08/27/2026
There are some setups you remember because they were beautiful, and then there are some you remember because they changed the course of your life.
This was mine. ๐
At the beginning of 2024, this Dolly backdrop became my very first official balloon backdrop.
I remember spending hours researching balloon brands and comparing color shades. Hours watching tutorials, trying to learn every trick I could to make installation easier. I planned and overthought every little detail because I wanted so badly to get it right.
I didnโt know it then, but I was building so much more than a balloon backdrop.
When I stepped back and looked at this setup finished, something clicked. For the first time, I could see what all of those ideas constantly floating around in my head could become when I actually trusted myself enough to create them.
This was the backdrop that told me I was exactly where I needed to be.
And somehow, it feels incredibly fitting that Dolly was at the center of it.
Dolly Parton has been an icon and a role model to millions of people, but I think there is something especially difficult to explain about what she means to so many of us Tennessee girls.
She was the goal. The kind of legacy we hoped we might leave behind one day.
She showed us that you could be feminine and strong, glamorous and incredibly intelligent, soft-hearted and fiercely determined. She taught us that sass, beauty, brains and kindness could all exist in the same womanโand that you never had to make yourself smaller to make other people more comfortable.
She knew what it was like to come from a small Tennessee town. To stand out in a small-town crowd. To dream about something so much bigger than where you came from, while still loving those roots too deeply to ever truly leave them behind.
I think that is the part of Dolly I have carried with me most.
Dream bigger. Work harder. Give generously. Laugh at yourself. Wear the sparkles. Donโt be afraid to stand out. Never forget where you came from. And no matter how far your dreams take you, take a little bit of home with you.
Those lessons have followed me through my life, and without realizing it at the time, they followed me straight into Barrel & Bloom.
This business has asked me to take chances on ideas that probably sounded a little crazy at first. To create things before I knew whether anyone else would understand the vision. To be different in a small town. To work until my hands hurt and then stand back, covered in balloon dust, fishing line and probably a little bit of glitter, and think, I made that.
And I canโt help but smile knowing that one of the very first times I ever had that feeling, Dolly was looking back at me๐.
Two years later, Barrel & Bloom has grown far beyond that first backdrop, and so have I. But Iโll always have an incredibly soft spot for this picture because I can look at it and see the beginning.
Before the experience. Before the bigger plans. Before I knew exactly what Barrel & Bloom could become.
Just a Tennessee girl with an idea, a whole lot of balloons, and enough determination to see what might happen if she followed it.
So, thank you, Dolly.
For showing generations of women like me that where you start doesnโt determine how far you can go. For showing us that you donโt have to trade your femininity for strength or your roots for success. For proving that standing out can become your greatest gift.
And personally, thank you for unknowingly being there at the beginning of one of the greatest leaps of faith Iโve ever taken.
Iโll keep dreaming big, loving Tennessee, wearing the pink, and building something I hope would make you proud. ๐
โFind out who you are and do it on purpose.โ โ Dolly Parton
I think thatโs exactly what Iโve been doing ever since this picture was taken. ๐ฆ
โ Barrel & Bloom ๐ฟ
