Finance Professional turned full time Balloonpreneur, meet Lamar M. Allen of LaMarvelous Balloons

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lamar Allen.

Hi Lamar, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I distinctly remember the “spark” of excitement I felt as a child when my grandmother, Deborah, brought me a blue gift bag filled with candies that had blue star balloons attached. You’d think I’d be excited about the candy. My eyes were on the real prize – the balloons. A toddler, I was so amazed, intrigued by what I saw.

Every time my brothers and I visited a party/dollar store with my grandmother, she’d always purchase each of us a toy to take home, and play with. I never left with an actual playing toy – rather a bag of latex balloons. I’d blow them up, tie strings to them, and play with them. That same spark of excitement I felt when I saw those blue star balloons as a toddler, never escaped. It still resides inside of me, today.

Back home in Detroit, my great-auntie Gloria was known for doing balloon decor and floral for the majority of our family events. An early teen, I found it fun to help her decorate, and see her artistry come to life. During high school, I worked for a party store named ‘Party On Us”, a black-owned retail party store that was a one-stop party shop for all party needs. Here, I learned tons about the party retail business, event planning, and of course, balloon artistry.

I moved from Detroit to Nashville in 2013 to attend Fisk University. It was here, that I realized that there was an opportunity to show the campus how balloon artistry could enhance campus events, add morale, and excitement. During my first Christmas break in Detroit, I packed my electric balloon pump and leftover balloons from my graduation party. I took them to campus and started offering simple, classic balloon decor (balloon columns, string of pearl arches).

After securing decor contracts for a few campus events, balloon decor instantly became popular on campus. It was a “must-have” for campus pageants and parties. LaMarvelous Balloons Designs, later shortened to LaMarvelous Balloons, was born. Graduating from Fisk in 2017 with a business management degree, I secured a full-time career offer in finance here in Nashville. Although I almost lost sight of my college business venture, I kept LaMarvelous Balloons in business as a side income generator. Post-grad, I began to invest more time into the business by learning new artistry techniques, beefing up the marketing and online presence, and networking with other professionals in the balloon industry.

I earned my CBA® (Certified Balloon Artist) in 2019, and also joined “The Academy” (powered by Corner to Corner), where I learned how to grow and scale my business. Through overcoming many challenges and obstacles as a creative, I resigned from my career in finance to pursue a full-time career with LaMarvelous Balloons in October of 2021. Today, LaMarvelous Balloons has exponentially grown in services offered, counting numerous colleges/universities, businesses, and private clients around metropolitan Nashville.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were a multitude of challenges and growing pains in growing LaMarvelous Balloons, two of them specifically being constantly misunderstood as a creative and sacrificing my “socialite being”.

There were many times I felt misunderstood as a balloon artist. Although I had a background in performing arts and possessed a fun, cheery personality, I was typically deemed mature for my young age. Business-minded, goal oriented, and very disciplined. I was very active in student government (in both high school and college), participated in speech and debate, interned with high-profile finance firms in college, and was a student trustee on my university’s board of trustees for two years.

Although I had friends and family who embraced my “balloon spark”, many did not understand my passion for balloon artistry – seeing it as silly, childlike, and a “clown act”. When I’d attend networking events, I often choked up – nervous to tell people about LaMarvelous Balloons because I was afraid I’d be judged or not taken seriously. After progressing and addressing my business insecurities over the years, I’ve become extremely confident in how I articulate my business, especially now that I am full-time in my venture.

Growing a balloon business while working a full-time job was extremely difficult, especially as my clientele grew larger and larger. After getting home from a busy day of work, I’d respond to client booking requests and prepare orders for the next day. With business growing exponentially, I’d use my lunch breaks to make deliveries or use vacation days to prepare upcoming large installations. Prioritizing my business, I rarely had time to hang out, participate in social activities at work, or engage in networking opportunities. I had realized that my “socialite being”, had taken a back seat.

The pattern of full workdays and busy business would later cause intense rifts in some of my friendships, as some did not understand my level of discipline and commitment to growing my business. I used to think, “My friends claim to want success for me, but where’s the empathy? Why are they giving me such a hard time? Instead of complaining about my absence, why aren’t’ they offering to help me?” Those thoughts, plus the feeling of being misunderstood, left me frustrated.

I did, however, know that the overwhelming support I had from clients, family, and other friends exceeded my frustrations. Eventually, I shed dead weight and ended some of those friendships, and continued my focus on building my brand and business. Now that I have accomplished my goal of working in my business full time, it feels amazing to have my “socialite being” back in the front seat and have complete ownership of my time.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Here at LaMarvelous Balloons, we transform and dramatize spaces, and take pride in creating entertaining and emotional experiences for our clients. From small intimate gatherings to corporate events & large installations, we aim to make each occasion unique with the addition of our fascinating balloon artistry and decor. Of course, it’s our mandate, to fascinate!

When starting a business, it’s always important to think about your value proposition – specifically, what makes your business different from others and attracts clients. Our value proposition is rooted in our extreme attention to detail – ranging from our color palettes, how we build and scale our installations, and creating decor that is completely intentional for the event/occasion in which we are celebrating.

As a “balloonpreneur”, I believe that entrepreneurs alike have the responsibility of educating themselves on how to properly use and dispose of balloons. LaMarvelous Balloons is a proud member of the Pro-Environment Balloon Alliance (PEBA). This alliance is committed to working with balloon professionals, environmental groups, government, and media to eliminate the organized, deliberate release of balloons.

PEBA also educates customers and the public on the responsible use and disposal of balloons. We happily use natural, biodegradable latex balloons for our installations. When delivering helium-inflated balloons (whether latex or mylar), we always balloon weight them to limit balloon releases and inform our clients on how to properly dispose of balloons once their event/occasion ends.

What do you think about happiness?
I’d like to think I have the coolest job on earth – I make people happy, for a living. It gives me extreme happiness to know that the gift I have been blessed with, allows me to assist in making joyful memories for my clients. Birthdays, baby showers, grand openings, etc. are all considered to be milestone events that people want to have the best memories of.

Seeing the smiles that LaMarvelous Balloons’ work puts on clients’ faces to hearing their “oohhhs and aahhhs” of excitement, gives me an indescribable feeling. Balloons evoke happy emotions, and it’s always an absolute honor when a client chooses our company to make their event special. It’s extremely humbling, and it’s taken seriously with each client and opportunity.

My late grandfather and grandmother, Harry & Deborah Ribbron, were two of my company’s greatest stakeholders. Both provided high encouragement – believing in my vision of growing my business and artistry. With the company’s progress over the years, it’s certain that both of them are smiling down on me as proud grandparents.

To this day, I mentally replay their encouraging words and memories as a reminder to keep pushing forward. That too brings me much happiness and keeps my “balloon spark”, alive.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.lamarvelousballoons.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lamarvelousballoons/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lamarvelousballoons/

Image Credits
LaMarvelous Balloons, LLC.