 

different than other artists I’ve met. You > guys are so down to earth.” I feel like we’re just average. I > don’t think we’re different than anybody else. But people say, > “no, 

you guys are super lovely”. I think that people are just > used to mean people < Laugh>. I_ had the pleasure to talk to Jme Andrade._ _Founder Jme Andrade and her husband Moi have

an amazing entrepreneurial story — both born in Los Angeles to Salvadorian Immigrants and raised in south LA (Watts & Lincoln Heights, respectively). They met in their community church

and 11 years ago started a humble party design company out of their LA home that consists of 7 employees, all of whom identify as latinx._ _They are a woman and minority-owned party design

company that has become a trend-setter providing larger-than-life balloon displays for celebrity clients like Khloe Kardashian, MGK, Megan Fox, Chrissy Teagan and John Legend, the Jonas

Brothers, Jessica Simpson, Mario Lopez and many more._ _Jme and Moi are leaders in their community who value and practice diversity and inclusion. They give back to organizations such as

Inclusion Matters, an organization that creates inclusive playgrounds and educational programs for children with disabilities, the LA Food Bank, and Black Lives Matter — in which they

actively attend BLM events around LA where they distribute donated balloons to help create a safe space for families and children._ _Jme and Moi got their first big break in 2020 when Khloe

Kardashian and celeb planner Mindy Weiss took notice and hired them for her friend’s baby shower. Every year since then, Balloon and Paper has doubled their revenue in 2022._ _As Balloon and

Paper’s celebrity client list grows — including events for Polo G, Ciara, Ty Dolla Sign, Quavo, YG, Hilary Duff, and Halsey — so do their business ambitions. More and more clients are

asking them to go beyond their IG-favorite balloon displays and decorations, and Jme and Moi are now expanding to become one of LA’s premier party planners with multiple private events

already in the works._ JAMIE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. OUR READERS WOULD LOVE TO GET TO KNOW A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND. BEFORE WE DIVE IN, CAN YOU TELL US THE STORY OF HOW YOU

GREW UP? I grew up in south-central LA and was raised in the projects in Watts. But I knew that I always wanted to do more and get away from that. I’ve been selling since I was in fourth

grade. I remember selling lip glosses. So I think the entrepreneur side was always like in me. CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR COMPANY AND THE STORY OF WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS PARTICULAR

CAREER PATH? My company, Balloon and Paper, is a party decor company and Moi does the event planning. We started with regular balloons that I would sell on Etsy. The first time I made a

sale, I was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I made a sale! I sold it for $9. It was a lot to me because I was getting paid $9/hour while working in retail. I was super happy and excited

about that”. Then we just kept selling things online and getting more sales. So I quit my retail job once we started getting more deals. It was around Cinco De Mayo, and my retailer was

selling donkey pinatas that were very cheap. I was like, “I’m going to buy them because they were so cheap, and I’m going to do something different with them.” I don’t know how the idea of

making donkeys into a unicorn came about, but I took the tissue paper off and re-did the whole thing. I made a unicorn, I posted it, and everyone loved it. They were asking, “Are you going

to sell it? Can we buy it?” They loved it. Then I started selling that on Etsy, which was a hit. I told my husband you need to quit your job because I need help with this. He’s like, “I

don’t know, it’s scary just to quit my job.” And my mom’s like, “I don’t know. I don’t see balloons being successful. Maybe you should look for another job.” But I was like, “no, trust me,

mom. This is going to work.” I was telling my husband, this is going to work. I know it will. Then they asked, “what’s the most you can sell a balloon for? I don’t see anyone paying $50 or

$60 for a balloon.” But I insisted, “They will. Trust me. They will pay for my balloons.” I showed my mom when I made the pinata, and then I showed my mom a balloon I made and added tissue

paper to it. I added a bunch of cute little things. She said, “I’ve never seen a balloon like that before. I believe in you now. I see that you can sell this for more. “ It was a slow start

because it took almost 8 or 9 years before we blew up. That was because of Khloe Kardashian’s baby shower. That was what helped us with our following and our work. CAN YOU TELL OUR READERS

ABOUT THE EVENT WITH KHLOE KARDASHIAN AND ITS AFTERMATH? We had someone from the E-network reach out to us, and they asked if we wanted to do something for the Kardashians. I found out that

Mindy Weiss was going to be there. She’s a celeb planner who I’ve wanted to work with and who I was trying to impress. So I thought, “I know Mindy Weiss. I’m just going to do it.” We ended

up doing the event, and they loved it. I do these renderings. I used browns in the illustrations instead of the color nude that they initially requested. But they told me, “Khloe saw the

draft, the rendering you did, and she loves precisely what you did there”. So we ended up doing it exactly the way I envisioned. When we set-up for the event, we didn’t sleep for 24 hours

because it had to be perfect. Finally, around 5 or 6 in the morning, my husband and brother were like “oh my God, we’re all so tired but we’re so close. We have 2 more hours, let’s finish!”

