From crush to career: How Becki Julian became Becki the Balloon Lady

It all started with a cute boy.

At 16 years old, Becki Julian met a boy her age named Ken, who had, as a child, practiced magic tricks.

“He wanted to get back into his childhood hobby of magic,” Julian said. “That was his goal, and my goal was ‘cute boy.’”

Julian became a clown to impress her crush, but found activities like face-painting were not her cup of tea — she was “a little bit too germophobic for that.”

“Clowns juggle, but who wants to juggle? That’s not cool,” Julian laughed, poking a little fun at Ken’s other talent. “You can’t impress a boy by competing with him, so I thought of balloons.”

Julian began learning balloon art, and the rest is history. She found a lifelong passion and became the local legend, Becki the Balloon Lady.

This weekend marks 30 years since Julian quit her job in retail and went full-time balloon artist, performing at restaurants, festivals, parties, and other gigs.

She also married Ken 30 years ago. They are still together now, with Becki making balloon art while Ken performs in the magic and juggling act Gravity Check alongside Kyle Brown.

Julian said she loves using her powers for good.

“If you are blessed enough to have a child’s ear, if they listen to you, if they look up to you, please, please say something worth hearing,” Julian said. “I talk about reading, and I talk about following your heart.”

She said it sounds silly, but Julian feels she was put on this earth to tie balloons.

“I have been able to bring joy and peace and better things to people through my balloons,” she said.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is the most complicated thing you have ever made?

I perform at a hot-air balloon-themed festival in Virginia, and I once made a hot-air balloon hat. The basket with the people in it was on my head, and then, way up above it, a really big woven hot-air balloon. In the basket there were two parents looking forward, and then if you were behind me, all you could see was the little kids, like the tips of their fingers and knuckles, and just the top of their heads with their eyes. It was so big I kept having to go out into the parking lot with it because I was building it in a hotel room. I wore it in a parade.

What is one of the most interesting, strangest, or silliest requests you’ve ever gotten?

Before I knew what an axolotl was, kids started coming in asking for that. I remember one night I was like; I don’t even know what that is. And I said, “Tell you what, guys, tonight if you can spell it, I can make it.” I made a lot of dogs and cats that night.

Over the week, I designed an axolotl, and it was the funniest thing, because I accidentally conducted a social experiment. The three kids who asked for one all came back the next week, and one had written on their hand how to spell axolotl, one had their phone in their lap and kept looking at it, and one kid memorized how to spell axolotl. I made three, but I was only proud of one that night.

What are your favorite balloons to make?

Now I love, love, love making the aliens and the lady bugs and the octopus. It’s always fun to make a dog, because it’s not at all what people expect. They imagine the classic one-balloon, one-color dog, and I want to give it a white ear and black and white eyes and a black ear and a black nose. But what’s funny is I have to lie to the kids when they ask what my favorite thing to make is, because it would be very inappropriate to tell the children beer and boobs.

What do you love most about living in Burke County?

We are so centrally located. You’ve got Asheville right there and Charlotte right there. If you don’t want to go that far, and be in that big of a city, you’ve got Hickory and Shelby and Lenoir right there. And, coming from Massachusetts, being able to drive up to Boone and Asheville feels like home. Oh yeah, and the leaves turning. It’s absolutely beautiful. I love being right here in the foothills.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give your neighbors?

Believe in yourself and look out for others. You have to believe in yourself, but if we’re not looking out for other people and looking out for our neighbors and being kind, I don’t know what the point of all this is.