I believe, I am the only Russian family entertainer in Miami, Florida. Other Russians here in Miami blissfully toil as financial advisors or manicurists.
I bet you know at least one Russian manicurist.
I have been called The Russian Balloon Lady and even The Russian Queen of Balloons.
Looking back, I wonder how my life went so astray since I discovered balloon art three years ago.
The other time my life went astray was when I graduated from a Medical School in Russia and looked for every excuse not to practice medicine. I love medicine, the science. It just turned out I can't work in a regulated environment.
I immigrated to the US in 1992 and held a string of odd jobs. I was a model. I was a body double for Cindy Crawford in her movie Fair Game, filmed in Miami in 1992. I worked for a software company, earning gleafully $8 per hour in 1994. I thought it was the greatest job on earth. There, I played on a computer all day making more money than any Russian brain surgeon.
Now in 2007 I am still ahead of a Russian brain surgeon financially, by twisting balloon art part time in Miami, Florida.
If you're reading this, you are ahead of a Russian brain surgeon financially too. Almost anyone is. My mom who is a retied English teacher in Russia supplements her $50-a-month pension by selling Tupperware. She makes more money in Tupperware than my sister who is a pediatrician. Pediatricians and surgeons in Russia are equally low-paid.
In the meantime, my clients (the people who are crazy about balloon art) ask me repeatedly when I will be making real art. Some day... I promise.. some day.. maybe next week...
For now, all I have to offer and, don't ask me again, is this balloon art. But I do it 'Best Ever' balloon art. Just ask any five-year old.