Hold Up, And Another Thing!!!!

Balloons With Purpose

• Mixed Vibez Media, LLC

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:03:58

Send us Fan Mail

We sit down with Cincinnati event designer Paul Renshaw of Big Time Balloons and talk about how great events are built on emotion, not just decor. We also get honest about pricing boundaries and why men’s mental health work shows up in how we lead and parent. 
• building a full-service event design business with a marketing mindset 
• using consumer psychology to help guests feel something 
• reframing balloon decor from “cheap” to premium brand activation 
• designing tasteful balloon setups for repasses and memorial gatherings 
• calling out the homie discount and the Midwest budget reality 
• protecting creative work with deposits retainers and stronger contracts 
• breaking down overtime expectations when the party runs long 
• favorite build: Black Winefest and designing around color psychology 
• giving credit to personal discipline and motivation from fatherhood 
• men’s mental health in Black culture plus therapy and medication 
• becoming a better parent through emotional regulation and rest 
Make sure y'all like and subscribe. Make sure y'all listen to the other podcast of under the Mizmas Media Umbrella. You can find us on all of our social media platforms at Big Time Balloons underscore Cincy, 513-998-4438, or on our website www.bigtimeballoonsincy.com 


Youtube   to https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPIs6Ko7BCc9l5jlE5AbAUqZ0gAOhmuq-


https://mixed-vibez-drip.printify.me/

Welcome And Guest Setup

SPEAKER_00

Man, whatever it is. Welcome to another episode of Hold Up and Another Thing, presented by Mizmas Media. Y'all ready for the massage boy Mr. Man? AK AK. Might not be switching the mind. Thank y'all for listening. Make sure y'all like and subscribe. Make sure y'all listen to the other podcast of under the Mizmas Media Umbrella. Um, like hold up and another thing. We got respectfully wrong. We got hold please. I feel what I feel. Of course, we got the flagship mixed mass. We got from my perspective. But let me say, I am first off, I want to thank this brother because I made a TikTok and I said I'm looking for more guests. A lot of people like, and then people DM, and then people commented, and then when I will reply back, I got nothing. This is the only person who actually, you know, followed through with the invite. And schedules didn't a line because this brother should have been here a long time ago, but hopefully I can get this brother on again. How are you doing, sir?

SPEAKER_01

What's up? What's up? How you feel, boss? Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00

It is an honor, it is a privilege to have you on. Um, like I said, I said this before the five, but I won't say it on earth. Thank you for making the time because you are a busy man. You guys, you got a bit coming up at the end of the month. You got travel, you a father. You a busy man, so I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, thanks for having me. Um, you know, when when you when I saw what the the subject matter was, it was important to uh to make the time, right? We need to have this these conversations. And if my story gets to inspire somebody else, cool, right? If if I get to get a little therapy out of the situation, right, by by by talking my shit, then then cool too. So it's a win-win all around.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, yeah, that's what you said. As long as we can have a good conversation, conversations is important, dialogue is important because, like you said, not only can it be therapy for you, but it can be therapy for someone else, and it can inspire someone else. I'm very big on I I don't get jealous of people, I get inspired by people because if I see somebody else doing well, it makes me want to do well in my field, makes me want to do better in what I'm doing, makes me go harder. That's just me. A lot of people get jealous and get envious and all of that. That's just saying my makeup. When I see somebody winning, I'm I makes it makes just genuinely makes me happy. So seeing that well, I started following you on TikTok because of that confidence, and you do a lot of great

Building Events Around Emotion

SPEAKER_00

things. So let's start with. What do you what is the business that you own?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so um I own Big Time Balloons or Big Time Event Studio, and we are a full service event design firm here in the Cincinnati area. Um, I like to make a joke and say, you know, we're we're not doing backyard baby showers. Um, but if the money's right, you know, we could do a backyard baby shower, right? But primarily our business model is focused on partnering with other businesses of a variety of different sizes and industries to help them promote and bring additional visibility to products, services, or promotions that they're offering. Um, my background is in marketing. And so uh a lot of my clients have really found it's easy to do business with me because I understand how to promote. I understand how to capture an audience. But most importantly, um, you know, we're focused on not only bringing that visibility, but making sure that their guests leave having felt something, right? Uh taking it kind of one step lower and and figuring out how do we uh increase what they can do in the future.

SPEAKER_00

You said you said a bunch of things right there I want to get to. The first thing is well, the last one of the last things you said was making the people feel something. Do you feel like that's a loss in other event planners? As the people just go to the event, but they don't it's not uh event. You didn't get if you get one upset. It's just a thing that they did.

SPEAKER_01

Look, um, you know what? I told you how how the the the uh the the the conversation is sponsored by by the juice here. Um and so I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna ask the Lord to guide my words because I'm not trying to be messy. Um what I will say is that he said what?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um I, as a as a man, as a professional, as a business owner, as a designer, am very confident and comfortable in what we do and what distinguishes us from my competition. Um, having a graduate level degree in marketing allows me to approach situations in a unique fashion. Um, throughout my my postgraduate studies, uh, I really focused on consumer psychology. So why do people buy the way they buy? And if they don't buy, why didn't they buy? Right. And so that allows me to approach working with new clients with a unique perspective to where when I'm doing a you know $60,000 event, I can say, hey, not only are you pushing out this new launch, but you want your partners or you want your guests to leave with not only great pictures that you can market with for next year, but also with the opportunity to say, I made some great connections. I made some met some great people. Um, a new opportunity came from this. So if we can tie the emotion back into the event, specifically in a positive light, it really allows people to make an emotional connection with your event, which means the next time it comes up, specifically if it's an annual event, they can't wait to buy tickets. And so um feeling is is huge, right? Feeling ties into color, feeling ties into um a lot of the nonprofit work that I do and pushing the mission of that nonprofit forward. Um, and so if I can work with my clients to get that guest to feel something, regardless of what we do activation-wise, balloons, flowers, props, whatever, if I can get you to feel something, then you're more inclined to go back to that event, which means that client is coming back to me because we were successful the first time around.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

