Meet Ahzahdeh Neshat

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ahzahdeh Neshat and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ahzahdeh, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I first started this business, I was very much a parent first, entrepreneur second. I said no to a lot of things that didn’t make sense for me as I was a stay-at-home mom, and my little one was only 2 years old at the time. As my business grew, I steadily took on more and more, and my paradigm shifted to work first, family second. I felt the strains this placed on myself and my family, and looking back, I wish I had not let work take up so much of my life. My house was constantly full of balloons or projects, I was barely home on the weekends, my weekdays were spent stressed about the upcoming events— and I missed a lot of time with my daughter.
However, now that she is in school, I’ve learned to really prioritize making the most of the time she is gone to accomplish things for work, so that once she is home I can utilize my time with her to the fullest. I’m still not so great at leaving my weekends a little open so that we can have a free day together, but I’m learning how to delegate tasks to assistants and friends so that I can spend a weekend day or two a month as a family.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Looking back at where I started to where I am today, there are so many moments where I am amazed I didn’t just throw it all down and quit. Our business model has changed quite a few times, and we’ve had to grow and shift in accordance with where the world was at. When March 2020 rolled around, my company was at it’s highest peak. We were fully booked for most weekends, earning the highest profits we had yet to make— and then the world shut down. I was so terrified for what that meant for our company, but I realized we could still bring happiness to our little area. So I made “Balloon Bags o’ Fun” which was just that— giant bags full of balloons. Kids had such a blast since they were cooped up inside their homes, and parents were so grateful they could have something like that delivered to their door. I gradually did more, such as driveway birthday parties, decorating front doors for celebrations, delivering bouquets from friends since they couldn’t be together— and that time frame actually exceeded all of our previous sales from years past.

In more recent times, the LA Fires held a similar tale. The entire area practically shut down, people were displaced from their homes, no one could gather. But as we started to gradually go back to life, I realized I could still bring happiness to the kids that just had their whole world tipped upside down. I offered free birthday balloon bouquets to kids who were displaced and had an upcoming birthday celebration. It took off SO much faster than I ever expected to, and ended up delivering over 40 balloon bouquets from January through March. I had friends offer wrapped presents, other vendors offering items to include, and the pure joy on both the kids and parents faces made the entire effort worth it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
LA is such a gem of a city that often gets overlooked due to all the touristy things to do in our city. But the best part about it is that it’s an entire web of people with small businesses and big ideas. I’d first take them to Downtown Culver City to explore the history of the movie business, grab an iconic Erewhon smoothie, have sushi and sake. We’d take a hike at the Culver City Steps and capture that breathtaking view of the entire city.
We’d also hit up Downtown LA and visit The Broad, walk down to Grand Central Market, take Angels Flight back up for that fun bit of history.
We’d find a Farmers Market (let’s be honest, there’s one every day in this city) and pack a fun lunch, and drive up and down the PCH before taking our books and treats and having a lazy day soaking up the sun.
There’s obviously an entire day dedicated to Disneyland- because that’s the happiest place on earth.

We’d explore Eagle Rock and it’s adorable small shops, enjoy a walk through the Huntington Gardens, and maybe a moonlit drive down Mulholland Drive.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Elisamarie Reyna, Owner of New Project Designs
I have watched her grow her business out of her shared garage in an apartment building to a huge production design in a warehouse (they’ve actually had to move warehouses to accommodate their growing business). They are doing buildouts and fabrications for huge brands, being so innovative in what they do, and are always such a team-player.

Website: https://Www.confettiandsprinkles.com

Instagram: https://Instagram.Com/confettiandsprinkles