Cliques follow us our whole lives, it’s human nature. Get in where you fit in. I did theatre and choir in high school so my locker was in band hall with the “freaks and geeks” and by default, those freaks and geeks became my very best friends. But beyond our little band hall bubble there were all the typical high school clique archetypes that one would find in a John Hughes film. Jocks, preps, class clowns, nerds and goths, with goths being particularly easy to identify. I don’t see goth style like I used to, so I was happy to find a surviving goth in Northern Michigan. I was even more happy to find that she has found a way to incorporate her style into a thriving career as a professional mermaid.
TBrittany Adams was confused as to what she was going to do after high school graduation. She planned on going to college, but a struggle with mental health her senior year deterred her from pursuing college right away. She took some time off to soul search and through her introspection she discovered that she didn’t really want to go to college at all, what she wanted was to be financially stable doing something she loved. She also discovered that she feared being in social situations.
“I needed to find a way to overcome or work around that,” Brittany said. “I couldn’t work at most places because of my irrational fears and therefore needed to start my own internet-based business. Alternative fashion made me feel more confident, so I needed to incorporate that into my work and into my life in some way to help deal with my problem.”
She began overcoming her problem by starting a Youtube channel dedicated to goth fashion and cultivating a career as a professional mermaid. The channel grew into the business she has now, The Magic Crafter and she performs as a mermaid called Mermaid Phantom, a name that coincides with her love of goth fashion.
Not only is she a professional mermaid but she also performs as a professional fairy as well. What does one do as a professional mermaid or fairy? Entertain the people, of course.
“As a professional mermaid, I spend a lot of time on land and in the water. For most public events, I’m sitting in my 30 lbs silicone mermaid tail chatting with humans, taking pictures with them, letting them touch my tail, reading them stories and sometimes giving them gifts and goodies.”
It’s not all tail-touching and photo taking, however. Brittany puts a high level of care into her hair, makeup and costume. Her mermaid tail is 30 lbs, she does all of her own hair and makeup, and she makes her own tops. She’s worked events all over the state of Michigan and has even worked an event in Singapore.
Each event she works is different and catered toward the individual client. Sometimes she’s strictly on land, taking pictures and chatting with people, other times she’s in the water swimming around a dock or even in a tank. Swimming in a tank is her favorite kind of event to work.
“I swim in a tank and interact with guests through the glass. This means blowing bubble kisses, waving at all of the kiddos, smiling, popping out of the water for short conversations, fetching gifts out of the tank for kids, and the list goes on! Tank work basically requires you to look and act like a creature that lives in the water. It provides the most magic, I think!”
There’s a community of mermaids in Northern Michigan, but Brittany distinguishes herself from the rest with her goth style. She has all the aesthetics of a mermaid, but just with her added twist of dark makeup, silvery white hair and dark metallic tops and fin. If clients want a more traditional mermaid look, she can easily transition into a more typical mermaid look.
Mermaid Phantom doesn’t go into hibernation when it’s winter. She will still make appearances as they’re booked and has even been known to sit in the snow or on the ice. Despite having bookings all year-round, the season is still a bit more quiet than the summer. Brittany uses this time to work on her Youtube channel and find new potential clients, she would especially like to work more in the fall.
“I hope to someday work at a festival during the fall season, because you know… pumpkins.”
The temperatures may be dropping, but for Mermaid Phantom it’s mermaid season all year long.
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