December 17, 2024 • 15 mins
In this episode, Sean Edwards, the founder of The Balloon Guy in Los Angeles, shares his unique journey from a childhood fascination with balloon twisting to becoming a renowned balloon artist known for his impressive decorations.
Sean talks about the evolution of his business, the creative challenges he faces, and the importance of customer satisfaction. He also offers valuable advice for those looking to start a business in the creative space, emphasizing the importance of starting and trusting the journey.
Tune in to hear more about Sean's inspiring 'hello moment' and his tips for standing out in a competitive industry.
00:14 Meet Sean Edwards: The Balloon Guy
02:03 From Balloon Twister to Balloon Decorator
03:25 Childhood Dreams and Career Path
04:40 A Defining Moment in Business
07:59 Balancing Creativity and Business
08:57 Standing Out in the Balloon Industry
12:42 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
💼 Ready to grow your network, amplify your voice, and actually plan collaborations that move the needle?
Join us at the next Hey BOSS Ladies: Connection + Collaboration Hour
✨ Register here → heybossladies.com/event
Let’s build relationships that build your business.
Now’s the time. Let’s BOSS UP. 🔥
Follow Me on Instagram: @csdorsey_hello
Listen on Apple Podcast | iHeart Radio
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to another episodeof the Hello Sia's Dorsey
podcast.
I have Sean Edwards here on thepodcast, the balloon guy.
How are you doing today, Sean?
I'm doing great.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
Yay.
So I'm so excited.
So let's dive in.
So tell everyone who you are andwhat you do.
Sure.
So my name is Sean Edwards, andI'm the founder of the Balloon
(00:23):
Guy in Los Angeles, California.
And basically what I do is weoffer, well, I started off as a
balloon twister, but we alsooffer incredible balloon
decorations, which is kind ofwhat we're known for now.
So let me ask you a sidequestion.
Do you do those balloons wherethey have like an event and they
(00:44):
have like the balloonssurrounding like this arch and
then everybody's like picturesunder the arch?
Do you do that sort of things?
I think so.
I mean, we do tons of corporatework or custom work.
So like we pretty much dowhatever our clients can
imagine.
That I haven't actually heardof.
(01:04):
So there's an arch, like withpeople's pictures underneath it.
What do you mean like a backdropand then balloons around the
backdrop?
Yeah.
So like a backdrop and they havelike cause I just recently went
to a baby shower and she hadlike she had the.
The background and everything.
And if she had balloons goingall around the background and
she had like the, the wholepicture set up and everything
(01:27):
else, like these balloons lookreally nice.
Like I'm seeing it a lot more onInstagram.
So I'm like, Hey, do you do thattoo?
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
We do tons of crazy projects.
You know, we've done some prettyinsane balloon setups for one
year old birthday parties andjust like, yeah, even tea.
(01:49):
Yesterday we did a woman boughther children a pony, so we went
to a barn and set up an amazingballoon display.
For, for one of our clientsthat, that bought her kid a
pony.
So let's talk about theinspiration behind you starting
your business.
What was that like for you?
Sure.
So when I was a kid, I was anonly child and my, I was always
(02:12):
bored.
So my parents would try and getme different kits and things
like that to like keep meentertained.
That they didn't let me watchtelevision.
So that was off the tables andthe balloon kit was one of those
things.
And I, I guess I just got superinto it and before long I
started doing it in restaurantsand that's kind of how I got my
(02:36):
start into balloons was doingit, you know, around the
neighborhood for like theneighborhood kids and.
In restaurants and restaurantswas something I always kept up
like, and actually, I still doit to this day for pretty fancy
places.
Now I do like a restaurant offRodeo Drive here in Beverly
Hills at Christmas time.
(02:57):
But it's something I've alwaysdone is restaurants, and I feel
like it helped me to become fastat balloon art.
And also, you know, learn how totalk to people and keep them
entertained and that kind ofthing.
So that was really the trainingfor what I would want to do.
You know, now I mostly do largescale balloon decorations, but
(03:19):
yeah, it all started from thatone balloon kit.
