Good Neighbor Podcast: Orange County

Beyond Bouquets: Transforming Spaces with Top Hat Balloon Werks

• Rachel Fyffe & Amanda Armstrong

Share episode

Amanda Armstrong never imagined that decorating her daughter's birthday party would launch a 27-year career transforming spaces with balloon artistry. As founder of Top Hat Balloon Werks, she's evolved from nuclear power plant employee to award-winning balloon artist who's taught her craft around the globe.

"There's a formula to creating memorable event décor," Amanda explains, revealing the insider knowledge that's made her business thrive for nearly three decades. From entrance pieces that make jaws drop to centerpieces that spark conversation, she approaches each installation with both artistic vision and practical expertise. This blend of creativity and technical knowledge becomes particularly valuable for outdoor events, where factors like heat and wind create unique challenges that many clients don't anticipate. "Once temperatures climb past 80 degrees, especially with darker balloons, you're in the danger zone," she cautions.

The versatility of balloon art becomes apparent as Amanda describes her portfolio, which spans from intimate gatherings with simple bouquets to spectacular commercial installations like the 50-foot spider currently being created for Great Wolf Lodge. She's particularly excited about the trending "organic" designs—those bubbly-looking arches that have taken social media by storm. For clients without specific themes, she suggests focusing on color stories instead: blues for underwater vibes or black and gold with feathers for Great Gatsby elegance.

What began as a practical solution for childcare has blossomed into a passionate career that continues to evolve. Beyond installations, Amanda is exploring teaching opportunities through Airbnb Experiences, sharing her expertise with visitors wanting to learn the craft. Discover how balloon artistry might transform your next celebration by visiting tophatballoonwerks.com or following @top_hat_balloon_werks on Instagram, where Amanda's creativity takes flight with every new project.

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, rachel Fyfe. Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Now. Are you planning that special event, that theme party or special occasion? Well, we have a resource that is going to be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, amanda Armstrong, with Top Hat Balloon Works. Amanda, how is it going? Hi, it's good. How are you doing, rachel? Doing great. Well, let me tell you.

Speaker 1:

We're excited to learn about you and your business. Now tell us about your company.

Speaker 2:

Top Hat Balloonworks. We've been in business 27 years now and we've done many events for all sorts of people clients. We have everything from the smallest event to commercials to big events. We've done celebrity events but we try to stay more local if we can help it. A lot of times that stuff's up in LA but we can decorate your event and we're there as consultants.

Speaker 2:

So if you need help doing that, we'll have a consultation, we can meet at the location, the event location, and we kind of go over decor, because there's like a formula to use when you're having an event you want to have an entrance piece, you want to have centerpieces, you want to have a stage decor. You know it just depends on your event. And for the smaller stuff, you know we usually just do it via email or phone consultation and you can send over pictures and designs that you'd like. A lot of the most popular stuff right now is like organic, it's kind of the bubbly looking arches and those kind of things. But we're there to help you and guide you to have a better event and a nicely decorated event. You know it kind of makes that wow factor if you want to really put that into your occasion.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I love it. How did you get into this business, wow?

Speaker 2:

Actually I started out because my daughter, who was about eight, seven or eight, she, she, I wanted to decorate with balloons and some other stuff and at the time I was working at San Onofre Nuclear Station and I thought this would be a great home-based business because my kids were still young and it was time to start working on that route because of child care.

Speaker 2:

Anyway so I learned how to do that and found out all the information. I've done conventions, you know. I went to conventions, I competed at conventions and won awards and then I started getting into teaching. I taught balloons, how to do balloons all around the world and people have, you know, called me up to do classes and yeah, it's, it's been a great industry. That's kind of how I started with my daughter. She's now 30 or 32 and she just got married, so we did balloons at her wedding. That's awesome.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would be curious what. What are some of the myths or maybe misconceptions in your industry?

