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I just returned from watching one of the most amazing movies I have seen in a very long time, Julie & Julia. I believe it is Meryl Streep and Amy Adam's greatest roles to date.
The movies target audience is middle age women. A demographic I am certainly not. But the movie also has this over-reaching arch to those of us with "old souls." It reminds us of our mothers and grandmothers.
For me, it reminded me of my grandmother on my mother's side. She too was a tall red head like Miss Julia Child. And she died the week of my high school graduation.
I honestly haven't thought of her in a while. I, like most people I know, get caught up in the day to day business and life and loved ones just pass on by and fade into the background.
Julie & Julia did the job they wanted it to do. It made a connection. It found a memory and brought it from the background to the foreground. It made me miss my grandmother. I know it is sappy, but I'm tearing up writing this column.
Again, you're probably thinking, "what does this have to do with balloons?" Don't worry I'm coming around to that now.
Suzanne Herring (and others) has said multiple times that her goal is not just perform and make balloons, but to make memories. I love that idea and I believe it very true, but I'd like to see if perhaps we can take it one step further.
I love to help my customers make memories, but I also love to bring out memories. And I believe that when we can accomplish this we've truly connected with our customers.
Take this movie, for example. It not only created a heartwarming memory, but it brought out the memory of my grandmother and now whenever I think of this movie I'll associate it with her.
What kind of memories do we want to bring out in our clients?
My initial thought to this question is we want to help them remember happy things, but that isn't necessarily true.
The memory of my grandmother is one of mourning and a sense of longing, but yet still mixed with that is a sense of joy in remembering her life.
So when we connect we may actually trigger memories and feeling that are total unexpected both for us as entertainers and for our clients.
This actually has me thinking of a story Jimmy Leo shared when I interviewed him for BalloonCast last year. He told me a story about how he was working at restaurant a little while after 9/11. He came up to a table and a young boy asked for a balloon bomb. Now, I'm not sure, but my guess is that this is not the type of request one would normally receive during this time. After talking with the family Jimmy eventually learned that one of the boy's parents was killed that fearful day in 2001. And Jimmy ended up making the boy a boy and on it he wrote "Osama Bin Laden."
Jimmy made a real connection with that kid as he does with many of his clients and that is why he is one of the best performers I know.
That is the type of connection we should strive for with all of our clients.
With some we'll never reach below the surface level in the few moments we spend together. For others perhaps we'll get a laugh or help them to remember a favorite cartoon or superhero.
But for the lucky few we'll truly connect. We'll meet together and no longer be just an entertainer or balloon twister, but we'll someone who actually made they're lives a little bit more memorable.
It won't happen often.
Just as there are many fun, action-packed movies that I have seen and enjoyed and relatively few that are like Julie & Julia that really bring tears to my eyes. In the same way we'll have more clients that simply get a good laugh.
But never quit striving to connect. Never quit taking chances and pushing boundaries. The world still needs many more connectors and memory makers.
In the same way I try to connect to my clients I hope these monthly columns connect with you. Thanks so much for taking time each month to read these words. And in the words of Miss Julia Child...
Bon Appetit,
Jason Vaughn St. Louis Balloon Twister and Wannabe Chef.
