What It's About
A little face paint and creativity put this Australian woman on a slide to side hustle success!
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
One great part of her marketing that I noticed on her website is that Ainslie warns against the dangers of acrylic paints and craft glitters, and provides guidelines for customers to follow if they’re getting quotes from other face painters. This helps build trust between the potential buyer and Ainslie and shows she cares about her customer’s wellbeing. A great touch if you’re going to be working with someone’s children.
Fun Fact
Ainslie says the only downside to the job is watching parents squash their kid's creativity. If a boy asks for a butterfly, or a girl asks for a skull, a parent will often step in and decide for them. She says it’s hard to bite her tongue and not give the parents a mouthful, but because she’s got her business head on, she avoids arguments.
But it’s all worth it when she sees just how many people appreciate her favorite hobby as a paid service. And she’s not only paid in money— she also loves seeing the joy in a kid’s (or parent’s) eyes when they look in the mirror.
Notes from Chris
Episode 459
After leaving a job working full-time with children in Northern Australia’s beautiful Gold Coast region, Ainslie Deverson began to miss some parts of her old day-to-day life. The games, the stories, and most of all, painting children’s faces. She found it was a great way to be creative and express herself, while bringing joy to the children and parents she worked on. People had often told her she had a talent for it, and it seemed a shame to let her skills get rusty. So, one weekend, Ainslie decided she’d attend a local market and offer her services to some of the passers-by. It was something to do, and a way to keep her skills sharp. She bought some paints and brushes and made her way to set up a stall. After minutes of offering her services, kids were flocking to her to get all different kinds of designs on their faces. They’d all come along with parents who, when they saw their kids were happy, would ask if she offered her services privately for birthdays and events. Within an hour, she’d penciled in her first birthday party for a few weeks in the future. She kept her cool while making the booking, acting like she’d been doing this for a long time, but on the inside, she was squealing and couldn’t believe someone had booked her. The speed of this first sale gave Ainsley the idea to turn this into a real side hustle. She saw an opportunity to make money from a hobby she loved, and if the parents at this market wanted her services, there must be other people who need this as well. Since starting Faces by Ainslie, Ainslie has been able to make anywhere between $800 on a slow month, to $4,000 on a good month. Not bad for a $250 investment and a simple website!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Faces by Ainslie: Learn more about Ainslie and her awesome face painting service over on her website!
- Wix: The online website building platform that Ainslie used to set up her website
- Facebook Photo Leads to Today Show Appearance: An elementary school teacher on a mission to introduce a non-toxic product for school rallies and sporting events makes it on the TODAY show
- Graphic Designer Learns to Draw Caricatures for $250/Hr: How a graphic designer went from $8 an hour to $250 an hour in her side business. She now earns more than $100,000 working part-time—and she has some great advice that applies to a lot of hustles
- Balloon Artist’s Poppin’ Business Nets $1,200 Monthly: A South Carolina native turns his college hobby of entertaining with balloons into a profitable balloon performance, décor, and delivery side hustle
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Resources
CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE
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Quote of the Day
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To infinity and beyond,
