IAM433- Events Planner Creates Unique Memories for Corporate Events and Parties

Thad started making balloon animals with a bag of balloons, a pump and a book of instructions as a fun hobby. Soon the balloon sculptures got better and people hired him for parties. That was twenty years ago. SAMMY J Balloon Creations has grown into a full-line entertainment and decoration company creating unique memories for corporate events, receptions and company parties. Thad has concentrated his efforts into learning the intricacies of building a business. This includes marketing, SEO optimization, bookkeeping, and building a network of referral agents and business partners.

• CEO Hack: Going to a networking mastermind group
• CEO Nugget: Learn about business especially marketing
• CEO Defined: Having all the responsibility, making all the decisions and getting no credit

Website: https://sammyjballoons.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SammyJBalloons/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammyjballoons/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammyjballoons/

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Transcription

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today at Thad James of Sammy J Balloon Creations It is awesome to have you on the show. Well, thank you very much, Gresh. I appreciate it. No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Thad, so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. Thad started making balloon animals with a bag of balloons, a pump and a book of instructions as a fun hobby.

Soon, the balloon sculptures got better, and people hired him for parties. That was 20 years ago, Sammy J. Balloon Creations has grown into a full-line entertainment and decoration company creating unique memories for corporate events, receptions and company parties that have concentrated his efforts on learning the intricacies of building a business. This includes marketing, SEO, optimization, bookkeeping, in building a network of referral agents and business partners. Thad, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Thad James 1:18

Gresh, I certainly am

Gresham Harkless 1:19

Awesome, let's do it. So I wanted to kick everything off and hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to get started with the business.

Thad James 1:27

The business kind of grew organically out of my desire to be an entertainer with the balloons, making balloon sculptures and entertaining kind of came naturally to me and by accident, but as it grew, and I took on more responsibilities of booking and making money, I realized that it was going to be more of a business, which was not a bad thing, I get to enjoy what I do and run a business doing that.

But the thought of running the business was something that I hadn't really started with, I didn't think about let's start a business, oh, I liked doing balloons, it was the opposite way I had this fun hobby that I was making money at. And in order to take it more seriously. And really to actually make money doing it, I needed to run it as a business. Thus, I started learning more about how to run a business and how solo entrepreneurial businesses run and what it takes to be successful about.

Gresham Harkless 2:28

Nice, I definitely appreciate that. And I know there's definitely probably a lot of people listening that have, you know, maybe something they love to do, or a hobby, or something that maybe like a side hustle or whatever. And a lot of times don't know how to maybe potentially take that to the next level.

So I appreciate, you know, hearing you and hearing how you were, how you started and how you were able to, like you said, get more serious about the business and start to look at all those intricacies to know how to take what was your hobby and make it into a business?

Thad James 2:55

Yeah, it's the running joke, if you enjoy doing something, don't start a business doing it. It turns into a job, which it does. But I think if you enjoy doing something enough, you will take on the responsibilities of running the business so that you can do what you really love to do all the time. And that's, that's one of the things I think a lot of entrepreneurs do is find something they like to do and learn the best way to run a business doing that.

Gresham Harkless 3:25

Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of people sometimes underestimate the amount of work that you have to put into running a business. And that also speaks to a lot of times where people say you shouldn't be passionate about you should like to do it, necessarily because he can't do something you don't like doing or you kind of lukewarm to. But because it does take you know that time and that energy you want to love it, because you will need to necessarily have that energy when it comes to running that marathon so to speak.

Thad James 3:49

Oh, that's absolutely true. If you don't enjoy doing what the business is, you're not going to go through all of the stuff that you don't like doing in order to be able to do what you like doing. It's kind of a strange thing. I tell business people all the time there's the 90 10% thing 90% of what we do as business owners is all the same.

And percent is that that thing that you like that passion that you have, what your business does, whether it's you know, selling widgets, or growing corn or making tennis shoes, whatever that 10% is what's different, but everything else behind the scenes is a lot of the same stuff. And I think that's where the community of small business owners can really come together and help each other out.

Gresham Harkless 4:33

Exactly, exactly. That makes so much sense and you touched on it a little bit. I wanted to hear about your 10% Can you tell us a little bit more about Sammy J Balloon Creations?

Thad James 4:42

Oh, the balloon. The balloon part came like you said in the introduction from a book and a bag of balloons and a lot of people will go out and buy little balloon kits to go have fun with their kids or to be a cool uncle or a fun grandfather or some like that. I just really grabbed onto it. It's something that really struck me as something that was fun to do with these tubes of air-filled latex that you can build stuff out of it and make interesting creations and people were amazed by it.