MBA Marketing Meets Consumer Psychology

SPEAKER_00

You spoke on a graduate level of marketing. Where did you get where did you get get this degree from?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So uh my undergrad, I had I'm I was a non-traditional student, right? So I'm 40, I'm 40 now. Um, I got my undergrad in my late 20s, early 30s. Um, so I graduated in 2016 with my undergrad in communications from a small liberal arts school in Kentucky um called Thomas More University. And then, you know, kind of bounced around, played around in the in the corporate world. And then during COVID of all times, um with a newborn, mind you, I was working in a corporate job. And I was like, you know what? My mentors were like, you need some more credentials, you need to get some more experience. So I decided to go back and get my MBA from um a small college right outside of OSU's campus in Columbus, Ohio, called Franklin University. Um, and interestingly enough, because I was doing it during COVID, 90% of my classmates that I went through the graduate program with, we didn't meet until graduation. Um and then one dude, if I don't, he's not gonna see this, but Jeremy, if you if you were ever to see this, I know you gave me COVID. I know you did. Um, he was the only one, he was the only nigga I was around that was was acting sick. And and when I say it hit my whole household. Thank you, Lord, for for keeping us safe. Um, but yeah, that's that's my education. Um, and it was it was it was dope. I'm a lifelong learner. So um I was talking to my business coach the other day, and he was like, All right, so what's the next six months? And I was like, I don't know. I'm thinking about getting a doctorate. He was like, for what? What are you gonna do with it? I was like, I don't know, but if I get it, if I go back to school, that means that them student loan payments stop.

SPEAKER_00

So I'm like, you know, we gotta weigh it out. You know what I mean? That that is one way to look at it. I ain't gonna say no names, but they they continue to see school because of the fact they try to kick at kick at down the road, right? They try to kick it. I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at it at all. Um let me let's go to the beginning. How

Trauma To Entrepreneurship Origin Story

SPEAKER_00

did you start this business? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um I'm gonna give you one word answer and then I'm gonna I'm gonna break it down. The answer is trauma. You're like, what? What do you mean by that? Growing up, I'm from Texas, I've got one sibling. Um, I come from very, very humble beginnings, you know, Section 8, food stamps, the whole thing. Back when food stamps were actually you had to rip it out the book. Okay. They they fancy now they got cards and stuff, but um, very humble beginnings. And with my sister and I being so close in age, um I can't tell you how many Christmases and Easters and and just milestone holidays throughout the year where we didn't get, we didn't have that, right? Parents didn't have it. But what they did have was enough smarts, if you will, to save up money to where on your birthday, baby, you you you were you were the best things than sliced bread, right? And so that humble beginning, then here I am as an adult. Um my daughter was born via surrogacy, and I made myself a promise uh the day she was born. The first promise was that I would make her birthday feel like she is the most special person in the entire universe. And then the second promise was that I would take her to five countries before she turns 18. Um, that turned into me doing a special event for her on her birthday, you know, big birthday party every year. I've always been very type A. I like shit the way I like it. Um I've very been always been very creative. And so we started off with one in the million, then went to two legit to quit, then we went to Under the Sea Malia is three, then we went to shoot for the stars, then we went to Malia's very fifth birthday. Um, my money was funny during six, and so we chill, you know, we had had a little Chuck E. Cheese situation. Um, but her seventh birthday is coming up here in a few months, and the uh the theme is six, seven, uh, because she is six, she's turning seven. Um, and so as I've I've again decorated and curated these these events, um, it wasn't until her third birthday that I was like, oh shit, I'm kind of dope. I'm kind of good at this. And so I started doing stuff for neighbors. Um I had just finished grad school, so I was like eager to put into practice all the stuff that I had just learned. And so um I started putting myself out there, got a business license, applied for some wholesale pricing, took some classes, went to some conventions, and then I left corporate America. I got divorced, and I I I asked God, I said, are we doing this full-time, Lord? And and I don't know how God talks to you, but he was like, nigga, what you mean? Of course we are. He's like, I didn't, I didn't I didn't put it, I didn't put it on your heart for you to just play with it. You know, I don't I don't know what kind of relationship you or your audience has with the Lord, but when I talk to God, that that's how He He and I uh interact. And so um through some some ups and some downs, through some some some ebb and some flow, some some pods and some blows, we we stepped out on faith. Um, and within a year and a half of officially being a business, we hit six figures in revenue. I was like, oh, okay, so y'all serious. And and and what you know, when it came down to it, um people always ask me, what you do for a living? I blow balloons. And and they see where I live, they see what I drive, they see how I move, you know, when I'm I'm just who I am. And so uh that's how I got started. Um, I very quickly realized that what I do is not hard. It's tedious, it takes organization, it takes planning. Um, those are the things I'm real good at, right? And so being able to put that into a creative outlet, I've never in my entire life felt more fulfilled. And um I'm excited for what the future holds.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Let

Reframing Balloons As Real Marketing

SPEAKER_00

me ask you a question. Why do you say when people ask you what you do, I blow up loose? Because you do so much more. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, I'm I'm being a smart ass, if I'm being honest with you. I um I say that because like that when I when I went and and got the house I'm in now, right? And and I went to the bank and they was like, oh, okay, what do you do for a living? And this is before I had even presented any of my financials or whatever. Um and I was like, oh, I blew up balloons for a living. And the mortgage loan, people were like, oh, right, because we had this preconceived notion of what balloons are, what they could be, you know. Um, but then whenever people give me, give me flack about balloons, the first thing I always say to them is name me one event in anybody's life. One I'm I'm gonna ask you the same question, where balloons are not appropriate. And the first thing everybody says is what funeral funeral. I can't I can tell you how many repasses and and funeral arrangements I've done, especially dealing with niggas. You know what I'm saying? So so so name me one event where balloons are not appropriate, right? Where balloons don't elevate the event. You can't name one.

