Exploring Life and Business with Julie Nielsen of Inflate Forty Eight

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Nielsen.

Hi Julie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My husband, Jack, and I were both born and raised in Arizona and LOVE to host parties. When researching bounce house companies for our son’s first birthday, we found a serious hole in the market. There was no such thing as a cute, aesthetically-pleasing bounce house. I had been working in the event industry since college and my husband’s background is in supply chain, so with our skills combined, we felt we could really elevate the Arizona Bounce House business and thus Inflate Forty Eight was born! We started with three water slides and a white bounce house. The white bounce house went viral overnight and quickly became a must-have at birthday parties and events across the valley. We just hit our one-year anniversary of doing business and now offer four white bouncers, a white combo, colored bounce houses including pink, blue, teal, yellow, and taupe, waterslides, and have expanded in San Diego and Texas.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The same month we started Inflate Forty Eight, we found out we were pregnant with our second child and got a puppy. So with a one-year-old at home, potty training a puppy, my husband working long hours at his full-time job, and all the wonderful things that come along with the first trimester of pregnancy… starting this business was definitely a challenge and required lots of late nights. The initial investment to buy our first set of bouncers was a big risk for our growing family, but I poured everything I could into our branding, finding great employees, and creating relationships with influencers and vendors in the community and it paid off. I am so grateful we took the leap! Our current obstacle is space. Our company headquarters is our garage and with 17 inflatables now, we are busting at the seams!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Inflate Forty Eight offers modern bounce houses, water slides, and movie screens. Our star of the show is our all-white bounce castle! Kid’s have a blast on our inflatables and adults love decking them out in balloons and using them as a photo-op. Our white bounce house went viral on Instagram and Pinterest in 2020 and started a trend across the country. There are now white bounce house companies popping up everywhere and we feel grateful to have been an original pioneer.

Our proudest moments are seeing the excitement our bouncers bring to kids when we deliver them. We have also been lucky enough to have had a few celebrity clients like The Bachelor’s, Arie and Lauren Luyendyk, and (at the time) Arizona Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson. We have been featured in US Weekly, People, ABC15, and The Knot.

We do our best to go above and beyond with customer service and love to get to know our clients and vendors in the community. We love our repeat clients and feel so grateful that our customers return for all of their birthday parties and events.

Contact Info:

• Email: party@inflatefortyeight.com
• Website: https://www.inflatefortyeight.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inflatefortyeight/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InflateFortyEight

Image Credits
Katherine Nicole, Drey Johnson, Strybook Luv Photography, Jaimee Morse, Saje Photography, Sakura Considine