And so I just kept on going, I kept practicing. And I kept working with it. Before long, I was actually making money and looking at birthday parties for making balloon animals, and that grew into doing more events and doing corporate events and company picnics, and then I got into balloon decorating. So now I do both decorating and entertainment. I work with event planners and event halls, all over the area. And it's more than just doing birthday parties and making simple animals, it's turned into a huge business that keeps me very busy. And, I'm still allowed to be as creative as ever even more. So now, with all the different types of events that I'm able, to perform it.

Gresham Harkless 6:02

Nice, I appreciate that. And I think a lot of times, you know, just as you said, you know, the business grew organically. Sometimes people think that it does happen overnight, or just you know, as that a snap of a fingers, it starts to happen. But even you're speaking to, you know, learning and perfecting and getting to be really great at your craft and you know, doing the different art but also growing in those different aspects of the business itself. You know, a lot of people sometimes forget that process.

Thad James 6:27

Exactly. And I think that's, it's one thing to have a plan as a business. And there's nothing wrong with planning on what your growth is going to look like or what goals you have for it for achieving it. But I think you also always need to be open to opportunities and be cognizant of your abilities and what your goals are going to be to allow you to be open to those opportunities that may come about, they may complete surprises that you didn't think were going to be on your plan.

But if you're so rigid in your plan that you can't accept opportunities that may be phenomenal growth opportunities or powerful experiences for your business, you need to be able to allow yourself to investigate those and see what those possibilities may be. And they may take you in ways that you never thought would be where your future is going to live. But it may be a great future for you.

Gresham Harkless 7:14

Absolutely, absolutely. And yeah, we have to keep our eyes and ears open to those, those things and those opportunities, because a lot of times that's where the true innovation and true opportunity lies. So I wanted to ask you for what I now call your secret sauce. And it could be for you personally or for your business. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Thad James 7:33

One of the things that set me apart is besides being a balloon entertainer and a balloon decorator, I have a unique ability to speak my client's languages. And that means that I speak to a corporate event planner differently than I speak to a birthday. And I'm able to touch on their pain points and show how my service can not only alleviate those pain points, but do it painlessly for them, and seamlessly for them. And without any extra work on their part, all they have to do is turn it over to me and I can take care of it for them.

And that's one thing that I think a lot of businesses can do as opposed to selling my products and selling them on what I can do. It's what I can do for you, what are you gonna get out of this, this is gonna, this is gonna help you have a better event. I think that way they don't get someone who's trying to sell them on stuff. But they get to understand the benefits that I provide.

Gresham Harkless 8:35

Absolutely, yeah, and I think a lot of times, just as you kind of spoke to, you know, everybody wants to be the superhero. But a lot of times when we go and you hear somebody that has this product or this service, it really sounds great. But sometimes in the back of your head, it's like, okay, well, this is gonna be more work that I have to do. But the ability like you kind of spoke to, to be able to communicate to your target market to say, hey, you know, we're going to do this, this and this, there's going to be no more, you know, work on your behalf. And we're just going to come in and do this, I've done this before.

This is the effect that we've had, and this is the effect we're going to have on you. And then it helps them to be the superhero. And you basically give them exactly what they're looking for. And you do it in such a way that they have no choice but to really hire you.

Thad James 9:14

Correct that you can make yourself indispensable that way. And it turns into repeat business very quickly.

Gresham Harkless 9:22

Yes, that makes perfect sense. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be an app a book or a habit that you have for what's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Thad James 9:33

One of the hacks that I have it's not really a thing that I do, but it's a place that I go. There's a networking mastermind group called Experts For Entrepreneurs. It's an educational forum where business owners get to share their solutions, their ideas, their suggestions, and their stories to help you build and grow your business.

Gresham Harkless 9:59

Nice and so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you could happen to hop in a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Thad James 10:08

Learn about business? That's kind of a catch-all. But I think marketing is one of the top things that has really helped me grow my business versus selling. Marketing gets the word out and gets the message out about what you have to offer. Marketing can come in many different forms. I think that businesses need, to evaluate each form of marketing, whether it's promotional pens social media, or it's blimps or it's skywriting, or it's mailers to houses, investigate each area of marketing that how that message will be carried to your potential customers, and make that message as consistent as possible.

