Above the Rest Balloon and Event Designs

About the Above the Rest Crew

How Did You Start Working with Balloons, Dianna?

I love to smile, laugh and have fun! So it’s just natural that I started a balloon décor company. After all, there’s no other art medium I know of that says, “SMILE, LAUGH and HAVE FUN” like balloons.

The story of how I got into balloons goes back over 20 years, but I won’t go that far back. I had always used balloons to motivate students. Then in 2005, my Student Council planned a state convention. We hired a balloon artist to create a large balloon tunnel for us. After the convention, I told the artist how fun I thought his job was; at which time he offered to sell me his business. I thought, “Balloons? Come on, is there any need for that?” After some research, I discovered there was indeed, traveled to my first balloon workshop called, “Ballooniversity.” Yep, that’s correct, and the rest is history.

At Ballooniversity, I fell in love with the magic and power that quality balloon art creates and the wonderful artists in this magnificent industry. Since then, I’ve traveled to several states learning from industry masters and experts from numerous countries such as the U.S. Japan, Australia, China, Belgium, Italy, France, Netherlands, Canada, and Germany to become an expert myself, earning my CBA (Certified Balloon Artist) designation in 2010.

So now every day, I get to have a great deal of fun creating smiles, laughter, and fun for my clients. I love saving people time, stress, and energy when they are planning events; and I definitely love seeing my sketches come to life filling a room with life, excitement and color.

I consider myself blessed to work with terrific clients and an excellent crew. I am proud to be one of 2,000 Certified Balloon Artists in the world. I love spending time with my husband of 36 years, Kelly, and my family, especially my precious granddaughter. I also feel blessed that a little balloon has allowed me to stretch myself personally and introduced me to people from around the world. All that definitely makes me SMILE, LAUGH and HAVE FUN!

Many Blessings!
Dianna Glandon, CBA

Our Mission at Above the Rest

Our mission is to serve all clients in an efficient and friendly manner, spreading joy, laughter, and smiles to as many people as possible through the creative use of quality balloon and fabric décor.

Introducing Our Excellent Crew Members:

Rachel Glandon, CBA

Rachel began working with Above the Rest in 2007 learning the basics of properly tying balloons and several other techniques we use. Since then, she has become an integral part of the company as one of our designers. In Rachel’s first competition, she placed 3rd among 25 international balloons artists in the Delivery Bouquet competition at the World Balloon Convention. Her specialty is designing new and different wedding décor, but she is outstanding at designing room décor, centerpieces of all types and fantasy flowers—flowers we make out of balloons.

In 2009, Rachel attended her first balloon convention where she discovered “her people.” That is, a loving, caring group of fellow balloon artists who share the love of creating magical looking events for people with the artistic medium of balloons and fabric. She earned her CBA (Certified Balloon Artist) designation in 2010, which is the high certification in the balloon industry—bet you didn’t know there was such a thing did you?

Rachel happens to be my wonderful daughter-in-law who also holds the esteemed position of being my granddaughter’s mommy, making her extra special to me. She loves to read, spending time “being lazy” with her husband Brian, and teaching and loving her daughter.

Sarah Moog

Okay, so she looks young, but she’s really awesome. Sarah happens to be one terrific crew member. It was my blessing to teach Sarah when she was in sixth grade and then to be her Student Council advisor for three years. Sarah has worked for me for some time now. She is highly-trained, has a good eye for detail and could even put an entire event together on her own if she had to do so. She has trained other crew members and done an excellent job.

Sarah is a joy to work with, a fantastic leader, kind, caring, fun-loving, and positive. She is a Student Government officer, serves on several school committees, and still has time to be on the FHS swim team.

Becca Colwell

Becca is another former Student Council member who brings great joy to our company and is also very well trained. She has worked on numerous small- and large-scale events. Becca has even learned how to wield those manly tools of hammer, screwdriver, drill and pipe-cutter. Becca’s also a friendly, caring, kind person to everyone and is currently serving her high school as one of its drum majors.

Sherri Webster

A woman of many talents and a delightful spirit, Sherri is our newest crew member who has a very friendly smile (doesn’t show in the photo as she’s concentrating on learning a hard technique). She has very quickly been learning the many techniques we use to create our exciting designs. Along the way, we’ve discovered that Sherri also happens to be an amazing organizer. So, we’re in the process of dual training her.

Sherri is currently continuing her training working alongside me as she assists setting events of all sizes. Plus, she’s been awesome at training me to create an organized system to get the office running smoothly. Sherri on board is like having the best of both worlds. We are blessed to Sherri as part of our company.