That's awesome.
So let me ask you this.
What did you originally want todo?
Like when you were a child orgrowing up, what did you say?
Well, I'm going to be this.
But you know, sometimes our pathkind of like switch a little
bit.
So what did you originally wantto do when you grow up?
(03:41):
Well, I went through a couple ofdifferent things.
There was like, I wanted to be amagician at one point and then I
wanted to be a clown.
So like I taught myself allthese skills like juggling and
like face painting andeverything to be a clown.
And I have some trulyfrightening pictures of me as a
child dressed up like a clown,which we'll never see the light
(04:02):
of day.
And yeah, so I felt like I wentthrough a couple of different
things, but it was always likeperformance related and always
like, Working with the arts,working in the arts and, and
that kind of thing.
Oh, okay.
So your path is kind of like youlike paving the way, like you
doing what you initially kind ofwant to do, it just led up to
(04:24):
this.
So I think that's cool becauseyou know, sometimes we say we
want to do things when we growup and we go a totally different
direction.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It definitely wasn't like, Iwant to be a singer.
I was like a balloon artist, youknow what I mean?
It wasn't that different, youknow?
Yeah.
So can you remember a time inyour business or your life where
(04:44):
you had a hello moment?
Like you had that moment whereyou were like, yes, this is what
I'm supposed to be doing.
I think the hello moment for mein my business would have been
like on site at an event.
So I remember very clearly, Iwas working with, you know a
client who's actually one of myfavorite clients to this day,
(05:06):
and she gave me one of my firstopportunities to do balloon
decorations for her, I think herchild's like 1st or 2nd
birthday, and it was prettysmall scale at that point.
But then later, a couple ofyears later, she asked me to do
balloons for her 40th birthdayparty.
And it was a really large eventand it was when I was first
(05:30):
starting into balloondecorations and I knew I knew
exactly how to do the job, but Iwas nervous and I had people
helping me, but there was thisarch and she wanted it.
It was a very specific.
And very beautiful, but verydetailed arch.
It wasn't just an arch and a Ushape.
(05:52):
It had a lot of subtleties toit.
And the shape of it was veryspecific and, and really
beautiful, but I really wantedto nail it for her.
And the team that I had workingon it was not, you know, I had
shown them pictures andeverything like that.
And, and I told them what to do,but they were not nailing it.
(06:12):
And I was starting to getnervous.
Cause the party was like, Idon't know, an hour away or
something like that.
So I had to just buckle down andjust you know, tell my team
members to just start bringingme balloons of different sizes.
And I went in and I justsculpted the arch, you know,
into the shape that it shouldhave been, because it was kind
(06:33):
of like, imagine a stick figureof a person, but you needed to
create like a fully, Formedperson with like you know, 3d
elements and eyes and all thisstuff and there was nothing
there So yeah, I had to go paintthe picture myself and when it
was done It was beautiful and itwas stunning and it was I think
even more than what she couldhave expected and I feel like
(06:55):
That was one of those hellomoments for me where you're
like, wow.
Yeah, this is this is exactlywhere I'm supposed to be Oh, I
love it.
I love it.
It's like you had a, a problem,you solved it and it came out
beautiful.
And then having that momentlike, oh my goodness, like of,
of release, but satisfaction andwhat do you call it?
(07:20):
You know, how you get thatmoment where it's, it's, it's.
Yeah, definitely a hello moment.
Like, oh, you know, like, it'shard to explain, but yeah, I
love it.
Yeah, well, and it did help thatlike, you know, there were no
sound effects like you justmade, but like, I feel like the
sun was shining and it was agorgeous day in LA and like,
(07:42):
everyone was arriving at theparty at that right time.
So like, You know, and peoplewere smiling and happy.
The client was thrilled.
So yeah, I did have that likebig moment where I was like,
yeah, this is great.
That's amazing.
I love those moments.
So let's talk about how to usecreativity to stand out in your
(08:03):
business.
Can you talk more on that?
Sure.
Sure.
I feel like Surprising that Ifeel like that's an interesting
question for me, because I feellike my business is about
creativity.
