Bubbles & Bows!

Enabling an entrepreneur to accept sales on the go . . . and to grow

When Christy Overman got furloughed from her executive position as a district manager with a major global retailer due to COVID-19, she got busy recreating herself ─ and the entire community of Medina, Ohio, is the beneficiary.

What started as a fun idea to celebrate her twin grandchildren’s second birthday blossomed into Bubbles & Bows!, a custom balloon design company that specializes in imaginative creations that go way beyond traditional offerings.

“For my grandbabies’ birthday, I wanted to do something fun, unique and unusual for them to celebrate versus just blowing up balloons,” Christy says. “I started exploring Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube and self-taught myself the business. I immediately fell in love with what I was seeing. It was so happy, fun and inspiring, and I knew that this was something that I wanted to bring to life ─ not only for my grandbabies, but for my community as well.”

She opened her brick-and-mortar store on August 8, 2020. Despite the onset of a global pandemic, her business almost immediately lifted off and has been thriving ever since. Christy went from initially managing orders with help from family members, to hiring three people, and is now up to eight employees. And, with every special balloon creation that is produced, Christy and team deliver on her business motto of "Bringing joy on purpose."

“Our customers love our signature bubble product, which is what the store was named after,” she says, “because it is personalized to say whatever they would like. They select the colors, and we bring their idea to life. The expressions on our customers’ faces when they pick up their balloons say it all.”

Business challenges

While learning how to make inspired balloon creations came easy to Christy, she admits that the complexities of starting and running a small business have been challenging.

“I could have never imagined how much there is to learn about being a small business owner. It’s one thing to manage large corporations’ businesses, but it’s a whole new ballgame being responsible for every piece of your own business.”

When it comes to processing payments, Worldpay helped Christy succeed by enabling her to accept cards via the SwipeSimple solution, which turns a smartphone, tablet or computer into an intuitive point-of-sale device.

“I initially had no way to accept credit cards. I was running the business with just checks and cash, and then everybody stopped using cash due to the pandemic,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘How are people going to pay me?’ But, it’s so incredibly simple ─ I just run it all through my iPad."

iQ reporting and insights

Christy also takes full advantage of Worldpay's iQ reporting and insights offering ─ a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool that allows her to access her payments processing data and gives her actionable analytics to help her run her business more efficiently.

"I love all the reporting I get from Worldpay," she enthuses.

Do what you love; love what you do

“As the saying goes, when you do something you love, it doesn’t seem like work ─ and that is exactly where I am,” Christy shared. “We have grown our business through our fantastic repeat customers, and the biggest compliment anyone can give us is by coming back for more themselves and also referring us to others.”

At a glance

Objective

Accept payments in ways that meet the needs of the business to help increase sales and grow.

Worldpay solutions

SMB Payments Capabilities; iQ Reporting and Insights

Impact

• Actionable payments analytics
• iPad can be used as a POS device
• Repeat customers and new corporate clients via many happy referrals

"I love all the reporting I get from Worldpay."

Christy Overman, Owner, Bubbles & Bows!

Note: Not all products, solutions or capabilities mentioned in our client stories are available in all geographic regions. Please consult your relationship manager or customer care (existing customers) or sales (prospects) for more information.