Ready for the most unreal, “real” career?
Get paid to dress up as unique characters and enchant children with memorable activities.
Takes 2 min
What’s the job?
You’ll dress up as beautiful characters and play with children by leading really fun activities at events like birthdays, movie openings, company parties, and community events.
You are paid for all travel, training, costumes, and supplies.
We hire in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, and Sacramento in California.
Why should YOU work here?
Dear future faerie,
Are you the one who children always notice?
Do you always end up being the one to play with the children at the dinner party?
If this is you, you’re going to love it here because you’re celebrated for one of your greatest skills: making children feel seen.
When children play with people as fun as you, they feel special and that they are enough just as they are.
Join us on our mission to empower children by entertaining them as one-of-a-kind YOU, not just as stereotypical princess impersonators.
I can’t wait for you to apply. You’re about to have the time of your life.
Ribbons and Roses,
Fae Gershenson
Head Faerie
Founder & CEO
What will I get for playing with children?
If you work an average of 11 hours a week, you’ll earn $21k a year, before tips.
Averaged over a year. Some weeks have more work available, some less. You’ll get to pick what works for your schedule.
How does scheduling work?
Swipe through to see how it works.
Have more scheduling questions? They’re answered below.
See for yourself
Watch our faeries in action and see what a typical day looks like.
Have questions? We figured.
But what if I don't want to work every weekend?
You don’t have to. Each month, just tell us which days you want scheduled. You only need to work 6 days a month. Why 6? Because we only have so many sets of costumes and supplies, and if you work fewer than 6 days a month, we need to reassign your supplies to someone who is available more.
I don't have a lot of weekends available.
No problem. We hire once a year, so come back another time.
I have a job in the evenings on weekends. Can I still do this job?
Maybe! We understand how lucrative evening restaurant shifts or babysitting can be. We want this job to lift you up by being flexible. Just talk to us about the hours and we can see if it will be worth it for you.
I'm available on some weekdays. Can I work those as well?
Yes, please do!
Can I only work weekdays?
No. There aren’t enough weekday-only events available.
How will I know my hours on the days I choose to work?
You’ll receive your weekly schedule by Wednesday, including hours for the next 7 days. You will be scheduled up to 8 hours per day on the days you choose to work.
How can I make the most money?
- Pick as many Saturdays as you can.
- Plan time off around lower-volume days. Ask us first so you know which dates those are.
- Add Friday work when available. We’ll tell you when it’s up for grabs.
Are there any physical requirements?
Yes, but they aren’t about how you look. Happily Ever Laughter is unique because we do not offer impersonators (think Elsa or Cinderella). Instead, we offer professional children’s entertainers (people really good at using unique activities to play with children). This lets us hire based solely on talent as opposed to appearance. It doesn’t matter what your hair color, gender identity, skin color, disability, body shape, or career background is. If you have the skills to keep a room full of children giggling, we want to hire you. Help us show children that Fairytale Characters can look like them! Faeries (or elves!) from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
Here is the only physical requirement: You’ll need to be able to lift up to 40 pounds to move your supplies in and out of your car repeatedly, and to easily stand up and crouch down multiple times an hour when you are playing with children. You can work up to 8 hours a day.
Do you hire men or non-binary people?
Absolutely.
Can you break down the pay for me?
Sure! You are paid hourly wages that vary depending on what you’re doing at the moment (driving, training, performing, reading emails from work, and so on). Your minimum hourly wage will be $20 and can go up to $50.
What kind of things will I learn in training?
You’ll learn how to keep groups of children enchanted with different activities. From learning how to twist a pink poodle balloon to how to successfully handle over-excited children, you’ll finish training with the tools you need to rock this job (and blow your friends’ minds when you show them you can make things disappear with magic). See real training in action on our TikTok channel.
Where are you hiring?
We hire in different locations throughout the year. Our 4 main locations are in California:
- Los Angeles and some of the surrounding area
- The East, North, South, and Peninsula of the Bay Area
- Sacramento and some of the surrounding area
- Santa Cruz County
I've seen ads for $100/hr to dress up at parties. Why is your starting hourly wage lower?
You are right. There are companies that offer flat compensation like that. The difference is that they pay for time worked at a gig (only). That’s it. This is because they pay you as an “independent contractor.” Instead, we pay you hourly as an “employee” for everything it takes to do the gig (driving, prep, supplies, and so on) AND the gig itself.
As an independent contractor:
- You provide your own costumes.
- You pay your own self-employment taxes (social security, state, federal, and so on).
- You pay for your own insurance.
- You learn skills on your own time, unpaid.
- You pay for all supplies.
- You are responsible for finding people to hire you through agencies or advertisements.
If you’re comfortable with those things, working as an independent contractor on your own is probably right for you. If you prefer that “be your own boss” feeling, but without all that risk, working here as an employee is a better fit.
As an employee here:
All you have to do is tell us the days you want to work, and we take care of the following for you:
- Pay you for the time it takes to drive from your house to the gig and back, and anything in between.
- Pay you for the wear and tear on your car by mile.
- Save your time by booking clients for you.
- Provide all your costumes.
- Pay you for your time at each gig, including overtime.
- Provide all activity supplies (balloons, magic tricks, face paint, and so on).
- Pay for your liability insurance (in case you break something at the gig).
- Pay you to learn how to do all the activities we offer (balloon twisting, games, and more).
- Provide sick pay.
- Give you access to worker’s comp (if you get hurt at work).
- Pay the employer’s share of tax payments (we take care of half of your social security, federal taxes, and so on).
We also offer you something that working one gig at a time as an independent contractor does not: community. Here you’ll meet fellow quirky, playful, creative, intro-extroverts who love children, costuming, and a good party theme, just like you.