First Posted: 3/19/2015
LIMA — For Jayme Phillips, Facebook is more than a social media platform — it’s the reason she’s able to open her balloon shop.
Phillips, 36, is opening Uniquely Gifted, a balloon shop that does custom gift balloons and balloon sculptures.
Without word getting out on Facebook about what she does, she wouldn’t have “made it,” said the Lima resident.
“I’ve met so many people, and it’s really all been through Facebook,” Phillips said.
She knew when she got several “likes” in one week, that she had “something.”
When she first began, it was just her family who got her products, but then she put her products on Facebook and “couldn’t even keep up with people ordering,” she said.
“I think it’s really special,” she said, of what she makes.
She’s been making balloon gifts and sculptures for a few years now and gets great joy from seeing people’s reactions to her designs.
She first learned how to make the balloons from another social media platform: Youtube.
Though she’s been “crafty’ and creative her whole life, Phillips started making balloon gifts after looking around on Youtube a few years ago, from there, she got interested in what else she could make.
Now, she can do arches, sculptures and balloon people, like Elsa from “Frozen,” Spiderman and more.
After working out of her home for a while, Phillips wanted a storefront and a business.
“I just wanted to have a business where people can actually come and order and have an actual name so one day I can maybe expand,” Phillips said.
The store, located at 768 N. Main St., will open April 1.
Though, now she is doing it to make money as a business, at first, Phillips “would do it mainly for the joy of making other people happy.”
“I’m just bringing something different, something unique to people in Lima that they can’t get anywhere else,” she said.
The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Those interested in the shop and its products can contact Phillips at 419-604-0175.