The final piece to complete were the balloon columns. We ended up finishing it, went home and tried to fall asleep”. The party made us go viral: 1) Because of the Browns, 2) because it was

the Kardashians, and 3) because it was Mindy. No one had seen things like that, and that’s what helped us really propel our profession. That same day, we kept getting calls, emails and

comments. We had so many followers and people trying to reach us that our phones kept freezing. Within an hour, we had brands and other celebs that wanted to work with us. Immediately after

she posted that, we saw a huge difference in everything. We were so tired because we had been up for 24 hours, but we couldn’t go to sleep because our phones kept going off. All we kept

hearing were our phone alarms and text messages congratulating us. <Laugh> IT’S BEEN SAID THAT OUR MISTAKES CAN BE OUR GREATEST TEACHERS. DO YOU HAVE A STORY ABOUT A MISTAKE YOU MADE

WHEN YOU STARTED OUT AND THEN THE LESSON YOU LEARNED FROM IT? I could tell you about the mistake we made, but it ended up looking beautiful. I ended up doing these events for Mindy Weiss. It

was for a basketball player, and we flew to Oregon for him. At the party, I made a bunch of these linked balloons hanging. When Mindy saw it, she goes: “it’s beautiful, but you have to

remember they’re super tall, and I can’t have those balloons hitting them. You have to fix it. “ I made those balloons for kids. So as you walk by, it’s interactive. I was like, oh my God,

what do I do? We spent the whole night doing it and didn’t have time to fix it. We had 2 hours before the party, so I got some glue dots and started sticking them together, which looked

beautiful. It looked charming; she loved it, and everyone loved it because it was different. But it was all from a mistake. CAN YOU SHARE THREE OR FOUR INGREDIENTS THAT YOU NEED TO CREATE A

SUCCESSFUL LIVE EVENT? One, you need to be a team player. There is no way that you can do that on your own. The vendors are the biggest thing that will make or break your event. So building

that relationship and having a good team will make the event successful. Two, you have to learn how not to micromanage. Originality is another essential ingredient. If we did what everyone

did, we wouldn’t stand out as we do. But we’re constantly feeling like, “Okay, we did this, and it’s cool, but what can we do that’s going to be better?” So being innovative is the third

ingredient. Four: Personality, you have to be likable. You can’t go to these events with these clients being cocky, thinking you’re better than anyone. You have to have a personality and be

likable. I think that that’s the main thing. That’s a big thing that helped us out a lot. When they got to know me and my husband, they were like, “Oh my God, you guys are so different than

other artists I’ve met. You guys are so down to earth.” I feel like we’re just average. I don’t think we’re different than anybody else. But people say, “no, you guys are super lovely”. I

think that people are just used to mean people <Laugh>. THIS IS THE SIGNATURE QUESTION WE ASK IN OUR INTERVIEWS. LOOKING BACK, ARE THERE FIVE THINGS YOU WISH SOMEBODY HAD TOLD YOU WHEN

YOU FIRST STARTED YOUR BUSINESS AND WHY? I believe that the way you look and dress plays a big part in getting people to respect your work. Initially, when going to these installs, I would

wear work clothes, shorts, and a t-shirt, my hair up, and no makeup cause I was ready to work. But I had a friend who was a big-time florist, and he said, you don’t want the client to see

you sweat. Have other people do that for you. You have to maintain a particular image now that you’re a boss. While they’re working, you build a relationship with the client, and that’s

what’s going to keep you going. So now, when I go to events, I like to make sure that I’m dressed the part, not like how I used to. It makes a massive difference in how people treat you. It

sucks, but still, it’s true. I think it’s mainly because it’s LA < Laugh >. Another piece of advice would be to get a lawyer or someone that knows things so they can help you with the

proper paperwork and protect your trademark. We didn’t protect our name from the beginning. So now there are so many people that are using the phrase “Balloon and something .” That was

because we didn’t know how important it was to protect our name. Having contracts is very important; as soon as someone has money to get that, that should be the first thing you do. The most

crucial part is networking; probably 50% of our business is from friends, people we met here, and people we met at a party or an event. Thank you letters. That’s another thing I didn’t

know. We’ve never done thank you notes. My mom never showed me how to write thank you notes on paper. I know that we were supposed to thank people when they gave us gifts, but I didn’t

realize how important thank you letters actually are, until later on in life. Finally, be comfortable with yourself. I used to be like, “Is my Latino accent going to come out? I was always

scared that I was not going to fit in. But I started getting that confidence to be who I am. I’m just going to be myself. There’s really not much I can do about it. I think that helped me to

be more approachable. I think my being comfortable is what makes people like me. I’m myself. I don’t try hard when I network. I’m just myself. When we meet people, it feels like we’re

friends, and I think that’s what ends up helping. I talk to people like they’re my friends, and I get super comfy. I don’t get insecure. No matter who they are, even celebrities. I don’t get

nervous. If they like me, they want me; there isn’t anything I could do about it. That’s what I do. I’m myself. I’m confident. I don’t think, “oh, I’m poor here, or they have so much money,

or let me get to know that person.” I don’t try to do that. I’m just myself, and if they want to talk to me, they’ll talk to me. I’m friendly with everyone. Then I find out they were some

Disney executive, and I’m like, “oh, I didn’t know. I thought they were just any random person.” < Laugh> SO, JAMIE, BECAUSE OF YOUR SUCCESS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS, YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND

HAVE SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE. IF YOU COULD INSPIRE A MOVEMENT THAT WILL BRING THE MOST GOOD TO THE MOST PEOPLE. WHAT WOULD THAT BE? I would go to neighborhoods where I grew up and let them

know what I had to learn now as I’m older. For example, maybe create programs where you can help people launch a business to become successful. I think that’s essential because everyone

tells you that to start a business, you need money, but it’s more than that. It’s little things that people like me don’t know were out there, like the thank you notes and things like that.

So I would start a program where I can help underprivileged young people and tell them the nitty-gritty of everything necessary for starting a business. BEAUTIFUL, JAMIE; THIS IS SUCH A

GREAT INTERVIEW. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. I APPRECIATE YOUR INSIGHTS, AND I WISH YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND ONLY CONTINUED SUCCESS. Thank you so much.