SPEAKER_00

I can't, other than funerals. You said you did funerals, we're gonna have all the time. We're gonna talk about all the time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so so um, yeah, that's that's you know, that's kind of how I would respond to that. Um there is this trivialness or redundancy that people think that balloons have, right? They they only know balloons from Party City and Amazon, right? I I know balloons that can be indoors for eight months up without popping, right? I know balloons that can be in hot, humid, sticky Ohio weather outdoors for two to three days at a time without popping, right? I know Fortune 100 companies that that pay thousands of dollars, thousands of dollars for for me to come and put and put up balloons, and not just me, but people, people in this industry, right? Um and so yeah, that that's that's what I do. I I say it as a it's a um it's a psychological approach because it it reframes what you think about balloons, which then makes you curious about balloons, but then which then draws you back to my socials, which then makes you see that we're dope, which then was like, yo, I may not be able to hire him right now, but when I have an event and I want to go crazy, I want to go wild, that's who I'm calling.

SPEAKER_00

Goes into the marketing degree. Uh yeah. You have reshaped my thoughts on balloons

Designing Respectful Repass Decor

SPEAKER_00

already. So we gotta talk about this repass. Which one? Because I've done a couple. Okay, just explain to me how you make the balloons fit in the repass. Because in my head, like you said, I see party city balloons. So enlighten me, my brother.

SPEAKER_01

Look, I wish we would have had the print the questions preloaded because I would have had a slideshow put together for you. Um, you know, when you're dealing with someone who's passed away, they're and and and it depends, right? Because you one thing we know within our culture, right? Let's tie it back to black culture specifically, because those are the only ones I've done. We know we're gonna have an uncle or auntie or ex who's going to show out, right? So you want you want something simple, you want something out the way. So when Aunt Shirley fall out, right, it's not knocking over the balloons. Um, a lot of times families go with characters or colors or you laughing, but you laughing because I'm telling the truth, though.

SPEAKER_00

I know you are. That's why I'm saying I can't wear him right now because they surely gonna fall out. We are gonna fall out.

SPEAKER_01

She's gonna fall out. Um that uncle or uncle or maybe unsurely, somebody has had too much to drink, right? And and and so and so I I take you through all that. I'm being silly, but as a designer, right, as an event producer, my team and I, we look at those things, right? That's the psychology of it. How do we produce that event? And so um a lot of the time, most oftentimes, it's it's what's that favorite person's favorite color? Um, if it was, you know, organizations, um, or two of them that I've done have been for uh individuals that were that were Greek, right? They were they were D9. And so incorporating that into the design. And and we do a lot with customization, so like with vinyl and and uplighting to where we can again, how did you feel? Right? What did my design, what did my activation did it bring up a memory? Um, we've got some LED screens that we use that we can we can do, you know, logos and and slideshows, but and then we we put decorations, flowers, and balloons around it. But not only is it a focal point, but we it becomes a conversational piece to where people can stop, look at those pictures, reminisce. Next thing you know, two cousins that haven't seen each other in in 17 years are having a moment about going to grandma's house when they was a little kid. You know what I mean? Like that kind of thing. So that's been the majority of what we've done. I haven't done a ton of them. Um, and that's a conversation I do want to have. Put put a pin

Stop Asking For The Hookup

SPEAKER_01

in that. The other conversation I want to have is black people, specifically in the Midwest, and I'm gonna consider Kentucky the Midwest, stop having Houston, Atlanta, LA, New York budgets or excuse me, uh uh uh ideas on Midwest budgets. Let's talk about it. And and and and assuming, right? Assuming because I'm a nigga just like you, that that, oh, I get the homeboy hookup. Maybe that's not how it works. We got taxes to pay. You know what I mean? We we I have labor costs, material costs, business savings, expansion plans, you know, uh college funds, like those things. And so I I again I'm being funny, but but when it comes down to uh as a culture, I want us to to to shift the narrative of just because we have a shared lived experience does not mean that what I bring to the table should be devalued, because you you're not gonna go tell tell Footlocker that you want to discount on them, J's, right? You're not gonna tell tell Louis Vuitton that even if the sales rep is black that you want to discount on them that that Louis Vuitton, right? And so we have to start treating our our our black business owners the exact same way. Stop asking for discounts, stop asking for hookups. Um, because we're the only community that does that. And and it's I think one of the reasons why as a as a culture we have not gotten further than where we are right now.

SPEAKER_00

Two things how you say it. I know I always tell people that I know their own business or whatnot. Now the dogs will start barking. Now the dogs are gonna bark. But no, um, I always tell people don't ask for the homie discount. When I go and buy for my friends that own clothing lines and food, uh food trucks, I'm gonna pay for a price. Even if you're trying to give me a discount, no, I'm gonna pay for I'm gonna pay full price because of the simple fact. You got a business that you are running, you're not gonna be as successful if you keep giving you free. You say something about you think you be in the middle. Is it not? Okay, so is it the south? This is how I feel when I talk to people. I live in it is not the same. And I don't think I'm worried about you, like Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, I don't think that's the South either. Like if you go down towards like Holy Green. Or Ethan apart the state. They will they suffer. I don't think Louisville suffered at all. I think Louva is definitely a melting pot. I don't even argue with people. So that's why I say Kentucky, I majority, let me say it like that. Majority of the state is the South.

Midwest Culture And Food Debates

SPEAKER_00

Louisville. But Louisville's not. Nah, man. We say y'all live up. You been up here? Yeah. You know, you know. I guess hey, this don't feel southern to you. It has southern charm. A little bit.