Gresham Harkless 10:51

Yeah, absolutely. And I always usually say that the name of the game is visibility. So a lot of times, we have products and services that people are looking for, we just have to be where they are, and have to make sure that they're we're able to be found. And a lot of times we have to work sometimes I think harder on that marketing piece. And sometimes on the work that we do a lot of times just because if you are really good at what you do, you have to make sure that people understand and know who you are and know how to contact you.

So we have to have those different business partners that she spoke to in place so that you're able to kind of communicate and connect with people in different ways.

Thad James 11:25

Absolutely, I think a great piece of advice I've heard is don't sell like you shop, not your best customer, your customers, your potential client base, maybe reading the newspaper or looking at magazines or listening just for the radio, or they may be on a particular social media platform. That doesn't mean you have to like that stuff. That doesn't mean you have to be one that is constantly on a social media app all the time.

If your clients are there, if your potential customer base is there, that's where you should be marketing doesn't matter if you like it or not. I am sure that the people who advertise on television, don't necessarily like television commercials, but they know that their customer base is there and that that's how they're going to get noticed.

Gresham Harkless 12:04

Exactly. Exactly. Now, that puts everything in perspective. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is his definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Thad, what does being a CEO mean to you

Thad James 12:18

Being a CEO means having all the responsibilities, making all the decisions, and getting none of the credit.

Gresham Harkless 12:29

Yeah.

Thad James 12:30

That's right. It's kind of a funny way of looking at it. But it's on a serious note that you do have to be in charge. And as a solopreneur. That doesn't mean you have to do it alone. But it does mean knowing where you can go for references and for help when you need help in your business, you need to know where to go, and who to talk to that can help you and there are people out there that will help you there, there are references that can guide you to your correct answer.

You just have to be the one that goes out there and looks for them because they're not going to come to you from a cloud or in a dream, you have to be the one that goes out there and actually looks for those references.

Gresham Harkless 13:16

Absolutely. Yeah, those things don't often come through osmosis. So a lot of times you have to be out there. And I think just as you kind of spoke to before, a lot of times, you also we also have to be open to what we're looking for or open to how it comes to us, I should say. So it may be a partner in a different type of business as well. It might be somebody that is a contractor, it might be an employee, it might be this, it might be that but just understanding that if we understand what we're looking for, it might come to us in many different ways. So I think in this day and age, there's a tremendous amount of opportunity out there. So I appreciate you, you know, sharing that definition in that perspective as well.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, thank you so much again, that what I wanted to do was pass you the mic so to speak, and see if there's anything additional you want to let the readers and listeners know and then of course how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're doing.

Thad James 14:01

Well, thank you for that. It's one of the greatest joys of my life to be able to run a business doing what I truly love. When I spoke about the opportunities earlier of things that you didn't plan on doing that, may become a great success for you. I was talking many, many years ago about these balloon kits that people buy and how the balloon kit that I bought was not a great balloon kit, but it was kind of fun to play around with and somebody asked me well, what would you do differently for that balloon kit? How would you make it better?

So I started talking to them, and they said, Well, why don't you do that? So about a year ago, I launched my own balloon creation kit that can teach people how to make their own balloon creations. It comes with a pump, a bag of balloons, and a booklet with pictures of what to do with the balloon. But each creation has a video on it that can link up to YouTube and you can actually watch the lesson on YouTube because a lot of people were very video-based. I never had an idea that I would ever come up with a balloon kit. For my business, it wasn't what I wanted to do. But it's been very successful. And it's been something that I had a lot of fun doing.

So that's the kind of stuff that I like to do. I like to have new opportunities and new possibilities come at me and be able to take them along. So that's been a lot of fun. As far as contacting me, of course, like every great business, I have a website, SammyJBalloons.com. As we are a visual business, I'm on the major social media platforms, of course, Instagram and Facebook, even Twitter and LinkedIn, I share on all of those to help get the message out and help people become more familiar with.

Gresham Harkless 15:46

Nice, nice, nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that and appreciate your your time even more Sammy. Alright, that, I'm sorry, hey, what we'll do is we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes. And we will so that everybody can click through and follow up with you. But I appreciate that, you know, you reminding us of the importance of opportunities because I think a lot of times when we're in our craft, sometimes we're looking for something but it doesn't exist and we need to be kind of reminded that we can create it ourselves especially if we know our target client, we know exactly what we're creating.

We know how to create that solution for whatever problem we have. So thank you so much again for that reminder and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 16:22

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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