For more than ten years Marisa Jaisingh has been steadily honing her skills in a wide array of decorating services, not least, what she says is the increasing in-demand skill of balloon artistry and, over time, transforming her talents into a business enterprise which, she says, is paying dividends.
Situated at 5-7 Lombard Street in Georgetown, Trails and Treasures has gradually become one of the better known ‘go to’ establishments in Georgetown for customers seeking out services in the decoration industry.
Trails and Treasures may, these days, be a fast-emerging go-to enterprise for decorative accoutrements though Marisa favours its image as a kind of creative den where her favourite passion continues to be fashioned into ‘pretty things’ that are now in considerable demand.
The extent of her passion is reflected in the story she tells about executing the décor for her own wedding having decided that she wasn’t going to pay what she believed was the exorbitant price that was being asked by another service-provider. “I felt that I should not be paying the price that was being quoted to me so I decided to take it on myself,” she said.
If she openly admits that her services are very much in demand these days she attributes her success to an innovativeness that probably puts her at the head of the class, so to speak, in the balloon artistry skills locally.
There is an open breeziness about the mother of three sons who concedes that it was the challenge of engaging customers much more than that of filling their orders that she initially found challenging to grapple with. The evidence that she has come a long way in developing this particular skill, however, is not difficult to detect. In her discourse with the Stabroek Business Marisa was as fluent and as confident a communicator as one would hope to meet.
Perusal of the company brochure reveals that, outside of balloon artistry, Trails and Treasures offers an array of other services that include floral arrangements, gift baskets, edible fruit arrangements, wedding flowers, rental of bride and groom chairs and chocolate fountain rentals.
Over time Marisa has evidently learnt that if she is to sell her business she must also succeed in selling herself. Recognizing that passion is not a sufficiently adequate tool with which to market Trails and Treasures she undertook targeted institutional training. These days, she says, her acquired education in managing a business is paying dividends.
If the various other services customarily offered by Trails and Treasures remain in considerable demand Marisa makes no secret of the fact that the balloon artistry has now become the centre of her operations. Trails and Treasures has come to consider itself the local leaders in balloon artistry. Garlands, animals, costumes and bouquets boasting designs fashioned out of balloons have become a Trails and Treasures trademark, the company having long graduated to providing services to major high-profile events.
Marisa believes that the signal contribution that Trails and Treasures has made to the industry has been to raise balloon artistry to a level where what had once been seen in some circles as the tackiness associated with balloons as a decorative tool has gradually been pushed to one side. The art, she says, has now long gone beyond simply inflating and hanging. It extends into the art of twisting, bending and otherwise manipulating balloons into shapes and images that reflects the significance of the occasion for which they are trotted out. Understandably, the Mash season has imposed additional demands on her enterprise.
For all the demands imposed by the substantive pursuits of Trails and Treasures, Marisa has found time to respond to the demand of the market of offering classes in balloon decorating. She offers two classes per year, the first, in April, providing an introduction to balloon decorating and the second, in September, offering an advanced course in the discipline.
In her pursuit of balloon decorating Marisa has discovered and ‘hooked up’ with a ‘family’ of enthusiasts that go way beyond Guyana. She is now part of that global community of ‘balloonists’ though she is keen to spread the word to the local market that Trails and Treasures may have established a reputation in balloon artistry but that there are other services that they continue to provide in the ‘feel good’ industry.