So I feel like, there's abusiness side to this business.
That's like email and answeringleads and getting leads and
(08:25):
marketing and all of that stuff.
But there's also the creativeaspect, which, of course, is the
artwork and design.
And, you know, Starting withjust an idea and turning it into
a reality.
All of that, that creativity.
So I feel like my businessreally bridges the gap between
the two where it is truly abalance between it being a
(08:49):
business and it being an artform.
I don't know if that answersyour question or not, but yeah,
no, it actually does.
So let me ask you this, like,how do you stand out from
others?
Cause there's, there's peopleout there that do, do bloom
creativity and it's.
(09:09):
It's getting a little bit moreprevalent now.
I definitely see it pop upInstagram where people are doing
those for, you know, parties andeverything.
And then some people even dothem at home themselves, you
know, through YouTube videos andwhatnot.
How do you stand out to makesure that you are separated from
(09:29):
the competition?
That's a great question.
I feel like I don't spend a lotof time sitting around and
thinking about the competition,but I can't tell you what
separates us commitment to highquality customer service I think
is genuinely unique in bluedecor because we really.
(09:51):
Take the time to work with ourclients and really help their
specific ideas come to life.
Most of what we do is custom.
So we're not trying to putpeople into a box and giving
everyone the same kind of thing.
We really take the.
Time to listen to exactly whatour client wants and try and
help their vision come to life.
(10:11):
We don't kind of put our ownideas onto it.
We, of course, we likebrainstorm with them and
collaborate and all that stuff,but we're not trying to force
anybody into 1 direction theother way.
I feel like we stand out is theartistic side of it.
You know, it's really importantto me that at the end of the day
(10:31):
my clients are happy.
So like I will bend overbackwards to ensure that my
clients are happy and have agreat event because you know,
this is a business and it's aserious business and you know,
it's about making money short,but it's also a really important
moment in people's lives wherethey're turning to us to make it
(10:52):
truly special.
And that's exactly what I wantto do.
I love that response.
Yeah, because a lot of peopleout there.
It's all about money and not thecustomer experience.
And like I tell people, youknow, if you have to give away
something for free, give it out,do your best.
(11:13):
And people will say like, Oh,wow, she's giving this away for
free.
I would love to work with herbecause I want to see, you know,
what the paid is.
I think that's very important.
A lot of people don't agree withme on that, but you know, that's
how, I mean, you think aboutCostco, I'm kind of like going
on a tangent right now, butthink about Costco and in a way,
(11:33):
you know, we go in there.
We say, okay, I need this, this,this, and this, and then we get
out.
But if you notice, like everyCostco has something free and
you don't even think about thatthing until you actually taste
it.
Right.
And you're like, Oh, this isgood.
I think I'm going to go buythat.
That's the upsell right there,giving it away for free.
People like it.
And then, you know, theypurchase the item after they
(11:55):
taste it.
So Customer experience is very,very important.
And I like the way that youfocus on that versus, you know,
income revenue and all that,cause you know, you're in a
really big business where youhave to make everything like
look good.
So hats off to you.
(12:16):
I do love Costco too, by theway, everybody loves a deal.
Yes.
Right.
You know, I mean, think of theirbusiness model and then that's
how you can definitely modelyour business as well, you know,
and put your own spin to it.
So I, I really liked that, you,you point that out because
Susan, when you said that, I waslike, Oh, the Costco story.
(12:38):
So any last minute advice thatyou have for our listeners out
there?
Who's wanting to maybe startsome sort of business in the
creative space, kind of likesimilar to yours.
Do you have any advice for ourlisteners out there?
Start, you know, start today.
Like that's the biggest.
You know, what is it that sayingperfection is the enemy of art?
(13:03):
I think that's really true.
And I think, of course, youdon't want to do something and
put it out there that you're notproud of.
But at the same time, you've gotto get started somewhere.
And it's important to just.
Get started and figure outthings as you go.
You know, as long as you knowwhat you're doing and you know
what you want to do and you havea clear vision, I think just
(13:24):
start your journey and let thepieces fall where they will
because it will come together inthe end if you keep pushing
forward.
