In every community, there are people who quietly go above and beyond—lifting others, meeting needs, and making a lasting impact. We call them Difference Makers. This issue, we are honored to highlight a truly unique and inspiring trio: sisters Tieraney, Tiffaney, and Torie. Each of these remarkable women has forged her own path, yet all share a common thread—a deep commitment to helping others and creating positive change in the world around them.
Though their individual stories stand alone, together they weave a powerful narrative of compassion, strength, and purpose. Whether through service, leadership, or advocacy, Tieraney, Tiffaney, and Torie remind us that making a difference often starts at home—with shared values, support, and a heart for community. We’re proud to celebrate each sister in her own feature and invite you to discover how this family of Difference Makers is leaving its mark in three distinct and meaningful ways.
From left to right: Torie Cassens, Tiffaney Rains-Eaton, and Tieraney Craig
Submitted by Erin Luebbehusen
I like to consider myself a pretty lucky person. My luck started young and has continued into adulthood. One of my luckiest days was when I crossed paths with Torie Conover (Cassens) when we were both around five years old. Neither one of us young girls had any idea what kind of special friendship was waiting around the corner, just waiting for us to experience it.
As young girls, Torie and I were constantly being dragged around to watch our older sisters play sports. We then met one another at school and began participating in the same activities. When you’re around someone for long periods of time, you’re bound to become friends with them! We’ve been friends ever since – even through long distance in junior high and high school, and then into college, and as we’ve continued to mature and grow older. She’s been a constant in my life for the last 24 years!
Torie has had various jobs in which she’s engaged with the public and added sunshine to people’s days – whether they were a coworker, a client, or a stranger, Torie could make them smile and feel good about themselves as they left an interaction with her simply because she makes people feel seen and cared for. After years of working for other people, she tapped into her creative potential and decided to become her own boss and take her balloon arch side gig full-time. Thus, Pumped Up Balloons + Beyond was born! Now, since 2021, Torie has been pouring her heart into celebrating any and every special moment for members of our community.
Since starting Pumped Up Balloons + Beyond, Torie has enjoyed her ability to be a working mom and a stay-at-home-mom simultaneously. Her job allows her to be home with her boys while also helping provide for her family. Her appreciation for being able to spend quality time with her sons increased drastically after she experienced the unimaginable and heartbreaking sudden loss of her son Knox in November of 2023. He was just 56 days old.
Torie has always been thoughtful, compassionate, kind, selfless, and gentle, and I think experiencing a loss that no one ever wants to know has made her even more thoughtful, even more compassionate, even more kind, even more selfless, and even gentler. It’s undeniable that the grief from the loss of a child has changed Torie – it would be crazy to think that it wouldn’t – and as she’s faced her grief, she’s learned so much about herself and her journey through life as a whole. For as long as I’ve known Torie, I’ve known that she is a person who deeply values connection. After Knox passed, I feel confident in saying that she values connection even more than ever before. We’re not only talking connection with people close to her, but connection with everyone. This includes (but is not limited to): her clients, other local business owners, philanthropists, parents who have experienced loss, strangers on the internet, and people walking down the street. Torie values connecting with and bonding with others on a personal level, but connection and bonding are also at the heart of what her business provides: celebration.
Torie encourages people to celebrate any and all things, big or small. Case in point: Torie held a potty party for her son after he was potty trained to celebrate the milestone. To some, silly. To Torie, important! To quote the balloon queen herself, “Celebration isn’t frivolous; it’s meaningful.” She has a way about her that makes you want to celebrate all things, and she will be right there, celebrating alongside you. Torie is well known in our community and surrounding areas, and her balloons took her recognition to new heights. You know a Pumped Up Balloons + Beyond party when you see one. She has forged strong and stable connections with business owners who want to celebrate events and their employees, community organizations that utilize her skills and creativity for fundraisers and award ceremonies, school administrators and teachers who want her art in the background of all of the photos from their school functions, parents who want to celebrate their kids’ birthdays and milestones, and everyone in between. When you book with Torie, you’re not only getting party décor fit for royalty, but you’re also getting someone who puts all of their best efforts into celebrating you, someone who will remember your name and your story, and someone who will do whatever it takes to make you feel loved and cared for. She is so good at that.
