Everything I know about work I learned from being a teenage balloon artist
When I was in high school, I worked in restaurants on nights and weekends, twisting balloons into fun shapes for children.
Yes, I was a teenage balloon artist.
Each shift, I wore a standard uniform of a white button-down top and black slacks. I usually tucked a $5 bill into my shirt pocket to encourage parents to tip me. Sometimes I still can’t believe it’s something I did, but I have the completely random balloon-twisting skills to prove it.
Ballooning may sound like a fun job — and usually, it was. But it wasn’t easy. Like every job, plenty could go wrong on a typical day. Balloons pop. Kids cry. Sometimes I’d spend 20 minutes at a table only to find that the parents didn’t tip. There were slow shifts where I barely made anything — and if I wasn’t getting tipped, I wasn’t getting paid.
I learned a lot about the professional world through the trials and tribulations of balloon artistry. And a decade later, when I started my own career in nonprofits, I was armed with a laundry list of lessons I had learned in my ballooning days. Here are just a few ways my years as a teenage balloon artist prepared me for the world of work.
It got me out of my comfort zone
Ballooning was a great job, but it wasn’t a perfect fit for me. I’m an introvert, and being a balloon artist requires a whole lot of schmoozing with tables as you make balloons. Nobody wants to watch you silently twist squeaky balloons for five minutes while their pancakes get cold.
If I was going to make any money, I had to come out of my shell and talk to people. To this day, it’s the part of the job I remember the least fondly, but it helped me overcome a deep fear of small talk that would prove incredibly important in job interviews, first days of work and networking with new people. On days when I’m facing an awkward silence in a meeting, I still sometimes think to myself, “What would I say if I were twisting a balloon animal for them?” Embarrassing but true.
I established a routine
My most regular ballooning shift was the Sunday morning brunch rush at a breakfast restaurant about 15 minutes away from my house. After working at the same restaurant a few times and getting the lay of the land, I developed a routine. The night before a shift, I’d put on a TV show and organize my balloons by color in my balloon apron. The next morning, I’d arrive at the restaurant 10 minutes early, listen to some music in my car to get me feeling energized and head in five minutes before my shift started. I’d say hello to the manager and servers, twist a couple of balloon flowers for decoration at the front of the restaurant and get to work.
These little rituals were crucial in helping me get in the headspace for work, especially on the days when I was feeling extra shy and not up to talking to strangers. Now that I work a more structured job, routines like making myself coffee and breakfast before work help remind my brain what I’m doing and what my day will look like. I have similar routines for my daily afternoon slump: an iced coffee or tea when the post-lunch lull strikes. These little things I do for myself help structure my day and give me a sense of purpose and consistency, especially when working from home. (As a bonus, setting routines for yourself can have psychological benefits, too!)
I built relationships
By far the best part of my job as a balloon artist was building a base of regular customers. It warmed my heart like nothing else to see the same kids every week, ask them about school or their hobbies and make balloons just for them. It also endeared me to their parents, who liked knowing I was genuinely interested in treating their kids with kindness and respect.
Relationship-building is key in virtually every job. Being nice to people, taking the time to get to know them as more than employees or clients and being consistent about those relationships sends an undeniable message about the kind of person you are and the kind of work culture you’re committed to. Again, these are skills you will need in any job, so the sooner you establish them, the better.
I found out why it’s important to keep learning
Speaking of those regulars I’d see every week, here’s a fun story:
I once had a regular evening gig where I saw the same 3-year-old girl and her parents weekly. She usually asked for a pink elephant. The first three weeks, I told her sadly that I didn’t know how to make an elephant, so I made her a teddy bear instead. But I went home and taught myself how to make that elephant specifically for her. When I finally figured out how to do it, I couldn’t wait to show her. On the fourth week, I approached her table, ready to make her the pink elephant she always wanted. She asked for the teddy bear. The joke was on me.
I tell this story for two reasons. First, investing in your own learnings on the job is essential, whether that means attending training or workshops, connecting with a mentor or simply reading up on the newest trends during the workday between meetings. Secondly, sometimes you have to hold onto your new skills for a while and simply do what you know best. I eventually made that little girl an elephant, and I made it for many other kids, too. All in all, it was a win-win situation.
I practiced setting boundaries
My balloon boss was — how do I say this? — firm. He wanted his team to work as many hours as humanly possible, and he would throw vicious tantrums if he believed we weren’t working hard enough. Sometimes he openly mocked us to our colleagues, insinuating that we were lazy or weak for not taking on more work (I didn’t say ballooning was a perfect job!).
Setting boundaries can be challenging in a workplace, especially when you really need the job. But my ballooning career taught me there are a few things that, for the sake of my mental health, I cannot tolerate. One is being yelled or cursed at (this should be considered unacceptable at every job!). Another is being asked to work past a point that was healthy for me (again, never okay!). I held that boundary again and again with my boss, and when he made it clear that he was not going to honor it, I quit. Again, this may not be possible in every work setting, but it’s important to be aware of your boundaries and when someone is crossing them.
The bottom line
Balloon artistry was not my forever job, but it was an important milestone in learning how to be a professional in the career world. I’m glad to have taken so much away from those formative years, and to know that if all else fails, I’ll always have balloons.
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