And I know it's a little corny,but if you keep pushing forward
and believe in yourself, that'sthe most important thing.
So where can everyone find you?
So we're on Instagram at BalloonGuy LA and our website is pretty
(13:46):
easy.
It's just the balloon guy, la.
com and yeah, plenty of photosand stuff up there of our
current projects.
And we've got some pretty coolstuff in the works as well.
Well, definitely those up in theshow notes.
Well, Sean, I thank you so muchfor being on the podcast today.
Thank you so much for having me.
(14:06):
I really appreciate it.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Hello Sia's Dorsey
podcast.
I have Sean Edwards here on thepodcast, the balloon guy.
How are you doing today, Sean?
I'm doing great.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
Yay.
So I'm so excited.
So let's dive in.
So tell everyone who you are andwhat you do.
Sure.
So my name is Sean Edwards, andI'm the founder of the Balloon
(00:23):
Guy in Los Angeles, California.
And basically what I do is weoffer, well, I started off as a
balloon twister, but we alsooffer incredible balloon
decorations, which is kind ofwhat we're known for now.
So let me ask you a sidequestion.
Do you do those balloons wherethey have like an event and they
(00:44):
have like the balloonssurrounding like this arch and
then everybody's like picturesunder the arch?
Do you do that sort of things?
I think so.
I mean, we do tons of corporatework or custom work.
So like we pretty much dowhatever our clients can
imagine.
That I haven't actually heardof.
(01:04):
So there's an arch, like withpeople's pictures underneath it.
What do you mean like a backdropand then balloons around the
backdrop?
Yeah.
So like a backdrop and they havelike cause I just recently went
to a baby shower and she hadlike she had the.
The background and everything.
And if she had balloons goingall around the background and
she had like the, the wholepicture set up and everything
(01:27):
else, like these balloons lookreally nice.
Like I'm seeing it a lot more onInstagram.
So I'm like, Hey, do you do thattoo?
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
We do tons of crazy projects.
You know, we've done some prettyinsane balloon setups for one
year old birthday parties andjust like, yeah, even tea.
(01:49):
Yesterday we did a woman boughther children a pony, so we went
to a barn and set up an amazingballoon display.
For, for one of our clientsthat, that bought her kid a
pony.
So let's talk about theinspiration behind you starting
your business.
What was that like for you?
Sure.
So when I was a kid, I was anonly child and my, I was always
(02:12):
bored.
So my parents would try and getme different kits and things
like that to like keep meentertained.
That they didn't let me watchtelevision.
So that was off the tables andthe balloon kit was one of those
things.
And I, I guess I just got superinto it and before long I
started doing it in restaurantsand that's kind of how I got my
(02:36):
start into balloons was doingit, you know, around the
neighborhood for like theneighborhood kids and.
In restaurants and restaurantswas something I always kept up
like, and actually, I still doit to this day for pretty fancy
places.
Now I do like a restaurant offRodeo Drive here in Beverly
Hills at Christmas time.
(02:57):
But it's something I've alwaysdone is restaurants, and I feel
like it helped me to become fastat balloon art.
And also, you know, learn how totalk to people and keep them
entertained and that kind ofthing.
So that was really the trainingfor what I would want to do.
You know, now I mostly do largescale balloon decorations, but
(03:19):
yeah, it all started from thatone balloon kit.
That's awesome.
So let me ask you this.
What did you originally want todo?
Like when you were a child orgrowing up, what did you say?
Well, I'm going to be this.
But you know, sometimes our pathkind of like switch a little
bit.
So what did you originally wantto do when you grow up?
(03:41):
Well, I went through a couple ofdifferent things.
There was like, I wanted to be amagician at one point and then I
wanted to be a clown.
So like I taught myself allthese skills like juggling and
like face painting andeverything to be a clown.
And I have some trulyfrightening pictures of me as a
child dressed up like a clown,which we'll never see the light
(04:02):
of day.
