Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Sills.
Hi Sharon, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As an adult, my career has always been focused in Aerospace, The Legal Field and Leadership roles. After 16 years working for one of the largest defense contractors in the world, I was downsized. I was given the opportunity to move to another state and acquire another leadership position for less pay. I declined. In 2016, I started my Wedding & Event Planning business. Although I love planning weddings and events, I felt like something was still missing in my creative bones. In 2019, I purchased a balloon inflator from Amazon and a bag of balloons from Walmart. I watched videos on YouTube and thought I could duplicate the process. I could not! My fingers hurt, my cuticles split, and my acrylic nails started lifting and popping the balloons. In 2020, I thought I would give it another try. This time I was determined to figure it out. I mean, it’s a balloon!
After hours upon hours of practice, I really learned the concept and thought I was ready for my first client. The second, third & fourth clients came immediately after. Although I had clients, I was still trying to understand the balloon industry, how to price, where to purchase inventory, which my vendors were, networking, blah, blah, blah. I found nothing that would help me turn a hobby into a career. I would take one or two things I learned from social media and piece it together with other sources and pray the two made sense. After learning that all “training classes/workshops” is not meant to effectively train you but to be a money-making venture for them, I went on a mission to become an expert in my field. This business should not be hard! I made of my mind that I want to be that resource that I was looking for when I came into this space.
Fast forward to May 2021. I officially opened the first Balloon Training Academy in Atlanta, GA, “The POP Xperience” We structure the training to give students a learning experience and an opportunity to grow in this industry. We start with a good business foundation and incorporate hands-on balloon training and shadowing opportunities to learn in a real-world situation.
I started to Get It POPin Balloon Decor nine months ago and now I own and teach a Balloon Academy. For each client I service, I know this is where my passion lies.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Every day has been an obstacle and challenge in this business. Not a day goes by that something new and different is not on my plate. The real question is, how do I handle those situations? To understand how I slay my day, the readers must first know I am a Christian. Every breath, move and decision I make is Christ-led. I have my best friend, my help meets, my husband, affectionately known as “Bae,” along for the ride. We post videos on social media of our interaction with each other during our balloon setups. We keep it transparent, raw and honest. As the business grows, we inherit more problems, but we eat an elephant one bite at a time and we make sure we maintain a work, life, balance.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create balloon decor that helps bring an event to life. Our brand is known for transforming a “blah” space into a beautifully designed creative space filled with balloons. Anytime you can add life to a blank space, it’s a big win. At the end of the day, balloon decor is my jam!
What sets us apart from the rest is our strong people personality. People gravitate to our social media presence because we keep things real, transparent, lively and we do phenomenal balloon decor. I am always surprised by how clients react when I personally reply back to them on social media or when we show up for a balloon install. Some treat us like we are celebrities. It feels weird and I have to learn to get used to that. We get it popin!
At the Balloon Training Academy, I am proud of the fact that I can take a person who wants to create a balloon business and share with them the proper tools for them to be successful. I get excited to plug them into our system and community of experts. The mission of the academy is to teach the difference between making money vs. building a business. Each workshop at the academy includes industry experts and special guests to share information to take their business to the next level. Our motto is, Learn it the right way – the first time.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was raised with a strong sense of self-awareness. At ten years old, I decided to re-decorate the house while my mom was at work. I just got fed up with the same old-looking décor and pictures on the wall. During my out-of-body experience, I did not think about the repercussions of my actions of rearranging furniture and nailing pictures to the wall. When my mom came home, I was so nervous. She came in, looked around, and never said a word. The silence was a code of approval. That situation gave me the confidence to decorate the house for all the holidays. Soon it was known that I would be the one in charge of decorating and I refused to let anyone touch the décor but me!
Sadly, where I grew up in Southern California, there were no influencers or mentors I could tap into. No one that looked like me at my age in my community was into fashion/design/décor to the level I was hungry to learn. It has always been in me, but now I have a creative outlet to REALLY be me!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.getitpopin.com
- Instagram: @getitipopin_atl