SPEAKER_01

I have thoughts. I have thoughts.

SPEAKER_00

I feel like it's a Midwestern city. I agree with you on that. I just don't. I feel like the rest of Kentucky can be considered Southern.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna say Kentucky as a whole is Southern because of the Mason Dixon line, right? Let's let's geography in it, right? Um, but then secondarily, I would say that Kentucky is the Midwest in terms of having a hodgepodge of Southern hospitality, racism, uh, mixed neighborhoods. And here's the biggest part of how I would consider it to be the Midwest, because I'm I'm I'm decently traveled, right? I wouldn't say I'm well traveled, I'm decently traveled. We got a couple stamps on the passport. Um the Midwest is the only part of the country that I'm familiar with where you could be in a hood and not even a half block over, it's a million-dollar house. They don't do that in Texas. In Texas, you either in the hood or you in a million-dollar gated community. There is no no and and I I I I I use that I say that cautiously because I know gentrification and and things are happening, but as a as a as a general rule of thumb, right? The Midwest is the only place that I've experienced where you are in the hood and there's a million dollar house two blocks over, right? And so, and and I'm I'm again, I'm looking at Atlanta, I'm looking at uh uh uh Chicago, I'm looking at Houston, uh I'm looking at Austin, you don't have that. And so when I'm looking at what quantifies Midwest, right? Um that's that's that's one of the main things I'm looking at.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I see your point. I see your point. I did it. Listen, we all I agree with a lot of what you said.

SPEAKER_01

Just ran through the if I tell my homeboys back in Texas about Geta or Grippos or Skyline Chili, they gonna have no idea what I'm talking about. But you know exactly what I'm talking about, every single one of them.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I'm gonna be honest with you for one second. I have never had Skyline Chili.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, you're not missing nothing. I just got into it.

SPEAKER_00

Because everybody I say say I it ain't worth it.

SPEAKER_01

I got into uh I wouldn't say it's a heated debate, but my my my profile on social media is my business profile, right? And so specific specifically on TikTok. And so I got into this creator, this influencer had come to Cincinnati. He was at Skyline, he was he was having having a chili. And I got in the comments, I was just like, yo, I've been here for 20 years, I just can't get behind it. I'm from Texas. Um, hope you tried some other Cincinnati staples while you were here. I had like three or four people in the comments being like, Oh, I hate the people from Texas or people from other states talk about this is not real chili. And I was like, Whoa, relax, friend. I never said it wasn't real chili, I just said I am from Texas, which which means that the framework of chili is coming from my experience in Texas. I've lived here for 20 years, I've had plenty of opportunities to try it. I have tried it, and I'm not fucking with it. I didn't say it, I didn't say it all like that, but um people in in Cincinnati, people in the Midwest take that shit very seriously, and it's it's hot dog sauce. And I'm gonna die on a heel. It's hot dog sauce. Back in Texas, we used to put that on on walking tacos. See, people people like to call it, they use skyline chili or or not Washington or Greek style chili. What it really is, I used to whore mail no beans, right? That's when you go to the gas station, they got the one side with the chili and the one side with the meat sauce. That hormone chili is is is what I'm equating that to. You know what I mean? And you're gonna get bubble guts regardless. Um, regardless. So, so you know, I uh I'm not messing with the chili now. Grippos. Oh yeah, no, we that now that I love spicy over that. Yeah, that's the best barbecue chip on the market.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, all right. We we're gonna do the grippos every time. Yeah, every time. Every time they don't like grippos, I give them those.

SPEAKER_01

That's wild. For real? Name me another name me another barbecue chip that you fuck with more than grippos.

SPEAKER_00

Because you can't. I can't. I uh grippos is probably my second favorite trip. You don't judge me, man. It's okay. It's okay, and I'm cool with that. I'm accepting what I do. Uh I like Lay's plain potato chips. And the yellow bag? Yes. Oh no, no, that's that's cool. That's a staple. You know what? It's probably my third because I like ruffles regularly. I'm not a flavor. Like, I don't want no sour cream and onion. Don't give me that. Sour cream and cheddar. Oh my goodness. My man, you feeling alright? You good? No, I said that I got somebody in the background answering because of sour, I because of sour cream and cheddar. Y'all can have I don't want no parts. Oh man. Man, that's wild. Yeah, no, it's not for me. It's not for me.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, but but we can agree that that that ripples slap though.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, every time, without question. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Have you had grippos finely dusted or finally chopped up and turned into a dust and then deep fried on some shit?

unknown

No.

SPEAKER_01

You had no oh, you ain't had no gripples dusted wings.

SPEAKER_00

You know what? I lied. Yes, I have. Yes, I have. I laughed. When you as soon as you said wings, I said no, what do you mean? Yes, I have.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I have to change your life.

SPEAKER_00

Make you want to call somebody. It was a food truck. Yeah, I'm not sure. I say it was a uh uh, I can't think of not the county fur, state fur. I won't say it was at the state fur. I had it, and they used the seasoning, they used the group of wings, see the group of seasoning as well. Um let's let's stop, let's let's get back to I will talk to you about food and things

Local Restaurant Picks For Cincinnati

SPEAKER_00

like that. All day. I'm a foodie. I'm a foodie, so yeah. Um I'm gonna ask this real quick. Foodie. Yeah, what is some a local restaurant that you gotta try? Just a minute. Then we'll get back to you.

SPEAKER_01

Uh I can't answer that question because I have favorites in every category, right? Um, being a single dad and a busy business owner, we eat out a lot. Don't get me wrong, your boy throws down in the kitchen, right? But I also have a six-year-old. And uh I'm not finna eat Donald Nuggets and mac and cheese every day, right? And I'm also not finna cook two different things. So that means that we gotta order out from two separate places so you can eat what you want to eat. I can eat like a grown-up, and so be it. So so give me one category and I'll give you my top two in each category or in any category.

