A MUM has revealed how she rakes in a staggering £100,000 a year working as a birthday clown.
Graphic designer Regina Martinez had been on the hunt for a way to earn some extra cash for her family – and she’s now so successful it’s her family’s main source of income.
And the best part is she charges £236-an-hour and only has to work a couple of days a week.
In 2010 Regina decided to do face painting as a side hustle to top up her finances.
Speaking to Insider, she said: “The agency that hired me said I'd be more marketable if I were a character. My best friend, who was a clown, suggested I call myself Sparkles. At first, I went to kids parties as Sparkles, a fairy princess. But I realised I wasn't very much like a princess — I'm more goofy.”
She decided to start working as a freelance clown instead, and launched her Silly Sparkles business in 2011.
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Among her services were balloons, face painting, and magic.
But forget the terrifying image you may have of clowns, as Regina has put her own spin on it.
She added: “I listened to what kids told me. When I wore clown makeup, I'd get negative responses. My hat and sparkly costume worked well.”
In order to grow her business, she’d asked mums to refer her in Facebook groups and tag her in, and also leave five-star reviews.
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She also focused on improving her website and including keywords so people were more likely to find it on Google.
Regina said the business grew “faster than expected” and when her first child arrived in 2012, she realised the job also fit in well with family life.
At first she charged $125 (£98) but wanted to find a way of earning more money to support her family.
She said: “I created a $300 (£236) package called Birthday Boost: one hour of my puppet show, balloons, and a special balloon for the birthday kid. That was more than double my previous rate of $125 an hour.”
Regina said she wasn’t expecting it to take off, but she began getting around 30 enquiries every weekend and said mums loved “having one hour of pure, silly entertainment for the kids.”
In 2021, she started working full time and managed to male $135,0000 (£106,000), which was enough for her husband to quit his job to work on his own entrepreneurial dreams.
Now she does business admin on Monday and Wednesday mornings and performs at birthday parties for up to 12 hours every Saturday.
She sometimes works midweek too, but reserves Sundays for her family time.
Regina said the best part of her clown job is that she doesn’t have a boss and has her own freedom.
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