Hi. My name is Kristy Collins (she/her), and I am The Birthday Girl. My story starts with me making balloon animals as a fun party trick in my early twenties. Ten years later, at my nephew’s birthday, a mom asked if I would work her daughter’s party. I said yes, and The Birthday Girl was born in 2010. I can still picture that first party. I scurried to make business cards and frantically watched YouTube to learn how to make more than 5 balloon animals the night before. I went well over my allotted time, but each kid went home with some cute face paint and adopted a balloon animal. A few weeks later, I worked another party only making balloon animals. I was hooked. I watched more YouTube and made my way to a few Twist & Shout Balloon Conventions. I was booking more parties and really getting into my groove. Then, COVID hit. I had to get creative. As an alternative to a social distance birthday parade, I offered Balloon Bags filled with a mix of traditional, Mylar, and twisted balloons. I made no contact deliveries for birthdays, bachelorettes, weddings, graduations, first communions, and [insert life event]. In 2023, I was fortunate to win a grant for gig workers from the Mass Cultural Council. The grant was unrestricted, but I knew I wanted to utilize some of the funds for professional development. I opted to attend the Northeast Clown Institute in Plymouth, MA. Polka Dottie was born. I completed my 2nd year of clown college in January of 2025 and am hooked once again. I now belong to multiple clown networks and continue to learn and grow with them. Hopefully soon I will be expanding my offerings to include caricature drawing as I recently completed the Caricature Academy online course. I will keep you posted!