SPEAKER_00

Don't make me break. Oh, it don't matter what category it is, I gotta answer. I'm gonna I'm gonna have two. Uh soul food.

SPEAKER_01

Um, soul food Miss Jade's. She has been around for maybe about a year and a half. She's pricey. Um, but Miss Jade is her food is good. Her green beans is a little salty. My green beans better, but whatever. Her green her food is good. Um, her salmon croquettes, her salmon fillets, uh, her pork chop plate. Um, yeah, so Miss Jade's, uh, she actually about to open up a new location. Shout out to her. Um, called the Overflow. Her business has grown so much in a year that she found another space, and within a year's time is expanding. So, um, and you know, black people, we don't play about soul food. And so if she's growing that fast, you know what I mean? Then then not only is she business smart, but her food, her food slap. All right, next category.

SPEAKER_00

I had to do soul food because we're both black, and I'm of course, of course. But my my favorite Italian.

SPEAKER_01

Um, you want big portions or you want to go on a cute date, right? You trying to you trying to eat, go home, go to sleep, or are you trying to go bop around afterwards? Because they're different. Sexy, romantic Italian, or I'm trying to I'm trying to smash and go home and sleep Italian are a little different.

SPEAKER_00

I want to smash and go home. Okay. Um I'm not gonna be smashing and going straight to the hotel. I'm probably gonna be but let's go with smashing.

SPEAKER_01

Um Alamante, I think is what it's called. Um Scotty's. No, no, not Alamante, not Alamante. Um, because they put startings in FC Zero and I'll I don't mess with that. Um Scotty's. Scotty's is a Cincinnati stable. Scotty's is the kind of restaurant where you go in and like there's no lighting in the restaurant besides that candle on your table that has the wax that's been dripping down from the last 20 candles that has been lit, right? Scotty's gonna give you a piece of lasagna that's a foot long, but you're gonna eat on for the next three days. Um Scotty is going to give you some real cheap wine that they have marked up. Uh, because I can get that sand bottle at the grocery store for about $25. Um, but you do it even though you know so because of the ambiance, right? Scotty got that loud, obnoxious, crackling speaker in the back playing some Italian favorite that we don't know, but it helps again create the mood. It helps change how we feel, right? We're going back to them feelings.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Um, and and Scotty is gonna be one of those situations very much like Olive Garden, where you're gonna get a soup or a salad, but between the breadsticks, make maybe the the calamari, maybe maybe the salad that you ate, you're full before your food even gets there, right? Uh so yeah, those that would I I fuck with Scotty's. Now I'm hungry.

SPEAKER_00

I know, and then the food they got delivered. I'm smelling the food while cool. Oh no, okay. So um Scotty's and Jade's. Okay, cool. We're planning a trip to Cincinnati, so I gotta.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Let me uh uh we we got each other's information. Let me know when you're up in town. We'll we'll bop out and um I'll I'll show you. And then vice versa, you know. I'm uh I don't I don't have anything planned in Louisville, but you what an hour and a half, two hours away.

SPEAKER_00

So it don't yeah, it don't take that long. Uh but like I said, let's get back to you.

Pricing Boundaries Contracts And Overtime

SPEAKER_00

But you talk about people in the Midwest wanting New York, LA, Atlanta prices. Do you get that often?

SPEAKER_01

Every day. Every day. And here, here, here, I'm gonna take you take it one further. I'm gonna take it one further because now I didn't have a couple couple pieces of juice. Um they they want their designs that are New York, LA, Houston, Atlanta, don't want to pay for it. And then very early in my career, I was so fixated on trying to make a name for myself that I would spend hours doing research, calling vendors, putting together these visual mock-ups for them. Then, like a dummy, like a dummy, send it to them, for them to either a ghost or b turn around and say, hey, we're going in a different direction. For then only me to see my design created by another designer for less money. For less money. So now, if you want the creativity that's up here, if you want the years of experience, the the um, if you want the magic that's in this black boy mine, we're gonna have to put some some some ink on some paper and and and let that let that uh that deposit hit, let that retainer hit. And then you can have all the all the all you can have all of me that you want once we had those two things in place. So I learned a lesson the hard way several times. And I'm just like, you you silly. How you gonna do it a couple times? I was like, no, no, no. The client really loves my vision, they want to rock with me. I'm like, no, that's not what it is, right? And so we're getting the big city in the small mid-market in two different ways. You won the big city event, you want to pay mid-market prices, but then you're acting like a big business or or a conniving business that you would generally see in bigger markets, right? So it's like I'm being being bombarded from by that that principle and that mentality from two different directions. Um, so that was a very hard lesson for me to learn from a business perspective. Um, but yeah, that that every day, every day. And so my my contract went from like page and a half to it's like 10 pages now. And those pages, and then you laughing, but those those between finally getting to the point where I can have an actual attorney write a contract for me and not just me and ChatGPT making some shit happen, right? But but then going back to my my legal team and being like, hey, we need to add this clause because I just got burdened this way, right? Um uh another clause being if the contract says that the event is over at 11 o'clock, I need to be going back for my second load back into my van by 11:15, meaning that at 11 o'clock, I loaded the first load. I'm on the way back for the second load, right? Not just just y'all just now doing the cha cha slide and and and you know I mean, not Auntie just now getting her third plate or she just now wrapping her food up. No, no, no, no, no, no. And if and when we get to that point, I am not one to impede or to to to stop you from having a good time, right? I'm here to elevate your celebration to again make you feel something, right? So even when we get to that point, there now is a clause for every additional half hour I wait. You're gonna have to pay for it. Look, look, I sit in my car and scroll on TikTok and won't think another thing for it, but you're gonna pay for it. You know what I'm saying? You're gonna pay for it. So, yeah, that that's again, that's a cultural thing. Um, because I don't have that problem with white people.

