Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Trombly and Annie Trombly.
Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Fun Face Express started as a mobile face painting business – like an ice cream truck – where my wife Annie drove around to various playgrounds on a fixed schedule during the summer. Our “Fun Face Mobile” had strobe lights, ground effects and external speakers. It officially rocked! Even teenage boys would show their appreciation for our pink whip. This was blast for Annie (and the kids) and was great for marketing.
Annie’s more ambitious than that though. She asked me to help her get into a carnival or a fair in 2014 because she had heard that the people can make more money there. I’ve been in sales and business development for most of my career. Now corporate sales is a little different that face painting but when you boil it down it’s all the same for me. I can sell anything that I believe in and I certainly believe in Annie. She’s the real deal. I put together a unique partner strategy that bypassed some of the challenges that most of the other face painter face when trying to get into their fairs. The business really took off at this point going from zero fairs to over 50 in six months.
We had multiple crews operating simultaneously at the largest carnivals, festivals and fairs across New England in addition to private parties. I could not believe that we had created an actual face painting business. The success caused concern because I had never run a business before. Here we were making money with a staff over 10 teenage artists. It was time for me to get schooled in Entrepreneurship.
I was directed to a non-profit entrepreneur accelerator program called Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) www.eforall.org run out of Lowell. I have to say that this was one of the most rewarding experiences that I have ever had in my life. It started with a Shark-tank style interview process which totally took me off guard. I managed to get through it that to some help from a Fun Face artist. We were then paired with 3 mentors which turned out to be the dream team. I was then taken through a 3-month accelerator which is essentially a condensed Ivy League program supported by Ivy League Fellows and my dream team of Mentors. It’s no surprise that the non-profit is now expanding nationally.
I only wish that I was able to focus solely on the program instead of going through it while working my full-time job. It was a lot to absorb but we were recognized with an award and given one of the huge checks. It was September 2015 and Fun Face Express LLC was now an Entrepreneur Award Winning business that was bringing position social and economic impact to the Greater Boston Area.
Things have continued to grow steadily since then. We differentiate ourselves by delivering high-quality face painting at an affordable rate. We can also scale, unlike any other business that I’m aware of. Our pool is now 32 artists strong during peak season; however, we are always looking for more talent.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been a roller coaster for everyone intimately involved. My wife has sacrificed so much time away from our daughter Mikayla. It’s often very sad for both and we wish that the business could get to a point where Annie could be just managing things from home and only working big charity events or highly publicized ones for marketing.
The total loss of our first Fun Face mobile after a very bad accident was such a bummer but we are lucky no one was hurt or worse. The strobe lights, grounds effects, external speakers, the $4,500 advertising wrap weren’t covered by our insurance policy. We ended up having to come up with $12K cash to put down on a new car and have it wrapped. Fast forward just 2 weeks and the newly wrapped Fun Face mobile was vandalized with a knife destroying the new wrap.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Our slogan is “Powered by Karma” because our training program called Fun Face Academy.
The concept is simple. We partner with local youth centers – they provide the kids and space and we provide the free face painting. It’s a true win-win-win. The youth center is happy because they get free face painting, Fun Face Express is happy because we get to train and vet artists, and the kids are happy with their faces painted. Once artists pass this stage they volunteer their time at Boston Red Sox Minor League Baseball and Division 1 sports games that we’ve partnered with.
We hope to add a video tutorial component to our program so that artists can practice at home. We are collaborating with an industry leading trainer who’s also recognized by Guinness as the world’s fastest individual face painter. He’s trained our artists in the past but this video-based program with step-by-step guides would be a game changer for us.
We’ve been able to give over 20,000 free face paints over the years because of this program. Other very cools news is that a number of our artists have received scholarships, 4 of which are full-scholarships. They all agree that the volunteer hours did help which makes my wife and I so proud. Our first hire McKenna Judge is now attending Princeton University on a full scholarship. We are very proud of her.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Well Boston is a great city for anything so of course. But starting an actual face painting business can be difficult in any city because of stiff competition. The most important thing is to be different with a superior service. I’m also all about giving away services because it really does come back tenfold. Our mission is to bring happiness to children and we know the money follows. We’ve proven the model.
Pricing:
- Event Pricing: $10 (per full face), $5 (per cheek)
- Party Pricing: $150 (off-season) $225 (peak-season)* (this is for a 2 hour party with max of 20 face paints).
Contact Info:
- Address: 8 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 3rd Floor
Boston, Massachusetts, 02109 - Website: www.funfaceexpress.com
- Phone: (855) FUN-FACE (386-3223)
- Email: info@funfaceexpress.com
Image Credit:
David H. Brow from the Lowell Sun.
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