Speaker 2:

A lot, of times, people are totally unaware of really how you can decorate with balloons, and so I try to help guide them to better options and options. Like a lot of times, people have outdoor events. Well, outdoors events are great in california it's a great, you know place to have events but the problem is um stability, because you have wind, you have sun, you have heat, you know, and and all that kind of stuff will affect the balloons. So I have to try to educate um my consumers to really you know this is a better option for your design, like a column with a base and a pole. They last longer, you know they don't pop and once it gets past like 80 or 90 degrees, you're in the gray zone there, because if it's outside, you know they could. If it's a dark color especially, it can pop. So, you know, I really try to steer people in the right direction as to what to use, just so they can have a lasting, a lasting decor item.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful, that's fantastic. You know well, I you know, we know marketing is kind of the heart of every business. So how are you targeting your customers or how do you attract them?

Speaker 2:

Usually Instagram and Facebook is great for that. Analytics. I have some analytic programs actually and I kind of work that direction. But a lot of times also, I mean, I've been in business for so long and I have to say I've had the yellow books. I was in the yellow pages for a number of years that's how old I am and then everything from there progressed. You know, I started a website and did that and have had that for many years and that helps, you know, with getting on the Google search and stuff, the longevity of your website. But a lot of times actually, to be honest with you, it's word of mouth. People love the decor, People love to work with me, and so I get a lot of referrals from just word of mouth and I'm always getting calls oh somebody referred me, and blah blah. But it's nice, it's nice to have that too, it is.

Speaker 1:

It is. Have you ever thought of doing your own podcast?

Speaker 2:

I never thought about that, but I but well, actually, I can't say that I haven't. I've, I've pretty much thought about all sorts of things. Podcasts would be fun, I mean, I, I'm, I looked into it. I think a little bit of it and it was. It was just a little bit more time consuming than I wanted. I actually just recently applied for an air, the Airbnb experience. So you're, you offer, you know, people that are coming into town, you know, staying at an Airbnb, you offer them a class on how to design and stuff like that. So we'll see if that, if that, works out. But there's, there's also the avenues, because there's so many, so many directions to go when you market, as you know right okay now.

Speaker 1:

So outside of work, you know what do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 2:

uh, I'm actually in a band with right, so we sing together and, yeah, I, I enjoy. That's my kind of lifelong hobby. I've always enjoyed singing and I'm in a couple of rock and roll bands, so having a good time with that.

Speaker 1:

That's great. Well, Amanda, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about Top Hat Balloon Works.

Speaker 2:

We're there for you to help make your event a nicer event. I mean, if you have some time, you have a little extra money to spend on your event or you want it to look just fabulous. I mean, we do so many decor items and just to be like, next week we're doing, oh, I'll have to tell you that, just to be like next week we're doing, oh, I'll have to tell you that we're doing a 50-foot balloon spider at the Great Wolf Lodge. So everybody come in and enjoy the spider there and you'll see the kind of decor you know we do everywhere, from just a simple bouquet or a simple centerpiece all the way to a 50-foot spider. There's so many different options, 50-foot spider, there's so many different options and we're there to help you, guide you to what you want to accomplish and how you want your event to look.

Speaker 2:

Themes are great. It's always fun. If you don't have a theme, think about color. So you know we call that a color theme because you know, if there's nothing specific, you know we can do all blues to make it look like a water or underwater, the sea theme kind of thing. Or great Gatsby black and gold, you know, with feathers. You know, and we incorporate, you know, other stuff besides balloons, but majority of our decor is balloons.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, how can our listeners learn more about Top Hat Balloon Works?

Speaker 2:

Definitely go on to our website, top Hat Balloon Works. It's w-e-r-k-s dot com and we have, you know, a variety of decor options, and of course, that's not anywhere near all the balloons we've done in our career, but it gives you an idea what to look for. It gives you kind of options for areas that you want to decorate, like centerpieces, you know that kind of thing, and also Instagram. We're big on Instagram. It's top underscore, hat underscore, balloon underscore works, and also the Facebook as well. So all of those options are available to you.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful. Well, Amanda, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate you having me on. Thank you, Rachel.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, Rachel.