It’s another entry in The Balloon Market Blog everybody! Time to learn about one of our terrific members of staff: from their likes, to dislikes and everything in between!

With six years of tenure in the BM team, Vicky is a core member of our staff who is always ready to help with any questions you might have! As Customer Support Supervisor, Vicky answers various customer queries via phone-calls, emails and more, whilst also building our awesome balloon designs for social media and helping out at our training courses! Time to ask some questions and get some answers…

On the Meet the Team page, you’ve listed a fun fact about yourself. Tell us more about that!

My fun fact is that I’ve visited 73 countries! Before I worked here, I worked on cruise ships for three years in the youth department, so that’s how I’ve managed to visit so many different places. Rather than spending a lot of time in every country, it’s been more like a taster of each one. Along with that, I went travelling too; I’ve gone around Thailand and Australia for about a year or so. When I was on the cruise ships doing these world voyages, I had a huge map on the side of my cabin wall and for each port we’d end up at, I’d put a star on the location to keep track of everywhere we went!

What do you enjoy most about working at Balloon Market?

The main thing that I enjoy is knowing that every day is going to be different; you’re never going to get bored working here. One day I might be in the studio creating something, and then on another day I’d be on a training course with people from all over! I also really enjoy helping customers when they call up and answering any questions they might have.

Do you have a favourite product that we stock?

I really like PartyDeco’s range of products, specifically their matte finish foil balloons. I think you can look at a PartyDeco foil and just know it’s made by them: they’re all cute looking and always use good colours. In particular, I think my favourite one is the 28″ deer head balloon.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

I struggled with this one a little bit… though I’m sure I’ve received lots of lovely gifts! One that I wanted for AGES may seem a little bit strange: it was a dual-compartment kitchen bin! Our kitchen was quite small and there wasn’t enough room to have one recycling bin and one normal bin. So, to save on space and the need to go outside, it was the most handy thing to have.

What’s the No.1 thing on your bucket list?

I’m guessing most people would say “I want to travel the world!”, but I’ve done lots of travelling already! My one may seem a little boring in comparison, as the next goal is to buy my own house. It’s a very sensible bucket list option, even if it’s more difficult in this day and age.

What’s your favourite kind of food? Is there a favourite restaurant you like to go to?

I’m a big foodie, so I like a bunch of different types, but my favourite would have to be Thai. When someone asks where we could go for a meal, I always suggest a Thai restaurant. One in particular that I quite like is Thaikun: really good food, they do a good Chicken Massaman Curry and nice cocktails too!

Is there anything you wished you learned earlier in life?

I think it’d be learning another language. It’s so hard to learn from scratch, so it may have been better to start learning when I was younger. When I worked for Thompson, I was in Greece for four summers at 6 months at a time, and I thought if I was in Spain I’d be able to pick up the language more compared to Greek. You can pick up words on the day-to-day, but nothing to hold a full conversation.

Is there something that most people like that you don’t like?

Hot drinks! I don’t drink any tea, coffee or hot chocolate; I don’t even eat soup! You’re more likely to catch me with a glass of orange squash or water. I don’t like the taste and was never given them as a child, so that might have something to do with it.

Do you have any good recommendations?

For a totally different suggestion: I recommend yoga! I try to go once a week because it gives you some time for yourself and helps you clear your head. I think everyone should try it, even if you think it’s not for you.

Do you have a question for the readers?

‘If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?’

Big thanks to Vicky for taking the time to chat! I’m guessing this is a question where money is no object, so you’ve got the entire globe to choose from. However, I feel like everywhere I think of ends up with a caveat of why that wouldn’t be the best idea, as much like Vicky I also cannot speak a second language. Even though I haven’t been before, I think Canada would be a safe choice; it’s like a less threatening America over there.

Let us know your answers to this week’s question below! See you all next time!

James
Blogologist