Happy to announce that today marks my dive into full time mermaid livingI have been full time once before for a period of 6 months, but it was unplanned and came out of necessity when a summer job decided not to renew me due to budget issues in the fall. I was unprepared to be unemployed and there was (and still is) an unemployment crisis in my particular field (education). I relied totally on gigs and while I had many they were not enough to sustain a life given my school debt and health expenses. so after 6 months I took a job that I honestly hated, made the best of it, and worked for a year and a half. During that time I paid off one student loan, and about 15,000$ in debt that I had incurred through the previous 7 years of being a student and having to need expensive medical care.
Sean and I have been carefully planning so I could leave my job to do what I love. I know a lot of people dream of doing it, but I think some of the pro mermaids out there make it look easier than it is because you don't see all the behind the scenes. No one just makes money from bookings and gigs I promise you, I've asked them allSo we started a board of directors, got financial advising, created a kick ass business plan, upped our insurance (meaning I can now and am now taking on bigger well paying gigs) saved saved saved money for emergency purposes and to have a 'cushion', created new income streams through the company (youtube, selling items through a store, creative book sales, workshops, kits etc), started going to small business and entrepreneur workshops and groups, having grant money coming in, and investors! Things have EXPLODED. But they started exploding before I left my job, so I was considerably burnt out. it became like working two full time jobs. I had zero time for myself, and as many people saw - I started getting sick.
I don't expect to do this forever, but I am very excited to do it for now.
My second book that is coming out is clearly documenting my life between the first book, and right now. (That's where it'll end). I go into detail how I got this far, specifics of what I've done to prepare, pay off debt, and get ready, along with the ups and downs of gigs, mermaid life, and coping with chronic illness while trying to run my own business. The book ends here. But from here on it, I'll be doing my best to post regular updates of how things go, challenges I face, success stories and other fun stuff both here, and through my youtube series.
So yay! Already before I was even done my last day of work I got a TV show request for the whole company (local TV show wants to do a special on us, fun!) and landed a few summer contracts. I'm only a bit anxious about my health expenses. We're not insured (though if I can sustain my level of income I will be able to apply for insurance), and my meds cost 250$, physio costs 190$ a session (very specialized and seriously needed) and I have a few invasive tests coming up. Of course, bad things have already thrown a wrench into some of my plans. One of my mermaids lives farther away and would normally drive to us and then we'd take her to gigs and back, and of course her car just died lol so she's stuck bussing to us and our transit system is notoriously unreliable. So that little factoid keeps me up at night knowing how time sensitive certain gigs are. LOL. And Mermaid Mimi's tail is totally dying and we haven't been able to find a sufficient in between tail to purchase (the company cant afford to front 3k+ for a new custom, and she's getting married this summer and also can't afford at the time being) because Mimi is an amazon and super tall. The tails we've added to our collection just are too small and can't be modified. So she's doing a lot of dry gigs so her tail doesnt fall apart. I'm really hoping when grant money comes in July I can just get either a good used tail, a 1000$ in between tail, or purchase her the materials to make her own real latex one. But June is still super busy... so trying to get through that will be.. fun.
I found out I qualify for a pro mac makeup account which is cool, because it gets you 30% off all their stuff, along with exclusive performing makeup not available to the public. I usually use sephora (MUFE) and mermaid minerals, but I have yet to find a lip stain or lipstick to work beyond mac, and they also have a new line of underwater stuff coming out. so yeah, 30% off makeup? Great! In order to apply you need to have an established business as a performer, some work under your belt, and business identification.
I am really looking forward to a summer with Seanny too. He is working for me along with doing contract work from home. It's exciting as a couple to have adventures too.
I'll also be posting more updates on the Halifax Mermaid Blog: http://halifaxmermaids.weebly.com/blog
And you can follow my journey on my facebook PROFILE: https://www.facebook.com/raina.mer.5
That's about it for now!I'll keep you all posted! woot woot. Yay for full time mermaid status!
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