SPEAKER_00

I was just, I literally was just about to ask you, is it only us that give you that? And what's gonna be my next question?

SPEAKER_01

Um it's brown and black. Oh I do a lot of Indian stuff. Um, I do a lot of Hispanic stuff, and you know, our our brown cousins, they be on that shit too, you know. Um, but but Sally and Jeff, maybe the party was supposed to be over at 10, 9:45. They're saying they last goodbyes. The food has been wrapped up. You know what I mean? Um, and so people people always be like, oh, I want to see you do more like African American or black centered events. So would I. Me too. But there's only so much that I'm willing to deal with from our community before I put my foot down and say, yo, y'all wilding. You know, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I ain't even gonna hug you. You preach it today. That is a public service announcement for uh, well, you said it's the brown people, the brown of us too, our brown cousins. But I'm gonna say, uh, black people, uh we need to be more on-time, more professional about our situation, and stop asking for the homie discount. Let's make sure we put that in the PSA as well. If the party is over at 11, the party is over at 11. 1055, everybody should already been out the door by at least five minutes.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna give you a grace period, though. That's the part, you know what I mean? I'm gonna give you a grace period. Because I I understand, right? When you have especially when you have large crowds of people, I'm gonna give you a grace period. Um in my contract, it also does state that if if if you don't want to pay that that additional fee, then you're okay. And you can't even get you can't even move through the contract until you sign it and docu sign. Um who? Y'all want to stay and hang out? Me and my crew, we coming inside. We're breaking it down. So the ambiance, so let me let me let me back up. The ambiance is over at 11 o'clock. Whether you niggas is out the building or not, it's not my building. But me and my me and my equipment, we coming in and we starting to, we're starting to break it down. So if that means that balloons is popping, uh screwdrivers is going, forklifts is rising, and that interferes with your event, the ambiance, the feeling stop at 11 o'clock. That's that's that's what you contracted me for. Now, if you want that to go beyond 11 o'clock, you'll get an invoice on Monday morning.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Let me like I said, I won't go take too much of your time, but it is two things I do want to ask you before I get you up out of here.

Black Winefest Design That Shook The City

SPEAKER_00

Uh the first time, you've been doing this for a while now. What is the favorite event that you have done? You know that somebody might hear this and they um they might not get offended because you didn't pick them for personal reasons.

SPEAKER_01

Um, you know how black people would be like, yo, I'm grown. You know what I mean? Or or I'm not one of your little friends. Um I'm gonna approach this response and this this answer to this question from that same cultural perspective that we all know and understand. Um but the the answer to that question is is is unequivocal. It's the biggest event that my team and I have done. Um, it's Black Winefest here in Cincinnati. It is it is a it is a cultural movement in the city. Um this this past year, um the client came to me, or she came to me last year and said, Hey Paul, I want you to design my event. There was no jumping off point. There was no Paul here's the theme go. It was, hey, Paul, design my event. Now, granted, I've worked with this client. This was the fourth year. We've had the contract for three years. She went with someone else. Um, uh, she went with someone else last year, the year before. Um, and that person did a great job. Did a great job. Can't can't even I can't even hold you. Um, but she came back to me for whatever reason this year. That event is one of the biggest events on the black social light calendar here in Cincinnati. And here is you're gonna ask me, okay, well, Paul, why was it why was it your favorite event? Because my design made the city shake. And I'm gonna tell you, like, what you mean? What you mean? No, yeah, no jumping off point. Paul, the the the brief or the the the client brief that I got, Paul designed my event, right? I knew I knew the space. I'm designed in the space, I've done the same event in that same space. Um, and so, but I also knew that it was on Valentine's Day, so we would be boogled a fool if we didn't lean into red, didn't lean into to Valentine's Day, to that red, to that sexy, that grown, that grown vibe, right? Um so anyway, I designed a football field worth of activations and all red, different variations of red. But then I said the dress code is black and white. And you're like, well, what do you mean? Like, what why does that matter? Because there's so much red in the event, and because it's on Valentine's Day, subconsciously, how we feel, we want a rare red. It's Valentine's Day. Day, we want to feel grown, we feel one feel sexy, especially the ladies, right? And so if I have this all red monochromatic design, and then shorty wears a red dress, when she posts that picture, she blends into the background. But if she wears black or white, she unequivocally is going to stand out. But you know, as black folks, we love a color-coordinated moment. You are so telling Shorty and her dude to go wear neon green, that ain't gonna work. But every single person and every single household and every single environment, community got something black, white, or a combination of the both.

SPEAKER_02

You are right.

SPEAKER_01

We've made Cincinnati shape. The second reason why it was my favorite event is labor was a concern for me. And so I hosted a class to where people came in and took the class about how to to to to elevate and and execute luxury events like this. The number one balloon company in not the country, the number one balloon company in the world, right? The the whole like sphere that that green and blue thing we live on in the world was like, yo, we believe in your project. We're gonna sponsor all your latex. And what would have been a seven to eight thousand dollar expenditure, we got for free.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you flex it, now you got good. Good, good.

SPEAKER_01

Hold on, hold on. Gearing up for that, right? The the event was in February. I reached out to them in September. We didn't get the okay to January. So when I tell you that we was operating on faith, and and so I have a budget, right? The client is paid in full. Whether the the the company comes and give me all these balloons or not, I told the client this is what we're doing. Yeah. So it was either come up with $7,000 to buy these balloons, right? Maybe a little discount because you buy it in that much bulk, or Lord, Father God, uh, I come to you humbly, Lord. We're gonna we're gonna ask that you you make this, you know, your time. All those different prayers, right? We pray, right, when we're going through. And and God said, Don't even worry about it. He said, and then this this is this is again, this is how me and the Lord talk. He said, Yo, your business case is weak. You need to go back and redo that. And so as I'm I'm again, as I'm pitching um major corporations like this, right? There comes in that that graduate level education, and we're talking about, you know, um how to put together a business case. What's the ROI for them, right? What's the reach? Um, we made some tweaks within once I made the tweaks within two weeks, we had the okay. Um, and truth be told, we didn't we didn't even get to use all of them. I we they sponsored 20,000 balloons. We use 15 and some change. Um, but we built the the largest balloon wall in Ohio history. Um and that's dope. So so to answer your question, that's the that's my favorite one. And that was just this past February.

