Today we’d like to introduce you to Maribel Gomez.
Hi Maribel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I came to the United States from Venezuela in November 2016 looking for a better future for my family. For a while, I was unemployed trying to get a job that would allow me to be at home with my daughters, until the opportunity arose to work with a company making balloon figures in restaurants on weekends, which I accepted.
At that time I knew absolutely nothing about balloons but I thought it would work because I have always had skills for crafts and started training, until finally on March 10, 2017 I started in this new profession.
From 10 figures that I knew at the beginning, I ended up doing many more because I made an effort to create new characters and stay up to date with trends, projecting a professional image every day. That is why in October 2019 I decided to create MARY BALLOONS DECO & ARTS on Instagram in order to publicize my work and offer the balloon twisting service at parties.
I worked without stop every weekend 12 or 14 hours standing making figures and earning tips for 3 years until the pandemic came in 2020 that all restaurants closed and I was out of work. At that moment I decided to turn my brand around and cover more aspects of the world of balloons in order to offer diversity such as decorations, balloon arches, balloon bouquets and more.
I began a new stage in Mary Balloons studying with great and recognized masters of artistic decoration with balloons such as My Balloons Decor, Balloons by Luz Paz, Edward Munoz the genius of balloons, Decoraciones Globos by Nieves, Qualatex Q Convention and many more who expanded my knowledge and improved my products.
Thanks to this impulse in my brand I was growing and growing until in April 2021 I decided to create MARY BALLOONS DECO ARTS LLC as a registered company and that has allowed me today, thanks to a lot of effort and dedication, to have my physical balloon decorations and accessories store in ALTAMONTE SPRINGS since November 18th, 2021 Being the first store of its kind in the city of Orlando with many brands and a great variety, a market that until now has been divided into a single brand store, Mary Balloons Deco Arts LLC is the first store in the region with a diversity of brands, especially TUFTEX balloons and KALISAN Balloons for the first time in Orlando, which makes us proud and makes us feel very happy as an immigrant family who wants to fight and work for this beautiful and noble country.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a long and difficult road not only because of the physical aspect but also because of the emotional one, being on my feet for so long working, sometimes enduring contempt for people when I approached the tables, my hands are always chapped and tired, too many hours of work, sacrificing my family weekends to be working, having left my profession aside and dedicate myself to a new life, many things, but today having my store grow as fast as I have grown and fighting for something of my own and that in the future will be for my daughters is the greatest reward for all the setbacks and sacrifices, I am very blessed.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
MARY BALLOONS DECO & ARTS is a family business dedicated to artistic decoration with balloons, we specialize in decorating any celebration in a different and artistic way with unique creations with balloons, providing clients with personalized and digital designs as an innovative and modern tool to visualize their ideas.
In addition, our store offers a variety of brands and colors, accessories, furniture and everything the decorator needs in one place, with unique brands in the city and beautiful high quality colors.
We are a different store with personalized and close attention, we try not to be just another balloon store, each client arrives at a home that welcomes them, meeting their demands with great responsibility and professionalism.
What makes me most proud is having worked so hard and with so much focus for my store and my products that today seeing it become a reality is a great satisfaction for both me and my family, I hope my daughters feel proud of their mom, that is my main goal in life.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My advice is to study, always be at the forefront of current trends, focus, work hard, be your own competition, do not look aside and advertise your work, I believe that social networks and the internet is the best market tool that it has worked for me.
Contact Info:
- Email: maryballoonsdecoarts@gmail.com
- Website: www.maryballoonsdecoarts.com
- Instagram: @maryballoons.deco.arts
- Facebook: Mary Balloons Deco & Arts LLC
