Notes from Chris

Episode 851

Mark Viniello’s days are spent transforming Hollywood actors into monsters and mythical beings. But it was the chance to turn his daughter into a mermaid that sparked his idea for a side hustle. He was working on the Adam Sandler film Bedtime Stories and needed to create a life-sized mermaid tail for Keri Russell. So, he put together a mold and created one out of latex foam.

Before he used it on set, though, Mark saw an opportunity to make his Little Mermaid obsessed five-year-old daughters' day. He brought her on set and let her try the tail on for herself. Needless to say, she absolutely loved it and spent the next week asking Mark if he could make one for her to have at home.

Mark didn’t have a Hollywood budget of his own, so he made a simpler version out of sheet foam he sourced at a local fabric store. Every day she’d put The Little Mermaid on the TV, slide into her tail and spend the next hour or so flipping to her heart's content.

It wasn’t long before Mark’s other daughters wanted a tail of their own, which of course, needed to be unique.

The more his daughters wore their tails, the more questions they began to ask. Where in the ocean do mermaids live? Do they have any special powers? Do all crabs have a Jamaican accent? "Of course, mon," he said. So Mark would regale them with stories about who the mermaids were and their lives beneath the waves, improvising as he went.

The more the stories and characters developed, the more Mark saw commercial potential in what he was doing. His daughter wasn’t the only one who loved Ariel and Sebastien. He began looking at how he could do this at scale.

Mark brainstormed a number of ideas and eventually settled on turning the fins into Mermaid sleeping bags. This tied in perfectly with the stories, as he could create storybooks to accompany the bags. It felt like the perfect, kid-friendly product … and of course, it would be marketed to their parents, since they had the money.

The next task was to turn those stories into more concrete concepts. He created three royal mermaids in total— Lucienne, Tasi, and Kelani—who each had their own realm, storyline, and design, within the fictional world of OCEANA. He called the company Enchantails.

Since launching the company, Enchantails has sold thousands of units and Mark says they are just getting started. At this point, all of the profits go back into the company to help them grow their current product range.

He wants to expand from three to twelve different realms for his mermaids. He’s also working on a concept for a TV show including all of his characters, that he would like to pitch to Amazon or Netflix as an original series. But, for now, he’s happy helping kids bring their underwater dreams to life!

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Enchantails: Learn more about this enchanting, under the sea inspired side hustle over on Mark's website!
• Shopify: Mark used Shopify to set up his site for Enchantails, and they're offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!

SEE ALSO:

• Military-Themed Teddy Bears Help Kids Hibernate: An ad executive turned teddy bear manufacturer creates a military-grade sleep system for children, earning $100,000 in sales and making a lot of people beary happy
• Canadian Colleagues Publish Children’s Books About Real Life: Two Canadian mothers shake up the children’s book narrative by publishing stories that tell the truth about hard things in life
• Flight Attendant Gets Paid to Help Kids Learn About the World: After visiting 50 countries, a flight attendant and her pilot husband create an income-generating project to teach kids about the world

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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