At that time, we frequently visited Houston Party Playland to get out of the house and let our daughter play in the bay area. My husband and I agreed that an indoor playground would be perfect for the shopping center, considering there was not much to do in that area for families with young kids. I spoke with the previous owner of Houston Party Playland regarding our interest in opening a similar concept. One thing led to another, and a short time later, Blaine and I took ownership of the company. Our immediate goal for Houston Party Playland was to improve the space by adding new play equipment and instilling the importance of customer service among our team. After previously working in service-oriented roles such as waitressing, bartending, and leasing apartments, I wanted to pass along the customer service skills I’ve developed over the years to our team.

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After gaining insight into what is most important to parents and their children, we implemented new features such as adding and upgrading existing equipment, comfortable seating for parents, and remodeling the party rooms. Looking back over the last year and a half, I can say that our team’s goals have definitely made a difference in gaining new customers and keeping our regular customers coming back. Last summer, we achieved our initial goal of opening our other location called Bounce N Play. Our vision for both sites is to create a positive guest experience, whether coming in to play or hosting a birthday party with us. We understand it can be stressful when planning your child’s birthday, and we strive to make the process easy and fun! Today, our lives revolve around chasing our toddlers, spending time with family, and planning our next Disney trip!

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Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Shortly after finding out, I was pregnant with our daughter, I was diagnosed with Type 1.5 diabetes. I had only heard of Types 1 and 2, so discovering this would be a lifelong condition requiring medication was scary. While pregnant, I was concerned about our baby and how this disease may affect her. I tried to eat healthy, exercise, and take my medication. This was incredibly challenging since I worked in an office environment at the time, which was primarily sedentary, and desserts were always available. Thankfully, my daughter was born completely healthy. Day-to-day life is not easy when managing Type 1.5 diabetes on top of all my other responsibilities. When things are crazy, I still have to ensure I’m caring for myself and my family. It still surprises me that I didn’t discover this until my late 20s, and considering I have no family history of diabetes, it never crossed my mind that it could happen. My advice is to take care of your health.

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All right – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Bounce N Play – what should we know?

Bounce N Play are indoor playgrounds that offer a place for parents and caregivers to bring their children to play and socialize with other families. Both locations also offer spaces to host birthday parties and other special events. As an owner, I do everything! I do everything from crunching numbers and performing daily operations to cleaning! I enjoy that we’re a small business where customers can have a conversation directly with the owners, as opposed to being a big corporation. I love interacting with our customers and hearing their feedback. It helps us learn and grow. I’m thankful for our team because, without their willingness to work hard, provide great customer service, and keep the place running, we wouldn’t be what we are today. I’m also thankful for my husband because he keeps me grounded and is always there for me at the end of a rough day.

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Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?

The most essential characteristic of any business’s success is to take care of your employees and listen to customers. Happy employees will likely do the right thing when you’re away and handle situations appropriately. As business owners, we consistently read and respond to our Google reviews to learn what our customers like and what areas we can improve. I believe it’s imperative to share positive customer reviews with your team because it motivates them to know when they did a good job.