The balloon business is blowing up for Trinity Greene ’25, who has intertwined her experience working at Party City with entrepreneurship skills learned at Bryant for a successful venture providing inflated archways and other balloon displays for birthdays, weddings, corporate events, bridal and baby showers, and other celebrations.

An Entrepreneurship major, Greene co-founded Up and Away Balloons in 2021 with two former Party City co-workers, Samantha Sousa and Katie Massarone. “We have been lucky enough to work with some great companies like Paul Masse, Crossroads RI, Thundermist Health Centers, and Texas Roadhouse,” she says. “You can even see our balloon work on an episode of Blippi.”

Feeling deflated about taking college classes remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Greene opted to take a gap year and work. “Party City was my first job,” she says. “I started as a seasonal employee and was there for three years, first as a sales associate and then as a manager.”

Party City sold party-themed balloons, but the company was less interested in building large balloon displays, Greene recalls. “Customers would ask for it and we knew how to do it, so the three of us said, 'Why don’t we do it ourselves?” she recalls.

“With the balloons, it was always really exciting,” says Greene. “People are celebrating things, they're happy. Shifting into owning a business, we feel like we're part of someone’s special day.”

Marketed mostly via word of mouth and social media, Up and Away Balloons has worked with hundreds of customers and averages about 100 events a year. Projects are priced anywhere from $200 to more than $5,000 depending on size and complexity.

“One of our favorite displays are pool balloons,” Greene says. “They look so cool floating on the water; we swim out and drop them. For a wedding after party in Newport, we blew up 2,500 helium balloons for seven hours to cover a ceiling. Our fingers were bleeding, and we were running through the reception with helium tanks, but it was fun.”

“With the balloons, it was always really exciting. People are celebrating things, they're happy. Shifting into owning a business, we feel like we are part of someone’s special day.”

Party City filed for bankruptcy in 2024, but Up and Away Balloons has continued to soar, with plans to open a storefront location this year.

“When we first started, it was in my mom's garage,” says Greene. “Now it’s in my apartment, and we have a storage unit, but for four years we’ve operated out of our homes.” The shop will be a great place to store materials as well as meet with customers, she says.

When Greene enrolled at Bryant, she had visions of working in international business, but the balloon venture quickly pumped up her determination to work as her own boss.

“I realized once I had the business going that this is what I wanted to do, so I switched into entrepreneurship inmy sophomore year,” she says. “It's been great to have the real world experience while being in school. Specifically in my Marketing Policy and Problems (MKT412) and Entrepreneurship Practicum (ENT484) capstone programs, I'm learning a bunch about how to start a business.”

Greene admits to “winging” the business side of the company a little up to this point, but Up and Away Balloons is registered as an LLC and has a business bank account; Greene even won a small grant from Bryant to puchase a customoer-relations management program. Each of the co-founders devotes several hours a week to the business between administration, blowing up balloons, creating displays, and setting up at events.

“I'm in school full time, and I have another job on top of the balloons,” says Greene. “The other girls are in school part time and have full-time jobs, so we're all just balancing the best we can.”

Each of the co-founders brings her own skills and strengths to the business, and Greene says the collaborative nature of her Bryant education has been a big benefit for her growth as a business owner and entrepreneur. 

"Bryant is huge with teamwork, and you learn to respect people, especially clients. Your personality matters, and how you speak to people matters. When you do that right you retain relationships, and I think that's really helped in my business and college.”

“I like to be in control, so I've had to pull back, and it's helped me with the business tremendously,” she says. “I’ve become a better listener. Bryant is huge with teamwork, and you learn to respect people, especially with clients. Your personality matters, and how you speak to people matters. When you do that right you retain relationships, and I think that's really helped in my business and college.”

Business is about to get more serious for Greene, Sousa, and Massarone with the opening of the storefront location and hiring employees. A formal business plan is in the works, but Greene and her partners remain mindful about the joyful reason they got into balloons in the first place.

“Balloons embody celebration. There’s something exciting about a balloon; it’s like a reward. You associate it with something happy, and that's really cool to me,” says Greene.