FAVORITE FEMALE FOUNDER

photos | meghan rickard

Vivid Imaginations Professional Face Painting & Tri-City Family Expo

I actually have two businesses. My first is Vivid Imaginations Professional Face Painting and the second is the Tri-City Family Expo.

Vivid Imaginations Professional Face Painting was established in October of 2017. The Family Expo has been in business for twelve years; however, after many years as a vendor at the Expo, I became the producer of the event in 2019.

Vivid Imaginations is a mobile service that offers creative artistries such as face painting, henna, balloon twisting, and airbrushing. Our artists can be found regularly at the Gesa Carousel of Dreams, the Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, during select dates during Tri-City Americans’ and Dust Devils’ home games, and aboard the Chrysalis during specialty cruises with Water 2 Wine. We also offer birthday party packages for in-home experiences.

Tri-City Family Expo can be found annually at the Hapo Center, 6600 Burden Blvd. Pasco, WA 99301.

I am originally from Orlando, Florida, but I have lived in Denver, Las Vegas, Bend, Eugene, Tampa, and Tri-Cities twice. Tri-Cities is home now; it’s (my daughter) Zoey’s home, and it’s important that she develop roots and relationships here. My short-term plans are to finish my BA in Project Management, and to work for Mission Support Alliance while operating my businesses on the side. My long-range plans include traveling to Europe with Zoey.

I am a survivor of domestic abuse. I decided that becoming a single parent meant becoming a better mother for my daughter by establishing boundaries for us both in a safe environment. Recovering from PTSD has been a tremendous battle for me that some people may never understand. That, alone, has been a huge personal success because there are people who remain in toxic relationships, and the children who are trapped inside those homes are learning abuse. My road to self-discovery and rebuilding was bittersweet, but I am grateful to now have an amazing life with my daughter. Everyone defines success differently: for me, raising Zoey in a peaceful household, where conversations are open, God is present, and love is abundant, is the highest goal I could ever achieve.

Professionally, there are a lot of lessons I’ve learned, and I have only learned them because I have had good people in my life who wanted to see me succeed--so they offered honest feedback and did not feed hateful gossip. The takeaway from these life experiences is the mantra I think about when faced with an obstacle, be it personal or professional: what you feed grows, and what you starve dies.

I became a single mother in 2016. With an unfinished degree in psychology, and after a horrific daycare experience while working a temporary position as an office assistant, I decided I was going to raise my daughter myself. After exploring my career options at that time, I knew, absolutely, that the best way to maximize my time with Zoey Jaims (then age two) and earn a living beyond minimum wage was to utilize my talent for face painting and my passion for people.

When I was twenty-two years old, I had the opportunity to work for Disney World where I was trained in the techniques of face painting. I have always enjoyed face painting and the joy it has created for people, so I decided this was going to be the avenue for my success. My focus was to transition face painting from a hobby in the community, to a professional and valuable marketing device for businesses--and as photo sharing of face painting continued to circulate in social media, so did Vivid Imaginations’ popularity! I began to hire artists, now known as the “Creative Team,” and welcomed Alicia Michaliszyn as the Director of Operations, and who has personally been a tremendous instrument in our success. Although all face painting events scheduled in 2020 were cancelled, Vivid Imaginations is starting to see revival in 2021. We are legally allowed to operate, are CDC compliant, and are ready to create smiles and lasting memories!

When the opportunity to purchase the Tri-City Family Expo was offered to me, I knew that this would be a great way to continue to network with businesses as well as to grow opportunities for my friends in the community and for my family. In January of 2020, the Family Expo gave a donation from ticket sales to Royal Family Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of and advocacy for local foster children. Despite the aftermath of Covid-19, the Family Expo is scheduled to resume in January of 2022 and will benefit Royal Family Kids as well as Soroptimist International.

I would encourage them to join the Chamber of Commerce, attend networking opportunities, be confident, and shake as many hands as possible. Asking questions and asking for feedback is important because you are going to fail in some areas. But here is the good news: you can try again with better knowledge than you had before. Feed your business, starve the negativity, learn about different communication styles, brand yourself, and invest in marketing opportunities--such as by providing complimentary face painting for your clients from Vivid Imaginations, or by attending an event to feature your new or growing business--like the TriCity Family Expo! And whatever you do, never badmouth another business to gain business. Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself YOU ARE that Boss Babe, so get up, get pretty, and get money.

I learned some valuable lessons from the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and I also look up to my parents for some extreme differences: one taught me about unconditional love, and the other taught me about business and relationships with people. My sister Breana is one of my best friends and has been instrumental in providing feedback. I did have one person tell me that my business would fail. Those words really motivated me, however, to be my best and to connect with as many people as possible.

In the past, I have volunteered face painting services for Cork’s Place for their annual event for children who have survived the loss of one or both parents. It was a powerful opportunity to bring those young people a moment of joy from face painting. Vivid Imaginations, in partnership with Dino Drop-In, has also surprised the women and children at the Domestic Violence Shelter on Christmas Day with gifts and story reading. I also had a chance to build bunk beds for local children who were sleeping on the floor, with Sleep in Heavenly Peace 501c3. I have ambitions to create a foundation for children who are survivors of sexual and physical abuse: I would like to create opportunities for mentorships, scholarships, art therapy, and dance camps to assist with their emotional rebuilding.

(FIVE FUN FACTS)

I took my daughter to Walmart once just to put googly eyes on different products, to make people laugh. Zoey laughed the most.

When I was younger, I taught hip-hop dance to children and at-risk youth.

I love science, especially psychology, but not just learning--I love tests, formulas and also Venn diagrams.

I wear men’s deodorant because despite appearing confident in interviews, I sweat like a prostitute in church!

I am horrible at cooking homemade Chinese food: I really need lessons!

Learn more at | www.vividfacepainter.com and www.tcfamilyexpo.com