And yeah, so I felt like I wentthrough a couple of different
things, but it was always likeperformance related and always
like, Working with the arts,working in the arts and, and
that kind of thing.
Oh, okay.
So your path is kind of like youlike paving the way, like you
doing what you initially kind ofwant to do, it just led up to
(04:24):
this.
So I think that's cool becauseyou know, sometimes we say we
want to do things when we growup and we go a totally different
direction.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It definitely wasn't like, Iwant to be a singer.
I was like a balloon artist, youknow what I mean?
It wasn't that different, youknow?
Yeah.
So can you remember a time inyour business or your life where
(04:44):
you had a hello moment?
Like you had that moment whereyou were like, yes, this is what
I'm supposed to be doing.
I think the hello moment for mein my business would have been
like on site at an event.
So I remember very clearly, Iwas working with, you know a
client who's actually one of myfavorite clients to this day,
(05:06):
and she gave me one of my firstopportunities to do balloon
decorations for her, I think herchild's like 1st or 2nd
birthday, and it was prettysmall scale at that point.
But then later, a couple ofyears later, she asked me to do
balloons for her 40th birthdayparty.
And it was a really large eventand it was when I was first
(05:30):
starting into balloondecorations and I knew I knew
exactly how to do the job, but Iwas nervous and I had people
helping me, but there was thisarch and she wanted it.
It was a very specific.
And very beautiful, but verydetailed arch.
It wasn't just an arch and a Ushape.
(05:52):
It had a lot of subtleties toit.
And the shape of it was veryspecific and, and really
beautiful, but I really wantedto nail it for her.
And the team that I had workingon it was not, you know, I had
shown them pictures andeverything like that.
And, and I told them what to do,but they were not nailing it.
(06:12):
And I was starting to getnervous.
Cause the party was like, Idon't know, an hour away or
something like that.
So I had to just buckle down andjust you know, tell my team
members to just start bringingme balloons of different sizes.
And I went in and I justsculpted the arch, you know,
into the shape that it shouldhave been, because it was kind
(06:33):
of like, imagine a stick figureof a person, but you needed to
create like a fully, Formedperson with like you know, 3d
elements and eyes and all thisstuff and there was nothing
there So yeah, I had to go paintthe picture myself and when it
was done It was beautiful and itwas stunning and it was I think
even more than what she couldhave expected and I feel like
(06:55):
That was one of those hellomoments for me where you're
like, wow.
Yeah, this is this is exactlywhere I'm supposed to be Oh, I
love it.
I love it.
It's like you had a, a problem,you solved it and it came out
beautiful.
And then having that momentlike, oh my goodness, like of,
of release, but satisfaction andwhat do you call it?
(07:20):
You know, how you get thatmoment where it's, it's, it's.
Yeah, definitely a hello moment.
Like, oh, you know, like, it'shard to explain, but yeah, I
love it.
Yeah, well, and it did help thatlike, you know, there were no
sound effects like you justmade, but like, I feel like the
sun was shining and it was agorgeous day in LA and like,
(07:42):
everyone was arriving at theparty at that right time.
So like, You know, and peoplewere smiling and happy.
The client was thrilled.
So yeah, I did have that likebig moment where I was like,
yeah, this is great.
That's amazing.
I love those moments.
So let's talk about how to usecreativity to stand out in your
(08:03):
business.
Can you talk more on that?
Sure.
Sure.
I feel like Surprising that Ifeel like that's an interesting
question for me, because I feellike my business is about
creativity.
So I feel like, there's abusiness side to this business.
That's like email and answeringleads and getting leads and
(08:25):
marketing and all of that stuff.
But there's also the creativeaspect, which, of course, is the
artwork and design.
And, you know, Starting withjust an idea and turning it into
a reality.
All of that, that creativity.
So I feel like my businessreally bridges the gap between
the two where it is truly abalance between it being a
(08:49):
business and it being an artform.
I don't know if that answersyour question or not, but yeah,
no, it actually does.
So let me ask you this, like,how do you stand out from
others?
Cause there's, there's peopleout there that do, do bloom
creativity and it's.
