[ HAWAII AT WORK ]
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Side gig balloons
into full timeKen Komoto keeps spirits aloft
with Flyin’ Hawaiian BalloonsI sell balloons. It's like one step above a Kool-Aid stand.
I bought Flyin' Hawaiian Balloons three years ago from the previous owner, Kathleen Boomersbach, but actually I'd been running it for about the last 10 years. She was in it more as an investment.
I'm the only one here. I have no life. Basically it's a seven-day-a-week gig, 80 hours a week when it's slow; busy time goes up to 100 hours, like around graduation.
There are a lot of parties where I actually do the balloon decorating and setup and then come back to do the twisting. I can't afford employees.
I used to be a sales representative. I was selling mostly high-end souvenirs, crystal, jewelry -- that kind of thing. I was good at it but it wasn't satisfying.
That was when I started doing stand-up comedy and I got into entertaining kids to fill the days, doing the balloon twisting. In show business the way you get better, like in any job, is just by showing up and doing, and eventually something sticks.
So I was working part time in the balloon shop for a paycheck, and it got more and more interesting, my development of the twisting got better. Then in 1998-99 the comedy scene was declining, so I decided to immerse myself in the balloon business. In January 2001, I bought the company.
I had already been doing kids' parties, entertaining with the balloons, twisting, making animals, and it naturally evolved into doing the archways and other large-sculpture balloon decor. The thing that is really putting me on the map is balloon flower arrangements. Those are a top seller.
The first six or seven months, I was doing great; I thought, 'This is going to be OK.' And then the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hit, and people weren't too much in a festive mood. And then the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war -- you know, I'm all for it, but it does affect business. But even if the economy is down, parents will spend money on the kids. First birthdays are my biggest business.
The twisting requests always evolve with the most popular characters of the day. In general, girls want hearts and flowers and bears. Boys want weapons, and I'm more than happy to oblige.
My stage name is Kento when I'm doing the twisting. That is also my stage name when I do comedy in my spare time.
"Hawaii at Work" features tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send submissions to business@starbulletin.com
