Our TEAM

Allison is the imagination behind the brand and loves working side by side with her sons and daughters-in-law. She was a funeral director/embalmer before becoming the owner of a balloon factory. Her choice TUFTEX color (for the moment) is Turquoise. Besides meeting new balloon artists all over the world, her favorites are her husband, kids & grandkids, riding her bike along the shores of Lake Erie, a good yoga or spin class, and doing headstands.

Mike helps the TEAM streamline our vision of growth. Purchasing a balloon factory was his idea, and he is happiest when he’s able to provide our area of the world with job opportunities that make a difference for local neighborhoods and families. Mike works at another company full-time but assists TEAM TUFTEX in being more efficient & effective. He’s extremely competitive, loves a good sneeze and TUFTEX Seafoam.

Doc has a hand in almost all things TUFTEX. He develops the production schedule each week, keeps an eye on our financials, is our new & current sales lead, and is the one in the lab creating new colors, tasked with trying to relay Allison’s color dreams into reality. He’s currently undecided as to whether he likes Blue Slate or Teal best. Four kiddos, a wife (who happens to be TEAM TUFTEX Abby), a doggie keep him busy & happy outside of the factory.

Meg stalks balloons’ Insta pages, reporting it all to the TEAM, allots product to each distributor every day, plans all the TUFTEX events, travels for TUFTEX, and directs the daily operations at the Hamilton facility. Her favorite TUFTEX color? We all know it’s Gray Smoke. She is momma to a balloon princess, has a husband (TEAM TUFTEX Lucas) and loves shopping & finding trendy treats on TikTok.

Gage is tasked with ensuring all the manufacturing processes are running smoothly every day at the Norwalk factory and has been instrumental in managing the implementation of two new production lines as well as a 30,000 sq. ft. expansion project. He loves hitting the links on the golf course, walks with his wife, and being a dad to three energetic kids. Metallic Forest Green is the color he likes best.

Lucas started a few years ago in the TUFTEX shipping & receiving department, went to work for Mike & Allison’s other business for a bit, and now helps with the daily operations at the Canada factory, keeping everything in line. His favorite color is Meadow (can anyone guess why?), he’s married to Meg, has a big pup named Miley, and loves playing and watching sports, especially golf, football and baseball.

Diana began working at the factory just out of high school and has the most intel on what has worked (and what has not worked) for TUFTEX over the years. She is the manager of our customer service department, keeps the lines of communication flowing with our distributors, and has by far the best taste in shoes in the building. She fancies Lime Green and Red.

Kendall is the newest member of our brand manager and customer service TEAM! She recently got married, and when she’s not taking care of our brand through her work in Facebook and planning events, she enjoys walking her dog Moe, spending time on the lake boating, and getting lost in TJ Maxx. She prefers Willow if forced to choose.

There are about 100 other awesome TEAM TUFTEX members in our production, packing, printing, lab, maintenance and shipping/receiving departments in our Norwalk, Ohio, USA and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada facilities. They’re proud to be manufacturing the only latex balloons that are 100% “Made in America and Canada”. Our production teams are making the highest-quality balloons on the market 24 hours a day, about 360 days every year.

The Nieves sisters have been in the balloon industry since 2012 and developed the Professional Balloon Designer diploma in conjunction with the Florida Dept. of Education. Originally from Venezuela and now based in Miami, they have many international awards including a Guinness World Record in 2020 for the largest balloon sentence as well as two Emmy’s for “Our Story: My Sister”. Their favorite TUFTEX color is Pixie.

Confetti Castle, based in Charlotte, NC, opened up shop in 2019, and Tiffany and Allison quickly found out their business mindsets aligned. She represented TUFTEX at FLOAT 2024 and not only was a headliner instructor at TUFTEX EXPERIENCE ’23, her team made sure that Opening Night was as colorful as possible! She enjoys travel, all things Disney, loves TUFTEX Hot Pink and (cue surprising fact) Malted.

Delloons established their décor business in 2020, servicing clients in NJ/NY. TUFTEX’s Favorite Balloon Couple have been instructors at both NYC Balloon Balls, FLOAT 2024 and not only instructed at the first ever TUFTEX EXPERIENCE, but also got to deck out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland with TUFTEX Balloons! They love TUFTEX Blue & Hot Pink.