Kodi and Lance Shutt laid the foundation for their decorating business Event Kode in August 2019 when they wanted to create a whole unique world for their son’s birthday. Happy with the results, they ended up doing it for all of their children, eventually launching their business on Facebook.
From then on, Kodi Shutt said it wasn’t simply a hobby anymore. She began doing jobs instantly, decorating venues and using what she could.
Then the pandemic limited hit just six months into their operation.
“We almost completely shut it down, because we had to do $16,000 in refunds for events that we had booked because venues and clients were canceling left and right because of COVID,” Shutt said.
However, her community in Ohio County showed support and encouraged her to continue. After that, she knew she had to somehow pivot to continue. She eventually bought Backyard Adventure Inflatables in Owensboro and began offering inflatables as outdoor restrictions began to lift.
That move, she said, carried them through 2020.
Soon after, she went through a difficult pregnancy. When she got out of the hospital, she had to pivot again to shift with the cold temperatures outside, eventually settling on balloon decorating.
After spending a week in an extensive balloon crafting class in Dallas, she came back with a passion to create a world of balloons for her clients.
She started doing so much balloon decorating that she announced at the top of the year that Event Kode is only doing balloon decorating and yard cards — along with custom props, backdrops and party favors and their cotton candy and shaved ice businesses.
And while she is based in Ohio County, she has had several clients in Daviess County — and some call her from other parts of the state as well.
“It’s honestly amazing. We genuinely would not be where we’re at if it wasn’t for Ohio County,” Shutt said.
As for 2022, she hopes to open up an official storefront for the business. She plans to set the first location in Bowling Green and continue to service Daviess and Ohio counties.
She then hopes to open an inflatable business in Ohio County as a branch from their Owensboro location.
Additionally, to continuously give back to families who have children with a disability, Shutt holds an annual raffle selection where Kentucky children are nominated by their parents, and her son — who is also on the spectrum — decides which one will receive a free party of their own.
Shutt said that as long as the child is under 18, all she needs is a venue to host the location and she will completely decorate the facility and pay for the entire event.
This annual project usually costs around $3,000-$4,000.
“But it’s worth it. We were basically started this in honor of our oldest with special needs. So it just makes sense to just give back to that community,” Shutt said.
To learn more about Shutt and Event Kode, head to their Facebook page.