(09:09):
It's getting a little bit moreprevalent now.
I definitely see it pop upInstagram where people are doing
those for, you know, parties andeverything.
And then some people even dothem at home themselves, you
know, through YouTube videos andwhatnot.
How do you stand out to makesure that you are separated from
(09:29):
the competition?
That's a great question.
I feel like I don't spend a lotof time sitting around and
thinking about the competition,but I can't tell you what
separates us commitment to highquality customer service I think
is genuinely unique in bluedecor because we really.
(09:51):
Take the time to work with ourclients and really help their
specific ideas come to life.
Most of what we do is custom.
So we're not trying to putpeople into a box and giving
everyone the same kind of thing.
We really take the.
Time to listen to exactly whatour client wants and try and
help their vision come to life.
(10:11):
We don't kind of put our ownideas onto it.
We, of course, we likebrainstorm with them and
collaborate and all that stuff,but we're not trying to force
anybody into 1 direction theother way.
I feel like we stand out is theartistic side of it.
You know, it's really importantto me that at the end of the day
(10:31):
my clients are happy.
So like I will bend overbackwards to ensure that my
clients are happy and have agreat event because you know,
this is a business and it's aserious business and you know,
it's about making money short,but it's also a really important
moment in people's lives wherethey're turning to us to make it
(10:52):
truly special.
And that's exactly what I wantto do.
I love that response.
Yeah, because a lot of peopleout there.
It's all about money and not thecustomer experience.
And like I tell people, youknow, if you have to give away
something for free, give it out,do your best.
(11:13):
And people will say like, Oh,wow, she's giving this away for
free.
I would love to work with herbecause I want to see, you know,
what the paid is.
I think that's very important.
A lot of people don't agree withme on that, but you know, that's
how, I mean, you think aboutCostco, I'm kind of like going
on a tangent right now, butthink about Costco and in a way,
(11:33):
you know, we go in there.
We say, okay, I need this, this,this, and this, and then we get
out.
But if you notice, like everyCostco has something free and
you don't even think about thatthing until you actually taste
it.
Right.
And you're like, Oh, this isgood.
I think I'm going to go buythat.
That's the upsell right there,giving it away for free.
People like it.
And then, you know, theypurchase the item after they
(11:55):
taste it.
So Customer experience is very,very important.
And I like the way that youfocus on that versus, you know,
income revenue and all that,cause you know, you're in a
really big business where youhave to make everything like
look good.
So hats off to you.
(12:16):
I do love Costco too, by theway, everybody loves a deal.
Yes.
Right.
You know, I mean, think of theirbusiness model and then that's
how you can definitely modelyour business as well, you know,
and put your own spin to it.
So I, I really liked that, you,you point that out because
Susan, when you said that, I waslike, Oh, the Costco story.
(12:38):
So any last minute advice thatyou have for our listeners out
there?
Who's wanting to maybe startsome sort of business in the
creative space, kind of likesimilar to yours.
Do you have any advice for ourlisteners out there?
Start, you know, start today.
Like that's the biggest.
You know, what is it that sayingperfection is the enemy of art?
(13:03):
I think that's really true.
And I think, of course, youdon't want to do something and
put it out there that you're notproud of.
But at the same time, you've gotto get started somewhere.
And it's important to just.
Get started and figure outthings as you go.
You know, as long as you knowwhat you're doing and you know
what you want to do and you havea clear vision, I think just
(13:24):
start your journey and let thepieces fall where they will
because it will come together inthe end if you keep pushing
forward.
And I know it's a little corny,but if you keep pushing forward
and believe in yourself, that'sthe most important thing.
So where can everyone find you?
So we're on Instagram at BalloonGuy LA and our website is pretty
(13:46):
easy.
It's just the balloon guy, la.
com and yeah, plenty of photosand stuff up there of our
current projects.
And we've got some pretty coolstuff in the works as well.
Well, definitely those up in theshow notes.
Well, Sean, I thank you so muchfor being on the podcast today.
Thank you so much for having me.
(14:06):
I really appreciate it.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com