SPEAKER_00

Now that definitely is that is definitely dope. Um, if you do that again, please let me know so I can come up to the wine.

SPEAKER_01

Uh okay. So uh I'm not gonna get into that piece because something tells me the client may or may not see this. And so if you've seen this, hey, how you doing? I would love to do business again. However, um, she just moved her event from February to August. They moved to a different venue, um, which we all know what it is, but whatever. Um, we'll see if she wants to rock with me again. We'll see. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We'll leave it at that.

Credit Accountability And Fatherhood Motivation

SPEAKER_00

Um I always ask business owners. I've interviewed business owners, I've interviewed writers, I've interviewed so many different people. And I always ask them, who helped you get to where you are? Because nobody ever does do it alone. Somebody always either gave us that word of encouragement, gave us the startup grant, whatever it is, who is that person that you want to recognize and say, hey, this person helped me in the most way to get to where I am with the business. Not you personally, but with the business.

SPEAKER_01

Um what what Snoop say? Um, I wanna thank me. Um, because and I I'm being funny, but um I'm I'm being I'm being honest because what people don't realize is what you see is a uh an event that lasted three hours. What you don't see is the months of preparation and the the countless emails and the business cases and the production. And you know, for this event I'm telling you about, you didn't see me for two months in my garage building props. You know what I mean? You didn't you didn't see um you didn't see me scrubbing red paint out of my my my living room carpet because the project was so big that it went down from downstairs in my studio to now it took took over my whole house, right? Um you didn't you didn't see the the uh me and my daughter passing out on the couch because we're so exhausted and and going uh uh to to to UDF in the morning and grabbing a chalk of milk and a donut because daddy didn't have time to to make you breakfast in the morning because we was up until two o'clock in the morning crepping, right? You don't see all that stuff, and so um I I I'm being funny, but but being an entrepreneur is by far the hardest thing that I've had to do. It's not just about managing money, but what you're gonna do when that person says, No, I don't want to work with you, or hey, we've got we've decided to go in a different direction. Because the because the the bill people, I don't know if you know this or not, they still they still want their money. Even if that that that event didn't book, them niggas still want to get paid. They still look so so the answer is me. Um I'll I'll very quickly take it one step further and tell you who the inspiration behind that is is that that little girl who looked just like me, right? Our birth, and and here's how I know that that that little girl was supposed to be my daughter. Our birthdays are exactly one month apart. Oh, really? Her birthday is October 4th, my birthday is November 4th. That and and and and some of the people may say nature versus nurture and get into all that. When I tell you that she acted like me, she solves problems just like me, and she's mad creative just like me. Um so so when when when it gets time for her to flex her shit, she's gonna be prepared. So so to answer your question, me and her.

SPEAKER_00

Me and her. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I ain't mad at it. Um, let me say again, I appreciate you making the time because you are a busy man. I took over the amount of time that I told you I was gonna take. So my apologies.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, no, you're good. Hold on. But but and and I know we we over time, I ain't gonna I ain't got nothing to do. I'm in the house. Um, we didn't talk about the last topic. And

Mens Mental Health Therapy And Medication

SPEAKER_01

if you're okay, I would like to touch the last topic. Because the last topic is by all means.

SPEAKER_00

We was gonna talk about I wanted to talk about mental health because June uh was mental men's mental health month. But the reason I wanted to talk about it, I had an episode last week, but I wanted to talk about it again. I probably will again next month. Because of a simple fact, men's mental health is not just should not just be recognized one month and then okay, burn your feelings for the rest of the year. No, you it's it's okay. One it's okay for men to have feelings, two, it's okay for men to talk about it, and three, it's okay to not be okay. So I wanted to talk about men's mental health. But I'm just gonna get up on you because you said a lot of things before this time, and I don't want to get in your way. But let me ask it like is then we can go. Why is mental health important to you?

