Beyond Bouquets: Transforming Spaces with Top Hat Balloon Werks

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.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, rachel Fyfe.
Welcome to the Good NeighborPodcast.
Now.
Are you planning that specialevent, that theme party or

(00:21):
special occasion?
Well, we have a resource thatis going to be closer than you
think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
amanda Armstrong, with Top HatBalloon Works.
Amanda, how is it going?
Hi, it's good.
How are you doing, rachel?
Doing great.

(00:41):
Well, let me tell you.
We're excited to learn about youand your business.
Now tell us about your company.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Top Hat Balloonworks.
We've been in business 27 yearsnow and we've done many events
for all sorts of people clients.
We have everything from thesmallest event to commercials to
big events.

(01:13):
We've done celebrity events butwe try to stay more local if we
can help it.
A lot of times that stuff's upin LA but we can decorate your
event and we're there asconsultants.
So if you need help doing that,we'll have a consultation, we
can meet at the location, theevent location, and we kind of

(01:34):
go over decor, because there'slike a formula to use when
you're having an event you wantto have an entrance piece, you
want to have centerpieces, youwant to have a stage decor.
You know it just depends onyour event.
And for the smaller stuff, youknow we usually just do it via
email or phone consultation andyou can send over pictures and

(01:59):
designs that you'd like.
A lot of the most popular stuffright now is like organic, it's
kind of the bubbly lookingarches and those kind of things.
But we're there to help you andguide you to have a better
event and a nicely decoratedevent.
You know it kind of makes thatwow factor if you want to really
put that into your occasion.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
I love it.
I love it.
How did you get into thisbusiness, wow?

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Actually I started out because my daughter, who was
about eight, seven or eight,she, she, I wanted to decorate
with balloons and some otherstuff and at the time I was
working at San Onofre NuclearStation and I thought this would

(02:56):
be a great home-based businessbecause my kids were still young
and it was time to startworking on that route because of
child care.
Anyway so I learned how to dothat and found out all the
information.
I've done conventions, you know.

(03:16):
I went to conventions, Icompeted at conventions and won
awards and then I startedgetting into teaching.
I taught balloons, how to doballoons all around the world
and people have, you know,called me up to do classes and
yeah, it's, it's been a greatindustry.
That's kind of how I startedwith my daughter.
She's now 30 or 32 and she justgot married, so we did balloons

(03:40):
at her wedding.
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, I would be curious what.
What are some of the myths ormaybe misconceptions in your
industry?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
A lot, of times, people are totally unaware of
really how you can decorate withballoons, and so I try to help
guide them to better options andoptions.
Like a lot of times, peoplehave outdoor events.
Well, outdoors events are greatin california it's a great, you

(04:11):
know place to have events butthe problem is um stability,
because you have wind, you havesun, you have heat, you know,
and and all that kind of stuffwill affect the balloons.
So I have to try to educate ummy consumers to really you know
this is a better option for yourdesign, like a column with a

(04:31):
base and a pole.
They last longer, you know theydon't pop and once it gets past
like 80 or 90 degrees, you'rein the gray zone there, because
if it's outside, you know theycould.
If it's a dark color especially, it can pop.
So, you know, I really try tosteer people in the right
direction as to what to use,just so they can have a lasting,

(04:53):
a lasting decor item.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Wonderful, that's fantastic.
You know well, I you know, weknow marketing is kind of the
heart of every business.
So how are you targeting yourcustomers or how do you attract
them?

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Usually Instagram and Facebook is great for that.
Analytics.
I have some analytic programsactually 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 hadthe yellow books.
I was in the yellow pages for anumber of years that's how old

(05:30):
I am and then everything fromthere progressed.
You know, I started a websiteand did that and have had that
for many years and that helps,you know, with getting on the
Google search and stuff, thelongevity of your website.
But a lot of times actually, tobe honest with you, it's word
of mouth.
People love the decor, Peoplelove to work with me, and so I

(05:56):
get a lot of referrals from justword of mouth and I'm always
getting calls oh somebodyreferred me, and blah blah.
But it's nice, it's nice tohave that too, it is.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
It is.
Have you ever thought of doingyour own podcast?

Speaker 2 (06:17):
I never thought about that, but I but well, actually,
I can't say that I haven't.
I've, I've pretty much thoughtabout all sorts of things.
Podcasts would be fun, I mean,I, I'm, I looked into it.
I think a little bit of it andit was.
It was just a little bit moretime consuming than I wanted.
I actually just recentlyapplied for an air, the Airbnb
experience.
So you're, you offer, you know,people that are coming into

(06:41):
town, you know, staying at anAirbnb, you offer them a class
on how to design and stuff likethat.
So we'll see if that, if that,works out.
But there's, there's also theavenues, because there's so many
, so many directions to go whenyou market, as you know right
okay now.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
So outside of work, you know what do you like to do
for fun?

Speaker 2 (07:03):
uh, I'm actually in a band with right, so we sing
together and, yeah, I, I enjoy.
That's my kind of lifelonghobby.
I've always enjoyed singing andI'm in a couple of rock and
roll bands, so having a goodtime with that.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's great.
Well, Amanda, please tell ourlisteners one thing they should
remember about Top Hat BalloonWorks.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
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 wantit to look just fabulous.
I mean, we do so many decoritems and just to be like, next
week we're doing, oh, I'll haveto tell you that, just to be
like next week we're doing, oh,I'll have to tell you that we're

(08:00):
doing a 50-foot balloon spiderat the Great Wolf Lodge.
So everybody come in and enjoythe spider there and you'll see
the kind of decor you know we doeverywhere, from just a simple
bouquet or a simple centerpieceall the way to a 50-foot spider.
There's so many differentoptions, 50-foot spider, there's
so many different options andwe're there to help you, guide
you to what you want toaccomplish and how you want your

(08:20):
event to look.
Themes are great.
It's always fun.
If you don't have a theme,think about color.
So you know we call that acolor theme because you know, if
there's nothing specific, youknow we can do all blues to make
it look like a water orunderwater, the sea theme kind
of thing.
Or great Gatsby black and gold,you know, with feathers.

(08:44):
You know, and we incorporate,you know, other stuff besides
balloons, but majority of ourdecor is balloons.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah Well, how can our listeners learn more about
Top Hat Balloon Works?

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Definitely go on to our website, top Hat Balloon
Works.
It's w-e-r-k-s dot com and wehave, you know, a variety of
decor options, and of course,that's not anywhere near all the
balloons we've done in ourcareer, but it gives you an idea

(09:18):
what to look for.
It gives you kind of optionsfor areas that you want to
decorate, like centerpieces, youknow that kind of thing, and
also Instagram.
We're big on Instagram.
It's top underscore, hatunderscore, balloon underscore
works, and also the Facebook aswell.

(09:38):
So all of those options areavailable to you.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Wonderful.
Well, Amanda, I reallyappreciate you being on the show
.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
I appreciate you having me on.
Thank you, Rachel.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Thank you, Rachel.