Torie would likely argue that she could use some work in setting boundaries between her work life and her personal life, but I would have to respectfully disagree with her. She takes care of herself and her business by recognizing when she needs to step away from work and step more into mom-mode, and noticing when she has more to give to work than she may have had on other days. She doesn’t give herself enough credit for how she balances it all, so I’m doing it for her. Torie, you’re doing an amazing job!
Torie is the most creative person I’ve ever met, and I don’t say that lightly. She can dream up décor and make ideas come to life like it’s nobody’s business! (But it literally is HER business.) I could never possibly pick a favorite balloon install or party idea of hers, but I do have a few community events that come to mind when I think of some of the most special Pumped Up Balloons + Beyond moments. This past Valentine’s Day, Torie launched the Adopt-A-Grandparent initiative in which she took to social media for people to “adopt” a resident in local nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Through monetary donations, the generosity of a major balloon brand, the donation of three helium tanks from a local business, and rallying volunteers, Torie and some friends were able to deliver Valentine’s Day balloon bundles to over four hundred nursing home residents in our area. Four hundred sweet lives were touched that day, all because of an idea that Torie had and made come to life. All of the contributions she received – both tangible and not – are a testament to the kind of person and business owner Torie is. She will say that she couldn’t have done it without all of the help she received, but none of it would have happened at all if it weren’t for her in the first place.
Some of my other favorite Pumped Up Balloons + Beyond moments were when she collaborated with Rachel B Photography to make a local senior look like she was floating on a door that had balloons fixed to it, when she covered the front of Quincy Brewing Company with balloons more than half way up to celebrate their fifth birthday, and when she cradled balloons with a net from the ceiling of Lakeview Weddings for newlyweds to magically celebrate their New Year’s Eve nuptials. In between all of these awe-inspiring installs, there are so many others that would take me years to list. There is no celebration that Torie doesn’t give her all to. She’s taken her talents to soaring levels, and after experiencing such a traumatic loss, she knows that celebrating and rejoicing for whatever reason you choose is sacred. She knows the joy of celebrating is worth the effort of planning, which is just one part of what makes her one-of-a-kind.
Torie stays motivated by her husband, her sons, her clients, and most importantly, God. She has shared that after losing Knox, she saw an opportunity to lean into her faith and work on her relationship with God. She trusts that in her darkest and hardest moments, she isn’t alone because she has God on her side. Torie spreads the love of Jesus into all of her relationships, and you can feel it when you’re with her. When she has a client who may be difficult or frustrating to some, Torie meets them where they’re at and keeps kindness front and center. As Torie is kind to others, she’s also kind to herself by standing up for herself when she feels something is wrong or if there’s an issue to be addressed. Her assertiveness and honesty are part of the laundry list of wonderful characteristics that make her who she is.
She will often say that she values community over competition, and when we collaborate instead of compete, it’s amazing what can be accomplished. No one does things like she does, no one celebrates like she does, no one cares quite the same way she does. But instead of using her strengths to rise herself above others, she uses her strengths to collaborate with other business owners and creatives. Torie is a difference maker for several reasons, but the two that stand out to me the most are that she consistently brands herself as a community partner (and backs her words up with actions), and she has overcome such heartbreaking and tragic loss that she is an inspiration to anyone going through a hard time to just. keep. going.
When I think of Torie’s future, I think of a lot of balloons and a lot of happiness! I know she will continue to celebrate people’s birthdays, weddings, milestones, potty parties, and any other moment that deserves recognition. But I also know that she will continue to be an out-of-this-world mom, a kind and compassionate wife, an adoring daughter, a thoughtful sister, an exceptional aunt, a reliable friend, and so much more. She has reminded me repeatedly through her actions that our people are what matter. I can’t say for certain what everyone will remember Torie for, but I know I will remember her for her resiliency when she could’ve crumbled, and the way she makes everyone feel special and important. She will always be a special person to me. She has taken her hardships and turned them into reasons to celebrate – and we are all better people because of the differences she makes in our community.