SPEAKER_01

All right. It is 850. Between my response, your rebuttal, and then the wrap up of this call, we're gonna wrap it at nine. So we got we got about seven minutes.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Let me get let me let me let me give you this. Um African American culture, specifically within men, has been predispositioned and psychologically predisposed to uh not believing, understanding, or giving reverence to our mental struggles because it meant that we were weak based off of uh what is it called, book breaking that happened from colonial slave days and the Atlantic slave trade, right? Transpose that over into the Jim Crow area, and we shifted from a we shifted into a survivor mode. We just trying to make it home. We just trying to not get the dogs shifted on us, not get the hostes turned on us. That also then comes into the the breakdown of the nuclear family, right? Where we have traditionally white Americans being shipped off to the Vietnam War, World War II, like all that for a all that time. And then we have the introduction of crack cocaine into the black community in the 70s and 80s, right? Um, what that does to us psychologically over the course of centuries, decades, is that it predispositions us to believe that what we are feeling inside as men is not valid because a white man said that we shouldn't be feeling that way. And so now what what I at least I'm seeing is that specifically African-American culture and men within African-American culture are now finally being given the space to acknowledge the fact that I'm not okay. What you said, what you did, how you acted impacted me, it affected me. And I'm I'm I'm uh to the point where I'm 40, right? And and my dad rest his soul. He got based in my chest a couple times because showing my emotions within my 40 years of life was was was soft. It was weak. And aside from the fact that I was like, yo, I'm trying to tell you that's who I am, it was still perceived as as as effeminate, right? Um to cry, to to express your feelings, um, to to to cook dinner for your spouse as a man. And so what I'm seeing now is that that specifically, and I I can give you a couple of different examples, not black culture, right? Because Nigerians and in the continent of Africa, they are experiencing their whole uh a whole nother shift in their their culture. But the diaspora within the the the continental US, right? We are experiencing this this come to Jesus moment where where mental health, specifically within the black male community, is finally being given the space to breathe, right? And and and to to not have to be hard, you know what I'm saying? And and and and to to love our daughters and and more specifically, to love our sons without it being homoerotic, right? Without it, without it being soft. Um and so for me, having come from a very very rigid and strict Southern Baptist background, um, grappling with my own sexuality, having to figure out how I navigate the world as a black man. Um, have you met me like at 20, 22, 23? Ooh, I was a what the girl say, I was a porn. I was I you know, I was a sissy. Um and I'm still, you know, at times effeminate, but at 40 years old, you gotta move a little differently in the world. And so for me, it's not just the breaking of those generational curses and and moving into a new era of what it means to be mentally astute and mentally aware and and emotionally intelligent. But now it's like, okay, if the the cultural and emotional awareness of of all that is still not enough, nigga, take your ass to a doctor, sit on somebody's couch, and have that person help you work through those demons. And and and the the the tertiary or the third level of that is you may need some Skittles behind it. You may need to pop a pill or two a day, right? And so for me, me and mine, what the Lord say has for me and mine, um, I'm gonna take my Skittles every day. I told you before we started this call, they just put me on some new stuff. Maybe tomorrow. My my to-do list tomorrow don't stand a chance. They don't stand a chance. We I we finna knock it out the park. So um, it is important to take care of your mental health. It is important to um understand that everybody's emotional and mental journey is their own. Your your journey looks differently than anybody else's. And when it comes down to it, uh are you able to look yourself in the mirror and like what you see?

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

Parenting Better Through Emotional Regulation

SPEAKER_00

I want to ask one more question. I'm gonna be listening. You cool?

SPEAKER_01

I ain't got nowhere to go.

SPEAKER_00

My aunt just called me, so I do. Uh-huh. I do, because you touched on so much stuff. But let me ask this. How has bettering your mental health made you a better friend?

SPEAKER_02

Better who?

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Um, start the chopper because I know you go and get your food getting cold. Um listen, man. The food, I got a microwave.

SPEAKER_01

I gotta Okay, amen. Come on, come on, air fryer.

SPEAKER_00

Um I was like, I gotta go get my cousin. And I do gotta ask this question, though.

SPEAKER_01

You feel me? Yeah, yeah. No, you know, you're good, you're good. Um, how has it made me a better parent? It's made me a better, better parent because my job as a parent is to be a better parent than my parents were parents. It's to break those generational curses. Um, it is to, you know, that the whole, oh, we are our ancestors' water's dreams. Cool. I love you, ancestors, but I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about the little girl that calls me daddy, whether or not she has a better life based off the decisions that I'm making on a daily basis, right? I'm I'm worried about uh as a six-year-old, she she got about two, three years, two, three more years of niceness before she just become a complete alien and and just be get get mean. You know, middle school kids are mean, right? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00

You got you got a middle schooler? Yeah, he better make a noise now. I keep looking at my outlights.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, why you so um and if I know her, she got a mouthpiece on her like I do, right? And so she, I'm like, look, I hope you know I'm we're gonna teach you how to fight because your mouth's gonna get you in trouble a couple times. And and and and I, you know, you know, um tuck your thumb, baby. Tuck your thumb because cause somebody gonna somebody gonna base you in your chest one good time. Now, granted, I'm five seven, my six-year-old is right here. Right? She's the she's a tall girl. She don't realize she's as big as she is, and so I'm trying to make sure that she's not a a bully. But it's making me a better parent because it's helping me understand. And I told you how she and I are the same person. So it's helping me better regulate my emotions, specifically because it's just me and her in my house. And so, how how what example am I showing to her about how to manage stress, about how to overcome adversity, about how to recognize when you are struggling and when to ask for help, right? And so um she is actually out of town right now, um with my ex because I needed a mental reset. Um, she's with me full time, but I was like, yo, shorty need a break. Um, and it's it's just it's just me uh for the rest of the year, during school, while while running a business. And so it's helping me become a better parent and realize where my deficiencies are, where my defaults, where my struggles are at, so I can identify them, work on them. So that way when she steps out and officially presents herself into the world, she's not carrying all the emotional baggage that I inadvertently place on her just by default of me being her daddy.

SPEAKER_00

Let me tell you something, man. I have loved talking to you. I hope I can get you back on again. Let's do it. That's cool. I'm with it. I'll be on I'll be on the juice as well the next time you on. So we really gonna get into some stuff. Let's go. You know what I'm saying? But Paul,

Where To Find Big Time Balloons

SPEAKER_00

I really appreciate you taking the time and going over time that we had said. It was a great conversation, everything you said. But please, uh, can you shout out some business in your TikTok and all of that for so that people can know? Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Excuse me, uh, Paul Renshaw, Big Time Balloon Cincy. We are based here in Cincinnati, Ohio, but we do travel. Amen. Um, you can find us on all of our social media platforms at Big Time Balloons underscore Cincy, uh 513-998-4438, or on our website www.bigtimeballoonsincy.com. Since it is c i-n-c-y, not c i n c i. Give us a call. Um, we'd love to work with you.

SPEAKER_00

All right, hey. Uh thank y'all for listening to another episode of Hold Up and another thing presented by Mixed Vass Media. Y'all already know the best. It's your boy, Mr. Bell, aka can't tell your name up on the spot. Might not put you to mind. We're gonna see y'all on the next one. Y'all be easy, y'all be blessed.

Head Shot

Mr. Bell

Host