Meet Trailblazer Alondra Loya-Trevizo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alondra Loya-Trevizo.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alondra. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I come from a family of five siblings. Growing up, we didn’t really have the resources to celebrate birthdays with big parties. A small family dinner for a birthday was common and well-received.

My parents are both very creative and made the most of the little we had, inspiration seemed to be everywhere. Ma loved baking and decorating pastries, while Apá made rustic style furniture.

Creativity has been embedded in my DNA my entire life. I mean, we had to get creative even making meals out of random ingredients! Art class in school was my favorite. When I learned to ‘shade’ using different pressure and movement with the same pencil, I drew more shaded spheres in my notebook than I care to admit.

Sometimes, life brought difficult times our way and we were forced to ‘think outside the box’ for answers and solutions. I learned to be grateful for everything and everyone in my life. So whenever possible I try to make other people smile, because I know how big of an impact something so simple can have on your day.

I tell you all this because I believe it is what led me to start this business. The first time I walked into a balloon decorated space I could not stop looking at the decoration. I wondered, how in the world do they do that? That’s incredible! The decoration brought so much life into the space and the ambiance had all this positive energy.

My first time actually practicing on my own was a total disaster. The. DIY YouTube video seemed so easy, and here I was with my fingers hurting because I couldn’t properly tie a balloon. I spent hours and hours, night after night researching. The more I looked into it, the more I loved the idea. Then I would talk myself out of it because I didn’t know where to start.

Finally, I found out there is an entire balloon professionals community! People from all over the world who share tips, tricks and the ways of balloon decoration. I’ve taken and continue to attend classes/courses from professionals to learn and better my techniques.

I feel blessed to be able to create beautiful decorations and completely transform a space. It gives me a great sense of purpose knowing that I made someone’s day by being part of their special celebration. I know that I create much more than decoration. It’s an entrance, a memory a feeling, a photo and a moment that will last a lifetime.

My balloon decorating business is home-based and I book private and corporate events.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely has not been an easy road. I started in January of 2018 and it took me more than a year to truly believe in myself and my work. I am my biggest critic, and that has stopped me from going after dreams more than anything else. There was this quiet fear of not being able to do something when I hadn’t even tried. I just kept telling myself, if someone else can do it… why can’t I?

Running my own business, on top of having three boys and a household to take care of has been challenging.

Also, there are many balloon decorators who may not know how to properly price for profit. This creates a whole different issue. It de-values the hours of training, work, practice, and cost of running a business.

Not everyone is your client.

I’ve had people who reach out and want to pay me the cost of a $15 DIY kit they found online, or they want to provide the balloons for the decoration and pay me a few bucks to ‘just put them together’. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t go to a bakery with eggs, flour, and oil & offer them $20 to make me a beautiful cake because I brought the ingredients. Not everyone will value your work.

If you are just starting out, take it one step at a time. Research. Believe in yourself, even when nobody else does. Work when everyone else is out having fun. It will be overwhelming at times but if you love what you do and you are great at it, don’t stop!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Balloon Empyre – what should we know?
Balloon Empyre LLC is my full-service balloon decor company and I service the Denver Metro and Boulder Area.

I specialize in custom balloon decorations for private and corporate events. I like to work with different textures, tones, elements and I try my best to make unique one of a kind Décor.

I create beautiful Balloon Arches, Balloon Columns, Balloon Centerpieces, Balloon Sculptures and Balloon Anythings I Can Think Of!

For example, at a corporate client called me wanting a balloon arch. I asked as many questions as possible to learn every detail about the event. They said it was indoors, cosmetics sales event, entrance, 9ft ceilings, and gave me the colors of the display cases. I designed a gorgeous 8ft tall arch with balloon twisted lipsticks, brushes, blush, perfume and nail polish. There was no way anyone was going to walk by their store and miss it!

We offer:
Green Clean up as a service to our clients after an event.
We properly dispose of our balloons.
We reuse the framing, supports and repurpose certain decorative items to reduce the amount of items that go into the landfill.

We DO NOT provide balloon release services and highly discourage our clients from releasing balloons.

Balloons are a beautiful way to celebrate a special occasion..we encourage you to please use them wisely.

*Never release balloons.
*Inflate, Weight. Enjoy.
*Dispose: When finished with balloons, pop them and properly dispose of them.
Check with our local community to see if they have a balloon recycling program.
*Reuse: Foil balloons are reusable by carefully deflating the balloon it can be re-inflated later, or used as a wall decoration flat, or repurposed for another use.

What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
Advice for another young woman just starting out would be to feed your mind. Daily. Listen to positive podcasts, read books, talk to people who inspire you.

There are so many individuals in our daily life that come to us in a negative way, maybe not intentionally; that can often change or alter your focus from what you had already set your mind to just moments before listening to them.

Be supportive of others who are also trying to get started. Surround yourself with people who are where you would like to be tomorrow.

Pricing:

• Simple Arch or Column starting price $12 per linear foot
• Simple Organic (free-flowing) starting price $25 per linear foot
• Intricate Design Organic Garland starting price $55 per linear foot

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.balloonempyre.com/
• Email: alondra@balloonempyre.com
• Instagram: @balloon_empyre
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balloonempyrecolorado/

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